A few days later.
Time flew by as I dealt with the aftermath of the Empire’s invasion.
During this time, Yukina-san-san hasn’t come to see me.
She was called back to the homeland.
It’s probably something related to her engagement with the Townset Duke family.
Even if the discussions were pushed through forcefully, the Crawford Duke family still has a say in the matter.
The engagement is supposed to produce a strong next generation, so it wouldn’t make sense if she lost to some nobody.
Nine times out of ten, the engagement will be called off.
If that happens, Yukina-san-san won’t need to stick around me anymore.
There’s no rush for her to get stronger.
“Good morning, Onii-san.”
“Good morning, Rena.”
It’s already past noon, but since I just woke up, it’s morning to me.
We exchanged greetings, and I stood up.
Seeing me, Rena pouted.
“Onii-san, haven’t you been disappointed when you look at me lately?”
“What’s this all of a sudden…”
“Your face says you’re disappointed it’s not Yukina-san-san.”
“It’s just your imagination.”
I firmly denied it.
There’s no way that’s true.
Of course not.
Though, deep down, there’s a part of me that feels it’s a shame.
“Really? Don’t you miss being woken up by such a beautiful girl every day?”
“I’d rather keep sleeping than be woken up by a beautiful girl.”
With that, I left the room with Rena.
She seemed skeptical.
I reassured her as we headed towards the school building.
For a few days, I was the talk of the town as the man who defeated the Sixth Seat of the Sword Magic Top Ten, but things have settled down now.
I’ve gone back to being treated as a failing noble who barely attends classes.
The duel was fought with practice swords, so it wasn’t a true measure of our abilities. Plus, I only won because I caught him off guard with an unexpected move. Everyone expects Tim to win if we fought again.
But a win is a win.
People may have reassessed me a bit, but the perception that I’m a dropout hasn’t changed.
The fact that I didn’t get added to the Sword Magic Top Ten is proof of that.
It wasn’t a duel for a seat, after all.
Just a big upset.
That’s how it is, and it won’t change.
“Well then, Onii-san. I’ll be heading this way.”
“Ah, thank you.”
Rena, who had been walking with me, headed to the junior high building.
As I continued walking lazily――.
“Oh…”
“Oh…”
I bumped into Yukina-san-san in the hallway.
We both froze, staring at each other.
After a moment of awkward silence, Yukina-san-san spoke first.
“Um… long time no see…”
“Ah, yeah… long time no see…”
It’s just small talk, but it feels so difficult.
Rena mentioning Yukina-san-san earlier made me nervous.
This isn’t like me at all.
I’m the Sword Saint and Great Sage, yet here I am getting nervous in front of a classmate.
As I thought about it, I sighed inwardly.
Of course, I am. I spent all my time training to become the Sword Saint and Great Sage.
I hardly have any female friends.
And Yukina-san-san is stunningly beautiful.
Even as the Sword Saint and Great Sage.
No one taught me how to handle women.
“Are you… heading to class?”
“That was the plan, but…”
“……”
Yukina-san-san fell silent for a moment.
Then.
“If… if you don’t mind… if you really don’t mind…”
“If I don’t mind?”
“Would you go for a walk with me…?”
It was an unexpected offer from the usually diligent Yukina-san-san.
I didn’t have the words to refuse.
So, I just nodded.
■■■
Even though Yukina-san invited me for a walk, she wasn’t talking much.
She wasn’t very talkative to begin with, but today she was unusually quiet.
“……”
“…Did something happen at home?”
Unable to bear the silence, I asked her.
But.
I regretted it immediately after.
It felt like I couldn’t suppress my curiosity about how her engagement situation had turned out.
It was a half-baked question. It would have been better to just ask straight up, “What happened with the engagement?”
While I was wrestling with these thoughts, Yukina-san chuckled.
“Are you curious?”
“Well, yeah… if I’m being honest, I am.”
“I thought so.”
Yukina-san suddenly stopped walking.
I turned around to face her.
She had a full smile on her face, filled with emotions I had never seen before.
“The engagement… has been called off. I don’t know what the future holds, but… I’m free now… It’s all thanks to you, Roy-kun. Maybe you didn’t intend it, but because you challenged the upperclassman, it happened. Thank you… thank you…”
Yukina-san started off smiling but then bowed her head and began to cry.
I was utterly flustered, not expecting her to cry.
I didn’t expect her to cry, nor did I expect her to thank me.
The idea of entrusting the next generation stemmed from the belief that the current Sword Saint couldn’t be beaten. In other words, Yukina-san’s engagement was, in a way, my fault.
So, while I played a part in getting it called off, it felt odd to be thanked.
It’s a terrible match-pump situation.
“What? Wait, calm down!”
“I can… aim to become the Sword Saint… even after graduating from the academy… I can follow in my grandmother’s footsteps…”
“That’s… good to hear.”
I muttered, struggling to find the right words.
I really don’t know what to say.
I’m terrible at dealing with crying girls.
I’d rather face an army of a hundred thousand Imperial soldiers.
As I thought this, Yukina-san spoke again.
“Recently… the Sword Saint repelled the Imperial army… Single-handedly defeated a hundred thousand soldiers. My relatives said it was impossible to surpass the current Sword Saint… that the position wouldn’t be vacant until they retired. Maybe they’re right… but I can’t give up. If the current Sword Saint is the strongest… I want to surpass them and become the strongest. It might be selfish, but… I want to be the one to protect our homeland.”
Yukina-san looked directly at me as she spoke.
Her eyes were no longer teary.
They were filled with a strong resolve.
“Roy-kun, because you paved the way for me… I swear I won’t give up. So, um… will you support me?”
Yukina-san lowered her face, slightly embarrassed.
Most guys would probably be thrilled to have Yukina-san look at them like that.
But my mind was elsewhere.
Whenever I demonstrated my power as the Sword Saint, I was always met with praise.
There were hardly any swordsmen who said they would surpass me.
I had a part of me that felt let down by that.
I thought, is this all the Kingdom of Albios, the country of swords, has to offer?
But Yukina-san said she wouldn’t give up.
That’s right, that’s how it should be. That’s the kind of swordsman I was waiting for. That’s what I believed.
So.
“Of course—I’ll support you.”
“I thought you would say that, thank you.”
Yukina-san smiled softly.
A gentle smile.
While I was captivated by that smile,
“In that case… since you’ll be supporting me, make sure to help me out, okay?”
“What?”
“First, could you teach me about that technique? Was it the ‘Torch’? How does it work?”
“Well, that’s…”
Yukina-san, with her insatiable hunger for strength, is a perfect candidate to be the successor to the Sword Saint, but because of that very hunger, she could potentially uncover my true identity.
“You won’t teach me?”
“It’s a secret technique… I can’t just teach it so easily. I think that’s pretty obvious?”
“…Stingy.”
Yukina-san pouted at my words but soon smiled again and started walking.
She’s showing a lot of different expressions today.
Sighing softly, I muttered to myself and followed after Yukina-san.
