Unity (2)
Leon stood there savoring the achievement of having vaulted over that wall.
Then his head spun.
“Huh…?”
His stamina had already been scraped down to the absolute bottom. In that state he had burned through his mental energy in a single burst, and every last scrap of strength left him.
“Ah, shit…”
The ground tilted in his vision.
Thud.
The world went black.
Leon woke the next morning.
Late evening, the infirmary.
Fragments of moonlight slipping through the window framed a single figure.
Arms folded, a woman with sky-blue bobbed hair looked down in silence.
Soft, even breaths rose from the black-haired boy lying with his eyes closed beneath her gaze.
Ceren let her mind drift back over the day’s events.
What rose first was the look in those eyes behind the sealed lids—ferocious, unyielding, hard as tempered steel. A gaze that intense.
Her lips twitched once, a faint tremor.
She reached out carefully and laid a pale hand on the boy’s chest.
The hot pulse of his heart and the long, steady rhythm of his breathing traveled up through her palm.
A careful stream of mana began to flow into him. Under her touch his breathing eased and the color returned to his face.
For a moment she simply watched him, then gave her head a sharp shake.
Still too soon.
She pressed the floating feeling back down into place and left.
Body feels pretty good.
Leon had woken before dawn on the infirmary bed, returned to the dorm, washed up, and headed out. He met Carotin in the cafeteria.
“…So after you put on that show and got carried off, every last complaint just vanished. They all started swinging their swords like their lives depended on it, as if nothing had ever happened.”
Leon’s fork stopped mid-air.
“Complaints? What complaints?”
“Hm? You know—after the run, when the instructor ordered downward strikes. The others kicked up a huge fuss.”
Leon had been sealed off in absolute focus at the time; he had never heard a thing. Once Carotin filled him in, he let out a short, furious laugh.
“Wow. If I’d known then, I would’ve cracked every single one of their skulls.”
They’d run less than him, rested first, and still had the gall to complain?
If you were going to bitch, you kept your mouth shut unless you were the one leading the charge.
Carotin agreed, though for a slightly different reason.
“Exactly. Defying an instructor’s order—is that something people who made it all the way to Elprime should be doing? On the very first day, no less. If I’d had any strength left, I would’ve yanked every last tooth out of their heads.”
“Uh… yeah. Right.”
Something about that point feels off…
Leon nodded with a vaguely unsettled expression.
Morning theory classes ran four periods: history, general education, society, monster traits and countermeasures, mana circulation, combat techniques and strategy, and so on. Some subjects were common to every first-year; others were pure martial theory for the combat track.
Leon sprawled out and slept through anything that failed to interest him—history, for example—and actually paid attention to the ones that did, like combat technique. That was how the morning slipped by, and lunch arrived before he knew it.
“…That will be all for today’s class.”
The noon bell rang; the fourth-period professor finished. Cadets rose in a noisy rush, the room suddenly loud.
“Leon, wake up. It’s lunch.”
“Mmh… already?”
Leon wiped the drool from his mouth and stretched.
The corridor outside was far too crowded. Once he was fully awake he noticed the unusual crush of people.
“Whoa… she’s ridiculously pretty.”
“Which house is she from?”
“Dude, go talk to her.”
“Yeah right. You do it.”
The male students especially were losing their minds.
Someone show up?
Leon slipped out into the hall.
Beyond the knot of bodies stood a single girl, quiet and composed. Soft black hair falling straight, skin as white and clean as porcelain, clear features and long lashes framing gem-like blue eyes.
She gave not the slightest reaction to the whispers swirling around her. She simply radiated a clear “do not approach” aura in every direction and kept her indifferent gaze fixed on empty air.
Then her eyes met Leon’s.
In an instant the blank mask shattered; a bright smile bloomed across her face.
The boys who saw it felt their hearts stop and sucked in sharp breaths.
A delighted voice rang out.
“Master!!”
Leon’s body locked solid as he approached her.
A heavy silence slammed down over the corridor.
Strange looks poured onto him from every side.
Leon brought Aria and Carotin to the cafeteria. Once the three of them were seated, Carotin suddenly spoke with a serious face.
“Leon.”
“What?”
Carotin kept glancing at Aria.
“Officially… human trafficking is illegal in the Empire. Inside the academy you might want to be a little more careful…”
“It’s not that.”
Leon pressed a hand to his forehead and whispered to Aria.
“At least call me Leon when there are people around.”
Aria’s lips pushed out in a small pout, but she understood the damage it would do to his reputation and finally nodded.
A tray settled onto the seat beside him.
“Leon Crusif.”
He looked up. A silver ponytail swayed.
“Mind if I sit?”
“Well now, if it isn’t Her Highness the Imperial Princess. Of course.”
Esabel sat, looked him over from head to toe, and her expression shifted to open surprise.
“…I heard there was a breakthrough. So it was true.”
Word already got out?
“Instructor Ceren taught me well.”
“…It’s only been three days since the term started.”
Leon gave the dazed princess a slow, curling smile.
“Reclaiming the second-rank seat might take you a little while, huh?”
The blatant provocation made Esabel bristle for a second, but he wasn’t wrong. She had lost to him not long ago; now that he had grown even stronger, how was she supposed to win?
“Tch.”
She clicked her tongue once and turned her attention to her food. Her plate was piled high with nothing but meat—not a single vegetable in sight.
Leon glanced at the plate and clicked his tongue in return.
“No wonder your skills aren’t improving if you eat like that.”
“…You really want to go right now?”
Fortunately, before Esabel could pull out a handkerchief, two more trays landed on Leon’s other side.
“Leon, congratulations.”
“Oh…”
Liana and Celia. Both of them were looking at him with open admiration.
Leon scratched the back of his head.
Rumors really do fly around here.
Reaching Expert Intermediate at eighteen was an exceptional growth rate; it was only natural. That level was enough to walk into most knight orders without trouble. He was the only first-year who had managed it, and plenty of second-years still hadn’t reached intermediate. Anyone with even mild interest already knew.
And so an accidental six-person lunch took shape: four from ducal houses, an imperial princess, and Aria, who looked for all the world like a high-born young lady. The combination was so intimidating that the seats around them emptied in a perfect circle.
“Leon, so what exactly did you do to hit intermediate?”
“I heard you collapsed yesterday—are you feeling all right?”
Celia and Liana spoke at the exact same moment the instant they sat down, as if they had rehearsed it. Esabel, curious about the rest of the story, simply watched him.
Three pairs of bright, beautiful eyes locked onto him at once.
A sudden chill made Leon turn his head to the left.
Aria was wearing a stiff little smile and leaking cold air in every direction. She leaned in close to his ear and whispered.
“Master… you’ve already made so many ‘friends,’ haven’t you?”
She put a peculiar emphasis on the word friends.
After lunch Leon met Aria alone for a moment. The shadows of a quiet alley hid them both.
He took out a cigarette and asked,
“How’s it going?”
“You mean Burrow? Nothing unusual yet. He’s still just reading the atmosphere.”
“Yeah, still too early.”
Leon nodded and slowly exhaled smoke.
“Keep watching him. If he ever approaches you… you remember what I told you last time?”
Aria answered with a bright, matter-of-fact smile.
Seeing it, Leon smiled too.
There was no need to add anything more. Her work was reliable.