46. Help!
46. Help!
I blocked the Director's sword with all my strength.
The blade that roamed freely through the air had no device attached to generate propulsion.
As if that were only natural, it simply hovered in midair.
The phenomenon of a sword flying freely in all directions, ignoring the law of this world called gravity, was unmistakable, but confirming the principle behind its flight was impossible with current technology.
A Master was someone who broke through the wall called the world and possessed their own law, something hard to explain with common sense.
A sword not held in human hands did not move by human standards.
Because no one was holding it, the point where force was applied changed freely. It never considered defense, and never thought about limiting its trajectory.
It could perform movements impossible when wielded by a human—like when it first shot the sword at me, sending it flying indefinitely until it was out of sight, or when it spun around its hilt like a rotary saw to attack.
Most who witnessed the Sword Control Technique died without lasting a single exchange.
The most terrifying thing was that it could still use an Aura Blade, even separated from any hand.
"At this rate, the academy's going to collapse!!!"
"Do you think this place was built so flimsy that just this much would bring it down? Worry about yourself."
From the moment I picked up my sword, the flash of the two blades had never once subsided.
Every time the two flashes clashed, a sharp noise erupted and shockwaves burst outward, storms raging in their wake.
Massive craters formed in the ground, the lush grassland turned into something like a plowed field, and rocks shattered and scattered.
The clash between two Masters was reshaping the island's terrain.
By this point, it wouldn't have been strange for someone from the academy to show up, but it was mysterious how no one came, as if someone was blocking them.
Fighting against the sword like this would be meaningless.
I had to land a hit on the main body.
In contrast to me, who was moving frantically, she had her arms crossed and was quietly observing me.
Her eyebrows, which had seemed neat, were now sharply raised—different from when she was on the deck.
The distance between us was about 100m, so she wasn't close.
Landing one hit on that face, which looked so utterly relaxed, would... admittedly make things even worse, but wrestling endlessly with a sword that never tired was the bigger loss.
Boldly, I turned my back to the sword and changed my target to the Director.
A distance of 100m was quick to cover with the leg strength of a superhuman, but the speed of the sword flying at me was faster.
Normally, I should've been skewered instantly, but I was also a Master.
"Erai...!!"
I took one step toward the Director.
It wasn't as though I put any special power into it.
Just like the Sword Control Technique, I simply took a single step as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Then, the 'scenery' around me changed.
With just 'one step,' I arrived right in front of the Director.
If mages saw this, they'd flip out, asking what the hell I did.
But explaining what principle I used to do this was impossible for me too.
I just did it because I could.
The Director, who until just a moment ago had been visible far in the distance, was now right before my eyes.
I didn't hesitate.
I brought down my Aura Blade, radiating dazzling light.
That person was stronger than me—why would I hold back?
"Keuheop?!"
And as expected, before the Aura Blade could even touch her body, the Director's fist slammed into my face.
I didn't fall flat on my back just from being hit once, but a dagger that had appeared out of nowhere stopped right in front of my throat.
If she had thrust it in all the way... I would've dodged somehow, but I would've been badly hurt.
"Your skills haven't rusted, I see."
The Sword Control Technique made such a counterattack impossible, but I'd been hit simply because I held a sword and swung down directly.
The swords returned to the Director's side.
Still, maybe because we were inside the academy and she was restraining herself, she seemed to plan on stopping here for today.
If it had been at the Knights, we would've fought all night.
"Honestly, that little sister of mine and that disciple of hers—both of you do nothing but cause trouble in pairs, making me age faster and faster."
"Seems Teacher left her post too, huh."
"Still, you're better. At least you wrote a letter saying what you were going off to do."
Hearing that Teacher had also vanished somewhere made me laugh.
The only person in the Imperial Knights worthy of being called my teacher was the Empire's second Master and the Director's younger sister, Wendy Westhaven.
The two of them had been daughters of a fisherman working the nameless western coast, but now they'd become a noble house that produced two Masters.
Linda established herself as a Master in the sunlight, founding the family, while Wendy... my teacher, roamed around like a wandering knight.
I'd been heavily influenced by Teacher and wandered around a lot too, but the Director had been delighted that I listened better than her sister.
"How did you know I was here?"
"There were traces of a Great Demon, and there's no way Andy resolved it alone.
It's a very simple process of elimination. A Great Demon descended, then vanished. If the Church couldn't handle it, then a Master dealt with it...
The Masters who wander around are three at best. One of them was at home the day the incident occurred, so two remained... and one of those is a demi-human, so if she'd been at the academy, others wouldn't have failed to notice."
The number of Masters known to the continent was few.
Just as it was said that there had never been more than 10 Masters in a single era, the number of Masters was extremely small.
Currently, the Empire held the most with 3 Masters, and with the Church and other nations having one each, a total of 8 Masters existed.
Five of them, if they so much as left their own territory for a business trip, made front-page news—everyone paid attention to their every move.
But the two Shadows of the Empire, who didn't reveal their identities, and the beastman Master roamed around without a fixed residence, making them hard to notice.
The two Shadows of the Empire were even harder to track since they concealed their identities... but the beastman Master, being a rare demi-human race in the Empire, would've had sightings if she'd appeared, and there were none this time, so it was worth suspecting.
"Then only you remain. If you'd been wandering around like usual, I wouldn't have known, but for some reason you were staying in one place."
Tch. As expected, dealing with the Great Demon was the problem.
If it had just been a demon appearing, it wouldn't have been strange for Andy, an upper-rank Expert, to handle it alone.
I did what had to be done, so I had no regrets... but if the Director noticed, it bothered me that the other bastards who'd been searching for my traces might have caught on too.
"In your letter, you clearly said you were going to find the Growth Potion, right? Was there any progress?"
"...About 0.1."
"Hmm...."
Hearing the insignificant number of 0.1, the Director crossed her arms and pondered.
"Fine, with that much, I'll let it slide."
"Let it slide?"
"You tossed down a single letter and wandered around for years. If you hadn't achieved your goal at all, I was going to tear you apart."
'So if I say everything I did while going off the grid was a waste, she'll kill me.'
It was a spine-chilling story.
It basically meant if I'd arrived just a little earlier, we would've fought until a hole was punched through my chest.
"Still, I'm a deserter, so I'm at a loss for words that you're letting me off here."
"Desertion... is not how it was handled. Positions like yours and my little sister's are ones where you can disappear without a word... I'll write it off as you not forgetting your duty and preventing the Great Demon's descent."
It was surprising that she readily overlooked the fact that I'd fled without a word—in other words, deserted.
"Why, do you want to return? If so, I'd welcome it."
"That's not it."
"You're not a brat... and you're not a regular knight, you're a Master. What's more, the Empire's 'Shadow'...
If you deem it important and are staying here for that reason, the Empire respects that decision.
Me beating you up just now was separate from that—it was because I found it insolent that you saw me in person and didn't say anything."
When I wondered why she was being so lenient, I recalled that Wendy, my Teacher who held the same position as me, had always been like this.
The Director sighed, smacked me once on the head, and turned around.
"Now that I've seen you're in one piece, I'll head back in a bit."
"In... a bit?"
"Yes. I'm a little curious about the level of the academy's students too... and I hear this cohort includes the children of the Five Pillars? They've all been hiding away tightly so I wouldn't see them. I might as well have a look."
A nasty smile appeared on the Director's face as she mentioned the Five Pillars.
"If the Family Heads find out, they'll foam at the mouth."
The Imperial Knights and the Five Pillars were famously on bad terms, and the mere fact that the Imperial Knight Commander herself came to observe would put everyone in a foul mood.
Especially Lemnos and Russell would be even more so.
It had been so long since the title of Empire's Greatest Sword was stolen by the Imperial Knights—how could they feel good about it?
If I told her I'd scheduled another duel with Lemnos, she'd probably grab her stomach laughing.
The Director, who'd been snickering to herself with unpleasant thoughts, casually threw out a remark.
"Right. Are you aware that little brat is still looking for you?"
At the word 'little brat,' my body flinched.
"...It's been years since I left, and she's still searching?"
"I've been handling it as an official assignment, but losing one person and having her leave her post too has been nothing short of a major loss. Sort it out quickly and get her back."
Leaving only those words, the Director stepped up onto the sword's cross guard with one foot and smoothly vanished into the sky.
Witches were said to ride brooms, but the Empire's Master flew around on a sword.
It was a relief that she let me off more leniently than I'd expected, but the news I'd heard at the end filled my head with thoughts.
Little brat....
Hearing that she was searching for me made my chest sting.
The little brat was... the child I'd rescued and acted as guardian for when I was active as a Shadow.
I'd arrived a little too late, so her entire family had been killed by demons, and with nowhere to go, I took her in and supported her...
Would she be mad at me?
The moment I heard the rumor about the Growth Potion in the Snow Country, my eyes went crazy and I bolted without thinking about anything else...
Mm... no.
Why am I worried about her—she's an adult now.
She's at an age where she can take care of herself, her skills are good, and she's a full member of the Imperial Knights, so what was I worrying about?
I'd left a separate letter aside from the one for the Director, and if she saw that, she probably wouldn't be too worried.
"I definitely wrote that if she listens to the Director well and waits quietly, I'd find it quickly and come back..."
From what I heard, even the Director didn't seem to know where she was at the moment.
When I got word, I'd have to let her know where I was so she wouldn't struggle in vain.
--------------------------------
"Atlas... are you okay..?? What on earth just—"
As I walked slowly toward the harbor, I ran into Lucia.
It wasn't that Lucia was late.
I'd realized it while walking, but I'd been blown from the harbor to the edge of the academy grounds in an instant.
If I'd flown a few more seconds, I would've fallen into the sea.
She'd worry if I kept frowning for no reason, so I greeted her with a smile.
"It was nothing. I'm fine, really."
"Your body's covered in dirt."
"Yeah, it got all inside, feels gross... I need to shower and change."
For a brief moment, Lucia's gaze turned toward the sword hanging on my back.
Until just a moment ago, I'd been wearing an ordinary longsword, and she seemed to have noticed it had suddenly changed to a luxurious treasured blade.
The way she hesitated, as if wanting to ask, looked like a squirrel.
"Anyway, did Instructor Andy go back in?"
"No, not yet.. over there."
Where Lucia pointed, Andy was still surrounded by his fans.
Andy was enjoying the situation with a refreshing smile.
So while someone else nearly died, he went inside surrounded by fans all by himself, is that it?
The scratchy feeling of the dirt that had gotten between my clothes was unpleasant.
The more discomfort I felt, the more I wanted to shift the reason for it onto someone else.
"Andy.... is dead."
Did he seriously get caught?
If I hadn't been carrying a sword just in case, I would've died screaming right there at the harbor.
Just you wait.