Chapter 145: A Close Call
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 145: A Close Call
After breakfast, we went to see the village's only doctor to find out why my body had shrunk.
"It's been a while, Uncle."
"Indeed it has, Yukika."
Apparently, in Kazama, Fuma-senpai's hometown, basically everyone is related by blood.
Thanks to that, wherever we went, people recognized Fuma-senpai, which put me in a rather awkward position.
Everyone we met asked if I was the prospective husband she’d brought from Tokyo.
At first, I tried to clear up the misunderstanding each time it happened, but at some point, I just gave up.
I realized they were asking if I was her fiancé just to tease her, regardless of the truth.
I underwent a thorough examination by the man who was Fuma-senpai's uncle.
I initially thought he was a doctor in name only, but it turned out he was an elite who had actually graduated from a medical university in Tokyo with excellent grades.
The medical license proudly displayed behind his desk proved it.
After the examination was complete, Fuma-senpai's uncle spoke.
"You're in surprisingly perfect health."
"Pardon?"
If I'm healthy, I'm healthy. Why the "surprisingly"?
As I stared at him with a look of confusion, Fuma-senpai's uncle hesitated, saying, "How should I explain this…"
"I've been a doctor for twenty years, but I've never seen anyone as healthy as you in my entire life. All of your physical abilities far exceed the average person's. And you're telling me this is you in a poor condition? What on earth do you do for a living?"
"Ah, so that's what you meant."
So that was it.
Fuma-senpai, who was listening beside me, chimed in, "You can't judge him by ordinary standards."
"First of all, from a medical standpoint, there's nothing wrong with your body right now. However, if we apply the concept of Ki, the balance within your body has been temporarily disrupted."
"Is it because my Yang Energy has been depleted?"
"That's right. The Ghost Pill, one of our clan's secret medicines, works by drawing on the user's Fundamental True Ki. When its effects wear off, the user enters a temporary state of depletion. The depleted Ki usually returns within a few days with proper nourishment, but I suspect the reason for a side effect like this is the spirit possessing your body."
I thought of Sakuya, who was waiting outside the door.
"Is it because her energy is that strong?"
"The body naturally follows the soul. You currently have two souls in your body, and since one has temporarily become dominant, your physical form seems to be conforming to the dominant one."
"In that case, does that mean my body will return to normal once my Yang Energy recovers?"
"This is just a guess, but I believe that's likely what will happen."
I was worried I might be stuck like this forever, but thankfully, it seemed there was a way out after all.
"Thank you. That was a great help."
"I'm glad to hear it. If you don't return to normal after some time, come see me again."
"Yes, sir."
I thanked Fuma-senpai's uncle once more and left the clinic.
"What do you plan to do now?"
"It feels like a waste of time to do nothing, so I was thinking of maybe doing some training."
My body may have shrunk, but it wasn't like I couldn't move at all.
I had spent all of yesterday memorizing the contents of the book, so I figured I could at least move around on my own and get a feel for things.
"If that's the case, I know a good place. Follow me."
With that, Fuma-senpai began to lead the way.
I felt like I was constantly imposing on her, but since I was a guest here, I decided to quietly follow her lead.
*
The place Fuma-senpai took me to was the open area inside the mansion I had seen the day before yesterday.
The same place where the villagers had gathered in small groups to spar.
It seemed the sparring was already over for the day, as only a few children were left, roughhousing with each other in the clearing.
As we stepped into the open space, one of the kids who had gathered there shouted with a happy expression.
"Big sis!"
In an instant, all eyes turned to us.
Half of those gazes were directed not at Fuma-senpai, but at me.
It was probably because I was a new face in the village.
While I was feeling inwardly awkward, the girl who had approached us first asked.
"Big sis, who's this?"
Fuma-senpai crouched down to meet her eyes and answered kindly.
"Not 'this.' He's a guest of the village. He's that big brother you saw the other day."
"Eeeeeh?!"
The kids stared back at me with shocked expressions.
I felt like I had unintentionally surprised them.
"That big bro got this small?!"
"No way!"
Honestly, if I were in their shoes, I wouldn't believe it either.
A person getting younger overnight? This wasn't some manga.
"Anyway, big sis has something to do, so let's talk again in a bit."
After forcibly dispersing the children who had gathered around, Fuma-senpai glanced at me and asked.
"Sorry, Kim Yoo-Sung. The kids don't mean any harm."
"Of course."
Following Fuma-senpai's lead, I found a spot in a corner of the clearing.
"I'll watch you train. If there's anything you don't understand, feel free to ask."
"I'd appreciate that."
With Fuma-senpai watching, I began to replicate the movements I had read in the book one by one.
Fundamentally, Hayate was a martial art that used the knife-hand.
And the most basic of its fundamentals, the first form, Kamaitachi, was a technique for cutting objects with one's bare hands.
Honestly, it was a hurdle from the very beginning.
Cutting things with a bare hand? Wasn't that impossible?
I was curious about the background of how such a technique came to be.
So I asked Fuma-senpai, and her answer was quite the spectacle.
"It was originally created as a contingency for when a sword broke on the battlefield. The ancestors of the Fuma clan wanted there to be almost no difference in combat power whether they were holding a blade or not. And if you could use your bare hands like a sword, there was no need to hide a concealed weapon. So, with each passing generation, the blade of the Kamaitachi grew sharper."
"I… see."
Did I hear that right?
To be honest, I still didn't quite get it even after the explanation.
But without letting it show, I silently began my solitary training.
*
As one might expect, the first day of training ended with no results whatsoever.
Forming the Ki around my hand into a blade was much harder than I had anticipated.
The book was filled with difficult terms, but in the end, it seemed that mastering the know-how of the technique depended on my own sense for it.
In any case, after swinging my arms all day, I was drenched in sweat. As soon as I returned to my room, I grabbed a change of clothes and headed for the bathroom.
Normally, the people who did chores around the mansion would have guided me, but since I had memorized the way yesterday, I found it on my own.
I had also strictly told Sakuya to stay quietly in the room while I went to bathe, so there was no one to disturb my bath.
After undressing in the changing room, I placed a single towel on my head and entered the open-air bath.
They said the bath was fed by a hot spring that welled up nearby, and with the ceiling wide open to the sky, it had an incredible sense of freedom.
Before soaking in the tub, I lightly washed my body.
Since it was a communal bath used by all the villagers, I couldn't help but be mindful of hygiene.
After lightly rinsing off the sweat, I finally submerged myself in the bath.
The muscles that had been tense from exercising all day felt like they were melting away in the hot water.
"Haaaah~"
A bath after a good workout really was the best.
The water, which would normally only come up to my waist, now came all the way up to my shoulders because of my smaller body.
I placed the neatly folded towel on my head and sank a little deeper into the water.
The heat spread through my entire body, and I felt my blood circulating better than usual.
It was right then, as I was fully enjoying the hot spring.
Drrrk!
"Oh? Was someone already here?"
Hearing a familiar voice, I turned my head and was startled.
Fuma-senpai was standing at the entrance to the bath, her voluptuous body barely concealed by a single towel.
"Kim Yoo-Sung?!"
Startled, Fuma-senpai took a few steps back.
"This is the women's time to use the bath. What are you doing here?"
So that's what it was!
"I-I'm so sorry, senpai! I'll get out right now."
If I had known, I would have asked before coming, just like yesterday.
I hurriedly tried to stand up, but then I remembered I was naked and pleaded with Fuma-senpai.
"Um, could you please turn around for a moment?"
"Ah, sorry. How thoughtless of me."
Fuma-senpai said as much and was about to turn her back, but just then, a new voice came from the changing room.
"Yukika? What are you doing? Aren't you coming in?"
…She wasn't alone?
I realized the situation was getting worse and worse.
Frantically looking around, I spotted a large rock in a corner of the hot spring.
Splash! Splash!
While Fuma-senpai stalled for time at the entrance, I scrambled over and hid my body behind the rock.
Immediately after,
"Ahhh, this feels great~"
A group of village women, including Fuma-senpai, entered the bath.