Chapter 789 - That Innocent Person
—And so, after the endless commotion, the party reached its peak.
To wrap things up, the General Commander, who managed to get his act together… or at least pretended to, offered his encouragement, as did our comrades who were staying behind. After receiving their well-wishes…
"So, what's up?"
We moved from the Eastern Round Table to a familiar, pure-white training room. It was an instance field created inside our faction's base, the [Subterranean Castle of Another Layer - Ruvalest].
I’d been hit with a sudden ‘spare a moment’ request, and since I didn't particularly mind, I obediently complied and was now standing next to my ‘senior.’
There was no question as to who I’d directed my question to.
"It's not exactly an errand."
It was one half of the pair who had just thrown our gathering into a tizzy.
And Irori, who was, as usual, projecting a level of refreshing handsomeness that was almost infuriating, was… well, I’d noticed for a while, but his attire was slightly different from usual.
"I'm lacking a partner to get used to this with. So… again, spare me a moment."
"I don't mind, but…"
At his left hip, next to the scabbard holding his familiar blue sword, was an unfamiliar hilt wrapped in crimson cord.
…This might sound creepy, but I could tell even without him drawing it. I knew who had gifted it to him, and whose hands had forged it.
And so, to the back of the samurai striding away to create some distance, I offered…
"Finally looking like a proper dual-wielder, huh?"
"…Hah, that I am."
…a casual smile and a light jest. That would be more than enough—now then,
Time for a recall.
"A light spar?"
"Yeah."
As I drew [Samidorizuki], Irori, with impressive skill, unsheathed his two swords in a single breath. He now wielded… blades of contrasting hues, one blue and one crimson.
Ahh, it’s definitely her work.
To hide the smile that had unconsciously crept onto my lips, I closed the distance. One beat after confirming, with a single step that was less than a run, I playfully charged in.
The one to meet my jade blade was the crimson sword in his left hand.
The sound that echoed was the clear, pure ring of steel.
"What's its name?"
"[Crimson Moon]."
"I see, so they're sister swords."
"Shouldn't that be brother swords?"
"Do people even use that terminology for swords in the first place?"
"You're the one who started it."
This was just swordplay, something I was completely used to by now. It would be a different story if we were serious, but in a light exchange like this, we both knew each other’s moves inside and out.
Even if the weapon changes, the master's technique itself won't change so easily. Thus, there was no tension, and if anything at all were to change…
"…What's with that look?"
"Nothing at all."
…it was just the faint, unconcealable emotion that transmitted through the crimson blade with every clash.
Hey, don't glare at me like that. I have no intention of teasing you about this—well, I'll set that aside for now.
"A bit late, but congrats."
"…Well, I'll accept it."
I offered the congratulations I hadn't been able to give earlier because I'd been caught by Ri-na, and surprisingly, I found myself thinking, 'Oh?' In front of everyone else, he’d maintained an invincible poker face, but now, for some reason, he suddenly looked awkward.
What's going on? Should I tease him about something?
As our blades flowed and crossed almost unconsciously, I tilted my head at the choice before me—
"And I should also thank you."
"Huh?"
As if to stop me, Irori spoke, looking just as uncomfortable as before.
"I won't explain the details. But if I hadn't met you, things wouldn't have turned out this way… Of that, at least, I'm certain."
"Hmm."
"Don't think about it. You don't need to understand. Just accept it."
He opened his mouth and rattled off those words, which didn't quite sit right with me… but well, if he said so.
"Alright then, in that case—who confessed first?"
"What do you mean, 'in that case'? Don't get cocky. It was me."
"You're actually going to answer that?! Wait??? It was you????"
I brushed it off, letting my senior have his way. Then I steered the conversation toward some idle chatter, and while I was still trying to process his honest, straightforward, and this time, utterly shameless manly reply…
"What about you? Any progress with your… pyramid relationship?"
"—Hah? Ah…"
It was a counterattack so unexpected from Irori that I was completely caught off guard. My reaction was delayed, and the blade of [Crimson Moon] slipped past [Samidorizuki], slicing my avatar in two.
"You fool."
"Could you stop being so sharp? In two different ways."
"My apologies, that wasn't the right word—you blockhead."
"That means basically the same thing…!!!"
Since we were in a training room with damage nullification active, there was no effect other than a red line appearing where the blade hit and a shower of phosphorescent light in place of blood.
However, the words dealt immense damage to my heart.
…Maybe immense is an overstatement. At most, it was extremely strong.
"Come on, don't just stand there daydreaming."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm—"
"Well, I'm not exactly one to talk about love and romance either, but…"
"Are we really continuing this topic…!?"
And so, while he toyed with my struggling one-sword style with his two swords, my mind in disarray…
"Your situation is too unique for anyone to call you a fool or a coward. I have no intention of doing something so ridiculous myself."
"I-I see…"
What on earth was he trying to say? As he gradually built up an air of awkwardness again… I could feel Irori's own two blades starting to lose their rhythm.
"…—"
In the end, it didn't take long for one clash to bring our intertwined jade and crimson blades to a halt.
"…Haru. I'm about to ask you something strange."
"Yeah…?"
It was the first time I'd ever seen it. A look of complete uncertainty, in his own heart and in the words he was about to speak… that expression on his face.
"You don't have to answer. And no matter what you say, I won't say anything in return. You'll have to trust me on that, but I promise to refrain from thinking anything of it either."
"…"
I didn't have to think hard to understand. He was about to ask something difficult. Seriously. Sincerely. To the point of being uncharacteristically considerate of me.
In that case,
"Okay."
I would just listen.
That level of trust between us was a given at this point. I nodded with a casual expression and tone, without saying a word, and after looking at me intently, Irori opened his mouth.
"Let's say, hypothetically…—that Ui-san were to develop feelings for you."
"…,…"
"And let's say she confessed those feelings to you."
"…"
"…What would the you of today do?"
The silence that followed his words was profound.
Honestly, it was a question I couldn't have predicted. My brain was about fifty percent frozen, and a pretty hopeless level of "Huh???" occupied my thoughts.
"…"
But I understood. I understood that Irori was seriously, earnestly thinking about something, worrying about it, and had posed this question to me.
Therefore, I took my time, and thought.
And thought,
and thought—
and after thinking it all through.
"—…That's impossible."
My answer was just a single phrase.
Across our two swords, the blue eyes staring at me didn't waver.
"I know that Ui-san cares for me in a special way."
"…Right."
"I can't imagine it, but I won't say the possibility of her seeing me as a man is zero."
"Yeah."
"But anything beyond that is ‘impossible.’"
"…"
I'm ashamed to admit it, but the me of today has his hands completely full.
I'm holding more feelings than I can carry in both hands, dedicating my vitality and mentality every day as I run for my life towards an ‘answer.’
That's precisely why the she that we know would absolutely never.
She would absolutely never choose an option that would become a burden to me, her 'disciple.'
"The 'Ui-san' we know is like that, right?"
"…You're right."
I was well aware that my answer was based on imposition and dependence. Even so, as her disciple, I couldn't give any other answer. To do so would be to betray my trust in her as my master.
Any word that deviated from that trust would be an insult to her.
"…And just a gut feeling, but I don't think she has those kinds of feelings right now… or so I think."
"Is that your impression as her disciple?"
"Pretty much. …Since you're the one who brought it up, I'd like you to take what I'm about to say to the grave without getting emotional."
"That depends on what it is. Say it."
"Seriously…"
The solemn atmosphere had already dissipated by more than half. That must have meant that Irori had found his own sense of satisfaction in my answer.
In that case, a little bonus or two.
"Seriously, please listen to this on the premise that I'm not trying to insult or make fun of her in any way. I'm just going to state a near-certain fact, okay?"
"Alright."
"Okay, uh…—Ui-san is, probably, on the level of an elementary schooler."
"…—What?"
Wait, don't move your sword, stop. I'm not done talking.
"No, you see, that person, she's popular, right…! There's no way she's not popular…!? There's no way someone so attractive in every way isn't popular with men, right…!?"
"That goes without saying, but…"
"What's with you, anyway?"
Setting aside the ever-present [Sword Saint] fanboy…
"But you know, that person, she probably, almost certainly, no, definitely, doesn't get it."
That alone should have conveyed the meaning. The proof was that Irori immediately made a skeptical face and said, 'That can't be true.'
However, I know.
As her disciple, having spent a long time with her, I've naturally come to know many of her clueless episodes.
"I thought so at first, too. I thought, 'Ah, this person is the man-killer type who fully understands her own charm.' In fact, I still haven't completely discarded that perception. But you know, she doesn't get it. Seriously, for real, she just doesn't get it…!!!"
"…Huh?"
When I put it that way, even Irori must have realized I wasn't joking. He let out a confused sound I'd never heard before, and the strength left his blade.
Alright, time for the finishing blow.
"For the honor of my master, I'll omit the details, but I've been told stories that make you go, 'What?!' Based on that, let me state this with certainty."
That person… Ui-san certainly understands her own charm. However, that fact is subtly disconnected from the realm of ‘romance.’
—Her understanding stops at being ‘liked by people.’
"Ui-san has definitely never been in a relationship."
"…"
"She probably hasn't even had a first love, don't you think? It's a mystery whether she even perceives the 'opposite sex' in the same way we ordinary people do."
"…"
"Her awareness in that area is incredibly faint."
"…"
"Don't you have one too? An episode where you thought, 'Ma'am, is your sense of distance with men really okay?' I can say with confidence that you've definitely got at least one."
"…I do…"
See? I told you so.
"…Is it because of her environment?"
"Probably…?"
From a young age, she was immersed in the dojo, raised surrounded by older men like her grandfather and his disciples. On top of that, her own nature is solely focused on the ‘sword,’ and she has spent her time single-mindedly pursuing the path that captivated her… The ‘modern-day samurai,’ as the little one calls her.
Well, the fact that she's not a normal person is nothing new, but—
"…I thought…"
"Yeah?"
"That she was very, incredibly… an adult, far beyond my reach…"
"Yeah."
"That she had a detached, enlightened perspective…"
"I get it."
"…That it was a manifestation of her composure, befitting the name [Sword Saint]…"
"I know exactly what you mean."
Well, that's what anyone would think.
Anyone would be swallowed by that mysterious and overwhelming aura and think that.
And they would never imagine. They'd never imagine that her ‘composure’ towards the opposite sex was—
"…On the level of an elementary schooler, huh…"
…unbelievably, due to an upbringing that was either a miracle or a major accident, preserved as it was, and was simply due to an innocent, girlish ‘immaturity.’
"Irori."
"…"
And so, at some point, the swords had been lowered.
As I endlessly nodded at my senior, who was now staring into space with a dazed expression and a half-smile, I patted his shoulder encouragingly, as a predecessor who had once walked the same path.
"I totally get it."
I could do nothing more than offer my heartfelt agreement.