Chapter 18: Swordsman lessonship (4)

Lancia opened her eyes again after the class had ended.

“Huh!?”

She bolted upright, throwing off her blanket with a short gasp.

It was an unfamiliar place. There was no trace of the green grass or trees of the training grounds, instead, there were only white tiles and walls everywhere.

Even the air carried a sharp, unidentified chemical smell.

Where on earth is this place?

“Did I faint and get moved somewhere else…?”

Just as she voiced the most plausible guess she could think of,

“Oh, looks like you’re finally awake.”

Someone standing by the entrance turned toward Lancia.

It was a young girl with white silver hair… or rather, it was a burly man with a stern face, whose arms seemed larger than his head.

It was Brad Alger, the swordsmanship instructor.

“I told you to have a light mock duel, but you went ahead and had a serious fight instead. What do you think you’re doing in the middle of class?”

“I’m sorry, sir.”

Lancia lowered her head deeply.

Now that she thought about it, her actions had been incredibly selfish. During class, she should have followed the instructor’s orders, but she had gone ahead and challenged someone to a duel.

She could have done that after class.

Ever since she could remember, this had been her way. Once she got fixated on something, she couldn’t see anything else.

Lancia blushed with embarrassment.

Looking down at her, Brad chuckled.

“No, it’s fine. Thanks to you, I and the students got to enjoy quite a show.”

“But still…”

“I said it’s fine, didn’t I? Watching an excellent duel can be just as educational. Don’t take it too hard.”

It wasn’t just empty words. The students who had watched the two spar were filled with enthusiasm and swung their wooden swords with renewed vigor.

Even Brad, who hadn’t felt his heart race like that in a long time, couldn’t help but get excited. So how could the younger boys and girls not be the same?

Lancia was impressive, but especially that girl, Sion.

“I feel like I couldn’t beat her even if I tried.”

The speed with which she reacted to block the final swift strike was beyond the level of a 15-year-old girl.

 And apart from a small scratch on her cheek, she didn’t seem to have put much effort into it.

An inscrutable monster. That was the impression Brad, as a swordsman, had of Sion.

A warrior of the next generation, indeed.

“Anyway, don’t go anywhere after class. Stay here in the infirmary and rest well. Even though she treated your wounds, there might still be some aftereffects.”

“She?”

“Your opponent.”

Saying this, Brad glanced toward the entrance.

When Lancia looked over, a familiar silver-haired girl stood by the door, her hands neatly clasped together, watching her.

A small bandage was stuck to the spot on her face where there had been a wound.

“Hello, Lady Lancia. I’m glad to see you awake and well.”

“Hero…?”

“Just call me Sion.”

With that, Sion bowed deeply at a 90-degree angle.

“I’m sorry. Unconsciously, I must have put too much strength into my arm, causing you to end up like this—”

“N-no! You don’t need to apologize! If we’re talking about causes, it was all my fault in the first place…!”

Lancia flailed, her hands extended in protest. Any trace of hostility from earlier was long gone from her face.

Sion straightened up and, looking somewhat troubled, said,

“Anyway, it seems I still need more training. I had vowed to myself never to use my power as a hero, but… Your last attack must have seemed more threatening than I imagined.”

“Is that so…?”

“Yes.”

Sion nodded.

Wait, that’s strange. She was sure her last attack had been easily blocked, as if it was nothing…

Even the scratch on Sion’s cheek seemed oddly deliberate—

“Lanciaaaaaaa!!!”

However, her thoughts were abruptly interrupted by a loud shout as someone barged past Sion.

Isabella rushed over to Lancia with her signature “tap-tap-tap” footsteps and threw herself at her.

Her pink, twin-tailed hair lightly slapped against Lancia’s cheek.

“You fool! No matter how determined you are, how could you push yourself so hard? I was worried!”

“Ah… I’m sorry, Princess.”

Today seems to be full of apologies, Lancia thought, lowering her head.

Isabella let out a sigh.

“Fine, as long as neither of you got hurt.”

With that, Isabella alternated her gaze between Sion and Lancia.

“But still, why did you two fight like you were ready to die?”

“Did you think Sion was flirting with my brother or something? If so, that would be a huge misunderstanding.”

“N-no, it’s definitely not that…!”

“Then what is it?”

“……”

Lancia tightly shut her mouth.

She couldn’t say it. There was no way she could reveal that all of this had happened due to her unnecessary feelings of inadequacy and inferiority.

“It was just… something that had to be done. That’s all.”

“Hmmm~~?”

Isabella narrowed her eyes and stared at Lancia, as if interrogating her for the truth.

Under that sharp gaze, Lancia found herself shrinking back unconsciously.

Just as the atmosphere began to grow tense with the continuing silence, Sion stepped in.

“Let’s leave it at that, Princess.”

“But, Sion—”

“No real harm came from it, did it? Even if there was a misunderstanding, as long as it’s resolved, that’s enough.”

With that, Sion turned her head toward Lancia.

“But there is one thing I want to make clear.

…

If Lady Lancia is worried about the relationship between me and the prince, you have absolutely no reason to be concerned about that. I can assure you of that with certainty.”

“Absolutely no reason…?”

At Lancia’s question, Sion began to speak.

She spoke of the prophecy she had received and the fate she had to bear.

Five minutes later…

“So… in other words…”

Lancia mumbled with a blank expression.

“The Hero cannot marry anyone because they must always be prepared for any crisis that might come…?”

“Yes. So, there is no need for you to worry about that kind of thing, Lady Lancia.”

Sion nodded. Her tone conveyed a sincerity that was more than just words of comfort.

Lancia dropped her hands over her knees.

“………..Hah.”

Her face turned beet red, like a carrot.

“So, basically, I’ve been… getting all worked up over nothing without knowing the real situation…?”

“No, well, given the circumstances, it was easy to misunderstand…”

After all, it was true that Martin had fallen for her, Sion thought to herself.

However, Lancia was no longer in any state to hear comfort.

“Huaaaah!!!”

Unable to bear the embarrassment, she finally dove back onto the bed.

Then she rolled herself up tightly in the blanket, like a turtle retreating into its shell.

Isabella, looking flustered, shook the bundle of blankets.

“N-no! It’s okay, Lancia! It’s not like it was just a misunderstanding! You can’t marry a man, but you can marry a woman!!”

“That’s not really a counterpoint, Princess.”

Sion calmly pointed out from the side. Anyway, it wasn’t legally possible to marry someone of the same sex…

Meanwhile, inside the blanket, Lancia curled up like a baby, blocking her eyes and ears.

She felt like she could die from the overwhelming shame that was surging through her.

“I’m s-sorry… I just get so focused on one thing that I can’t see anything else around me… That’s why this ridiculous misunderstanding happened…”

Her voice trembled with apology.

Seen in this light, she really was quite a cute young lady.

Despite being the daughter of a noble family, there was an innocence about her that hadn’t been tainted.

Perhaps it was because she had lived her whole life wielding a sword and lacked the experience to handle other matters.

Sion cleared her throat slightly and spoke.

“As I said, I’m honestly fine with it, but… If it really bothers you, would you like me to tell you a way to repay your debt?”

“A way to repay…?”

Lancia poked her face out from the blanket and looked up at her.

Sion smiled gently.

“Keep dedicating yourself to swordsmanship until you become a swordsman even greater than I am. It’s simple. I’ve seen the potential in you to do so.

If you achieve that, Lady Lancia, you won’t feel burdened standing beside the prince anymore, will you?”

“…!”

Lancia took a deep breath. She spoke in a voice that was almost a whisper.

“A-Are you… forgiving me…?”

“I keep saying there’s nothing to forgive. From my perspective, it was just a small incident.”

Sion continued,

“So, if you truly feel you owe a debt, show me that you can grow to a point where that debt is overshadowed. That would be a great reward for me.”

“……”

“Do you understand?”

For some reason, Lancia felt as if she could see a halo behind Sion for a moment.

Is this the mark of a true Hero…?

“And if you ever need advice on romantic matters, feel free to ask anytime.

I’ve seen and heard quite a bit in my younger days, so I might have some good advice to offer.”

“Y-yes…”

Lancia nodded in a daze. Meanwhile, Isabella, who had been listening to this, suddenly rushed at Sion.

“Oh, then can you start giving me relationship advice, sister? Actually, there’s someone I’ve wanted to win over for a long time—”

“No.”

“Yikes!”

Sion curtly cut off Isabella, who was trying to act cute.

As the two began to squabble in front of her, Lancia drifted into her thoughts. The words Sion had said earlier kept echoing in her mind.

‘I see the potential in you to become a swordsman even greater than I am.’

Was that just flattery?

It could be. Maybe Sion was only trying to encourage her so she wouldn’t fall apart.

But there was no way to ask again now and risk sounding uncool, so the truth would remain unknown.

However, Lancia didn’t think the girl in front of her was the type to tell lies.

Her voice and demeanor were pure and clear, and she had the insight to see through Lancia’s true feelings, which even Lancia herself had not recognized.

Maybe, truly blessed by a goddess, she could see things invisible to ordinary people.

If that were the case…

If that were true…

‘I can become stronger than the Hero…?’

Is it possible?

It’s not an impossible thought. In the legends, there was the great Dwarven warrior Gareum, who stood shoulder to shoulder with the Hero wielding only an axe.

Although she might lag behind Sion, who wielded the Holy Sword, in overall power, achieving a similar level of skill in pure technique wasn’t entirely out of reach.

She could stand among the legends.

Lancia clutched her chest and crouched down, an uncontrollable excitement spreading from her heart throughout her entire body.

By this point, thoughts of Martin had completely disappeared from her mind.

As mentioned before, Lancia’s essence was that of a warrior obsessed with the sword. For someone like her, nothing was more joyous than having her potential acknowledged by the Hero.

Someone recognized her and showed her a future.

In that case…

She must live up to that expectation.

‘Alright. Let’s double my training time starting tomorrow.’

Recently, she had felt her determination weakening, but Lancia resolved once more, over and over, to strengthen her resolve. A fierce flame of desire flared up in her eyes.

-“Was what you just said true?”

“What?”

-“You know, the part where you said she might have the potential to surpass even you.”

“Ah…”

About five minutes after parting with the two, at Exia’s question, Sion crossed her arms and stopped walking.

“If it’s true, it’s true, if it’s not, it’s not.”

-“Huh? What do you mean by that?”

Exia tilted her head. Sion glanced at her and then spread her fingers, explaining.

“It is true that she shows considerable talent. If she can fully develop her potential as it is, she might leave behind a mark in the realm of swift swordsmanship that no one in history could ever follow.”

“But,” Sion continued, “how long it will take to reach that point is another matter entirely.

You remember the ‘growth cheat’ we had in the Hero’s party, right?”

-“Ah, yes…”

The ‘growth cheat.’ It was one of the blessings the goddess had bestowed upon the Hero.

The blessing literally allowed for growth to be nearly ten times faster than others. It made adapting to new movements quicker, gaining insights into high-level magic faster, and stabilizing the output of new techniques faster.

A rare blessing that shortened all the time required for growth.

What made this blessing even better was that it wasn’t limited to the Hero alone but also applied to companions traveling with him. With this blessing, the Hero’s party had been able to grow into an elite force strong enough to shake up the Demon Realm in just three years.

“But she… doesn’t have that kind of blessing, of course.”

-“Absolutely a real piece of work.”

Exia muttered after a moment.

Sion chuckled, seemingly pleased with herself.

-“So, you think it’s a scam?”

Exia asked, finally breaking the silence.

“What part?”

-“Well, saying ‘it could happen’ when in reality, it would take until someone’s in their 30s or 40s… That’s far too late, isn’t it? By then, youth is long gone. Isn’t there a problem with saying it’s possible?”

“It’s not a lie, is it?”

-“No, but still… Hah.”

Exia sighed, giving up on arguing further. Right, this guy was always like this.

Sion tilted her head slightly.

“I don’t see what’s wrong with it. Isn’t it good to give someone hope by confirming their potential? There are plenty of people in this world who don’t even get that much certainty,” she said.

-“Yes, that’s true…”

The frustrating thing about Sion is that even when it feels like something is wrong, it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what it is. This man’s specialty is blurring the lines between right and wrong to evade criticism.

So, Exia decided to change the topic.

-“Then, let’s talk about something else.”

“Refusing criticism, are we?”

-“… If Lancia had refused to acknowledge what you said during the fight, what would you have done?”

Exia asked.

“You mean the part where I mentioned her being misled or whatever?”

-“ What if she had completely denied it, saying, ‘I don’t think like that at all’?”

“Ah.”

Sion chuckled lightly.

“Doesn’t  matter, right? Then I’d just look at her with a gaze beyond contempt and say, ‘So even when I tell you this, you still refuse to face it? How foolish.’”

-“…?”

Exia tilted her head.

-“Isn’t that just presuming too much?”

“Yeah, it is.”

“Then why are you so confident in your assertion?”

“Because that’s how you brainwash someone, isn’t it?”

Sion grinned.

“People often don’t know what they really think. If someone else repeatedly tells them, ‘You actually think this,’ and keeps reinforcing it, they might deny it at first, but eventually, they start to believe it.

And especially if the person saying it is much more capable, experienced, and respectable than them, it’s even more effective.

This is the basic principle of psychological manipulation based on dependency. Remember that well.”

-“…..”

Exia fell silent for a moment.

“What’s wrong? Why aren’t you responding?”

-“No, it’s just…”

After a brief pause to choose her words, Exia let out a long sigh.

Thinking to herself that this guy had a knack for leaving her speechless, she finally said what was on her mind.

-“You’re truly a scoundrel, you know that?”