37. First Day of School
37. First Day of School
There wasn't even time to be surprised.
If that insane charge hit me in my current state, my ribs would definitely be shattered, at the very least.
Then dodge? Eurasia was standing in that path. Eurasia's reaction was too slow. She couldn't respond.
I had to block it.
"Oh, shi—!"
I flared my Mana like an explosion and pulled Eurasia's neck into my arms. I planted a Stomp and forcibly twisted my body. Like that, I managed to turn my back while holding Eurasia close.
"Uhyahahahaha!"
A bright, ringing laugh echoed.
Thump— A soft sensation pressed against my back, which had been braced for impact.
"Surprised? Scared? Huh? Huh?"
"...Ah, my la... dy?"
Ticklish fur brushed against my bare legs under my skirt, and a playful breath—heehee—ghosted against the nape of my neck.
I slowly turned my head.
"Nice to meet you, nice to meet you! Congratulations on getting in!"
Fluffy golden hair cropped short like a lion's mane.
Vertically slit golden pupils. Sharp fangs.
A mischievous grin and a clear, ringing voice.
The one who had suddenly kicked at me during the entrance exam.
"...Vice Dean..."
The Vice Dean whose name I couldn't remember was standing there.
"That's right! I'm Vice Dean Leona Megenberta! Still, how about adding a 'ma'am' after that? Otherwise, I'll scold you!"
The tension drained out of me in an instant.
It had been an indescribably fast and ferocious charge, one whose form even my eyes couldn't make out.
It looked like a charge that couldn't possibly stop, yet she stopped without any recoil and lightly patted my back.
I'd felt it in the kick I blocked during the entrance exam too.
Her physical abilities were absurd.
Beastkin as a species did naturally possess physical abilities far superior to humans, but Leona was on a different level even among Beastkin.
"Hehe. As if I'd ever hit a student!"
"...Haa."
I let out a sigh that rose from my Dantian and released Eurasia from my arms.
"Uh, um... huh...? V-Vice Dean?"
"Yeah! Nice to meet you, nice to meet you! You're Eurasia Espirot, right? This year's top student! Right?"
"Y-yes. Th-that's... correct."
"You're an excellent student."
Leona giggled and bent down to look up at me.
"Eliarnes!"
"...Yes."
"Come with me somewhere."
"I need to eat."
"Then eat with me."
"...Why?"
"So we can talk about the trouble you caused last time!"
"What trouble?"
At the word "trouble," every gaze in the lecture hall converged on me. Even Eurasia was staring at me with her mouth hanging open.
"During the entrance exam!"
"...What trouble did I cause back then?"
"I can't say it here! There are so many eyes watching, how could I? It's embarrassing."
"Embarrassing...?"
At the mention of so many eyes watching, murmuring spread through the room, not just stares.
Is she doing this on purpose to corner me?
Or did I actually cause some kind of trouble?
I don't know. I don't know, but dragging this out here would only spread more pointless rumors...
"...Fine. Let's go."
I nodded reluctantly.
Then I took a card out of my pocket and pressed it into Eurasia's hand.
"Eurasia, go eat first."
"Oh, um... yes. Th-thank you..."
"Yeah. See you later."
"Good choice! Hehe."
Leona immediately linked her arm through mine, raised her other hand high, and waved it around at the students with a beaming smile.
"Congratulations on getting in to the rest of you too!! Well then, see you next time! Hmm, no. Meeting me would mean you've caused trouble, so let's try not to meet!"
"...Why would you say that last part?"
"Huh? But meeting me isn't exactly a good thing, is it?"
"No, I'm asking what you think that does to my image when you say that while I'm walking with you..."
"Hmm..."
Leona, who had been tapping her lips with her finger while her arm was linked through mine, gave a small nod.
"For the record, Eliarnes didn't cause any trouble, so don't misunderstand!"
I genuinely couldn't understand how this woman became Vice Dean.
Is she screwing with me because I cursed at her once back then?
I sighed and rubbed my face with my dry hands.
At the same time, my eyes met Silina's.
Silina was glaring at me with a look that said she knew this would happen.
The sighs came on their own.
They just kept coming.
"...Haa. Let's just go quickly."
"Sure!"
*****
Slurp— slurp—
Lunch was noodles.
Slurp— slurp—
The location was the training hall.
The bare floor of the training hall.
Slurp— slurrrp—
She ignored my gaze and scarfed it down like it was the best thing ever. I was already pissed, and the fact that the noodles were good pissed me off even more.
Slurp— chew chew— gulp.
"Why are we eating sitting on the floor of the training hall, of all places? We could've eaten in the cafeteria."
"Who has time for that! Gotta eat fast and get moving."
"...It's the entrance ceremony today, so I have no schedule. What's the rush?"
"I'm busy!"
"Then couldn't we do this tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow? We're doing it tomorrow too."
"Tomorrow too? Do you have that much to talk about?"
"Yep!"
Slurp— slurp—
Leona, who had answered brightly, buried her face in her bowl and started slurping noodles again.
"Haa..."
I picked up my chopsticks too, for now.
Slurp—
After polishing off a total of six bowls of noodles, Leona patted her stomach and sprang to her feet.
"If you're done eating, get up!"
"...Weren't we supposed to talk?"
"Yeah. We are."
"Mm..."
I set down my empty bowl and stood up too.
"Eliarnes Eustetia."
"Yes."
"You're a Martial Artist. Right?"
"Well, I mean, yes... I am."
Leona giggled.
"Karelai Academy is an institution responsible for nurturing talent and education. It was created to prepare for a Human-Demon War that might or might not happen. What do you want to do at an academy like this?"
"Well, obviously, get strong—"
"Lie. You believe in your own skill. Your confidence is enormous. And your skill matches that confidence. So, you're telling me someone like you wants to get stronger at the academy?"
Her vertically slit pupils gleamed sharply.
"Eliarnes. I really hate lies."
"...I came to graduate."
"Oh? And what do you want to do after you graduate?"
"I'm going to Ge Vihenum."
"Why?"
"That's..."
To find traces of my comrades.
To kill Kaloso.
To eradicate the Demons.
To subjugate the Demon King.
Every single reason was something I couldn't say.
So, just as I opened my mouth to give the reason I'd told my parents, having no other choice—
"Eliarnes. Do you want to kill the Demon King?"
Leona spoke first.
"...Excuse me?"
"Even though the previous generation of Heroes succeeded in sealing him and made peace with the remaining Demons... no, calling it peace is a lie. It's an armistice. Even if a temporary peace has come to this world through an armistice agreement with the remaining Demons, it isn't complete peace. You think so too, right?"
I didn't answer.
I couldn't tell if she was probing me or what.
In that era, saying you'd break the Demon King's Seal and kill him was no different from saying you'd shatter the peace.
To put it badly, it was rebellion.
I wasn't an idiot who blurted out something like that without a care.
"I want to kill the Demon King."
But this woman seemed to be an idiot.
"I'm going to kill the Demons, kill every last one of the three remaining Legion Commanders, break the Demon King's Seal, and kill him."
"That seems like an extremely dangerous statement."
"It's fine for me to say it. And it's fine for you to be honest with me."
Step— step—
Leona giggled and took a step closer.
"Eliarnes. Do you want to kill the Demon King?"
"...Why do you think that?"
"Just a feeling. I've always had a good intuition for this sort of thing."
Leona tapped her nose and took another step closer.
Close enough to touch if I reached out.
I didn't answer. I just stared at her.
"Fine. You don't have to answer right now. But one thing's certain: you hate Demons. Right?"
"There's no one who doesn't."
"No. You hate them more than that. It's an emotion close to hatred."
"I don't know what part of me you're looking at to make that judgment."
That day was the first time we'd had a proper conversation.
During the entrance exam... it felt like I was ranting on my own and she was ranting on her own. It wasn't a proper conversation.
And besides, that day was also the first time I'd properly seen her.
Even if she knew me on paper, even if she'd heard rumors about me, all of that was nothing but the surface.
So what on earth was she looking at to make such a confident assertion?
I didn't know.
"Uhehe."
Leona smiled brightly, shifted the mood she'd been projecting, and clenched both fists.
"Now, shall we get to the main point?"
She slammed her fists together.
BANG—!
A thunderous sound, like rock striking rock, echoed through the training hall.
Seeing that, I carefully voiced the question that had drifted up in my mind.
"By main point, you don't mean..."
"That's right! I'm a Martial Artist too, just like you! So, first, come at me!"
"...Weren't we supposed to talk? Is this because I cursed at you during the entrance exam?"
"Cursed at me during the entrance exam? Nyahahaha! No! It's just that going at it like this is more comfortable and faster than talking!"
"So... a conversation through the body, something like... that?"
Leona's eyes went wide.
"Oh, exactly!"
"Haa..."
I sighed and rubbed my face.
Chimpanzees... did all Martial Artists talk like that?
What kind of brain structure makes them say the exact same thing as Arisa?
Do you turn into that after enough punching and kicking?
Was I going to end up like that too?
"I'm wearing a skirt right now."
"It's fine! The training hall is off-limits on entrance ceremony day, so no one will come!"
"Then why are you and I using it?"
"I'm fine! So you're fine too!"
"...So, from now on, do I have to have these, um, conversations with you every day?"
"That's right!"
"What about my classes?"
"You're going to do personal training after regular classes anyway, aren't you?"
"That's true, but I'm someone who needs time alone."
Leona smirked.
"Time alone? You're that weak and you need time alone?"
I blanked for a second.
"...Excuse me?"
"You said you're going to the Demon World after graduation, right? If you spend three years like that, you'll still be just as pathetic."
"Ha."
I clenched my fist.
"Eliarnes. Do you know why Martial Artists are called chimpanzees, beasts, apes, something below beasts?"
"Because we don't use weapons."
A finger popped out from Leona's tightly clenched fist and wagged side to side.
"It's because in martial combat, they don't know the 'martial' and only know how to 'combat.'"
The wagging finger stopped and tilted toward me.
"Eliarnes. Like chimpanzees such as yourself."
The moment those words ended.
"Nyahahahaha!"
I drove my fist into Leona's face.
*****
"You fight better than I thought, but you're still just as pathetic!"
"Haa... haa, shi—, ugh... haa... haa..."
How many times was that?
I couldn't even remember.
It had probably passed fifty.
My stamina hit rock bottom, my legs gave out, I got hit in the jaw and got dizzy, I had no strength left to lift my arms, my vision blurred, and I was sprawled out with drool running from my mouth.
More than fifty times.
The sky outside the training hall windows was already dark. The occasional sounds of students and the bell announcing curfew were all gone.
My whole body hurt. It hurt so much that finding a spot that didn't hurt would be faster.
Yet there wasn't a single visible wound.
Of course, if I stripped and stood in front of a mirror, my whole body would be covered in bruises, but the visible parts were clean except for a bit of dirt.
No broken bones. Not even a fracture.
No stretched ligaments. No torn muscles.
Whenever I tried to cross the line, Leona's fist struck my jaw and stopped me from crossing it.
That fist was a skill—no, a divine art—that stopped my movements without knocking me unconscious.
"You understand the difference between you and me now, right?"
Leona, who was handing me a towel, giggled.
"So? Do you feel like having a conversation with me tomorrow too?"
I staggered upright, took the towel, and nodded.
"...Yes."
"Nyehehe. Good. Starting tomorrow, let's do this properly!"
Leona roughly ruffled my hair, spun around, and swished her tail gently.
"I'll be going now, so you can review what happened today, or go straight in and sleep! Good work, Eliarnes!"
"...I have something I want to ask."
"Hmm? What?"
"Vice Dean... who is your master?"
Step— Her footsteps stopped and her tail stiffened.
Her cute bob, more adorable than a lion's mane, swayed as Leona turned back.
A playful smile spread across her face.
"I told you earlier. If you ever beat me, I'll tell you."
And then she spun back around and continued walking.
"Though I don't know if you'll ever land a single hit! Nyahahaha!"
When the Vice Dean's figure had disappeared like that.
"...Bullshit."
I cursed very quietly.
Every time I cursed, the palm that smacked my lips was so stinging, so painfully stinging that it brought tears to my eyes, so I'd been holding it in with all my might.
"Haaa..."
I let out a deep sigh and buried my face in the towel.
Then I reviewed the sparring from today.
I recalled Leona's movements.
My fist clenched.
"...It was similar."
Leona's movements.
They were very similar to Arisa's movements.
*****
"Sediiiil!! Give me a Potion!!"
"Where have you been wandering around at this hour... what the hell. Were you attacked?"
"Attacked? Ahahaha! No. I had a little spar with Eliarnes."
"A spar? What kind of spar leaves you covered in that much dust?"
"Whatever, just give me a Potion. I'm hurt!!"
Sedil's expression turned puzzled at Leona's words.
"You're hurt...? Did you hurt yourself?"
"What?! Hurt myself?! It's not self-harm. I just got a small fracture in my arm."
Leona shook her head and sank into the soft sofa.
"You...? Why on earth?"
"While sparring with Eliarnes."
Sedil's puzzled expression turned to shock.
"...So, right now. You're saying... you got hit by Lady Eliarnes, and your arm cracked?"
"I didn't get hit, it happened while I was blocking! And I didn't even use Mana!"
"Even so, does it make sense that you, of all people, cracked something while blocking a new student's attack?"
"Yeah. It makes sense because it's Eliarnes."
Of course, she could have dodged.
But if she had dodged, the next attack would have continued and injured Eliarnes's own body, so she had no choice but to block.
Even so, it was true that her arm had cracked.
So she didn't bother explaining the circumstances and just smiled brightly.
"As expected of Eliarnes. Uhehe."
"Huh..."
Sedil, who had tossed Leona a Potion from his subspace pouch, couldn't find any more words.
Meanwhile, Leona, who had drunk the Potion and closed her eyes gently, sank into thought as she recalled Eliarnes's appearance during the spar.
Movements abnormally biased toward offense.
Movements closer to a weapon-using warrior than a Martial Artist.
No foundation in martial combat, no fundamentals.
No thought for what came after in a fight—it looked like the movements of a demon, truly.
But it wasn't.
Clenching and unclenching her fists.
Extending and bending her punches.
Raising and lowering her legs.
Breathing in and out.
Even the moment she blinked.
All of it was done after watching, reacting to, calculating, and judging the opponent's movements.
"A new pillar might be added within five years. Maybe the number will stay the same; maybe it'll even decrease. Either way, a new pillar will definitely be raised. Everyone had better be on their toes."
Leona giggled, sprang to her feet, and headed out of the dean's office with her tail swishing.
"Anyway, I'm going to play with Eliarnes starting tomorrow, so don't come looking for me! Bye! Good night!"
"Ha, haha...!"
It had been 128 years since Sedil became dean.
Having never seen Leona, who had been with him for all that long time, praise someone this much, Sedil had no idea how to react and just let out a hollow laugh.