Trails with Cuddle-Cuddle Osbon
Translator: Tsukii
Editor: Helen
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Author Note:
Even if one has already planned a plot, it won’t turn out the same way when one actually wrote it out. This April field study was originally intended to be Class VII’s bonding activity. There was also a “serious” enchantment that gave AT bonuses at every turn.
Thank you for the typo reports as always.
Chapter 014 – Fufufu, son. It’s the April Field Study③
Rean’s group had finished some of the requests beforehand and headed to Parm’s branch Vander dojo to fulfill the final request of the day.
The prestigious martial Vander was one of the two major schools for swordsmanship in the empire. 1
The idea was to have the disciples there compete against the students of Class VII, inspiring all of them to aim for greater heights.
Rean and his group went to the training grounds, and after Sara informed the teachers and they were guided to the training grounds.
Naturally, the name of the Eight Blades One Leaves and Arseid school of swordsmanship had reached the Vander dojo. The attention was also particularly focused on Laura, who was the beloved daughter of the Empire’s strongest swordsman, the Radiant Blademaster.
As fellow families of prestigious martial background, they must find women like Laura more preferable than cultured young ladies, thought Rean.
[“Fufufu, son. Do you feel complicated that Miss Elise isn’t their preferred type?”]
Why are you asking all of a sudden? Well, it’s not like I didn’t have such thoughts. But if anyone wants Elise, they must fight me first.
{“It seems that Rean’s little sister will have a hard time finding a partner.”}
Something like that is still too early for Elise since she hasn’t made her social debut yet, thought Rean.
In order to change the topic, he turned to use Laura, who had attracted the attention of the people of Vander, as an excuse.
“It seems that Laura has attracted attention not just because she is an Arseid.”
“Aah. But it seems some females are also staring passionately at her.”
“Hm. Laura feels like an idol.”
“Seeing how she is used to handling this kind of situation, it seems like she has received similar treatment in Legram.”
The fact that Laura was attracting more attention than Jusis, a member of a duke’s family, was perhaps because they were in Vander.
That said, Jusis didn’t seem to care about that in the slightest and continued to observe the disciples who were wielding swords that were about as long as their height.
While Machias was looking down uncomfortably, Sara was talking to him.
“Machias, how are you doing?”
“My body is fine…”
“I see. You’ll be moving a lot from now on, so make sure you relax yourself. Well then, Jusis, Machias, and Fie. You are to compete with the beginner disciples first.”
“Eh~”
“Fie, face, your face.”
Fie made an expression that a woman should not make and Rean quickly pointed that out.
Even so, she couldn’t conceal her puffed cheeks.
It couldn’t be helped considering the interpersonal relationships of members of Group B, but it seemed like their opponents didn’t think so.
They seemed to think the young girl with a smaller stature was looking down on them, so a fighting spirit, mixed with anger, fired up inside them.
“Well then, everyone. I’m going to have a quick talk with the person in charge, so do your best and complete your practical training.”
Sara stirred up the flames further and started talking about something with the assistant instructor at the training ground.
The assistant instructor looked a little troubled, which suggested how the thing Sara was asking for was unreasonable.
“Fie, I think the instructor…”
“She probably meant for me to take care of those two. Haah…”
“Laura, can you tell her opponents that she meant no harm?”
“……It’s probably impossible. They won’t be convinced until they finish the battle once.”
“Then I guess she has no choice but to work hard to follow-up after those two.”
Fie seemed to become even more melancholic after hearing that answer.
But this is still practical training, so I can’t afford not doing it, thought Fie as she resolved herself and took out her twin gunswords.
Jusis silently wielded his sword, but Machias didn’t even prepare his weapon.
“Machias. The practical training is about to begin.”
“Ah………… aah.”
Machias, who was in a daze, finally grabbed his orbal shotgun after being told by Rean.
The first training session was held under the guidance of the instructor… but the content was definitely not praiseworthy.
It was four disciples versus 3 people of Group B, and while the numerical disadvantage was supposed to be covered with tactical link, only Jusis and Fie’s link worked properly.
However, both Jusis and Machias were still people who were competent enough to be able to enroll in Thors Military Academy. Partially due to the difference in physical strength as well as Fie’s follow-up, Group B barely managed to win the training session against the beginner disciples.
Rean silently applauded Fie and called out to Jusis and Machias, who were breathing heavily.
“Can you move your body? If you find it tough, I can lend you my shoulder.”
“No need… You should worry about that guy instead of me…”
“I’m fine, as well…………”
Jusis was breathing heavily, but it seemed like he still had energy to spare in his steps.
But perhaps because of the commotion that took place before noon, Machias seemed a little stiff.
He had no intention of apologizing.
Rean still tried to lend a hand, but Machias insisted on moving on his own as if to show the will of a commoner and bowed with the disciples.
“Well then, I wonder who will be our opponent.”
“Yes. It’s not like there’s nobody to fight against… but if possible, I’d like to cross swords with you.”
“I don’t mind if we had the permission and time…”
“You promised, right? I heard that, okay?”
“That’s somewhat scary. Well, you’ve been asking that for a while now, so I have no problem with it.”
“Me too,” said Laura with a smile, her fighting spirit overflowing.
“Only if there’s time, okay?” reminded Rean, but Laura only said she understood and didn’t seem to hold her fighting spirit back.
As Rean shifted away from Laura, who strived to improve herself, Osbon spoke to Rean.
[“Fufufu, I guess that’s the passion of Sandlot’s blood.”]
Sandlot?
[“Miss Laura’s full name is Laura ‘S’ Arseid. That S is Sandlot… it came from the name of that Lance Maiden, Lianne Sandlot. Legram is the place of origin of the Eisenritter led by the Lance Maiden… and the man who served as Eisenritter’s second-in-command was the ancestor of Arseid.”]
Heeh, so it’s one of the Fathers of the Renaissance.
[“In that sense, it could be said they were a group of martial arts idiots that lived up to their name.”]
Don’t mention that to the Blademaster… but I guess he can’t hear you to begin with. Valimar, does Eisenritter exist in your memories?
{“Fumu. It exists in my memories, but all I remember is a faint shadow.”}
I see. I’ll wait patiently until your memory returns.
While talking with Osbon and Valimar, Sara returned and called Rean and Laura.
It was decided that the two would fight the assistant instructor.
As expected, noises spread among the disciples.
“Rean. The Power of Ashen is prohibited. Just fight with your basic abilities and focus on tactical links. Laura doesn’t need to match Rean, just give your best shot.”
“…………You mean Rean is to follow-up for me?”
“Don’t whine. Rean and Fie can do that, but you can’t. First, let’s begin with admitting that.”
Laura tightened the grip of her sword while leaking an atmosphere that seemed to say “Dissatisfaction.”
She tried not to let it show on her face in front of people from other schools, but some of her opponents could clearly feel Laura’s dissatisfaction.
“Please take care of me.”
“………Please give me pointers.”
The training session went smoothly.
No, too smoothly.
The combination of Laura, who had reached the intermediate level of Arseid school of swordsmanship, and Rean, who was dedicated to giving her follow-up, made even the assistant instructor of Vander school not able to beat them, and instead suffered a one-sided suppression.
“T-the match is set!”
“They’re so strong…………”
As if to say that Laura’s dissatisfaction didn’t matter, Rean was showing off his swordsmanship.
Utilizing clones that were indistinguishable from the real one to toy with his opponent with Laura delivering her attacks as the main focus of the match, Rean kept the assistant instructor in check regardless of the range and when he was about to avoid Laura’s attack, Rean would attack at where he would dodge to interfere with him. Such was his wide-ranging follow-up.
“No way… to think the assistant instructor is…”
“So this is Arseid and Eight Leaves swordsmen…”
It wasn’t that Vander’s assistant instructor was weak, it was just that he held slight contempt towards youths born out of pride in his own swordsmanship, and the victory against him showed off the strength and potential of the tactical link… such was what people other than Laura thought.
From Laura’s perspective, she felt as if her every move was guided by Rean and she only needed to walk the path laid out for her, which made her feel a bizarre sense of exhilaration and helplessness at the same time.
It wasn’t like her movements was hindered, but it was like her next move was being taught every second, a feeling she hadn’t felt from other than from her father.
In other words, leaving Laura’s mind aside, her well-trained body knew that following Rean’s lead was the best solution.
It felt like she was being shown the difference between them, which she found extremely frustrating.
“They move so naturally. It looks like they were moving across flowing water.”
“Aah. To think such techniques could attract people’s attention when they work well together…”
“………………Gh.”
Fie and Jusis praised their movement, while Machias had a vision of a wall rising in front of him.
Sara was actually surprised that Rean was actually able to follow-up better than expected.
Perhaps because she had gotten used to the troubles he had caused at the academy, she had unconsciously assumed Rean as someone who was trying to influence those around him, but this has proved that thought as outrageous.
On the contrary, he had looked after the other person well, and Sara was ashamed of her own observations.
It might be obvious, but there was a reason why Rean was able to match himself with others so well.
Imitating the movements of others was the beginning, and not limited to, the sportsmanship of the Eight Leaves One Blade school of swordsmanship, but all martial arts.
It might be one thing if the other party was an expert or greater, but given the difference between Rean and Laura, it wasn’t difficult to match her movements with the help of the tactical link.
In addition, the power of ogre, which could now be partially awakened, was primarily focused on manipulating his flow of power.
The influence of paying close attention to the overflowing impulse and distribution of power as well as intentional control of them, made it possible for Rean to provide an exquisite follow-up, combined with his eyes for observation.
[“Fufufu, the real thrill of training is being able to feel the fruit of your hard work.”]
I’m thankful for that.
“Okay, then the next one. Jusis and Machias, both of you are to fight Rean.”
“Eh?”
The three people whose names were called widened their eyes at Sara’s announcement.
“Instructor, what does that…”
“I already got the permission. This is also part of the special training.”
“H-haah.”
“I’m sorry, but Rean——”
When Rean was told a certain condition by Sara, he stood in the training ground and gave a half-hearted reply.
While Jusis and Machias were standing confused, Sara approached them and told them.
“Well then, both of you. I just have one order for you. Don’t think about establishing a link.”
“N-not thinking about establishing a link?”
“But in that case, how do we fight Rean——”
“I requested Rean to not attack at all. The condition for your victory is to break down Rean’s defense. If your physical ability and technique couldn’t reach him, then try to have your emotions reach him. It’s not about winning —— vent all your frustration towards Rean!”
The two’s hearts trembled at Sara’s unexpected support.
There was no need for them to obey. They could just cross their weapons appropriately and finish their training.
Such was what their logical reasoning told them.
Both Jusis and Machias realized they were far behind Rean upon watching the match against the assistant instructor earlier.
This match would be a nuisance to the people of Vander, so the smart thing to do would be to end it as soon as possible.
However, more than the confusion of being told to fight —— they couldn’t lie about their feelings they wanted to express to Rean.
“Rean, my apologies… Well, maybe I’m not actually apologetic, but I’ll have to let you serve as my training dummy.”
“I don’t like being treated like a sandbag, though…”
“………………”
Rean wielded his tachi.
Jusis used the court swordsmanship he learned from his elder brother and Machias used his orbal shotgun by utilizing the aiming and prediction his brain learned through hard work.
Their attacks, probably, nay, most likely, wouldn’t even be able to reach Rean.
There was already a huge disparity in their abilities, combined with combat partners who didn’t like each other, they wouldn’t even be able to establish the link satisfactorily.
They were a noble and a commoner who definitely wouldn’t want to work together were it not for Sara’s instruction.
But even so —— they wanted to hit the man in front of them.
That intention alone was the same.
“I’m going, Rean!”
The first to move was Jusis. Naturally, the sword swung by brute force couldn’t reach Rean, and he was parried with a graceful technique that made Jusis not feel any knockback.
Jusis recalled how he laughed off Machias’ hostility and realized something similar was reflected in his sword.
It was his haughtiness.
There was no trace of elegance and the sword filled with emotions made it hard to believe it was a move of court swordsmanship.
However, Jusis didn’t correct his stance.
It was because Jusis was jealous of a man named Rean Schwarzer.
[——Jusis. I think something called Divine Knight was unearthed the other day, was it?
Can you try to find out about its pilot… I mean, its user?
I am quite interested, you see.]
Rufus Albarea, who was one of the directors of Thors Military Academy, was Jusis’ half-brother.
He was the person Jusis respected the most and the pillar that made Jusis who he was today.
That Rufus told him to find out about Rean Schwarzer.
Of course, the reason was the Divine Knight, but even though the group who found it included a female classmate and students of another classes, it was still fresh in Jusis’ memories that Rufus’ interest was shown to Rean in particular.
“Rean Schwarzer……!”
There were no other words he had to say but to shout the name of his opponent.
As a younger brother, he didn’t like that his older brother’s interest lied in someone else.
Even though the said person wasn’t even a biological sibling, Jusis was jealous of the man who was given attention by his older brother.
Jusis didn’t show his childish jealousy on the surface, but instead inserted his feelings into his sword and cried out.
Naturally, Rean parried, dodged, and blocked them all, showing how indomitable he was.
However, Jusis didn’t stop.
More than jealousy, he didn’t want to lose to the man in front of him.
He didn’t want to get swallowed by the man who didn’t even conceal the fact he was a vagrant and raised with love by his foster parents.
With that single purpose, Jusis vented out his feelings, which were similar to throwing a tantrum.
Shotguns used scatter shells.
Unlike a handgun or machine gun, a orbal shotgun could cover a wide area with a single shot, yet Rean avoided the line of fire with impossible speed that made Machias misread the distance, and sometimes showed off an extraordinary feat of using his tachi to deflect the bullets.
Machias tried to predict Rean’s movement, but it would end up with Jusis entering Machias’ line of fire which gave Rean a chance to evade at the moment’s opening, making Machias’ prediction unable to keep up with Rean’s movement.
Might as well shoot Jusis —— such a devil’s whisper ran through Machias’ mind.
Such an attractive proposal was instantly dispersed by Rean’s intent.
If Machias truly carried out that idea, Rean would cut him down the next instant. Machias had such a premonition, or rather, certainty, of that rose in his mind.
Machias’ instinct reminded him of the danger to the point that the reasoning that supported it such as “among the Craft he used, there’s one that slashes a target from distance,” or “if he attacks, he would lose” came after. 2
“Rean… Schwarzer……”
He was a child of a noble. The eldest son of a baron family.
He was also a vagrant child. A boy who was adopted and became a noble.
[——“Since you consider a vagrant who just happened to be picked up by a noble family a noble, it seems your scope of what a noble is is quite wide.”]
[——“Once your ‘enemies’ are gone, your current self are likely to create new ‘enemies’ out of some other reason.”]
The words Fie and Sara said flooded his mind.
[——“My head went blank just because the other party is noble and only bad memories about them keep repeating. It’s about my precious…”]
The murmur that came out not even as an outburst had made Laura considerate of Machias and choose to leave the room.
A noble was showing consideration to a commoner.
She did the most natural thing to do as a person.
[——“You idiot…! Your words are not only degrading those around you, but also yourself, making you no better than the nobles you hate so much, why can’t you realize that!”]
The insult Machias threw at Rean, with an intention of interpreting Rean’s claim as vagrant as that he was a child born out of some concubine, but Jusis, a person from a ducal family, stopped Machias.
[——“Aah, I see. I’m still causing the family trouble now since they adopted a vagrant as a son, but I’d like to return the favor someday.”]
Rean, the person who was adopted and became a noble, was able to think of filial piety without being subservient because of his origin.
“Da……………aammmmnnnn iitttttt!”
Machias screamed wildly and fired his shells.
Of course it wouldn’t hit. However, he didn’t mind.
As if stuffing all his emotions into the bullets, Machias fired randomly.
The reason Machias hated nobles was simple.
A precious member of his family was driven to death by a noble.
That was why he always thought that nobles were his enemies. If he didn’t act as if thinking his anger was justified, he would break down.
The sight of Rean avoiding all their attacks seemed to show a reality they couldn’t resist.
Jusis and Machias had exhausted their physical strength from their repeated attacks and they were already breathing heavily to the point that their knees were about to give up.
Both Fie and Laura looked at Sara as if to point out that the match results were already decided, but the instructor of Class VII shook her head.
Rean was still willing to accompany them, and above all, Jusis and Machias were full of fighting spirit despite their loss of physical strength.
But even if their mind didn’t give in, their body would reach their limits.
The two took a lot of time to stand up and all they could do was only one more attack.
Did they understand it or not?
Rean avoided Machias’ barrage of fire and raised his tachi to receive rushing Jusis’ sword —— at that moment, an impact that was different from a slash hit Rean’s blade.
The eyes of people around went wide.
The identity of the object that caused impact to Rean’s blade —— was Machias’ orbal shotgun.
Instead of the shell, Machias threw the weapon itself towards Rean.
Rean, who was focusing on preventing Jusis’ attack, was taken aback by the reload time that had become zero, and a gap opened in his defense for a moment.
Jusis was aiming for that exact spot.
It was because he was aware of Machias’ action through their tactical link.
The timing of Machias’ throw and Jusis’ rush were perfectly aligned.
A full power thrust was aimed at a stiffened Rean —— which he immediately responded by abandoning his tachi by left back fist to deflect Jusis’ sword and used the sole of his right palm to send Jusis flying toward Machias.
“That’s it! Rean lost due to foul play, the winners are Jusis and Machias!”
“Waah”, the voices caused a small earthquake in the training ground.
Words of praise rained down towards Jusis and Machias for bravely attacking Rean, whose ability made it hard to believe that he was a student.
It didn’t matter whether it was noble or commoner who was learning the Vander swordsmanship as the storm of praise became one.
But to Machias, whose legs gave way and was kneeling, and Jusis, who was lying on his back on the floor, those voices sounded distant.
However, seeing Rean’s bitter expression as if to say he didn’t mean to do what he did, the two raised their fists at the same time.
“……………Don’t copy me.”
“……………You’re the one who copied me.”
It was a heart-wrenching and pathetic victory.
But through ARCUS, they were able to see through each other’s intent.
They want to win against Rean—— the outcome of two people united by the thought of not wanting to lose to the same person surprisingly didn’t feel bad.
Laura, Fie, and Sara seemed to want to say something.
Rean was also smiling at the two.
The two couldn’t hear what they said and lost consciousness as they surrendered to the pleasant fatigue that ran through their bodies.
Author Note:
It’s not a complete reconciliation, but it’s great if it could serve as a catalyst for that.
For the next day, I’m planning for various things involving Laura and Fie.
Well then, I wonder how much the plot will end up changing…
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