episode_0076
by fnovelpia
The morning after I went to the black market.
Today is another damn clear day.
Some people couldn’t even eat properly because of their hands.
After blaming the innocent weather for a few minutes, the throbbing pain in my right hand became more frequent.
High risk, high return.
Who knew the pain of that risk would be this great?
I wasn’t in the mood to attend class, so I just stared out the window, lost in thought.
“It’s so bright…”
“Hey, come to your senses.”
Sarah waved her hands in front of my blank face and looked at me with a worried look. I can’t believe Sarah is reacting like this…
It must have been quite tasty.
“Still fine.”
“Not yet? You haven’t been listening to the class at all since earlier.”
“That could be it.”
“It’s peaceful…but what’s that wound?”
“Ah, it’s a wound Ilya got yesterday.”
“Not the scar on your face, but your hand.”
“Ah…don’t worry about it.”
“?”
Sarah looked at Logz with narrowed eyes, who had spoken nonchalantly about the wounds on his face but had not told her about the serious injuries on his hands.
If you tell yourself not to care, you will care more.
“How can you not use that?”
I nodded to her words.
“Definitely…I just got hurt fighting.”
“Fighting?”
Sarah looked at Logs, unable to fathom the meaning of his answer.
At that sight, Logs spoke with pride and puffed out his chest.
“I won.”
“That’s not the point! It’s not because of Yasha, is it? Could it be that the reason you didn’t come out today is…”
“Why am I fighting with Yasha? The teacher already told me why Yasha left.”
“Right…you said you fell because it hurt.”
Sarah sighed in relief.
‘No matter how much of a loser he is, if he had a brain, he wouldn’t have fought with the black market’s daughter.’
Even a three-year-old knows that much.
“Then who did you fight with?”
Sarah smiled and asked the question.
Logs answered that question with the same smile.
“The black market king.”
“Are you crazy!?!!”
“Sarah!!”
“Yes, yes! Teacher.”
“The teacher has endured a lot too. Go out and stand in the hallway.”
“…yes.”
Sarah stood up and looked at me with a cold expression.
“I’ll explain everything later.”
“?”
What is this feeling of awkwardness?
I don’t remember doing anything that would make me feel resentful, but when I told Ilia and Sarah that I had been to the black market, they all got angry at me.
The scars on this face were also a medal that survived the wrath of Ilya. The person in question would be furious if he heard about it.
I couldn’t help but chuckle when I imagined that scene.
I didn’t even know that I would get kicked out into the hallway because of that.
***
A cool and quiet hallway.
Sarah and I stood against the wall, quietly looking around and continuing our conversation.
“Aside from everything else, why did you go to the black market?”
“Surprised?”
“You! Hey…don’t you know how dangerous the black market is?”
“Because it’s legal.”
Sarah looked at me with the expression of a child looking at adults who say it’s cool to go into a hot spring.
I naturally turned my head and looked away from Sarah.
“Do you even know what you did wrong?”
Actually, I know. They were worried about me. It’s just that they expressed it awkwardly.
‘But there’s no need to hit me…’
The place where Sarah and Ilia had hit me began to hurt again.
“Of course.”
“If you know that… ”
After a moment of inexplicable silence, Sarah touched her flushed face and spoke.
“Next time you go…call me too.”
“Will you go with me?”
“Above, because it’s dangerous.”
“Uh…where does it hurt?”
“?”
“I know you’re worried about me…but I’m starting to get scared.”
“This kid is going crazy even if you worry about him! You said you were hurt!! I already had the courage to comfort him, but now I won’t!”
‘You remember what I said in daycare?’
I almost shed tears of emotion, but 10 years is a long time.
“It was a joke. If I had been hurt by something like that, how would I have lived all this time?”
“…Can I kill you?”
“No.”
Sarah clenched her fists, took a deep breath, and grumbled loud enough for me to hear.
“Are you getting hurt when I ask you to help me train?”
“That’s really a mistake.”
“Lies.”
The pouting Sarah stuck her lips out and turned her head. As expected, since she has a pretty face, she looks cute no matter what she does.
I laughed and answered calmly.
“I got caught.”
“What!? Was it real?”
“Are you sure you’re serious? You’re doing well without me anyway.”
Sarah paused for a moment at my words, then muttered quietly.
“I’m not saying this because I can’t do it…”
“What?”
“Okay! What are you going to do if you can’t help me anyway!”
“Because I didn’t hurt my eyes.”
“…Will you help me?”
I avoided Sarah’s eyes.
“Sorry, I was planning on doing some personal training today.”
“…really kills me.”
“This match is more about teamwork than individuality.”
“So what.”
“You guys are different from other groups in that your teamwork is much better, so even if you don’t win, you can still endure.”
“Do you really think so?”
I nodded without hesitation. Because, it’s not a lie that they are strong.
This academy is not a place where ordinary people can enter. No matter how trashy, timid, or angry they are, most of them are on par with the regular knights in terms of skill.
Of course the best among those kids.
If the top kids gathered together in one team and couldn’t hold out, it would be no different from tarnishing the name of the academy.
Sarah flinched in embarrassment at my confident answer.
“I feel relieved when you say it like that.”
What I said was so great that I was relieved…
I swallowed the words that almost came out of my mouth. I didn’t want to be hit.
Sarah’s question, which I thought would stop there, came again. This time, she gave me a cold, expectant look.
“How many seconds do you think you can last?”
“…”
Should I lie here…?
But I didn’t want to give false hope.
Sarah patted my back as if she had read my expression.
“Hey, we also know the strength of the 10 warriors, so just tell me the truth.”
“…Less than 1 minute?”
puck!
“Aaak!!”
“What?”
“It’s amazing that a cadet can endure that much!”
“Ah…yeah, that’s great.”
Sarah, who didn’t like my answer, answered sarcastically in a tone of indifference. I didn’t care and agreed with Sarah.
“Be a little more confident because it’s so amazing.”
“…”
Even though Sarah’s aura was showing, I didn’t correct my answer. It’s better not to have expectations from the beginning.
The higher your expectations, the more painful the disappointment when they fall.
Sarah is already feeling the pressure of fighting the 10 warriors.
That disappointment will soon turn into self-reproach and have a major impact on Sarah’s skills.
I couldn’t stand to see our dream tree Sara’s skills decline because of ‘this kind of ridiculous sparring’.
He spoke to Sarah, who was grumbling in her ear.
‘Don’t say thank you later.’
“What are you looking at?”
“Nothing.”
“Wait! I will definitely last at least 1 minute.”
Here, you could answer “yes”.
“Um…I don’t think it’s a good idea to get your hopes up like that.”
“Hey!!”
I think it would be a shame not to have the opportunity to tease like this. As expected, the response is good.
***
After finishing my academy classes, I came to the personal training room.
The academy’s individual training rooms had a very different atmosphere from the places where groups could train.
It’s a bit creepy, but it’s just too gloomy. I understand that the walls are all made of reinforced stone, since many people release their limits during personal training.
But it’s still dreary. It’s a room where it wouldn’t be strange at all if a ghost came out of the wall and said, “Hello?”
I trudged inside, placed my two swords down in the center, and sat down on the floor.
‘Don’t worry about ghosts.’
Now let’s try what the black market king said.
-Fuse black magic and mana.
To put it simply, it should be the same as when I fused these two swords. But how did I do it?
After much suffering, I finally recalled the memories from that time, but I soon sighed.
Because there was no helpful information.
At that time, I just held the two swords and they fused. But now, I had to feel the mana myself. To my shame, I was still a body that did not understand the movement of that mana.
But I didn’t stop thinking.
Because people who don’t give up have a higher chance of success.
Several hours passed in vain, and the answer was still nowhere in sight.
“Still, I feel rewarded and happy because I’ve been thinking about it a lot for a long time.”
A status window appeared before my eyes.
[I know how to fuse]
“…Why are you telling me that now!!”
[Didn’t you say that it was good because it gave you a sense of accomplishment?]
“That’s what I mean!! Ha… Really.”
[Not helping]
“Just sleep. Speak in our language.”
[I said it in words.]
“So what’s the method?”
[Fusing Asbel’s sword and Kraberk’s fang once again]
“…That’s the sound.”
[Currently, the two black ones are severely restricted by forced fusion]
[If you ask for consent and fuse without force, mana and black magic will also fuse naturally]
“Are you sure?”
[maybe?]
[It won’t be easy anyway]
“That’s enough. But, in the status window, you made one mistake.
I burst out laughing.
“I’m a swordsman. Right, you two?”
[Asbel’s sword flies a question mark]
[Kraberg’s fang says, “Humans…!”]
“… Was it just me who thought that?”
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