033 So This is a Utopia
“Hey, Aoi-chan.”
“What is it, Sakurai?”
“About the extra reward God Anubis mentioned, I can’t really think of anything I want. Is there anything you want, Aoi-chan?”
“Your life.”
“Stop answering so immediately while looking away, okay?”
A month had passed since I was discharged from the hospital.
I was now able to move without any problems, and I had obtained a special ‘thread’ through alchemy (item creation). Today, I was diligently leveling up inside the ‘Tower.’
Higaki was also accompanying me for training, while Iris had gone to see God Thoth of ‘Niflheim’ for counseling.
“(With the accumulated memories gone, her memories and mind are regressing to balance things out… or so he said. It’s true that memories shape a person’s personality, huh?)”
While recalling what God Thoth, Iris’s doctor, had said, I flicked my wrist, manipulating the ‘thread’ that extended from it to slice through a monster.
This was the power of the new combat skill I had acquired, ‘Thread Embroidery.’
‘Thread Embroidery’ was one of the skills that the ghost that had been absorbed into me had remembered. It allowed me to manipulate threads to fight.
While ‘Thread Embroidery’ didn’t have particularly high attack power, it had many versatile applications, such as inflicting continuous damage on enemies, applying debuffs like ‘restraint’ that reduced speed, or conversely, increasing my own speed.
I had learned in the fight against Babi that the ‘Fire Sword’ had too many offensive techniques, so I wanted to increase my options. ‘Thread Embroidery’ was a wonderful skill that could meet that need.
“(If I keep a bundle of threads in my sleeve, I can switch to it in case of an emergency. Though, practice is a must.)”
That’s why I was in the lower levels of the ‘Tower,’ a place where I could secure a safe margin, throwing threads at monsters and slicing them up. However, Higaki seemed to be acting strangely.
If she were the Higaki I knew, I would have expected her to attack me while yelling, “Did you abandon the teacher’s Fire Sword!?”, but she was silently continuing to cut down monsters with her sword.
Could it be that she had become a little more friendly? I thought, and tried to bring up the topic of the extra reward, but the answer I got was extremely hostile, shattering my faint hopes.
At that point, I was completely at a loss, so I wondered what to do.
“Um, Aoi-chan? No, Higaki-san?”
“What is it, Sakurai?”
“If there’s something bothering you, I’d like you to say it sooner rather than later? When you bottle things up like that, I’m sure you’ll turn your blade on me when you explode, and it makes it hard to concentrate on leveling up.”
“You… haa.”
Aoi-chan sighed and sliced through a monster that came from the side without even looking at it. The scene was too dangerous, wasn’t it? Or was it too late to say that?
However, she seemed like she was going to talk while being exasperated, so I set up a trap with my threads to keep the monsters away and listened to her words.
For a while, you guys (monsters) can become diced steak.
“Even though I can return to the real world, I’m depressed about what will happen after I return.”
“Is that so?”
“Unlike you, I have the position of a disciplinary committee chairperson. I used that position for my own selfish desires, got into a personal fight with you, and even ended up dying… I don’t know what kind of face I should make when I go back.”
“It’s tough for people who have social connections, huh?”
“You’re one to talk, you’ve been refusing to go to school since day one.”
“I couldn’t go even if I wanted to because you attacked me, okay?”
I wasn’t bothered by it now, but I wanted to attend the magic classes, which were a staple of fantasy worlds, and the combat classes for entering dungeons.
Well, I had found a loophole before entering the school, so I had no reason to go to the latter, and it had slipped my mind.
There were many attractive skills, items, and events that could be obtained by progressing through school classes. When I returned to the real world, I would start working on those too.
“That aside, it’s too late to start feeling ashamed after running around killing people out of jealousy. It’s not something to worry about, is it?”
“I guess so.”
“………Eh? Are you really just going to let it slide like that? No way?”
Even though she was supposed to be on the side of order, how could she call herself a disciplinary committee chairperson?
If she let it slide that easily, I might actually start to like her for her refreshing attitude.
In the future, if something happens, I’ll testify to the media, “I always thought she would do it.”
“Well, I feel a little better. So, swallowing my shame, I have a request.”
“A request?”
“I want you to teach me the teacher’s Flash.”
Higaki, who had killed the last monster in the area, stared at me with a serious look.
The old man’s technique, ‘False Saint’s Flash.’
I didn’t know what kind of change of heart she had gone through since she tried to kill me for using it, but now we weren’t strangers, and she had helped me in this incident, so I wouldn’t mind teaching her.
I wouldn’t mind… but.
“I’d teach you if I could… but that’s…”
“Is there a problem?”
“No, that’s just a technique that’s based on ‘slashing’ faithfully, so there’s nothing to teach.”
The true nature of the ‘Sword Saint’s Flash’ was simply the result of faithfully slashing at an extremely high level, which had become a technique.
The difference from a normal slash was that it ‘conveyed the power put into it without any loss, ignoring all elements (defense),’ which, to put it extremely, was just the complete elimination of waste.
So, even if she said she wanted to learn it, all I could say was, “Just swing your sword.”
To be honest, even I had learned how to swing a sword from Bonus Uncle, continued it for many years, even cutting off social interactions, and then, after a life-or-death training, I was finally able to learn it as a ‘False’ version.
There was no doubt that the amount of time I had spent training was vastly different from Higaki’s, and even after learning it, it was a difficult technique that required concentration and ‘charging,’ so it wasn’t something that could be mastered overnight.
Bonus Uncle, who could continuously unleash that technique from all directions with his normal attacks, was amazing after all! I’ll have to play with him again sometime.
“Anyway, eliminate all waste and swing your sword. If you don’t understand, get slashed and grasp the feeling. From the feeling of being slashed, imagine what kind of slash it was and swing your sword. That’s all I can say.”
“I see… the teacher is amazing as expected. Ah, I wonder how high he is. Even so, I will–!”
“It’s good that you’re getting fired up, but please do it somewhere else.”
“Oops. Sorry. But, just knowing that I can reach it someday if I keep swinging my sword is a stroke of luck.”
Higaki, who said that, had relaxed her shoulders and was in a natural state, as if a weight had been lifted off her.
“I had always admired the teacher. I had always admired that ‘one slash.’ But, I had just been swinging my sword out of admiration, and I hadn’t even tried to understand it. The fact that I finally understood what that ‘one slash’ was from your story is proof of that.”
“…”
“I was just admiring it. You were trying to understand it and make it your own. I was just standing still in the place furthest from the teacher… what a fool I was.”
Higaki turned around and slashed down a monster that was approaching from behind.
Then, with her back to me and her face turned away, she muttered.
“I was really, a fool.”
Her voice, trying to appear calm, and her shoulders, which were slightly trembling when I looked closely.
I couldn’t understand the thoughts swirling inside her, nor could I even guess at them.
But, if there was anything I could say as an acquaintance, as a fellow disciple, it would be only objective facts.
And because I knew that she was a ‘main character,’ I could say it with conviction.
“If I could do it, you can do it too, so don’t worry.”
“…What?”
“I’m just talking about the difference in pure talent. Until I met you, the number of snakes I could produce with my ‘Serpent Flame’ was only three. On the other hand, you showed me a ninth snake that I had never seen before. Even though the amount of time you and I have spent training is many times different. At least in terms of talent and skill, you’re better, right?”
“But!”
“But? I’ve proven that you can reach it if you keep doing it, right?”
If it was proven that it could be done, then no matter how clumsy or roundabout (inefficient) it was, if the conditions were met, it was possible to learn a ‘skill.’
Unlike me, she had both talent and skill, and had acquired solid techniques, so if she understood the logic, it would be strange if she couldn’t do it.
Besides, this was the world of a ‘game.’
Unlike reality, effort continues to accumulate as experience points, and that accumulation never decreases, no matter how much time passes. Even if you’ve been leveling inefficiently, you’re definitely getting closer, step by step, to the skill acquisition line.
‘Levels will rise (effort will bear fruit).’
This is the absolute law (system) of this world. As long as you don’t lose sight of that, there’s not a shred of reason to lament or grieve.
You think that’s arrogant? Of course it is. The majority of players look down on the story (game) while playing, and they evaluate it subjectively, so there’s no way they wouldn’t be arrogant. If you’re going to live in a game world, it’s probably just right to be this arrogant.
“I think it’s good that you’re aware of your current position, but you should stop thinking that you can’t do something just because I (a mob) can’t do it. From the perspective of someone like me, it’s like, ‘What’s this guy even saying?'”
“…………”
“If you understand the theory behind the technique, then all you have to do is make that your goal and keep training (leveling) until you can learn it. If you do that, you’ll definitely be able to do it.”
Higaki, who had turned to face me, was stunned by my words. Then, she lowered her eyes once, and with a ‘disgust’ that I’d seen countless times, she let out a dry laugh.
“Ah… yeah. You would say that. Your stance is almost refreshing, really… I take my hat off to you.”
“Is that a compliment?”
“It’s a compliment. So, I’ll say it just once—thank you.”
With that, she muttered “I’m going home” and headed for the exit. I didn’t understand what she was thanking me for, so I tilted my head and concluded, “There’s no point in thinking too hard about it,” and continued leveling until just before the day changed.