Chapter 4
Chapter 4
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: Regression-3
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"...What... what is that...? Miss?"
Ariasfil felt a surge of frustration at those words.
If Jehard, her escort knight and guiding knight, didn't know, then it was only natural that she herself wouldn't either.
She had never heard of, let alone seen, such a mana training method.
'...But... the principle...'
Even so, she calmly observed the boy's swordsmanship and mana. She began meticulously dissecting how it worked, step by step.
"...He's splitting mana particles."
"Pardon?"
"He's splitting the mana particles around him... and absorbing them into his body."
"...How is that even... possible..."
At that lame response, Ariasfil felt a deep bitterness rising in her throat.
"...Sigh... Fine, I'll go talk to him first."
"No, Miss! I'll go first!"
Without even waiting for permission, Jehard dashed toward where Leo was.
Even the young Ariasfil could tell that his hasty action was an attempt to make up for his own incompetence.
Rushing over, Jehard approached Leo, who was training, and called out.
"Hey."
"...Hup...!"
But Leo just swung his sword.
"Hey!"
"Hah...!"
There was still no reply.
"Hey!!"
"...Ha... seriously..."
After being called three times in a row, Leo finally stopped his training, as if he had no choice.
"What do you want?"
"There's an important guest looking for you. Come on, hurry up."
"No thanks."
"...What?!"
With that refusal, Leo swung his sword again.
The Sage standing beside him scratched his beard and asked.
Leo whispered back to him in a low voice.
"It's fine. If it's a truly important guest, they'll come themselves."
"More importantly, Sage, don't you need to hide?"
So that's why he was standing there so boldly. Convenient.
As the Sage said, Jehard's attire resembled that of high nobility. His pristine, clean armor and the decorations on his sword boasted the prestige of his house.
'Jehard. He used to be Ariasfil's escort knight.'
Leo remembered him too.
He was a knight who had been dismissed from the family not long after due to mediocre skills and pointless pride.
"You brat! How dare you ignore an important guest!"
"Whether it's a noble or a common guest, it's polite for them to come themselves. Tell them to do that."
Considering the bullying he had endured when he first became a squire, this was quite gentlemanly refusal.
"It's someone way beyond what a punk like you could imagine. Get moving!"
Jehard reached for Leo's arm. Probably trying to intimidate him with strength.
Thwack!
"Gahhh!!"
"Hands off."
Leo grabbed the arm in reverse and glared at him.
Ah, fair point.
Leo heeded the Sage's advice and released his grip.
"...Y-You...! You little...! Ungrateful brat!!"
Unable to bear the humiliation, Jehard drew his sword from its sheath.
"Stop it, Jehard."
Ariasfil, unable to watch any longer, halted him.
"M-Miss?"
"Put the sword away."
"B-But..."
"I said put it away."
With those words, Jehard let out a deep sigh and sheathed his sword.
"My escort knight was rude. I apologize."
At that apology, Jehard's jaw dropped. In all his time serving Ariasfil, he could count on one hand the times he'd seen her apologize.
"Got it. It was my fault too for not going right away."
"This punk...! Even when the miss apologizes...!"
Ariasfil shot Jehard a sharp glare at his outburst.
"Don't interrupt, Jehard."
"...U-Understood, Miss."
Exactly. If you lack skill, at least have a good personality.
"So, why are you here? It's late."
"Duel me again. Properly this time."
She gripped the longsword at her hip. A vow not to be careless like their first encounter.
"...Sorry, but I have to refuse for now."
Her eyes sharpened.
"...Why refuse?"
"I'm still adapting to a new training method. It takes time. I don't want to spar until I've mastered it."
At those words, her interest shifted from the duel back to Leo's training method.
"That mana training from earlier?"
"Yeah, that one."
"It was an amazing method. Splitting mana particles and absorbing them through the skin?"
Her immediate correct answer naturally left his mouth agape.
Yeah, that's what a real genius is.
"I've only been practicing the mana training method for a short time, so I'm not used to it yet. I haven't even formed a core in my body."
"...What? No... core?"
Ariasfil couldn't believe it.
He had moved so swiftly, yet he had no mana core?
"It just happened that way. I even created this training method after fighting you."
Talking about a dead person would sour the mood suddenly.
"...So I can't fight right now. You want a proper opponent too, right?"
"True, but when exactly can we fight?"
At his refusal, her expression turned a bit sullen. Still a kid, after all.
"When are you leaving?"
"...Latest, in a week."
"Then let's fight then. On the last day. No complaints about that, right?"
She nodded at Leo's suggestion.
"Got it. I'll come then."
"Yeah. Now go, it's late."
"Wait, before that."
Before leaving, Ariasfil asked one last question. In a way, this was the most important.
"What's your name?"
"...Huh? You don't know?"
"You suddenly showed up demanding a duel. Without even introducing yourself."
At those words, the ghost nearby rolled his eyes in disbelief—or was it his imagination?
Nope, not imagination.
"Ahem...! My name is Leonardo."
"Don't get cocky, say your family name too. Who do you think you're talking to?"
Why was this guy flipping out again?
Wish this escort thug could hear the ghost thug.
Too bad.
"How do I say a family name I don't have?"
"No family name?"
"No father. So no family name."
His mother's side hadn't passed on a family name. Something about it not being one to hold high proudly.
"So I'm just Leonardo. Unless you're gonna make up a dad for me, don't complain."
"...Fine, got it."
With that, she walked out of the inn ruins.
"...I didn't introduce myself. I'm Ariasfil Reinhardt."
She turned back briefly as she said it.
"Ah...! Miss! Revealing your family name here..."
Even as he said it, Jehard glanced slyly at Leonardo.
He couldn't help being curious how this cocky kid would grovel before the Hero Family.
"Oh, right. Reinhardt, watch out on the night roads."
But that curiosity was shattered early. Over ten years ago, in fact.
Jehard's jaw dropped in utter shock at those words. Ariasfil ignored him and went on her way.
"Yes, that Hero Family."
"Pardon?"
Ruben Reinhardt—the name of the first hero from 300 years ago.
Did that mean...
"...Ah..."
The master Leo now served was even greater than he'd imagined.
"...How can a person live as a eunuch for 300 years?"
How was that even possible for a human?
Truly impressive.
Unfortunately, he couldn't die.
Something was off.
At first glance, he had seemed like just another mercenary.
Third-rate at best, second-rate if generous in talent.
But in that one moment, his eyes changed everything.
She had seen eyes like that before.
'Grandfather...'
Her grandfather.
Marken Reinhardt's eyes were similar.
Normally flowing with a gentle aura like running water, but when he gripped a sword, they evoked an asura.
Asura eyes. At a similar age to her, that boy had reached that realm.
'...He said no mana core, no family name...'
He was surely a nameless mercenary without even a house. What drew her interest was pure skill, regardless of origin or bloodline.
With no wealth, no environment,
no family, no master,
Leonardo had ascended to that realm.
In pure talent, he might surpass even her, called a genius.
Even more nagging was,
"...Why...?"
Just thinking of that boy made her heart race.
A feeling she'd never experienced before, hot and thrilling enough to make her entire life up to now feel boring.
'...Should I ask Jehard?'
She dismissed the thought immediately. As always, Jehard was the least trustworthy knight she knew.
'Then what do I do?'
She couldn't judge how to handle this new emotion.
"..."
Her footsteps were already carrying her out the door. She had even silenced her steps with mana to sneak out of the inn carefully.
'...Why am I doing this?'
This behavior, this rebellion, was all new to her.
But for some reason.
'My heart is pounding...!'
The closer she got to that boy, to where he was, the faster her heartbeat grew.
Whoosh!
The closer she got, the fiercer the wind sounds became.
Undoubtedly the sound of Leonardo swinging his sword.
"Take this, you old geezer!!"
Leo's voice followed.
Whoosh!! Boom!!
"They say even dogs don't mess with you during meals!!"
Leo was swinging his sword wildly at the air like a madman.
"Nothing better to do than show off your guts while I'm eating?!"
Spouting incomprehensible rants, Leo was turning the surroundings into a mess with his sword.
"Why should I have to see inside your body?! I puked up all the meat I bought with my hard-earned money!!"
Even in his furious rage, what was impressive was that he maintained his mana training throughout.
"If you wanna show off your organs that bad, want me to split you in half!? Master!?"
With his shout, mana began gathering in Leonardo's sword. The mana, compressed to its limit, slashed horizontally in a black arc.
Kabooom!!
The massive tree before them was felled in one stroke.
"...Huh?"
As the tree was cut, it began falling toward Ariasfil.
'Quick...!'
She reached for the sword at her side. But...
'No sword?!'
She had rushed out without grabbing it.
Thud!!
The trunk crashed down, kicking up a cloud of dust.
"...Wha... what...?"
Ariasfil couldn't respond properly. Even a genius couldn't cope without a weapon or stance.
But she wasn't hurt.
"...You okay?"
Because Leo had swept her up in his arms and dodged.
'Thump... thump... thump, thump, thump...!'
Suddenly,
her heart raced.