kscans

Chapter 149 - The Sword Saint's Request

"Simply wonderful...!"

The Sword Saint clasped her hands together, her gray eyes seeming to sparkle with admiration as she murmured the words. Her gaze was fixed on Sora, who was freely manipulating the sand swords floating in midair. Receiving such unrestrained praise from the person she admired, Sora's cheeks relaxed into the widest smile imaginable.

"Ehehe..."

A true master of the "ehehe," delivered with genuine feeling.

"Sora-chan, how much fine control do you have over these swords?"

"Fine control... Let's see..."

Ui-san, completely engrossed, fired off one question after another, and Sora answered each one with an incredibly delighted expression.

What is this scene? The sheer levels of peace and cuteness in the immediate vicinity are off the charts. If you could bottle this air and spray it across the planet, you'd probably achieve world peace.

After about an hour, their discussion—or rather, their chat—finally wound down, and my partner, who had been on the verge of melting down, had at last calmed herself. After that, once she’d composed herself, she was hit with a different kind of embarrassment and promptly shut down again. We both had to console her... and as you can see, now Ui-san is the one completely captivated by Sora.

To put it simply, the reason Ui-san had not only agreed but eagerly insisted, "By all means, please bring her with you," was this right here.

The Sword Saint was utterly fascinated by the one-of-a-kind 'magic swords' that existed in Arcadia.

"I see... I see."

After a while, it seemed the question-and-answer session had run its course. Ui-san, who had been staring intently at the magic sword, nodded in understanding before turning her face toward me, the bystander.

"Haru-kun. I now fully understand why you said she was more special than you."

"Right?"

I put on a deliberately proud face, but she just smiled warmly and deflected it. "You must be very proud of your partner."

"This is an extraordinary Anima. With this one ring, she can accomplish so many things that no one else can."

"Even I, with my limited knowledge, could tell it was completely broken at a single glance."

Ui-san nodded, then turned her gaze back to Sora. "And above all else," she began.

"What's truly astonishing is Sora-chan's own innate talent."

"Haeh...?"

After being showered with praise for her magic swords, Sora let out a surprised cry as the focus suddenly shifted to her. ...Come on, not 'haeh.' It's not just me; Sora needs to start recognizing her own absurdity.

"Her spatial awareness and situational adaptability are particularly outstanding. She's intelligent, and her cognitive reflexes are exceptional."

"I know, right?"

"Th-That's... n-no... wh-what...?!"

No, no, unfortunately, there's nothing to do but agree.

Looking back, I'd seen glimpses of it everywhere since we first met.

And when I reflect on the [Angalta, God-Wedge Sword-King] battle, where all those talents bloomed at once, I can do nothing but nod at Ui-san's words.

It's not my place to talk, given my own... eccentricities, but Sora is just as ridiculous in her own right.

Starting with that whole quick-change commotion, it's becoming increasingly likely that there's a disconnect between this world's common sense and my own perception regarding the difficulty of 'thought control.'

An aptitude for technology unique to the virtual world, perhaps? I'm sure I'm not mistaken in thinking that there's a significant degree of individual difference in that area.

Considering that, Sora's skill in manipulating her magic swords is what seems truly bizarre.

Every single one of those things floating around is controlled from one to ten—no, from one to a thousand—solely through thought control. You know?

Ever since Sora's current style awakened, we've spent our free time creating several 'techniques' together... but honestly, most of them are things I could never hope to imitate.

I'm guessing that my and Sora's aptitudes for thought control are fundamentally different.

If I specialize in thought control within a very narrow scope—like body control and weapon switching—then Sora is the exact opposite.

Just like with her magic swords, she probably specializes in controlling things over a wide area.

On top of that, her combat sense is rapidly coming into its own. And then there's the judgment and leadership she displayed during the [Angalta, God-Wedge Sword-King] battle, where she took charge of me.

Everything I've seen so far makes the girl's exceptional nature undeniable.

"I see... If you don't mind, could you show me sometime?"

"Um...? I thought I was already showing you..."

Sora, who had been blushing from the sudden praise, tilted her head at Ui-san's words.

—Ah, no, that's not it, Sora. Judging by her expression, what the Sword Saint wants is...

"Sora-chan."

"Y-Yes!"

Stared at directly, Sora instinctively straightened her posture—and faced with that look for the first time... she unconsciously took a half-step back.

"Are you comfortable with sparring against another person?"

"Huh...? Sparring... Um... I've trained with Haru a few times, but..."

"I understand. In that case, Haru-kun."

The moment her gray eyes turned to me, I knew exactly what she was going to say.

"I've been wanting to see how she fares against someone other than myself. So please, show me."

And indeed, the gently smiling Sword Saint spoke the exact words I'd expected.

"Ah..."

As for my response...

"Well... as you wish."

No student can defy their teacher. I had no choice but to nod.

"Eh...? Ehh...?"

Sora, inexperienced with this side of Ui-san, was left all alone, blinking in sheer confusion.