Adaptation Period (4)
Philia’s words, which had voiced the very thing he truly wanted to say, kept circling inside Marei’s head. That was why they slipped out so naturally when Lee Ha-eun asked her question.
“...Yeah. Make sure you attend class properly. Let’s meet tomorrow. I was incredibly rude today. I’m sorry, Marei de Pawen.” Lee Ha-eun bowed her head.
“Not at all, Professor Lee Ha-eun. I’m glad. I’m even a little envious that Muerangde has someone so wonderful. I wish I had a teacher like you too.”
“You’re embarrassing me…” Lee Ha-eun scratched her cheek.
Marei had meant every word. Of course, the twin elves who waited for him with bated breath were far closer to eager females than teachers. Julia was an impressive woman, but if asked whether she qualified as a proper instructor, he still couldn’t answer. On the first day he had flooded her defenseless womb with thick cum instead of letting her teach. The next class was canceled because she had been dispatched to the Northern Front. And the class after that, after sharing a carnal conversation with a newly returned Julia, he had been kidnapped by Erden before they could exchange a single proper sentence.
“I think you’d be different. I want to believe that. Muerangde… she feels like my own child.”
Lee Ha-eun stroked the scar below her navel—the one that looked as if a beast had torn into her. She seemed lost in thought.
“Ahaha, what am I even saying to you! Hey, kid. You will come, right? You hear me? I’m trusting you!! Even if it hurts, you come anyway! I’ll take you to the hospital! No, I’ll nurse you myself!! Really—if it looks like you really can’t make it, contact me beforehand!”
After repeating her earnest pleas several times, Lee Ha-eun finally left. Soon the preparatory bell rang, and by the time the second bell sounded Marei had reached the training ground that served as their classroom.
Agano Nagisa looked as though the words “punctuality” were clawing at her throat, yet she said nothing—perhaps out of consideration for Lee Ha-eun.
“The width of your stride should not break your posture… Student de Pawen, do you have some connection to elves?”
“Huh? Ah, yes…”
Marei nodded at the sudden question. He was keeping the twin-elf Ksakru sisters—professors at this very academy—as his pets. If that counted as a connection, then yes.
“Your light movements resemble an elf’s. It’s not a bad thing… It’s fascinating. Their movements are innate; imitating them is usually impossible. No, this isn’t imitation… It’s exactly like them…”
The unique gait of elves. According to Agano Nagisa, his footwork was strikingly similar. Since he had never been taught anything of the sort by Idrien or Ilien, Marei simply nodded, accepting it.
“If you have time later, you should definitely learn the bow. Your instantaneous focus is outstanding. Truly astonishing. Especially when thrusting—fantastic. You would show talent beyond ordinary humans even with the spear.”
Thanks to her praise of his dynamic vision, flexibility, and agility, Marei briefly wondered if he might actually possess talent with the sword. At Agano Nagisa’s compliments he unconsciously puffed up with pride, then smiled shyly at his own reaction.
“However, the sword… learning it wouldn’t be a waste. Your concentration when thrusting is truly tremendous, yet strangely, when cutting…”
She pointed out that his strength—fitting his delicate frame, or rather, what could only be called a frail constitution—and his inconsistent focus were problems. The observation sank his mood again.
“Muscle strength can be improved through steady training. Your concentration when thrusting is unrivaled, so once you grasp the trick, you will show astonishing results in all aspects of swordsmanship. Do not be discouraged. Of course, that trick might come next lesson… or it might never come at all.”
Whether intentional or not, Professor Agano Nagisa had sent his spirits soaring into the sky only to slam them back into the ground. Perhaps he really was just clumsy. Marei cautiously entertained the thought.
Repeatedly moving his body was exhausting, yet time passed surprisingly fast. A single day was far too short to claim he had grown used to it, but after learning the fundamentals and correcting them over and over, Marei finally gained enough breathing room to notice his surroundings.
“Now, when cutting upward and downward, watch the movement of the wrist. If it stiffens—”
His gaze drifted from the sword to Agano Nagisa’s slender wrist. Subtle muscle traced her arm—neither large nor thick. It looked healthy, yet her frame was too lithe to associate with swordplay. Her shoulders were not broad, nor did she seem blessed with natural strength. Still, the unwavering eyes and hardened expression as she repeated “Try again” made it clear she was a true swordswoman.
Unlike the training clothes Lee Ha-eun favored, she wore a thick-fabric uniform. With every step she seemed to glide. The impression only deepened. It looked like a dance.
An indescribable floral scent drifted from the tip of her blade. Each time Agano Nagisa moved in that mysterious way and swung her sword, he felt as though he were walking beneath falling red blossoms.
“Are you concentrating?”
“Ah, um… that is… I…”
He had seen something. But he could not tell what. The goosebumps that had raced up his spine vanished as if they had never existed. The floral scent was gone. The vision of drifting petals had disappeared.
What had he seen? Unable to find words, Marei lowered his head.
“I’m sorry.”
Assuming he had lost focus, Agano Nagisa let out a small sigh.
“We’ll stop here for today. I can only lay the foundation. I cannot do everything for you. Remember that personal achievement depends solely on personal effort.”
“I’m sorry.”
At her strict tone Marei hung his head even lower. For a moment Agano Nagisa simply stared at him. A faint smile touched her lips—one the bowed boy could not see.
“...You worked hard. I will see you next class.”
More than an hour of class time remained, yet Agano Nagisa unilaterally ended the lesson. She then spent another twenty minutes lecturing on the proper mindset of a swordsman before finally releasing him.
Marei did not quite understand what the “heart of the sword” had to do with one’s personal attitude, but since an expert said so, he listened attentively and nodded. The heart of the sword, one’s own heart, polishing the self—fine words. He did not understand them, but they sounded good.
While swinging the sword he had thought of nothing else, but once the lesson ended he finally had room to reflect on the person called Agano Nagisa. Her thick uniform had hidden her figure, yet during the demonstrations the slender lines of her body had shown through the fabric. The firm outline of her thighs, visible beneath the uniform in a way that seemed at odds with her delicate frame. The way her breasts asserted their presence each time the cloth shifted.
“Marei, get a hold of yourself…”
He let out a long sigh, as if whipping his own mind. He already spent every day drowning in carnal pleasure with beautiful women, yet he felt crushing guilt whenever his eyes strayed toward someone new—especially another beauty. Toward Labella, toward the twin sisters he kept as pets, toward Julia, toward Erden, toward all of them. The beastly desire that it would be better if there were even more refused to be silenced. Honestly, he had even begun imagining having someone always available to relieve his lust.
He had even fantasized about receiving Ilien’s service inside Idrien’s car on the way to school. Of course, they would probably do it if he asked…
To Marei, who already carried a heavy sense of debt toward the beautiful women who loved him despite his flaws and still craved his affection, feeling fresh desire for yet another person felt like a sin. Every time he scolded himself that such thoughts were only natural, the moment he pictured laying the woman down and driving his cock upward into her, wondering how she would scream, he felt utterly pathetic.
Even after changing clothes and washing up, time still remained. Thinking he might surprise Julia by arriving at her lab before her, he set off—only to hear an unfamiliar sound from somewhere.
No, it was not unfamiliar.
A nostalgic chime of bells began to ring.
The sound continued.
Jingle… Jingle…
The long, heavy resonance could not possibly be a hallucination. Students passing along the path paid it no mind and continued on their way.
After scanning his surroundings for a long while, Marei realized he alone could hear it. When a kind student asked what he was searching for, he inquired whether they could hear the bells. The reply—“I don’t know”—confirmed it.
Should a sound only he could hear be called a hallucination? He considered ignoring it and moving on, yet the chime felt strangely familiar. Intimate. Missed.
His feet moved forward of their own accord. There was nothing but grass. Still, he walked toward the sound. Past trees, up slopes. He did not know how long he walked or how much time passed.
When he came to his senses, red torii gates stood before him. When he came to his senses again, he had already arrived at the shrine.
Looking back, countless red torii stretched down the mountain path behind him.
Jingle… Jingle… Jingle…
The bell grew louder. No—it was closer. He passed the torii. This was where Ran resided.
He quickened his pace toward the source. After passing a strangely shaped building, a wide open space appeared. There, a tiny fox girl who barely reached his chest was striking the ground with a staff covered in countless bells.
Thud…!Jingle…Thud…!Jingle…Thud…!Jingle…
The staff tapped the earth at regular intervals like a prayer. One beat later, the bells followed. The sound that had drawn Marei was spilling from that staff. It soaked into the forest, rode the mountain, and returned. Circling, returning, the chime gradually faded only to be layered with new echoes.
Ran was there. His mother’s master. The girl Loren seemed, for some unknown reason, determined to keep separated from him. Though the word “girl” was far from her true age, to Marei she looked younger than himself, and the emotion he felt toward her was intensely strange.
A golden beast. A small fox girl bearing nine tails. Yet she was his mother’s teacher. The sweet scent rising from her tiny body seemed strong enough to stop his breath. Her polished skin resembled the surface of a river pebble—wet, it would surely reflect light. He wanted to bite it. Wanted to stroke her ears, hug her tails, pull her small frame tight against his chest.
Marei shook his head violently. He could not understand the thought that had just crossed his mind. To feel such things toward his mother’s master was irreverent. Yet because it was irreverent, the feeling only became more seductive.
Even though Marei now stood right beside her, Ran remained utterly focused. She gripped the staff—far taller than herself—with both hands and struck the ground. Her small body looked as if it might topple at any moment, yet she stood firmly upon the earth. No—she pressed it down. Though tiny, she weighed upon the ground more heavily and powerfully than any other existence. As though hiding something.
In that moment, looking at the fox girl smaller than himself, Marei saw the illusion of a vast mountain range. No, not a mountain range—a colossal wolf. Or perhaps a fox. A gigantic being that would require craning his neck to see stood before him. Without realizing it he reached out, and the moment his hand touched the creature it vanished. His palm came to rest on Ran’s shoulder.
“Loren, during my ritual… M-Marei??? H-how did you get here…”
Ran, who had been frowning in displeasure, turned her head. The instant she confirmed the identity of the one who had interrupted her, her golden eyes widened dramatically. Between her half-parted lips he glimpsed a soft tongue. He could not tear his gaze from the pink flesh resting neatly atop her teeth.
“I heard the bell and followed it. It led me here. Um… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to come… The sound was so familiar, and it felt so… I missed it…”
“I-I see… So that’s what happened…”
Ran stammered, clearly flustered. She seemed to have much to say, yet she simply closed her mouth and stared at him carefully. Her pale cheeks looked ready to flush pink. The breath leaving her lips carried a subtle warmth.
Seeing her stagger, Marei caught her as if embracing her.
“Lady Ran?”
“Nngh…!”
His words, spoken while supporting her, whispered directly into her ear. A hot moan far too ecstatic to be called cute tore from Ran’s lips. Startled, she dropped the staff she had been gripping and covered her mouth with both hands. Her eyes flew wide as if she were about to cry. The sight resembled a child who had committed a grave mistake, yet it also looked exactly like a woman wailing pitifully upon a bed.
Faced with a Ran who reflected both images at once, Marei could do nothing but stare at her in silence.