Chapter 62

Chapter : 62

The proportion of conversation in Katarina’s training gradually grew larger. Before, we had either clashed swords and sparred, or I would show her a sword form and Katarina would correct it. That had changed. Now, when we met, we spent more time sharing our thoughts with each other.

Perhaps Katarina felt that too, because she said,

“How useful do you think all this talking we are doing right now actually is?”

“Hmm.... Quite a lot. I think it is actually helping.”

“No, that is a misconception. At your current level, it probably does not mean much. Because this is about fighting and beating someone similar to you.”

“Is it not good to fight and beat someone similar to me?”

“That is not what I mean. When you are in the middle of growing like you are now, it is faster to spend that time growing more and turning someone who used to be similar into someone weaker than you.”

I shrugged.

“Then it will help later. When my growth period is over.”

“You can start this then too.... No, I said something pointless. I just do not understand. Why can you not reach Expert?”

“How did you break through the wall, Lady Katarina?”

Katarina scratched the inside of her short hair, which spread out in every direction, and said,

“People say I sound damned annoying when I say this, but I am not bragging. I am just telling it exactly as it was, so just listen. I did not have anything like that. I just kept doing it, and it happened. Around the time I felt it was time for me to reach Expert, I simply reached Expert. When I reached Expert, I was weaker than the current you. Even excluding magic.”

“Hmm.... There must be some condition.”

“I thought it was mana and Magical Power enough to widen the meridians, plus insight into swordsmanship, but it seems there is something else I do not know.”

As I wrapped my head in my hands and groaned, Katarina tapped my forehead with her index finger.

“Do not suffer over it like that. You are already fast. Just keep maintaining what you have. If you work hard, you will break through the wall soon.”

“Yes, understood.”

I answered as though following Katarina’s advice. Katarina, who heard the answer, and I, who gave it, both knew it was a lie. No one could avoid growing impatient when blocked by a wall. Even I, who was not desperate about swordsmanship, felt that way.

Even so, I would have tried.

If not for this incident, I would at least have tried to empty my mind.

---

That evening, after all classes ended and the sun was setting, turning the surroundings red, Jefrin came to find me.

This kid was always solemn. Even when he ate, he ate with eyes as though the food were his sworn enemy, and even when he laughed, he controlled his lungs as though a bomb would go off if he chuckled for more than three seconds.

A guy like that approached with his eyes even more intense than usual, and a chill ran down my spine without my realizing it. While I was retracing my memories in reverse, wondering whether I had done something wrong, Jefrin spoke.

“It is good to see you. Today, I came to make a declaration of war. It felt cowardly for me to prepare alone.”

“What are you suddenly talking about?”

“I have gained a reason to fight you. It is different from before. Until now, you were merely the only competitor among swordsmen my age. In words children like, it was something like a rival. But perhaps now I may have to fight in order to bring you down.”

“Why are you doing this? Is it because of Bishot?”

“I will not answer.”

I blinked.

I chewed over my memories. What had I done wrong? What mistake had I made for this to happen? I had tried so hard, so why?

“Have you eaten dinner?”

“I do not feel like it.”

“This is a conversation connected to Bishot.”

Jefrin clenched his teeth and glared at me.

It seemed to mean I should watch my mouth, but what had he heard to make him this sensitive? Thinking I should dig a little, I dragged him toward the café.

When people talked with food in front of them, even an overheated atmosphere tended to loosen. Each of us held a drink in hand as we spoke.

“You cannot rush into this.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Is what you are doing right now truly for Bishot’s sake? No, think about it. You have a head, do you not?”

I raised my hand and pointed at Jefrin’s head.

Jefrin tilted his chin, followed the tip of my finger, touched his own head, then frowned as though flustered.

“What does the fact that I have a head have to do with anything?”

“It is not a virtue to refuse to think when you are capable of thinking. Did Bishot ask you to fight me?”

“She did not say that.”

“She said something similar, yes? It seems there has been some kind of misunderstanding, and if there has been a misunderstanding, we should clear it up. You have watched me for quite a long time too, have you not? You know I have been living properly. I should at least know what I did wrong.”

Jefrin’s masseter muscle jutted out. He seemed to be choosing which words to draw out.

If he had nothing to say or if it was difficult for him to say it, he would have said, as before, that he would not answer. But seeing him work his head like this meant his mouth was already half-open.

To push him along, I said,

“Entering the Academy, reaching vacation, then the semester starting again... it has been a long time. All I have done during that time is train. You said it was a declaration of war, did you not? Then should I not at least know the reason? What is this about?”

“It was not something recent.”

In the original, Raphael was a villain. The main villain who drove the story forward. He was not a powerful villain, but he appeared often and committed every kind of wicked act. That was why I had felt somewhat relieved after seeing the timing of my possession. Compared to what Raphael would do later, I calculated that I might still be able to make up for it.

Was that not the case?

“If Bishot told you to die, would you die?”

I felt like we had said things like this a lot in elementary school.

When the teacher told someone to write down the names of kids who were talking, and so on. Back then, it felt like everyone became mute as though they had swallowed honey if you just said this, but perhaps because Jefrin was not an elementary school student, he answered perfectly well.

“Yes.”

“Then if Bishot told you to kill, would you kill?”

Fortunately, this time Jefrin closed his mouth. I had been afraid of what I would do if he answered immediately even here, so that much was good news.

“Even in your eyes, that is strange, is it not? I do not hate competing with you. Honestly, it is a little troublesome, but it is still fine. But fighting with our lives on the line feels a little wrong, does it not? I will not ask for anything unreasonable. Later, if Bishot tells you to kill me, try stopping her for just a moment.”

“She did not tell me to kill you!”

Jefrin sprang up from his seat and shouted.

“Then what did she say?”

“She asked me to protect her from you if a problematic situation arises.”

What?

That was nothing!

Dumbfounded myself, I pointed at Jefrin and raised my voice.

“Hey! You idiot! You empty-head! Why did you make such a mood over something like that? Do you know how scared I was?”

“An idiot? No, what is an empty-head?”

“Your head is empty! You idiot!”

“That is not it. The way she spoke made it sound as though a problem would arise....”

“What does that mean? Just tell me exactly what she said.”

“Do you think I would do that? It seemed... as though she intended to create a problem herself.”

“Ahh! I see! Thank you!”

I stood up from my seat. Judging by what Jefrin said, I could roughly picture what was happening. Bishot was trying to do something, and that was probably something I would dislike. It seemed she had put insurance in place because she was worried I might try to take revenge on her.

So that was it!

As I walked toward the training ground, I resolved myself. Whatever incident Bishot caused, I would not so much as blink. I would let it pass as though it were nothing, and even if my feelings were hurt, I would not show it. Then it would be fine.

After parting from Jefrin, I headed straight to the training ground. I held a sword and swung it until late. I had gained a reason to reach Expert even a day sooner. There probably would not be any situation where I had to fight Jefrin with my life on the line, but there could be.

---

I returned to the dormitory where no one could see me and shut the door tightly. I used the dormitory alone, but today, I had to be completely prepared.

Katarina had told me never to do it. She had persuaded me, saying that I would reach Expert as time passed anyway and there was no reason to take a risk. I agreed with her. It was not as though my dream was to become a Sword Master, and it was not as though I had some great aspiration in martial arts.

There would be no problem if I did not grow stronger immediately. I had room to spare.

“This really does not seem dangerous at all.”

I chewed Magical Power Herb. I activated my gloves. My mana increased, and my Magical Power strengthened.

I perceived the mana inside my body. This was not dangerous idiocy for the sake of reaching Expert a little faster. From my point of view, I could not see even a speck of danger. It was a safe shortcut.

If anything, hesitating felt stupid.

I focused on the hole at the center of my body. The Mana Hole. An organ that functioned like a heart and sent mana flowing through the meridians across my body.

It was magnificent.

I gathered mana at the center of the Mana Hole. I gathered the widely spread mana into a single point. It was different from compression. I gathered the mana like twirling spaghetti around a fork.

The mass of mana made this way was sturdier than an ordinary clump of mana.

I rolled the mass of mana along a meridian. The thick mass advanced, forcibly widening the thin meridian, then collided with the quiet fine meridians.

Augh!

I had expected it, but I forced myself to suppress the groan that threatened to burst out from the intense pain. I released the mass of mana before the fine meridians.

The mass split into three branches, each invading a fine meridian. After that, I tried to roll the released mass of mana back into clumps. They were smaller than before, but three masses of mana were created. I rolled those again and widened the fine meridians.

From the arduous work, cold sweat dripped from my forehead and fell to the floor. After a long time of endurance, I widened the meridians and fine meridians near the Mana Hole. Once I had more or less finished working on the meridians from my lower abdomen to my chest, I got up.

I was so exhausted, as though I had used up all the energy in my body, that even moving my feet was difficult, yet my body felt lighter than before. As a test, I walked while using Force Release. THUD—! The moment I had the thought of using mana, the Mana Hole responded and led my body.

At the output stronger than expected, I struck my head against the wall and thought.

This was it.

I had found the key to reaching Expert.