Festival (4)
Everything changed.
The landscape that Qi Sensing had been painting for me flickered out for a moment, then reformed into something entirely new.
A vast, empty plain.
No living thing, no object—nothing at all was drawn upon that endless field.
"There is no need for alarm."
Sirin was watching us with the same smile as before.
"I have merely shifted our location for the sake of the spar. This is not some scheme to do you harm. I swear it upon my own name."
Swearing on her name... not sure what that even means.
But it didn't feel like a lie.
If it were a lie, then Sirin would be a truly... terrible person.
Rubia and I had bought her so many delicious things, and she was going to stab us in the back the second she finished eating?
That would make her less than human...
"U-umm... w-where are we...?"
"In your words, it would be something akin to a Room of Spirit and Time."
Room of Spirit and Time...?
Isn't that a phrase from Earth?
Did it exist in the game too...?
Then does that mean time flows differently here from reality...
If we could play around all day and only thirty minutes pass outside, it would be perfect for hanging out with Ru... Rubia...
"What you are thinking is correct."
"H-how do you know what I-I'm thinking...?"
"Time here flows differently from the outside. Even if you frolic and feast the entire day, only about thirty minutes will pass in the world beyond."
"W-wow..."
Does that mean I can play with Rubia?
If possible, I'd love to bring Yuria, Hepais, and Charlotte too, so we could all eat and play together...
"Well then. Enough explanation. How long do you intend to keep clinging like that? Do you mean to spar or not?"
"Eep... I-I was just startled."
Without realizing it, I had pulled Rubia into my arms out of pure protective instinct. I carefully loosened my hold.
"Ru... bia? Are you okay...?"
"...Ah, yes... This place is... just..."
Rubia still looked as though she hadn't recovered from the shock.
Maybe the difference between what Qi Sensing draws and what you actually see with your eyes is that big...
I patted her faintly trembling waist a few times, then turned to face Sirin.
"Are you ready?"
"Y-yes."
"Good. Then... first we must set the conditions."
"...Conditions?"
"Mm. This body shall use neither magic nor mana of any kind. And—"
Smirking in that irritating way of hers, Sirin began to draw a circle around herself.
The size was roughly... four Noahs across.
"I shall not step outside this circle either. If you force me out, or if I leave of my own accord, victory is yours."
I nodded and drew my greatsword.
"Furthermore, should you so much as nick the hem of this body's sleeve with that greatsword of yours, that too shall count as your victory."
"...R-really?"
So damn cocky.
Magic and mana aside, she's saying she'll face me without even leaving that tiny circle...?
"This body does not lie. Now that I have set the conditions for my defeat, we must set yours as well."
I tilted my head, not quite understanding.
"Hah... Do you mean to thrash this body from dawn till dusk, then?"
Thrash her all day?
Why would I?
"If you keep charging in all day long, the spar will never end, will it?"
"...Ah...! R-right... Umm... yeah. My defeat condition... hmm..."
"If your body touches the ground three times, it shall be your loss. How does that sound?"
Body touches the ground three times...
So I just have to not fall over, right?
"A-are you really confident doing it like this?"
"Of course."
"No t-taking it back later... okay...?"
"This body does not speak twice."
I nodded and glanced back at Rubia.
"Ru-Rubia... you heard the sparring conditions... right...?"
"Yes, I heard them... Why?"
"If you heard them, th-that's a relief."
I was so focused on winning that I completely forgot the other conditions...
Just shove her out of the circle no matter what.
Two steps—push her two steps and I win...!!
"Come at me whenever you like. This body does not mind."
Sirin drew her own greatsword with one hand and crooked a finger at me, smiling crookedly.
"...S-so damn cocky."
"Hahaha! Yes, this body is quite the cocky one. It has been a long time since I last heard that."
I sharpened my Qi Sensing to a razor's edge.
Still, nothing inside Sirin's body was drawn for me.
No mana, no muscles, no blood vessels—nothing at all.
Doesn't matter.
I just have to push her out.
I cast aside every stray thought and focused solely on the opponent before me.
"Should you win this spar, this body shall grant you a wish."
Rubia sucked in a sharp breath.
Without thinking of what came next, I settled into a stance meant for a single decisive blow.
"However, should you lose—"
I raised the greatsword level.
Power flooded into my legs.
"—then Rubia and Noah, the two of you shall kiss. Thoroughly. If you are shy, you may do it in a private room."
"H-huh... Noah! Forget the wish or whatever—it's fine if you lose, so don't push yourself!"
Leaving Rubia's worried voice behind me, I charged.
The force of the charge added to the rotation of my waist.
That rotational power tightened the muscles of my shoulder and arm.
And then—
Like releasing a rubber band stretched to its absolute limit—
the greatsword shot forward.
A strike of this caliber would have made even a master like Kalt click his tongue and dodge.
It should have.
But Sirin did not.
"Watch carefully."
She lightly twisted her greatsword upward.
The path of that twisting blade traced the flow of water.
The very technique I used so often, the one I was most confident in.
Flowing Water.
Yet the result was nothing like mine.
Kaaang—!
A clear, ringing note, and my greatsword rebounded.
A horrific pain surged up through the rebounding blade.
My fingers shattered. The bones in my arm split with wet cracks.
The teeth I had clenched to their limit snapped and scattered inside my mouth.
The shock raced up my arm, through my spine, and turned everything inside my skull pure white.
I couldn't even scream.
I couldn't even draw a breath.
My body didn't even get pushed back.
I simply crumpled bonelessly to the ground.
"One."
"Noah!"
Rubia rushed over in a panic and began pouring Divine Power into me.
She forced so much in that the excess that couldn't soak into my body leaked out in jagged white spikes.
"Still, the fact that you did not let go of your greatsword is worthy of praise. Well done."
Whether it was mockery or genuine praise, the words prodded my body awake.
I ground my newly regrown teeth together with a crunch and forced myself to my feet.
It had clearly been the same Flowing Water as mine.
But... the result had been completely different.
The force I had put into the strike had come back at me in full.
No... my own power, plus something else, had returned to me.
Sirin's power added on top of it?
"That look on your face—you look as though curiosity is killing you. Fuhahaha!"
Still so damn cocky.
Utterly irritating.
I want to run over right now and give her a hundred noogies.
I want to pinch that smug face of hers until it turns purple.
"Noah, are you okay?"
"Y-yes... I'm fine. Rubia... stay behind me. You might get hurt..."
I gently pushed Rubia back and put some distance between myself and Sirin.
If I don't think about what comes next this time either, the result will be the same.
Then... should I throw in some feints along the way?
It's possible, but... doing that with a greatsword isn't easy.
Besides... it's not just my height that shrank. My weight seems to have dropped too.
I can't control the greatsword the way I used to.
It's not that it's hard—I just haven't adapted yet.
I stretched my aching muscles and swung the greatsword a few times.
I was suddenly very glad I had maxed out my Strength stat.
If I'd been even one point short, the greatsword would have been swinging me.
"Noah... you don't have to push yourself so hard. If you're going to get hurt like this, just—"
"N-no. I'm going to win no matter what... She looked down on the greatsword..."
"No... it's fine if you lose."
How dare she... how dare she look down on the greatsword?
Looking down on me is fine.
But you don't get to look down on the greatsword.
It's... it's my identity!
The weapon that holds every last scrap of my romance.
The weapon I chose after abandoning everything else.
So this... this can never be denied!!
"I... I'll definitely win, Rubia..."
"Huh? No... you don't have to definitely win... I mean... winning would be nice, but... uh... y-yeah. Do your best."
Still not fully adjusted to the suddenly changed scenery, Rubia rambled a little.
I patted her waist a few times—pat-pat—and turned back to Sirin.
I've roughly adapted to this smaller body now.
This time, let's go with a chain of strikes.
I painted a picture in my mind.
Over and over, I drew the picture that would break through that Flowing Water from a moment ago.
But no matter how many times I drew it—dozens, hundreds, thousands of times—it was impossible.
So I simply decided to charge straight in.
I'll understand once I take the hit.
"Hoo..."
I steadied my breathing and sprinted forward.
A warm energy stirred my consciousness awake.
A half-step behind my returning awareness, the surrounding landscape was drawn once more.
The greatsword gripped in my hand.
Rubia, cradling my head with a worried expression.
A wasteland scratched, torn, and cracked into utter chaos.
And—
Sirin, still standing inside her circle, smiling that irritating smile.
"Are you with us?"
"...Y-yes."
"One hundred and forty-two times. Magnificent."
Did I really swing that many times?
I dragged my aching body upright.
"I did as you wished. Have you grasped the thread of it?"
Sirin took a single step forward from where she had been standing.
Exactly the distance I had managed to push her.
I hadn't completely broken through, but I had managed to dig in just a little—just the tiniest bit.
"A-a little..."
"Then that is fortunate. After going this far, if you had claimed not to understand, I would have abandoned the whole master-and-disciple business entirely."
"...I never said I was becoming your d-disciple..."
"Of course this body is not demanding you come at once. Enjoy the festival, reach your destination, and decide then."
What would be the point of learning the greatsword from someone who looks down on the greatsword?
"And now that you have only one left... allow me to apologize."
"...A-apologize for what?"
"In truth, this body considers the greatsword... a rather romantic weapon. The belittling was necessary to stoke your competitive spirit. I had no choice."
"W-why bring that up now..."
"I have no intention of defending the shortcomings I mentioned earlier. But even carrying every one of those flaws, the greatsword remains a fine weapon in my eyes."
Whether those words were sincere or not, she wiped every last trace of that smug expression from her face.
With a distant, almost wistful look, she gazed at the greatsword as she spoke.
"It taught me so very much. It was an exceedingly... fierce and heated night. A night I shall never forget... the night that left scars upon my body that will never fade... That day, something heavy churned deep inside m—"
"N-Noah! Come here."
Rubia suddenly rushed up from behind and clamped both hands over my ears.
She even poured Divine Power into it, completely sealing off every sound.
"Eh... wha...?"
Sirin was still staring at the greatsword, her mouth opening and closing.
Twisting her body, breathing hard...
Rubia... was glaring at Sirin with her face scrunched up tight.
A long while later, Rubia's hands finally left my ears, and Sirin's breathing settled.
"And so, I apologize for insulting the greatsword."
I had no idea what she had said, but Sirin was smiling with a noticeably lighter expression.
I was curious.
Curious, yes—
but I didn't want to lose this tingling sensation I was feeling right now.
I didn't want to delay any longer.
I wanted to swing the sword as soon as possible—even a single second sooner—and make this sensation crystal clear.
"I get it, so... let's finish the spar..."
"Excellent!"
As instinct commanded.
As sensation commanded.
As the muscles of my body led me.
I walked forward slowly.
I felt no need to create distance in order to add power.
I simply stood in a place where a swing would reach her at any moment.
I let the greatsword trail behind me.
Kept my body light.
Legs ready to extend at any time.
Muscles loose and flexible.
"Hmm...?"
And then, just as it rose in my mind—
I held my breath and stamped a true step.
Fwhaaak— My left foot advanced, scattering dirt, and twisted.
My waist twisted in answer.
Strength in my abdomen and shoulders—not too much.
But my grip crushed the hilt as though it meant to snap it.
My body.
My greatsword swung.
At the same instant, an overwhelming sense of powerlessness crushed down on me, and everything went black.
And then—
a voice both familiar and completely new flowed into my mind.
You understand now, don't you?
This is how you use a greatsword.