Chapter 56
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: Times of Survival Known Only to Themselves
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Lunchtime before class began.
What truly surprised Eclair when she ate the tomato stew prepared under Lady Skadi's direction in the tent wasn't the cooking skill that coaxed extreme flavor from such meager ingredients.
This wasn't directed at her, she knew.
Yet in that small bowl, she could fully sense the affection for a lover.
The devotion of enduring tedious processes as a matter of course and considering even the smallest details.
These unfamiliar emotions were all the more vivid because they were so foreign to her.
Food and cooking were meant to satisfy the palate and quell hunger, that was the basic premise.
But this was the strange experience of the dish's original purpose being pushed aside by emotions so profound and immense they turned everything on its head.
Clang-!!
There was a reason Eclair recalled the stew from lunch as she blocked Chloe's sword with her left hand.
She could tell exactly what state Roman had elevated Chloe to before sending her here.
'That man is doing something so pointless...'
More than the sword's promising future and potential for growth.
The grueling time Chloe had endured up until now flowed through the blade, tormenting Eclair's mind.
"Hah-!!"
Clang-clang!
A heavy three-strike combo in a single breath.
When the attack failed, she took a short breath, switched to defense without hesitation—her boldness stood out.
A straightforward, defensive swordsmanship that perfectly captured the essence of the Dreitna style.
The Dreitna swordsmanship her little sister displayed now was denser than that taught by the family's knights.
'...Chloe.'
This level of polish couldn't be built overnight.
While she had been lost in self-justification on frontlines beyond Chloe's sight, under the excuse of atonement.
She could sense how Chloe had spent those long years when even their parents barely paid her any mind.
Why?
Why had she assumed Chloe was just holed up in her room, crying endlessly?
(—You have to accept that she's not that little kid sister from your childhood anymore; she's a full-grown adult. Otherwise, the story won't progress.)
Roman's words from the alleyway, said as if he were exasperated with her, struck her mind.
'He has every right to be annoyed...'
What right did skill with a sword give her?
The honor of being one of the Empire's Five Knights didn't justify defining others as she pleased.
Flattered by others' praise, she had arrogantly viewed Chloe as a fragile being she needed to protect.
...If she were in Chloe's shoes, could she have endured everything and stood here now?
Wasn't she the one dodging the real issues, unable to find answers?
In truth, the truly fragile one wasn't anyone else—
"...I heard the knight is quite close to my sister..."
As memories and thoughts flooded her and she silently parried the sword, Chloe spoke first.
Eclair didn't know exactly what Roman had said, but Chloe looked curious.
Eclair nodded her heavy helmet up and down in affirmation.
"I know her well. Better than anyone."
Until recently, someone else might have known her better than she knew herself, but now she felt she understood herself best.
"But I don't particularly want to talk about it."
Which was why, the more she looked back, the more she loathed her past self.
"...Why?"
Seeing Chloe's genuinely puzzled expression made Eclair reflect once more.
She was Eclair Dreitna—what kind of person was she?
She could list off several reasons why she disliked herself right away.
"...Acting like I carry some noble mission just because I'm talented with a sword."
"...?"
"Charging ahead alone without even considering how much pain I'm causing those around me..."
"Knight...?"
"Always relying on others' help without realizing it... ruining everything just by existing—"
"Knight-!!"
Eclair snapped to her senses at Chloe's shout and looked ahead.
"...What's wrong?"
"Why say such harsh things...?"
Chloe's gray eyes, usually downcast and listless, now pierced her with intensity.
"When you don't even know my sister properly...!"
Chloe raised her sword again, signaling she wouldn't hear more, and faint blue flames flickered along its edge.
"Have you ever heard the saying, 'Let your sword do the talking,' cadet?"
Chloe couldn't grasp what this instructor wanted to teach her.
"It doesn't happen every time, but when you're exchanging blows like this, emotions can sometimes flow through the weapons."
She had never felt the need to consider an opponent's emotions in what was just swinging weapons to clash ideologies and gain advantage, nor had she ever thought about it.
"How does my sword feel right now? Does the overly large motion or excessive power seem desperate? Or do I look angry?"
He seemed like he wouldn't let her go until she understood.
'What is he even talking about...?'
The sword in her hand was just metal, so of course it felt cold.
But the image emotion evoked for Chloe wasn't cold.
Telling her to express and understand something not cold through something cold didn't resonate much.
Crash-!
"Ugh..."
But after rolling across the ground desperately over and over... even someone as oblivious as her could sense subtle differences.
The platinum adventurer instructor's sword always overwhelmed her, effortlessly dismantling everything she had built up.
But now, unlike indoor academy classes, the power distribution and speed in his strikes varied wildly.
After tumbling who-knows-how-many more times, her mouth tasted of iron-mixed dirt and her wrist throbbed.
Clang-! Ting-!
The instructor's teaching strikes weren't pushing her back with force.
Instead, he flicked her sword into the air like discarding it, which made her feel belittled.
"..."
It wasn't a pleasant sensation.
Her eyes narrowed unconsciously.
Suppressing the sudden surge of irritation, she swung again, and the instructor spoke as if satisfied.
"Just a bit more."
"Hah... hah...!"
A strong current ran down her forearms, squeezing her muscles.
Ignoring her state, the instructor continued the lesson.
"In the end, this isn't a losing deal. Aura is just mana made visible... and mana is the substance that manifests and realizes your will."
Her grip completely slackened; the moment she swung, the sword nearly flew from her hand.
"The weapon in your hand becomes the conduit between will and mana. Understand?"
Throat burning with thirst, Chloe could only nod slightly instead of answering.
"Then you can at least guess how your opponent intends to move you. Even without aura, if you can imbue your sword with will, would that help or not?"
Click-!
Not waiting for an answer, he sheathed his sword and rummaged in his pocket, tossing her a glass vial.
"Drink it."
"...Why give me this?"
Her parched voice cracked, but she had to ask.
She knew well what the ornate vial filled with red liquid was.
"The knight you're about to meet is very close to Eclair Dreitna, one of the Empire's Five Knights."
"...!"
"You've learned from me, even if briefly—don't embarrass yourself. As a cadet, you don't need to show anything amazing. Just give it your all."
Chloe glanced back multiple times at the instructor who shooed her away, saying to pour out the potion if she wouldn't drink it. She carefully uncorked it.
A heavy favor she would never normally accept, but thinking of the ordeal ahead made it hard to refuse.
'I'll repay it with money later...'
Her emergency savings, scraped together penny by penny since childhood, should cover it somehow.
Rike returned holding a bent steel rod, and it was Chloe's turn next. They headed to the visible clearing in the distance.
As she approached the once-small figure of the knight, an overwhelming giant-like presence hit her.
"Chloe... Dreitna...!"
She had heard this knight was close to her sister, but the Dreitna name only drew a blank stare, no big reaction.
In a way, that was a relief.
The knight drew her sword with a sharp rasp and extended the one in her left hand.
"...You can come at me anytime."
Clang-!!
Chloe felt her Dreitna swordsmanship read perfectly and became convinced this knight truly knew her sister.
She wasn't just blocking—she preempted Chloe's intent, cutting off her path.
Having sparred with her sister, this level of swordplay would seem like child's play.
'I shouldn't aim too high...'
There were so many amazing people in the world; just watching could snap her neck.
"...I heard the knight is quite close to my sister..."
She knew better than to say this during a lesson.
Still, she brought up her sister because, as they exchanged blows, her image kept flickering in Chloe's mind.
This might be a chance to understand her sister, who never shared her own story.
Awakening once more to the past.
Chloe still vividly remembered the sister from back then, who evoked spring sunlight.
That memory made the current disconnect too jarring to face easily...
So Chloe had always wondered why Eclair had changed so suddenly.
Their parents said she'd grown up, but Chloe knew that wasn't it.
Maybe...
Her sister, who had wandered blood-soaked battlefields sacrificing for the family her whole life, had simply burned out?
"But I don't particularly want to talk about it."
She had hoped for more after hearing "I know her well," but the response was lukewarm.
"...Why?"
"...That damn sword—"
Claiming not to want to mention it, yet spewing vitriol with such conviction.
The criticism dragged on endlessly from the start.
Her sword hand clenched until it felt like it would tear.
For such a person to be close to her sister? It had to be a mistake.
"Why say such harsh things...?"
If truly close, how could she speak like that after seeing her sister's daily struggles?
Now, at the lesson's end, Chloe finally understood why she needed to imbue her sword with emotion.
Even if they weren't as close as before.
The sister she'd watched grow since childhood wasn't someone deserving of such slander.
"When you don't even know my sister properly...!"
She wanted to prove her conviction through the sword in her hand right now.
Whoosh-!