Episode 4. A Reason to Live (3)
Silence descended on the training ground.
Professor Lucas, who had suggested this duel, and the cadets who had come to see the interesting sights after a long time all looked at Felix, who was vomiting on the floor of the training hall, with blank expressions.
Felix Odman.
A candidate from the Imperial Viscount family who awakened to the stigmata of the ‘Sea God’ that has been passed down through generations.
He has a very arrogant personality and is very rude, so he doesn’t have a good reputation at school.
There was just one thing he was recognized for.
“Felix was pushed out in swordsmanship?”
“That, that too, overwhelmingly?”
Pure swordsmanship skills without using any magic power.
Even in ‘non-magic duels’ where the use of magic power is restricted like now, Felix was a skilled player who could have been ranked 50th overall… no, even within the top 30.
That Felix lost.
That too, with such an overwhelming gap, that he couldn’t even swing his sword properly.
‘What the heck was that swordsmanship just now…?’
Professor Lucas looked confused as he recalled the swordplay that had unfolded in Dale’s hands.
I could tell because he had such a keen eye that he was called a ‘hunting dog’.
The swordsmanship that Dale just displayed was definitely… .
‘Sun Sword?’
Sun Sword.
The strongest swordsman in the empire… no, the strongest swordsman on the continent, created by the legendary hero Raynald Helios, who sealed the demon 500 years ago.
How could Dale, who is not even from the Empire, let alone the Helios family, use that?
‘No, it’s different.’
Lucas, who had been thinking calmly, soon shook his head.
‘The basic form looks similar, but it’s different from the Sun Sword I knew.’
I was able to confirm this because I had recently seen Yuren Helios, the eldest son of the Helios Dukes and the famous rightful successor to the Sun Sword, use the Sun Sword himself.
The swordsmanship Dale displayed looked similar to the Sun Sword at first glance, but it was clearly a different swordsmanship.
It’s as if he took the sword technique called the Sun Sword apart and modified it to suit himself.
If someone other than himself were to see this, he probably wouldn’t even notice that Dale’s swordsmanship had any similarities to the ‘Sun Sword’.
‘Even if it’s just a coincidence that it has similar parts to the Sun Sword… it doesn’t make sense that that guy Dale would use that level of swordsmanship.’
The last one is called the last one for a reason.
The reason Dale monopolized the last place in the comprehensive evaluation rankings for three years after entering school was partly due to his absolute lack of magical power compared to the other candidates, but also because he was so physically weak that the word “hopeless” could be used to describe him.
But how on earth?
Is it possible for someone to become so amazingly skilled in swordsmanship as if they had just changed in one day?
“What are you doing? You said you’d come first? Why aren’t you coming?”
Before Lucas could continue his questioning, a soft voice broke the silence.
Knock, knock.
Dale took a step forward, striking the floor with the tip of his sword.
“Then I’ll go.”
“Ugh… .”
Felix, who had been lying face down on the floor of the training hall, vomiting, got up unsteadily.
“This… dog, you son of a bitch!”
Felix, his face distorted into a blush, kicked his feet fiercely and rushed forward.
And then the clash.
-Pfft!
“Cough!”
This time too, he couldn’t even touch the collar of Felix’s black Dale.
Felix, who had fallen backwards so violently, shook his eyes in disbelief.
At first I let my guard down, but this time it wasn’t like that.
“How on earth….”
Only then did the rumors I had heard yesterday flash through my mind.
Rumor has it that Dale blew up Professor Lucas. And that he single-handedly subdued Camilla Bedice.
They were all ridiculous rumors, so I wasn’t even paying attention.
‘Those rumors were all true?’
Felix frowned and shook his head.
‘That’s nonsense.’
Felix had just fallen without being able to swing his sword properly, but the intense prejudice against Dale that had built up over the years made him ignore the reality before his eyes.
“…Dale Hahn.”
Ugh.
Felix gritted his teeth fiercely and grabbed the wooden sword to break it.
“Let’s see how long you can be so cocky.”
The stigmata carved into Felix’s left chest began to glow, and a soft blue glow enveloped his body.
horsepower.
The breath of God, which only those who have awakened the stigmata can handle, spread throughout the body.
“Put the pressure down!”
Phew!
Felix’s sword swung at an explosive speed incomparable to that just before.
“Felix Odman!”
Professor Lucas, who had been watching the duel, quickly got up, but was unable to stop the sword that had already been swung.
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“Now, let’s try to block this too!”
Dale looked at the wooden sword engulfed in a blue halo as he heard a fierce, ear-piercing scream.
Sigh.
A soft laugh appeared at the corner of his mouth.
‘Come to think of it, that guy Yuren said that before.’
If you reach the peak of the Sun Sword, you will be able to split the sky with just your sword without using any magic power.
‘Well, it’s not yet at a level where it can split the sky.’
It might have been at a level where it could cut something like a wooden sword carved from oak.
“Use it.”
Take a deep breath and draw the sword towards your shoulder.
Bend your waist slightly and focus your entire weight on the sole of your foot.
Just as a spring that had been pressed to its limit springs back up, the power concentrated in the soles of the feet explodes and heads towards the blade.
and.
Benda.
Chae-Ang-!
With a clear, metallic sound that could not be heard from a wooden sword, the wooden sword in Felix’s hand split in half and rolled across the floor.
“…uh?”
Felix looked at the split wooden sword with a dumb expression.
“What is this…?”
The powers of magic are so numerous that it is difficult to count them on one hand.
Among them, there was one effect that was the most basic.
The strengthening of pure ‘physical power’.
It must be the miraculous power of magic that allows one to hammer nails into thin branches that seem ready to break at any moment.
‘You split my sword in half without using any magic?’
And that too with an ordinary wooden sword for sparring?
‘That’s ridiculous.’
Wouldn’t it be like cutting a solid iron club with a tree branch?
No, yeah.
Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that it might be possible to break a metal club with a branch.
How on earth can one ‘cut’ a magically imbued wooden sword with an ordinary wooden sword?
From the beginning, this was an impossible task, regardless of whether or not there was magic power.
It’s called a sword, but in reality, the wooden sword used for sparring is just a wooden club carved from oak.
“What kind of scam are you committing… Keuk!”
Phew.
Before Felix could finish speaking.
A fist swung like a lightning bolt and struck Felix on the jaw.
Felix’s body fell to the floor like a puppet with its strings cut.
“… … .”
“… … .”
There were no cheers for the winners or boos for the losers.
In a silence that fell like a curtain.
I turned leisurely towards Professor Lucas and opened my mouth.
“As promised, the suspension period was reduced to four days, right?”
“… Ah, um. Okay.”
Professor Lucas nodded with a bewildered expression.
His expression seemed to indicate that he couldn’t understand the situation even after seeing it with his own eyes, but he didn’t bother explaining it.
Even if I explain it to you, you probably won’t understand anyway.
“Okay. See you next week, Professor.”
After bowing politely, he headed out of the training ground.
Maybe it’s because it’s almost lunch time.
The candidates were seen moving busily around the school.
“Four days.”
Since today is Tuesday, including the weekend, I have about 6 days to spare.
‘You must have a lot to do.’
As I decided to start a new life, there were mountains of preparations needed.
‘I won’t lose anymore.’
Hasn’t this been a life where I’ve only lost things?
Above all, my close friends, younger siblings, seniors, and lovers were all precious to me.
Without protecting a single person.
Didn’t you lose everything?
‘Even if we are a body that cannot decide how to end, we can decide how to live.’
This time, no one was lost.
I will protect you with my own hands.
“let’s go.”
I headed to the dormitory with a determination carved deep in my heart.
* * *
“I knocked on the door but there was no answer so I wondered where you were, and here you are?”
The hallway back to the dorm.
A very familiar voice came to my ear.
“…Iris?”
Even though I poured out my emotions like that yesterday, was it not enough?
As soon as I saw Iris, I felt sad again and my eyes turned red.
“Mr. Dale Hahn… right?”
“Oh, yeah.”
I nodded, barely controlling my emotions.
Iris approached me with a graceful, even elegant gait.
The blue-colored eyes, as if they were holding the sky in their eyes, came closer.
“…ah.”
The only thing that feels unfamiliar in this all too familiar face are the eyes.
When I saw her before she lost her eyes due to being ‘cursed’ by Mine, my heart started pounding as if it was broken.
but.
It can’t be helped.
Even with her eyes covered by a black blindfold, she was more beautiful than anyone else in the world, so what must she be like now?
She was so beautiful that the groundless rumors that she was one of the seven gods reincarnated as a human seemed true.
“Huh.”
Iris came closer and looked me up and down for a while as if examining me, then soon turned her head and looked around.
During lunch time, when the candidates flocked to the cafeteria, the dormitory hallways were extremely deserted.
‘Iris.’
Looking at her standing before my eyes, I recalled her appearance in my memories.
She was always so gentle and kind that the title of saint didn’t feel awkward at all.
She had such a delicate nature that she hesitated to even step on a small bug to death.
She held my hand with a worried expression every day, asking if I was okay and if I was in pain, even though I would come back to life in the blink of an eye anyway.
The more I recalled my memories with her, the more I felt my eyes become sour.
and.
-Tsk!
My head suddenly turned with a sharp pain.
“uh?”
As I caressed her cheek and let out a dumb sound, Iris grabbed me by the collar roughly and opened her mouth.
“Hey, why are you talking informally to me? Do you know me?”
Oh, my.
hey?
Miss Iris?
“Okay, well, we’re in the same grade so let’s say we’re going to be informal. What happened yesterday? Huh? Why are you touching my friend without permission, you idiot?”
“… … .”
In the midst of all this confusion, it wasn’t hard to understand why she was so angry.
Actually, if you think about it from her perspective, it would be natural.
A complete stranger, a fellow cadet who she had never even spoken to before, approached her and threw her escort and best friend on the floor, then suddenly burst into tears right before her eyes.
If it was a normal person… no, even if it was an extraordinary person, it would be something that would make them angry.
“Sorry. I lost my mind for a moment yesterday. I’ll apologize to Camilla later.”
“Hmm.”
She was about to snap at me more fiercely, but as soon as an apology came out of my mouth, she released her grip on my collar.
“Hehehe. I don’t know exactly what the circumstances are, but please apologize.”
Iris shrugged and stepped away from me.
“Oh, right. You really have to forget what happened today, right? Otherwise… .”
Smile.
A smile appeared on her lips.
Just like what was clearly in my memory.
In the gentlest of voices.
“Falling behind?”
He whispered like that.
