Translator: Tsukii
Editor: Lilia
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Chapter 21 – Flash Slash of Proof
Erin and I decided to travel together to the SwordX family’s training ground.
I was walking along the road with a wary attitude, but Erin seemed to be having fun.
“It’s a different bustle compared to the energy of the royal capital.”
“Aah…… you’re right.”
I chose my words carefully as Erin looked around happily.
This area was an area controlled by the SwordX family.
The gazes I had been feeling for a while were likely from people of the SwordX family monitoring us to make sure we wouldn’t run away.
It was said that some of the children who were picked up grew up to govern this area, which had become their de facto territory.
However, Erin didn’t even know who ruled this city.
“Ah, what is that?!”
“Ah, hey Erin……”
Perhaps unable to contain her curiosity, Erin ran toward the stall where fruits were displayed.
When I hurried to follow her, the stall owners, a middle aged man and woman, greeted us with smiles.
“Hey hey, aunt, what is this?”
“What a lovely young lady. But you don’t know what this is…?”
The middle aged woman spoke with a curious tone.
Indeed, what Erin pointed at was a fruit similar to an apple, and it was often seen on the dining table.
“Ah~ sorry for coming up so suddenly.”
“No, no worries. She’s such a cute girl. Is she your little sister?”
The middle aged man must have thought I was Erin’s guardian, so he started talking to me.
“No, he is my teach’.”
“Oh, so you’re a teacher.”
“Well yes, I’m planning on visiting my student’s home today.”
The middle aged man and woman looked up and down at me, and their gazes stopped at the swords attached to our waists.
“Are you teaching her the way of the sword? Young lady, you must study hard.”
“Fue? Why?”
“Why you ask, isn’t your home located around here? This area is under the SwordX family’s control, and they are the best when it comes to swords.”
“……Gh!”
Erin’s body twitched.
Aah, so it got exposed after all.
I guess it was my blunder. I should have considered that people would gossip.
“We don’t know much about the family, but we often hear good reviews from the people who visit from elsewhere.”
“I heard they produced many great soldiers and bravely protected the nation.”
“……You’re right.”
When conducting operations with the Royal Army, those from the SwordX family were almost always involved.
The ones I had met were mainly executives who were in charge of planning and commanding operations, but apparently, there were also combat staff that encouraged the soldiers and fought alongside them on the front lines.
The faction of the SwordX family that contacted us recently belonged to the inner core, which explained why there was so much training pressure.
Those belonging to the outer fringe served purely for the protection of the nation.
“……I-I see. I guess you’re right, yep.”
Erin took a step back from the stall and looked around.
It was a lively street with the townspeople going around their own business.
It proved that what SwordX protected wasn’t just their authority, but also the very lives of normal people.
“……But why?”
Erin’s voice was so weak that it felt like it would be blown away by the wind.
It was the voice of a child on the verge of tears, wondering why the SwordX family could be so caring as to pray for other people’s happiness, yet couldn’t spare her even the tiniest bit of kindness.
“…Erin. Let’s go confirm it ourselves.”
I put my hand on her shoulder.
It contained my wish that I could share even a little bit of strength with her.
……Well, I could cast magic, but it would all be over if she found out.
“Erin, listen to me for a moment.”
“Eh?”
In that case, rather than sharing power, I had to simply increase her power.
◇
When we arrived at the practice field, the one who stood in the arena was (as expected) Erin, not me.
Lined up in front of her were the members of the SwordX family’s teaching corps.
Their uniform looked like that of an evil organization, which was cool. I had seen those outfits when they were just rough character models. Seeing it in real life made it even cooler.
“It’s just a guess, but are they……”
“Yes, they are the people who previously trained Erin.”
The voice that came from the higher seat almost made me click my tongue.
“If I may ask in return, it’s just a guess, but…… she wouldn’t be so pathetic as to be paralyzed because she remembered her harsh training with them, would she?”
She said it in such a fake tone, and implied that if Erin’s movements were lacking, it meant I wasn’t a suitable educator.
Well, that was natural. I would also do the same if I were in her shoes.
“Haruto, the descendant of the Hero, everyone who lives in this nation knows that you are strong.”
“I guess I’m honored to hear that from the madam of the SwordX family.”
“However, do you know how to raise others to be strong?”
I looked up and saw the madam of the SwordX family sitting in the top row of the audience seats.
Erin’s adoptive mother was looking down sharply at me.
“It’s only natural to bring people into your group if they have talent. The greatest philosophy of our SwordX family is to pick up hidden talents, refine them, and turn them into weapons to protect this Tail Kingdom, after all.”
That was a reasonable declaration.
If it was just the logic, and only the logic, I could agree that she was saying the right thing.
This child seems talented, but it ran away, so give it back. It was never your child, after all.
That was what she meant.
But I couldn’t give it up this time.
It wasn’t just because it would break the scenario of the sequel game on a fundamental level.
Above all, I couldn’t send the student I taught to a place she didn’t want to be.
“……If the person you ask is fine with that, I wouldn’t have minded.”
“From your tone… do you mean to say that it is not the case with Erin?”
I silently turned my gaze toward the training ground in response.
The opening gun sounded, and one of the instructors stepped forward.
[“It’s been a while, Erin-sama.”]
[“……Ugh.”]
[“It’s unfortunate to meet again like this… but let us begin our lesson once more.”]
Immediately after that, he made a quick step forward while making a sharp movement with his arm to bring his sword down.
Erin hurriedly drew her sword, but she was knocked to the ground with a single blow.
“……Erin.”
Erin hurriedly stood up. Her opponent was already closing in.
She could use the opportunity to attack── but she turned to defend again.
This time, her feet were planted firmly on the ground and her stance was complete, so she was able to block it properly.
Well, it couldn’t be helped. It would be best if she could counterattack at that timing, but I guess that was asking too much.
The real battle wasn’t a matter of skill, but the measure of the strength and determination of the girl named Erin.
There was no need to rush.
◇
Blades flew from all directions.
Erin could see all of that now.
In the past, she was unable to do anything and was always beaten down, causing scars to be marked all over her body.
“I see that your defense is getting better… but!”
A young man from the teaching team used feints to try to break past Erin’s guard.
Erin responded to all of them by swinging her long sword. She deflected her opponent’s slashes and knocked them down.
…I can see it. I can see where the attack is coming from. But when should I attack?!
She appeared to be calmly handling the attacks.
But inwardly, Erin was cornered to the brink of panic.
Her opponent was the teaching corps who she had been forced to fight ever since she was young. To her, they were an unbeatable opponent.
Just seeing that uniform took her breath away. Her body instinctively wanted to flee.
It’s scary. It’s so scary…!
It wasn’t that she got better at defense.
It was that all she could do was to defend. All she could do was to cling desperately to her sword and skills to protect her life for a little longer.
She was always like that.
Her parents were killed and her hometown was destroyed, yet she was unable to become an avenger.
She was half-assed and lacked the guts to commit to what she needed to do.
Why am I always like this…!
Gradually, her hands become numb.
She knew in her head that if things continued like this, she would be defeated.
Yet her body was too scared to move. Her body and mind shrunk inwards, desperately trying to protect herself.
She could fight for the sake of someone else.
Yet she couldn’t fight well for the sake of herself.
It was because she didn’t think she had any worth.
What should I do… teach’…
While blocking rapid slashes, Erin glanced at the audience for a brief moment.
At that time, Haruto was calmly watching her with no expression, but he discreetly moved his hand.
Haruto waved his fingers horizontally and vertically.
Those movements sparked an idea in Erin’s mind.
On the way to this practice area, he had given her some advice.
This was what he told her right after they left the fruit stall.
[“I think Erin’s strongest ability right now is to use continuous attacks, in the order of two [Horizontal Flash Slash!] quickly followed by another two [Vertical Flash Slash!].”]
[“I’ve never heard secret moves being used consecutively like that, though…”]
As Erin was confused, Haruto smiled confidently at her.
[“No, you can do it. Erin has already shot both of these attacks dozens of times in a row at me during training.”]
[“……Ah, I guess you’re right.”]
Repeated secret moves would put stress on the body.
However, the training she had been doing lately consisted only of trying to hit Haruto with her secret moves. She kept failing and got pissed, which would lead to her firing off her attacks even faster, so she had been naturally practicing the extremely efficient method of continuous secret moves.
[“Speaking of the worst case scenario… It’s possible that you will fight, not me. Moreover, you will likely have to face whoever you feared fighting the most in that family.”]
[“……Gh. You mean the people of teaching corps, right?”]
[“Aah. From what I heard, I think it would be impossible for you to do your best from the beginning.”]
After saying that,
Haruto shrugged and continued in a light tone.
[“That’s why you don’t have to try too hard from the beginning and just focus on defense. When you think the moment is right, you can unleash your secret combo.”]
[“……Will I be able to do it?”]
[“It should be fine. It doesn’t matter if it’s a fluke, just try to defeat one of them. The feeling you get at that moment is sure to awaken your true strength.”]
She could remember his words.
She couldn’t forget them.
That was why she could still fight.
“[Horizontal Flash Slash!]”
However, the slash that Erin launched was within her opponent’s expectations.
He avoided it by smoothly moving his upper body.
“Another one! [Horizontal Flash Slash!]”
Faster than the trainer could regain his balance, she spun around and attacked again.
Although he was in an unstable stance, the man from the teaching team still managed to block Erin’s blade.
“[Vertical Flash Slash!]”
“……?!”
The man’s eyes widened at the impossible barrage of secret moves.
The second [Horizontal Flash Slash!] had just been barely defended against, so her opponent had no time to regain any distance and reset his stance.
However, what Erin unleashed in her panic was far from perfect.
The man calmly parried the slash swung down from above. It was close, but not too worrying. He shifted his stance to attack.
I got her! I’m sorry, but with this…!
As expected, she should be tired after unleashing three secret moves in a row.
He thought Erin would no longer be able to defend or evade, and dropped his guard.
“Prepare your──Eh?”
It was supposed to be that way.
Yet in front of him, Erin, who was supposed to have spent all her strength, was already holding her sword from above again.
It’s true. With two Horizontal Flash Slashes and one Vertical Flash Slash, my opponent stopped moving.
Erin felt like she was moving in slow motion.
She was in perfect condition. Her mind and body were in coordination, and Erin could tell that she would be able to land this hit.
It was the final blow she had succeeded with yesterday.
It was a sharp vertical slash that hit Haruto directly on the head.
She remembered that scene.
Her body followed the exact same movement. Her body remembered.
That’s right. I can always land that attack again. After all, it was teach’ who taught me…!
It was the ideal flash slash.
Erin used the power of her whole body to unleash the signature attack that symbolized the SwordX family. To the people watching, she must have looked like a blade of judgment falling from the sky.
“Improvised sword style──[Vertical Flash Slash!]!”
It wasn’t the imperfect substitute she unleashed against the intermediate demon from before. It wasn’t the incomplete versions she had been using against Haruto, either.
This time, it was a brilliant flash of light unleashed according to her serene heart.
This was a perfect final move that concluded her chain of attacks and slammed the enemy in front of her to the ground.
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