Chapter
1 Part 2
Academic
City Arcazam
The
city where the Solminati Academy was founded and is well known on the
continent as a city of education. The
school is located in the center of the city, and a spiderweb-like road is
built around it. In the northern part of the city, there are
political institutions such as the administrative agency that controls the
politics of the city. Those political institutions are managed by
aristocrats from each country.
The
eastern part is a civic area, where many students' dormitories and ordinary
citizens live, and the southern part is a commercial area where goods from
various countries are gathered, making it the economic center of this
city. There are also
adventurer guilds where students can get jobs depending on
their rank.
The western
part is a craftsman district where many craftsmen gather, and craftsmen
who utilize each country's techniques such as blacksmiths, doctors, etc
compete on a daily basis.
The
road stretched north, south, east, and west outside the city, and dense forest
spread out beyond the road, blocking the entry of people. Various monsters appear in
this forest, ranging from monsters that even ordinary people can win to
those that veteran adventurers have trouble with.
However,
powerful monsters live in the depths of the forest and do not appear
around towns and highways.
A hut
was built in such a forest to keep an eye on it. A boy and an
old woman exchanging blows in the yard of the hut. One of them is
Nozomu Bountis, a student who can't keep up in school. The old woman's name is Shino. The match
is overwhelmingly won by the old woman. It is not comparable to the
match with Mars at the school. He was
able to outperform Mars's slash, but the match with the old
woman is even more one-sided, and Nozomu is
like the old woman's toy.
During
the 3 times the exchange occurred, his posture was lost and he
was hit. The old woman immediately pursued the rolling
Nozomu and swung her katana without hesitation.
Nozomu
focused his attention on his feet and exploded. One of the
Qi techniques, "Instant Move". He accelerates in
an instant, but the old woman immediately used the same
technique to accelerate and deliver a slash. Going
around behind the retreating Nozomu and slashes with a sword technique. He
can't stop because of the momentum, so he turns his body around with one
leg to counter the slash, but his posture collapses greatly.
The pursuit by the
old woman approached there. Against the old
woman's Power, Nozomu slanting his katana, deliberately relaxing his
legs, and dropping his body. The old woman's pursuit does not hit his
body, she slips and turns over with her laid katana. However, at the
same time, the old woman's kick struck.
Nozomu
judges that it is impossible to avoid it when his body is dropped. He puts
power into his legs, flies back, simultaneously tries to repel it
with katana's handle, but his body gets blown away. Nozomu, who was
lying on the ground, didn't have time to regain his posture, and the old
woman chased him and thrust her katana into his neck.
"……I
give up"
"Hmm,
there's still a long way to go.
The old
woman said so and put down the katana.
This
old woman, Shino, is Nozomu's swords technique mentor. She met
him when Nozomu was training in the forest. At that time, he
was abandoned by Lisa and desperate for not being able to
fulfill his vows, and he trained hard.
It was
not training but escape. He tried not to think of his
lover by training until his body was ragged. It all started
when the old woman called out because she couldn't stand the
harshness and meaninglessness.
"It's about
time for dinner, Nozomu, prepare it."
"Yes,
Shishō"
Nozomu
answered the old woman's voice. Although his voice seems tired,
he prepares for dinner with a clear expression.
(It’s still
dragging, but he is growing.)
She looked
at him and muttered to herself.
When she
met him, he was practicing in the forest, but he was in a very
bad condition. His
muscles were thin and his cheeks were burning from the repetitive
exercises that didn't give him time to recover from the accumulated
fatigue. The skin of the hand holding the sword was peeled off, its
joints were inflamed, and his body was in tatters. It was so
terrible that she tried to interfere, but there were no signs of
stopping it. His
face at that time was as lifeless as it looked, and behind his eyes were
negative emotions that were even darker than he
looked. When she saw herself
in his eyes, she was very disgusted and immediately left
the place. She decided
to ignore him at one point, but over time she worried
about him.
Karma
flashed through her head, even if she tried not to think
about it, and when she went to see the situation, he was
attacked by a demon beast.
It was
a Wild Dog that was attacking. It is a demon beast that lives all
over the continent and usually acts in groups. The rank as a demon
beast is low and could be subdued by ordinary adventurers, but it was
a threat equal to a dragon to him who had reached the limit of exhaustion.
Nozomu's
consciousness was stunned, his body was injured and bleed all over. He had
no one around him to help. An ordinary person would give up in that
desperate situation, but he did not. He fought the stray dog,
even though he lost enough blood that he could have died of blood loss.
"I
don't want to die"
"Don't
give up"
Swordsmanship
and tactics were still immature. However, his eyes, which had
dark emotions, glowed with a clear and strong desire to "live" before
he knew it. When She saw
him, she was cutting up the Wild Dog that
was attacking him. A week
later, in front of her hut, she saw a boy holding
a katana, not a sword.
==========================================
Nozomu’s
POV
After
dinner and cleaning up, I sit on the opposite of Shishō who is drinking tea
after meals, and I also drink the tea.
I met
Shishō and studied swordsmanship, and I learned various things until this
day. I felt like I could see the light while struggling in the darkness.
Dumped
by Lisa, I couldn't fulfill the vow, and no one around me. Escaping by
continue doing absurd training every day, attacked by Wild Dog
until tattered. In the border between life and death, I felt that "I
didn't want to die" rather than the feeling that "I wanted to
die" anymore. The feeling of "I don't want to die" became
the feeling of "I want to live", and it became the feeling of
"I will not give up".
I was
saved by Shishō, became her disciple, and continued to practice.
It
hurts to remember Lisa anyway. But now I feel lighter than before.
It may
be because there is Shishō now.
With
that in mind, I see Shishō chewing on confectioneries with a
big smile. I feel like smiling to see the appearance of Shishō who
has demonic power, which is unsuitable for her age.
"Why looking at
people's face. Are you in love with me now?"
Immediately, I counterattack
the cheerful Shishō.
"Please
think about your age first before speaking. No matter how old I
am, Shishō's age range is a bit too much!"
A shock
ran down my spine when I said something like
that. Shishō clenched her fist like a punch and fired a
shockwave. What's more, this is the first time that the
confectionery on the table didn't even blown away.
"Nozomu, What
did you just say!?"
Shishō
looked at me with an expression of a hidden dragon. I run for
self-protection called apology, reflexively.
"No, It’s
Nothing, I just fascinated by Shishō "
Shishō
unnecessarily shows off advanced techniques even though she is only
Tsukkomi. She retires in a place like this, but her ability is
undoubtedly one of the best on the continent. I
remember when Shishō saying, "Line up with the best
swordsman in school."
By the
way, the best swordfighter in the school is Jihad Roundel. He is an
S-ranked knight and a well-known swordsman on the continent. Such
a person who is the same rank as Shishō. I wonder
what kind of person is he.
While
immersed in such a sea of thoughts, it is time to finish drinking
tea and eventually, return to the dormitory.
"Then,
Shishō. I will return to the dormitory.”
"Um,
see you tomorrow."
"Yes,
good night Shishō"
=============================================
Shino’s
POV
I
looked at Nozomu's back and returned to the hut.
He
became stronger. He is unaware of it because his physical
abilities were suppressed by his ability suppression, and his
sword skills have not yet reached my level, but he is quite close. Truly,
it seems an unreachable place.
It is
abnormal considering the growth in the past year.
From
the start, he was more suited to using a curved sword than the straight
sword used on this continent.
Rather
than smashing with the power of his arm, he used his entire body to cut.
It was
the efforts that made him stronger than anything else. Even if it comes
from an escape from reality. In the beginning, He only did simple swings
all day long and ran through the forest earnestly.
Naturally,
he was attacked by a demon beast, but he managed to do it on his
own. As expected, I took care of the leftover opponents so that He
would not notice it.
Next is
mock battle. Naturally,
I devote all my skills on him to the point of not dying. He was knocked down
without any help, and fractures, vomiting, and fainting were
common. Now He can handle it, and it is unlikely
that He will have a serious injury such as a broken bone. He has
endured the training I imposed. An average guy would quit in less than a
week.
With
his current skills and without his ability suppression, there is
no doubt that he will be able to beat me. Even so, the fact that he
couldn't win mock fights and his grades at school didn't improve was
largely due to his ability suppression. Limited in strength and energy, almost
no magical power that even beginner magic couldn't be used. Strengthening with Qi and items
has almost no effect, and enhancement magic was unusable.
In
order to fill these flaws, He refined his skill and Qi control, but the skill
He uses is inevitably one-point concentrated high power, and the killing
ability is extremely high, so He can't use them in school
simulation battles.
Muscular
strength, which requires instantaneous power, is severely restricted by
ability suppression, but fortunately, the person's basic abilities such as
motor nerves and endurance do not seem to be suppressed, so He was able to
train.
However,
since the effect of strengthening such as Qi is so low, the effect will
not be visible, and if the opponent strengthens, the opponent will surpass
even his unsuppressed ability.
It
doesn't work very well.
Another thing
to worry about is that his future goals have not been set.
It is
"for life", might be good, but it may not be like that
in the future.
If you
say "what makes you stronger", you need a "core in your
heart". If you using power without the "core of your
heart", you will eventually be swayed by that power.
His
core has already broken once.
I don't
know what he will do in the future, but I will teach him everything.
Don't
let him regret it, like me.
