Chapter 2
Chapter 2
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: Regression-1
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Leonardo, to Leo, everything was both familiar and awkward.
"What...?"
What was this situation? How could something like this happen?
He remembered every detail of the scenery and the situation here clearly.
'...The first time I fought Ariasfil... right.'
The situation when he first met her and challenged her to a spar.
And since it was the place where he suffered his first defeat, it was bound to stick in his memory.
"...What the hell is this..."
Did he die? Did the humiliation at death drive him insane? Or was this like a fleeting flashback of his life?
Some kind of bullshit like that?
"...What the hell are you mumbling about?"
Ariasfil, standing in front of him with a dagger in hand, glared at him pitifully.
"...Ha... damn it..."
That look in her eyes, looking down on him even in death.
"Fine, whatever."
So what if he was crazy? So what if it was an illusion?
"What are you doing muttering to yourself? Scared now?"
As Leo kept talking to himself, she glared at him and spoke. The onlookers around them were also buzzing and snickering at his odd behavior.
But damn, this bitch talked like that even after killing someone once.
"Sorry for muttering to myself. Hurry up and come at me."
"Fine."
She charged at Leo with her dagger. Even with the short blade barely a handspan long, flashes of swift sword strikes filled the air.
"But you know."
But he'd seen strikes like that to death for years. Even if he was already dead.
"If you fight with that fruit knife, you're gonna lose."
Leo dodged the swift strikes and positioned himself behind her as he spoke.
"...?!"
She was shocked, and
"How...?!"
The people around them were stunned.
Regardless, Leo swung his sword. He couldn't use sword aura without a proper Mana Core, but.
'This handicap is plenty.'
It was more than enough against a kid.
Clang! Claaang!!
Their swords clashed. He unleashed a barrage to prevent her from drawing her longsword.
"Ugh...!"
Mana flowed into her dagger. For a swordsman, the presence or absence of sword aura on a weapon made a huge difference. Right now, the momentum was gradually shifting toward her.
'So before that...!'
Leo drew his own dagger with his other hand. In a sudden counterattack, her dagger flew into the air.
"...Ha... ha..."
Leo held his sword to her throat.
He had won. Against a kid, but for the first time.
Against a genius, against her, against Ariasfil.
"Ha......"
So what?
That question drained the smile from Leo's face.
As the smile faded, so did the elation.
'What's the point of winning like this?'
It felt empty.
Crazy or illusion, it was empty.
This wasn't what he'd longed for all this time. Not this self-satisfaction.
At least... not winning like this...
"I... lose..."
The moment she tried to admit defeat,
"I lost."
Leo admitted defeat first.
"...What?"
He couldn't accept or understand a victory like this.
"If you hadn't let your guard down, I wouldn't have known who would've won."
"But... using the dagger was my choice...! So..."
"So what."
Everyone looked at him with incredulous expressions.
"Doesn't matter if it was your choice or not. I can't accept my own victory."
Not that it was any of his business, but.
"What does that..."
"If you hate losing, call it a draw. Happy now?"
He sheathed the sword he'd held to her throat.
"I'm out. Sorry for picking a fight out of nowhere."
With that, Leo left the scene.
Arias, slumped on the ground, could only stare blankly at his retreating figure.
The other onlookers were the same.
"...Ugh... what a pathetic way to go out..."
The hard-won victory felt utterly hollow, and since this was a dream, he'd wake up and die soon anyway. What was the point?
"...Still..."
'Ariasfil...'
At least he got to see that annoying face before dying. Good enough.
He'd wake from this dream soon enough.
He wasn't entirely without regrets, but he'd eased them a bit, so he should be satisfied.
Some old man's voice rang out.
What was this? Hallucinations as death approached...
Right in front of his eyes—or rather, bursting from inside his heart—an old man appeared.
What the fuck?
"What the fuck?! Seriously?!"
It was really what the fuck.
The old geezer in front of him—or more precisely, the ghostly old fart—cleared his throat.
Not sure if it meant anything since he was a ghost anyway... but that's what he did.
"Are you that grandpa I used to play with?"