Chapter 666 - Tying and Opening
While my master was away, there was one problem that was unavoidable.
It wasn’t anything emotional, like feeling lonely or whatnot… well, to be honest, there might have been a little bit of that, here and there, maybe, but this was something more practical.
Namely,
“…? This is quite different from the condition I expected to find it in.”
For the first time in a month, I was on the dojo’s veranda—my special seat. The matter at hand was the maintenance of [Samidorizuki], which was currently resting on her small lap as she inspected the blade.
Of course, just because Ui-san was gone didn’t mean it was impossible to maintain. Even I am a fledgling Magic Crafter now… or maybe just a splinter of a fledgling, but I can at least handle restoring the durability of my equipment. And if not, I could just ask Kagura-san, and it would be done in an instant.
—But, however.
“Haru-kun?”
“Well… um…”
Different from what I expected. Murmuring that, my master tilted her head curiously, then turned to me, seated beside her, with a rare, scolding-like side-eye.
And why wouldn’t she? After all, the sword’s durability had barely decreased from the state it was in when she had last maintained it the day before she left, and there were no signs of any additional maintenance.
I mean, I don’t even know if ‘signs of maintenance’ are a thing that can be left behind. But at this point, it wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest if her eyes could see such things.
You know how top-tier artisans can supposedly read steel. Anyway—
““…””
Was she asking for the truth, or what? I couldn’t escape the gaze of the [Sword Saint], and though it was her, this was something I really didn’t want to say if I could help it. I remained silent, fidgeting awkwardly…
“…My, my.”
“Ah, no, it’s fine. Don’t worry ab—”
“Perhaps it is not so unexpected—you really like to be pampered, don’t you, Haru-kun?”
“I’M SO, SO SORRY, PLEASE HAVE MERCY…!!!”
I knew it.
I was prepared for it.
I knew she would see right through me.
Before she left, she, who had monopolized the right to maintain it, gave me a lecture on how to care for [Samidorizuki], saying, “It can’t be helped.” She even told me it was fine to ask my trusted ‘personal Magic Crafter.’
So the reason I had been semi-consciously treating [Samidorizuki] as something even more ‘precious’ lately, not using it unless absolutely necessary…
And the reason I hadn’t entrusted its maintenance to my own hands or anyone else’s… was all, well, you know, a disciple’s selfish indulgence—
“Honestly… What is a swordsman doing letting his blade go unused?”
“I am ashamed to my very core.”
Though her words sounded like a lecture, her amused and slightly teasing gaze felt like needles of shame piercing my entire body. There was nothing I could do.
If I tried to make an excuse now, it would be the death of me.
How could I possibly say that I didn’t want to entrust this jade blade to even my own hands?
Do you love your master that much? At eighteen, I was being ridiculously sentimental, and I was fully aware that this line of thinking was weird enough that she would be well within her rights to be put off by it.
So, there was only one path left for me.
“—…Hmph, fufu…!”
I pulled up my hood, turned my head away, and took a stance of immovable defense. And what echoed in the air was my master’s soft laughter. There was no winning this, so my only option was to minimize the damage.
Though it felt like I was only taking more damage, I didn’t care. In this situation, there was no escaping the label of ‘pampered disciple,’ so she might as well just kill me.
“Honestly, this child…”
The not-so-displeased voice from beside me was both my only salvation and my greatest weapon. As she spoke, her hands never stopped, and she continued the restoration work smoothly.
“There, it is done.”
With a soft click, she placed the sheathed sword on the lap of my pouting, childish self.
And then, without a sound.
“? —…!”
I wouldn’t neglect to thank her, so I lifted my head and turned to the side, but my master was no longer there. I only realized her presence, which I had failed to track, was behind me when I felt warmth against my back.
Through my hood, I felt the sensation of what was probably her forehead gently touching mine. Two arms wrapped around my neck, and I could see her small hands clasped tightly in front of me.
As I held my breath, her own breath was nothing but calm.
“—Could you please decide whether you are being cute or not cute?”
As if chiding, as if praising, as if complaining, as if demanding. My master, who always spoils her disciple, spoke in a troubled… yet amused tone.
“If you pull at my heartstrings too much, my own self-restraint will begin to fray.”
“…Ui-san, you’re not really the type to practice self-restraint in the first place, are you?”
“That is true, but.”
“So it is true…”
My flustered words were met with a soft chuckle, and that was the end of it.
Uh, what, what am I supposed to do now?—As I truly froze in place, after a few seconds, her hands unclasped, and the warmth departed.
And I was still in a state of what am I supposed to do now? I couldn’t move. I couldn’t turn around. There was no way I could turn around. As I embodied ‘perfectly still’ more than ever before, I heard a voice.
“…When you get this flustered, it makes me a little embarrassed as well.”
“Even that is overkill, so please, I’m begging you…”
Though we were a close master and student, we were still a man and a woman of different sexes.
It would be too terrifying to confess this, but I swore in my mind to atone to the three faces that appeared in my head, promising to make up for this transgression, and lifted my face.
When I did, the [Sword Saint] had moved to stand in front of me. Her expression… contrary to her words, was nothing but calm, and I was honestly relieved to my very core.
What I was relieved about, I unfortunately couldn’t quite put into words.
“…Well then, now that the sword’s maintenance is complete—shall we be on our way?”
“…Understood. At your leisure.”
I was also mysteriously relieved that I was able to naturally take the hand she offered. Led by her, I stood up, and together we walked through the familiar interior.
We turned around at the same time. We slowly looked around, at the same time. As if by unspoken agreement, our movements synchronized as we burned the scene into our memories.
“I’m feeling a little bit sad, to be honest.”
“Fufu… We can come back anytime.”
Deciding it was too late to hold back, I voiced another sentimental thought, and my master beside me smiled once more.
“Open—[Yueltemis, Cradle of the Divine Hall].”
Appearing in her hand was a single ‘key’ that shone with a light so brilliant it was hard to look at directly.
She gently pressed it against her own chest—
And the world vanished, and a new world opened.
The wind that caressed my cheek was just slightly colder than a moment before. In the distance was the unmistakable great forest surrounding the [Safe Area]. I was standing on fresh earth.
The other world had closed, and we had returned to the stage of our adventure.
“Well then, Haru-kun. I shall leave the escorting to you.”
“Haha… I have been entrusted with a great responsibility.”
Standing side by side… no. Presumptuous as it may be, I was to show my master the way.
My legs moved forward, toward our ‘home.’
And with that, the first section of Chapter 5 comes to a close.
Have a wonderful new year.