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Clorinde froze when she heard Shao Yun's reply—this wasn't how things went in some of the scripts she'd seen at the "Tabletop Troupe" at all.
Even so, she didn't panic.
She steadied herself and rapidly searched through her memory, recalling various storylines she had once read or watched.
After some thought, she realized Shao Yun might have misunderstood her intention—thinking she was merely chasing that vague, illusory thing called "fame."
With that realization, Clorinde took a deep breath to calm herself and then explained in an extremely sincere tone, "Please believe me. I'm not asking you to teach me marksmanship for the sake of so-called fame."
She then frowned slightly and continued, "That man's marksmanship was simply far too powerful. If he's allowed to continue like that…"
"I'm afraid he won't just cause immense harm to Fontaine's innocent civilians—he might even directly attack Lady Furina…"
"So, I desperately want to gain enough strength to stand against him. Even if, in the end, all I can manage is mutual destruction, that would still be enough!"
After hearing Clorinde's words, Shao Yun understood very well the shock to her worldview caused by losing two duels in a row.
The first time wasn't too bad—he had talked her through it, so the impact wasn't severe.
But the "Dutch van der Linde" he had impersonated a few days ago had truly pushed her past her limits.
One gunshot, three bullets—instantly crippling both her and Chevreuse.
Faced with such terrifying marksmanship, how could Clorinde not be anxious?
But still… the same question remained.
Why should I teach you?
So, with his back still turned to Clorinde, Shao Yun asked, "You want to improve your strength?"
The moment she heard those words, hope flared up inside Clorinde.
She nodded frantically, not caring whether Shao Yun could see her or not, and replied eagerly, "Yes! I truly want to become stronger!"
Shao Yun lifted a hand slightly and stroked his chin.
After thinking for a moment, he slowly turned around, looked at Clorinde kneeling on the floor, and then—completely unexpectedly—offered a suggestion so absurd it bordered on comedy.
"Improving your marksmanship is easy. From now on, just start wearing pants."
Clorinde stared in disbelief and lowered her head, examining her snow-white, slender legs, unconsciously repeating that utterly baffling suggestion.
"Wear… pants?"
Seeing this, Paimon leaned close to Lumine's ear and whispered her complaint, "What does wearing pants have to do with improving marksmanship? That makes no sense at all!"
But before she finished speaking, a spark suddenly flashed in Paimon's mind, recalling the "female gunslinger outfit" Shao Yun had bought for Lumine.
"Oh—wait! The outfit Shao Yun bought for you did come with pants! If that's the case… maybe his suggestion isn't totally unreasonable?"
Seeing Paimon actually getting led astray by Shao Yun's nonsense, Lumine reminded her, "Paimon, that outfit was because it was inconvenient for me to ride a horse in a skirt, so Shao Yun bought it specially."
"And as for marksmanship, he taught me that hands-on during the Crux Clash Tournament! What does that have to do with pants at all?"
At this point, Shao Yun had said everything he wanted to say.
Whether Clorinde believed this joke or not, he didn't want to stay here any longer.
"Alright, visiting time is over. Let's go and give Clorinde some space to recover."
Seeing Shao Yun about to leave, Clorinde—still kneeling—suddenly reached out, trying to grab the corner of his clothes.
"Please… teach me marksmanship."
Perhaps because she moved too urgently, the wound on her shoulder—which had just been properly bandaged—split open again, bright red blood seeping through and staining the white bandages.
Accompanied by a soft groan of pain, Clorinde's hand ultimately failed to catch Shao Yun.
Meanwhile, Shao Yun pretended not to notice anything happening behind him and walked straight out of the bedroom, pulling Lumine and Paimon along with him.
Seeing Clorinde's wound reopen, Navia hurried over to support her and said anxiously, "Clorinde, your wound split again! Lie back down first."
As she spoke, she moved to help Clorinde up.
Clorinde watched Shao Yun leave, her eyes filled with deep disappointment and frustration.
Was it really because she lacked sincerity? But she had already knelt…
Yet just as Shao Yun had taken only two or three steps out of the room with Lumine and Paimon, he suddenly turned back.
Clorinde, who had just barely stood up with Navia's help, saw Shao Yun return, and hope instantly reignited in her heart.
She looked at him with anticipation, her voice trembling with emotion. "Y-you… did you change your mind? Are you willing to take me as your disciple?"
Shao Yun deliberately avoided letting his gaze drift downward toward Clorinde's body.
He steadied his slightly chaotic thoughts and said, "No… that's not it."
He then took out a stalk of yarrow and placed it on Clorinde's bedside table.
"Crush it, steep it in water, and drink it. It'll help your body recover faster."
As he spoke, he pointed toward the bandage on Clorinde's right shoulder, where blood was still slowly seeping through.
Originally, Shao Yun had intended to give her a bottle of powerful restorative potion.
But Clorinde's sudden, inexplicable kneeling apprenticeship request had thoroughly upset him.
Now it was fine—no potion at all. Just a stalk of yarrow. Take your time brewing it and drinking it, Clorinde.
Clorinde stared at the herb, her beautiful eyes filled with a mix of confusion and expectation.
"Does that mean… when I recover, we can talk again about you taking me as your disciple?"
Hearing this, Shao Yun felt a wave of helplessness.
He truly hadn't expected such a cold-looking woman to be so naïve inside.
"Your imagination rivals Klee's," he couldn't help commenting.
The moment Paimon heard that, she clapped a hand over her mouth but still couldn't stop herself from bursting out laughing.
"Mm—sorry, I shouldn't laugh, but that comparison is just… really…"
Shao Yun merely shook his head, then took Lumine by the hand, gestured for Paimon to follow, and once again headed for the bedroom door.
As he walked, he said, "Let's go back to the living room."
But just as he was about to step out, Clorinde's slightly urgent voice sounded from behind him again.
"Wait! After I recover, let's talk again, okay?"
Shao Yun stumbled mid-step, nearly falling over.
After regaining his balance, he hurried his pace and left the bedroom without looking back.
Watching Clorinde still refuse to give up, Navia helped her back onto the bed and deliberately changed the subject.
"Alright, Clorinde, don't think about getting stronger for now. Talk about it after you've fully recovered. The most important thing right now is resting properly."
Lying on the bed, Clorinde turned her head slightly to look at Navia and asked with a lifeless expression, "Navia… could you help me?"
Navia understood perfectly what Clorinde wanted her help with—but the matter made her extremely conflicted.
She bit her lip lightly and, after hesitating for a moment, said, "Convincing Shao Yun to teach you marksmanship… I'm afraid the chances of success aren't very high."
"Even though I know him, our relationship isn't actually that close…"
Although Navia had a very good relationship with Lumine, that didn't mean she shared the same rapport with Shao Yun.
She also couldn't bring herself to ask Lumine to persuade Shao Yun on Clorinde's behalf—doing so would easily provoke Lumine's displeasure.
And even if Navia somehow convinced Lumine to try persuading Shao Yun, that approach would still be highly inappropriate.
If this ended up causing Shao Yun and Lumine to argue, wouldn't she become the culprit?
Just thinking about it made Navia afraid to continue, and she quickly changed the topic.
"Alright, alright, let's not talk about that for now."
As she spoke, Navia reached into the small pouch at her waist and rummaged around.
Soon, she took out a small side-sword that looked quite old and handed it to Clorinde.
"Oh right—Clorinde, I'm returning this to you. Remember? You left it with me three years ago."
Seeing the familiar weapon, Clorinde froze slightly. Surprise flashed through her eyes before turning complex, and she spoke softly.
"Oh… I didn't expect you to still have it. To be honest, I thought you might've thrown it away."
Hearing that, Navia gave a wry smile and shook her head gently. "How could I throw it away?"
"Even though our relationship has been complicated these past three years, it never reached the point of cutting ties completely."
Navia tried to place the precious weapon back into Clorinde's hand.
But Clorinde raised her left hand and stopped her.
"No need. Consider it a gift—something to protect yourself. I hope it keeps you safe when it matters most."
As she spoke, she gave Navia a rare smile.
Then Clorinde suddenly remembered something important and said, "Oh right. After I recover, I want to visit Mr. Callas's grave and pay my respects."
"After all… he was an elder I deeply respected."
Navia nodded without hesitation. "Of course!"
"Actually, I was planning to take Shao Yun and the others to Poisson for a vacation. Since that's the case, why don't you come with us?"
Clorinde immediately agreed.
"Alright, no problem!"
Then, mistakenly believing Navia was deliberately creating an opportunity for her to spend time with Shao Yun, Clorinde thanked her sincerely. "Thank you for helping create a chance for me to be with Mr. Shao Yun."
"I'll seize this opportunity and make him agree to teach me marksmanship."
Navia hadn't expected Clorinde to arrive at such an outrageous misunderstanding.
She responded flusteredly, "Huh? Th-that… no, it's really not necessary… but…"
Inside, Navia was screaming in misery.
I just wanted you to relax on a vacation! I wasn't trying to set you up with Shao Yun at all!
Clorinde, please don't develop any strange feelings toward him, or I really won't be able to explain myself!
That said, Navia was overthinking it.
Clorinde truly only wanted to apprentice herself.
After all, the psychological shadow left behind by "Dutch van der Linde" was no smaller than the one Eula carried toward Shao Yun…
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