Episode 82 – Before the Break (1)

Before the Break (1)

Shion Ascal gripped his wooden sword. Soliette watched him quietly, focusing her eyes and ears on him.

She needed to observe and understand not only the movement of the sword but also the subtle tremors of his joints and muscles to teach him properly.

“Huff…”

Taking a deep breath, he immediately unfolded his swordplay. He swung his sword as he stepped into the first step.

One, two, three, four, five, six.

Six straight lines were etched into the air.

“Six?”

Soliette slightly furrowed her brows. The tip of the sword was straight and the balance was good, but six strokes were too much. If he pushed too hard at the beginning, it would put a strain on the next two times.

Shion took the second step. At the same time, he made five strokes.

“…!”

Soliette’s eyes widened slightly. There was no overload she had feared. Instead, it was as natural as flowing water.

Then, the final third step.

Whoosh─!

The grass was swept away. He had advanced 10 meters in just three steps, and four sword marks were swirling in the moonlight.

6, 5, 4.

In total, he made fifteen strokes, completing the already finished Eclipse.

“…Ha.”

Soliette closed her eyes. She bit her lower lip. She let out a slightly deep sigh.

This man, it’s definitely not his first time.

“How was it?”

Just then, he turned around and asked her nonchalantly. Soliette furrowed her brows.

“…What kind of nonsense are you talking about? Is it funny?”

“What nonsense?”

“You, it can’t be your first time. Do you think it’s good to deceive like that?”

Even if he had a basic understanding and sense of swordsmanship, he couldn’t complete 15 consecutive strokes for the first time.

“It’s really my first time? I just learn quickly.”

“It’s not just a little fast. …Damn.”

A curse naturally attached to the end of her sentence.

“What. You wrote a report about me.”

Suddenly, he rummaged through his bag. He pulled out a crumpled swordsmanship report. Soliette was slightly surprised.

It was a report she had written about Shion Ascal’s swordsmanship during the first week of swordsmanship class.

“Let’s see… Look. [A half-star low-grade swordsmanship not worth learning]. Like this?”

“…Ahem.”

She coughed awkwardly.

Indeed, the swordsmanship of Shion Ascal she had seen at that time had no foundation. There was no system. There was no order. There was no concept. Nothing was established.

He would take what looked good from there, give up again if it was too hard after bringing it, and the ragged swordsmanship was made in such a way.

To put it aggressively, it was ‘trash low-grade swordsmanship’.

“…So. Who have you learned the sword from so far?”

“There’s my father, and there’s one instructor I know. His name is Dent.”

“I don’t know the name. May I ask which swordsmanship school he graduated from?”

“Would there be such a thing? He’s a low-ranking knight.”

“….”

Soliette lost her words for a moment.

She fell silent, lost in thought.

If he really is a beginner…

If he had been swinging his sword aimlessly until now, and this was his first encounter with such a system and concept.

“If what you’re saying is really true.”

Soliette lifted her eyes. She looked at Shion Ascal standing in front of her.

He was a bit undersized for a swordsman, but he already had the skill to handle a sword.

He had the ability to radiate steps and absorb swordsmanship.

Of course, the world is wide. Talents with such abilities are as common as laundry.

After all, even Soliette had mastered the Eclipse sword form at the tender age of 4.

However, he has the untamed potential of a ‘body’.

A body that can leap up to 683 cm and kill a monster with bare hands.

Strong Body.

Of course, a strong body is only one of the many components of talent, but a natural-born fighter like Shion Ascal would benefit from it in almost all aspects.

After all, you can learn swordsmanship with effort, but you can’t reconfigure your body to fit.

“You have….”

Therefore──

Soliette could say this to Shion Ascal.

“You have talent.”

“?”

He blinked his eyes blankly for a moment. Then he shook his head with a hollow laugh.

He had a face that didn’t believe it.

______________________________________________________________________

…Swordsmanship.

I had never learned it from my father. I learned how to swing it from Instructor Dent at the orphanage.

A thousand downward strikes. A thousand upward strikes. A thousand body blows on a log. Teachings like that.

Being a dirt spoon far from a swordsmanship instructor, I first encountered ‘systems’ like sword forms and initial forms in this swordsmanship class.

Of course, I have some concepts I’ve picked up here and there. I’ve been around a lot of places.

“You have talent.”

So, Soliette’s reaction is strange to me.

“Do you have any thoughts of seriously learning swordsmanship?”

Her eyes sparkled. Like someone who found a pearl while grilling clams.

“Why. Are you going to teach me Arkne swordsmanship?”

“…Hmm.”

When asked back, Soliette made a thoughtful face.

Of course, Arkne swordsmanship is not necessarily a state secret. There are quite a few swordsmen who use Arkne swordsmanship even though they are not Arkne people.

This is called Arkne Ryu, and it is rather directly taught by the Arkne family. Their ‘Arkne Swordsmanship Academy’ is already counted as one of the top-tier swordsmanship academies in Edsilla.

Since the most important ‘arcane’ is only passed down to the bloodline, there is no need to hide the swordsmanship itself.

“Never mind. Just-”

“1,000 Ren.”

Soliette suddenly called out a price. She held up one finger as if she had won a bargain.

“1,000 Ren per session.”

I laughed. Hahaha.

“I won’t learn. Are you crazy to ask for that?”

“…Don’t. Bullshit. There are plenty of people who would learn even if I charged 10,000 Ren. The monthly fee for the Arkne Swordsmanship Academy alone is 20,000 Ren-”

“Then let them teach.”

“….”

She was at a loss for words, her tongue flicking in her mouth. After a brief pause, it seemed like she would spit out a curse, but surprisingly, she nodded her head.

“One day a week for 30 minutes. I’ll teach you for free. But, there’s a condition.”

She pointed at my neck. Why my neck of all places? Why not my chest?

“You teach me Latinel in return.”

“…Latinel?”

Ah, so that’s why she pointed at my neck.

“Yes.”

“I thought you weren’t interested in that sort of thing.”

I was puzzled.

Soliette, of course, has an unmistakably noble accent, even in the common language. The distinct, clipped, posh accent is very natural for her.

Despite this, she detests refined things. Latinel, balls, polo, those kinds of old-fashioned hobbies.

“I may not be interested, but I need to learn now. The person behind this is at least a big shot, isn’t he?”

It seems like she has a similar reason to mine.

The person behind Knightmare is a big shot. Someone with the power to disguise a contract killing as a serial murder, and even cover up the murderer without leaving a trace.

To reach them, it wouldn’t hurt to learn Latinel, the language of the nobles.

“Okay, deal. I’ll teach you Latinel, you teach me martial arts.”

“Fine. Sword, what? Martial arts?”

Soliette made a face.

“Are you an idiot? Swordsmanship is far more valuable than martial arts.”

“I’m good with swordsmanship.”

The swordsmanship I’m pursuing is in the 「Notepad」.

No, to be precise, it’s in my memory.

“I have someone else to learn from.”

Soliette’s Severing Sword.

Because you, your future self, are my swordsmanship teacher.

“….”

Soliette glared at me with a dumbfounded face. Anyone would think she’d been bitten by a mosquito on her lips.

“Now, continue teaching me three Sword Forms.”

“You said you don’t need swordsmanship, what are you talking about?”

“No, sword forms and swordsmanship are different.”

It’s faster to see it once than to memorize it from a textbook. Among them, Soliette is the perfect teaching material for my ‘Database’.

“Fine. I’ll show you once. In order, it’s the Linked Form, and the Five Flower Form.”

Taking a deep breath, Soliette moved her sword.

First is the Linked Form. Because it’s a series of continuous movements without rest.

Her steps while deploying the sword form were elegant, and her sword was graceful. It was a movement melted with perfect basics, but there was something more than basic in her. There was a brilliance that a practitioner could not have even if they devoted their whole life to it.

Even in the dark night, a talent as brilliant as a star.

A martial art that seemed to dance with the ripples of the lake wind.

“…Wow.”

Soliette Arkne.

You are indeed a sword genius who will be remembered by the world… No.

The world will remember you as a sword genius.

______________________________________________________________________

I am lying on the grass field.

It seemed like I had almost mastered three Sword Forms. The result of learning from Soliette had been converted into ‘Notepad’ capacity.

[113 / 135]

Capacity history within the last 24 hours: +3

The exact capacity taken up by three Sword Forms was 3.

Oddly small, but probably because there’s already a base.

Why, isn’t it natural to find it difficult when you suddenly try to learn a high-level skill? But if you learn the lower skills step by step and climb up like stairs, it’s surprisingly easy.

In other words, thanks to having first stacked ‘Five Basic Forms’ in the Database, three Sword Forms only requires a capacity of 3.

“…But,”

Suddenly, Soliette spoke, like a current affairs program host.

“If, as you say, Knightmare is a contract killer.”

I looked at her. She was squatting on the grass.

“Like Berry Tan benefiting from Bella Tan’s death, there must be someone who benefits from that death.”

“…Right.”

Soliette clenched a handful of grass from the ground.

“We need to investigate.”

“You don’t need to. I’ll do it. Just give me the money.”

“…Can I get a receipt?”

She asked. I chuckled.

“Don’t laugh. I’m serious.”

“No, what receipt. You can’t get caught by your family, either.”

“…Family.”

Soliette ripped out the grass completely. She muttered as she threw it into the lake.

“My family. They treated me like a lunatic. They said I was chasing a dead person. I actually went in and out.”

“Really?”

“It was fucking awful. They kept prescribing drugs. Bastards.”

“You got out somehow.”

“Yes. I got out by pretending to be what they wanted.”

After all, the Arkne family is not an easy one.

They are the most ancient sword family on the continent. As such, they demand ‘strength’ from their members more than any other family. Things like physical and mental strength.

“So, until I met you, I even doubted myself.”

Soliette ripped out more grass and threw it into the lake. At this rate, her surroundings would become a wasteland.

“Whether I really had a delusion, and was forcibly chasing the already dead Knightmare.”

I gathered some pebbles and pushed them towards Soliette.

“Maybe I’m a lunatic hoping that Knightmare is alive.”

Instead of grass, she picked up the pebbles and flung them into the lake. Plop-! Plop-! Plop-! They skipped across the water.

“…Thanks to you, I’m convinced that Knightmare is truly alive.”

Soliette gazed at the moon reflected in the lake.

“Do you think I’m stuck in the past?”

Her voice was earnest. It was a question born from self-reflection.

Was she better now than in her previous life?

I responded nonchalantly.

“You know, not me.”

“…?”

Soliette was momentarily stunned. She stared blankly into the void before picking up another pebble and throwing it into the lake.

Plop- Plop- Watching the skipping stones, she asked again.

“…What about you?”

“I live in the past.”

I answered immediately. Soliette looked surprised and turned to me.

“Excuse me?”

“There’s nothing wrong with that. If someone irreplaceable dies, it’s okay to live your whole life in sorrow. No one can blame you for that.”

I have no future.

For someone without a future, preserving the past is the best option.

If I can spend the rest of my life helping the connections from my past.

If I can spend the rest of my life destroying Libra.

I couldn’t ask for more.

“…It seems you’ve also lost someone precious.”

Soliette seemed to accept this on her own.

“Well, yeah.”

I simply replied.

Because, in a way, it was true.