Each Other's Duties
Something felt off, like I might have misheard her — but no. I'd heard her just fine. Right now, Rie was telling me she would look over my swordsmanship.
"Wait a second. You've been going around telling other people I'm your rival."
"I've never said your name."
"You still said you had a rival. And you made it perfectly clear, right in front of me, that it was me."
"And?"
"I'm asking what you're thinking. Helping your rival? By any normal person's standards..."
"Because your swordsmanship is terrible. Painfully, hopelessly terrible."
Did she really have to beat me over the head with facts like that? At this rate there wouldn't be a bone left in my body. The fact that my swordsmanship wasn't just bad but genuinely abysmal was something I, the person in question, already felt down to my marrow.
Rie seemed to notice the wreckage of my expression, because she gave a slight nod.
"Lucian, even you acknowledge it. Your swordsmanship is below average."
"So what are you going to do about it?"
"You're my rival. So I'm going to coach your swordsmanship until it matches that title."
"Can't we just have you smash me here and call it your win? The academy genius who defeated her rival. Doesn't that sound great?"
"No. You have to become as strong as I am. And then we have to fight for real."
I couldn't make sense of this absurd stubbornness. You could spend a hundred days teaching someone who didn't have the level for it and it still wouldn't work. Even the knights my family had personally hired, even the academy professors — they didn't click their tongues at my swordsmanship out of contempt. They pitied me.
It was like going to the gym and working out as hard as you could, only for the trainer to come over and say, I'll refund everything, just please don't come back. I feel too guilty to look at you. Your muscles aren't growing at all. That was about my level. I couldn't imagine learning from Rie would change a thing.
"So to summarize — I have to be your rival, so you're going to grow me up to that standard?"
"That's right."
"Let me propose again. Let's end it here. I'll admit it. You won. You're better than me."
"I already told you. Your eyes have already caught up to my body and my sword. That means it's one of two things. Either you're going easy on me, or your talent just hasn't fully bloomed yet."
Why wasn't she mentioning the third possibility? The one where I was just a talentless idiot.
I sighed and tried once more to tell her she didn't have to think of it that way. Rie didn't even pretend to listen. She just kept going with her own words, unshaken.
"Unfortunately, I'm not perfect enough at magic to teach anyone. But swordsmanship is something I have confidence in, so that's why I'm offering. Honestly, Lucian — you hate it too, don't you? Being looked down on for it. Those pitying glances. You hate that more than anything in the world, don't you?"
Her words struck a raw spot in my chest. These days I could say, calmly enough, that I'd given up on both swordsmanship and magic entirely. But just a few years ago, I couldn't accept it. I'd tried every desperate thing I could think of. I'd swung a sword ten thousand times in a single day. I'd spent three days and nights trying to cast even a single spell. I hadn't wanted to hear those words — the guy with pathetic swordsmanship, the idiot who couldn't even use basic magic.
"There's nothing to lose, is there? You already know how good I am. I'm the year representative, and we were close as children, so it won't draw too many strange looks. And you'll get the chance to shake off the noose that's been dragging at your ankles all this time."
"It's still a burden. Being the academy genius's rival..."
"If there's something to gain, there should be something to lose, too. If you become my rival, I swear on my honor that I can help you reach a level worthy of it."
It wasn't just anyone saying this. It was Rie. That made it trustworthy. I'd taken in a great many people with my eyes, but there had never been anyone as complete as her. She was the same age as me — just nineteen, barely an adult — and her level already far surpassed most knights. And if you considered that she still had so much more growing to do... if Rie looked over my swordsmanship, even this hopeless skill of mine might actually improve.
And then, suddenly, a thought flickered through my mind. Could I really live forever as nothing more than a theoretical genius? With this inexplicable ability of mine, I'd done things no one else could even imagine. I'd also built up connections that would make anyone who heard about them die of envy. But they say human greed has no end, don't they? If I weren't just good at theory — if I were capable in practice, too. If I could perfectly master even swordsmanship and magic, the things this world valued above all else. I was intensely curious about how my life would change then.
Crack!!
In the moment I hesitated over my answer, Rie's hand seemed to move lightly — and the wooden sword I'd been holding went flying into the air before slamming into the floor. Raoul and the other Martial Division students, who had no idea what was going on, let out disappointed groans at what looked like the end of the match. I, however, recognized this for what it was: Rie throwing a tantrum, urging me to hurry up and answer.
After a very brief moment of thought, I decided what to do.
"...Can I ask you again sometime? I think I'm starting to get it."
"As much as you want. Looking after someone in the same year is something a year representative ought to do."
Even if I said no, Rie would keep treating me as the rival she absolutely had to surpass. If I couldn't avoid it — if I was going to be her rival anyway — I might as well collect a little compensation for the trouble. This wasn't just anyone. This was the academy genius personally teaching me swordsmanship. They say every dog has its day. Maybe today was that day.
I picked up the wooden sword and asked in a voice too quiet for the onlookers to hear.
"Rie. Can I ask one more thing?"
"What is it?"
"Why are you so obsessed with this rival thing?"
"I've never been obsessed."
"Fine. Let's say it's not an obsession. Then why are you so desperate to make me your rival?"
Rie looked at me in silence, then turned her head away. And she called out loudly,
"Raoul! You're next!"
Hearing his name called at last, Raoul lit up and dashed out with a clatter. Come to think of it, given that the guy was one of Rie's most ardent admirers, that reaction made perfect sense.
...But it was almost lunchtime. When were we supposed to eat? The current time was 11:55 a.m. I'd burned through nearly twenty minutes on my own. At this rate, Raoul would take about as long — at least ten minutes, no matter how you sliced it.
"I'll be in your care, Lady Rie!"
"You can speak casually. And rather than 'Lady,' I'd prefer you just call me year representative. Raoul."
"This is more comfortable for me!"
"Suit yourself. Then let's begin."
Raoul's swordsmanship was about on par with mine — which is to say, it was the worst. Given how meticulously Rie had examined me, Raoul would take just as much time...
BOOM!!
Whoosh— thud!!
...Something just flew past me sideways. Was I imagining that?
I glanced around. Every first-year in the Martial Division had their eyes wide as startled rabbits. Looking at their faces, it seemed what I'd just seen hadn't been a hallucination.
"It's lunchtime. Shall we all go eat?"
Having launched Raoul to the opposite end of the training ground in exactly three seconds after the match started, Rie was wearing a radiant smile, as if something about this delighted her. Only then did I realize once again that Rie hadn't had the slightest interest in Raoul. She hadn't been helping two struggling classmates as year representative. From the very beginning, her only target had been me.
Lunch was important, sure, but first I needed to check whether Raoul was still alive. I approached the guy, who was sprawled spread-eagle on the floor, and saw his body twitch. Fortunately, he didn't seem to be dead.
"Hey, Raoul. You alive?"
"..."
"If you're alive, wave a hand."
"Lucian. As of today, I've made a decision."
What kind of decision. A decision to stop paying attention to Rie?
"From now on, I'm going to throw myself into swordsmanship and work even harder! So my dream is to withstand even once that impossibly beautiful attack of Rie's... ghk."
"You might as well just die."
How does someone make nonsense sound that grandiose. I shoved his face back into the training ground floor and headed for the cafeteria without looking back.
Today's menu was pretty decent, so the cafeteria was packed, as expected. I collected my lunch and sat down — and Rie sat across from me like it was the most natural thing in the world. The students around us pretended not to look while sneaking glances our way.
"Don't mind them, Lucian. It's still early in the semester, so they're like this. Later on, everyone will mind their own business."
"I didn't say anything. I was just thinking, huh, the most popular student in the academy is sitting in front of me."
"Ahem. Thank you for the compliment."
I hadn't been trying to compliment her. Well, whatever. I cut a piece of steak, put it in my mouth, and chewed. True to the kingdom's finest educational institution, even the cafeteria food was top-tier. This was happiness — eating something delicious, taking the occasional sip of soda.
"But Rie. This rival thing. With my skills in this sorry state, I don't know if it'll work."
"Don't worry. Your theory scores were a little higher than mine, weren't they? I'm better in practice, but you're stronger in theory. So I want to beat you. That's how you can look at it."
"...Are you going to tell me why you keep staking your life on this rival thing, or..."
"No."
Figured. I hadn't expected her to. I was the fool for hoping.
"Let's decide."
"Decide what?"
"You'll have to practice swordsmanship every day from now on. Tell me your free time slots. I'll make time to come see you."
"I'd welcome that, but won't other people see it as us being really close friends rather than rivals? That's a long, long way from the rival I imagine."
"Did you really think I wouldn't have considered that? We just keep it a secret from everyone else and do it just the two of us. Somewhere with no one around, like today — no interlopers... ahem! Anyway, somewhere empty."
She wasn't planning to beat me up somewhere with no one around so she didn't have to worry about witnesses, was she? I'd teased Rie so much as a kid that honestly, I wouldn't have a word to say if she hit me. It wasn't so much that I'd been a thoughtless child. A nine-year-old kid charging at me, all fury and fire, had just been so cute that I'd given her a bit of a hard time. But from her perspective, she wouldn't have known that, so of course she'd been annoyed.
How did things even get to this point.
If I could just figure out why Rie kept staking her life on this rival thing, I think I'd feel a bit better. The way she acted didn't feel like she was treating a rival. It felt like she was treating a friend she hadn't seen in a long time. And yet she herself kept asking me to remain her rival to the end, so I couldn't help but be confused. Still, the compensation was that good, so I could just shut up and do as she said.
If Rie really improved this wretched swordsmanship of mine — if I could throw off the yoke of being a genius in theory only — anything would be fine. I wanted to live like everyone else, swinging a sword with some flair, magic flashing at my fingertips. Even if I couldn't handle them professionally, I should at least be able to do the basics, shouldn't I?
Then, suddenly, I felt a strange gaze and glanced around out of the corner of my eye. I'd had an oddly unpleasant feeling of being watched — and sure enough. In the distance, a few male students were looking this way. Rie was ignoring every glance directed at her, so she hadn't noticed.
Pretending to eat as usual, I thought carefully about who that male student was. I'd seen him on a watch list before entering the academy.
...Ah. That guy.
