Chapter 33: Something is Off This Time, Too (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 33: Something is Off This Time, Too (1)
Lunchtime, right after morning classes ended.
Chloe and I took a seat on a bench along a secluded, tree-lined path on campus.
Our menu for the day was fried rice made with anchovies—supposedly good for the bones—and green vegetables.
Salmon or blue-backed fish would also have been good for abrasions, but the thought of the mermen's eyes, clouded with a grayish-white film, made me hesitate to reach for them. Above all, they were expensive.
No matter how much lump-sum cash I had on hand, spending it without a plan would quickly drain my funds.
As a seasoned merchant, I refused to waste money. I decided to treat that ten million won as a nest egg for the future.
"Geomma-kun, this fried rice is so, really, so, so delicious! The rice is so perfectly fluffy."
"I'm glad it's to your liking."
Chloe chewed busily, letting out an exclamation of "It's so good!" with every single spoonful.
Cupping her cheek with one hand, she looked as if she were savoring every single grain of rice. Her cheeks puffed out so much she looked like a hamster hoarding food.
I quietly observed her. Fortunately, thanks to Speed Weapon's prompt post-incident treatment, she had recovered quickly from her injuries and had stopped using crutches as of yesterday.
According to her, bones supposedly get stronger by repeatedly breaking and fusing back together. Just what kind of mindset treats a bone fracture like muscle training...?
Still, out of nagging concern, I felt she should take care of her body while she was young to avoid chronic aches when she got older.
After scraping her cast-iron lunchbox clean, Chloe patted her stomach in satisfaction. A few grains of rice were stuck around her mouth. When I reached over and brushed them off, her face flushed with embarrassment. Soon after, her gaze drifted to the Murasame resting on the corner of the bench.
"Wow, is this your first armament, Geomma-kun? It's so cool!"
With her eyes sparkling and her face flushed with excitement, Chloe carefully examined the Murasame. For some reason, she seemed to like it even more than I did, and I was its actual owner.
Since I had given her permission to touch it, she felt the paulownia wood hilt and even untied the cord.
Watching her examine the cold blade with a bright, innocent expression—like a child unwrapping a new toy—gave me a slight chill. It was certainly a picture-perfect fit for her yandere tendencies.
As I fell into thought, Chloe turned the Murasame over in her hands and spoke.
"It's so nice, I'd never guess it's E-rank."
Chloe praised the Murasame with a bright smile.
...E-rank.
But sometimes, pure, innocent words cut the deepest. As my cheek twitched involuntarily, fluster washed over Chloe's face.
"Ah, no, I didn't mean it like that! I-I mean, for the lowest rank, it's really decent—no, that's not what I meant to say either!"
She lightly tapped her own head with her fist, muttering in self-deprecation. Seeing this, I forced a smile and spoke.
"It's fine. I got a decent refund from the blacksmith anyway. Fortunately, he said he wouldn't charge for the reinforcement process itself as long as I bring the materials. Once I upgrade it a bit, it'll probably become quite usable."
"Exactly! You were already strong even with a Daixo sashimi knife, Geomma-kun! If you just have a proper armament to back you up, you'll definitely become even stronger!"
"Well, I'm not really reinforcing it to get stronger, but..."
Come to think of it, there was no real reason for me to get stronger. Ever since I sliced through the Majin Mermaid, I could easily cut down most mid-tier or higher magical beasts without much trouble.
Of course, A- or S-rank magical beasts were beasts in name only; they were practically as powerful as average demons.
Honestly, running into the Majin Mermaid during the midterm exam was just a case of horribly bad luck.
To put it another way, it meant my luck was just fucking terrible... unless there was some other underlying reason.
A wave of gloom washed over me at the thought, so I shook my head to clear my mind. In truth, the fundamental reason I had decided to reinforce my armament was none other than—
Flash—
* * *
[Blessing of the Sword God]
If you slash, it will cut.
◎Body Rank: (7▶8) ▷ The sword's specifications are relaxed.
◎Mental Rank: 4 ▷ An aura of intimidation is infused into your words and actions.
◎Armament Rank: (1▶3) ▷ Pain is reduced by (1) stage when the Blessing is manifested.
☆Synchronization Rate: 7.2% ▶ 9.3% ▷ (1) line of 【???】 can be read.
→[The next unlock condition will be met upon reaching a 15% Synchronization Rate.]
★【???】
[※ The Blessing will only activate when using a sword with a length of (36+2) cm or less and a width of less than (9+0) cm.]
* * *
'Pain is reduced by 1 stage when the Blessing is manifested.'
—The moment I saw that line, my mind was made up. I had to prioritize my armament.
The sole reason I hesitated to manifest the Blessing of the Sword God in the first place was the excruciating pain that accompanied it.
But if upgrading my armament could alleviate that pain, that alone was more than enough reason to do so.
In fact, right after seeing that text yesterday, I had tried manifesting the 'Blessing of the Sword God' without the 'Blessing of Painlessness', but...
The sudden, crushing pain that squeezed my optic nerves made me drop my sashimi knife instantly.
Perhaps because it was only stage 1, the pain reduction wasn't that significant yet. Still, it was slightly less painful than when the Blessing of the Sword God had manifested by accident on entrance ceremony day.
On my first day, I had screamed at the top of my lungs. I suppose you could say it had been reduced from a mind-numbing agony to a level where I merely coughed up blood and collapsed?
'Though it's still practically unbearable.'
The aimless thoughts that had been drifting in my head instantly assembled themselves into a concrete goal.
I thought that perhaps, as I grew step by step like this, I might find a clue to what this power bestowed upon me truly was.
Along with that, a vague hope arose that I might also learn about the entity that had thrown me into this world.
As I stared blankly at my status window, lost in thought, Chloe tilted her head and stared at me.
To her, it must have looked strange to see me staring into empty space with a stiff expression.
"Geomma-kun, you must be so heartbroken that your armament turned out like this..."
Chloe's eyes slowly began to cloud over.
"That blacksmith who made Geomma-kun's armament like this..."
"...?"
The red in her pupils began to deepen, turning closer to the color of fresh blood.
"Anyone who makes things hard for Geomma-kun..."
A thick layer of murderous intent coated her muttered words. This was Chloe in her so-called 'yandere mode'.
"I'll kill th—"
"Chloe."
I lightly shook her small shoulders, and only then did she shake her head side to side and snap out of it. The light of reason instantly returned to her clouding pupils.
"Ah, I'm sorry."
Chloe scratched the bridge of her nose sheepishly and poked her tongue out slightly.
"But look at it this way. Even if it's E-rank now, it has high growth potential. If I keep reinforcing it, it could become A-rank, or with some luck, even S-rank. Nothing is fun if it's too easy from the start anyway. There's a certain joy in watching things grow. Besides, that blacksmith uncle had some conscience; he did refund me ten million won."
"...Hehe, so cool."
A bright pink blush spread across Chloe's cheeks. Not knowing how to react, I simply kept my expression neutral. I really couldn't comprehend what exactly she found so cool about that.
While Chloe and I were chatting on the bench, I sensed a stealthy presence behind us. Whoever it was had hidden their presence so well that even Chloe hadn't noticed.
However, my senses, which grew sharper by the day, did not miss the faint presence. At this rate, I felt like I'd soon be able to hear ants crawling on the ground.
I turned my head and scanned our surroundings. After darting my eyes around for a few seconds, my gaze locked onto the roadside trees. The leaves were rustling unnaturally.
Who the hell is that?
Tsking softly, I told Chloe to wait on the bench for a moment, took the Murasame from her, and approached the shaking tree.
As I drew closer, the tree shuddered violently once more. The number of falling leaves increased noticeably.
I knocked on the tree trunk with one hand while gripping the Murasame in the other.
It was a rather aggressive approach, but if my intuition was correct, putting on this much bravado was absolutely necessary for this guy.
"What are you doing?"
"..."
Letting out a dry sigh, I slowly began to untie the cord of the Murasame as I added,
"Get down here if you don't want to die."
"...!"
Thud!
At that moment, a male student who had been hiding among the leaves fell to the ground. Twigs and leaves were tangled in his red hair. When I furrowed my brow, he quickly averted his eyes.
"..."
An uncomfortable silence fell over us. I was the first to speak.
"Do you have business with me?"
A frosty, cold voice slipped through my teeth unconsciously. The male student's face was painted with shock and fear.
It was Nox Auditore, sitting on the ground, hunching his shoulders and avoiding my gaze.
* * *
Back on the bench, I rested my chin on the armrest. In my other hand, I gripped the Murasame, its cord half-wound.
Whenever the cord wrapped around the blade fluttered in the gentle breeze, Nox flinched in unison.
Chloe hid tightly behind my back like a hostile stray cat. Peeking over my shoulder with only her eyes showing, she glared at Nox with an uncomfortable look. As his younger sister, she also seemed to have no idea what was going on.
Nox's attitude, which was clearly far more subdued than before, was somewhat shocking. He was so dejected and hunched over that I wondered if he was even the same arrogant bastard from before.
I silently stared at Nox, who stood there with his hands behind his back. I wondered if he was hiding a knife behind him, but since I couldn't smell any scent of iron, he seemed to be empty-handed.
Well, even if he were holding a weapon, it wouldn't make much of a difference. The moment he showed any hostility, I planned to sever one of his arms without hesitation.
"Do you have something to say to me?"
"..."
His lips parted slightly, but he struggled to speak.
I let out a short breath and asked again.
"I believe I made myself clear last time."
"T-That's not why I came here!"
Nox waved his hands frantically and stammered. For some reason, his tone and behavior resembled Chloe's when I first met her.
I guess blood really does run thick.
I hadn't expected him to be this thoroughly dispirited.
It seemed the words I left him with when I visited him in the hospital had worked wonders. Sometimes a harsh lesson is the best medicine, as the saying goes—the wisdom of the ancients was rarely wrong.
"Then why did you come?"
"I came because I have something to tell Chloe, but..."
Nox mumbled, his voice trailing off. Judging by his hesitant posture, he was clearly terrified.
But even putting aside his sister Chloe, he had something to say to me too? When doubt flickered across my face, Nox let out a deep sigh and shook his head.
"Even if I only told Chloe, it's obvious it would reach your ears anyway... so it's probably better for both of you to hear it."
As Nox spoke softly in a self-deprecating tone, Chloe flinched behind me. Being family, he certainly knew his sister well.
"And this is also something that concerns you, Kang Geomma."
"...?"
"The Academy's Council of Elders."
Hesitating for a moment, Nox took a deep breath and finally opened his mouth.