Chapter 9
Chapter 9
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: An Opportunity More Valuable Than Life (5)
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The Grand Training Ground.
Shirone arrived right on time. Rian was already there, waiting.
The battle had, in a way, already begun. The two of them didn't approach each other, instead watching one another from a distance.
“Let's begin.”
Rian's chosen weapon was a longsword, the same as Shirone's.
The Ogent style of swordsmanship, which boasted a bold and domineering technique, was better suited for a greatsword than a longsword.
But that was only when Schema was available. So rather than a consideration for Shirone, it was more like he had chosen a weapon tailored to the situation.
Shirone assumed the 'stillness in motion' stance from the beginner's swordsmanship manual. Though a simple posture, even to Rian's eyes, his center of gravity was far more stable than before.
'Is that... really possible?'
Rian once again saw Rai in Shirone. A thought suddenly occurred to him. Maybe this kid really hadn't learned swordsmanship.
'But how can he be so calm? Isn't he afraid of death?'
Even Rian, who had trained with the sword for sixteen years, feared death. That was why he pushed his body to its limits, to build his confidence.
Shirone, on the other hand, lacked Rian's kind of courage. He was a herbivore who loved peace and hated fighting.
But intellect always seeks maximum efficiency. Having analyzed the fear of a real sword as the greatest risk factor in this duel, Shirone had sought a solution and finally found an answer.
If you can't conquer fear, you just have to understand it.
In sword philosophy, this is called 'leaping off a cliff.' Anyone can jump off a cliff. As long as they don't think about the fact that they will die.
For instance, certain types of people in the world feel no fear. Their professions vary—politicians, businessmen, criminals—but they all have one thing in common: they don't imagine the consequences beforehand.
A serial killer pursues only the pleasure of the moment, never thinking of their own death upon capture. A dictator might leisurely enjoy a banquet even as rebel forces breach the castle gates. To them, the future is an illusion that doesn't exist even 0.1 seconds ahead.
Shirone imagined himself standing at the edge of a cliff. Then, he extended his right foot into the empty air, followed by his left.
Shirone did not fall. If one didn't imagine the future, the space beyond the cliff was merely a state just before falling.
'Until you fall, you haven't fallen. Until you die, you aren't dead.'
The reason intellect is sometimes more frightening than courage is that it can come to understand the very essence of danger.
And Shirone's mind, frozen in this state, consequently resulted in a dramatic increase in the stability of his Spirit Zone.
“Hraaaaaaah!”
The moment Shirone entered the Spirit Zone, Rian closed the distance.
A flash of light seemed to streak before Shirone's eyes. This was clearly a bold swordsmanship on a different level from the woodsman's axe.
But Shirone also had his Spirit Zone.
Perceiving the blade's trajectory clearly with his synesthetic cognition, he widened his eyes and dodged the attack.
Rian's expression turned to one of bewilderment. Tracking the movement of a real sword with the naked eye was something a novice should never be able to do.
But the techniques of the sword were also infinite. There were certainly parts Shirone could not predict. As the blade grazed across his chest, his Spirit Zone wavered for an instant.
Shirone's heart sank. At this rate, he would be defeated without a chance to fight back.
But Rian's follow-up attack was unexpectedly aggressive. Thanks to that, Shirone was able to throw his body aside and evade death.
'Why an attack like that?'
He could have ended it by simply slicing at his side along the shortest path, without using much force. But Rian, as if not noticing Shirone's faltering, went for the win with a large motion.
'Could it be that his understanding of swordsmanship is lower than I thought?'
Shirone's assessment was correct. Lacking insight, Rian was skilled in the techniques of swordsmanship but fell short in his understanding of its essence.
Shirone adjusted his assessment of Rian's skill downward. Overestimating an opponent was a foolish act that surrendered any chance of a counterattack. To win this fight, he had to take risks.
As Shirone's counterattack began, the life-or-death tension mounted, and Rian's stamina rapidly depleted. After dozens of exchanges, Rian was finally struck with astonishment.
'Dammit! This can't be happening! It can't be!'
His opponent was only using basic slashes. And yet, they were difficult to block. He was targeting only the places that couldn't be defended.
Suddenly, Rai's face came to mind. In their duel two years ago, his older brother had defeated him with just one hand. The image of Rai's face, lips twisted into a sneer, was still vivid in his memory.
“Don't mock me! I'm going to be the world's greatest swordsman!”
The more recklessly Rian charged, the more puzzled Shirone became. *What is with this boy? Does he not want to win? Why is he so stubborn? Does he even think at all?*
'Huh? W-wait.'
Shirone gradually realized he was being pushed back. At some point, he could no longer read his opponent's movements. Rian's sword, swung with conviction, began to approach Shirone with an unpredictable complexity.
“I won't lose! I'll definitely surpass him!”
Riding the momentum, Rian pressed Shirone hard. Shirone's stamina plummeted. He had been conserving his energy efficiently, but an absolute difference still existed. His sword felt heavy.
“This is the end!”
Rian charged, longsword held low, then swung it upward as if to split Shirone's jaw. Shirone, too, brought his sword down with all his remaining strength.
With a clang, a single sword shot into the sky and embedded itself in the far side of the training ground.
Silence fell.
The two gasped for breath, glaring at each other.
Rian slowly lowered his gaze. He saw Shirone's sword aimed at his solar plexus.
Just before their swords clashed, Shirone had twisted his wrist like a whirlwind, striking Rian's sword from below. The impact, combined with the momentum, caused the exhausted Rian to lose his grip.
It wasn't a technique he had attempted with confidence. It was simply a difference in their understanding of swordsmanship. He had taken a gamble, believing that only an attack that could cut him was real.
Shirone didn't let his guard down. He wanted to collapse right then and there, but he couldn't let go of the life he had fought so hard for in vain.
“Ah, I lost.”
Rian admitted his defeat without complaint.
“Ah, I lost. I really lost.”
Rian scratched his head in frustration, but the malice was already gone. He had trained to his limit and fought with all his might. As such, he had no lingering regrets.
“You won. Since I lost the duel, I have nothing to say even if you kill me.”
It wasn't a childish remark. But that made Shirone even more displeased. *How can someone be so immature?*
“Are you kidding me right now?”
“What?”
“If I kill you, the young master, do you think I'd be able to live? To say something so ridiculous.”
“Good grief! What does that matter? Is that any way to talk to someone you just fought with your life on the line?!”
“You were the only one who put your life on the line! I was just fighting to survive! This whole ridiculous duel makes no sense from the start. Is it even reasonable to pin the blame on me when you were the one hiding because you didn't want to train?”
Rian was flustered. After a fight between men, wasn't it normal to exchange some hot-blooded, weighty lines, even if it wasn't exactly heartwarming?
But this kid looked ready to nag him to death.
“Hey, you punk! Who's pinning the blame? It's because you were acting so petty! Even if we just met, loyalty should kick in in a situation like that! That's what's normal!”
“Loyalty, my foot!”
“What'd you say, punk?”
Shirone felt a surge of anger. For the past month, he had been so focused on the problem at hand that he hadn't had time to think about anything else, but now that it was over, he couldn't control his temper.
“You call that loyalty? Have you ever once considered the pressure a common servant has to bear, caught between the head of the family's son and the sword instructor? Did you ask that of me knowing all that?”
“Huh? Well...”
Rian blinked. For Rian, who had learned by getting beaten up every day, Shirone's nagging was an unfamiliar form of attack.
“If you were truly a man of loyalty, you should have been ashamed to burden a mere servant and presented yourself before the sword instructor. Wouldn't that have been a truly cool and loyal thing to do?”
Rian was speechless for a long time. From the way he repeatedly smacked his lips, Shirone could grasp his personality.
He wasn't the type to make things up.
He was silent because he had nothing to say.
But Shirone, who found that even more irritating, gave up on nagging and plopped down on the ground.
“Haaah, I really thought I was going to die.”
Rian watched the grumbling Shirone intently. The ultimate opponent who had overcome the fear of death and pushed him to the brink was gone, and in his place sat an ordinary little kid.
Who was he, really? He was clearly a genius. But he wasn't Rai. Unlike his brother, who had sneered while knocking his sword away with one hand, this boy had faced him with his entire being.
“Hey, what's your name?”
Shirone looked up. From his seated position, Rian looked even bigger.
“It's Shirone.”
“I'm Ogent Rian.”
A noble and a commoner formally introducing themselves was funny enough, but what was even more absurd was this. Did he really think Shirone wouldn't know the name of the family's youngest son?
Rian paid no mind to Shirone's sullen expression and walked over. Shirone's head tilted up even further. Rian thrust out a hand as large as a pot lid and said in a deep voice.
“Let's be friends. What do you say?”
***
The First Step Towards a Dream (1)
A year had already passed since he joined the Ogent family.
Shirone had turned seventeen, and he had made his way through over seven thousand books in the grand library.
Temuran was astounded by his incredible work pace, but Shirone had already anticipated it. It was only natural for his efficiency to accelerate as the number of unclassified books decreased.
In his mind, everything in the world seemed to be subject to acceleration, not constant velocity. Even if the beginning was slow, if one persevered without giving up, they could reach their goal faster than expected.
Of his target of 850 history books, only about 200 remained. His average reading volume exceeded three books a day, and in just a few more months, the long-awaited spine of knowledge would be complete.
In addition, he had experienced swordsmanship and understood the nature of fear. Thanks to this, he had been able to dramatically increase the durability of his Spirit Zone.
Thus, the year he had spent was full and beneficial.
But no benefit could compare to the first true friend Shirone had ever made.
“There are a ton of books here. I wonder if my family has read all of them?”
Rian, sitting on the floor, muttered as he glanced at the books. Now that Shirone had gotten to know him, he found Rian to be affectionate and charming. It was just what you'd expect from the youngest son of a noble family, perhaps?
Shirone, organizing books from atop a ladder, replied.
“Of course. The family head and the young master visit the library often.”
“Tsk, must be nice to be smart. You can do so many things.”
When Rian tossed aside the book he was reading, Shirone climbed down from the ladder, picked it up, and started nagging him.
“Don't just throw it around. If even one book gets damaged, I'm dead.”
“I don't like that either. Does it make sense for a book to be more important than a person's life? Even if you burned down the library, I'd protect you, so don't worry.”
“That will never happen as long as you just sit still, so please be more careful.”
Not once had a cheesy word come out of Shirone's mouth. He was firm and strict, but not cold. Rian liked that about Shirone.
“I like being with you, but I'm bored to death being cooped up in this library.”
“Why are you lazing around here anyway? What about your training?”
“Just the basics. I told them I wanted to study in the library for a bit.”
Shirone trembled with frustration.
“Then you should be studying! What are you doing?”
“I'm bored! I'm bored! I'm bored!”
Rian whined, flailing his arms and legs.
Shirone ignored him, turning away and heading for his desk. He wasn't particularly worried about Rian's laziness. If he himself was water, Rian was fire. A fire that, once lit, would grow uncontrollably.