Deal (4)
Deal (4)
"Then how did you train up to this point? Why did you seek me out? Had you not already known how to meditate?"
"Because I've already practiced hundreds of times."
The princess's voice carried genuine emotion for the first time. It was a weary voice, drained of strength.
But the Sword Saint could see that her physical condition was far better than when she had first climbed the mountain. That was because she had already settled her internal energy.
"When I first climbed this mountain, I knew nothing. And when I first learned meditation from you, I simply started from the moment I entered the gate, rewinding that learned time over and over to grasp the feel of it."
"Hm?"
The princess gave off a strange impression, but what she was saying now was the strangest thing of all.
"After grasping the feel, I started again from the foot of the mountain. No, from before I even addressed you, sir."
"Ho."
The words defied logic, yet both Jennifer and the Sword Saint listened calmly.
The sun was rising outside the window.
"I settled my mind, brought my body to optimal condition, climbed the mountain again, learned meditation, and refined my body into a better state. When I go back, my body returns to its original condition, but the memories and sensations I already learned remain."
"I see."
Frederick, who had been listening, let out a hearty laugh.
"So that was it."
"Do you believe me, Master?"
"Do you not believe it? Judging by your expression alone, you seem rather convinced, having heard the tale."
More than anything, Jennifer's face was smiling too.
"Are you saying you turn back time?"
As if he had solved an amusing riddle, the Sword Saint asked with a smile at the corner of his mouth and pulled out a chair. At last, he offered seats to the princess and his disciple, and he himself claimed one side of the cluttered table and sat.
"Yes."
"I see. But I have one differing opinion."
Seeing the Sword Saint speak with a smile, the princess took a seat in one corner and asked.
"A differing opinion?"
"Is this our first time having such a conversation?"
"Yes."
Frederick nodded toward the princess, who spoke with a slight furrow in her brow and a pensive expression.
"Then, what if you thought of it this way? As foresight."
"To call it foresight... I do turn back time at the moment I desire."
"In other words, could one not think that you are looking as far ahead as you wish to see? At the future you would have had, had you not known it."
"......."
The princess tilted her head.
"Still, whatever I might say, your thoughts as the one who experiences it directly are likely far closer to the truth."
There was a scraping sound. It was the sound of Jennifer sitting in a chair.
"Ah, I regret that I cannot even offer a cup of tea to such an honored guest. My apologies. I've just run out of tea."
"Not at all."
"You might just be older than I am."
"That's not so. I do not believe I have turned back time to that extent."
"There are no frogs that remember being tadpoles."
"...... What about a frog that remembers being an egg?"
"Everyone has a few memories that remain from their very youngest days. And human memory is so fragile that it is bound to shatter from even a single trigger. I could count on more than my fingers the number of spells that can manipulate memory right offhand."
"......."
Frederick silently watched the princess, who had fallen into thought for a moment, then spoke.
"Do you intend to reverse this memory too? You have obtained everything you desired, after all."
"......."
The princess kept her mouth shut, but her attitude conveyed far more than words could.
A somewhat uncomfortable expression. Indeed, having seen their faces hundreds of times, perhaps she had come to feel a certain intimacy.
"That's an expression I've never seen before. You usually had no expression at all."
Hearing Jennifer speak as if amused, Frederick grew certain that this girl would turn back time once more.
"In that case, how stands our deal?"
Frederick asked in a teasing manner.
"If the deal itself becomes something that never existed, then would you not have nothing left to repay us?"
"... On that matter, I shall compensate you in my own way."
"A fascinating perspective."
Jennifer cut in.
"To receive compensation for something we never did to begin with—wouldn't that be far too much of a profit for us?"
"......I did obtain something......."
"There's no need for excessive decorum."
Frederick said with a smile.
In a life of just over seventy years, to witness such a fated encounter made the condition the princess had earlier used as a bargaining chip utterly irrelevant. He had seen someone who could obtain anything by turning back time; what use was a mere swordsman then?
He had seen a strange human being utterly without talent, who would loop through time over and over and over if there was something she wanted, until she obtained it no matter what. He thought there could be no finer reward.
"If you truly wish to repay me, then seek me out once before I die. And I shall try to guess your identity then. I would ask that you tell me nothing. A riddle becomes dull when the examiner gives too many hints."
"......."
"Just because you owe us a debt does not obligate you not to turn back time. Advance as you wish. Did you not train under me, rewinding hundreds of times, precisely for that?"
It was not as though he had never taken a talentless student.
But they would soon leave his tutelage. Despairing at their lack of talent. Or growing sick of the tedious, grueling training.
But this girl was different.
Of course, one could suppose she had the ability to turn back time... but still, he doubted many people would use such an ability simply to "work hard."
She could have gone straight to a racetrack, bought up tickets for the come-from-behind winner, padded her fortune, and lived comfortably. She could have manipulated every affair of the world in her favor and lived at ease.
Yet this girl walked the difficult path without the slightest hesitation. Why?
Someone with a single purpose.
He did not know what that purpose was, but it must be something precious to that girl, something she could not trade for anything else.
And the Sword Saint Frederick did not dislike those who advanced toward the single thing they desired. Had he disliked such people, Frederick would also have loathed Jennifer and never allowed her into his room.
"Is that your final condition?"
"Yes. I will not remember it, but if you endured under me for that long, you are my disciple as well. Hold your head high wherever you go. The Sword Saint has not taken on many disciples. Though, this is a place that hardly anyone visits to begin with."
Princess Sylvia Fangriffon watched Frederick laugh heartily with a puzzled look. That made Frederick all the more delighted. Even if he himself did not remember, the Frederick who laughed like this would remain in this girl's memories.
And, he thought, if this girl considered him her master, she would likely return one day.
"Understood. I shall be sure to remember."
"I'm of a somewhat different mind."
Jennifer, who had been quietly watching the somewhat heartwarming exchange between the Sword Saint and the princess, spoke up.
"Frankly speaking, I would like you to fulfill the terms of the deal with me. I am a pragmatist."
"......."
The princess silently stared at her teacher, then nodded shortly.
"...... Understood."
"Well, there's no way for me to know if you don't do it."
"Then please tell me what I must do and where I must go when I descend this time. I shall remember."
"Hmph."
Jennifer looked at the princess who insisted on speaking that way with an amused expression, then shrugged.
"If that's what you wish, so be it. If you don't turn back time right this moment, then that, as it stands, will be a pleasure for me as well."
"......."
The princess gave no answer.
Had there been a teacup before her, Frederick imagined she would have silently taken a sip from it.
And that image suited the princess very well.
*
The two disciples descended the mountain to fulfill part of the 'condition,' and Frederick, sitting still in the quiet hut, spoke as if muttering to himself.
"If you have business here, come in."
"......."
The person who opened the door and entered without a word was a young man with red hair.
"You're wearing an absentminded expression. And so young."
Tsk-tsk. The young man, who had been staring vacantly at the man clicking his tongue, came straight to the table where the Sword Saint sat and took a chair.
"Apologies, but I'm out of tea."
"I haven't got that kind of aristocratic taste."
"Well, that's fortunate."
The Sword Saint said with a broad grin.
"So you are the swordsman the princess spoke of? The one who might be my equal."
As expected, Frederick thought inwardly as he swept his gaze over him.
This was not simply a level of having talent.
Perhaps, even at that very moment, this young man's level could be a step above the Sword Saint's. More than that of a Sword Saint who had lived over seventy years.
"Remarkable. Would you care to cross swords with me?"
"...... Isn't time going to turn back soon anyway, even if we do?"
At those words, Frederick burst into laughter.
"You look like a child who's learned the tawdry secret behind a sleight-of-hand magic trick. What, are you dejected, thinking you can never return to the age when it felt wondrous?"
"......."
Faced with the young man's expression, as though he were sulking, the Sword Saint rose from his seat.
He strode over to the fireplace and began taking down the swords hanging above, one by one, and fastening them at his waist.
"Hey, it won't matter anyway—"
"Look here, young man."
The Sword Saint cut off the offhand grumbling with a firm voice.
"Even if our world were to end and be woven anew, are we not at this moment seated here conversing? I expect a few hours still remain."
"......."
"Is it not the way of things that even if the world ends tomorrow, the living must go on living? If we remember, if we think, if this moment in which we existed is right here, then there is no one who can deny that fact. Not even the goddess above."
The Sword Saint placed his hand upon the hilt of the katana and spoke.
"Even if time is turned back, even if she herself forgets, that too is merely a result. How can a result erase the cause? Even if time goes back, for that girl, it would merely be flowing in a single direction."
Frederick wore a dauntless smile at the corner of his mouth. His back was straight, and his feet firmly rooted, pressing against the earth.
That imposing figure was indeed the Sword Saint.
The affable grandfather-like image from moments before was gone.
"So, young man. For what time remains, will you not exchange a bout with me?"
The red-haired young man, who had been staring vacantly with his mouth slightly agape, soon gave a short laugh, "Ha ha."
"Is it because you've lived a long life? You say fine things, old man."
The dejection had already been wiped from his face.
"Fine. Let's run wild and enjoy ourselves for what time remains."
It was a proud bearing that could well be called worthy of the next Sword Saint.