Nightmare
Only gray filled my vision. Sometimes darker, sometimes lighter, but the saturation never changed. My world was always a sea of gray. In the midst of that gray, the only splash of color spoke.
"Hey, 204."
"What now? You're annoying."
"Why the deadpan face again? Are you some ninja who just watched his entire squad get wiped out? Teach me how to cut lightning."
"What the hell are you talking about, you crazy bitch. There she goes again, making jokes only she understands."
Back then, I hated that kid. She came from a happy family, unlike me, so she made jokes from anime, movies, and books. Having never known such things, I found those jokes nothing but unpleasant and irritating.
"Don't call a girl a crazy bitch. An English gentleman never swears at a lady."
"What the hell is an English gentleman, you crazy bitch."
"Someone who values ladies first and always prioritizes manners and honor."
"Manners and honor while we're being trained to kill people? Bullshit."
Back then, I just thought she was insane. Even so, I never refused to talk to her. During our brief moments of free time there was nothing else to do, and she was the only source of knowledge I didn't already possess.
"By the way, that punch you used during hand-to-hand training—what was that? Never seen it before."
"This?"
She placed her hand against my solar plexus, just like she had during training.
"It's called chon-gyeong."
"Chon-gyeong?"
"Yeah. Also known as the one-inch punch."
"Who taught you? The instructors never showed us anything like that."
Our training had consisted solely of striking straw bundles wrapped in iron plates to toughen our hands, striking vital points with bare fists, or basic boxing drills. The technique 200 had demonstrated was completely different from anything I knew.
"Oh, this one my parents taught me through a book when I still lived with them. It came from my ancestor."
"Who the hell was your ancestor?"
"The God of Martial Arts, Bruce Lee. The strongest man in the world."
"You really are insane."
And then that one-inch punch slammed straight into my solar plexus. For a moment, it felt like my organs were twisting inside me.
"That'll teach you not to say things like that to a woman. It's a Confucian teaching."
"You crazy bitch..."
That day, she beat me black and blue.
My head felt heavy. Fuck. That dream again? Women supposedly have that one day every month... For me, it's the day I have this dream. On days like this, jokes and idle thoughts don't even register. The whole day just feels unpleasant. It comes whenever I start thinking I've gotten a little better, ruining my mood all over again. Like a cold, maybe? In that it strikes without warning and makes you hurt, I could call this my own personal cold.
The cleanup of my new house still wasn't finished, and since I needed time to hire servants to manage the mansion, I'd decided to stay at Ricardo's estate for the time being... The air here really was quite pleasant. If my new mansion could be built nearby, that would be ideal.
It was still early dawn. I threw on some light clothes and stepped outside. A walk or medicine were the only ways to shake off this unpleasant, foul mood. Unfortunately, without any psychiatric medication available, all I could do was wander through the chilly morning air. If only I could have had a drink instead, but I had to investigate the kidnapping case today, so morning drinking was out of the question.
Catching one kidnapper would be easier. Hunting down the bastards who did the kidnapping and beating them senseless—there really wasn't a task more at odds with my temperament.
As I strolled through the backyard, I came across the knights' training grounds. Even in the cold dawn, they had stripped down to their waists and were sweating through their drills. I didn't dislike people who lived diligently. Rather, because they were different from someone like me, I even felt a hint of admiration.
Among the knights training there was Thomas, the one I'd met before. Spotting me during a break in training, he waved and greeted me.
"If it isn't Sir Werner. What brings you here?"
Every gaze in the area turned toward me. I wasn't particularly fond of being the center of attention.
"I came out for a walk and happened to see your training. My apologies if I've interrupted."
"Hahaha, not at all. It's an honor to have the renowned Archmage observe our training."
What a load of empty words. No one would feel comfortable having an outsider watch their training.
"It looks like you're doing unarmed combat drills. I'm not much, but I do have some experience with hand-to-hand combat... Would it be all right if I joined in?"
"Hahaha, no problem, but are you sure? Knight training can get rather rough."
There it was. That look. The one that said, How dare a frail mage like you join knights in unarmed training? The look that said, Someone raised so delicately probably doesn't even know how to throw a proper punch. The look that completely underestimated me. Judging people by appearances alone wasn't a good habit, but among my seniors in the industry, there had even been hunched old ladies who visited nursing homes.
I shrugged off my shirt and walked into the training grounds. My mood was foul enough that I needed someone to vent on.
"One question. Is killing your opponent during sparring forbidden?"
"Yes, severely injuring or killing your opponent is prohibited. We try to avoid accidents during training..."
"Then this might be a bit difficult."
These idiots. No matter how much they trained day in and day out like this, their unarmed combat skills would never improve. The minimum damage I could inflict was breaking bones, and since I couldn't use most of my techniques, this was going to be somewhat troublesome.
One man planted face-first into the ground. Another collapsed after taking a punch to the jaw. One who threw a punch only to have his right hand injured when it struck my elbow. One who passed out from a chokehold. One who lost consciousness after a knife-hand strike to the cervical spine. They were all pathetic.
When it came to weapons like spears or longswords, maybe, but these guys' unarmed training was clearly just for show. They didn't even know basic footwork, and their falling techniques were so sloppy it was obvious they hadn't trained them properly. Their scar-covered hands had only ever gripped swords; there wasn't a single trace of serious unarmed training.
"If you're going to be like this, you might as well give up on unarmed training next time and focus on weapons instead. Wasting time on something you won't do properly is an insult to those who train that field diligently."
Though I doubted these guys who were this incompetent at unarmed combat would be any better with weapons.
Yet the unpleasant feeling still hadn't gone away. I'd thought sweating a little would improve my mood, but the discomfort and irritation remained.
Then applause sounded from behind me.
"Impressive. I didn't expect your unarmed combat skills to have improved this much."
The one clapping was Ricardo. Beside him, Airi was waving her hand.
"You used to hate unarmed combat, but now your skill at hitting people is first-rate."
"I figured having one more means of fighting wouldn't hurt."
"Ah... I see."
Watching Ricardo smile bitterly, I spoke curtly.
"Did it piss you off that I roughed up your subordinates a bit, brother?"
"It was a mutually agreed-upon training session, and it's true their unarmed skills were lacking. This might motivate them to put in more effort."
"As long as there's no problem."
Airi handed me a dry towel.
"I was watching the whole time. Master, you were so cool! The way you went shuk shuk shuk with your fists was awesome!"
She clumsily took up a boxing stance and mimicked the jabs I'd thrown. Come to think of it, I'd only taught her kicks, not boxing. If she'd taken that stance in actual boxing training, she would've been hit immediately.
I wiped the sweat with the dry towel. It would've been better if it were slightly damp, but Airi had no sense for these things. Then again, I should just be grateful she'd brought one at all. That damn dream was making even my personality feel off.
"Airi."
"Yes, Master?"
She smiled brightly. And that face... resembled the one from my dream that had ruined my mood.
"Do you have any plans today?"
"You're going to train me again, aren't you! Today I was supposed to read books with Glacia..."
Another one of those lewd novels, no doubt.
"Then never mind. It was just an invitation for a date, after all..."
"I'm busy, so—huh? What?"
Because her face resembled that person's, I'd thought walking patrols together might lift my mood.
"If you don't want to, that's fine. I suppose I'll have to ask Lady Camellia instead..."
"No! No! I'm completely free today!"