Chapter 124
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「Hey, what are you spacing out for? I said we’re doing this, so let’s do it.」
Although Eris has a question mark floating above her head, she draws her sword and takes a stance when I call out to her again.
Then suddenly, a realization dawns on her face.
「Who exactly are you?」
Eris asks me with an intense expression.
Look, her eyebrows are furrowed again.
「I’m me. As you all know, I’m Holy Knight Yamada Ichiro.」
「Then, that earlier battle…」
Her words trail off. Even without finishing, I fully understand what she wants to say.
She must be confused because the me they know and the me they’ve just witnessed with their own eyes are so different.
It would be easy to answer her question with words.
Whether she’d accept it or not is another matter, but I could simply say that I am her master. However, more than wanting Eris to understand who I am, I’m concerned about her defeat to 「No-Skill」 after supposedly reaching the pinnacle of swordsmanship, and the grim expression she showed during the 「No-Skill」 battle.
「Well, it doesn’t matter who I am. More importantly, let’s cross swords again after so long.」
You’re not supposed to be like this.
Wielding a sword should be more enjoyable for you.
I consider how to convey my feelings to her—but in the end, I’m the kind of guy who can only choose such a clumsy method as crossing swords.
「After so long…?」
My words seem to have raised even more questions for her.
But ignoring that, I draw my sword again and hold it in my left hand.
「Come on, we don’t have much time.」
We’re still in the middle of conquering the dungeon. We shouldn’t be doing this right now.
I hop twice to loosen my shoulders, then leap towards Eris.
「Hah!!」
Eris, a beat behind, quickly draws the Sword of Affirmation and meets my blade.
「Alright, let’s do that. Make sure you can handle it.」
This is—a recreation of that time.
I rain down blows on her with my sword.
One strike, two strikes, three strikes—from there, I continue to strike without pause.
She still seems confused, but I have no intention of stopping.
The sound of clashing swords rings out repeatedly.
As the exchange of blows approaches triple digits from the late double digits, I consciously start to gradually increase my sword speed.
「This is… no, it can’t be…」
Eris mutters something—I ignore it and continue to wield my sword relentlessly.
The sound of clashing swords echoes without pause.
However, it’s all too fragile—
「Ugh…」
Finally, Eris can’t withstand it anymore and drops her sword.
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「That’s not a bad sword, you know.」
In Eris’s hand was the Sword of Affirmation.
「Eris, the Holy Sword really suits you better.」
—That’s right. This one is truly fitting for you.
My feelings haven’t changed at all since then.
She listens to my words with a serious expression.
「So put that one back and draw the Holy Sword.」
Even though the me she knows shouldn’t be a decent person, she doesn’t argue when I tell her this.
Instead, she pours out her feelings to me.
「I can’t use the Holy Sword. I’m probably not worthy as a user, so I can’t even draw it from its scabbard.」
Eris shows the most shadowed expression since our reunion.
「That’s not true… Eris, you’re the wielder of the Holy Sword. I, as the former user, acknowledged you, and the Holy Sword itself should have recognized you too.」
「Then why?!」
Eris’s expression suddenly changes.
I can even sense anger in her cry.
「Why can’t I draw the Holy Sword?!」
Tears fall from her eyes.
I had seen Eris fully draw out the potential of the Holy Sword. That was proof that she had been recognized by it.
「Its true name is Guardian Sword Refaia.」
I tell her the true name of the Holy Sword as she cries uncontrollably.
In response to my voice, Guardian Sword Refaia glows faintly.
「Eris, call it by its true name.」
「True name…?」
「Yeah, that’s right. The Holy Sword fully manifests its abilities when the wielder knows its true name.」
Hearing my words, she holds Guardian Sword Refaia horizontally, places her hand on it, and—
「Guardian Sword Refaia!! Please—lend me your power!!」
—draws it from its scabbard in one swift motion.
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Light spilling from Guardian Sword Refaia envelops Eris.
「This feeling…」
Eris lovingly traces her finger from the hilt to the tip of the Holy Sword.
「See, that one really suits you, Eris.」
—I can’t! The Holy Sword belongs to Master! The Holy Sword is most fitting for Master!
—No, it’s most fitting for you—for Eris Gladius, who has devoted everything to the sword and yearned for it so intensely!
I murmur with overwhelming emotion, remembering our past exchange. And then—
「Here I come!!」
With that shout, I unleash a barrage of attacks on Eris.
Unfazed, Eris effortlessly parries everything.
The light enveloping her gradually intensifies.
「Ah, ah…」
Her face contorts.
「It’s a lie…」
Our mutual strikes perfectly align.
The sound of clashing swords—clank clank clank—gradually shortens its intervals.
I even feel a sense of pleasure in the sound of our swordplay.
It’s just like that day long ago.
「Is this… reality?」
As she mutters, the light enveloping her grows even stronger.
It becomes so strong that it’s no longer just imagination, and I feel a gentle warmth from that light.
「Why am I…」
Eris sheds unstoppable tears, probably unconsciously.
Yet, far from weakening, her sword begins to show fearsome sharpness with each passing moment.
Her concentration is simply astounding.
「It’s good, isn’t it?」
Crossing swords with her is fun.
I remember those days—the distant past.
Those jewel-like days will never return.
But still, the Eris before me—she’s definitely here.
She is indeed a bundle of talent.
The more she swings, the faster her sword becomes.
The more she swings, the more refined her sword becomes.
I reconfirm this once again.
Clankclankclank—finally, the sound of our swordplay connects like a single line.
「What’s with that face?」
Eris’s expression, a mess of tears and snot, is so funny, so funny, so unbearably funny that I realize my own vision is blurred with tears.
「You’re crying too, aren’t you?」
Back then, I always thought it was natural for her to be by my side.
「I’m not crying.」
I met Eris about a year after I started acting completely separately from Mika and Angie.
Looking back now, I was almost crushed by loneliness at that time.
—Wherever Master is, that’s where I am! Wherever I am, that’s where Master is! This is providence, you know, providence!
And without a doubt, it was Eris who saved me from that.
—I don’t want to leave you alone.
Thanks to her words, light shone into my darkness.
「Yes, you are! You’re crying!」
Just having her with her dignified demeanor, calling me 「Master, Master,」 and being a lovable klutz by my side every day was enough to save me.
The ordinary days with her shone brightly. Every day with her by my side was special.
And above all, I—the me back then—loved her more than anyone else.
In response to us, the intensity of the light released from the Holy Sword reaches its climax.
Within the light enveloping us, Eris lets out a 「Hah!!」 and unleashes what I know to be her fastest strike ever.
「Autobahn.」
The preparation was complete. What I’m about to unleash is merely a pseudo-technique relying on speed.
「Wha…!?」
The one who lets out a gasp of shock is Eris.
My sword slides around her blade, lifting it skyward—I see a flame of determination in the depths of her eyes—as I move to complete the technique, my sword is—gently entangled by her sword, as fluid as water—and deflected to the ground.
I let out a breath and wipe my face, wet with sweat and tears, with the back of my hand.
「Well done. See, you can do it if you try!」
I couldn’t finish my line.
「Master!!」
Because Eris, bursting into tears, knocked me over.
「Maaaaasterrrrr!!」
I sit on the ground as she soaks my chest with her tears.
Unable to find the right words for my disciple who won’t stop crying, I gently stroke her hair.
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