Do You Want to Have Lunch With Me?
I swung my sword while asking the question. It held no intricate techniques whatsoever, but that didn’t matter. Techniques were nothing more than auxiliary tools meant to wield power with greater delicacy and precision. For a force that had already reached perfection on its own, such things were unnecessary…
“There wasn’t enough time, so I was worried we’d only manage to create the sword itself without any techniques. But it turned out fine.”
“Indeed, it is a shame we couldn’t unfold the sword properly. Still, time is on our side.”
“Both of you, shut up.”
…Yeah. He was right. Techniques? After how long it took just to manifest a single sword, where was I supposed to find time for fancy moves? Honestly, even swinging the blade roughly would produce terrifying power. Searching for techniques in a fight like this was a luxury. The priority was simply maintaining the sword for as long as possible.
‘Besides, Heavenly Demon Slash… even if I do say so myself, that’s an incredibly cool name.’
Out of all the possibilities, how had I come up with something this stylish? Good. From now on, I’d keep giving every new move an equally awesome name.
“I just got chills.”
“Hah, it’s been a while since my body trembled like this. Anyway, disciple, prepare for the recoil.”
The moment the Heavenly Demon finished speaking, an overwhelming wave of exhaustion swept through my entire body.
“Ugh…”
Standing straight was difficult. Had it always carried this much strain? When I’d created the sword back in the soul training ground, it hadn’t felt anywhere near this bad.
“Why are you making that face like something’s strange? It’s only natural after using Fox’s Grudge at maximum stacks.”
“You used every ounce of strength while your physical abilities were enhanced, so the recoil is naturally worse than usual.”
Ah, so that was it. I’d have to think more carefully before using it next time.
Thanks to the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, my body should have returned to peak condition as if time had rewound. Yet the recoil this time had been far stronger than expected, leaving me still staggering under the fatigue.
‘Still, this should end it.’
It was an attack that Garein’s power could never have blocked. He would have needed to use both arms at full strength while wielding his specialized weapon. And if he did that, he would have broken his own rules. The spar would clearly be my victory.
“But what if he doesn’t get hurt?”
“That’s a truly pointless worry.”
“Even we would take considerable damage if we took that attack head-on, you know?”
Their confident declarations made me nod as I waited for the dust to settle. The wind sweeping across the training ground slowly cleared the cloud of debris. Inside, I could make out two blurry yet distinct black silhouettes.
‘Wait, two silhouettes?’
Along with my confusion, a familiar voice belonging to Garein rang out from within.
“Why did you intervene?”
“My, even after I blocked that brutish attack for you, that’s how coldly you respond?”
The unfamiliar voice that followed was unmistakably female. A mysterious woman had suddenly appeared. And from her claim that she had blocked the attack in his place, it seemed she had jumped in midway to stop my strike.
“More importantly, clear away this dust.”
“Okay~.”
A powerful gust swirled around us, and everything obscuring our vision vanished in an instant. Everyone, including me, could now clearly see the woman standing before Garein.
She wore a robe adorned with brilliant jewels and form-fitting clothes that perfectly accentuated her figure. Her red wine-colored hair and golden eyes that looked as if they had been cast from molten gold marked her as the instructor in charge of Class C alongside Garein.
The Witch of the Scales. Libra Plencia.
“Kyaaah! P-Professor Libra?!”
“H-her arm!”
“What the—? Why is the professor’s arm…!”
The students screamed in panic the moment they saw her. It was understandable. The Libra before us was missing an entire arm, as if it had been blown clean off.
‘No wonder there wasn’t any collateral damage. She must have used her ability.’
Unlike the students, I immediately understood why she was in that state. Libra’s ability, known as the Witch of the Scales.
The Price of the Scales
It was a power that granted any desired outcome in exchange for an equivalent price. Originally, it could only be used by members of the imperial family through the authority of the Scales. Yet for some unknown reason, she was the sole individual who could wield that power despite not being royalty.
“Garein. What is that?”
“Watch your tongue. She is my student.”
“Pfft! Student? You’re calling this a student?”
Libra pointed at her missing arm in response to Garein’s words.
“That attack had power no ordinary barrier could stop. Even offering one of my arms wasn’t enough. I had to sacrifice a whole bunch of my treasured jewels as well.”
Just as she said, the jewels that had been elegantly set into one side of her coat had all lost their light and shattered.
“She converted the price she received into jewels to reduce the damage? How familiar.”
“Ugh… I don’t want to remember that…”
“If I hadn’t blocked it, you would have died. Understand?”
“I wouldn’t have died. Now restore your arm quickly. It’s unpleasant to look at.”
“Sigh… Yeah, that’s just like you.”
Libra let out a small sigh at Garein’s attitude, then took out four jewels.
“I shall restore the arm I lost moments ago. The price shall be these jewels.”
⟨ The Price of the Scales ⟩
Golden scales floated into the air and erupted with light. It was proof that the price she offered had been properly accepted. When the light pouring from the scales faded, Libra’s arm had miraculously regrown, completely unharmed.
‘As expected, Libra’s Scales ability is just too overpowered.’
Normally, the price offered to the Scales had to be paid with one’s own body or physical sacrifice. Things like “not sleeping for a week” or “losing vision in one eye for three days” would qualify, but offering jewels as payment should have been impossible. Yet Libra was the sole exception who could pay with jewels.
“Ugh, my precious jewels…”
“Libra, why are you even here?”
She looked at Garein as if she couldn’t believe he was asking, then pointed at the current time.
“Good grief. It’s already lunchtime and not a single student from your class was visible, so I came to check. You should at least feed the children, shouldn’t you?”
The clock she showed read 12:30. In other words, class time was over. It was currently lunch.
“Ah, it was lunchtime already?”
“I was so focused on the fight I didn’t even notice the time passing.”
“No wonder I felt a bit hungry.”
“What’s for lunch today?”
“No idea.”
The students finally realized it wasn’t class time anymore and began chattering noisily. Having seized control of the situation in an instant, Libra started scolding Garein, then suddenly turned to me. She strode forward without hesitation and reached out to touch my face.
“Oh my goodness, now that I look closely, this child’s condition is terrible! You called him your disciple earlier, yet you tormented him like this?!”
“Mmph.”
“Does it hurt a lot? I’ll heal you right away. Just wait a moment.”
“Those injuries should heal easily in the infirmary…”
“Are you insane? That would hurt terribly. This level of injury doesn’t even require jewels. Just stay still, dear.”
“……”
Golden scales appeared once more.
“Heal this child’s wounds. The price shall be… the feeling of fullness obtained from eating lunch just now.”
⟨ The Price of the Scales ⟩
Since I only had bruises and no serious injuries, the light cost instantly healed me. She examined my body from every angle, smiled in satisfaction, then shouted to the students.
“Everyone! Hurry and go eat! Since you ate late, class will start that much later too!”
“Wait, why are you the one deciding…”
“The ending time will be the same as usual, so don’t worry! Today’s lunch has delicious options, so go quickly!”
The students glanced at their homeroom teacher. When they saw him close his eyes without saying anything, they began leaving the training ground one by one. Libra watched them depart with a satisfied nod, then turned back to Garein.
“Ah, and you can go hungry. I just used up your lunch filling to heal those wounds.”
“You’ve been doing whatever you want since earlier.”
“You wouldn’t have had time to eat anyway because of the injury treatment. From the look of things, you didn’t even receive proper healing and just kept fighting like a brute.”
She was exactly right.
“Exactly right.”
“One hundred out of one hundred points.”
“Looking at how comfortably they interact, they seem quite close.”
The Heavenly Demon muttered while watching Garein and Libra. Indeed, to an outsider their interaction would seem remarkably casual and familiar.
“Didn’t you know? Those two used to serve as guards for the now-deceased Third Prince.”
“How do you know that?”
“We gather information about this place every day, you know? These days, not knowing such things gets you called outdated.”
“…Shut up. Disciple, you should go eat as well.”
I nodded at the Heavenly Demon’s words and turned to leave for lunch. Suddenly, Libra placed a hand on my shoulder from behind.
‘What is she scheming?’
Given her personality and background, she wasn’t the type to casually invite a student to eat with her.
“Those are impure eyes.”
“They don’t look like scheming eyes though.”
“Shut up.”
When I didn’t answer, Libra leaned in close so Garein wouldn’t hear and whispered softly into my ear.
“I’ll tell you where the Sword God’s legacy is. As someone who uses her power, it’s a rather mouth-watering topic, isn’t it?”
What did she just…
My eyes flew open and I stared at her. She gave me a beautiful crescent-eyed smile as if my reaction was amusing and asked,
“So, do you feel like having lunch with me now?”