Three Days After Koruko Became an Ally
Three days had passed since Koruko joined our group.
I was in the courtyard, swinging a wooden sword while being watched over by Carro, Koruko, and the birds.
My brother and the swordsmanship teacher were both absent today.
Living in the countryside requires physical strength.
At the very least, I need to be able to take down a magical beast with my bare hands.
That’s why, even on days without lessons from my brother, I practice swinging the sword every day.
“Fuhn-nu! Fuhn-fuhn!”
“Woof! Woof-woof!”
As usual, Da-u was swinging a branch clenched in his mouth, mimicking me.
‘Kyaa!’ ‘Over here, over here!’ ‘Kya-kya!’
The spirits were swirling around my wooden sword.
Ever since I first spoke with Kuro and the spirits, they had stopped pretending they couldn’t talk.
Now, they always buzzed around happily, chirping and laughing.
Seeing the joyous spirits made me happy too.
“That’s dangerous!”
“Woof-oooh!”
‘Ehh?’ ‘It’s fine, really!’ ‘Kya-kya!’
I understood that spirits, who lack physical bodies, wouldn’t feel pain even if struck by a wooden sword.
But hitting a spirit with one still tugged at my conscience.
Besides, a spirit had flown off earlier with a loud ‘Fyah!’ after being hit.
Although it came back saying, ‘Again! Again!’ it left me feeling uneasy.
“This isn’t a game!”
“Waaaooh!”
‘Hit us~!’ ‘Luria-sama, hit us~!’ ‘Kya-kya!’
“Hmmph.”
Even when I said it wasn’t a game, the spirits didn’t listen.
They deliberately approached the sword, trying to get hit.
It was a challenge to avoid hitting them with the wooden sword.
“Kuro, I know you’re there! Tell them to stop!”
‘………It’s best not to talk to me or the spirits. You never know who might be watching.’
‘Kurooo!’ ‘Let’s play, let’s play!’ ‘Kya-kya!’
Kuro popped out from the ground as though sprouting from the earth.
Despite his serious tone, his face and tail betrayed his delight.
“It’s dangerous!”
‘Hmm… But it’s really fine.’
‘It’s fine~!’ ‘Hit us, hit us~!’ ‘Kya-kya!’
The spirits were having a blast.
“What if something goes wrong?”
‘Hmm… In that case, why not try lightly tapping me with the sword?’
“Alright.”
I tapped Kuro with the wooden sword. The swing went right through him without resistance.
‘See? It’s fine.’
“I know that. But earlier, it bounced off when it hit.”
‘That’s because… you unconsciously covered the wooden sword with magic power, Luria-sama.’
“What?! I didn’t do that!”
‘You did it unconsciously, Luria-sama.’
“T-that makes it even more dangerous!”
If I struck a spirit with a magic-imbued wooden sword, they might feel pain.
That’s what I thought, but—
‘It’s fine. It’s just like spirit tossing.’
‘It’s the same!’ ‘Do it, do it!’ ‘Kya-kya!’
“Huh?”
‘To hurt a spirit, you’d need cursed energy, not magic power.’
“Cursed energy…?”
‘Explaining that would take a while, so let’s save it for later.’
“Okay. But are you really sure it doesn’t hurt?”
‘It doesn’t. If magic power alone could harm us, magical beasts and sorcerers would be able to hurt spirits.’
“…That’s true.”
It finally made sense.
Human sorcerers and magical beasts couldn’t harm spirits.
Wait, then how did the One God Church from my past life capture and harm spirits?
Oh, was that cursed energy?
I felt like I’d uncovered a small part of the secret from my past life.
I decided to ask Kuro about it later.
In any case, discussing matters of my past life here in the courtyard was impossible.
You never know who might be watching.
Well, to be precise, I knew some maids were watching me now.
It made sense since I was a child swinging a wooden sword—it was their job to supervise.
While I pondered, Kuro kept talking.
‘So, please let them play with the magic-covered wooden sword. It’s educational.’
“What? Really?”
Surprised, I blurted out loudly.
I understood that hitting the spirits with a magic-imbued sword wouldn’t hurt them.
But I couldn’t believe it was educational.
What if the adorable spirits grew into troublemakers?
‘Remember how I said it’s like spirit tossing?’
“I heard that.”
‘It’s the same. Spirits don’t usually experience physical stimuli. So by playing with a magic-covered wooden sword—’
Kuro’s explanation was long.
But thanks to it, I finally understood.
Apparently, it improves their understanding of the physical world, boosts intelligence, strengthens magic power, and makes them kinder.
“Is that… really true?”
‘The spirits near you have grown up healthy thanks to spirit tossing, Luria-sama.’
“I know that.”
I had already heard from Loa that spirit tossing was good for their education.
“Alright, I’ll go for it, then.”
“Woof!”
‘Yay! Wheee!’
‘Whee-whee!’
‘Whee!’
What’s with all the “whee”s?
Anyway, the spirits were excited, cheering happily.
“Here I go! Fuhn-nu! Fuhn-nu! Fuhn-nu! Chaaaaa!”
“Woof! Aoooh! Aoooh! Waooooooh!”
I swung the wooden sword alongside Da-u.
‘Kya-kya!’
The spirits, who had been deliberately getting hit earlier, now started dodging joyfully.
“Why are you dodging?! Fuhn-fuhn-nu!”
“Woof-woof!”
‘Over here, over here!’
‘Luria-samaaaa!’
‘Kya-kya!’
‘It’s like a game of playing monster!’
“Monster? Playing? Fuhn-nu! Fuhn!”
“Woof! Woof!”
‘You know, like when children pretend to be monsters and villagers. The monster chases the villagers, and if the monster touches a villager, they switch roles.’
“There’s a game like that? Fuhn-fuhn!”
“Woof-woof!”
‘Human children play it all the time.’
“Is that so?! Fuhn-nu! Fuhn-nu!”
“Waooo! Waooo!”
So, the spirits had gone from trying to touch the sword to playing a game of dodging it.
I understood the rules now.
All that was left was to play to my heart’s content.
“Take this! Tyaaaaa!”
“Woofooooooh!”
‘Fast, fast!’
‘Woohoo!’
‘Kya-kya!’
I swung the wooden sword with all my might, trying to catch the spirits.
Maybe because I focused harder than usual, I ended up three times as tired as normal—but it was a lot of fun.
☆☆☆☆
Ten minutes after Luria began playing the monster game with the wooden sword.
“Eh?”
The swordsmanship instructor looked at Luria in the courtyard.
By chance, the instructor had some personal matters to attend to and had visited the mansion today.
“Funnu! Funnfunnu! Fun!”
“Woof! Woof woof! Woof!”
“What’s this…?”
Upon seeing Luria’s movements, the swordsmanship instructor couldn’t help but let out a sound.
“Is something the matter?”
The maid, who was guiding the instructor, asked, and the instructor groaned as he replied.
“The young lady might be a swordsmanship genius.”
“Is that so?”
The maid looked at Luria in the courtyard, but to her, it just seemed like she was playing as usual.
She was still making cute “funnfun” sounds, but her movements didn’t look like those of a genius.
“It’s as if… there’s something invisible and fast moving that she’s trying to strike down…”
“I see?”
“Yes, it’s like she’s trying to cut down an invisible swallow with her sword…”
“I see.”
Unlike the maid, who was inexperienced with swords, she couldn’t understand.
She thought she’d tell the lady of the house later that the instructor had praised young Luria’s swordsmanship.
“She has much more talent than I do.”
“You’re just joking again.”
The maid, though inexperienced with swords, knew that the instructor was the country’s best swordsman, referred to as a genius.
That’s why he had been chosen as the swordsmanship teacher for the second prince’s heir, Gilberto.
“It’s not a joke. She really is a genius.”
“Thank you. I’m sure both the master and lady of the house will be pleased to hear that.”
It was probably just flattery.
Thinking this, the maid thanked the instructor.
☆☆☆☆
