008 Fratricidal Strife
Leveling, as always, is the order of the day.
Swing the sword, and numbers appear; accumulate enough numbers, and my Level goes up.
While I’ve sworn revenge against that damn woman, it’s also important to take a break sometimes… or so I’d like to say. The truth is, I’ve already finished most of my harassment against her, and now I’m just waiting. It’s a waste of effort to prepare this and that for her, so I’m peacefully leveling up like this.
“This riverbed is truly my favorite place… Thanks to people fleeing as soon as I arrive, I can concentrate on leveling up in peace…”
I don’t really mind, but why does everyone leave when I come? All I’m doing is practicing my swings and checking my Skills.
Speaking of checking my Skills, since the world has become like an action game, I’ve been experimenting lately to see if there are any motion cancels.
The result is that not only could I not find any motion cancels, but my movements would get caught in weird ways, sometimes causing me to spin like a top and fly into the air. It seems the great god of physics engines can be found even in this other world.
Come to think of it, before I started checking my movements, there were still some people around… No, it can’t be my movements that are the cause. It’s a common sight in open-world action games, so everyone must be used to it. Hmm, I don’t know.
“You seem to be in a good mood.”
“Huh? Oh, Aoi, hey hey!”
Appearing on the deserted riverbed, except for me, was everyone’s favorite Higaki Ao-san.
Her cute face was contorted with a blue vein throbbing, and she looked like she was about to explode with irritation.
Her left hand, holding the sword she stole from me, was gripping the sheath so tightly that I thought she might crush it, and it was now as white as porcelain.
“What’s with that grumpy face?”
“Whose fault do you think it is?!”
“Oh, it’s working, it’s working.”
Seeing how angry she was, I grinned.
I’ve been leveling up while continuing my retaliation against her.
It involved using the ‘Sword Saint (Bonus Uncle)’ she admires. I located the Bonus Uncle and dragged him around day and night for leveling.
Naturally, I visited the Adventurer’s Guild every day, causing a commotion, and then went outside with the uncle. It was only natural that people would start talking about “who is this person dragging around the ‘Sword Saint’?”
And the uncle, understanding my intentions, told everyone around that I was his disciple, spreading my existence. Thus, I became known as the ‘First Disciple’ of the ‘Sword Saint,’ Sanuki Shoichiro, in both name and reality.
As a final touch, I even sent landscape paintings depicting ‘me and the uncle leveling up’ to the Disciplinary Committee Chairman every day. It’s a little something for my junior disciple, a little something. Observation is also part of training, right?
Thanks to that, some of my artistic Skills have improved, killing two birds with one stone.
Well, doing all this would naturally make her, who is so fixated on being ‘number one,’ feel unpleasant, and I figured she’d come at me sooner or later… I’m glad she took the bait.
“So, what do you need, junior disciple? Your senior disciple is busy.”
“You dare say that so brazenly…!”
Her gaze was filled with murderous intent, as if it would burst at any moment.
Well, she’s been having her complexes poked and her nerves rubbed raw, so it’s only natural she’d harbor a little murderous intent.
Moreover, her murderous intent isn’t a threat or anything; it’s a genuine, real ‘intent to kill.’
“Coming here, unable to contain your murderous intent from such a small provocation, you’re really quite twisted. It’s a little scary.”
“Ah, yes, that’s right. Say whatever you want. You are now purely an obstacle to me. You’re throwing sand and mud on my meaning of life, on the path I’m walking, just for fun. That alone is unbearable, but on top of that, you’ve even laid your hands on ‘the people who thought I was the first disciple’!!”
“I just corrected a misunderstanding. And yet, ‘laid my hands on’… isn’t that a bit too violent of a way to put it?”
“Shut up, shut up! Everything I’ve built up has been reduced to nothing because of you!! The master’s back has become distant!! The path to that sword has become distant!! It’s all because of you! If only you weren’t here!!”
Tears were welling up in the corners of Higaki Ao’s eyes as she shouted with a face as red as a beet.
While she has so much passion, I can’t help but feel disappointed that she couldn’t channel it in a healthy direction as I grin.
“I don’t know about that. But, coming here, you must have some idea of what’s going to happen next, right?”
“…Yes, now that things have come to this, there’s only one thing to do.”
“I’m glad we’re on the same page. Don’t worry about the cleanup; I’ve already asked the uncle to take care of it.”
“Why does the master favor someone like you… No, never mind.”
Yes, never mind.
No matter how many words we exchange, there won’t be a happy ending of ‘resolution’ for me and Higaki, who are standing on parallel lines.
To me, she’s an unreasonable evil, and to her, I’m an unforgivable existence that appeared out of nowhere. There’s no room for compromise, reconciliation, or even concessions, and I don’t want to.
‘Resolution’ is impossible. Therefore, we have no choice but to ‘eliminate’ each other.
I draw my sword. The weapon in my hand is a mass-produced iron sword.
She draws her sword. The one in her hand is the Sword Saint’s sword she stole from me.
Our stances are mirror images. Even our breathing is synchronized as we sharpen our hostility towards each other.
And finally, we look at each other and exchange our last words.
“You’re in my way. Die!!”
A fratricidal fight between fellow disciples.
A hideous and miserable battle that cannot be glossed over with the word ‘youth’ has begun.