episode_0162

Weeks ago.

Even now, the hot sun shows no sign of weakening, melting the streets with its unrelenting heat.

Although the Academy’s first semester has ended and the central plaza is relatively empty, there was a cadet who lived a life of unchanging routine, regardless of the atmosphere.

Thud- thud-

The crisply pressed uniform of the Naifrantz Academy, shoes with edges as sharp as a knife’s.

As always, with her light blue hair fluttering, Eve walked with a straight posture.

A sudden gust of wind blew.

A neatly kept garden in one corner of the plaza.

Countless flowers of unknown names stood in a row, sending pollen and fragrance soaring on the passing breeze.

That fragrant wind also reached Eve.

Gently ruffling her skirt, whose pleats were even and angular, it swept refreshingly from her toes to the crown of her head.

But she wasn’t feeling particularly good.

Her skin, feeling the soft wind, and even her sharp nose, sensing the fragrant scent of flowers, had become dulled.

No matter how pleasant it was, all the stimulation in this world was nothing more than a vain illusion to her.

It disturbed her mind, clouded her vision, and weakened her resolve to move forward.

And after that dreamlike moment had passed, it would vanish like a mirage—a hollow hallucination.

Therefore, she mustn’t be seduced by the sweet scent of flowers.

The world is full of glittering soap bubbles, which burst at a touch.

Nothing exists that a human born by chance can grasp in their lifetime.

It’s merely such a necessity.

Eve, casting off such thoughts as always, pushed through the wind filled with the fragrance of flowers and walked towards the training ground.

She tossed her bag in one corner of a bench, drew her sword from its scabbard, and assumed a stance.

She refilled her body, made light by her morning training, with a clean breath.

She swung her sword with the same movements as yesterday.

“Hup- haap-”

Spot- shuaaat—

Only when she swung her sword without thinking could she fully focus her mind.

As the sound of the wind tearing through the air pierced her ears like white noise, her mind gradually became hazy and her body lighter.

She loaded her overflowing thoughts onto the void.

She cleanly sliced through its very center.

She cut through the stimulation that tickled her skin.

She tore apart the desire to satiate her hungry heart.

Leaving behind only the single path she had resolved to follow, no matter what, she shattered the illusory dreams rising up like heat haze.

‘My heart—’

I have a path I must follow.

‘My true feelings—’

I resolved to believe in that alone.

‘Will you spar with me again—’

Because I can’t get anything else.

Discarding, forgetting, erasing.

She let go of everything.

Unlike Nari’s sword, which fills her heart like the sunlight.

Eve’s sword is one that empties.

Whizz- shwooosh—

“Haaaaap—!!!”

Shwaaaak-!

With a powerful yell, she stepped forward forcefully and swung her sword.

Tick-

A small cut appeared on the thick trunk of the tree standing right in front of her.

“Haa… haa…”

She still has a long way to go.

She, probably could have cut down a tree like this in one go.

Gazing at the path that was infinitely lacking and endlessly distant, she breathed roughly.

Clap clap clap-

The sound of someone clapping came from beyond the training ground.

“Who’s there-!!”

Eve immediately twisted her body and pointed her sword towards the presence hidden behind the tree trunk.

Shuffling- shuffling-

Without crushing even the fresh weeds by the roadside, she stepped lightly, as though walking on the wind.

Aspi, wearing the armor of a knight instructor, approached.

Clap clap clap-

“Impressive.”

…

…

…

“Do you train like this every day, even during vacation?”

Aspi approached without hesitation and sat right next to Eve’s bag on the bench.

That, along with her uniquely gentle nature, was one of the ways she, whose socialization had progressed considerably compared to before, approached a person curled up like a cat.

However, Eve was one of the people who were less socialized, so she answered in a rather curt and gruff manner without even properly meeting her gaze.

“Yes, well…”

“It’s a very good posture. You have to swing it every day without fail to see the true essence of the sword.”

Clearly, Aspi was taciturn and shy, but there is such a thing as the trap of statistics in the world.

In an ordinary group, she would be considered quiet, but this place is not an ordinary group.

Sadly, Eve, who hated to exchange even a single word with someone she didn’t know well, was grouped together with her, making Aspi a ‘relatively’ noisy person.

“How long have you been training?”

“About 10 years, a little less…”

“You’ve been doing it for quite some time? As I thought, your fundamentals are well-established.”

A situation naturally unfolded where Aspi was chattering alone.

She would toss a question at Eve, who would simply answer concisely, only giving the minimal facts.

Even with a supplementary reaction, she never responded, keeping quiet.

It was a repetition of this pattern where, after a short silence, another question from Aspi would follow.

“By the way, do you know? The supplementary lessons will start soon, and this training ground will become crowded.”

“…I see.”

Aspi had also become quite skilled.

She had reached the point where she could select crucial topics within short conversations and throw out questions that would inevitably prompt a response.

Eve, who chose this quiet training ground every day to swing her sword, would be unable to use it if it became crowded with the coming lessons.

So, for her, whose daily life was a formalized pattern, it was a major disruption of her routine.

Her expression darkened slightly.

“It’s good to take breaks sometimes. This summer, I—”

“—I don’t have time for that.”

Aspi, who had been cheerfully rambling, had to stop, her eyes slightly narrowed this time.

She thought intently for a moment, then folded her raised finger and got up.

“You seem quite anxious. With such a troubled mind, it seems that your training will be difficult to yield great results.”

“…How would you know.”

“I do. Because I was like that too.”

Walking confidently with light steps, she picked up a practice longsword hanging on the rack.

After swinging it lightly a few times, she took a deep breath and quietly composed herself.

“I’m sorry for talking too much. Instead… shall we have a conversation with this?”

That relaxed expression, as if she knew everything, was extremely unpleasant to Eve.

Her grip on the scabbard tightened, her hand trembling.

…

…

…

The result was a draw.

However, it was a victory for Eve, who didn’t use her greatest strength, magic.

It was a natural result for her.

An ordinary person living an ordinary life couldn’t possibly be Eve’s opponent, who had spent a different kind of time, altogether.

Even though Aspi had more training time.

Eve had accumulated much, steadily dulling and weathering over time.

Subduing Aspi as if it were a matter of course, she sheathed her sword.

Shouldering it along with her bag, she left the place.

However… her last words wouldn’t leave Eve’s mind.

‘Don’t you get tired of training every day?’

‘…Not at all. If I don’t feel myself getting stronger every day—’

‘Hmm, no. That’s not how you are.’

Creak-

‘You…look like you’re running away from somewhere you don’t want to go?’

Why?

Because those words hit the mark, a wave of emotion surged from deep within Eve’s heart..

She gritted her teeth so hard that they nearly shattered.

The inside of her mouth throbbed, and a metallic taste kept rising.

But Eve, as if used to it, gulped down the hot blood and spat out the fragments of her broken teeth.

“…Damn it.”

Even after returning home, she kept recalling Aspi’s words and getting angry, finding her own behavior ugly and unpleasant.

White fragments floated on the water in the sink.

She drained all the water and refilled it with fresh water.

Splash- splash-

Stimulating her loose skin in the summer heat with cold water, she sharply wiped back her wet hair.

As usual, she washed her face roughly, as if nothing were wrong.

Drip-

When she suddenly looked up at the mirror.

There was a girl trembling in fear.

“Ah… ahhh…”

Hot blood flowed from the corner of her mouth.

The forgotten pain spread from her chin and gradually expanded to her spine.

Thud-

Eve clutched her face and collapsed to the floor.

“Aaack… ghk…”

Buzz- buzz-

It felt as if lightning was striking at regular intervals.

Every time, hot heat spread through her body, causing her to tremble.

The water spilled on the bathroom floor soaked into her pajamas, and she barely got up and walked to her room.

“Ghhk…hhuuht…”

Barely enduring the pain that strangled her breath, she finally threw herself onto the bed.

Even as she scratched at the blanket with her fingertips and slowly caught her breath, the feeling of her broken teeth showed no sign of going away.

Every time, Nari’s face flickered before her.

Booming—

“Now… I can’t even picture your face… hhhk—”

She slammed the bed with all her might.

But the high-grade mattress, made with Imperial technology, bounced her hand back.

With her back to the setting sun, Eve fell asleep in the darkness.