Ch.173172. Journey? (14)

# 172. A Trip? (14)

“But… I’m curious about something.”

“What is it?”

“Why are we running right now?”

“Because we need to get there quickly.”

Reina let out a hollow laugh and asked me.

“Where are we going?”

“The Academy.”

“Why?”

“I’ve got something to brag about, two things actually.”

Basically, I needed to brag about beating Marco, whom even she couldn’t defeat, and also about obtaining [Transcendence].

Honestly, I could have just called right now, but that wouldn’t have had the same impact.

“This is really… unbelievable. You’ll be so shocked you might fall over backward when you hear it!”

“What is it?”

“That! I can’t tell you! It’s a secret!”

“Your excitement… is incredible…”

This excitement wasn’t forced—it was genuine enthusiasm bubbling up.

I spoke to Reina with a boastful tone, riding that wave of excitement.

“When are we leaving from here?”

“Soon?”

“Exactly when?”

“I don’t know.”

“That’s too bad…”

But it didn’t really matter.

She wouldn’t know that I had defeated Marco and obtained [Transcendence] anyway.

Of course, with how developed the internet is these days, I needed to hurry.

I had to arrive before she found out.

However…

-Ding!-

A sudden text message arrived on my phone.

When I checked it, my excitement plummeted.

The message read:

-Can’t believe you won that. By the way, watched it with your girlfriend.-

The person who sent me that message was Riel.

Apparently, she had already seen the battle.

In real-time, no less.

“Ah…”

“What’s wrong? You suddenly seem down?”

“Damn it…”

“All of a sudden?”

“My luck… is terrible…”

Since I had participated in the match without any prior announcement, it shouldn’t have been widely known to the public.

Yet somehow, they happened to be watching that broadcast at that exact moment.

It was an annoyingly unfortunate coincidence.

“Do you… have bipolar disorder?”

“It’s not that… something happened that would make anyone feel this way.”

“So what is it?”

“That… I can’t tell you.”

When I responded in that manner, Reina looked at me like I was some kind of lunatic.

Seeing that reaction—her eyes and expression—was actually quite amusing.

‘Is this why Chris talks like that?’

Just as I was beginning to understand why Chris usually speaks so terribly, we arrived at the park.

And there, waiting for me, were our party members, including that friend who speaks so terribly.

“Why did you forfeit?”

“But you still won.”

“You only won because your opponent went easy on you. Not using skills is one thing, but he deliberately stopped at the end.”

“Even if he hadn’t stopped, I would have won because of my skill.”

In that situation where neither of us could move, I had the overwhelming advantage since I had a means to endure one more time.

In reality, the match was decided right after our swords crossed.

“Anyway… that was insane. How did you withstand that at the end? Honestly, I thought you’d just lose in a contest of strength.”

“I did lose. I just threw a gamble and won.”

“You’re crazy.”

“He said the same thing to me.”

Marco had also called me crazy, just like Chris was doing now.

And Chris seemed to understand Marco’s feelings.

“For good reason.”

“It was the only option I had.”

“You could have just given up. Anyone else would have surrendered in that situation.”

“Really?”

“Of course. No matter what ace you had up your sleeve, who would do something like that?”

“But… when are we going back?”

When I asked that, Raycle, who was standing next to him, answered almost as if she had been waiting for the question.

“Six o’clock.”

“About… 30 minutes left.”

Fortunately, those 30 minutes passed quite quickly.

And finally, after our week-long trip, we boarded the train heading back to the Academy.

Once again, I entered the same compartment as Chris and Raycle, just like last time.

I threw my bag of luggage on the floor and collapsed into a chair.

Raycle, who was watching me, asked.

“Tired?”

“Yeah… I’m exhausted… even though I didn’t overdo it this time…”

“You faced 16 people at once and you say you didn’t overdo it… you have your own standards, I guess?”

“About 8 of them were barely worth mentioning as opponents…”

“So that’s still 8 people.”

“Those people were pretty tough…”

It seemed like those 8 were the reason for my current state.

Reina and Marco were exceptional, of course, and the other six were quite strong too.

“But in the end, I won.”

“Right… winning is what matters.”

As I continued lying in the chair, drowsiness washed over me.

It seemed the fatigue accumulated from the day’s exertions was finally catching up to me.

I couldn’t fight against that fatigue, and my eyes gradually closed.

“I’m going to sleep… don’t wake me up…”

***

How much time had passed?

The sun hadn’t risen yet, so it probably hadn’t been that long.

“Yaaawn…”

When I yawned, the others who were still awake spoke up.

“You slept quite a while.”

“Feeling better now?”

“What time… is it now?”

When I asked in a half-asleep state, Chris let out a faint laugh and answered my question.

“A little past 1 o’clock.”

“Almost 7 hours… I slept a lot…?”

“Yeah, I thought you’d wake up after about 3 hours since your position looked uncomfortable, but you slept like a log.”

“When do we arrive…?”

“Soon. It takes about 7 and a half hours.”

It seemed I had woken up at a decent time.

I stayed in that uncomfortable position until we arrived at the Academy.

“Isn’t that uncomfortable?”

“A little.”

“Then just get up. We’re arriving soon anyway.”

“I can’t do that.”

As I insisted on maintaining my current position, the announcement that we had finally arrived in Lucerne was heard, and the train stopped. Only then did I get up from my seat.

Then I left the train with them and felt the cool night air all over my body.

“It’s refreshing…”

“Why are you wearing short sleeves in winter?”

“I always wear a padded jacket over short sleeves.”

“What are you talking about… it’s freezing out here…”

I headed toward the Academy with my padded jacket in hand, wearing only a short-sleeved shirt.

And those who were going straight to the dormitory, rather than home, also headed to the Academy.

“Finally over.”

“It was pretty fun.”

“Fun… not really?”

“That’s because we were having fun while you were off doing weird things by yourself.”

“Training resumes tomorrow, just so everyone knows.”

I declared this before entering the dormitory building, and everyone reacted as if they had expected it.

They definitely seemed accustomed to this lifestyle now.

“As expected… of you.”

“I’m going to train really hard starting tomorrow.”

“Why?”

“Because something happened that calls for it.”

Having obtained [Transcendence], I needed to work even harder.

I wanted to reach at least A+ rank before graduation.

‘Even that would be… incredibly overpowered…’

Right now, even with [Transcendence], it wasn’t that overpowered due to my rank.

“‘Something happened,’ he says, as if you weren’t already like this…”

“I mean something happened that will help me maintain this motivation. The princess will be graduating soon too… Oh? Come to think of it, she is graduating soon…”

“What kind of way of speaking is that…?”

As I suddenly realized this fact, an interesting thought crossed my mind.

‘Should I just hide it…?’

She already knows I beat Marco, but she doesn’t know yet that I obtained [Transcendence].

So it might be possible to surprise her by revealing it after I’ve raised my rank a bit, rather than now when it’s still low.

Of course, the aura created by the [Transcendence] skill itself is tremendous, so it might be difficult to hide, but it seemed somehow possible.

After all, she’ll be going to the Orion Kingdom soon.

“Oh… not bad.”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“What the hell are you doing?”

“I’ll tell you later, in about… 2 years?”

“Just say you don’t want to tell me.”

I said to Chris, whose face had twisted into something resembling a rotten potato.

“You’d be really surprised if you knew.”

“If you’re not going to tell me, then shut up.”

“Alright…”

“Tomorrow, 10 AM, dueling ground.”

“Who says?”

“I do. Just show up. Though you probably would have shown up anyway.”

Something felt different from usual.

Normally, he would have waited until I asked him to come, but this time he was the one telling me to show up.

“Seems like… something happened to you too…?”

“What do you mean ‘something happened’? It’s just because of you. Anyway, I’m going to bed. Unlike you, I didn’t sleep on the train, so I’m tired.”

“Oh… okay.”

It seemed that my victory against Marco was that “something” that had happened.

That event had given Chris motivation.

“Interesting.”

After muttering that, I went to my room just like Chris had.

A room that no one had used for about a week.

I expected an empty, dark room with no one in it, but what I saw was completely different from my expectation.

“Huh…?”

The lights were on, and it wasn’t empty at all.

As I entered, an unexpected person greeted me.

“It’s only been a week… but it feels like it’s been so long.”

“Huh…? How did you get in…?”

“Is that really important right now?”

“I guess… not.”

“What would you like to do? Take a bath first? Eat dinner? Or… me first…?”

She blushed and fidgeted as she said those words, seemingly embarrassed.

And seeing her like that, I couldn’t hold back anymore.

“Is that even a question?”

I approached her, who seemed to have been ready for a while, taking off my clothes one by one.

And she surrendered herself to me.