Chapter 63: The Exiled Marquise and the Second Son of the Impoverished Viscount Household 2
I’ll be honest.
I can’t handle my own body.
When I leaped behind the Goat Majin, I flew much further than I imagined and really panicked.
Even when I hastily jumped towards the Goat Majin’s neck, which was about twice my height, I thought the height and angle were perfect, but I was faster than expected.
When I was trying to act cool, saying something like “As for the armor~~”, I was flustered because I knew if I waited until I finished speaking, I’d overshoot its neck.
And when its tentacle unexpectedly blocked my downward sword strike, I was more surprised that the sword passed through with almost no resistance than by the fact that it was blocked.
Before the Goat Majin’s head hit the ground, when I landed in front of Shara-san, I’d actually overshot her head first and had to kick off a tree behind her.
I was really glad there was a tall tree there.
“Shin-san fell from the sky!”
The reason I could return a composed smile to the surprised Shara-san, who exclaimed that, was probably because my face had been twitching right up until that moment.
The reason I sheathed my sword particularly slowly was because I couldn’t trust my own body at all.
Seal it! I’m sealing this!
Impossible! I can’t handle this! Impossible!
Reasoning that it was probably on my back, I deactivated the additional Physical Enhancement Magic Circle I had constructed there.
The shirt woven from the threads of some minor Monster called Black-something finally felt like a normal shirt again, and I felt relieved.
Ever since constructing the second Physical Enhancement Magic Circle, it felt like I had an untamable wild horse riding on my back.
I now fully understood why the number one cause of death for adventurers who had just started getting the hang of proper Physical Enhancement was accidents caused by being unable to handle their own bodies.
This could definitely kill you.
And I realized just how carefully my master had instructed me, regardless of his methods.
“That was splendid movement.”
Perhaps that’s why I shuddered when Erika said that, implying she had seen—no, could see—every detail of that Physical Enhancement, the intensity of which I could barely even control myself.
I recalled her fights up until now.
She must have only been able to start fighting seriously after leaving the academy, and even now, she’s still getting used to her own true strength.
From now on, she will become even stronger.
I don’t know if she herself is aware of it, but accomplishing this effortlessly, without instruction from anyone, is simply who Erika Solntsalri is.
I trembled anew at the difficulty of standing beside her.
“How was that? Do I get a passing grade?”
That’s why I deliberately spoke lightly.
If I could give up just because I’m ordinary, I would have given up long ago.
Even if I tremble, it’s literally far too late for that now.
“Let me see,” Erika replied thoughtfully, twirling a lock of her red hair around her right index finger.
“That… was wonderful, you know.”
In short, it boils down to something simple.
She’s a genius.
I trembled at my own inability to handle the intensity of the Physical Enhancement.
I was astounded by her, whose depths I still couldn’t fathom.
I wasn’t afraid of the question, ‘Just how many reckless things must I do to keep standing beside her?’
Still, I faltered a little.
Perhaps that’s why.
“Just a little more.”
My faltering heart greedily sought words to steel itself.
Specifically, I wanted Erika to praise me.
“A little more… you ask?” Erika looked blankly.
I was confident I would have broken if Erika had looked exasperated here, but instead, she lowered her eyes and thought about it with a serious expression.
Erika, murmuring “Hmm…” under her breath as she seriously considered her words, was incredibly cute.
Specifically, the way she thought with her index finger, still twirling that lock of hair, resting on her chin was simply the best.
Erika glanced at my face, then gently averted her gaze and responded to my request.
“Well then, trying to ascertain the opponent’s Intellect by speaking to it at the start was interesting. I couldn’t quite tell myself, but I felt like you could read its expression, Shin. Gauging its level of Intellect from that, is that a difference in experience as an adventurer? Also, while you were talking, you subtly stood between it and us, maintaining line of sight while blocking the shortest path, which was very considerate.”
The single phrase I’d hoped for turned into an unexpectedly long speech.
Once she started talking, perhaps she got carried away, or maybe she simply started enjoying the post-battle analysis, but Erika’s voice became lively.
“And what was truly astonishing was that Physical Enhancement!”
Erika closed her eyes, replaying the memory.
“I never imagined you still possessed such a hidden ace. Is that some secret technique of the Longdagger Family? That speed was no ordinary thing. For the first time in my life, I witnessed speed so fast it was almost a blur!”
Erika’s unexpectedly direct words of praise made my throat feel a little hot.
It reminded me of the first time my master praised me.
Perhaps that’s why.
My voice trembled slightly when I told Erika that it wasn’t a Longdagger Family secret technique or anything, just something I thought up on the spot.
“Is that so? In that case, isn’t that even more amazing?”
Erika’s voice bubbled with excitement.
“To think of it on the spur of the moment, and then to give it form like that, just how much effort and training must lie behind it—”
Please, no more.
Overdosing on Erika’s praise, I instinctively covered my face with both hands.
I was aware my face was bright red.
When I turned red and hid my face, Erika’s voice somehow became even more animated.
According to her, that speed.
According to her, the sharpness of that sword path.
According to her, My Lord is.
Stop! I’m gonna die, I’m really gonna die!
Erika’s voice grew even more excited, and praise flew even for things like my footwork and stance, which I myself wasn’t even sure about anymore, calling them wonderful, leaving me unsure how to react.
A calm part of me briefly surfaced, wondering if this was really the time for this in the middle layer of the Demon Realm, but it immediately retreated when Erika praised the line of my neck seen from the side as wonderful.
While thinking this had nothing to do with the previous battle anymore, I couldn’t bring myself to say “That’s enough.”
In fact, I wouldn’t mind if this lasted forever.
I was half-serious about that, but Shara’s exasperated voice didn’t allow it.
“I don’t know what kind of ritual this is, but could you two please come back to your senses?”
Lifting my lowered face, I saw an exasperated Shara-san and Erika, who was inexplicably covering her own face and muttering, “I’ve done it now.”
“If Erika-san gets embarrassed now, it’ll ruin everything, so please bear with it. Besides, praising My Lord isn’t something to be embarrassed about, right?”
Shara bluntly cut Erika off.
I see, so Erika was embarrassed for praising me too much.
I think it was because the tension from the battle had eased and she got carried away, but I’d be happy if even a tenth of those compliments were heartfelt.
I was ashamed of myself for focusing only on Erika’s strength and forgetting she was a former Marquise.
It should have been entirely predictable that Erika, raised as a noble lady, might say things she didn’t entirely mean in a state of high spirits after a battle she still wasn’t used to.
And I, having faltered, ended up egging her on by asking for ‘just a little more’.
Because of that, I made Erika feel embarrassed.
I truly hate my own weakness.
“Why Shin-san looks troubled when Erika-san gets embarrassed is a bit hard to grasp, but will you listen to me?”
Shara-san looked at us with eyes that seemed to say, ‘What is up with this married couple?’
Having witnessed the disgraceful sight of Erika praising me endlessly in a strange post-battle high, and me being unable to even lift my head from her compliments, I couldn’t utter a word in protest.
Shara-san said, pointing.
“I don’t know much about Monsters, let alone Majin, so I’m not sure, but…”
My gaze followed Shara-san’s finger towards where the Goat Majin’s corpse lay.
“Is that what happens to a Majin when it dies?”