The World Is Mine For The Taking

Chapter 1423: Intermission 6: Big Women All Around (2)

Zes slowly pushed herself back onto her feet after the fight ended, though the movement looked far less steady than she probably wanted it to. Her boots scraped lightly against the ground as she stood there in silence for a moment, staring at the floor with a crooked little smile resting on her lips.

It wasn’t a happy smile.

Far from it.

The expression on her face looked more like someone trying to laugh off their own frustration before it completely swallowed them whole. There was disappointment in it. Regret too. Almost like she was annoyed at herself for losing, but even more annoyed that she couldn’t do anything about it.

Honestly, that reaction made sense.

Meria was ridiculously strong.

Trying to compare Zes to someone like her right now just felt unfair from the start. Zes had only recently learned how to properly use mana in this world. Meanwhile, Meria had been born here, raised here, and had probably been manipulating mana since she was small enough to trip over her own feet. The difference in experience alone was already massive.

Zes had only been in this world for a little over a year.

A year.

That sounded like a long time until you remembered the people here had spent their entire lives adapting to this environment. Meanwhile, it had only been a few months since Zes finally managed to properly gather mana around herself and use it to strengthen her body consistently.

Compared to everyone else here, especially monsters like Meria, she was basically trying to sprint while everyone around her had already been running marathons for years.

Honestly, the fact that she had gotten this strong already was kind of insane.

I walked closer to her while she stayed quiet.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah..." she replied softly. "It hurts a little, but I think I can manage."

The answer sounded calm, but the second she tried standing properly, her body betrayed her immediately.

Her balance gave out under her feet.

I moved on instinct and caught her before she could hit the ground.

"Are you really okay?"

For a second, she just looked at me.

Her eyes lingered there quietly, like she wanted to say something but couldn’t figure out how to start. Her lips parted slightly, then closed again. It honestly looked strange seeing someone like Zes hesitate this much. She was usually direct. Confident. The type who’d say exactly what she wanted without wasting time dancing around it.

Seeing her like this felt weird.

"I’m fine," she finally said. "I’m just... a little shaken."

Her fingers lightly tightened around my arm while she spoke.

"The fact that even though I can’t defeat you, I still wanted to prove myself by defeating someone incredibly strong..." she muttered quietly. "But unfortunately, it seems like I still wasn’t enough."

That same bitter smile returned to her face.

It looked painfully forced now.

"Maybe it’s because I’m not originally from this world," she continued. "Maybe that’s why I can’t really defeat anyone here."

Her voice stayed calm, though there was this heaviness underneath it that made the words land harder than expected.

"I got complacent because I held a high position in the world I came from. I was confident in my own strength. Confident enough to think I could still fight properly after coming here."

She let out a small breath through her nose.

"Maybe I just wasn’t strong enough."

Honestly, hearing those words come from Zes caught me off guard.

She was one of the last people I expected to say something like that.

In my head, Zes had always been strong. Not fake strong either. Actual strength. The kind you only got after surviving things that would crush most people. I’d seen it firsthand already. More than once.

Her confidence had always felt earned.

Still, this world was different.

The people here were absurd in ways that honestly stopped making sense after a while. Mana changed everything. Combat here wasn’t just about skill or intelligence anymore. People who grew up with mana naturally had an advantage that outsiders simply couldn’t catch up to overnight.

Compared to them, Zes probably felt like she was constantly trying to close a gap that refused to shrink.

"Now I’m starting to feel inadequate as one of your shadows..."

The moment she said that word, I almost choked on air.

Inadequate.

Coming from her, it sounded so unnatural that my brain genuinely needed a second to process it properly. I had to stop myself from reacting too much because I was pretty sure my jaw almost dropped right there.

Hearing Zes doubt herself felt about as normal as seeing a tank apologize for being heavy.

"I don’t really think you’re inadequate, though," I said honestly. "Actually, I think your knowledge as a military leader helped everyone improve way more than you realize."

She looked at me quietly while I continued.

"During that demonstration earlier, when all of you were showing how much you’d improved, it was obvious. Their movements were cleaner. More coordinated. They reacted faster too. That kind of improvement doesn’t just happen randomly."

I shrugged slightly.

"That’s because of you."

"Well, proficiency is nice and all," she replied softly, "but if I can’t improve my own strength, then how can I really be useful to you?"

That question honestly felt heavier than she probably intended.

Because the truth was, I never really thought about her usefulness in the first place.

She didn’t need to earn her place beside me through strength alone. She didn’t need achievements, victories, or some ridiculous accomplishment just to justify existing there.

She could literally stay exactly as she was, and I’d still accept her without hesitation.

Though saying that out loud right now probably wouldn’t magically fix how she felt.

People were annoyingly stubborn when it came to their own insecurities.

"Still..." she said quietly.

Her tone shifted slightly.

"There is one way I could become really useful, though."

I blinked once.

"And I think..." she continued, "considering how the other girls have also been getting stronger because of this..."

She paused briefly, looking away for a second before continuing.

"Possibly because they wanted to become more useful to you after doing it... then I think I’d like to try it too."

Something about the way she said that made me immediately understand where this conversation was heading.

Honestly, it wasn’t exactly difficult to figure out.

"I think..." she muttered quietly, almost sounding embarrassed now, "it’s something I’ve wanted ever since I found out how strong you are."

That bitter little smile appeared again.

"I just kept postponing it from one season to another."

For someone usually composed, she suddenly looked strangely awkward saying all this. It almost felt funny seeing her struggle like this after acting so serious all the time. Kind of refreshing too, honestly.

Then she finally looked directly at me.

Straight into my eyes.

No hesitation this time.

"Let’s make babies."