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What Changed in Pond, and What Didn’t – Part 04

“Ouch! Ugh, Unken really doesn’t hold back.”

“A-Are you all right, Lord Hikaru? Should I use healing magic on you?”

“No, it’s fine. It’s just muscle pain… and honestly, I think it’s necessary.”

Hikaru groaned as he sat up in his bed at a hotel in Pond the next morning, his muscles aching. The day before, while he was enjoying tea with Freya, Unken had barged in, handed him an updated guild card, and casually remarked that he had become rusty. Before Hikaru could say anything, he was dragged to the guild’s training grounds for a grueling session.

Thanks to that unexpected detour, his plan to return to the royal capital that morning was delayed by a day.

“By the way, what were you up to?” Hikaru asked.

“I visited several churches,” Paula replied. “They were clean and filled with worshippers. Apparently, Ballast Trading volunteered to handle the cleaning and repairs.”

“Huh, really.”

The previous chairman of