Kays Translations

Chapter 18 – The Tavern Heroine and the Academy Head

The cries of monsters sounded through the trees.

They had apparently caught the sweet scent drifting from the fruit in the burlap sack Ren had placed on the ground moments earlier.

Once the creatures appeared, however, their interest shifted away from the fruit.

The soft flesh of Ren and Io naturally drew their attention instead.

“If you do not attack me, I will leave you alone.”

The monsters ignored Ren’s warning and charged together.

They resembled lizards covered from head to tail in brown scales. Although they were only E-rank monsters with little intelligence and modest strength, creatures of their rank rarely used magic.

Their spells raised the ground into shallow paths that helped them run, while clods of earth rose around Ren to restrict his movement.

Ren sighed when he saw what they were doing.

“I was willing to let you go.”

He swung the Flame Magic Sword and released fire meant only to frighten them away.

As he did, he wondered whether he could use Mighty Sword Art: Star Slaying to erase the monsters’ magic.

That idle thought produced an unexpected result.

A spark-sized flame touched the raised earthen path beneath one of the charging monsters.

The magic holding that small portion of ground in its altered shape vanished. The earth crumbled back to normal, and the creature stumbled.

Only a tiny area had been affected.

Most of the magically raised path remained intact, while the ground beneath the monster’s feet alone gave way.

Startled, Ren blinked repeatedly.

He had not released a particularly powerful flame.

Yet there was no mistaking what he had seen. The altered earth had lost its magical support the instant the faint fire touched it.

“That flame just now…”

Perhaps frightened by the strange fire, the monsters turned and fled in panic.

Ren looked down at the Flame Magic Sword and replayed the scene in his mind.

He had not imagined it. The faint flames had unquestionably affected the monsters’ magic.

The entire fire had not possessed that quality. Only a small portion of the flames Ren released appeared to carry a special power capable of destroying opposing magic.

That nature was unmistakably the power of Star Slaying.

“I will show you the mighty sword of one who can wield magic!”

Edgar’s words returned to him once more.

Just as Edgar’s ice blades had carried the force of the Mighty Sword Style, Ren’s flames had briefly done the same.

The realization was followed by a sudden wave of magical exhaustion.

The effect had been tiny and completely impractical, yet mixing even a trace of Star Slaying into the power of the Flame Magic Sword had consumed an enormous amount of mana.

Even so, Ren’s expression softened into a pleased smile. For the first time in a while, he felt genuinely satisfied with his progress.

“Even if it was only that much, I feel as though I have grown for the first time in quite a while.”

Just when the road to Sword Saint had begun to seem impossibly distant, he had found another hint.

The sensation reminded him of the joy he had felt when he first began learning the Mighty Sword Style.

What he had accomplished was partly accidental, but it had not come from nothing. It was the product of Ren’s tireless efforts to improve both his Mighty Sword Style and his control of Mantle.

The result was still far from becoming an original Art. He had no idea how to use it reliably, and only a tiny portion of the flames had carried the effect.

Nevertheless, the joy was immense.

Ren understood the importance of taking a first step.

“Io! Did you see that?”

His excitement made him call out to the mare.

Io answered casually without looking at him, continuing to eat grass from the ground.

Had she been doing that throughout the entire fight?

“As calm as ever, I see.”

Ren wanted to determine whether he could reproduce the technique, so he tested it repeatedly against other monsters that attacked him.

He defeated several particularly vicious creatures that refused to retreat, but he never managed to create the same effect again.

(I need practice.)

Deciding that he should not overdo things on the first day, Ren ended the experiment and began the return journey to Elendil on Io.

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

Licia had taken a hot bath that morning to wake herself fully and was walking through the mansion.

She had not seen Ren since waking.

She had thought it best to freshen herself before greeting him, but even after bathing and drying her hair, he was nowhere to be found.

“Do you know where Ren is?”

Licia asked a servant she encountered in the corridor.

Early summer had arrived. Only a short time had passed since dawn, yet sunlight was already beginning to stream through the windows.

“Ren-dono left the mansion before dawn.”

“I wonder what happened… Did he go to the Lion’s Holy Office?”

“No. He said there was fruit that could only be gathered at that hour.”

The servant tilted his head along with Licia, apparently no more certain than she was.

At that moment, the sound of the entrance door opening reached them.

“Ren-dono, welcome home.”

“Oh? Is that the fruit you went looking for?”

“Exactly. Once I remembered it, I could not resist eating some.”

Licia heard Ren speaking with the knight at the entrance, and a moment later he appeared in the corridor.

“Ah, Licia-sama.”

He carried a burlap sack that was neither especially large nor particularly small. Something red could be seen through its partly open mouth.

Her hair still slightly damp, Licia hurried toward him with light steps.

“Where did you go?”

“I suddenly remembered this fruit and wanted to taste it again. I left before dawn so I could pick it.”

Ren proudly held out the sack.

Licia looked inside and widened her eyes.

“Morning Glow Fruit?”

“Yes. As you know, Licia-sama, it turns red for only a few dozen minutes in the early morning. I heard the flavor is poor if it is harvested outside that period, so I went before sunrise.”

No one had yet established a method of cultivating the fruit by human hands. People therefore competed for it in the forest whenever it came into season.

Ren knew a good location and had gathered enough for everyone in the mansion.

Licia smiled happily, and Ren’s answering laugh warmed her heart.

The servant had slipped away at some point, leaving the two to continue their conversation alone.

“Are you not tired?”

“Not particularly. Io carried me most of the way. Some monsters attacked, but the fighting did not exhaust me.”

“Then take a long bath and relax. Shall we leave the fruit in the kitchen for now?”

“I will ask the head chef to prepare it so everyone in the mansion can enjoy some.”

They began walking together, continuing their ordinary morning conversation.

Just before they separated, something occurred to Licia.

(Did he use that mysterious sword when he fought the monsters?)

Licia knew Ren possessed such a weapon.

She had seen it at close range several times during their escape from Yelquq, though he had never revealed every detail about it.

“Licia-sama, I am going to the kitchen now.”

“I will see you later! Have a good day!”

Realizing she had been staring absently at him, Licia answered in a hurry.

After Ren departed, she remained alone in the corridor.

“What kind of power is it, really…?”

Her curiosity did not come merely from an interest in mysterious abilities.

It came from the fact that this was a power unique to Ren.

Licia murmured the question while looking through the window toward the morning sun.

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

At first, Ren hesitated to spend much of the holiday practicing the new technique.

The discovery mattered, but he did not want to neglect the steady training he had already established at the Lion’s Holy Office.

In the end, however, he decided to practice before the sensation of releasing that first flame faded from memory.

The results were poor.

There was no possibility of perfecting the technique in only a few days.

“I am exhausted.”

Ren lay sprawled on the forest floor and stared at the rising sun.

He had known for some time that he had drained too much mana. It had been a long while since he felt this dizzy.

Ren had tremendous confidence in his physical stamina, but considerably less in the depth of his mana reserves.

The problem came from the technique consuming far more mana than ordinary use of Mantle during training at the Lion’s Holy Office.

“I should head back…”

By the time Io carried him into Elendil, he had recovered some of his strength.

Ren stopped at the Adventurers’ Guild after entering the city. A number of monsters had attacked during his training, so he brought the materials from those he defeated to be appraised.

While he waited for the assessment, a woman’s voice reached him.

“That is Ren, is it not?”

Once the appraisal was complete, Ren left the counter and entered the dining area attached to the guild.

Estelle sat there with a delighted expression, enjoying a lavish meal and a large mug of alcohol. Chronois smiled from the seat beside her.

“Estelle-sama? Chronois-san as well? What brings you here?”

“I spoke with Viscount Clausel about some business. On the way home, Estelle caught me on the main street.”

“That is exactly what happened. I happened to see Chronois on her way home from work, so I dragged her inside.”

“I see.”

In other words, Chronois had been the victim.

Since they had called him over, Ren felt it would be rude to leave. He sat across from them.

“Ren, order whatever you like.”

“Understood. Then I will not hold back.”

Ren placed an order, then studied the two women while waiting for his food.

Chronois was dressed as neatly as ever.

Estelle, by contrast, looked strikingly gallant. She wore a white shirt and black trousers, with her usual coat hanging over the back of her chair.

She drank boldly from a large wooden mug.

“Ren, what were you doing in the forest during the holiday?”

“Several things.”

“Hunting?”

“Something like that. I have also been thinking about how to reach Sword Saint.”

Estelle took another drink and cut into a large steak.

Describing her actions alone might have made her sound rough, but even her boldest movements retained an unmistakable elegance. The way her knife passed through the steak was particularly refined.

“Heh heh. Struggle, young man. That is the only path to Sword Saint.”

Chronois turned toward Estelle.

“Now that you mention it, when did you become a Sword Saint?”

“Hm? A long time ago.”

“Would it not help Ren-kun if you explained what you felt at the time?”

“What is this, Chronois? You suddenly sound like an educator.”

“I am an educator.”

Estelle ate another piece of steak.

She had already emptied several mugs, yet not the slightest trace of intoxication appeared on her face.

“I reached Sword Saint when I was still serving as a general.”

She had already belonged to the Lion’s Holy Office at the time.

During one assignment, she had very nearly died. Several unexpected circumstances overlapped, and because she had been deployed with only a small elite group, they found themselves in an extraordinarily dangerous position.

“Several subordinates were with me. I did everything in my power to bring every one of them home alive.”

Her determination bore fruit.

Somehow, she completed the mission without losing a single person under her command. She had managed it because, in the midst of the battle, she crossed into the realm of Sword Saint.

“I fought with my life on the line and opened the door – the door standing before the realm of Sword Saint.”

“So you reached it at the very last moment?”

“Yes. In my case, I needed the pressure of a life-or-death crisis. The desire to live, in a place where death was close enough to touch, awakened something deep within me.”

Estelle continued after a brief pause.

She had heard about Ren’s past battles.

“You have already risked your life several times. Perhaps danger is not the catalyst you lack.”

“Then more training?”

“Training matters, of course, but you probably need some other trigger as well. You are already stronger than I was when I reached Sword Saint. Do not rush. Continue trying everything you can.”

“That is unusually thoughtful advice from you, Estelle.”

“Do not be absurd. You were the one who told me to guide Ren.”

Ren found himself curious about the relationship between the two women.

“You seem to be close friends.”

“Estelle and I have worked together several times.”

“We are both reasonably competent at what we do.”

Ren nodded and continued enjoying the conversation.

Estelle refilled her mug so many times that he lost count. Even when they eventually prepared to leave, she showed no sign of drunkenness.

That alone was astonishing, especially because she complained that she had not drunk enough.

Still, she finally refused another serving.

“I will restrain myself today. My husband tells me not to drink too much.”

The remark was unexpected.

Ren and Chronois both wondered how the amount she had already consumed could possibly qualify as restraint, but neither voiced the question.

Previous chapter | TOC | Next chapter