episode_0002

“- One feature is the time barrier.”

Mayhen’s long explanation is over.

It’s too long to go into detail, so let’s summarize briefly. In order to counter the current Demon King’s magic, who is a succubus, the former emperor and his guards sacrificed themselves and created a barrier around the entire castle, leaving behind only women who were relatively less affected and would be helpful to the hero in the future. The barrier was imbued with the power of the goddess. It had the ability of the goddess to control time, and it had abilities that were difficult to accept with conventional wisdom.

“I don’t really understand what you mean by fixed time. Can’t it move like this?”

I waved my arms as if to show off.

“Yes. But even though you walked for 4 hours, you didn’t sweat, feel tired, or feel hungry.”

“That’s right.”

It was indeed as he said. Even after a decisively long walk, the sun was still in the same place I had seen it when I first came out. Seeing this sight, I could not help but accept that time outside had stopped.

“Then, even if I train, isn’t it meaningless? If there is no change in the body, training is meaningless.”

Time is fixed. Inside this barrier, you will not get hurt or tired. You will be fixed in the state you were in when you first entered the barrier.

Mayhen, who said she was the commander of the knights and my exclusive maid, said she would train me to develop the abilities I need as a warrior. However, just as muscles are torn and reattached to become stronger, isn’t it impossible to train if there is no change in my body?

“That’s…”

Just as Mayhen was about to say something, a black cloth suddenly spread across the sky and began to block out the sun. The cloth spread wide across the sky allowed only a small amount of light to pass through. Even though it was only covered by the cloth, the sun, shining softly, looked like a full moon at first glance.

The sky was completely covered by the curtain, and the light became faint. Then, sparkling things embedded in the curtain began to appear. It seemed as if the full moon and stars were rising in the sky.

Even within a fixed time frame, these people seem to live by dividing their lives into day and night. Was it to relieve boredom?

“Ah, it looks like preparations are just about done.”

“Ready?”

Mayhen looked up at the spread out cloth.

“Yes, His Majesty told me to come at night. Hold on tight.”

***

“Arrived.”

Mayhen lifted me up on her shoulders and lowered me down. It was faster than moving myself, but it felt like something inside me was being cut away.

“By any chance, can we just walk together next time? We have a lot of time.”

“I apologize for my excitement, I will be careful.”

“You’re disqualified as a knight,” Mayhen said, her tone extremely polite, but her face was beyond shameless, and she didn’t move at all.

When we first arrived at the destination, there was an ornate letter next to a spring with floating crystals.

“It seems His Majesty left it behind. Please read it yourself.”

Mayhen picked up the letter and handed it to me.

“But, what kind of work does Your Majesty have that makes you so busy?”

“I’m sorry for not fixing the crystal. And rather than work, I’m a bit shy.”

“?”

Anyway, I read the letter that was left behind.

*

To the warrior

Hero, before I get to the point, I would like to apologize for my somewhat inadequate treatment when you were summoned. As you may know from Mayhen’s explanation, the Empire has been in a state of lethargy for the past few years, with nothing changing. Perhaps because of this, I have forgotten the etiquette of welcoming a precious guest. I will treat you again in a more refined manner the next time we meet. Others in the Empire may also show their shortcomings in one way or another. I ask for your understanding in this regard.

(syncopation)

You probably think that you have no power. Right now, that is not wrong. However, your body was chosen by the goddess at countless crossroads of time. If you have enough time, you have the potential to become stronger than anyone else. In the process, your body may have changed somewhat. However, it will not be much different, so you will quickly adapt.

Go to the main point and go into the well and touch the crystal floating in the air. I have finished preparing for synchronization. Also, since I have some power left after summoning you, it would be good to use it for practice.

*

After that, there was a long description of how to use the crystal. The hand-drawn illustrations were impressive. There was a red check mark on the back telling you to sync with the crystal after going outside.

And at the end, there was a note written on behalf of the Empire thanking the warrior for his decision to save the world.

It felt weird that he talked to me as if I had agreed to it. Of course, I checked the agreement box when I bought the game, but I didn’t read it. This is like half a scam.

Mayhen, who was reading the letter with me, suddenly spoke.

“Your Majesty the Queen is very sensitive, isn’t she?”

“Yes? Oh, I guess so. ”

…When I first saw her, I thought she was a tyrannical person. But after reading her letter, I realized that wasn’t necessarily the case. Her body wasn’t like that, but the letter contained the emotions of a high school girl.

“I have served Your Majesty since long ago, but even though I am somewhat shy, I am a very capable person.”

“How long ago was it?”

“Since I was 7. From then on, I learned swordsmanship from my family. Since I was little, my family had a lot of support for me. Even now, they are still so cute.”

Ah, it felt like she was the older sister next door. Maybe Mayhen, who was said to be the captain of the Platinum Knights, was something like a parachute.

“…No.”

Mayhen made an expression I had never seen before. At first, I thought Mayhen was a stiff person, but she was actually a very friendly person. Before I knew it, we had become quite close.

The embarrassing experience helped us in our relationships. From that perspective, pushing forward unilaterally at my own pace wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. If I had approached her, we wouldn’t have become this close. So why didn’t anyone tell me to fix it?

“What did it say in the letter?”

“They told me to take off my clothes and come in. Oh, then Mayhen?”

Hyunho looked at Mayhen while holding the collar of his clothes with both hands.

“Can I help you?”

“No, that’s not it.”

Yeah, well, it’s not my body. Well, it is my body, but… I felt like I was overreacting for no reason, so I stopped. The gaze that reached the back of my body was stinging.

As I touched the crystal, a list came to mind. The content was simple, but the UI was unnecessarily rainbow-colored, which showed the queen’s sensibility. Let’s lower it to middle school level, not high school level.

==================

Time Points: 2000pt

List of skills you can acquire

Heinrich – (Flowing Steel), 6200 pt

Alfred – (Kill Bat), 1200 pt

Reinhardt – (Earth Shatter), 8500 pts

…

==================

The legacy of the former emperor and his guards, who sacrificed themselves for the barrier, was contained here. The techniques that represented each knight. And for easy understanding, the queen recorded the remaining strength and the strength needed in numbers. These were techniques that would normally take a long time to learn. The time needed for the effort could be purchased here.

“Mayhen, can you recommend a technique to learn for the first time?”

“Hmm, interesting.”

Mayhen said with a serious face.

“I would like to recommend Jade Knight’s ‘Gale Stab’.”

“Stab?”

Do you usually learn stabbing first in swordsmanship?

“If you were facing someone with a sword, I would probably recommend a blocking and cutting type technique.”

“But why stab?”

“That’s because stabbing is more lethal than other attacks.”

Mayhen’s eyes sparkled.

“Each knight’s representative technique is bizarre and destructive. This is mainly the case with magic-based ultimate techniques. For example, shaking the ground to lose balance, or sending a slash flying to a place that cannot be reached. However, such ultimate techniques require solid fundamentals and a large amount of mana to use. They are probably expensive because they require physical changes to withstand the load in order to acquire them. Therefore, rather than the concept of ultimate techniques, you should look for basic techniques, relatively less burdensome to the body, based on swordsmanship.”

“The Imperial swordsmanship has an aggressive nature. When an opponent swings his sword, he swings back and counters, taking the right to attack. That’s why there are many techniques that link various attack techniques from the cutting motion. Things like stabbing, pulling and cutting, pushing, and posture transitions are derived from one cut. ”

After catching his breath for a moment, he continued.

“That is, most of the cutting techniques are techniques that are intended to attack the opponent rather than thinking about what comes afterward. Also, there is a disadvantage that you need to know several derived techniques to use them properly. In other words, even if Hyunho perfectly masters one cutting movement, you may gain an advantageous position in battle, but your killing power will not increase dramatically.”

“However, stabbing is different. Stabbing takes up relatively less space than cutting. In order to block a stab, the opponent must also block the path of the sword by sticking out their sword and making a counter-stabbing motion, or stab the opponent first. That’s why many knights use stabbing as a decisive move. Thanks to that, there are many techniques that have high killing power in a single motion among stabbing. Even piercing a monster’s tough hide is easy with one proper stabbing. ”

And if you master the technique properly, it will be over in one go – Mayhen concluded her lengthy explanation.

I felt that Mayhen was truly a knight. I felt sorry for suspecting her of parachuting earlier. However, it was hard to believe that such a pretty woman was a knight. And that she was the commander of the knights. If I had any questions about the sword in the future, I could just ask Mayhen.

“Oh, then what if it misses?”

“If you don’t have any other skills, you will die. But, Hyunho, is it okay for you to go back?”

Hyunho looked at Mayhen with a bewildered expression.

Are you saying that it’s not your body?

“Of course, that won’t happen.”

Mayhen continued her explanation as if trying to clear up the misunderstanding.

“Hyunho’s body has a goddess’ jewel embedded in it instead of a heart.”

“Is it a jewel?”

“Because it was created to receive the power of the Goddess. If the power is sufficient, it is also thanks to that that the legacies left by the guards can be absorbed directly into the body.”

Mayhen patted her head and told her not to worry.

“If your body accumulates more than a certain amount of magic energy or you have an irreparable wound, you will be summoned here as is. It will cost some points to fix a body that has reached death, but it is a small cost to fix, so don’t worry.”

“What happens if I get caught and tortured or something?”

“This includes losing your will to fight. When I say that it is an irreparable wound, I mean a wound to the heart. If something breaks your heart, it will come back. This is the most important part. As long as you don’t give up, we have infinite time, so you can stay in the barrier for as long as you want and then start again.”

It doesn’t kill you, and it gives you amazing powers… I’m tempted to try this. My body has finally been made so good. It wouldn’t be bad to use it as a warrior. It might hurt a little, but I guess I’ll have to endure it since it’ll come back.

But before that, there’s one thing I need to point out.

“Mayhen, would you like to read that letter?”

“Yes.”

Mayhen took her hand off her head and took the letter I handed her.

As Mayhen, who had received the letter, read it, I added an explanation. First, I need to clear up the misunderstanding.

“As written in the letter, this body is not completely mine. This body is closer to my childhood self, and the original me was an adult. I was also taller than Mayhen.”

It was actually small, but I think the message was conveyed.

I was called a genius when I was young. But I wish I had worked hard instead of playing around when I was so young, when I was the most talented.

“So, don’t worry too much like you’re taking care of a child. Oh! And even though your body has gotten younger, you’re actually full of energy, so you might be able to do things you couldn’t do before.”

After saying that, he turned around and placed his hand on the crystal. Jade, gust of wind. To find Mayhen’s recommendation.

“You’re an adult… ”

Mayhen muttered quietly as she read the letter. For some reason, it sent shivers down her spine.