The Awkward Smile and the Aura Expert
Being left alone with the fiancée candidate who had somehow barely scraped by, I ran into one problem. I simply had no idea what kids this age talked about or how they played. Back on Earth this was kindergarten age, and kindergarten kids would explode with laughter over nothing more than a fart and instantly become best friends. But we were nobles, and engaged ones at that. There was no way I could get away with anything so crude.
I stared at Yuri for a moment, wondering what we should even talk about, then let out a big, hearty laugh.
“Wahahahaha—!”
“…Why are you laughing?”
“Because laughing feels good? You laugh too!”
It was a pretty coercive tone, but Yuri must not have wanted to ruin things with her newly met fiancé. She forced the corners of her mouth upward and produced a smile. People who live in cold places have underdeveloped facial muscles, or so they say—Yuri’s smile was painfully awkward. It looked so dumb I couldn’t help myself.
“What? Have you seriously never smiled before?”
“…Yeah.”
“What kind of kid has never smiled? Hey, move your hands.”
I grabbed Yuri’s cheeks and forcibly yanked them upward. They were so soft they felt like glutinous rice cakes, completely filling my palms. With iron willpower I resisted the urge to knead them like dough and instead ordered her to smile with her eyes. Only then did Yuri begin to smile, still clumsy but at least recognizable as a smile. I grinned and finally let go of her cheeks.
“There. That’s how you do it.”
“…It hurts.”
“A woman should look pretty when she smiles. When you get back home, practice smiling every day. Got it?”
“…Smile practice?”
“Yeah. It’s a promise.”
She stared at me like I was ridiculous, but what could she do? If her future husband told her to practice smiling, she’d have to practice. We hooked pinkies to seal the promise, and right then the maid who had gone to fetch snacks returned. She saw us with our fingers linked and broke into a huge smile.
“My goodness, young master. You’re already holding hands with the young lady…”
“Ah, yeah.”
“It seems you’ve taken quite a liking to her.”
“I get it, so just give me the cookies, please?”
“Yes, here they are.”
The maid quickly set out the refreshments. I picked up one of the cookies in the center and held it out to Yuri. She hesitated, unsure whether to take it, then carefully accepted the cookie and began nibbling at it like a squirrel. Just like I’d seen in the dining hall earlier, she had a serious appetite. She savored it so thoroughly I wondered if they even fed the children properly up north. I didn’t touch a single cookie and gave them all to her.
If I wanted to watch my future bride grow up strong and healthy, this much concession was necessary. While the maid and I watched with fond smiles as Yuri nibbled away, night had already fallen.
“You’re leaving already, Your Grace?”
“Yes. Count. It is unfortunate, but… there is much construction to oversee.”
Late evening. The hour when only starlight and moonlight illuminated the earth. The duke announced he would return to the North. I wondered why he had come at all if he was just going to leave, but if a busy man said he had to go back, what could I do? He had to go.
“—Your Grace.”
“Ah, did you have a good conversation with my daughter?”
“I have something to tell you.”
“What is it? If my daughter doesn’t suit your taste…”
“Yes, there are parts I’m not satisfied with.”
At my words both the count and the duke whipped their heads toward me as if a bomb had gone off. An indescribable pressure crashed down on me, but I was the kind of guy who said what needed to be said. Heart pounding, I spoke boldly.
“Her smile is really awkward. When you return to your territory, please make her practice smiling properly.”
“—Ha, hahaha. I see. I’ll take care of it. Is there anything else?”
“Ah, and please feed her well and take good care of her until I come to pick her up.”
“Yes, I will do so. —Count, you’ve raised quite the son.”
“……It is an honor, Your Grace.”
The duke gently stroked my head, then climbed into the carriage. I watched it roll away until it disappeared beyond the horizon before finally turning around. The count looked at me and let out a hollow laugh.
“…You really are something. You’re my son, yet you’re anything but ordinary.”
“—Dad, you don’t have anything to do right now, right?”
“Not at the moment, but…”
“Then keep your promise right now.”
“What promise?”
“The training. You said you’d teach me yourself.”
The count stared at me in disbelief, then his eyes sharpened. He pressed me with the fierce aura he rarely showed.
“Are you prepared?”
“Yes.”
“Countless people have failed to become knights and fallen to their knees. Do you truly believe you can do it?”
“Of course.”
I was confident. Not because this world was from a game, not because I had reincarnated as a game character, but because I genuinely enjoyed swinging a sword. Because I possessed both the mental fortitude and the knowledge to refine my natural talent.
“Whose son do you think I am?”
“Kyle…”
At the very least, I was ready to grow strong enough that the original Kyle Meyer wouldn’t feel ashamed. My father gazed at me with a hint of emotion, then nodded.
“Very well. Starting tomorrow I will teach you the family’s secret swordsmanship and Aura.”
“From today…”
“No. Learning Aura requires preparation. Wait until tomorrow.”
I hated the phrase “starting tomorrow” more than anything, so I tried to begin today somehow, but the count refused firmly. If preparation was necessary, there was nothing I could do. I nodded in understanding and returned to my room. I thought the excitement of learning Aura would keep me up all night, but the moment I lay down I fell asleep. What felt like ten seconds later, morning had arrived.
“Mm… This is perfect.”
As soon as it was light I hurried off to find my father.
Inside the carriage heading back to the ducal lands, the duke looked at his expressionless daughter and asked,
“Did you talk much?”
“……Yes.”
“Did he please you?”
“I’m not sure.”
As Yuri spoke she recalled Kyle’s face. He laughed for no reason, asked strange questions, and was the kind of person she couldn’t easily describe, yet… he had shared his cookies with her.
Watching his silent, thoughtful daughter, the duke remembered what Kyle had said. That her smile was awkward. Come to think of it, he realized he had never once seen his own daughter smile.
“Yuri.”
“Yes, Father.”
“Smile for me.”
“—Like this?”
Following the duke’s command, Yuri forcibly pulled her own cheeks upward exactly the way Kyle had taught her. It was still unbearably awkward. After watching his daughter’s smile, the duke quietly turned to look out the window.
“……It seems I’ll have work waiting when we return.”
“Yes. Understood.”
The pair returned to the North in complete silence and at great speed, determined to craft a perfect smile before their next meeting.
Early morning. When I visited the count’s bedroom I learned for the first time about the existence of the training ground reserved exclusively for the family head and direct descendants. A secret practice hall completely enclosed on all sides. The count pointed to the magic circle drawn in the center.
“Can you see that?”
“Yes.”
“Step inside.”
Following his order I walked into the middle of the magic circle. I sat at its exact center and looked up at him. The count chuckled as he met my gaze.
“What did you learn from Sir Leon?”
“Um… how to swing a sword?”
“Besides that?”
“Well, something about the four powers…”
“That magic circle measures them.”
There were four powers in this world: Aura, Force, Mana, and Holy Power. Each had different characteristics and required different innate qualities. The magic circle was used to identify those qualities in advance.
I wasn’t particularly thrilled about checking talent first and then deciding what to learn, but I could understand the count’s reasoning. It was better to know what your child excelled at and teach that instead of watching them struggle in a field where they had no aptitude. For the student as well, learning something that matched their talent was preferable. Of course there was no guarantee the field you wanted to study was the one you had talent for.
“Do not worry. You are the eldest son of the Meyer family. Your talent for Aura is guaranteed.”
The count comforted me, saying this test was mainly to check for other abilities. I nodded absentmindedly and he immediately activated the magic circle. As he muttered an incantation the circle began to glow. I felt an unidentified power similar to what I had sensed from the duke sweep through my body. Then the count spoke as though it were obvious.
“It seems you have no talent for mana.”
“That’s too bad.”
Since I had come to a fantasy world I wanted to try magic at least once, but it looked like that ship had sailed. Next, warm and cold energies began swirling around me. When I showed no reaction, the count shook his head.
“No talent for Force or Holy Power either.”
And finally—an energy like a ferocious beast that threatened to rip everything apart rampaged through my body. Cold sweat broke out as I struggled to control it. The count shouted loudly so I would focus on his instructions.
“Breathe exactly as I do from now on! Do not speak!”
He began breathing in a bizarre pattern—inhaling when it seemed he should exhale, suddenly switching to an inhale when it seemed he should exhale. It made my head spin. But after following that breathing method for only a short time, I felt something moving inside me. I concentrated until the count’s voice faded into the background and finally succeeded in taming the energy.
It’s warm… but fierce.
I knew instinctively that this energy was Aura. I also knew how to control it.
Breathe.
Breathing was the most important thing for a human. Breath was life itself. To control breath was to control everything. I followed the breathing method the count had shown me, inhaling and exhaling slowly. The wild Aura that had been rampaging inside me gradually began to obey.
The only problem was that I had no idea what to do next. In martial arts novels they talked about circulating energy through the eight extraordinary meridians or the twelve principal channels, but with nothing but a few years of gym experience there was no way I could manage that. In the end all I could do was watch as the Aura filling my body spread throughout my entire system along the flow of my heart.
“—You succeeded.”
The count, who had been watching, looked down at me with an expression that went beyond satisfaction into pure astonishment. I kept breathing and looked back at him.
“Normally it takes several weeks just to sense Aura… to have this kind of talent…”
Leaving the stunned count behind, I rose to my feet. Breathing now felt completely natural. I took the wooden sword hanging on the wall. Seeing me immediately reach for swordsmanship the moment I awakened Aura, the count let out a small laugh. But what I was about to do wasn’t just that.
It’s so stuffy!
The Aura packed inside me pressed against my organs like an overinflated balloon. I wanted to expel it as quickly as possible, so on instinct I poured Aura into the wooden sword. The count, who had been about to explain something, froze at the sight of the sword now flowing with Aura. He stared down at me in utter shock. I looked up at him and grinned.
“What do you call this, Dad?”
“……Expert.”
On the very first day I learned Aura, I had reached the same realm as the count.