Chapter 124
Chapter 124
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 124
Chapter Title: A New Encounter (5)
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Tess certainly had an incredible figure, one that could stand alongside the hulking Rian. Her limbs were long and slender, and perhaps because she was so tall, her waistline curved deeply.
He, on the other hand, looked like a mage from any angle. His height was average, and his build was on the leaner side for his age.
Of course, physical beauty wasn't everything when it came to attraction, but he couldn't help feeling small before the powerful presence of Tess, who stood a full head taller.
"No, we're just friends too. I had to specially ask her to come with me."
"Ah, I see."
Tess didn't quite believe him. The very fact that a girl from the first rank of the aristocracy would come along as a commoner's partner suggested feelings that were anything but ordinary.
Rian thought the same. In fact, while planning this trip, his biggest worry had been that Shirone wouldn't be able to find a partner.
There was the issue of his status, but he was also concerned that Shirone's introverted personality might lead to him getting hurt.
But when the time came, Shirone had brought a girl so beautiful that even Rian, who had little interest in women, was surprised.
Rian had always believed that women should be like Amy, adorable in a way that stirred one's protective instincts.
In contrast, Tess possessed skills that surpassed his own, so there was no way he could feel any romantic attraction toward her.
Even if it was only due to her Schema, not many men were drawn to women stronger than themselves.
*‘Do your best, Shirone. I’ll give you a good push.’*
While Rian was forming a plan, the serviced carriage arrived. The four of them gathered their luggage and walked toward it.
It was then.
"You brat! Rian~!"
A voice of incredible volume boomed from the mansion. Just from the killing intent carried on the sound waves, Rian knew everything had been discovered.
"Damn it! Guys, run!"
"What? What about the carriage?"
"We'll be too slow if we take it! Look behind you! We have to get over the wall, no matter what!"
The three of them glanced back at the mansion. An ocher whirlwind, soaring toward the sky, was rushing toward them.
Without even understanding the situation, Shirone's group started to run.
"Rian! What's going on?"
"Damn it! I think my report card arrived! I actually came in last place! Dad's going to kill us!"
"Really? He's really going to kill you? Let's just tell him the truth and leave. What is this, when we're supposed to be going on a trip?"
"Go ahead if you've got the guts. I'm running. For your information, my dad is a certified Grade 4 swordsman."
The color drained from the other three's faces. Tess activated her Schema and shot forward, with Amy following close behind.
Falling behind, Shirone's heart pounded. He was running forward, yet the wind was blowing from behind him.
To run while pushing the air meant Bischoff's speed surpassed the limits of a human.
"Rian! I think we're going to get caught!"
"Can't be helped! I'll sacrifice myself! You guys go on ahead to the island and have fun!"
That was something Rian was more than capable of doing. But they couldn't just abandon their friend and go on the trip. Amid the chaos, Shirone thought of a solution.
"Amy! Let's use Blink! Rian, don't move!"
Shirone grabbed Rian and cast Photonization. Their bodies flashed brightly, then shot forward as a streak of light.
Experiencing Blink for the first time, Rian felt his mind go dizzy. His vision narrowed drastically, and it felt as if the entire landscape was rushing toward him.
This was the vision of a mage.
Amy, seeming to understand Shirone's words, grabbed Tess and cast Blink as well.
Two streaks of light raced through the garden at incredible speed. They could have been smashed to pieces if they hit an obstacle, but Shirone and Amy allowed not even the slightest mistake.
Thinking they had gotten quite far, Shirone looked back. But he had to clench his teeth, suppressing the urge to cry out.
The whirlwind was even closer. It was destroying everything in its path, obstacles and all.
It was only natural that the Ogent family's symbol, the Great Straight Sword, came to mind.
"Amy! This way!"
Shirone came to a sudden halt in the middle of a dense forest and shouted. Amy then canceled a turn, closing the distance between them.
The whirlwind, destroying the forest, was bearing down on them from a hundred meters away.
Tess stomped her feet and yelled.
"What do we do now? Are we just going to let him catch us?"
"Grab onto me! We're going to fly!"
Shirone expanded the radius of his Spirit Zone as much as possible. It wasn't enough to get them out of the garden, but he had a way.
If they couldn't win with speed, they just had to vanish from their coordinates for a moment.
"Here we go!"
As his friends reached him, Shirone used Synesthesia to search for a safe location. He never thought he'd have to use this magic in a real situation so soon.
Targeting the outskirts of the forest, he cast Spatial Transfer. The four of them burst into light and were sucked into the sky.
Simultaneously, a tremendous gust of wind, along with a human figure, swept through the spot where they had been standing.
Bischoff clenched his empty hand in frustration. It had been by a hair's breadth.
"Damn...!"
Bischoff spun 180 degrees and braked with both legs. His body slid back a dozen meters, as if gliding on ice.
Behind his heels, a mound of earth twenty times his body weight piled up. It was a sight that showed just how much physical force his body contained.
Bischoff stared grimly at the path he had carved. The ground was torn up, and trees were broken haphazardly.
This was all Rian's fault. How dare he deceive his own father.
"Imagination Schema?"
He took out the report card with a trembling hand. The more he thought about it, the more he sighed.
But on the other hand, he felt sorry for his disappointing son. Just how much had he trained to gain strength comparable to a Schema?
*'I guess I can think of it as an award for effort.'*
Meanwhile, it seemed Shirone had already mastered Spatial Transfer. It was a magic that even professionals found difficult, so to achieve it in just half a year was incredible growth.
Shirone and Rian. Rian and Shirone. Bischoff thought of the future of the two boys, bound by a single destiny.
Their talents and dispositions were worlds apart, but perhaps the number of steps they had taken was the same, all under the name of doing their best.
"This will be a good memory, too."
Bischoff tossed the report card over his shoulder and turned back toward the mansion.
***
Galliant Island (1)
After leaping over the wall of the Ogent estate, Shirone and his friends fled the noble district with all their might.
Thanks to the Spatial Transfer, they had escaped Bischoff's expected coordinates, but it wasn't a situation where they could relax.
This was because the movement of a Schema master boasted an animalistic range of activity that was impossible to escape with a mere Blink.
Only after entering a bustling street did Shirone's group breathe a sigh of relief. The image of Bischoff's face was still vivid in their minds.
They doubted he would actually hurt his own son, but the way he'd approached them like a whirlwind held a killing intent that suggested he was capable of much worse.
Shirone sighed and said.
"What do we do now? We've come this far, so we can't go back."
"Does it matter? I got plenty of travel money. Let's rent a carriage and go to the port."
As long as his father wasn't around, Rian had nothing to fear. He'd get scolded eventually, but with a fun trip ahead, it was no time for gloomy thoughts.
They arrived at a stable on the outskirts of the city. It sold horses to travelers but also offered transportation services, allowing customers to hire a coachman to take them to their destination.
They couldn't afford to dally if they wanted to make their ship, so Rian rented a four-seater carriage that could depart immediately.
Rian and Tess sat side by side, while Shirone and Amy took the seats opposite them. It was the kind of carriage commoners used, so the interior was cramped, forcing them to sit close together.
The carriage set off in an awkward atmosphere, but the cool breeze coming through the windows soon eased the tension.
Tess fanned herself with her hand to cool off, her gaze resting on Shirone.
She had never learned magic, but she knew how difficult it was to escape a dense forest using Blink. As expected, he was a mage of considerable skill.
However, if one were just looking for someone good at magic, there were plenty among the nobles. It wasn't a shock powerful enough to make Rian swear a knight's oath, so her doubts remained.
"Right. By the way, what was that second spell? It felt strange for a Blink."
"Ah, that was Spatial Transfer. Space warps along the axis of time, so you probably felt a little dizzy."
"What? That was Spatial Transfer?"
Tess was stunned. Her friends also attended a magic academy, but not a single one of them had mastered Spatial Transfer.
It wasn't a spell one could cast just by knowing the theory. It was a matter of mental fortitude, a domain that could only be conquered through time and effort.
"That's amazing. Did you have some kind of fateful encounter? Ah, I don't mean to be dismissive, but I've heard Spatial Transfer is a spell only professionals use. Isn't it hard to learn if you don't start magic from a young age?"
Tess assumed Shirone had entered the world of magic through some fateful encounter in his childhood. Otherwise, there was no way a commoner could have learned magic.
Shirone simply nodded. It was half-true and half-false, but it wasn't a particularly important issue, so he didn't feel the need to correct her misunderstanding.
"That's right. If it weren't for Rian, I wouldn't have been able to attend the magic academy. The Ogent family helped me get in."
"I knew it. Ah, but even so, I think that's amazing. You've been competing with nobles since you were young, so you must have had a lot to worry about besides your studies."
"Haha! I did at first. But I'm fine now. Amy looked out for me a lot, too."
"Hmph, what did I do? You never even told me about it."
Amy snorted and turned her head away. She didn't show it, but she was frustrated by Shirone's humble response.
Tess didn't seem to think that Shirone, a mere commoner, could have learned advanced magic through his own efforts.
It was a natural reaction since they didn't know each other, but she didn't like the way Tess dismissed the arduous path Shirone had walked as a simple "fateful encounter."
The one who scratched that itch for Amy was Rian.
"Even so, that was only half a year ago. Shirone has only been learning magic for six months."
"What? Six months?"
Tess snapped her head toward Rian so fast it was a wonder her neck didn't break. This time, even her mind went blank.
There was no way anyone could master Spatial Transfer in just six months. This was common sense in aristocratic society, separate from a swordsman's way of thinking.
Tess cautiously glanced across at them. Shirone was smiling, but Amy still had her chin propped on her hand, refusing to even make eye contact.
Tess finally realized her mistake.
Swordsmen and mages pursued different paths, so their personalities were often polar opposites.
While swordsmen spoke and listened literally, mages inferred countless meanings between the lines. From Amy's perspective, it was highly likely that Tess's attitude seemed to belittle Shirone.
"Oh my, I'm sorry. I didn't know and just kept rambling on. I didn't mean to offend you. If my boyfriend were treated like that, I'd be angry too."
Amy's face turned red. Mages were certainly masters of language, but because of that, they had no immunity to such a direct apology, like a newborn baby.
"W-what about me? I didn't say anything. And I told you, he's not my boyfriend! We're just friends."
Although she replied curtly, Amy's expression was much softer than before.
"It's natural not to know about each other since we just met. Tess is blunt, but she doesn't mean any harm, so please understand. You can say whatever you want in the future, too."
Rian spoke bluntly, as was his nature. But that only made Shirone and Amy hesitate, unable to respond.
For them, who were accustomed to weighing and analyzing everything, the swordsmen's straightforward way of speaking was quite burdensome.