139. End of Spring
139. End of Spring
"...My lady?"
"Hm?"
"Are you... all right?"
After our conversation ended, Leona said she had things to take care of and went to see Sedil. And I, as planned, called Eurasia to the training hall.
But the moment she saw me, that was the first thing she said.
"Yeah. I'm fine."
I don't know what kind of expression I was making for her to say that right away.
"...Hmm..."
Even after hearing my answer, Eurasia chewed on her lips for a while, then nodded with a small sigh.
"Let's sleep together again today!"
"...How did you reach that conclusion?"
"Back at the Red Cherry Palace, you used to make that face sometimes too, my lady. But I heard that whenever you did, you slept with Julie."
"It wasn't that I asked her to sleep with me. It was just that Mother came into my room without me knowing while I was asleep."
"Hmph! I don't care! Anyway, today is a day I want to sleep together! I won't leave you alone, my lady!"
Eurasia shook her head vigorously from side to side, then spoke to me with a solemn expression.
Seeing her like that, I let out a snicker.
"Fine. Do whatever you want."
"Oh... then I want to take a bath in your room too!"
"Sure."
"After the bath, we'll have dinner, right?"
"Sure."
"Dessert too!"
"Sure."
"I'm in the mood for something sweet!"
"Sure."
"Do you want to bathe together?"
"You... you crazy girl?"
"What a shame... hehe."
"Shame, my ass."
I glared at her as hard as I could, then took Eurasia's weapons out of the pouch I'd set aside.
A zweihander, a scimitar, a claymore, a rapier.
A swordbreaker.
A Severing Sword.
I didn't only take out the weapons Eurasia would use.
Today, I also took out the ones I would use.
We weren't going to use weapons in sparring.
These were cheap iron swords that could be broken, for teaching Eurasia how to use the swordbreaker I'd given her.
Eurasia looked at the weapons laid out haphazardly and gulped.
"...Actually, I've wanted to try that greatsword once."
"The claymore?"
"A claymore is still a greatsword. But... I've also wanted to try a greatsword that's a bit bigger and heavier."
"I have one. Want it?"
I have a greatsword too. One far thicker, bigger, and heavier than a claymore—specialized for crushing opponents rather than cutting them.
It was the greatsword I often used when I stood at the front of my comrades and carved a path.
"No, never mind. You should get used to what's here first, then learn that. If you try to do that too now, you might just break something for nothing."
"Break something? The sword?"
"No. I'm saying your head will break."
Eurasia pouted.
"I'm a certified genius, you know. Certified by you, my lady."
"Right. Eurasia is a genius when it comes to swinging two-handed swords. But you might not be able to adapt to these. They're completely different swords in how you use them and what they're for."
First among them, I handed the swordbreaker to Eurasia.
"Let's start with this one."
"You said it's for breaking swords!"
"I didn't even ask, and you're already answering. But... yes. It's for breaking the opponent's sword. Actually, you'll end up using this more against Demonized Humans than Demons. Few Demons use weapons."
Eurasia, holding the swordbreaker, made a startled expression.
"...It's heavier than I thought?"
"Yeah. For how short it is, it's probably heavier than most one-handed swords. Swordbreakers aren't normally that heavy, but the one I... picked up is heavy."
I almost said it was the one I used to use.
I gave an awkward cough, picked up a cheap iron sword lying on the ground, and stood up.
"I explained it to you back then. Hook the opponent's sword into the part that juts out like deep saw teeth and break it."
"Yes. I remember! But my lady."
"Hm?"
"Um... before coming to the academy, there was that technique you showed me, remember? The one where you smashed a bunch of wooden swords."
"Ah, right. You could use that too, but that only works on an opponent in front of you. The reason I'm having you carry one more of these is to prepare for surprise attacks from your blind spots."
Eurasia's mouth fell open blankly.
Whether she did or not, I approached her.
"I'm not going to cut you, and you're not going to cut me, so don't be scared and take a swing."
*****
"...I'm a scaly hedgehog mushroom."
"A scaly hedgehog mushroom?"
All of a sudden? What does that mean?
Eurasia isn't as ugly as a scaly hedgehog mushroom.
"I wasn't a genius... I'm... just a scaly hedgehog mushroom who's only good with a sword. Actually, I don't know anymore. What if I keep going like this and degenerate until I can't even handle a sword?"
...I can't deny it.
In the four hours up to now, Eurasia hadn't managed to break a single sword with the swordbreaker.
Without holding the swordbreaker, with her bare hands, she moves extremely well. But the moment she grabs it, she suddenly breaks down.
Like how dogs break down and wobble when you put shoes or clothes on them, Eurasia does the same.
"As if that would happen."
"It could happen!"
"What's this? Why are you showing me your bleeding hand? Are you staging a protest to get comforted?"
"That's right. Please comfort me. I'm sad and it hurts."
Eurasia wiped the blood flowing from her hand and plopped down onto the ground.
Then, as if reviewing what she'd just been doing, the muscles in her body twitched minutely.
"It feels like drawing a triangle with one hand and a star with the other. And since I have to match the speed exactly, it's twice as hard."
"It's hard. It's only natural that it's hard."
Of course, in my Past Life, I used it without difficulty.
It couldn't be helped—I originally learned how to move through street fights.
Street fights. If there was a bottle nearby, you swung the bottle; you threw and stabbed with rocks; you threw flowerpots; well... fights like that.
So I was used to using both hands. If I didn't want to get beaten to death as a kid, I had to get used to it.
"How long have you held a sword, Eurasia?"
"As of this year, probably... thirteen years."
"Six years old...? You started... pretty early?"
"Hehe. Well, about that... back then I was just playing with my little sibling like it was make-believe. When I properly recognized and used a sword... ten years?"
"Ten years. You've used nothing but two-handed swords for ten years, so of course it's hard at first. Even if you're thinking about it in your head, your body moves according to memory and habit. It'll be even worse in urgent situations."
So I deliberately erased those things.
I dragged the realm of the unconscious up into the realm of consciousness.
From the posture of gripping the sword, to moving the arm, lifting and setting down the leg, walking, running, leaping, stopping.
Blinking, seeing with the eyes, hearing with the ears, smelling with the nose, breathing, and so on.
I made myself think about, judge, and then move through every action a human can perform in combat.
In other words, I succeeded in erasing the things that moved instinctively and the things that shot out reflexively.
I know very, very many ways to change like that.
From the most effective methods to the fastest ones.
So.
"From now on, I'll help you erase all those habits."
"...Ah, my lady, your expression is scary."
I thought I said it pretty coolly, but Eurasia hunched her shoulders and looked up at me.
"What about my expression?"
"...Are you upset with me about something?"
"No?"
"What I said earlier, I really didn't mean it. I like the sword you teach me best, my lady, and I like you best."
"I said I'm not upset."
"I have no one but you, my lady."
"Hey. I said I'm not upset."
"...You're upset."
"Huh?"
I gave Eurasia's pouting lips a light smack.
"Stop talking nonsense. You've rested enough, so let's go again."
"Help me up."
Eurasia's hand, extended toward me, was caked with sticky scabs of blood.
I carelessly sprayed Potion all over that hand, then grabbed her wrist instead of her hand and pulled her up.
"Heehee."
Even though she had plenty of strength left, the coy Eurasia let her body lean into my touch. I pulled her all the way up, then stepped back five paces.
"From now on, I'm going to point out Eurasia's bad habits one by one. You just have to fix them."
"You already explained things with words earlier, didn't you?"
"This time I'm not going to use words."
"...Yes?"
I tossed the cheap iron sword I'd been holding behind me.
I loosened my shoulders and clenched my fists tight. I raised my clenched fist in front of my chest and lightly extended my feet forward and back.
"You learn this kind of thing twice as fast by getting hit."
"Ah, my lady?"
"I'm not going to do it hard enough to break bones, so don't worry too much."
"You said you weren't upset!"
"And so what if something breaks? I'll take responsibility and bring you to a priest. So just trust me."
"Eek...! You're totally upset!!"
I wrapped my whole body in Mana and kicked off the ground.
This would serve both as teaching Eurasia and as the time to internalize the contents of the first volume of Arisa's books.
*****
I dragged Eurasia, whose legs had given out and couldn't move, into my room.
"...I, I feel like I'm dying."
"Quit being dramatic."
"Dramatic...? Do you know how many times you hit me, my lady...?"
"I hit you so many times I don't remember."
"...Me neither! Me too! I got hit so many times I couldn't count!"
"But it got fixed, didn't it?"
Eurasia shuddered.
"...That wasn't fixing, it was erasing. With pain."
"You want to keep talking back?"
"Hng..."
Eurasia let out a deflated sound and let both arms hang limp. She must really be exhausted—her strength was far weaker than usual.
"I can't wash myself alone..."
"So what? Are you asking your master to wash you?"
"No? I'm asking to wash together!"
"No."
"Then how about just getting into the tub together?"
"No."
"I can even scrub your back!"
"I can scrub my own back just fine."
"I don't think I can scrub mine right now."
I glared at Eurasia.
Eurasia flinched and pulled her body back, but didn't avoid my gaze.
"...S, so? How about it? Just this once today. Okay?"
Can she really not move her arms?
I did... hit her arms more than other places.
She had too many useless habits.
I don't know whether they came from leaning on her talent or leaning on her innate strength, but anyway, I hit her. A whole lot.
I don't know about up and down, but front to back... she might have trouble moving. I twisted her shoulder joints a dozen or so times too.
Leaving someone like that to wash alone is a bit... cold, I suppose. But getting in together... hmm...
In my Past Life, I had wiped Luna's body a few times... I did. Back then, I closed my eyes and did it very well, so now too... I can do it well, right?
"Fine... go in first."
"Ha!"
Eurasia's eyes flew wide open.
"You'll wash with me?!"
"I'm only going to help scrub your back."
"Me, here and here—here and here too, I don't think I can scrub them alone!"
"I get it, so go in."
"Heehee. Yes! I'll draw a warm bath for you!"
"Put in a bath salt too."
"I'll be your bath salt, my lady!"
"Get lost."
"Yes, ma'am!"
Grinning from ear to ear—what on earth was she so happy about—Eurasia went into the bathroom with a bright face.
I stripped off all my dust-covered clothes, tossed them carelessly into the basket, and sat down on a chair. Then I recalled what Leona had said.
'Before Master disappeared, she and I were in the Holy Kingdom.'
'She said she had something to tell the Patriarch, and also wanted to check on the Sacred Relics, so I went with her.'
'And... she disappeared there.'
'I don't know where she went. Not with my nose, not with my ears, not with the Patriarch's miracles, and not with the searches of countless Blood Heaven Knight Order members could we find any trace of Master.'
'But not long after, a trace of Master was found in front of the room where the Sacred Relics were enshrined.'
'Even calling it a trace, it was just one small note written in letters we couldn't even read. But anyway... it seems Master wasn't taken by someone—she chose it herself.'
'This is that note. The Holy Kingdom threw every kind of fit demanding it be handed over, but I barely managed to bring it with me.'
'It's a note I've never once shown to anyone else, including the Emperor or the Patriarch. And I... still haven't been able to decipher it.'
'Why am I giving it to you? Well. Because you carry the name Eustetia... that's part of it, but I think my four hundred years of memories and feelings just want to do this. I don't know the exact reason myself.'
"Hmm... so being a Beastkin means she has some kind of instinctive sense."
From the clothes I'd thrown off, I took out the note Leona had given me. It looked like a very long time had passed, yet it was still smooth and glossy.
Still, something... something, hmm...
I'm glad she gave me a note left by Arisa without asking for anything in return... but it does feel unsettling in several ways.
Actually... I don't think it would matter if Leona found out about my Past Life.
I mean... I don't think it would be dangerous.
But I don't want to reveal it right now.
Not only have I not remembered who Leona is, but if I pointlessly revealed my Past Life, I'm afraid our relationship would become different from what it is now. I don't want that.
Later.
When we've become close enough that revealing my Past Life wouldn't make things awkward between us.
I think revealing it then would be best for both of us.
Having finished my thoughts, I unfolded the note.
Just as Leona said, the note had a short sentence written in strange letters. Letters that others couldn't read.
Letters that only we could read.
I slowly took it in with my eyes.
[I'll be waiting at the end of the spring that has passed, Ronan.]