This chapter was brought to you by the collaboration between PolterGlast and Saekano Translations.
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Volume 1 Chapter 4.5
The Realization of the Escapism, and
the First Step Part 5
Translator : PolterGlast
After the classes
ended, Nozomu immediately rushed back to Shino's hut.
He was really anxious
about the final exam and did not want Anri to pursue the previous matter any
further, but he was also a little concerned about Shino's behavior, who had
told him to return immediately.
He was also concerned
that the battle with Tiamat might have some effect on Shino.
The fact that she had
never tried to approach Arcazam before, but had followed him to the town,
saying she was there to escort him, was also bothering him.
By the time Nozomu
arrived at Shino's hut, he found her enjoying a cup of tea on the porch of the
hut.
On a plate beside a
teapot filled with tea, a cookie made of flour, which was not particularly rare
on the continent, was placed as a complimentary snack.
"Oh~, you're here
Nozomu?"
Shino, upon noticing
Nozomu's arrival, waved at him.
Nozomu, who had been
worried about her condition inwardly, was taken aback by the sight of Shino
with a cup of tea in her hand and her cheeks bulging like a squirrel's with
cookies.
"Shisho, what's
the matter? As I said in the morning, the final exams are coming up soon, so if
I don't start preparing for them, I'll be in serious trouble."
"Now, now, don't
say that. Just stay with me for today. Don't call yourself a man if you don't
accept an invitation from a beautiful woman like me~."
Nozomu's expression of
bewilderment became tense upon hearing his master's unexpected remark. His
mouth tightened into a straight line, and he turned his gaze on Shino as if he
were staring at something fishy.
"...... Shisho.
Have you been drinking sake in the daytime?"
"Of course not.
I'm sure you can tell just by looking~."
Shino's mouth
contorted in dissatisfaction over Nozomu's words, but her every word was
strangely wavering.
Nozomu tilted his head
at his master's words and actions, which were like a small boat rocked by the
waves, and picked up one of the cookies and sniffed it.
The cookie, with dried
fruit kneaded into the dough, smelled of strong alcohol. Looking closely at
Shino's face, he saw that her wrinkled face had become slightly flushed.
"Shisho, what are
these cookies?"
"Hmm? I saw these
cookies at a stall when I was in town, so I bought them. I couldn't find such
delicious cookies in my hometown, you know~."
"So this is the
cause. Shisho, you must be weak on alcohol ......"
Alcohol is inseparable
from confectionery in terms of preservation, aromatization, and flavoring.
Nevertheless, even if alcohol is used, the amount of alcohol contained is
usually not enough to make one intoxicated.
Nozomu's expression
turned indescribable at his master's unexpected weakness.
Meanwhile, Shino,
drunk and in a good mood, took Nozomu's hand and made him sit next to her.
"Forget about
that, come on, why don't you sit down beside me?"
"O-o-ouch!
Shisho, don't force my joints, you'll break them!"
From Nozomu's mouth
came out a shriek of agony due to the intense pain.
Perhaps it was an
instinctive action, but Shino's arm was covered with a faint glow of Qi.
Naturally, arm
strength strengthened by Qi could easily destroy a person's joints.
The fact that she
could instinctively adjust her arm to the perfect amount of force whether or
not Nozomu's joints would be broken showed how skilled she was and how
accustomed she was to beat Nozomu.
"Ugh ...... what
a terrible master."
"Again, address
such words to your master ....... Do you even have the slightest bit of respect
toward your master?"
Nozomu, who was forced
to sit down, stroked his aching wrist and had tears in his eyes.
Shino, on the other
hand, was puffing her cheeks out in dissatisfaction over her complaining
disciple.
Nozomu, too, looked
displeased at Shino's lack of apology.
Perhaps it was because
he had cried after the battle with Tiamat and revealed his feelings in front of
her. The distance between the two of them, who had only been master and
disciple, had definitely grown closer.
It was a very delicate
distance that could neither be called friend nor family.
However, they had lost
a certain reservedness and were now able to speak more frankly toward each
other. It was a way of interaction between people that Nozomu and Shino had
lacked for a long time.
"Or course, I
respect you. If only my master hadn't said something so vicious and
deceitful."
"Wait a minute,
who are you calling a deceitful person? Besides, when did I ever say anything
like that?"
"Master, you're
lying when you say you're a beautiful woman. You are a former beauty!"
However, it was by no
means always appropriate to be so blunt.
Since both of them
were originally failures at communication, their blunt words could be offensive
to others.
"...... alright,
sit still."
Shino took on a devilish
expression and put her hand on the katana that was propped up on the edge of
the room. At the same time, a visibly deadly atmosphere rose up from her body.
The wild birds in the
forest let out a cry that resembled a scream and flapped their wings in unison,
trying to get as far away from this place as possible.
It was scary as hell.
With these thoughts in his mind, Nozomu was sweating cold sweat in front of his
master's figure.
Her hair stood up, and
her appearance was that of a hideously man-eating ogre. Considering her
hometown, we should say Yasha.
(B-, but, I will not
stay down forever!)
Nozomu, who has lost
his restraint due to their growing closeness to each other, was also fired up
as he recalled the torture he had been subjected to in the name of training.
He was always beaten
to a pulp by the slightest joke, and even his tsukkomi was met with a technique
that would kill him instantly.
She could control the
amount of power whether to kill or not, but she could not control her actions according
to the situation at all.
Shino who refused to
accept this law of equivalent exchange needed to be taught to hold back.
Otherwise, Nozomu would never get out of the stupid habit of fainting on a
daily basis in his daily life.
"E-, even I can't
just bow down to such an unreasonable master forever either- ......"
But before he could
finish his declaration of war, *Shing!*. A sound of a katana being drawn could
be heard, and it was pressed against his neck.
"What's
wrong?"
"...... No, it's
nothing. Shisho, you're beautiful today too~"
Nozomu, in the face of
his master, who was spewing flames, even his declaration of war was silenced,
and he surrendered with all hands raised.
"Hmph!"
"Ouch!"
*Smack!* Nozomu's head
was hit with a fist.
"Good grief, you
really don't understand women's feelings, do you? ......"
"Ouch, Shisho,
did you say something?"
"Nothing. Well,
come with me for a second."
After a brief pause
from their little quarrel, Shino abruptly began to talk about something out of
the blue.
About her homeland.
About her family. About what she had been doing since she arrived on this
continent.
She also wanted to
hear about Nozomu's stories, and although he was a little hesitant, he began to
tell her some of his old days.
The life in his home
village, his parents, the incidents at the school, his broken relationship and
downfall, his encounter with his master, and his training days.
Although some of his
stories were things that Shino already knew, she still wanted to hear them.
She nodded her head
and kept listening happily as if she wanted to relive it all over again.
She would simply say a
few words to the disciple beside her as if she were memorizing them for herself
so that she would never forget them.
Their conversation
seemed to be very ordinary.
Where is your
hometown? How is your family? What do you like?
Such ordinary
conversations. They had never exchanged even such ordinary conversations.
She taught him by the
katana, and she talked to him by the katana.
Katana, Katana,
Katana.
That was all Shino had
ever taught him, and that was all Nozomu wanted.
It was a relationship
that would make others feel a little sad if they heard it. However, Shino
thought it was what most suited them, and smiled wryly.
Perhaps that was why.
Walking the streets of Arcazam as an escort and having just a normal
conversation like this were both very refreshing.
Above all, she was
glad to see her disciple's expression changing after hearing what she had to
say.
She had thought that
she would never again exchange words with people with this kind of feeling.
No, she was
intentionally avoiding doing so.
Just as Nozomu
unconsciously ran away by using "desperate training" as an excuse
because he was "dumped by his girlfriend" and "felt confined and
unable to break out of his current situation", Shino also ran away and
turned away from "getting involved with people" because she was
"betrayed by her family".
(I have no
qualifications to criticize my disciple ......)
Shino smiled
self-deprecatingly, saying that she was truly a failure.
At the same time, she
felt immense gratitude toward her disciple, who admired such a failure of a
master.
Despite what he was
saying with his mouth, even the insensitive Shino could see that Nozomu placed
his trust in her. This disciple, like Shino, is a person who thirsts for human
connection.
(If I had been born a
few decades earlier. If I had not suffered from this disease ...... I would
have wished to continue to accompany you.)
Shino's heartfelt
wish. But the bond between them was not that of lovers, but that of teacher and
student.
She was a little
regretful of that, but still, there was one last thing she could leave behind
in Nozomu's heart.
It's good enough. Just
this is enough. There is not much time left.
(I'll give the place
beside you to someone who can walk alongside you.)
She pushed down the
slight ache tingling in her chest and looked up at her disciple, who was
sitting next to her.
She had always thought
of him as inexperienced, but he was much more mature than she was.
The sun was already
setting and the scenery around the hut was turning red before she knew it.
"Then. Shall we
begin our last training?"
She took a regretful
glance at the sun, which was disappearing behind the trees, and said these
words as casually as if she were going for a walk.
◆
The last training.
Nozomu looked puzzled, not understanding the meaning of the word.
"Umm, Shisho
...... what do you mean by last?"
"Exactly as it
sounds. This is the last training I can offer you."
However, despite his
disciple's bewilderment, Shino's demeanor was the same as usual.
With an air of
aloofness, she hopped down from the porch and strode to the garden of the hut
where she had always done her training.
Her steps were the
same as usual. But Nozomu felt an inexpressible sense of unease as he watched
her back.
"As I said! What
do you mean by "last" ......!?"
"Your last
training will be ...... to seriously kill each other with me."
Nozomu could not
understand what his master was saying.
The words that he
could not understand were spinning around in his head like pulleys that had
lost their gears.
"W-, what are you
talking about? Shisho, don't make such a bad joke."
Ignoring the questions
of her disciple, who could not hide his agitation, Shino stood in the center of
the garden and slowly readied the sheathed katana at her waist.
Her eyes, which should
have been relaxed by the idle talk just a moment ago, were already tense and
her body radiated a heavy air of dominance.
"Shisho, please
answer me."
"I'm not going to
say anything. What is the point of asking every single reason from someone who
really wants to kill you?"
"Shisho!"
Nozomu nevertheless
kept on asking his master.
Nozomu has been
trained so much that he understood that it would be foolish to keep on asking
her. In the face of her dominance, it was easy to see that she was serious.
However, whether his
heart could accept it or not was another matter.
"Please answer
me! What do you mean by 'the last'? And what are you thinking, that we should
kill each other!?"
She said nothing.
Instead, she showed her intention with clear actions.
Just as Shino's body
seemed to blur for a moment, a ferocious killing intent struck Nozomu.
The next moment, she
was already right in front of Nozomu. The katana sheathed in its scabbard was
drawn, and she came at Nozomu's neck at a speed that did not even allow her to
be perceived.
"~!"
The defensive
instincts that were already ingrained into the core of his body made Nozomu
respond to the swift, godspeed-like strike.
Reflexively, he bent
down and rolled on the ground as if to escape from the place.
Shino's slash cut
through the air, but she used the momentum of her sword swing to unleash a
roundhouse kick.
Nozomu quickly raised
his right arm to block the kick, but the kick, reinforced with Qi, was so heavy
that he was blown away and slammed into a tree at the edge of the garden.
"Guh
......."
Nozomu frowned at the
pain running down his back, but he bit his lip, jumped back from the spot, and
drew his katana to prepare himself for the follow-up attack. He raised his
voice again as he held up his katana.
"Shisho, what on
earth are you trying to do!?"
His master still said
nothing, but simply and quietly pointed the tip of her katana at him.
Although her lips were
closed in a straight line, her eyes declared loudly that she had no intention
of speaking.
Nozomu gritted his
teeth at Shino's refusal to say anything.
His master was always
like this. She would make one-sided assertions without allowing him to ask any
questions during training, and if he objected in any way, she would make him do
twice as much training, which was beyond unreasonable.
However, even though
Nozomu had experienced such training, he was clearly feeling something strange
about the way Shino was behaving now.
(This is strange.
Shisho might have done things that 'could kill me,' but she had never really
tried to 'kill me.')
But now she was
directing her dense killing intent at Nozomu, and the earlier strike was also
aimed at his neck.
While Nozomu was
readying his katana in confusion, suddenly Shino's presence fizzled out and her
figure blurred again. Immediately afterward, a powerful killing intent was
released from the left side of his body.
"Kuh."
Nozomu reflexively
boosted his Qi, applied physical strengthening, and raised his katana.
Immediately after, an ear-splitting
metal clash sounded.
Nozomu miraculously
blocked Shino's slash, but she continued to unleash a barrage of blows in rapid
succession.
A downward slash at
the left shoulder, a lateral slash at the left side, an upward slash at the
right side, and an upward slash at the left side. A storm of extremely precise
slashes was launched in a fluid and smooth movement.
The storm of slashes,
which could not be imagined to have been released from the old woman's slender
arms, dealt a shock to Nozomu's arms as if Shino had also physically
strengthened herself.
Nozomu intercepted the
deadly slashes, retreating little by little as if to escape from the pressure
of the slashes that came in succession.
His knees, hips, arms,
and entire body worked together without waste to parry his master's blade.
But in spite of that,
Nozomu was still overwhelmed. Although they were both swordsmen of the same
style, Shino's skill, physical ability, and experience were all superior to
Nozomu's.
"Guh!"
Nozomu was hit by a
powerful diagonal slash, unable to resist, and used his [Flash Step] to break
away.
However, Shino also
immediately activated her [Flash Step]. In the blink of an eye, she caught up
with Nozomu, who was trying to break away, and launched a pursuit attack.
One blow, two blows,
three blows, they clashed with each other's blades as they moved at high speed.
As twilight passed and
darkness began to envelop the surroundings, only the trails of their blades,
illuminated by the full moon, revealed their presence.
"Ha!"
"Fuh!"
Their movements, which
had been linear, had somehow changed to curving movements that seemed to circle
around each other.
Qi-jutsu [Flash Step・Curved Movement]
This is an advanced
version of the Qi-jutsu [Flash Step]. An extremely difficult technique that
requires a good sense of balance to completely control the momentum of [Flash
Step] and delicate body manipulation to link all body movements without waste.
This technique enables
complicated curved movements of the legs, which originally can only move in a
straight line, but because it changes the direction of movement while moving at
high speed, if the user were to lose his/her balance, he/she would be struck
with great force to the ground and suffer a serious injury.
Nozomu and Shino used
such advanced techniques without difficulty and continued to collide with each
other while spiraling into the darkness of the night.
However, Shino was
also superior when it came to fighting with [Flash Step・Curved Movement]. It was natural that Shino's [Flash
Step・Curved Movement] was
superior to that of Nozomu, who was under [Ability Suppression].
Gradually, he fell
behind and was finally stopped by Shino, who had moved ahead of him.
"Damn!"
Once again, Nozomu was
forced into a situation where he and Shino came to a halt.
She then removed the
scabbard from her waist and carried it in her left hand, becoming a dual
wielder and attacking Nozomu.
"Kuh!"
Aiming for an opening,
Shino swung her scabbard with her left hand, targeting the torso.
Nozomu stepped back to
avoid the scabbard that had been reinforced with Qi.
Shino's katana-jutsu
is designed for actual combat. It is a comprehensive combat technique that
interweaves not only katana-jutsu but also the sheath and taijutsu.
Depending on the
situation, Shino would use whatever was available, whether it was a stone or a
branch that had fallen in the vicinity.
The sheath,
strengthened by Qi-jutsu, could easily break a person's bones.
With her dual-wielding
style, Shino's blows became less powerful, but her attacks grew more
concentrated, and her sword and scabbard were like the jaws of a wolf, closing
in on Nozomu.
Nozomu also
reflexively removed his scabbard from the sword belt at his waist and changed
to a dual-wielding style. He was able to handle the stormy attacks of his
master.
However, he was still
being pushed back due to the difference in their abilities and skills. And when
he could no longer intercept the attack with his dual-wielding style, he was
caught by a blow from Shino's scabbard.
"Guaah!"
With a dull sound,
Shino's sheath struck Nozomu's left arm.
Nozomu reflexively
focused his Qi on the point of impact and tried to minimize the damage as much
as possible, but the impact of Shino's blow was so great that his left arm became
numb and rendered unusable.
Seizing the
opportunity of Nozomu's slowed movement, Shino flashed her katana in her right
hand horizontally in a single strike.
Nozomu could not
intercept it with his katana in time. Nozomu forced himself to bend his body and
somehow managed to avoid the slash, but this time Shino's kick flew at him.
Nozomu, finding it
impossible to avoid, attempted to kill the force of her kick, even if only
slightly, by leaping backward.
"Ugh
......!"
The impact on his
abdomen was so strong that it turned his internal organs upside down, and
combined with the fact that he had originally leaped backward, Nozomu's body
was blown far away.
The situation seemed
as if it were a repeat of the first bout. However, in reality, it was not.
This time, Nozomu
willingly got blown away. Therefore, he was quick to take the next action.
While gliding along
the ground, he whipped his aching arm and sheathed his katana.
At the moment his back
was slammed to the ground, he took an ukemi stance (breakfall technique in
martial arts), sent his Qi to the katana as he leaped backward, and extremely
compressed it.
Half-hearted
techniques would not work on Shino. Although the number of times he could use
it was limited due to the amount of Qi he had, Nozomu put his hope in his most
reliable technique.
[Qi-jutsu・Phantom]
A blade of extremely
compressed Qi flew at high speed. It was supposed to land on Shino before he
could even blink.
"Wha!"
But the reality
betrayed him.
The moment Nozomu
released his [Phantom], there was a bursting sound like burning charcoal
popping at the exact midpoint between him and Shino. The extremely compressed
Qi diffused and dispersed into the surroundings.
Looking closely,
Nozomu noticed that before he knew it, Shino was in the same quick-draw stance
as him and had her katana drawn. She effortlessly intercepted Nozomu's [Phantom].
Nozomu was taken aback
by this unbelievable situation. There was no way she could have missed such an
opening.
"~!"
"Crap-......"
Shino rushed forward
with [Flash Step]. Nozomu hurriedly tried to pull the katana back, but clearly
did not make it in time.
Then Shino's katana,
which was already imbued with Qi, took the opposite trajectory from the
previous strike and slashed across Nozomu's body in a diagonal slash. Fresh
blood gushed out from the wound.
"Argh ......
guh!"
Nozomu kneeled on the
ground, unable to put strength into his legs due to so much pain and the loss
of blood.
What Shino did was
quite simple. She canceled out Nozomu's [Phantom] with the same [Phantom].
But it was an
unbelievable feat that would not have been possible under normal circumstances.
[Phantom] is a
Qi-jutsu that is extremely difficult to see because it compresses Qi so thin
that it is close to a strand of hair, and because it flies at a high speed.
In order to intercept
with the same Qi-jutsu, the blade of Qi had to be released precisely on the
same trajectory with no deviations.
Shino was able to do
this without difficulty, which was far more difficult than threading a needle.
The difference in
ability between Nozomu and Shino was obvious. Skill, ability, and experience.
She was better than Nozomu in every way, and there was not a single element in
which Nozomu could win.
[I can't win]
Nozomu was caught up
in such thoughts, and his master's words echoed in his ears.
"Nozomu, release
your [Ability Suppression]."
Hearing those words,
Nozomu forgot the pain in his chest and let out a surprised voice,
"What?".
"You know what
I'm talking about. The only way for you to defeat me is to release your
[Ability Suppression]."
While holding the
wound on his chest that was causing him intense pain, Nozomu agreed with his
master's words.
Indeed, it was the
only way for him to defeat her. He immediately understood that it was the only
possibility he had.
At the same time,
however, Nozomu's mind was flooded with that dream.
Tiamat inside the lake
and the strong uneasiness he felt at that moment. Within the eyes of the
chained Dragon King that he had seen in his dream, there was a firm
determination, and vindictiveness that made his hair stand on end.
Could it be a
characteristic unique to the spirit species? Perhaps even though its body is
already destroyed, its soul is still intact and surviving inside Nozomu. And
perhaps his [Ability Suppression] coincidentally suppresses not only its power,
but also its soul?
Nozomu looked down at
his own body, which was stained with his own blood.
He stared at the
invisible chains that were wrapped around his dyed-red body.
His body remembered
the feeling of the chains being ripped off.
Nozomu was convinced
that even if his arm had lost its strength due to blood loss, he would somehow
be able to rip it off.
"Haa, haa, haa
......"
But Nozomu's hand
refused to move. He could not make a decision while breathing roughly, and
could only keep staring at his blood-stained arm.
The only way to win
against the serious master was to tear this chain to shreds. But if he did so,
Tiamat would be freed.
"Are you still
hesitating?"
Shino once again came
at Nozomu with a slash.
Nozomu, being on his
knees, raised his katana and managed to block the direct slash, but Shino took
the opportunity to start mercilessly striking Nozomu with her scabbard and then
kicking him.
"Ugh,
guaah!"
Nozomu's entire body
was in extreme pain and combined with the unstoppable bleeding, his
consciousness was rapidly being drained away.
His vision blurred and
his hearing became distant. As if he had fallen into a cold sea, the sensation
in his limbs faded.
(Am I going to die
here?)
Perhaps it was because
he was fighting against Shino. The intense survival instinct that had
overflowed inside Nozomu at the time of the battle against Tiamat was not
welling up in his heart, and a sense of resignation was beginning to spread, as
if to say, "If it's Shisho, so be it."
But then, Shino's face
appeared in Nozomu's blurred vision.
Though his vision was
obscured by the bleeding and he could not see clearly, he could see that his
master's face was contorted in anguish.
It was as if she was
stifling her remorse.
(Why are you making
such a face?)
Just as this question
popped into Nozomu's head, with a face that looked as if she was about to cry,
she told him,
"Nozomu, I am
going to die soon. It won't be long."
◆
