Chapter 138 – End of Spring

“…Why did she name it that?”

“No idea.”

Leona answered briefly, brushing the cover with a careful hand.

“She was someone you could never read, so I don’t know. And I never managed to ask her directly.”

“Why not just ask? What do you mean you couldn’t?”

Leona glared at me sharply.

“I was too scared I’d get beaten up, you hopeless student. You really lucked out with your teacher. If she’d been your master, you’d be dead by now.”

“Was she that scary?”

“In ten years, I could count on one hand the number of times she actually showed emotion. If you got too close, she gave off a vibe like she’d kill you.”

“Hm…”

That Arisa?

Except when she was fighting, she was always smiling, wasn’t that Arisa’s charm? But she was expressionless?

I really… can’t picture it.

Well, I probably could if I tried, but it wouldn’t feel natural.

Actually, Sparkle said something similar.

After sealing the Demon King and coming back alone, Arisa was apparently very quiet and blunt.

Still, I can’t stand the name she gave this book.

May New Blossoms Outshine the Withered Past, what a load of crap.

Why would you give something a name that sounds like you’re about to die?

Why not stick to titles like “How to Make a Fist Harder Than Aetherium Steel,” or “How Not to Get Called a Chimpanzee,” or “How to Do Super Strong Kicks.”

She should’ve picked a title as stupid as she always was.

“Tsk.”

“What’s with that face?”

“What about my face?”

“You look like you swallowed a bug.”

“I eat bugs just fine.”

“Such bravado…”

“It’s true.”

I carefully turned the cover.

Thirty volumes, did it really need to be that many? Before opening it, it seemed like way too much, but actually looking through it… even thirty volumes feels well condensed.

Everything from the body’s outward forms to its inner workings, even personal insights are written out in dense handwriting.

That’s not all. Monsters, devils, Black Magicians, demons, 

It even includes instructions on how to kill them easily as a martial artist.

Of course, I don’t need Arisa’s insights.

Nor do I need to know how she came by them.

Even without that, I’ll be fine.

But is it completely useless? Not at all.

Ways to patch up problems I’ve noticed myself are written here, too.

But… a quick skim says there’s nothing I can fix right away. To “become a proper human” you need to reach the 7th rank and undergo a complete transformation, it says.

By Arisa’s standards.

No, by ‘our’ standards.

For us, being “a proper human” means being able to kill a high-ranking demon alone.

“So why are you giving this to me now?”

“Before, I didn’t think you could learn from it even if I showed you. Like I said… I was underestimating you.”

“And now?”

“I have no idea.”

“You can’t measure a genius.”

Leona fell silent, staring at me for a long time.

“When you landed that hit earlier, do you know what I was thinking?”

“That you really wanted to punch me?”

“Well, that crossed my mind. Actually, it still does. But before that, I thought you might be Ronan’s reincarnation.”

“…Hm.”

Did my face give anything away? Did she notice?

Ronan, huh.

She calls Arisa “teacher,” but why not use an honorific for me?

“But that can’t be. Reincarnation is impossible, and besides…”

“And besides?”

“That Ronan. That crazy, wild Ronan, no way someone like him would be reborn as a small, cute girl who joins the academy, hangs out with pretty friends, wears a neat uniform, and sometimes shows off her cute panties with her kicks as a martial artist.”

“C-cute… panties? When did I ever do that? You just saw it on your own!”

What’s with “that Ronan” and “crazy and wild”? I mean, I had tanned skin, not black.

Why talk behind my back like this?

“And why ‘crazy’? Did you know Ronan personally?”

“Yeah.”

Leona smiled softly.

Not her usual “nya-ha-ha” or “kikik”, but a grown-up smile.

“I did. Or… maybe I only knew him one-sidedly. So who knows. With Ronan’s personality, he probably wouldn’t remember.”

What is this? What’s she saying?

She knows me, but I don’t remember?

What is this about?

Did we meet before?

Beastkin. Lion Beastkin. Golden eyes.

…There was a time I saved Beastkin on the brink of annihilation. I barely got them to the capital alive, only for them to end up as nobles’ slaves.

Of course, we didn’t expect that. When we found out, we immediately tore out the throats of every noble who enslaved them.

I think we killed just over a hundred humans that day.

In the end, I helped Beastkin twice.

Was Leona one of them?

Or did we meet on the battlefield?

Leona. Leona. Leona Megenberta.

Never heard that last name, never heard the first name.

Was she just a soldier?

No, if she was a small Beastkin like Leona, I’d remember, but I don’t.

“It must’ve been a pretty intense meeting.”

“Yeah. It was so intense, I remember it even though I’ve tried to lock away the memory.”

Seriously. When was it? Who was she? How does she know me?

I scratched my head and looked at Leona.

She looked like she hadn’t even considered the idea that I was Ronan.

The Flame Empress was the same.

That’s only natural.

Those who know much about this world know reincarnation is completely impossible.

Unless someone like Sparkle, who can see souls and knows my past life, they wouldn’t recognize me. Otherwise, not recognizing me is normal.

Anyway… since I couldn’t remember meeting Leona no matter how much I thought, I put it aside and picked up the first volume Leona had opened.

“Anyway, it finally feels like you’re really taking me seriously. Showing me something like this, after all.”

“I’ve always been serious about teaching you and watching over you.”

“I was starting to think you had zero talent for teaching. I’m only keeping up because I’m a genius. Anyone else would have given up and run away a long time ago.”

“If it was anyone else, I never would’ve taken them as a student in the first place.”

“…Oh. If you were trying to impress me with that line, then yeah, you succeeded.”

Leona giggled.

“Still… yeah, you’re right. Up until now, I’ve been a bit too easy on you. Mostly focused on learning by experience. But I don’t think that’s necessary anymore. Using Martial Spirit… it means your ability to control Mana is monstrous.”

“Can’t you use Martial Spirit too?”

“I know the theory. I tried it once. My hip twisted and my arm got ripped off. After that, I never tried again. It’s a technique forbidden to anyone.”

She used to scold me, but now she’s praising me.

Of course, both the scolding and the praise are given without knowing I’m Ronan, but still, the carrot and stick are well balanced.

That must’ve been her left arm that got ripped off.

Leona massaged her left shoulder and leaned back in her chair, looking at me.

I met her golden eyes.

“So, are you going to tell me where you learned that?”

“No.”

Leona laughed and shook her head.

“Tracing its source now wouldn’t mean anything.”

“Then what do you want me to answer?”

“What I asked you before.”

“Before?”

“Do you want to kill the Demon King?”

“I remember saying that was a pretty dangerous thing to say.”

“And I said it was fine, that you could be honest with me.”

With a strange smile, Leona looked like she already knew what my answer would be.

“So, how about now? Has your mind changed?”

“Yes.”

“That answer, what’s it to?”

I didn’t know why she wanted a clear answer so badly, but I went along and spoke as she wished.

“One day, I will kill the Demon King.”

“Not ‘I want to,’ but ‘I will’… You really are arrogant and cocky. But… yeah. I like that answer.”

Leona smiled brightly and nodded.

“So I’ll have to teach you even harder and help you get stronger even faster.”

Then she raised her right hand, claws extended.

“But first, there’s something I need to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“I heard you were digging through the forbidden archives for information about the heroes.”

“Haa…”

I let out a sigh.

I ran a hand over my face and muttered,

“…Sir Ballamir swore nobody but the Emperor would ever know about that.”

“My fist sometimes lets me see the past and the future.”

“You’re allowed to beat up the captain of the Royal Guard like that?”

“If a youngster doesn’t listen to an adult, they should be punished, right?”

“Still… can someone like that spill so easily just from a beating? Ridiculous.”

“What? Was that your inner thoughts just now?”

“I said it on purpose. I’d say it right to Ballamir’s face, too. Not like he could lay a finger on me when you’re my teacher.”

“You really are a handful.”

Leona waggled her clawed finger, then muttered, ‘But I guess it would’ve been worth seeing his reaction if you did say it.’

“Well, anyway. I heard you’ve been chasing traces from four hundred years ago.”

“So?”

“I won’t ask why. I won’t ask how you used Martial Spirit, or what you plan to do with the heroes you’re searching for, or who you are. I won’t ask anything now. Why? Because I heard your answer.”

The answer to killing the Demon King.

“You can really trust me that much?”

“I can. Because you have the name Eustetia. Even if you tricked me, I’d just have to accept it, I have my reasons for trusting that name.”

Leona paused, running her sharp claw over her heart.

“So, from memories that have been sealed away for a very long time, I’ll tell you what might help you.”

About what? Before I could ask, Leona continued.

“My teacher. Where Arisa Eustetia last went.”

And, 

“Where she might be now.”

With that, Leona’s claw pierced into her own chest.