Chapter 5
Seal of the Right Eye
5th Month of Human World Calendar 380

1

«Underworld».

That is the name of this world. It was not in the Common Tongue, but in the Sacred Tongue, so most of its inhabitants live on without realizing the connotations that came with the name.

The «Human World» draws a perfect circle with a diameter of one and a half thousand kilolu right in the middle of the Underworld. Its circumference was surrounded by the «Mountain Range at the Edge» and beyond that, the country of darkness where demi-humans such as goblins and orcs live, «Dark Territory», reaches out—that was the common belief, but practically no human can claim to have seen that with their own eyes.

The Human World was split into four empires and the one that ruled over the north was the «Norlangarth North Empire», with its fertile grasslands, deep forests and many lakes. On the southern tip of the empire’s exactly fan-shaped domain, at the part close to its would-be pivot, was the capital of the empire, «North Centoria». The other three empires were structured in the exact same manner, so the four capitals were joined into a single, small circle at the heart of the Human World, collectively called, «Central Centoria».

Once again, at the heart of Centoria, was the lofty white tower of the «Worldwide Central Axiom Church» that held authority over all four empires, ruling over the Human World with the absolute law, the «Taboo Index», and the absolute military might, the «Integrity Knights». The structure that boasts of a splendor almost reaching Solus in the sky could be said to be the heart of the Human World, in every sense of the word. In other words, it was likely that it could be said to be the heart of the Underworld itself.

This was the form of the world, as understood by Eugeo.

It had already been two years since he set out on that journey towards the south with his partner, Kirito, from the small village of Rulid at the northern tip of the northern empire until the spring of this present year.

And they were given appointments in the guard squadron of the largest city in the north region, then advanced to the central capital with letters of recommendation personally written by their commanding officer early in the spring of the previous year. Overcoming the entrance examination for the most prominent swordsman training institution in the empire, «North Centoria Master Swords Academy», and diligently tempering themselves in the one year they served as novice trainees, they were even among the ranks of the top twelve in the promotion examination at the end of the year.

Those twelve would be appointed not as advanced trainees, but as honors students known as «elite swordsmen-in-training». They were provided with a dormitory with a connected spacious practice arena for their exclusive use, and were freed from much of the minor academy regulations, spending that single year immersed in training for the right to participate in the «Empire Swordsmanship Tournament», the ultimate goal of all of the academy students.

Going through specialized lessons and swordsmanship guidance, with self-practice afterwards each day was difficult, but those days were like a dream to Eugeo. If he didn’t meet that strange young man named Kirito two years ago, he would be living each day swinging an axe to chop wood from day to night, continuing that «sacred task» until he retired from old age. He was able to proceed towards his goal, associating with the young nobles in the central capital, learning swordsmanship and sacred arts, even if it’s a little at a time.

Unlike his fellow students, Eugeo’s goal was not merely to emerge as the champion of the «Four Empires Unity Tournament» and be commissioned as an honorable integrity knight.

It was to become a knight and pass through the door to the Axiom Church’s Central Cathedral that even a first class aristocrat could not step into… to meet once again, Alice Schuberg, a female childhood friend of his who was taken away to the Cathedral long ago.

He had once given up; the one who showed him the path towards that wish of his, far, far away, was his partner, Kirito. They had overcome every obstacle that stood in their way with their combined might over these two years. With Eugeo teaching the various rules to Kirito who had lost his memory, starting from the Empire Fundamental Law, and Kirito teaching Eugeo his unique swordsmanship, the «Aincrad-style», they survived to this day with their pace in sync, as though they were brothers… no, twins.

Even now, as elite swordsmen-in-training, Eugeo and Kirito still live in the same room in the dormitory. That said, they share only the living room with their bedrooms separated. Eugeo still held feelings of guilt over the wide and soft beds that those from his home in Rulid could not hold a candle to, the extravagant baths where he could use as much hot water as he liked and the plentiful meals served at the dining hall reserved for those like them, but it seems Kirito got used to it in no time.

But there was one matter that he suffered as much as Eugeo at.

The privileges granted to the mere twelve elite swordsmen-in-training of the academy were not limited to the exclusive dormitory. A single, exemplary novice trainee would take care of them as their «valet». Eugeo was assigned as well, to a broadminded senior swordsman the previous year, and that was no bother at all… or rather, he even thought it as enjoyable, but it became a different story when the roles were reversed.

For the trainee assigned as his valet this year was Tiezé Shtolienen, born in a sixth class noble family, not to mention a girl who had just reached the age of sixteen. As for Kirito, the one who became his valet was Ronye Arabel, a sixteen years old girl born in a sixth class noble family as well; those two were a cause of much distress for the two from the countryside.

He had absolutely no complaints about Tiezé herself. The girl, with hair red like flames and eyes slightly tinged red, both which were somewhat rare in the north, was always full of energy, possessing much enthusiasm and diligence and causing many situations where the mentor, Eugeo, ended up learning from the apprentice instead. However—being waited on by someone three years younger, not to mention of noble birth and a female as well, does not seem to be something he could get used to at this point in time. Each day was spent with his thoughtful “I’ll take care of that, don’t worry about it” retorted by Tiezé’s “No, this should be handled by the valet!”.

Kirito’s situation was mostly the same, making up some arbitrary excuse to disappear whenever Ronye came to tidy up the room; that happened many times in this one month—however.

Today—the 17th day of the 5th month of the Human World Calendar 380, Kirito finally returned without any particular reason just as Tiezé and Ronye finished cleaning the room, holding onto a large paper bag in his arms. Inside was a heap of honey pies from a well-established restaurant in the 3rd Eastern Street of the 6th District in North Centoria, «The Deer Leap», which was famous for them, and Kirito took two out for Eugeo and himself before handing the rest to Tiezé and Ronye with a “Go have them with everyone in your room”.

Novice trainees were restricted from going out on non-rest days, and of course, unable to buy sweets at the market then. The two girls were exceedingly happy at the unexpected refreshments, leading to Eugeo seeing them run back to the novice trainees’ dormitory for the first time.

Forming bonds with the valet trainees and giving them general advice on how to make progress on their swordsmanship were part of the swordsmen-in-training’s duties as well, so those honey pies might be a part of Kirito’s efforts—but even so, Eugeo thought while staring at his black-haired partner by his side, who ate up the pie with a composed expression before he spoke.

“Well now. Eugeo-kun, how about some light practice before dinner?”

“I have no objection to that at all. But tomorrow’s the advanced sacred arts exam. And aside from the written segment, there’s that «cryogenic element» forming practical that you’re bad at.”

“Ugh……”

Kirito’s arm, about to grab the wooden sword used for practice, froze after Eugeo pointed that out. It seems he was conflicted for several seconds, unwilling to yield, but Kirito soon lowered his hand with a sigh, before voicing out in a usually deep pitch.

“Geez, why do I have to study for exams after coming this far…”

What Kirito said was true, he certainly couldn’t even imagine that he would be learning sacred arts in the central capital back when he was swinging an axe to chop wood at Rulid Village. He completely agreed that sword practice was more fun than memorizing complicated spells, but with continuous failures in the academic tests, the qualifications to get a recommendation for the tournament will be out of reach regardless of how good their swordsmanship were.

—And Eugeo’s partner, who should have understood all of that to be fact without him explaining it, combed his hair, as jet-black as his uniform, upwards before speaking in a flat tone.

“Eugeo-kun. I will now cram with all my might for this entire night until lights-out, so would you be ever so kind and bring my portion of food from the dining hall?”

“Understood. …You should’ve simply done it bit by bit normally.”

“I couldn’t agree more on that matter. However, there are people who are unable to do that, you know…”

Leaving that oddly philosophical remark behind, Kirito trudged through the living room and vanished into his own room through the door in the north.

Unlike the novice trainees’ dormitory that they have been living in until one and a half months ago, the elite swordsmen-in-training’s dormitory was in the shape of a perfect circle. It was a three-story building with an atrium in the middle, a corridor forming a ring around it indoors, and the rooms where the twelve swordsmen-in-training stayed were lined up on the outer edge in the south.

The first floor had the dining hall and a large bath, while the second and third floors had six residences each for the students. It was set up to have one living room shared by every two rooms and the residence for Eugeo and Kirito was on the third floor.

The rooms were automatically arranged based on the placing in the combined examinations of the first school year, with the first place in room 301, on the eastern-most side of the third floor, second in room 302… and continuing that allocation, the twelfth in room 206, on the second floor. As Eugeo’s room was 305 and Kirito’s was 306, it meant Eugeo was 5th among the 120 novice trainees, while Kirito attained 6th with his scores.

The two were successful in being granted connecting rooms half through intention, but the other half was mere good luck. Of course, they first attempted to dominate the 1st and 2nd place for themselves—but they had no choice but to settle for that, even when they tried their hardest—Kirito placed 4th place in the official match with the instructors, while Eugeo could only get 5th, which ended up making them fret over getting separated rooms, but Kirito lost more points in the style performance and sacred arts examination, getting 6th place.

As a result, the objective of getting connected rooms was achieved, but worries of a different kind were left behind.

After all, in one year… no, there were only ten months left until they have to graduate the academy ranked 1st and 2nd, so as to receive the rights to participate in the Empire Swordsmanship Tournament. Kirito was 7th and Eugeo, 8th, when they entered, so they did improve, but considering how there were still four others to go, it certainly was no time to be optimistic.

But on the other hand, Kirito was calm, acting as though becoming an elite swordsman-in-training was as good as having won already. It wasn’t like there was no basis for that confidence; what determined the ranks for swordsmen-in-training would not be the usual examinations that used combined scores, but the «official matches» that occurred four times a year. These matches would not be against instructors but among students instead, so grading criteria and such would be ignored, making victory over the opponent the main goal.

And that abnormal-in-various-aspects partner of his had obtained a magnificent victory in a first strike match, when they were still novice trainees a mere two months ago, against the head elite swordsman-in-training back then. In actual fact, it was ruled as a draw by the umpire, but that was unmistakably Kirito’s win. Not to mention the opponent he crossed swords with was the heir of a second class noble family that served as swordsmanship instructors for the Imperial Knight Order for generations, an unbelievable Mighty Sword user.

He was taught the Aincrad-style swordsmanship known only by that Kirito for over two years now, so it wasn’t like Eugeo had no faith in his own sword. However, it was another story if you were to ask him if he could be as assured as his partner. Even on the day before a written examination, he had no intention of skipping out on his daily training.

His usual practice partner had retired to his own room to cram for the entire night, so Eugeo exited the room with nothing but his own wooden sword in hand.

On the other side of the inner corridor stretching out into a large circle was the atrium that extended from the first floor to this third floor, with the deep red sunset skies visible through the round skylight above. There wasn’t such an indulgent building in the town of Zakkaria, let alone Rulid Village where he was from. Even the floorboards were made from polished, high quality wood and numerous pieces of art were hung along the curved walls, the empire’s history as their theme.

—No matter how I tell them that I’m living in such a majestic building, even having someone exclusively assigned to aid me, none of my elder brothers back home will believe me, huh.

Eugeo’s thoughts drifted as he went through the long corridor.

We may be elite swordsmen-in-training, but this level of hospitality was already being shown to mere students. If I was a veteran swordsman, frequently displaying good results at the Unity Tournament—or beyond that, one of the integrity knights of the Axiom Church, holding onto more authority than even those from the households of the four emperors, just what sort of luxurious lifestyle would I lead?

“…Oof, not good.”

Eugeo rapped himself on the head with the wooden sword he rested on his shoulder.

A year had passed since he enrolled and perhaps due to getting a little used to the life at the academy, there were times when he was about to lose sight of the feelings he held when he set out on his journey from the village. He was not here to gain fame or honor as a swordsman.

“…Alice…”

As if he was advising himself, he muttered the name precious to him.

Living here, winning in the official matches, and even his aim to become an integrity knight, none of those were the end results, but the process. To take back that blonde childhood friend of his, who should be confined somewhere within the Axiom Church’s Central Cathedral—

After descending to the first floor through the stairs constructed on the northern side of the building, Eugeo headed towards the exclusive practice arena beside the dormitory. This too, was one of the privileges of the elite swordsmen-in-training. He swung his wooden sword in either a large, crowded practice hall or an open-air outdoor training field back when he was a novice trainee, but he was now able to practice indoors in a bright and spacious area, for as long as he liked.

Opening the door at the end of a short passage, the refreshing scent of the annually refurbished floors welcomed Eugeo. Standing still, he was about to inhale it in before he stopped his breath. He could sense a faint, sticky smell mixed into the air.

When he got out of the small changing room, into the practice arena, those foreboding feelings turned to reality.

The two male students positioned right in the middle of the vast wooden floor noticed Eugeo and turned to look at him with blunt scowls. Perhaps in the midst of style practice, one of them stayed still with his wooden sword held aloft, while the other was adjusting his stance, but then both of them dropped their arms in an unnatural motion.

You don’t have to be that cautious, I won’t be stealing your techniques; muttering that thought in his mind, Eugeo simply gave a light nod and started walking towards a corner of the practice arena. He figured they would ignore him as usual, but for some reason, the ones who came earlier took a step forward and opened their mouths to speak tonight.

“My, Swordsman-in-training Eugeo… you’re alone tonight?”

The one who called out was the man with his sword raised overhead. A garish red uniform covered his burly and tall body while his long and wavy blonde hair hung down. A delighted smile settled on his well-ordered face lacking any flaws, but that intentional pause after «Eugeo» * was to call attention to Eugeo’s origins as a peasant with no family name.

Responding to harassment of this level would only serve to reduce the time for practice, so Eugeo returned the greeting with a fabricated expression.

“Good evening, Swordsman-in-training Antinous. Yes, unfortunately, my roommate is…”

However, those words were interrupted by the other male student’s shrill scream.

“How rude! When addressing Raios-dono by name, be sure to add in the «Head Swordsman-in-training»!”

Turning to the man wearing a pale yellow uniform with his grey hair plastered in oil, he did a slight bow despite being fed up as one would expect.

“My humble apologies, Swordsman-in-training Zizek.”

At that moment, the man immediately lost his temper and shouted after a step forward.

“And you dare repeat that insolence! When calling me, you must add in the «second-ranked» as well! Or do you have no regard for the history and traditions of this honorable swordsmanship academy…”

“Come now, no need to speak any further, Humbert.”

His shoulder was then patted from behind, making him quickly close his mouth and back off.

As indicated by those words earlier, this grey-haired Humbert Zizek was the second-ranked elite swordsman-in-training among the twelve students living in this dormitory. And the blonde male, Raios Antinous, was the head elite swordsman-in-training, ranked first. In other words, the month before last, Raios took over the position of the previous head who fought a fierce battle with Kirito, Uolo Levanteinn.

Despite how unlike Uolo who had the air of a stoic military man Raios was, as a man who could not be said to be any closer to the very image of one from the higher ranks of nobility with the vanity he exhibits, their command over swords were remarkably similar. That might be only natural, considering how they use the same, «High Norkia Style»; though it wasn’t pleasant knowing that the sophisticated, if speaking of him in a positive light, or devious, for negative, Raios was trained in the Mighty Sword designed to down in one hit, just like Uolo.

Kirito mentioned previously during a discussion over the matter. That half of that might behind the swords of students born in the higher ranks of nobility was from the huge pride they nurtured since childhood. Raios’s dedication towards swordsmanship and intensity of training could not even reach Uolo’s heels, but his pride surpassed the latter’s by far. Thus, there was that abominable and almost viscous weight behind Raios’s sword.

—However, could the word, pride, be interpreted to mean self-esteem? If they have that much self-esteem, why would they persist in such shallow harassment?

When Eugeo rebutted so, unconvinced, Kirito replied after pondering for a short moment.

—Self-esteem is the continuous judgement of oneself. But pride is not limited to merely that. Raios and the rest must have cultivated that pride through comparing themselves with others. Hence, they show contempt for us who weren’t born as nobles or even born in the central capital. Or approaching it from the opposite angle, they are unable to maintain that precious pride of theirs without doing so.

Those words from Kirito were rather complex to Eugeo, but he interpreted it as the more he fed Raios’s and Humbert’s pride by being meek, the stronger their swords would get.

The thought that he might as well answer in a provocative and arrogant manner did come to mind, but unlike his partner, Eugeo had neither the knack of determining where the limits for violating the academy’s regulations lie, nor the inclination to pick unnecessary fights in the first place.

Thus, although Eugeo was slightly ashamed of his obedient nature, he still gave a quick bow to show gratitude before he headed towards the corner of the practice arena once again.

Upon stepping across the plain wooden floorboards which were newly cut from the forest near the central capital with plenty of Life remaining, those nasty feelings gradually faded away. In the central capital where nearly all buildings were made from stone, a place to enjoy the aroma of fresh wood was precious.

—Raios and Humbert probably did learn swordsmanship from a private tutor since they were young, but even I’ve hit that Gigas Cedar two thousand times daily for seven years back in Rulid Forest. I might not have enough pride, but I definitely have self-esteem. …Well, I wasn’t waving a sword but an axe around, though.

With those thoughts in mind, he stopped in front of the logs meant for self-practice, standing beside the wall on the west side. These were replaced as well, at the same time as the floor, with barely any dents on their surfaces.

Holding the wooden sword made from platinum oak in his two hands, he took up the basic middle stance and regulated his breathing.

“Tsh!”

He swung down the wooden sword from overhead with a short yell. The thud of a heavy impact rang out and the log with a diameter of thirty cen quivered to its very core after being hit on its right.

Feeling the pleasant feedback from his hands, he took a step back and swung the sword down from the left side this time. Next, the right side, then the left again. After striking it for as many as ten times, everything vanished from his cognizance aside from his own body and sword, and the log as well.

The practice Eugeo goes through each night was to execute these downward swings from left and right for a total of four hundred times. He does not carry out any revision for the complex styles taught during the day exercises, like what Raios and company were doing earlier. That was because his partner, and mentor as well, Kirito, said that there was no need for it.

—In this world, what’s important is to put something into your sword.

When teaching Eugeo swordsmanship, he tended to voice that out.

—The «secret moves» of the Norkia-style, the Valtio-style, and our Aincrad-style are powerful. After all, you just have to understand the activation method and the sword will partially move all by itself. However, the problem lies before that. The number of matches where secret moves will go against secret moves, like when I fought against Uolo, will likely increase from now on. In that case, the rest will be determined by the weight behind the sword.

Weight.

Even Eugeo understood that it was not a word that referred simply to the weight of the sword itself.

The one who Kirito fought against, Uolo Levanteinn, put the self-esteem and heavy responsibility from being born in a family that instructed the Knight Order in swordsmanship into his sword. The senior that Eugeo served for a year as his valet, Gorgolosso Baltoh, used the confidence from the body of steel he trained up. The student that guided Kirito, Sortiliena Serlut, used her expertise in the techniques she honed. And lastly, Raios and Humbert converted their pride as upper class nobles into the weight of their swords.

Then, what should I put in my sword?

Eugeo asked without thinking and Kirito replied with his usual smirk. You would have to find that out yourself, he said. But perhaps thinking that saying that alone was too irresponsible, he continued on; you won’t be finding it even if you do style practice the whole time.

That was the reason behind the earnest striking practice Eugeo repeated day after day while on the journey towards Centoria, and even after gaining admission to the Master Swords Academy. Because all Eugeo had, being neither a noble nor a swordsman, was the years of experience sincerely swinging an axe in that forest south of Rulid.

No, there was actually one other thing.

The desire to recover Alice who was taken away by the Axiom Church. Even while swinging this wooden sword right now, the vestige of his blonde-haired childhood friend alone would not disappear from his mind. He believed it must have been the same back when he was chopping down the Gigas Cedar in his hometown’s forest.

It would be eight years soon, since that day in the summer.

When the integrity knight who gave his name as Deusolbert Synthesis Seven took away Alice, all Eugeo did was to look on. Although he held onto the «Dragon Bone Axe» that could even sever iron at that time, he wasn’t even able to brandish it. Despite how someone right beside him… a boy around the same age was screaming in desperation. Asking if he could really accept that.

That’s right… who exactly was that? There shouldn’t have been any other friends of his that called his name in that manner aside from Alice. Even so, he could still recall those youthful shouts reverberating faintly, deep within his ears.

Automatically counting the number of strikes in a corner of his mind, Eugeo dived deep, deep in his memory; it happened then.

“Oh my, Eugeo-dono’s practice is as mysterious as always, is it not?”

That amused voice echoed off his back and threw Eugeo’s concentration into disarray. The sword’s trajectory deviated slightly and an unpleasant recoil numbed his hands like when he made a blunder swinging the axe during his woodcutting days.

Despite how there should have been quite a distance between Eugeo in the corner of the vast practice arena and Raios’s group in the exact middle, the fact that the sound was that clear would be because they were intentionally raising their voices to make him listen. He should have been fed up of listening to their sarcasm by now, but he could only consider it shameful of himself for his emotions to be swayed, even now. Ignore them, ignore them; Eugeo tried to convince himself and was about to continue swinging his sword—

“Are you not curious about what meaning is there for Eugeo-dono to do that night after night, swinging that stick without style or finesse, Humbert?”

“I concur, Raios-dono.”

Their exchange reached his ears again as they intended and they went as far as to start snickering; even though he couldn’t resort to physical means, he still gave a reply within his mind.

—And you’re as spirited as always, though only when Kirito isn’t around, Raios-kun.

Since the month before last, they have stopped with the direct provocations whenever Eugeo and Kirito were together for some reason. In exchange, the scorn Eugeo received when alone increased accordingly, but it didn’t seem to be because they found Eugeo easy to deal with, but because they were spooked by Kirito.

Apparently, something occurred between Kirito and them around the end of their novice trainee period, but his partner would only claim that it was merely “a slight quarrel” when he asked and of course, he couldn’t ask Raios directly either. What seemed related though, was how Raios and Humbert had strangely pale faces on when they saw Kirito give an unusual potted blue flower to Sortiliena-senpai after the graduation ceremony last month, but he had absolutely no idea about the significance behind it.

Anyway, he could get by without being hassled by them when together with Kirito, which was something he had no qualms with. However, he couldn’t very well hide in the shadow of his partner forever, having become an elite swordsman-in-training now.

The year’s first official match was only a month away, in the middle of the sixth month. The final rankings may be decided based on just the one right before graduation, but a complete loss to Raios and his ally would only create unease in his future. A major reversal like how the Swordswoman-in-training Sortiliena who was always ranked second overthrew the unmovable head, Uolo Levanteinn, in the final match was not common at all—or so, Gorgolosso said in high spirits, as though it concerned him personally.

The head this year, Raios, and the second-ranked, Humbert, were warriors who received special training in the High Norkia-style since they were young, just like Uolo. Their characters were utterly unworthy of respect, but their swordsmanship would probably be a head above that of the other noble students. To be honest, even with only a month to go until the match, he could still not find that something he should put in his sword that would be capable of competing against their Mighty Sword.

—But at the very least, I definitely won’t lose to you guys in terms of number of sword swings.

Ending his pensive thoughts and the four hundredth strike at the same time, Eugeo slowly straightened his body.

He removed a towel from his belt and first wiped clean his wooden sword. Next, he wiped off the sweat that soaked in from his forehead to his nape while taking fleeting glances behind. Raios and his cohort were practicing in the middle of the practice arena as always, apparently reviewing the forms of each other’s styles.

The moment he turned back and took a breath of air, the «Bell of Time Telling» hung at the academy’s main auditorium tower rang out the melody for 6 P.M., the same way the bell at the church back home did. The swordsmen-in-training’s dormitory left much to the students’ discretion, unlike the trainees’ dormitory that was full of regulations, so dinner could be taken anytime from six to eight. Hence, a little more practice was perfectly possible, but he had to bring food back to the room for his partner who was hard at work studying for the tests today.

—Come to think of it, that Kirito didn’t tell me what he wanted to eat. If there are those pickled tsubu gourds he’s bad with, I’ll get him an extra-large serving.

When he tucked the towel and wooden sword into his belt with those thoughts in mind and started walking towards the entryway, Raios spoke with his sword aloft, at a volume he could hear.

“My, it seems that Swordsman-in-training Eugeo plans to only hit that log, without conducting any style practice.”

Without missing a beat, Humbert followed up.

“Raios-dono, from what I hear, it seems that Eugeo-dono was a woodcutter somewhere in the boondocks. Perhaps he doesn’t know how to deal with anything except a log for an opponent?”

“I would have never known. If those are his circumstances, might it be best of us to offer our guidance for a single form at least, as fellow disciples of the same dormitory?”

“Oh, such magnanimity from you, Raios-dono, you’re truly a model of the aristocrats!”

Eugeo restrained himself from sighing at the seemingly premeditated exchange that played out and tried to continue on his way. However, Humbert then addressed him directly, so he had no choice but to reluctantly stop his steps.

“How about it, Eugeo-dono. As Raios-dono mentioned, how about some guidance? You won’t be given such a rare chance ever again.”

With the matter having progressed this far, he couldn’t feign ignorance and walk away any longer. Intentionally ignoring a conversation targeted at him would be the same as an act of disrespect. In the first place, the authority to punish held by elite swordsmen-in-training could be used only on novice and advanced trainees, so Humbert couldn’t order any sort of punishment onto Eugeo, but there was still the possibility of submitting a complaint to the academy’s management.

As such, Eugeo thought to take his leave with the single phrase, “Don’t mind me” but another idea came to mind.

This might possibly be a good opportunity.

Raios and Humbert were the head and second-ranked elite swordsmen-in-training—in other words, they were the strongest and second strongest swordsmen among the students in the academy. Even Kirito said, “Don’t make light of those guys” every now and then, so he had absolutely no intention of looking down on the pair’s true strength.

But at the present moment, Eugeo found Raios and his comrade’s usage of «pride as a source of strength» to be incomprehensible. Boasting about their high social status, looking down on students born in noble families below theirs or those of commoners, ridiculing them… should that nature of theirs really grant power to their swords? If he were to accept that, wouldn’t it bemire the «feelings of respect and affection towards others» taught to him by his parents, Sister Azariya from the church, Gasupht the village chief, and lastly, his childhood friend, Alice, when he was young?

Even now, when Eugeo was openly shown looks of scorn, he did not think to neglect the minimum amount of respect—affection was a little impossible though—for Raios and Humbert. However, if that attitude were to feed their pride, if it were to increase the force behind their swords even further, it would be really wasted on them.

That said, he didn’t even have the slightest intention to choose a way of life similar to those two and scorn others… this was what he wished to find out before the official match next month. What exactly was the strength born from pride? Having them offer guidance on their own accord like right now could be a chance.

Eugeo quickly considered it in his head and added on an “It seems like what that Kirito would think up of, huh” to his thoughts, before he opened his once-closed mouth.

“…This certainly might be the only chance to do so. Then could you allow me to accept your offer and receive your guidance, please?”

At that moment, Raios and Humbert both raised their eyebrows. It seems Eugeo’s reaction was unexpected, but they soon curled their lips up into a faint grin.

First, Humbert spread his arms wide open and declared in a shrill voice.

“Haha, of course it is of no trouble! Now then, hurry and show us your form over there. That’s right, let’s start with the basics, try something like «Fierce Blaze Style, Third Form»…”

“No, Second-ranked Swordsman-in-training Zizek-dono.”

Slightly sticking up his right hand, Eugeo spoke, cautiously picking his words.

“Given the rare opportunity, I wish to experience the Second-ranked Zizek-dono’s esteemed sword with my own body, rather than have a review on forms.”

“……What did you say?”

The sneer immediately left Humbert’s face. In exchange, suspicion of Eugeo’s intentions and the cruelty a wild beast displays as it torments its prey with its claws, showed themselves.

“Experience, with your body… you say? In other words… do you have the desire to be struck by my sword, Swordsman-in-training Eugeo?”

“Of course, I would like to ask for you to stop immediately before you do so, but I am the one who requested for guidance, after all. Asking for any more on your part would be impertinent of me.”

“Oh now, I see, I see. So, you’re suggesting that you do not object to ending it only after the first strike?”

The neatly combed down grey hair looked as though they slightly bristled. Those eyes, thin even under normal circumstances, narrowed even further to nearly lines, with a brutal leer focusing deep within them. It seems Eugeo’s overly respectful manner of speaking had aroused his sadistic anticipation.

“True, it is only my duty as the second-ranked swordsman-in-training as well as one born in a fourth class noble family, to respond to a plea for instruction. Very well, I shall show you my sword techniques, Eugeo-dono.”

The minute he said so, he unsheathed the wooden sword at his side, in his belt, in an exaggerated motion. It was made of the same platinum oak as Eugeo’s, but elaborate patterns were engraved onto the side of its blade.

With Humbert by his side acting in that manner, Raios first thought to say something to him, but perhaps thinking better of it, immediately shut his mouth. Taking slow steps backwards until he was three mel away, he nodded with a vague smile when Humbert turned to look at him.

Getting more into it with the acknowledgement of his superior, Humbert hung his hands loose, pointed his sword tip straight at Eugeo who was standing upright and shouted.

“Now, here I come! This is the essence of the High Norkia-style… learn it through your body!”

Spreading his feet out front and back, he held his sword up as though he was resting it atop his shoulder. This stance was the secret move of the Norkia-style, «Lightning Flash Slash». Contradictory to his words earlier, he did not try to use the powerful High Norkia-style «Heavenly Mountain Rending Wave» out of concern for Eugeo’s body—no, he probably just didn’t want to use it.

That said, Lightning Flash Slash wasn’t a technique that could be looked down upon. Even with the edgeless wooden sword, it would reduce a person’s Life by half if struck directly on the head and cause that person to lose consciousness for a while. Of course, «reducing someone else’s Life» was a major violation of the Taboo Index, but in a bout agreed on by both parties, the maximum of a single hit could be forgiven. And there was no doubt that Humbert was aiming not to stop before contact, but to deal a full hit.

The craftwork that was the wooden sword brandished by the second-rank swordsman-in-training let out a blue glow. The speed he activated the secret move with, after entering the stance was as expected of him. However, Eugeo could distinctively predict the path the sword would draw. After all, Lightning Flash Slash was utterly identical to one of the many secret moves of the Aincrad-style swordsmanship, «Vertical».

“…Shrya!!”

With a high-pitched bellow, Humbert’s sword charged in.

Right before that, Eugeo moved his right hand as well. Pulling his wooden sword from his left waist, he activated a secret move after an instant of concentration. He went against the opponent’s sword that shot down from straight above with a slanted upward slash from below. Aincrad-style, «Slant».

The many secret moves taught by Kirito were all named not in the Common Tongue, but the Sacred Tongue instead, for some reason. It seems that even Kirito himself didn’t know why. He likely forgot it due to the memory loss he had when he appeared at Rulid as a «Lost Child of Vector», but in that case, it was a true stroke of luck that he did not forget his sword techniques as well.

Slant was a single-hit technique just like Lightning Flash Slash, but the ability to attack in two directions, from top-right to bottom-left, or from bottom-left to top-right, was its best feature. Especially the latter, with its stance being the same as the action of drawing a sword from the waist, thus allowing a major reduction in the time required to activate it.

Normally, if the opponent in a duel was spotted using a secret move, there wouldn’t be enough time to receive it with another one, so one had no choice but to jump backwards or to the sides with all of one’s strength to dodge—though that was rarely successful. But the Slant that Eugeo let out late drew a pale blue streak as it violently collided with Humbert’s Lightning Flash Slash in the air, causing noise and light unthinkable for a couple of wooden swords.

“Nuoo…!”

Humbert let out a short cry, but the surprise that showed itself on his face instantly converted to wrath and he applied pressure to his sword with all his might. The blue and light blue radiance enveloping the clashing swords had yet to vanish. If either of those swords were to be pushed back a few cen, the secret move will end in that moment and that person would likely be sent flying. Eugeo put his spirit in bracing his feet, pushing the sword in his right hand to the very end.

With a dull grating noise, Humbert’s sword drew back by two cen. The blue gleam of the Lightning Flash Slash flickered, implying the stop of the skill.

—As I thought, I’m better in terms of pure strength!

It might have been within expectations, but receiving this opportunity to prove it for real gave true meaning to Eugeo. He could not hope to match the motions of nobles, refined to the extent of even paying attention to the angles their fingertips were at, but in just this one thing, the physical strength tempered by waving a heavy axe two thousand times day after day in the forest back home, was not something he would lose at. Even Gorgolosso, who boasted about his steel-like body, praised Eugeo’s body for being “slender, but masterly trained”.

There were some among the noble students trained in the High Norkia-style who ridiculed the Valtio-style of Gorgolosso, who was born to common folk, as «rural swordsmanship», but putting aside performance art which was a competition of beauty, brute strength served as a splendid weapon for duels. And along with the adaptive Aincrad-style passed on from Kirito, he could bring any situation into a simple clash of swords.

—Even if he have not found «something to put into his sword», with the techniques and strength polished by those two, he wouldn’t lose no matter who the high ranked noble was!

Embracing that conviction in his chest, Eugeo put all he had into the swing of his sword.

However, it happened then. Humbert’s face, visible beyond the crossed swords, became an eerie countenance that could be described as evil.

“Don’t get… ahead of yourself!”

His eyes and eyebrows could be raised no further; a metallic roar of anger gushed out from between his bared teeth. At the same time, the blue light that was nearly gone restored, tinged with shades of dusky black.

Creak. This time, the violent grating was from Eugeo’s wooden sword. The pressure on his right arm multiplied with a sharp pain running through his wrist and shoulder. The two cen it was pushed back by was instantly taken back and the two wooden swords clashed back where they started.

—What is this power!?

Barely stopping it, Eugeo opened his eyes wide. Humbert, who doesn’t work up a sweat much typically and spends all his time inspecting the forms of styles, even when he comes to the practice arena, should not possess this much strength. If this wasn’t physical strength… is this the «pride as a source of strength» that Kirito was talking about? Prizing himself and looking down on others; was the power granted to his sword with that disposition, incompatible with Eugeo’s values, enough to overturn days after days of training?

I can’t believe it. I definitely don’t want to believe that the God of Creation Stacia could forgive such a way of life.

The moment he tried to deny the phenomenon happening before his own eyes, Humbert bristled his hair with a wicked expression on and murmured.

“Did you think you could beat my sword with a cowardly sneak attack?”

“Co… wardly…?”

“Indeed. What could you call pretending to get beaten before coming out with that skill without a style or anything else, but cowardly?”

“Th… That’s wrong! This is my school… this is how the «Aincrad-style» is!”

Eugeo instinctively shouted back. If the High Norkia-style was a school that focused on the force and form of techniques, the Aincrad-style was a practical school that focused on the basic point of landing a hit with the sword beyond anything else. As such, it strives for speed in the activation of secret moves, even possessing «consecutive hits skills» that other schools do not have.

In other words, the idea behind the Aincrad-style was the way of life of its one and only disciple, Kirito, itself. Unglamorous, unpretentious, a straight push on towards the goal. Not giving up even after running into a wall, challenging it again for the second time, the third time. If he wasn’t together with him, Eugeo wouldn’t have reached the town of Zakkaria, let alone Centoria.

That was why Eugeo vehemently objected to Humbert who concluded that the Aincrad-style was cowardly.

However, the tremors in his heart influenced his sword as well, getting pushed back further. It was Eugeo’s turn for the pale blue light surrounding his wooden sword to flash unsteadily. He spread his feet and arched his upper body, desperately trying to hold his position.

Humbert gave a smug smirk and whispered in a voice like that of nails scratching glass.

“The vileness of that school is oozing out from your unsightly appearance. You must be thinking of usurping either Raios-dono or me in the next official match… but that is impossible. I’ll crush your right shoulder and make you unable to wave a sword for a while right here.”

“Kuh…!”

He clenched his teeth to endure, but the pressure from Humbert’s sword continued to intensify. A secret move for swords could continue on for quite some time even if it’s forced back, as long as it returns on the same trajectory, but Eugeo’s sword was being attacked by Humbert’s Lightning Flash Slash from straight above and had already left its original trajectory. If it was pushed back one cen, no, even five millice more, the Slant will be interrupted and as declared, his right shoulder will suffer a painful blow.

Of course, there was a superb medical office in the Master Swords Academy, with various medicines stored there and healers trained in specialized Sacred Arts stationed there as well. However, there was a limit to the effects of medicine and arts and a wound as heavy as a broken bone might not be able to recover instantly, even if a hazardous Sacred Art like directly transferring Life from another was used. If he were to receive such a wound now, there was no way he could show up at the official match the coming month—…

—What am I, stupid?! How can a swordsman be afraid of injury!!

Eugeo shook off the fear creeping into his heart in an instant and concentrated all of his consciousness into his sword.

Despite having the chance to leave, the one who responded to Humbert’s provocation and picked a duel was himself. He felt it was too shameful of himself, getting shaken by his opponent’s words and being afraid of failure despite that. If he were to draw his sword, he would have to be determined to use up all of his skill and strength and let things fall into place. That’s the spirit behind the Aincrad-style.

—And, I have still yet to use up all that I have.

Focusing not on Humbert, a sadistic smile forming on his face, but purely on the existence of the wooden sword held in his right hand instead. The toughness and weight, the warped and sore parts of the evergreen oak that created it made themselves known to his arm and he even felt the power behind the Slant, on the verge of vanishing, as subtle vibrations.

Make yourself one with the sword. That was what his close friend and teacher, Kirito, had always said.

He was not quite at that stage yet, but perhaps thanks to the daily practice swings, he felt like he could sense something similar to the voice of the sword every now and then. Not there, this is how you should move, that was how it spoke.

And now too, Eugeo heard the whispers of the sword—or so, he thought.

It would only be natural to be cut down if all he did was to receive a skill coming from above. He should change the skill.

“——Uooh!”

In that moment, Eugeo moved while letting out a rare yell. Turning over his right wrist, he received Humbert’s sword with the right side of the blade. Slant was interrupted in that instant with the opponent’s Lightning Flash Slash approaching his shoulder while surging with a blue-black light.

Eugeo did not go against that force, guiding his wooden sword to rest atop his shoulder. Without a moment’s delay, he activated the Aincrad-style secret move, «Vertical»—

Humbert’s sword touched the right sleeve of his training clothes and tore off several cen of the indigo blue fabric.

But then, Eugeo’s sword fiercely forced his opponent’s sword back while covered in a vivid blue light.

“Nuah!”

Humbert stared wide at the unexpected counterattack. Both Humbert and his partner were aware of the «consecutive hits skills» unique to the Aincrad-style, but linking one secret move to another certainly was beyond their expectations. Even Eugeo had no idea it was possible. He simply let his body move itself in the midst of battle.

Humbert’s wooden sword was instantly pushed back over five cen and the light from Lightning Flash Slash quickly vanished. His posture was also very much broken, with his two feet leaving the floorboards.

However, that may have been for the best— His left shoulder would have been hit by Eugeo’s sword had he stood firm; the force from the secret move, Vertical, rendered his entire body afloat, blowing him over three mel behind.

If he fell onto the floor like that, the bout would be irrefutably Eugeo’s victory, but he obstinately refused to fall down as expected of him and took tottering steps. He bent his body as much as he could, preserving an insecure balance.

I’ll definitely get the win here if I give chase, Eugeo thought, but before he could regain his mobility from the posture of having swung his sword straight down, a loud voice rang through the practice arena.

“That’s enough. This duel shall be a draw.”

The owner of those pompous words was of course, Raios Antinous, with his red lips formed into a faint smile. Having finally regained his stance, Humbert shouted while looking unsatisfied.

“Ra-Raios-dono! For me to draw with this barbari-no, this rural swordsman is…!”

“Humbert.”

The head swordsman-in-training merely called his name out calmly, but the second-ranked quickly lowered his head. Switching the sword to his left hand and pressing it against his waist, he sloppily knocked his right fist against his chest in an gesture to show gratitude as a knight and turned his back against Eugeo without waiting for him to return the expression.

With Humbert accompanying behind him on the left, Raios smiled as he took a glance at Eugeo and brought his hands together in mock-applause as he spoke.

“I have greatly enjoyed that curious trick of yours, Swordsman-in-training, Sir Eugeo. What are your opinions on gaining employment in the Imperial Acrobatics Troupe after graduation?”

“…I am very much in your debt for the concern you have granted me, Swordsman-in-training Antinous.”

He tried omitting the «Head» and «-dono» as a rebuff at the very least, but Raios showed no indication of minding it and returned a composed nod before he started on the walk towards the entryway. Humbert who followed after him glared at Eugeo with the corners of his eyes lifted as high as he could manage.

With his soft leather shoes used for practice squeaking as he walked, Raios stopped when he passed by Eugeo who was still standing in the middle of the practice arena and murmured in a deep voice.

“I’ll show you the true power of a noble next time.”

“…I don’t mind it even now, though.”

He was frankly totally exhausted after four hundred practice swings and the unexpected duel, but Eugeo still replied so, half through stubbornness. However, Raios gave a snickering grin before starting on his way once again and spoke in an even more faint voice.

“Merely swinging swords around isn’t much of a fight, peon without a surname.”

Behind the head swordsman-in-training, who left a hoarse snicker, followed Humbert with a menacing expression. But he passed by without saying a word and the sound of the door opening and shutting soon echoed from behind.

In the midst of the silence that finally arrived, Eugeo let out a deep breath of air and brooded.

Strength originating from the «pride of the nobles». That, which he had experienced sword-to-sword for the first time, possessed a pressure beyond his expectations. If he had continued on with that Slant, he would have likely been forced back and gotten his right shoulder broken. Like what his sword had taught him, there were disadvantages in receiving a sword slashing downwards from below, but that wasn’t all to it. Humbert’s nature of showing contempt and looking down on Eugeo as a lower class person bound his sword and body like a curse.

He was saved by the flexibility of the Aincrad-style for being able to send out secret moves from various stances this time, but in the duels during the official matches that will continue on for another year, he could not rely solely on surprise attacks. There would likely be situations where he would have to overpower the other party from the front with strength.

Until then, Eugeo would definitely have to find it. «Something to put in his sword» that could oppose Humbert’s and Raios’s bottomless pride.

While raising the wooden sword still held in his right hand and gently stroking the abused blade with his left, Eugeo muttered.

“…Thank you. Please help me out next time too.”

Slotting the sword into the belt on his waist, the short chime of a bell announced the arrival of six-thirty just as he started walking. It was finally about time for Kirito, cramming seriously in his room, to get hungry. Crossing the plain white wooden floor in haste, Eugeo gave a bow to the empty practice arena when he reached the door and rushed towards the exclusive dining hall.

Going through the short passage, he entered the elite swordsmen-in-training’s dormitory. There were no residential rooms on the first floor and in their stead, a large bath, dining hall and lounge lined up.

Mealtime at the novice trainees’ dormitory was fixed and the daily menu decided, but quite some flexibility were given to both in the swordsmen-in-training’s dormitory. It opened from six to eight and one could get the somewhat old male cook there who worked full-time to serve up any dish desired among a variety of menus that changed daily. Not to mention one could either eat at the dining hall or bring it back to their rooms.

Raios and Humbert had luckily made their way to the bath first and there were no signs of other swordsmen-in-training in the dining hall. As he approached the kitchen’s counter, he checked the menus for the day posted on the bulletin board. It appears that roast mutton, deep-fried white-fleshed fish or chicken meatball stew could be chosen for the main dish.

…Let’s see, if it’s him, he’ll get the stew, along with fresh vegetables in cheese and pickled oli, but I’m not too sure if he wants chilled siral water for drinks.

He quickly thought that and while feeling a little dejected that he had already became familiar with his partner’s tastes in food before he knew it, Eugeo leaned over the counter and shouted.

“Good evening! Take-out for two please, erm, as for the main dish…”

 
2

He braced himself for any sort of harassment that might come, but even after several days have passed since that sudden duel, he still hadn’t heard a single thing out of Raios and company.

Humbert merely gave him hateful glares when passing by him in the swordsmen-in-training’s dormitory or the central school building, without even a single word of resentment. He did tell Kirito about the practice arena incident just in case and warned him to watch out, but it seems that absolutely nothing happened on his side either.

“It feels kind of weird… I didn’t think they would be the type to stay quiet from merely receiving a draw in a duel. Raios even said something that sounded like a threat too…”

Leaning against the old cloth couch, Eugeo tilted his head to the side and Kirito, sitting on the opposite side, started to speak while raising a ceramic cup.

“I don’t believe there’s any chance of them changing their characters either. But thinking about it, it’s pretty hard to do something nasty in this swordsmen-in-training dorm.”

He held the kohiru tea without milk to his mouth and contentedly drank it down.

It was 9:30 P.M., with the tempestuous past week passed and the break finally just a day away. They would be in dreamless slumber in their respective rooms at this time on weekdays, having settled their daily practice, meals and baths, but this particular night every week was reserved for them to chat about various matters in the shared living room while drinking tea.

Eugeo picked up his own cup and took a lick of some of the boiling pitch-black liquid, his face involuntarily turning into a frown. His partner was fond of this powdered tea only available from the south empire and would definitely make it when in charge of the tea, but Eugeo felt it to be too bitter by itself. He poured in plenty of milk from the small pot and stirred it with a teaspoon while prompting a return to the topic with his sight before Kirito raised an unexpected question.

“That’s right… just for example, what kind of pranks did you play while schooling during your childhood in Rulid?”

After drinking a mouthful of the kohiru tea that lost its bitterness, leaving behind only a curious aroma, Eugeo loosened the tension in his shoulders and replied.

“I’m mainly the one those pranks were played on, though. Look, you remember, don’t you, Kirito, that guard captain called Jink who challenged me to a duel during the festivities before the journey. He harassed me quite a bit… Hiding my shoes somewhere, putting those annoying bugs in my meal bag or jeering when I was together with Alice.”

“Hahaha, guess kids fool around the same whichever world it is. …But he didn’t start beating you up or anything. Right?”

“Of course.”

Eugeo answered with his eyes opened wide.

“There’s no way he could do that. After all…”

“—It’s strictly forbidden by the Taboo Index. «Unless another clause applies, you shall not intentionally reduce the Life of another person». …But hold on, there’s no problem with hiding your shoes? Theft is a major taboo too, right?”

“Theft is to make someone else’s belongings into yours without permission. The sacred words in the «Stacia Window» that prove who the owner is will only transfer the ownership twenty-four hours after the item is kept on hand or left at home. That’s why even if it was an item transferred with mutual consent, it can be returned anytime within one day and for those taken without consent, the proof of ownership won’t disappear if left somewhere other than a home, so it won’t be theft… —You didn’t actually manage to forget a law as basic as this, did you?”

Eugeo stared intently at the face of Kirito who was a «Lost Child of Vector» and his partner laughed embarrassedly while messing up his black hair.

“Th-That’s right, that’s how it was. Of course I didn’t forget about it, obviously… wait, huh? Then what about that? Wouldn’t that make Bercouli violating the law when he tried to steal the Blue Rose Sword from the white dragon’s nest in that old story?”

“Hey now, the dragon’s not a human.”

“I-I see…”

“Returning to the topic, pranks that involve hiding items aren’t violations, but those left in the outdoors that don’t belong to any particular person will begin to lose their Life after a while, so if it’s not returned by then, it would become «damage to another’s belongings». Thanks to that, my shoes were returned by evening, no matter how late it was, though… but how is this related to why Raios and company started behaving?”

After Eugeo leaned his head to the side, Kirito blinked his eyes as though he completely forgot he was the one who brought up the topic, and spoke.

“Th-That’s right. Erm, this academy has a ridiculously long list of rules in addition to the Taboo Index, you see. And within them, there’s even a clause stating «You shall not enter the personal rooms of other students or staff without permission». In other words, Raios and Humbert can’t enter this room and all of our belongings are safely kept in the room. Though it’s a different story if we were to leave something important in a public place without proper caution…”

He paused there for a moment for some unknown reason, but Kirito soon continued the explanation.

“…And of course, we haven’t done that. Hence, Raios and his buddy can’t do anything with our property in the first place, like how Jink-kun bullied that helpless kid, Eugeo, in Rulid Village.”

“You didn’t need that helpless bit. Hmm… I see. I didn’t even think about it until now, but it’s true that there’s no way to do anything more than insulting someone else in this swordsmen-in-training’s dormitory, huh.”

“And those insults become an act of disrespect that warrants the «Punishment Authority» if they cross a certain line.”

Adding that on, Kirito grinned.

The Punishment Authority refers to an authority granted only to the elite swordsmen-in-training through one of the academy regulations that allows them to practically act in the place of instructors. In cases of acts of disrespect or foolhardiness that borders on breaching the rules or cannot be turned a blind eye to, swordsmen-in-training are able to use their own judgement to give a fitting punishment according to the severity of the act. The case where Kirito, who pointed it out himself, had made a large stain of dirt on the uniform of the previous head swordsman-in-training, Uolo Levanteinn, and was ordered to participate in a first strike duel as punishment was still fresh in his mind.

The Punishment Authority for swordsmen-in-training was basically for guiding novice and advanced trainees, but there was no word of it being restricted to trainees in the academy regulations. In other words, a swordsman-in-training imposing a punishment on another was theoretically possible and that was the reason why the contempt and insults from Raios and Humbert had somewhat cooled down compared to the previous year.

Kirito had emptied his cup, so Eugeo poured in another serving and his partner dribbled a little milk in before gently stirring it. It looked like he would still be wondering for a bit while skillfully spinning the silver teaspoon in his fingers, but he nodded once and spoke before long.

“If they can’t mess with our stuff, they can only go after us. In that case, the quick and easy way would be to challenge us to a first strike match and land a hit, but they’ve already tried that on you, Eugeo, and ended with a draw. Other than that, oh right, if I think about it… they could only bribe me with money to distance myself from Eugeo, I guess.”

“Eh…”

Eugeo, who automatically let out that forlorn voice, flustered to close his mouth, but Kirito grinned and spoke pompously.

“Don’t you worry, kid. Big brother here won’t just toss you aside.”

“I-I wasn’t worrying about that! …But putting money aside, what if they were to stack up those special meat buns from Gottlo’s store?”

“That might do the trick.”

After nodding with a deadpan expression at what Eugeo pointed out, he cheerfully laughed out loud.

“Well, jokes aside, I don’t think there’s much cause for worry for anything aside from them messing with our property or us directly.”

But then, Kirito’s expression tensed up and continued with a sober voice.

“But if you were to turn that around, it wouldn’t be strange for them to come up with anything as long as it doesn’t touch on the Taboo Index or academy regulations. They likely don’t have the slightest intention to surrender their positions as the head and second-ranked, after all… Eugeo, do try to think of anything we might have missed.”

“Yeah, I got it. There isn’t even a month until the first official match. Let’s both take care so that we can fight them in our best conditions.”

“Yeah. …That said, it might just be a plan to make us worry by threatening us, huh. Let’s not forget our composure and stay cool *.”

At those strange words Kirito spoke as he emptied his cup, Eugeo blinked in surprise.

“What did you say? S… st…?”

Upon asking in return, his partner let his eyes wander for some reason before clearing his throat with a cough and spoke.

“That was, well, the first of the essential points of the Aincrad-style. It means something like, let’s stay calm and go on. It can be used for farewells too though… then I’ll see you again; something like that.”

“Heh. Got it, I’ll remember it. St… stay cool.”

Those words that he figured were in the Sacred Tongue just like the secret moves were of course, new to his ears, but they felt unusually familiar when he said it out loud. Upon repeating it numerous times in a whisper, Kirito clapped his hands together with an embarrassed expression for some reason.

“Now then, the ten o’clock bell will be ringing soon, so let’s call it a night. Also, regarding tomorrow, Eugeo-kun, there’s a trifling matter I’ll have to attend to…”

“No way, Kirito. There’s no way I’ll let you escape, this time especially.”

While tidying up the tea utensils, he gave his partner a fleeting scowl.

There were plans on the rest day tomorrow to go on an outing—that said, the location was the forest within the academy premises, though—which included a bonding session together with the valet trainees, Tiezé and Ronye. Having predicted that Kirito would come up with some sort of reason to escape from his behavior when he was invited, Eugeo told him with a sigh.

“Look here, a month has already passed since we became Tiezé’s and Ronye’s mentors. You’ve been treated kindly by Sortiliena-senpai who you’ve served as a valet last year too, right?”

“Outside of sword practice time, that is. …That brings me back, I wonder if she’s doing well…”

“Don’t you look away. I’m saying that it’s your turn to be a good senior now. Understand this, those two will be coming at nine in the morning tomorrow, so get prepared before then!”

When Eugeo pointed his index finger straight at him, Kirito replied with a dragged out “Yes” and got up from the couch. The two carried the tea utensils to the sink installed at the end of the living room and Kirito washed them with Eugeo wiping them right after. He used drawn well water in Rulid and Zakkaria, but a metal pipe that supplied clean water just by twisting the stopper was present in most of the buildings in Centoria. He thought it was a sacred instrument for sure, like the «Bell of Time Telling», the first time he saw it, but it was actually pressurized using aerial elemental sacred arts on the multiple gigantic water wells in each district, pushing the water through countless pipes.

As a result, the water flowing out from the tap was always fresh, with no need to be concerned over deterioration in Life, like for drawn water. How glad the kids who were made to draw the water each morning would be if Rulid had this arrangement as well—finishing the washing while thinking of such things, he lined up the variety of the now-clean cups on the shelf.

Gulping down the water directly from the tap in the end, Kirito wiped his mouth before letting out a big yawn.

“Well then, please wake me up at eight o’clock tomorrow. Good night, Eugeo.”

“Eight o’clock is too late, make it seven-thirty! Good night, Kirito.”

Exchanging parting phrases, he added on what suddenly came to mind.

“…Stay cool.”

Upon doing so, his partner who was heading towards his own room looked over his shoulder and spoke with a wry smile.

“It may be used for farewells, but that’s not something you would use before sleeping every night, really. Use it only if you really consider it to be a parting.”

“Hmm, complicated, isn’t it. Understood… then, see you tomorrow.”

“Yeah, see you tomorrow.”

Lightly waving his right hand, Kirito sank into the room on the north side, before Eugeo switched the lamp off and opened the door on the opposite side.

The bedroom with space as much as nearly half of those rooms that accommodated ten in the novice trainees’ dormitory was neatly cleaned by his valet, Tiezé, so there wasn’t even a speck of dirt. Changing his home wear into long white pyjamas, he plopped himself onto the soft bed.

Along with the drowsiness that crept up to him all at once, somehow, he could faintly hear merely a single part of the conversation from earlier in his ears.

—But if you were to turn that around, it wouldn’t be strange for them to come up with anything as long as it doesn’t touch the Taboo Index or academy regulations.

Those was the words Kirito said in caution of Raios and Humbert. He nodded back then, but still, it was a way of thinking difficult for Eugeo to comprehend all of a sudden.

In the process of getting here from the time he was a child, there was a considerable number of times when Eugeo searched for loopholes as well, whether in the Rulid Village’s laws, the Zakkaria Guard Squadron’s rules or the Master Swords Academy’s regulations. However, the times he thought of challenging the most eminent law in the Human World, the Taboo Index, was zero—no, only once.

That one time was eight years ago, when the integrity knight from the Axiom Church arrived in the village to take Alice away. Eugeo thought about hitting the Knight with the Dragon Bone Axe held in his two hands to save Alice, but in actual fact, he didn’t take a single step. Even now, if he recalls that instant, there would be a throbbing deep in his right eye for some reason.

Of course, he didn’t even have a fragment of defiance towards the integrity knights or Church now. That Knight took Alice away according to the law, so he would gain the right to pass the Church’s doors through proper means and reunite with Alice. It was for that reason that Eugeo left the village and overcame many hardships to become an elite swordsman-in-training of the academy.

However, like what Kirito had said, if Raios and Humbert were thinking that “anything would be fine if it doesn’t touch the Taboo Index”… in the end, were they unwillingly abiding by the absolute law that was established at the beginning of the world according to the Axiom Church? Do they feel the Taboo Index to be a hindrance in their minds…?

Even if it was Raios and his partner, that shouldn’t happen. Even doubting the Taboo Index was unforgivable, it was the conclusive truth that even the emperor should respect, it was the supreme law.

Eugeo looked up at the ceiling dyed blue by the pale moonlight while lightly biting his lips. If that thought was allowed, what was he protecting and why was he protecting it; looking on without moving even a single step when the integrity knight took Alice away that day, doing nothing but chopping the Gigas Cedar for over six years after that according to the law.

The core of his right eye slightly throbbed with a prickling sensation. Eugeo forced his eyelids down, cast his disorganized thoughts away and his body sank into the depths of an indistinct slumber.

 
A high iron fence surrounded the Master Swords Academy grounds and a dense forest made up close to thirty percent of it. The stretch of old trees, with moss of a golden tint growing on them, and the sunlight that filtered through the swaying trees, dappling the green undergrowth, reminded him of the forest back home, but as Central Centoria was far south of Rulid, there was quite an abundance of small animals living there. Some that he had never set his sights on in the northern region, such as exceedingly small foxes or long and slender snakes in a shade of turquoise, basked in the sun everywhere and caught his eye despite it being over a year since he came.

“Eugeo-senpai, are you listening?”

Hearing that voice from the side all of a sudden, Eugeo turned back in a fluster.

“Sorry, sorry, I’m listening. …So, what was it?”

“You weren’t listening, were you!”

The girl who shook her hair, its color that of ripe apples, while protesting was the one who served as Eugeo’s valet trainee, Tiezé Shtolienen. Avoiding her eyes which were in a shade much like that of her hair, he tried to think up of an excuse.

“We-Well, the forest was so beautiful that I just… There’s rare animals around too…”

“Rare?”

Tiezé traced Eugeo’s sight and shrugged her shoulders in disinterest.

“Eeh, it’s just a kintobi fox, isn’t it? There are plenty of those even on the trees growing around the districts.”

“Heh… That reminds me, you were born in the central, huh, Tiezé. Is your home nearby?”

“My home is in the 8th district, so it’s a little far from the 5th district that the academy is in.”

“I see… nn, eh?”

Eugeo turned to look again at Tiezé who was walking by his side. Even the novice trainee uniform that he wore and thought was a little tasteless last year looked strangely refined when worn by a girl. That was only to be expected; if Tiezé wasn’t a student of the same academy, she wouldn’t be someone Eugeo could even hope to talk to, as the son of peasants.

“Well, Tiezé, you were born as a noble, right? I thought that I heard that the residences for noble families were gathered in the 3rd and 4th districts, though…”

When he asked somewhat humbly, Tiezé’s head drooped as though she was embarrassed and gave a small nod before shaking her head countless times.

“Father is a sixth class aristocrat at the very least… but being in the lower ranks of nobility is good too. Living in the residence streets close to the Imperial Administration is only for fourth class noble families and above and there’s various limits to the rights held by the fifth and sixth classes. That father of mine has a habit of saying, ‘It’s way more relaxing being a commoner, being able to speak as they like without fearing the upper class nobles with the authority to judge’… ah, I-I apologize, I just…”

Apparently thinking that she spoke of an impolite matter to Eugeo, who was of commoner parentage, Tiezé bowed deeply while walking.

“Don’t worry about it. Rather than that… about that authority to judge, didn’t all of the nobles have it?”

While recalling the text of the Empire Fundamental Law he studied the previous year, Eugeo asked and immediately got a loud “Absolutely not!” in return.

“The authority to judge is granted only to the fourth class and above, with the aristocrats who are fifth class and below becoming the subject of those judgements from the upper class on the other hand. My father works as a secretary in the Administration, but it seems there are many among the fifth and sixth class aristocrats laboring at the Imperial Castle or public offices who get sentenced for offending the upper class nobles. …That said, those are matters between adults, so it seems to be mostly not physical punishment, but reduction of wages and such, though.”

“I-I see… It must be problematic there as well, huh, in the world of nobles…”

Taking glances at Eugeo who had his eyes wide open, the red-haired novice trainee spoke rapidly with a slight blush on her cheeks for some reason.

“Li-Like I said… someone like me, the daughter of a sixth class aristocrat, is only nobility in name; our lifestyles aren’t much different from all of the commoners.”

“H-Hmm…”

While letting out a vague reply that neither agreed nor disagreed, Eugeo pondered on the empire’s structure once more.

The «Empire Fundamental Law» spread by the Imperial Administration established the social system of the Norlangarth North Empire. That said, as every crime and their respective punishments were covered by the law superior to it, the Taboo Index, the Empire Fundamental Law was largely made up of conventions concerning the masses’ class system. To put it in other words, the rights of the nobles and the rights of the commoners.

During the period he was a novice trainee, there was once when the elderly teacher in charge of teaching Law (the only other classes were «Sacred Arts» and «History» though) was asked a question by a certain black-haired male student. Teacher, why are there nobles and commoners in the Empire, he asked.

The teacher who was a lower class noble was at a loss for words for a moment, before answering in a stern tone.

—According to the prophecies heralded by the Axiom Church since ancient times, the army of darkness will invade in force from the four paths of the mountain range at the edge… «North Cave», «West Gorge», «South Corridor» and «East Gate» someday. To eradicate those vile demi-humans, all of those who hold the sacred tasks of being imperial knights or imperial guards from the four empires would have to battle as the «Human World Army». To stand at the head of the Human World Army as its commanders when that time comes, nobles are to polish their swordsmanship, study the arts and temper their mind and body.

Hearing that, Eugeo honestly felt admiration, despite sensing an unfathomable feeling.

Two years ago, together with Kirito, Eugeo fought a group of goblins that invaded from the land of darkness at the «North Cave» the elderly teacher mentioned. Unfortunately, he fell unconscious from an attack from the goblin chief midway through the battle, but the demi-humans’ horrifying appearances and feral, coarse voices were still vivid in his memories. After a discussion with Kirito, they decided not to speak a single word about the fight at the academy, but if the tale were to be told in detail, it would probably make half of the female students faint.

Of course, even Eugeo didn’t want to experience that another time. Thus, he was genuinely impressed by the nobles who would be battling those scary goblins, as well as the orcs and ogres who were said to be even more bulky and ferocious than them, at the front lines.

But on the other hand. Over three hundred and eighty years have already passed since the God of Creation Stacia gave life to the Human World. In that time, the army of darkness never successfully invaded in great numbers even once. In other words, the four empires, especially those from the upper class of nobility, have been exempted from the daily manual labor, live in spacious estates and exercise the authority to judge over the lower class nobles, all in preparation for an enemy they have never actually seen for themselves—without even knowing when they would come…

As though she could see what was in Eugeo’s heart, Tiezé gave a light sigh while walking at his side and spoke.

“…Hence, my father wanted for the eldest child to conferred a fourth class nobility, which would grant an immunity against judgement at the very least, before succeeding the family; that was why I was enrolled in the academy. If I were to be chosen as the representative for the academy and get a good placing in the Empire Swordsmanship Tournament, it wouldn’t be an impossible goal… Well, for me who got eleventh on the entrance examinations’ scores, it’s probably a pipe dream no matter how hard I try, though.”

Eugeo felt the young girl who stuck her tongue out for a short instant and smiled to be shining too radiantly and slightly narrowed his eyes.

Compared to himself, who entered the academy for the personal reason of reuniting with his childhood friend who was taken away to the Church in the past, he thought Tiezé’s stance of learning swordsmanship for the sake of improving her family’s honor to be the proper self-esteem of the nobles.

“No… Tiezé, you’re great. To please your father, you worked so hard and got into the top twelve as a new student.”

The moment Eugeo voiced that out seriously, a shrill reply immediately followed.

“No-Not at all! …I merely got lucky because the theme for performance arts was a style I was strong at. I’m only at this standard after learning the sword from my father since three years old, so you’re much more amazing, Eugeo-senpai. Despite how tough it was to gain a recommendation from a guard squadron, you easily achieved it and even became the fifth place among the elite swordsmen-in-training. I really believe it is an honor to be chosen to serve you as your valet, Eugeo-senpai.”

“N-No, that’s…”

Eugeo noticed his gesture of bending down his head and ruffling his bangs with his right hand was exactly the same as Kirito, who should have been following behind, and lowered his hand down in a hurry.

Tiezé said it was “an honor”, but in truth, the only reason why the girl became Eugeo’s valet and Ronye became Kirito’s, was to put it nicely, the guidance of the God, Stacia, or to put it plainly, a coincidence.

Valets were selected using a system where the twelve students who became the new elite swordsmen-in-training singled one out, their turns based on their ranks, among the top twelve new students. In other words, this year, first would be the head, Raios, choosing one person, then the second-ranked Humbert choosing another, while Eugeo and Kirito should be the fifth and sixth to choose. However, after discussing it over with his partner as well, the two decided to shift their turns to the last. To make the new students not picked by the other ten their valets.

As a result, the two wooden tags granted to Eugeo and Kirito had Tiezé’s and Ronye’s names. They were a little lost for words when they found out both were female students—Kirito actually even had an complicated expression on—but still, Eugeo thought it was a good thing. After all, the unfair reason why the other ten did not choose Tiezé and Ronye was because the girls were the only ones born into sixth class noble families among the twelve.

Tiezé and Ronye obviously did not know the facts behind the selection meeting and there was no need to inform them. Eugeo thought it fortunate that they became their valets and Kirito was definitely… probably the same.

As such, after he coughed once, Eugeo shifted the topic to his own experiences.

“…The entrance examinations weren’t anywhere near relaxing even in my case; rather I was really nervous. I only managed to pass and become a swordsman-in-training this year like this, half thanks to Kirito for teaching me various things…”

Upon saying so, Tiezé opened her eyes wide, their color that of the leaves dyed in the red of autumn, and shouted.

“Eeh!? Then Kirito-senpai is actually stronger than Eugeo-senpai?”

“……It hurts agreeing if you were to ask it like that…”

While Tiezé laughed out cheerfully, he took a glance behind. He only just got concerned over whether his partner had been treating his valet well, but he could hear bits and pieces of Kirito’s words said in a tone that was surprisingly smooth.

“…And so, I believe there’s only two ways that you have to be prepared, against a slash from the upper-level posture in the High Norkia-style before it happens. Either from straight above or diagonally from the top-right… any other direction will need another step, so you have the time to take it even after seeing it. As for how to tell whether it’s from straight above or the top-right…”

—Well, putting the contents aside, Ronye appears to be listening with enthusiasm as well.

Turning back to the front with a wry smile, a thought suddenly came to Eugeo.

Eugeo’s aim for studying the sword was to meet Alice again, while Tiezé and Ronye probably did it for raise their family’s honor. And Kirito had said that his aim was the same as Eugeo whenever he was asked.

Of course, he had no intention of doubting his friendship, but there was a hunch he had at times. That Kirito did not go through sword practice for the sake of attaining something, but that his aim might just be to master the way of the sword itself. That bit seemed closely linked between the human, Kirito, and the type of swordsmanship, Aincrad-style. He could practically believe the two to be the same existence.

Up until now, Eugeo had only given proper thought to Raios and Humbert as his opponents for the official matches conducted in the coming month. However, thinking about it, depending on how the matches go, it would be perfectly possible for it to be not those two, but his partner and mentor as well, Kirito.

Of course, he had no faith in winning. But before that, he couldn’t even imagine a situation where he would have to cross swords with Kirito seriously. Just what sort of resolution would he require to hold his sword and use his skills…

“Ah, won’t that pond edge do?”

Tiezé suddenly extended her right hand straight in front, dragging Eugeo out from his musing. Tracing where the slender white finger pointed towards, he saw the bank of a beautiful pond, with a dense, short undergrowth growing on it; it certainly was perfect to spread out a bento on.

“Yeah, that place looks good. —Hey, Kirito, Ronye! Let’s have lunch at that pond edge!”

When Eugeo turned back and yelled, the usual nonchalant smile appeared on his closest friend who lightly raised his hand.

 
Spreading the large sheet they brought along atop the grass, the four sat down in a circle.

“Aah… I’m hungry…”

Kirito made the exaggerated gesture of pressing down around his stomach and the two girls giggled while opening the rattan baskets they brought along, quickly starting on the food arrangements.

“Erm, we were the ones who made it, so whether it fits your tastes or not…”

Nearly none of her usual tension could be felt from novice trainee Ronye Arabel when she added that on embarrassingly while lining up the plates. If the girl were to understand that the completely black-clad elite swordsman-in-training wasn’t as sullen as he looked through this outing today, it definitely wouldn’t be long until she got used to her mentor.

A luxurious menu was packed into the impressive rattan baskets, including slices of meat and fish as well as cheese between white bread, fried chicken coated with spices and a cake filled with plenty of dried fruits and berries.

Tiezé checked the Life of all the dishes while Ronye said the before-meal prayers and everyone recited the scripture, “Avi Admina”—with Kirito being the first one to reach out for the food immediately following that. Tossing a large piece of fried meat into his mouth, he chewed for a moment with his eyes closed before speaking with the mannerisms of a lecturer.

“Certainly, it’s delicious. The flavor is not at all inferior to the food from The Deer Leap, Ronye-kun, Tiezé-kun.”

“Wah, really?!”

The two girls shouted with their faces gleaming, exchanged glances and laughed cheerfully. Eugeo fearlessly reached out as well and bit into smoked fish and herbs between thin slices of bread.

Unlike the bento that Alice would deliver to him daily, long ago when he was swinging the axe alone in the woods, the bread had the taste of the city with plenty of white butter spread onto it. He wasn’t used to the dainty high class cuisine when he just arrived at the central, but he could honestly consider it delicious now. While pondering on whether that meant he was getting used to it, Eugeo nodded at Tiezé as well.

“Yeah, it’s really good. But wasn’t it hard to gather this many ingredients?”

“Ah… well, actually…”

Tiezé turned towards her once again and Ronye answered humbly.

“As you may know, novice trainees are not to leave except on rest days, so we asked Kirito-senpai and he helped us buy them at the central bazaar after school yesterday. Eugeo-senpai was away at the library, so…”

“Eh, I… I see, so that’s what happened.”

Dumbfounded, he gazed at Kirito who was devoting his entire time to devouring the food.

“I would have went with you to buy them if you asked… No, in the first place, if you’re getting along that well already, there’s no reason for you to run away now! What was all that trouble for…”

His strength drained while getting just a little angry, Eugeo snatched the biggest slice of fruit cake and chomped down on it.

“Aah, and I had my eye on that one too… Well, what can I say, I thought I was the one being overly concerned for your case, Swordsman-in-training Eugeo-dono.”

“There wasn’t any need for you to be, geez…”

After glaring at Kirito who was grinning from ear to ear, he turned towards Ronye and Tiezé who were blinking in surprise and spoke in an unintended grumble.

“This guy here has always been like this since long ago. It was the same back before we got in the Zakkaria Guard Squadron and on the journey to Centoria; he’s treated all suspicious and scary at first, but before I knew it, the wife and kids at the farm or inn grew fond of him and started giving him snacks. It’s best for you to watch out and not end up that way, Ronye.”

However, it looked like it was too late as the dark brown-haired novice trainee shook her head with a slight blush on her cheeks.

“No, ending up that way, you say… Kirito-senpai looked scary, but I found out he was a kind person straight away, so…”

“Ah, of course, you too, Eugeo-senpai.”

Returning a smile devoid of energy to Tiezé who added that on, Eugeo munched on another mouthful of cake.

Even while doing so, he continued to stare at the partner of his at his side who was calmly gobbling down the food, wondering if there was any way to drop that guy down a peg— That was when Tiezé and Ronye suddenly sat up straight and opened their mouths to speak in a solemn manner.

“Erm… Eugeo-senpai, Kirito-senpai. Actually, there’s a request that we would like to ask from the two of you.”

“Y-Yes? …What is it?”

When Eugeo inclined his head to the side, Tiezé shook her red hair and bowed deeply.

“We’re very sorry to ask this of you, but well… it’s about the request for a change in mentor you mentioned the other day, Swordsman-in-training Eugeo-dono; we would like for you to speak with the academy’s management on our behalf…”

“Wh-What was that?”

Lost for words once again, he tried to recall if he really did say those words and finally remembered. It was true, he did seem to faintly recall telling Ronye, “I think it’s fine if you want me to talk to the teacher for you and get your mentor changed”, when Kirito kept her waiting several days ago.

So, would that make this luxurious meal a farewell gift? Eugeo tried to confirm just in case while assailed by dismay.

“Let’s see… does that mean you want to quit being my valet…? Or Kirito’s… or maybe even both…?”

Upon saying so, Ronye and Tiezé lifted their lowered faces, showed a dazed expression for an instant and started shaking their heads from side to side frantically at the same time. Tiezé who was sitting on Eugeo’s left was the first to start speaking and she did so in a panic.

“Th-That’s not it! It’s not about us, that’s simply unthinkable. On the contrary, there are many who want to switch to serve as valets for the two of you… no, that’s not what I was getting at, the one who wished for a change was another girl from our room in the dormitory. Her name is Frenica and she’s a very nice girl who’s serious, puts in her best, and is skilled with swords yet humble, but…”

Tiezé’s shoulders slumped down and Ronye switched in to speak.

“…Actually, the elite swordsman-in-training who chose Frenica as a valet seems to be quite a strict person… Especially in the recent few days, she appears to be punished for long periods of time over minor blunders and ordered to provide services that should be considered rather inappropriate within the academy, looking ever so distressed…”

The novice trainees grasped their small hands before their chests, those red and brown eyes clouded over.

Returning the half-eaten fried meat to the plate, Eugeo alternated between looking at each of them, not completely wanting to believe it.

“B-But… even if it’s an elite swordsman-in-training, ordering a valet trainee to do tasks specified by the academy to be out of scope shouldn’t be possible…”

“Yes, that’s… of course, she cannot be ordered to go against the school’s rules, but those rules do not include every single possible act either… like various orders that do not infringe the rules and well, are somewhat challenging for a female student to bear…”

With Tiezé faltering with her face bright red, Eugeo could vaguely guess at what was ordered of the valet novice student, Frenica, from the swordsman-in-training in question.

“No, I understand the situation that girl, Frenica, is in even if you don’t speak any further. I wish to provide my help as soon as possible, but if I’m not wrong…”

He continued while recalling the corresponding portion of the academy regulations he fully memorized.

“Erm… ‘To ensure the maximum amount of support is given to the elite swordsman-in-training’s training, a single valet is in charge of looking after the elite swordsman-in-training. The duty of being a valet is assigned to one chosen among the twelve novice trainees that topped the year in terms of grades, but with the consent of the elite swordsman-in-training and instructor-in-charge, the valet may be dismissed and another appointed from among the novice trainees’… that was it, I believe. In other words, to dismiss Frenica’s appointment, not only the instructor’s approval is needed, but the swordsman-in-training’s as well, huh. Well, I can try persuading though… what’s the name of the swordsman-in-training in question?”

Upon asking, Eugeo knitted his brows, having felt a sudden bad premonition. Tiezé hesitated for a short while before softly letting the name out from her lips as though it was difficult for her.

“Well… it’s Second-ranked Elite Swordsman-in-training Humbert Zizek-dono.”

The instant he heard it, Kirito who was listening without a word growled, seemingly annoyed.

“Despite how he got done in when he was the one who brought about that match, that guy’s still keeping up that nasty behavior, huh. I’ll totally beat him up the next time.”

“I didn’t do him in or anything. —But that might possibly be the reason…”

Eugeo lightly bit on his lips before he explained the circumstances to Tiezé and Ronye.

“Actually, you see, I had a duel with Swordsman-in-training Humbert at the practice arena several days ago. The result was a draw, but Humbert didn’t seem satisfied with that… So the reason behind him being tough on Frenica recently might be due to that duel…”

“Geez, bullying his own valet just because he couldn’t win against Eugeo, that guy isn’t anything like what a swordsman should be.”

Despite how Kirito spat those words out bitterly, the two girls do not seem to have understood the situation yet. With her eyebrows raised, Tiezé murmured in uncertain tones.

“Erm… in other words, as Elite Swordsman-in-training Zizek-dono got a draw in a match with Eugeo-senpai, he wanted, err…”

She couldn’t find what she wanted to say, so Ronye continued on, with just as little certainty.

“Revenge… is what it’s called, isn’t it…”

“Right, that’s the word. As revenge for not winning, he used the Punishment Authority on Frenica and ordered those humiliating acts of her, is that how it is…?”

Even if they were nobles like Humbert and Raios, as they were born in the sixth class noble families which were closest to commoners, it must not have been easy for them to understand the unreasonable conduct of the second-ranked swordsman-in-training. Not even able to find the needed words to express it well; that was the degree of difference in their mindsets.

For Eugeo who grew up in a pioneer village in the outskirts, he could guess at Humbert’s mentality, but had absolutely no sympathy for it. When he was a child in Rulid, the son of the chief guard, Jink, did do various mean things to him, but his motive was definitely extremely childish. Jink liked Alice, so he disliked Eugeo who was always with her and bullied him by hiding his shoes and such.

However, it seems that Humbert took the anger from not winning the match against Eugeo and hurled it all at someone completely unrelated to the affair, his own valet trainee—that Frenica who he should have been mentoring with concern.

He knew the existence of the words, revenge and venting anger. Even Eugeo experienced it once when he was young, when he got jealous over the wooden sword his father bought for his elder brother as a gift and couldn’t help but hit rocks countless times with his own wooden sword that was handmade by his father, ending with it breaking. His father scolded him, saying that it was a shameful act known as venting anger and he never did it ever again.

Just like breaking your own wooden sword, it was likely that being excessively strict on your own valet trainee was not against the Taboo Index, Empire Fundamental Law, or even the Master Sword Academy’s regulations. However—even if that was true, did that mean «it was fine» to do it? In this world, aside from laws that were tangibly recorded down, shouldn’t there be something important that one must follow…?

At that moment, Tiezé, who seemed to have been tossing around the same doubts with her head lowered, muttered as though she was forcing the words out from her throat.

“I… I do not understand.”

Raising her face to stare straight at Eugeo, the girl who was the successor to a sixth class noble family stiffened her cheeks that still had traces of childishness as she continued.

“…My father had always said this. We… the Shtolienen family are nobles, thanks to nothing more than our ancestors from long ago gaining recognition from the emperor back then for a few meager military efforts. Hence, we must not take for granted, that we live in a larger house than commoners and are bestowed several privileges. The fact that we are nobles means that we should exert all efforts to ensure those who aren’t are able to live on in happiness and peace, and when the time for war comes about, we must draw our blades before those who aren’t nobles and succumb to death before they do, he said…”

Then, Tiezé momentarily shut her mouth and turned her autumn-tinted eyes towards the south—towards the heart of Centoria. She stared at the solemn form of the Imperial Administration that slightly peeked through above the treetops for a while before returning her glance to Eugeo and the rest.

“…Speaking of the Zizek family, they are an illustrious family who constructed a huge mansion in the fourth district and even own land in the outskirts of Centoria. So shouldn’t Elite Swordsman-in-training Humbert-dono be striving much, much harder than the lower class nobles for the masses’ happiness? Even if it wasn’t noted down in the Taboo Index, nobles must always consider their own actions and not cause misfortune for others through them… that’s what father said. Humbert-dono’s actions might not be against both the Taboo Index and the academy regulations… but… but still, Frenica kept crying in bed last night. How could… such a thing be forgiven…?”

Tiezé finished her long, long speech with all she had and large drops of tears surfaced on her two eyes. However, Eugeo who embraced the same doubts as the girl did not have an immediate reply for her. Ronye held out a white handkerchief and touched the area around Tiezé’s eyes, and at that time—

“He’s a wonderful father. I wish I could meet him.”

For a short while, Eugeo could not believe a voice so calm could actually come out from Kirito’s mouth.

That black-clad swordsman, who inspired awe and fear in his fellow students with that intimidating glint in his eyes and blunt demeanor, as well as that match with the previous head swordsman-in-training, Uolo Levanteinn, that became legend, looked at Tiezé with consoling eyes and talked gently, word by word.

“What your father had taught you, is called «Noble Obligation» in En… no, in the Sacred Tongue, the way the spirit should be. Nobles, or in other words, those who possess power, must use it for the sake of those without it… that’s right, you could say it’s something to be proud of.”

It was the first time Eugeo heard that phrase despite taking a year’s worth of lessons in the Sacred Tongue, but its meaning was immediately absorbed by his mind and he deeply nodded. Kirito’s voice flowed on like a spring breeze.

“That pride is more important than any sort of law or regulation. Even if it’s not prohibited by the law, there are still things that can’t be done and inversely, there might be things that must be done even if it’s prohibited by the law.”

That declaration which in a certain sense, practically refuted the Taboo Index—or the Axiom Church itself, made Ronye and Tiezé swallow their breath. However, Kirito stared into the young girls and continued talking unwaveringly.

“A long, long time ago, a great man named Saint Augustinus said this. That an unjust law is no law at all. Regardless of how magnificent a law or authority may be, you mustn’t blindly accept it. Even if it doesn’t violate any taboos or regulations, Humbert’s conduct is definitely wrong. There are no excuses for doing something like making an innocent girl cry. That’s why someone has to stop him, and in this case, that would be…”

“Aah… Guess it’s up to us, huh.”

Eugeo nodded, but raised the doubts he still had to his partner.

“But Kirito… who will be the one to decide whether the law is just or not? If everyone bends it as they like, there wouldn’t be any order, would there? Doesn’t the Axiom Church exist to judge on the behalf of the masses?”

It was true that the Taboo Index did not have a say on the rights and wrongs of every single action a human could take. Hence, it ended up allowing Humbert to vent his anger on his own valet. However, much like how Sister Azariya would scold Jink for his pranks long ago, Eugeo and Kirito are able to express their opinions to Humbert, their peer. That should be a completely different matter from actually doubting the authority of the Church.

The one who made the world was God, and the Church was God’s proxy. The Church that led the Human World well for hundreds of years couldn’t have been mistaken; things progressed without him voicing those out.

The one who answered Eugeo’s question was not Kirito, but Ronye, who had kept her silence until then. The clear speech spoke by the usually docile girl, with a strong light in her eyes, gave Eugeo a slight shock.

“Well… I feel like I understood a little about what Kirito-senpai had said. An important spirit to have despite it not recorded in the Taboo Index… that’s basically, the sense of justice within oneself, I believe. Not merely obeying the law, but thinking about why that law exists with that justice in consideration… That thinking through it is more important than abiding by it…”

“Yep, that’s it, Ronye. Being able to think is a human being’s greatest ability. It’s stronger than any famous sword, stronger than any secret move.”

Kirito said so with a smile and within his eyes, approval and something else, some sort of deep emotion could be seen. Facing his partner that still had many mysteries surrounding him despite spending over two years sleeping and eating together, Eugeo asked one last question.

“But Kirito, the one you mentioned earlier, that Augus… something person, who exactly was he? An integrity knight of the Church?”

“Hmm, a priest, I guess. He’s probably already dead, though.”

With that answer, Kirito grinned broadly.

 
After seeing off Ronye and Tiezé, who each carried a completely emptied rattan basket and waved with their other hands while returning to the novice trainee dormitory, Eugeo looked at his partner’s face once again.

“…Kirito, have you come up with anything regarding the matter about Humbert?”

Upon saying that, Kirito made a complicated face and groaned for a while.

“Hmm… even if we tell him to stop bullying the junior students, he’s certainly not the type to obediently stop… But still…”

“But still… what?”

“Putting Humbert aside, that guy’s boss, Raios, is sneaky in an obnoxious way, but he’s no idiot. For him to get chosen to be the head elite swordsman-in-training, he should have not only skill with the sword, but also good scores in his sacred arts, law and history as well.”

“That’s true, better than a certain somebody who got sixth place through physical strength alone.”

“The story goes that there are two such students, actually.”

They were about to unconsciously begin their usual whimsical exchange; Eugeo realized it wasn’t the time for it and took the initiative.

“And so…?”

“…Raios is in the same room as Humbert, right? So don’t you find it strange that he’s keeping quiet about Humbert venting his anger on his own valet trainee? Even if there isn’t a formal punishment, bad rumors will spread at least, and at that time, Raios’s reputation will drop as well, sharing the same room. For a mass of pride like him, I believe he’d hate it as much as an actual punishment…”

“But… it’s a fact that Humbert is bullying Frenica. In other words, wouldn’t that mean that Raios gave up on Humbert’s sullenness as well? If the cause was the duel with me, I would definitely need to have a word with…”

“And that’s what I’m getting at.”

Kirito spoke with an expression as if he chewed down on dried nedge lezta.

“Perhaps this is an elaborate trap targeted at you, Eugeo? You object to Humbert’s actions, get into some sort of argument, then as a result, end up violating the academy regulations… if it’s a setup like that…”

“Eeh?”

Eugeo opened his eyes wide at the unexpected idea.

“No way… that’s probably impossible. Even if our placings are different, Humbert and I are both swordsmen-in-training. As long as I don’t specifically insult him verbally, no matter how he notes it down, it won’t be considered as disrespect. Rather, I’m more worried about you, Kirito.”

“Aah, well… guess you’re right. Like getting mud on that guy’s uniform or something.”

Eugeo let out a short sigh at his partner who said that deadpan. Kirito had committed that exact act of disrespect the previous year, on the previous head, Uolo, and was ordered to duel with the ridiculous conditions of using real swords and the first to strike wins.

“Look here, when we get to Humbert’s room, I’ll talk first. Kirito, you just stand at the back for a bit with an intimidating look.”

“Leave it to me, that’s my forte.”

“…I’ll be counting on you. We’ll give a verbal warning today and if they don’t heed it, let’s appeal for Frenica’s substitution to the management. Humbert should hear us out at least. Even that much should have an effect on that guy.”

“Aah… guess so.”

Slapping Kirito’s back while he still looked unsatisfied about something, Eugeo started walking towards the elite swordsmen-in-training’s dormitory constructed atop a hill. The indignation he felt when he heard Tiezé’s story did not fade away easily and his pace naturally sped up.

A year ago, the person who awaited Eugeo, appointed as a valet without knowing his way around at all, atop that hill had the name Gorgolosso Baltoh; he was a great man who certainly did not look a single day before the age of twenty.

That bulky body with roughly twice the girth of Eugeo was covered in solid muscles and paired with splendid sideburns that resembled the manes of lions that lived in the South Empire, though Eugeo had not seen them outside of art, they made him wonder if he entered an instructor’s room at first.

Gorgolosso took a fleeting glance at Eugeo frozen from the tension, and ordered, “Take your clothes off”, in a gruff voice. Eugeo was horrified, but he couldn’t disobey it, so he took off his grey uniform, leaving behind a single piece of underwear. He was immersed once again, from head to toes in that intense gaze—then Gorgolosso gave a broad, toothed smile and said, “Alright, you’ve trained well”.

Feeling relieved from the bottom of his heart while he wore his clothes back on, Gorgolosso informed Eugeo that he was not a noble, but rose up from a commoner guard as well, which was the reason why he singled out Eugeo who had the same history. For the one year after that, although his vivacious behavior troubled Eugeo at times, he did not work him unreasonably hard, acquainting him with the sword with tender care. Eugeo still thought the splendid Valtio-style swordsmanship taught by Gorgolosso was just as important as Kirito’s Aincrad-style in getting him through the swordsman-in-training selection test.

The day Gorgolosso graduated from the academy and left for the central, Eugeo asked a question that he had hidden over that one year. About why he named him, instead of Kirito who entered the school due to a recommendation from a guard squadron as well.

While brushing his disheveled sideburns, Gorgolosso answered.

—True, I did realize that guy’s ability with the sword was higher than yours when I saw the performance arts during the entrance exam. But you see, that’s the exact reason why I chose you. I figured you would be the type to struggle to the death while glaring at the top, just like me. …Well, one way or another, that second-ranked Rina already chose Kirito by then, though.

Gahahaha, while he lively laughed, Gorgolosso rubbed Eugeo’s head with his massive hand and spoke. That he definitely had to become a swordsman-in-training, and then treasure his own valet trainee. Eugeo nodded without end while holding back his tears and sent Gorgolosso off at the school gate until his huge frame disappeared from sight.

That man taught him that elite swordsmen-in-training and their valet trainees did not merely have the relationship of a mentor and a caretaker. Eugeo thought that he probably wouldn’t become as much of a mentor as Gorgolosso was. But still, he intended to try his best over this one year, to teach Tiezé what that man had taught him, even if it’s merely a fraction of it. Right—this might be what Kirito mentioned earlier, «something more important than anything else, even though it’s not recorded in the regulations».

Humbert and Raios might not understand this. As they’ve gotten placings below thirty with their scores in the entrance examinations, they probably went easy in the selection match due to their objections to becoming a valet. Even so, there were things that needed to be said.

Pushing open the door before him with his two hands and entering the swordsmen-in-training’s dormitory, Eugeo ascended the large staircase in front with loud steps from his leather shoes.

 
3

A short bit after knocking on the door at the eastern corner of the dormitory’s third floor, Humbert could be heard asking who’s there from inside.

“Swordsmen-in-training Eugeo and Kirito. We have something to discuss with Swordsman-in-training Zizek.”

He stated their names while trying to maintain his calm, but rough footsteps immediately rang out and the door violently burst open. Humbert, who glared at the two in turn with a scowl, cried out with a voice that might even be loud enough to pass through the atrium in the middle of the dormitory to reach the first floor.

“How rude of you, intruding without even any prior notice! It’s obvious that you should request for permission for a meeting through a letter first!”

Without even giving Eugeo a chance to reply, Raios Antinous’s placid voice immediately bombarded them from behind Humbert.

“Now now, aren’t we all fellow comrades refining ourselves in the same institution? Let them pass, Humbert, though it is unfortunate we could not have any tea prepared for them, at this short notice.”

“…Make sure you express your gratitude for Raios-dono’s hospitality.”

Forcing those words out through his lips, Humbert turned aside. While wondering just what sort of skit this was supposed to be, Eugeo entered the room with a bow.

“The heck was…”

Kirito who followed behind was about to have those same thoughts slipping out from his mouth, so he shut him up with a cough and walked in front of a couch set in the middle of the living room. The amount of space and arrangement was of course, the same as Eugeo and Kirito’s, but the fixtures, such as the carpet spread over the floor and the pale curtains that wavered in the gentle spring breeze, were replaced with those of the highest grade.

Even the couch with its width of three mel had a silk finish with ample cotton, and Humbert sank in deeply upon sitting on its right edge. Raios could be seen sitting on the left edge, but barely sank in, resting his head upon it and his two legs stretching out onto the table, in an appearance as though he was sleeping.

On top of that, these heirs of upper class noble families were not wearing the academy uniform, but comfortable and thin long garments. Raios was bright red and Humbert was bright blue; that glossy luster was unique to high-grade silk from the south. The aroma drifting from the cups lined up on the table was probably green tea, a specialty from the east. After putting that to his mouth and slowly sipping it, Raios finally turned towards Eugeo.

“…And so, what business do you have with us in the evening of this rest day, my friend, Swordsman-in-training Eugeo?”

There was another couch before the table, but he seemed to have no intention of asking them to sit. While thinking that suited himself better, Eugeo looked down at the two with as strict a face as he could muster, and spoke.

“I am here regarding a somewhat distasteful rumor about Swordsman-in-training Zizek that reached my ears. Before disgracing the name of a friend at school, I believed it best to render some advice, though it may be presumptuous on my part.”

Humbert’s expression changed and was about to cry out something at that moment, but Raios held him back by moving his left hand slightly before curving his excessively crimson lips a miniscule amount into a smile.

“Really now…?”

He smoothly delivered his lines while steam rose up from the cup in his right hand.

“This is both outside and beyond my expectations. To think you could be so concerned about my friend’s reputation. However, I regret to inform you that nothing comes to mind regarding that sort of rumor. Though I am ashamed of my ignorance, nothing would please me more than having you enlighten me on this issue.”

“…I have heard that Zizek-dono was committing vulgar acts upon his own valet trainee. I do believe you would have some inkling of that!”

“How rude!”

Rising from the couch as well this time, Humbert declared loudly.

“How dare someone without a family name, with the air of some peasant from a remote village accuse me, the eldest son of a fourth class noble family, of vulgar acts of all things!”

“Now, don’t get so riled up, Humbert.”

Raios waved his left hand side to side and silenced his henchman once again.

“Even if there are differences in our birthplaces, aren’t we fellow students under this roof now? You can’t simply condemn everything as disrespectful, inside of this academy at least. …That said, it would be a different story if that was merely slander utterly without basis though. Where have you heard that queer rumor from, Eugeo-dono?”

“I doubt you wish for your free time to be wasted away either, Antinous-dono, so do stop playing the fool. This is not without basis. I’ve heard it directly from the novice trainees who stay in the same room as Zizek-dono’s valet.”

“Oh? Is this how it is, then? Are you saying that Humbert’s valet had formally entrusted you with a protest via the novice trainees of the same room by her own accord?”

“…No, that’s not it, but…”

Eugeo involuntarily bit his lips. It was true that he wasn’t here due to a personal request from Frenica, so it would be difficult to hold his ground if his claim was rejected as slander without basis.

However, as there was no way Eugeo could retreat in front of Raios grinning away in his slovenly posture and Humbert crooking his mouth in a loathsome manner, he sharply returned a question.

“…I believe the two of you are denying it in that case? That Humbert-dono is committing unbefitting acts upon that valet trainee named Frenica?”

“Fm, unbefitting? That is such an odd word to use, Eugeo-dono. How about using what is more easily understood, by saying that it violates the academy regulations?”

“……”

He grinded his teeth once again. Even if those regulations applied only on academy premises, their importance was close to the same level as the Taboo Index or the Empire Fundamental Law to students and none should dare to break them.

Even Humbert wouldn’t violate the academy regulations; Eugeo knew better than to consider that as well. That was the very reason he couldn’t forgive them. Anything goes as long as it wasn’t against the regulations, their acts were grounded in that belief even if they didn’t voice it out. Taking in a deep breath of air, Eugeo continued the dispute.

“But still… but still, even if it’s not forbidden by the academy regulations, are there not things that elite swordsmen-in-training must not do to the novice trainees they mentor?!”

“Oh my, now Eugeo-dono, what exactly are you implying that Humbert here had done to Frenica?”

“…Th-That’s…”

As he couldn’t bear to make Tiezé and Ronye explain in detail and thus, hadn’t heard the specifics of those «unbefitting orders», Eugeo could not give an immediate reply. With that, Raios spread his hands out in an exaggerated motion and spoke while shaking his head left and right.

“Oh dear, even I can’t bring myself to accompany you any further. …How is it, Humbert, has any of what Eugeo-dono spoke of rang any bells to you?”

The instant Raios asked in that manner, Humbert, who was leaning forward while glowering at Eugeo until now, put the weight of his back onto the couch with a thud and cried out.

“Not at all! I have absolutely no idea what he’s talking about! In the first place, there is no damned, no, there is simply no way I could have done any vulgar act on Frenica… after all, that girl has never refused even once!”

Stroking his grey hair from front to back, the second-ranked swordsman-in-training showed a venomous smile.

“Well, I did order her to aid with several trifling tasks, though. I’m sure you too, recall the match which, though I find it shameful to admit, ended as a draw, Eugeo-dono; I mended my ways after that and devoted myself to training. Perhaps due to restraining from any practice that would create those unattractive muscles up until now as well, it was inevitable that my body would ache. Hence, I had to reluctantly ask for Frenica to massage and relax my body when I got the chance to take a bath every evening. In addition, it would be troubling if her uniform were to get wet, so I had the generosity to permit her to undress herself to her underwear. I certainly have difficulties understanding just which part of this is supposed to be unbefitting, vulgar behavior!”

Gazing in a daze at Humbert, who was chuckling away through his throat, Eugeo noticed the birth of an unfamiliar emotion deep in his heart.

Was treating a human like this with courtesy, and even attempting to persuade him actually necessary?

Wouldn’t a single strike on him from a wooden sword without any questions asked suit him more than words?

His right hand twitched, wanting to thrust in with a wooden sword and challenge a duel here and now, after which Eugeo noticed his waist was empty. Taking in countless deep breaths of air to compose himself, he let out a voice as restrained as he could muster.

“…Humbert-dono, do you believe that an order like that… could really be permitted? True… true, there are no corresponding clauses within the academy regulations, but that should be because there was no need to explicitly forbid it. To actually order your valet to undress, just how shameless could you…”

“Hahaha, hahahahaha!”

Suddenly, Raios, who had been silent for the past while, raised the ends of his lips and let out a wild laughter. It was as if he was waiting for those words from Eugeo; that was what it seemed like.

“Hahaha! To think those words would come from your own mouth, Swordsman-in-training Eugeo-dono, hahaha! After all, haven’t you yourself undressed night after night, for that large male commoner when you served as a valet trainee, Eugeo-dono?!”

“That was a peculiar story indeed! To think you would accuse others of being shameful when you were so fond of getting naked yourself, ha-ha!”

Humbert immediately went with the flow as well, laughing in his shrill voice.

Eugeo’s entire body trembled uncontrollably as the impulse earlier assailed him once again. The moment he was about to voice out a curse that would barely fall short of violating the academy regulations, Kirito made a noise by making a kick with his heel from behind, making him narrowly recover his senses.

His mentor, Gorgolosso, certainly did order him to remove everything except his underwear once or twice a month. However, that was to confirm how his muscles were and to point out the training he lacked, without even a single trace of dubious implication. But even if he were to refute it that way, Raios and Humbert would probably get ahead of themselves even further and mock not only Eugeo, but Gorgolosso as well. That was why Eugeo tried his best to hold on and quietly spoke after managing to regain his calm somehow.

“My case is unrelated to this situation. What is certain here, is that valet trainee for Swordsman-in-training Zizek has not been going against orders even while going through intolerable experiences day after day. If I don’t see any change for the better from now on, I would have to consider requesting the instructors to conduct an investigation, so kindly keep that in mind.”

Please do as you like; those words came from behind as Eugeo quickly left Raios’s room, accompanied by laughter.

No sooner had the door closed behind him did Eugeo clench his right fist with the intention to strike the wall, but he then noticed that if he were to do that with the physical strength he had built up, he might make a dent in the wall—or in other words, lower the building’s Life, and reluctantly lowered his arm. Damaging the academy’s facilities or fixtures was a clear violation of the Taboo Index and in the first place, it would be the very example of anger venting. He felt a slight longing for the Gigas Cedar that was practically unyielding, regardless of how many times he struck it with that axe filled with resentment from one thing or another.

As a modest substitute, he made noises wrecking his shoe soles as he started to walk towards his own room on the west, and Kirito spoke from behind.

“Take a moment to calm down, Eugeo.”

The moment that familiar voice reached Eugeo’s ears, the insides of his head, burning red like a fireplace, cooled down a little and he took a long breath. Easing his pace, he walked by his partner’s side.

“…But still, that was unexpected. I totally thought you would explode before I would.”

Towards Eugeo’s words, Kirito showed a broad grin and hit his left waist.

“It would have turned bad if I had a sword. It’s just that… like I said earlier, they might have something else planned, so I managed to hold myself back and look at the situation somehow.”

“That reminds me, you did say something like that. I completely forgot about it… —So, what do you think?”

“Leaving Humbert aside, the provocation from that bastard Raios was definitely on purpose, Eugeo. He probably took Tiezé and Ronye conveying Frenica’s story to you into account and planned to impose the maximum punishment onto you if you went too far in your remarks towards Humbert back then, as disrespectful behavior. We really can’t look down on the craftiness of that upper class noble, huh…”

“In other words… the reason why Raios left Humbert’s actions alone was because he predicted that I would come protest, huh… What a disaster…”

Eugeo stopped in the middle of the corridor and strongly bit his lips.

“This is all due to me humiliating Humbert in that match, isn’t it. And you’ve always said nothing good would come out of reacting to their provocation too…”

“Don’t blame yourself so much.”

Kirito placed his hand onto Eugeo’s right shoulder and let out a rare comforting voice.

“In any case, the first official match will be here soon. We’ve got no choice but to beat those guys if we want to represent the academy, so we’ll earn their resentment sooner or later. But seeing as that bunch had such a huge laugh about it, they should be satisfied for the time being. Just in case Humbert were to continue humiliating Frenica, we might want to prepare a letter in advance, to immediately request for an investigation from the instructors at least, though.”

“…Yeah, that’s right. But if that really happens, us bawling in front of those guys like a couple of babies might have been more persuasive.”

Lightly patting Kirito’s hand to show his gratitude, Eugeo finally released the tension in his shoulders.

Both Humbert and Raios were strong with the sword, and even their grades in the academics were good. They received an abundant allowance of Shear gold coins from their families every month, were able to buy as many clothes and personal accessories as they wanted and if they were to get fed up with the dormitory’s meals, they could eat whatever they liked in the restaurants outside the school every night if they wished. It certainly was enviable from the point of views of Eugeo and Kirito who get by somehow with the money saved up from the time they were guards in Zakkaria.

And yet, why do they view Eugeo as an enemy, ridiculing him at every turn and trying to make him surrender? And consequently, what do they intend to gain from it? He did realize that the world wasn’t full of good people, that there were unkind ones around at least, but still—even if they were noble and commoner, they were both fellow people born in this Human World.

This was what the Axiom Church taught. That the Human World made by the God, Stacia, was affiliated to «Good» and the Land of Darkness ruled over by the God, Vector, was affiliated to «Bad». If that was the case, no matter what sort of human it is, they should possess a good heart as their base. Yes, even if it was Raios or Humbert.

If they were to cross swords not in a haphazard duel, but on the grand stage of the official match instead and show each other all of their skill and power, they would definitely come to terms with several things. —Definitely.

Thinking about such things while opening the door to his room and entering it, Eugeo declared before his partner disappeared off somewhere.

“Hey, Kirito, the sacred arts examination’s over, so I’ll have you accompany me for lots of practice from tomorrow onwards!”

“What, you’re certainly fired up, aren’t you.”

“Aah… I have to get much, much stronger, after all. To teach Raios and Humbert that the sword isn’t as generous as to let them win without any practice.”

Upon hearing that, Kirito nodded with a grin.

“Well then, should I teach you just how intense training can get, Swordsman-in-training Eugeo-dono?”

“That’s what I hoped for. …Then, see you at dinnertime.”

They both lightly raised their hands and returned to their individual rooms to change, but his partner stopped while turning around and spoke with a serious look.

“Eugeo. No matter what those guys tell you when I’m not around, be careful not to get heated up like earlier.”

“I-I understand that. Stay cool, right?”

Upon voicing out that which had both the meaning of keeping one’s composure in the Sacred Tongue, and that of a parting phrase, Kirito made a bitter smile, seemingly embarrassed, while replying with the same phrase.

 
Perhaps satisfied after laughing so much, Raios and Humbert paid no attention to Eugeo throughout the practical swordsmanship exercises in the morning and the specialized lessons in the afternoon the next day. Even Humbert, who sent him a scowl filled with resentment each time their faces met until the previous week, persevered in completely ignoring him.

Of course, Eugeo felt considerably relieved, but the problem was whether he mended his ways towards Frenica or not. He had jointly written and signed an investigation request letter addressed to the academy’s management the previous night with Kirito. If it was tendered, an official hearing would be conducted with both parties on both Raios’s and Eugeo’s sides, but even those two should want to avoid that, considering how much they valued their prestige.

Just as the boring empire history lecture—after all, incidents that really could be classified as incidents rarely ever happened—ended, Eugeo parted with Kirito, who went to the library to return a book, returned straight to the swordsmen-in-training’s dormitory and waited for Tiezé and Ronye so as to deliver the progress of the case.

Before long, while the four o’clock bell rang at its scheduled time everyday, those two came and started on the cleaning up after an energetic greeting. Eugeo sat on the chair in his room, having nothing to do, and obediently looked over the gallant figure of Tiezé laboring away.

He offered his help in cleaning more times than he could count previously, but was flatly refused with a “This is my important responsibility!” every time. Thinking back, he recalled that he had told Gorgolosso the same thing himself, so he reluctantly tried his best not to make the room too untidy, but the girl wasn’t satisfied with that either, always having the strange complaint that there wasn’t enough to clean up.

Bustling around with a long cloth mop in hand, Tiezé finished cleaning the living and bedrooms in thirty minutes and entered Eugeo’s room, closed the door behind her and snapped the heels of her leather shoes together.

“Elite Swordsman-in-training Eugeo-dono, I would like to report! The cleaning for today is complete!”

It seems Kirito had returned without him noticing too, with Ronye’s voice faintly audible beyond the closed door. Leaving the relaying of information there to his partner, Eugeo answered Tiezé with a short acknowledgement.

“Yes, good job. Thanks as always.”

“No, not at all. This is the valet’s duty!”

He quietly held back a smile that almost unintentionally formed at that routine reply.

“Erm… I apologize, but could I talk to you about a little something? There’s no need to stand up, so have a seat.”

Upon voicing that out, he recalled that this room only had one chair, the one for the writing desk. The moment he said “Then over here”, Tiezé shook her head with a “No, I’ll keep standing”, so Eugeo interrupted with a “Then, how about over there?” with his finger pointed at the bed by the window side.

Tiezé opened her eyes wide for an instant and nodded with an indistinct blush on her face this time.

“Ye-… th-then, please excuse me.”

She trotted close to its edge and softly sat down.

Sitting on the same bed as a girl wasn’t a violation of the Taboo Index or the academy regulation, was it, Eugeo confirmed in his mind before sitting quite a distance away, and after turning only his upper body towards Tiezé, he started on the main topic with the most serious face he could make.

“About Frenica’s case… we went to complain to Humbert yesterday. That guy probably doesn’t want to blow it up any further either, so I doubt he’ll be giving out anymore of those unbefitting orders. I’ll make him apologize properly as well soon, so…”

“Really?! …I’m so glad, thank you very much, Elite Swordsman-in-training Eugeo-dono. I believe Frenica will be glad to hear this as well.”

Faced with a suddenly smiling Tiezé, Eugeo spoke with a wry smile.

“You’re already done with your work, so just call me Eugeo. But still… there’s something I have to apologize for too. I mentioned it a little yesterday as well, but my duel with Humbert was the origin for the case this time, and it might have been a scheme to impose punishment onto me for disrespectful behavior when I went in to protest… In other words, Frenica got mixed up in the conflict between Humbert and me. I would like to properly apologize to her as well, so could you get me an opportunity to do so…?”

“…I… see…”

Tiezé shook her red hair as she lowered her face as though she was pondering about something, but she soon looked at Eugeo and gently shook her head.

“No, it’s not your fault, Elite… Eugeo-senpai. I’ll simply convey your words to Frenica. Erm… m-may I sit a little closer?”

“Eh… s-sure.”

Eugeo nodded nervously and Tiezé’s cheeks flushed red as she shifted herself, close enough for him to faintly feel her body warmth. Looking towards the wall in front, her voice flowed out as a whisper.

“Eugeo-senpai, I tried thinking as hard as I could before I slept last night. About why Elite Swordsman-in-training Zizek-dono did those horrible things to Frenica, how he could do those things when he felt neither hatred nor resentment for her. …Kirito-senpai said that nobles must maintain their pride. But… I actually knew. That there are some among the upper class nobles that, erm… toy with the women who live on their own land to satisfy their own whims…”

Tiezé suddenly raised her face and stared into Eugeo with those eyes that reminded one of an autumn forest, wet after a long spell of rain.

“…I’m scared. I believe I will succeed the Shtolienen family not long after I graduate from the academy, and end up accepting a groom from a noble family of the same rank or one higher. …What if the person who becomes my spouse turns out to be someone like Zizek-dono…? When I just think of what would happen if it turns out to be the type of person without pride and nonchalantly menaces others around… I get… so scared that I…”

Eugeo held his breath and looked back at Tiezé’s cloudy eyes.

He was aware of Tiezé’s feelings but at the same time, those words couldn’t help but to draw attention to the difference in social status between the girl and himself. Compared to Tiezé Shtolienen, the eldest child of a splendid name-bearing sixth class noble family, Eugeo was a child of peasants without a surname—not to mention the third son.

In a small, remote village like Rulid, as there was a limit to the harvest from the fertile land, they could not increase their numbers infinitely. The one to succeed the house and fields was almost always without exception, the eldest son, with the second son, third son and so on—though it depended on their Sacred Task—not even permitted to marry, often growing old without a partner. If he hadn’t met Kirito, even Eugeo would have spent his entire life swinging an axe every day on «cutting duty for the Gigas Cedar». Just like his predecessor, that old man, Garitta.

He was living and mingling with many nobles in Central Centoria at this very moment, but he did not know what would happen a year later if he failed to become the representative swordsman for the academy. It would be fine if he gained employment in the Imperial Knight Order or the guard squadron of some big city, otherwise, he could only return to Rulid and work under his elder brothers. At the very least, it was certain that he had absolutely no prospects of inheriting a noble family.

That was why when Tiezé clung onto his right arm while he stayed silent, it was startling enough to take his breath away.

“Eh… Tiezé…!?”

The girl born of a sixth class noble family stared into Eugeo’s widely opened eyes from up close. From the grey uniform hung a faint smell that reminded one of solbe leaves.

“Eugeo-senpai… I, erm… have a request to ask of you. You must definitely represent the academy, win the swordsmanship tournament and participate in the Four Empires Unity Tournament.”

“Th-That’s… of course, it’s my goal, but…”

“Erm… well…”

Tiezé was at a loss for words for an instant, then continued with her face as bright red as her hair.

“I-I heard that if you get a high placing in the Unity Tournament, you will be inducted as an aristocrat for life, like Azurika-sensei from the novice trainees’ dormitory. Erm, then… I really shouldn’t be saying this, but… if you don’t become an integrity knight, please…… become my… my……”

Any further words seemed to have been lost before they were voiced out, as Tiezé shivered with her head lowered downwards; Eugeo gazed down at that small head.

It was only this time that he understood what Tiezé was talking about, though it took some time. Swallowing down his saliva, a tiny voice of his own reverberated in his head.

—I’m aiming for the Unity Tournament to become an integrity knight and meet with Alice once more, that’s the only reason—

However, he could not tell Tiezé that. Even if it ends up being a lie, he felt it not right to brush aside the earnest wish of a sixteen years old girl, who was probably frightened by her uncertain future for the first time in her life… not to mention her being his own valet trainee.

Raising his left hand, Eugeo awkwardly stroked Tiezé’s head as he spoke.

“Yeah… I got it. I’ll definitely look for you after the tournament ends.”

Tiezé’s shoulders quivered uncontrollably upon hearing that and she timidly raised her face before long.

A smile, resembling a flower bud in early spring, appeared on her cheeks glistening with tears and Tiezé moved her modest lips.

“…I will-I will get stronger too. Strong enough to be like Eugeo-senpai… to be able to say out those proper things that must be said.”

 
4

The day that was next to begin, the 22nd day of the 5th month, was the first with stormy weather for that spring.

Riding the squalls that sprung up at times, large drops of rain furiously thumped against the window. Eugeo halted the hand that was polishing his sword and gazed at the stormy skies that lost the light of Solus, despite it not being long since the end of the lectures.

The black clouds that stretched out in layers squirmed as though they were alive and violet lightning tore through their gaps. The spring storms that washed away the wheat seeds just sowed were detested by everyone in Rulid Village, and it almost always became as bustling as a festival whenever Alice succeeded in weather prediction sacred arts, even though she was a child. But then again, they were only really given that blessing for a mere two years.

Now that Eugeo had practiced sacred arts in the academy, he was now truly aware of Alice’s genius. Arts that affect principles of nature, such as weather and terrain, were examples of high ranking sacred arts, possessing procedures reaching over a hundred lines, with Eugeo unable to even predict whether tomorrow would be sunny or rainy as he was now. If it was Alice, who could predict a storm a week before it came, she might even be picking up the arts to manipulate the weather right about now. If that was the case, the current look of the sky might be Alice losing her temper at Eugeo for still not coming for her—

“Haah.”

Expelling his incessant thoughts along with his breath, he suddenly started to thoroughly and carefully polish the bluish-silver blade with the oiled leather. He never missed the weekly maintenance on the «Blue Rose Sword», but that was roughly the only time he drew it from its scabbard ever since he was admitted into the academy. He used the wooden sword for daily practice and in official matches, there was a regulation to use swords with the exact same capability to ensure fairness. Compared to the Blue Rose Sword that was classified as a sacred instrument, the sword decreed by the academy was rather light and he felt nervous with how much the blade seemed like it would slip out when he swung it with all his might, but he couldn’t simply wave this sword around when it could break a cheap iron sword with a single exchanged blow.

An opponent that he could strike as hard as he liked with this sword was probably restricted to that; with that thought in his mind, Eugeo raised his head and looked at the black long sword his partner was maintaining on the opposing couch.

The «demonic tree» that towered over the forest south of Rulid for over three hundred years, Gigas Cedar. It was what they got a whole year after cutting off a branch from its top, its weight that of a lump of iron, taking much trouble—Kirito went “Let’s just plant it over there” countless times—to carry it to the central, talking to Sadore the gold craftsman, an acquaintance from long ago of the old man, Garitta, and getting it refined.

Sadore-shi, the very image of eccentricity, scowled as hard as he could while grumbling, “It even broke three of my black refining whetstones which should have lasted for ten years” but he didn’t take any money, saying that it was a once in a lifetime job.

The completed black sword was covered in a deep luster that made it hard to believe it was originally a tree branch. Kirito used that sword to bring a duel with Uolo Levanteinn to a commendable draw two and a half months ago, but he shouldn’t have touched it at all since then, leaving it stored in its black leather scabbard except during maintenance time.

Or possibly, we might not have the chance to use these two swords anymore, or at least, not while in school; such a thought now came to Eugeo. It couldn’t be used in the academy’s official matches and he found it hard to imagine himself fighting other students in a duel with «personal real swords used».

In other words, if he wanted to fight with the Blue Rose Sword in hand, he would have to be selected as the academy representative swordsman this year and participate in the Empire Swordsmanship Tournament. Of course, that was Eugeo’s aim, but he had doubts about freely swinging this heavy sword around on a large stage all of a sudden, not to mention in a first strike match.

The participant who he would be going against would likely not be a student, but masters from the Imperial Knight Order or the main families of the various swordsmanship schools, which would mean that the other side would have a magnificent sharp sword made by a skilled craftsman as well. Even if it was a one-strike match, there was obviously the possibility of getting a major injury that would take about one or two months to fully recover from, if he were to receive a bad hit in his vitals, assuming he even managed to keep his life.

Actually, both of the academy’s representatives, Uolo Levanteinn and Sortiliena-senpai went up against the representative from the Knight Order and lost, but while Liena-senpai was stopped by having her whip cut and her sword blown away, Uolo got the bones in his left shoulder smashed to pieces. Medical treatment done through the usual sacred arts could seal the wound and stop the decreasing Life, but the bones couldn’t be attached together and Uolo should still be under medical care, even now.

According to the newspaper pasted onto the bulletin board at the main school building weekly, it seemed that swordsman who represented the Knight Order was from the Woolsburg family, a first class noble family that was considered renowned even among the renowned empire nobles. There was an article about how the swordsman went to the «Four Empire Unity Tournament» in the fourth month, after the Swordsmanship Tournament, achieved a magnificent victory, and received the honor of an invitation to the Axiom Church’s holy garden.

It could be said that it couldn’t be helped that Liena-senpai and Uolo Levanteinn lost to such an opponent—but Eugeo had a need to win, no matter how what kind of hero might appear as his opponent. He must continue onto the Unity Tournament next year as the representative of Norlangarth and be the champion, going through the gates of the Central Cathedral. He must.

—I’ll be counting on you then, please lend me your power.

He finished polishing even the tip of his beloved sword as he spoke to it in his heart and when he raised his face, Kirito had just slid his sword out from between the two sides of the folded oiled leather with a swoosh sound as well. His eyes were momentarily taken in by the jet-black blade that shone under the lamp’s light before he called out.

“Hey, Kirito.”

“Nn?”

“Haven’t you thought of a proper name for that sword yet?”

This was the fourth time Eugeo had asked that question since the sword was completed, but Kirito still replied with the same answer.

“Um, hmm… not yet…”

“Hurry up and decide already. It’s pitiful for the sword, being called that «black one» all the time, isn’t it.”

“Hmm… from where I came from, swords had their names from the start… or so I think.”

The moment he was about to offer more advice to Kirito who was muttering out vague excuses, his partner suddenly reached his own hand out towards Eugeo’s eyes and caused him to blink.

“Wh-What is it?”

“Wait a minute, wasn’t that the four-thirty bell just now?”

“Eh…”

Upon straining his ears, he certainly could hear the faltering chimes of the bell mixed into the howls of the wind.

“You’re right, it’s this late already. We missed the four o’clock bell, huh.”

Eugeo muttered and when he looked out of the window mostly absent of sunlight, Kirito muttered with a grave expression.

“They’re late, huh, Ronye and Tiezé.”

Eugeo was taken aback and swallowed his breath. Now that it was mentioned, Tiezé and Ronye have never missed coming to clean up the room before the four o’clock bell even once ever since those two became their valets. Forcing back the unease oozing its way out from his throat, he lightly shrugged his shoulders.

“Well, there’s a storm. Aren’t they waiting for the rain to stop? It’s not like the time to start cleaning was fixed by the academy regulations or anything…”

“I wonder if those two would even be late due to rain…”

Kirito seemed like he was brooding on something as he dropped his sight back to his hand and immediately continued.

“I have a bad feeling about this. I’ll go over to the novice trainees’ dormitory for a bit. We might miss each other, so Eugeo, please wait for those two over here.”

Quickly slotting the black sword that he finished maintaining back into its scabbard, Kirito left it on the table and stood up. Putting on the thin overcoat for protection against the rain, he fastened the clasp with his left hand while opening the window with his right.

“Hey, Kirito, you should go from the front, shouldn’t…”

Eugeo tried to say so while scowling at the strong winds that wildly blew in with the rain, but his partner had already nimbly jumped onto a tree branch that hung near the window by then, leaving behind only a rustling noise as he vanished. Geez, he’s just so impatient, Eugeo thought with a sigh as he closed the window left open.

With the din of the storm muffled, the sound of the wall lamp burning away felt awfully loud in return.

Returning to the couch while holding onto the unexplained feeling of unease, he picked up the Blue Rose Sword from the table and gently stored it into its scabbard.

There was a way to find the whereabouts of certain people through high ranking sacred arts, but it required a large amount of sacred power in the area, so it couldn’t be used without a medium. In the first place, using sacred arts with others as the target within the academy was prohibited, even if the art was harmless. As he was right now, Eugeo could only sit down on the couch and wait for something to happen.

Several remarkably long minutes passed by—finally, a soft knocking sound reverberated within the room.

The instant he heard that, Eugeo let out a deep breath of air. Well, look at that, you missed them all because you left from the window; he got up from the couch with that in mind, quickly crossed the room and opened the door.

“Thank goodness, I was so worried about…”

Reaching that point, Eugeo swallowed his words in mute astonishment. The hair that flew into his field of vision was not the familiar red or dark brown, but a light brown, disheveled by the wind.

It wasn’t Ronye or Tiezé, an unknown girl was standing in the corridor. The short hair and grey novice trainee uniform were drenched by the rain, and absolutely no blood seemed to flow in those cheeks with drops of water hanging off them. Opening those large eyes, which reminded one of a young deer, filled with worry, her pale lips trembled haltingly.

Looking up at Eugeo who stood frozen, the girl forced her feeble voice out.

“Erm… are you Elite Swordsman-in-training Eugeo-dono…?”

“Ah… y-yeah. You are…?”

“I… I am Novice Trainee Frenica Szeski. I apologize for visiting without any prior notification. …But, I didn’t know what I should do…”

“So you’re… Frenica, huh.”

Eugeo looked back at the petite novice trainee once again. He looked at her delicate build rather unlike that of a swordswoman and those small hands that seemed more suited to knotting flower garlands, feeling his anger at Humbert well up once again, for disgracing a girl like this at his whims.

However, before Eugeo could say anything, Frenica, who had her two hands tightly grasped together in front of her chest, let out a voice blemished with panic.

“Erm… I am truly thankful for you lending your assistance regarding the matter between Humbert Zizek-dono and myself from the depths of my heart, Swordsman-in-training Eugeo-dono. And… I believe you understood what had happened so far, so I’ll omit them, but… Zizek-dono ordered me to, well… perform a certain service that is somewhat difficult for me to explain in this place…”

Likely feeling enough humiliation to set her body aflame through those words alone, Frenica’s pallid face stiffened pitifully before she continued.

“I-If I am to continue with such orders, I… I would rather quit the academy; that was what I frankly told Tiezé and Ronye, but upon hearing that, the two said that they would appeal directly to Zizek-dono and left the dormitory…”

“What did you say.”

Eugeo muttered in a cracked voice. His fingertips that held onto the white leather scabbard became chilled.

“But those two wouldn’t return no matter how much I waited, so I-I don’t know what I should do…”

“When did those two leave…?”

“Erm, I believe it was right after the three-thirty bell rang.”

Over an hour had already passed. Eugeo swallowed his breath as he stared at the door by the corridor. That would mean that Tiezé and Ronye were always on the third floor of the same swordsmen-in-training’s dormitory? They were taking too long if they were there to protest and appeal.

He swiftly turned about and looked at the windows that were getting battered by the wind and rain as always, but there was no sign of Kirito returning. It would take fifteen minutes to simply go to the novice trainees’ dormitory and return in this storm. Judging that there certainly was no time to wait, he rapidly talked to Frenica.

“Got it. I’ll go take a look, so wait in this room. …Also, if Kirito gets back, could you tell him to come over to Humbert’s and Raios’s room?”

Leaving behind Frenica nodding with anxiety, Eugeo left the room. It was after he took several steps across the corridor with parquet flooring that he noticed he brought along the Blue Rose Sword that he had finished maintaining, but time was too precious to return and put it back. Hanging his left hand loose, he rushed east down the curved corridor.

With each step, he felt the lump of worry growing heavier deep in his heart.

The reason why Tiezé and Ronye came up with the plan to appeal directly was clear. Because Eugeo and Kirito failed to achieve anything even when they went to protest, and one other. Those words that Tiezé said in Eugeo’s room yesterday—that she would get stronger and say those proper things; the girl was likely putting that into practice.

But that might very well be…

“Was that their plan from the start? Not me, but Tiezé and Ronye…?”

Eugeo spoke as though he was groaning while he ran.

Among fellow trainees or swordsmen-in-training, most remarks wouldn’t cause much of a problem. However, it would be a different story if it was a novice trainee protesting against an elite swordsman-in-training. Unless much caution was taken with the words used, it would come under the acts of disrespect decreed by the academy regulations. And in that case, the swordsman-in-training could exercise the «Punishment Authority» as a substitute for an instructor. Like how Kirito had stained Uolo Levanteinn’s uniform with dirt in the past.

Eugeo tried his best to flip through the pages of the academy regulations in his mind.

—In the case that the elite swordsman-in-training exercises the punishment authority, one among the three orders noted below is permitted. One, cleaning the academy premises (specifics on the area are recorded in a different paragraph). Two, training using wooden swords (specifics on the details are recorded in a different paragraph). Third, a duel with the swordsman-in-training in question (specifics on the match regulations are recorded in a different paragraph). In addition, provisions from any superior laws will take precedence regarding all of the punishments.

In this case, those superior laws would refer to the Empire Fundamental Law and of course, the Taboo Index. In other words, the taboo of reducing another’s Life without a justifiable reason would take precedence over the punishment authority. Even if Humbert were to order Tiezé and Ronye for a duel, request for the first-strike rule rather than stopping before hitting, he could not physically harm them if they reject it. As such, there should not be much need for worry even with Humbert exercising the punishment authority.

But still, the anxiety that felt like it was stabbed into his heart showed no sign of going away.

Coming to a stop in front of the closed door at the eastmost side of the third floor corridor that ran in an circular arc, Eugeo violently knocked on it with his right fist without waiting for his breathing to get under control.

Several seconds later, he could hear Humbert’s mumbling voice from inside.

“My my, you’re here pretty late, Elite Swordsman Eugeo-dono. Now now, please enter!”

With that manner of speaking that practically said that he has been expected, Eugeo opened the door in one go, feeling rather impatient.

With the extended light from the high quality lamp whittled down, the shared living room was quite a bit dimmer than the previous day. Not to mention a strong smell of the east region burned, causing a dull haze in the room. Frowning at the harsh odor, he quickly swept through the room with his sight.

The forms of Raios and Humbert with the same thin long garments as the previous day were on the couch in the middle. With his back facing Eugeo, Raios had his two feet on the table as expected, holding onto a thin glass with his left hand. The shallow dark red fluid poured into it appeared to be grape wine. Drinking alcohol in the dormitory was allowed with restrictions for elite swordsmen-in-training, but drinking despite it not being a rest day was nothing to be proud of.

Humbert who sat opposite appeared to have partaken in the alcohol as well. A slack smile showed itself on his slightly reddish face and he spoke while looking up at Eugeo.

“No need to keep standing, how about taking a seat, Eugeo-dono. We just happened to open up a fifty year old one from the west empire. It’s not quite something a commoner can lay his hands on easily, you know?”

Feeling even more discomfort from Humbert who not only offered a seat, but even wine to him, Eugeo silently surveyed the room in detail. He could see that there wasn’t anyone aside from the three of them in the room despite how dim it was.

Did Ronye and Tiezé not come here, or have they already left? If that was the case, why did they not come to Kirito’s and Eugeo’s room on the same floor— Several questions ran through his mind, but Eugeo first loosened the tension in his shoulders and lightly shook his head.

“No, I don’t drink. Rather than that, Swordsman-in-training Zizek-dono…”

Taking a step forward, he asked a question while picking his words with care.

“This may be abrupt, but have the novice trainees, my valet, Tiezé Shtolienen, and Swordsman-in-training Kirito’s valet, Ronye Arabel, visited this room this very day?”

The one who responded to Eugeo’s cracked voice was not Humbert, but Raios Antinous, who continued facing him with his back. He looked over his shoulder while carrying the glass with his left hand, looking at Eugeo closely with narrowed eyes.

“…Swordsman-in-training Eugeo-dono, your face appears unwell. How about it, have a glass?”

“Your consideration is unnecessary. Could I have you answer the question?”

“Fufu, what a pity. It truly is the bare minimum level of consideration I should treat a friend with, you know?”

Eugeo noticed the sweat dripping down his left hand as it tightly held the sword’s scabbard. Raios looked over Eugeo as though taking his state as an appetizer to go with the wine and licked the glass before returning it to the table.

“Fmm. …So those two were Eugeo-dono’s and Kirito-dono’s valets?”

Upon saying so in his viscid tone, he licked up the drops that remained on his lips with the tip of his tongue.

“They certainly were brave novice trainees, to suddenly request for a meeting with the head as well as the second-ranked elite swordsmen-in-training who stand above all of the students. As expected of the valets belonging to the two of you. However, you should take care. That assertiveness could be impolite at times, and disrespectful at others. Don’t you think so too, Swordsman-in-training Eugeo-dono? …No, I might have spoken out of turn. I suppose it’s too much to ask for the etiquette of a noble from Eugeo-dono, isn’t it, fufu, fufufu…”

As expected, Tiezé and Ronye did come here.

Holding back the impulse to grab hold of the nape of that long garment Raios was wearing, Eugeo asked in a strained tone.

“Kindly spare me your opinion until another day. Tell me where are Tiezé and Ronye right now.”

Upon doing so, it was Humbert’s turn to pour the grape wine and speak this time, as though he was annoyed.

“…Eugeo-dono, is the burden not too hard on you? A woodcutter from the outskirts like you guiding the daughter of a noble house, though she may be of the lowest class? Kukuku, that’s right… it’s due to your lack of guidance that those two treated me, the eldest son of a fourth class noble family, with such lack of respect, Eugeo-dono. As such, I had to fulfill my noble responsibilities despite my complete reluctance to do so. It is the duty of the upper class aristocrats to keep the lower class aristocrats in check, after all.”

“Humbert-dono…! Just what…”

-did you do; Eugeo wanted to argue, but he was restrained by Humbert with his left hand, who then drank up what was in the glass in a single gulp and stood up. Following that, Raios got up as well, before the both of them took a few steps to the eastern side of the room.

The sons of upper class nobles stood in a line and exchanged glances with their mouths twisted into the same venomous smile, the resemblance of that making them seem like brothers.

“…Now then, shall we have Eugeo-dono enjoy the finest act of the day, Raios-dono?”

“Yes, Humbert. There is still one lacking in the audience, but I’ve gotten rather tired of waiting. It’s fine, he will probably come running up before long.”

“…Act… tired of waiting…?”

At Eugeo showing his surprise once again, Humbert visibly jerked his long and narrow chin. The two fluttered the hems of their long garments, walking towards the bedroom in the west. Eugeo reluctantly chased after them with uncertain steps.

Beyond the door Humbert opened was a dense darkness filled with a suffocating amount of aromatic smoke. Raios first entered and Humbert followed behind, disappearing into the darkness.

Seeing the light purple smoke leaking out as though it was lurking about the bed, Eugeo stopped in his tracks. He felt like that smoke should not exist in this Master Swords Academy—no, in this entire, vast Human World; it was a smoke of pure evil. More so than the smoke from the bonfire built by those abominable residents of darkness—that group of goblins he encountered underground in the mountain range at the edge two years ago.

It was when he was about to involuntarily turn his head away. He thought he could faintly smell a slight, cool and clean scent drifting around. A familiar smell that closely resembled that of solbe leaves.

It was the smell around Tiezé’s uniform.

“……Tiezé… Ronye…!”

While calling out the valet trainees’ names, the wall lamp lit up the instant he rushed into the bedroom.

What Eugeo saw—were the two girls lying down in a line on a large canopy bed. No, to be more specific, they were rolled there. After all, both of them were bound up with several layers of a bright red rope atop their grey novice trainee uniforms. Perhaps due to the dense aroma drifting in the air, those red and brown eyes stayed still, staring blankly into space, as if half of their consciousness was in disarray.

“Wha… wh-why did…”

As he murmured in astonishment, Eugeo realized he should free the two of their bonds before anything else and ran up to the bed. However-

“Please, do not move!”

Shouting out sharply, Raios extended his palm right in front of Eugeo’s eyes. Reluctantly shifting his vision to him, Eugeo wringed his hoarse voice out.

“Wh… What exactly is this, Raios-dono! Why have our valets been subjected to…”

“This treatment was unavoidable, Eugeo-dono.”

“Unavoid… able…?”

“Affirmative. Novice Trainees Shtolienen and Arabel visited this evening without even a prior enquiry for a meeting and furthermore, committed an act of excessive disrespect upon us.”

“Disrespect… you say……”

With Eugeo surprised yet again, Humbert stepped forward from the wall and answered with a broad grin.

“And it was in an outrageous manner of speech. I wish you could have heard them… of all things, those lower class noble girls had to tell me about how I, a fourth class aristocrat, had been oppressing my own valet without any reason, satisfying my own lust and such. To me, the second-rank elite swordsman-in-training who has been trying to guide Frenica on the right path, you know? —No matter how tolerant I may be, I certainly couldn’t overlook an act of disrespect of that level.”

“That wasn’t all to it, Eugeo-dono. Those two even told me about the responsibility I held for being in the same room as Humbert, and such things that couldn’t be further away from the truth. When I answered that I had no idea what they were talking about, it was such a surprise… to think the daughters of sixth class noble families would try to ask the eldest son of a third class noble family like myself, ‘Don’t you have the pride of a noble?’! Dear me, I didn’t know what I was to do.”

Raios and Humbert exchanged glances again at that point, stifled laughter escaping from them going, kukuku, or, fufufu. They knew the valet, Frenica, was on good terms with Tiezé and Ronye, then continued the abuse and humiliation due to that. Until Tiezé and Ronye arrived in this room to protest directly.

Of course, they probably picked their words carefully at first. However, they were definitely provoked by Raios’s and Humbert’s evasive way of speaking before finally letting out some words that could be considered as disrespectful behavior.

——However.

“…But, Raios-dono. Even if that really happened… I do believe that tying them up with a rope and locking them away in your bedroom greatly deviates from the swordsmen-in-training’s punishment authority…!”

Restraining his feelings from bursting out as well this time, Eugeo pointed that out.

Tiezé and Ronye seemed to be only bound above their uniform, without any injuries on their bodies. But the academy regulations recognized only three kinds of punishments against trainees with disrespectful behavior; cleaning, practice and a duel. It was clear that binding with a rope went under none of those. In other words, Raios’s and Humbert’s actions were against the academy regulations—

“Swordsmen-in-training’s punishment authority?”

Abruptly muttering so, Raios bended his tall figure and closed in to Eugeo’s face.

“Since when did I say that I used a privilege used to deceive little kids like the punishment authority?”

“Wh… What do you mean? The specifics on punishments for acts of disrespect from trainees are strictly noted in the academy regulations…”

“That would be your misunderstanding. Did you forget this note in the academy regulations? —That in addition, provisions from any superior laws will take precedence regarding all of the punishments.”

Raios suddenly changed his facial expression then. Excessively raising the two ends of his red lips, a sadistic smile never seen before showed itself.

“Those superior laws would be the Taboo Index and the Empire Fundamental Law. As such, I am unable to reduce the Life of those girls one-sidedly. The rope used is a high-quality item made from the easily stretchable silk of the east region, you see… it’s an excellent item that won’t cause any injury no matter how hard I tie them.”

“B-But! No matter how high-quality the rope might be, the punishment of tying students up with it is…”

“Do you still not understand, Swordsman-in-training Eugeo-dono? Superior laws will take precedence; in other words… what I, the eldest son of a third class noble family, could exercise on those daughters of sixth class noble families is not the swordsmen-in-training’s punishment authority, but the authority to judge of the nobles!”

—Authority to judge, of the nobles.

The instant he heard that phrase, Eugeo recalled Tiezé’s words from the time they played at the forest the other day.

The nobles’ authority to judge was bestowed upon aristocrats of the fourth class and above, while those from the fifth class and below were the targets of those judgements instead…

As if enjoying Eugeo’s dumbfounded facial expression, Raios kept silent for a while but soon swung his two arms apart with a much louder cry, an action like that of a play.

“And that authority to judge is the highest privilege of the upper class nobles! It may only be exercised upon fifth and sixth class aristocrats and their families, as well as those commoners who live on my land, but the specifics of the punishment are mine to decide! Certainly, those may not go against the Taboo Index, but if you turn it around, everything is possible as long as it’s not a taboo!”

After hearing that much, Eugeo finally recovered from his shock and opened his mouth.

“But… but still! Even if you say everything is possible, isn’t tying up fifteen and sixteen year old girls simply too horrible…”

“Haha… hahaha, hahahahaha!!”

Suddenly, Humbert raised his shrill laughter. Disheveling the hem of his yellow long garment, he continued sneering as his body shivered.

“Hahaha, th-this is a masterpiece, Raios-dono! It looks like Swordsman-in-training Eugeo-dono still believes that our judgement was merely playing with that rope!”

“Ku-kuh, it can’t be helped, Humbert. Even if he came to this faraway central from his remote mountain village, he’s still a commoner as a swordsman-in-training! Well, today will probably be the day for Eugeo-dono to find out… just what exalted presences we are, as upper class nobles!”

Declaring so, Raios turned about—

Upon walking up to the bed Tiezé and Ronye laid on, he placed his knee onto the sheets without any hesitation. The bedframe creaked and Tiezé, still stuck in a haze, endlessly blinked her eyes.

Those red eyes slowly opened, and caught sight of Raios about to stretch over herself. In that instant, a delicate voice shook the bedroom.

“No… No…!”

Distorting her body, she tried to escape, but could not as both her arms and legs were bound. Raios’s moist, naked white hand reached out and caressed Tiezé’s cheeks.

At his side, Humbert who followed after him onto the bed was creeping his hand across Ronye’s legs. Though being the later to awaken, Ronye understood the situation and a wordless shriek escaped her lips.

Eugeo finally understood the contents of the «judgement» happening a mere three mel ahead of him.

Raios and Humbert were disgracing Tiezé’s and Ronye’s bodies with their own. They were forcing an act, allowed only between a man and woman who got married under the blessing of Stacia—or so Eugeo believed, under the nobles’ authority to judge.

The moment he understood, Eugeo cried out.

“Stop it…!!”

It happened the moment he took a step towards the bed. Raising his face swiftly, Raios had a fiery gleam in his eyes as he shouted.

“Do not move, commoner!!”

With his right hand still teasing Tiezé’s face, he pointed at Eugeo’s face with his left.

“This is the just and solemn judgement of a noble in accordance to the Empire Fundamental Law as well as the Taboo Index! Also, obstruction of the authority to judge is a serious crime! Move another step from where you are and you’ll be branded a criminal who broke the law!”

“Who…”

the heck cares about that!

Get away from Tiezé and Ronye!

Eugeo tried to shout thus. He tried to do so while lunging at Raios. However.

His feet suddenly stopped by themselves as though they were nailed to the floor. The excess momentum made him fall onto his knees. He flustered as he tried to get up, but his legs paid him no heed.

Those words from Raios, “criminal who broke the law”, continued echoing endlessly in his mind. Who cares about the law, I have to help Tiezé and Ronye even if I become a criminal. Eugeo indeed thought that, but he could hear a voice that didn’t belong to him coming from somewhere.

The Axiom Church was absolute. The Taboo Index was absolute. Going against it was forbidden. Forbidden whoever it was.

“Gu… h…!!”

He gritted his teeth and raised his right foot in defiance of that voice. Those familiar leather boots—even the feet inside of them were heavy as though they’ve turned to lumps of lead. Taking fleeting glances at Eugeo in that state, Raios jeered in a whisper.

“That’s right, just look from over there like a good little boy.”

“U… ugh…”

He managed to tread onto the floorboards with his unheeding right foot after all his efforts, but he couldn’t lift himself up any further. Even while he tried, Raios’s and Humbert’s filthy hands were reaching out towards Tizel and Ronye.

“——Senpai.”

Hearing that feeble voice, Eugeo merely shifted his sight.

Upon doing so, Tiezé, who was being pressed down by Raios, turned only her head to the side and looked straight at Eugeo. Those cheeks, that were always red like apples, were a deep blue, perhaps due to the overwhelming fear but the gleam of a strong determination had returned to her eyes.

“Senpai, don’t move. There’s no need to worry about me… this is, a punishment I, should be taking.”

Those broken, quivering words were firmly asserted by Tiezé and she returned back to looking straight up after a single nod. After glaring at Raios for an instant, she closed her eyes tightly. Beside her, Ronye was pressing her face into Tiezé’s shoulder, but there was no screams coming out of her anymore.

Facing the girls’ determination, Raios drew his body back as if he was a little surprised—

Before a toxic smile showed itself on his face and he whispered.

“You got quite a tenacity for the young daughter of a sixth class noble family, don’t you. Looks like we can really enjoy seeing how much they can hold out, huh, Humbert.”

“Then shall we have a competition to see which cries out first, Raios-dono?”

The faces of those two, from which lines that didn’t contain a shred of the pride of nobles came out, were so full of arousal and lust that they practically gleamed.

It was a somewhat familiar expression. While trying his best to get his unmoving foot forward, Eugeo thought with his partially numb mind. That was, right, the face on those goblins he saw in that northern cave two years ago. They were exactly like those residents of the land of darkness that he and Kirito chopped up with machetes.

Raios and Humbert reached their hands out towards Tiezé’s and Ronye’s faces at the same time and crept their fingertips across their foreheads and cheeks as if to stir up their fear and shame further. The only reason why they deftly avoided the lips was due to the restriction against direct contact on the lips before taking the vows of marriage. However—while establishing that as a taboo, what sort of law was one that allowed a girl to be defiled through brute force before marriage? What significance does a law like that have in its existence?

Twitch.

Suddenly, a sharp pain ran, deep within his right eye. That strange pain that occurred sometimes, when he bore doubts about the law and church.

Normally, he would automatically stop his thoughts whenever he felt this pain. But now, just this one time, Eugeo continued thinking while cowering unsightly on the floor.

Each and every law or taboo should exist for the sake of allowing all of those living in the Human World to pass their days in happiness. You must not steal. You must not hurt. And, you must not defy the Axiom Church. It was when all people followed that, that the world would maintain its peace.

However, if that was so, why were all of those laws full of «prohibitions»? That countless number of prohibition clauses listed down, extending over hundreds of pages, wasn’t needed; wouldn’t this be all that had to be written? Everyone should appreciate, pay their respects and possess a benevolent heart　towards everyone. If only that single sentence was written down in the Taboo Index, something like Raios and Humbert luring Tiezé and Ronye into a trap and toying with them wouldn’t happen.

In other words, it was impossible. Even through the authority of the Church, it was not possible for all of mankind to hold only virtues. After all… after all…

Humans were existences that held both good and evil from the start.

The Taboo Index held back no more than a mere, single portion of human evil. That was why Raios and Humbert could stain those innocent girls by slipping through the coarse stitches of the law, no, in a sense, they were doing so while in accordance with the law. And, Eugeo already held no such authority that could obstruct that. Now, at this very moment, the law was permitting Raios’s actions and prohibiting Eugeo’s.

As if they had already forgotten about Eugeo’s existence, the upper class nobles were looking over the girls’ bodies with blazing bright eyes as they pulled them up. Exposing the front of their long garments, they hung over those two to perform that final deed at last.

The moment they felt the males approaching, Tiezé’s and Ronye’s faces distorted with several times the dread and disgust they’ve felt until then. They flung their heads left and right furiously like they were imploring, but Raios and Humbert slowly, slowly brought their bodies closer as if they were enjoying that act itself.

Finally, a thin voice escaped from Ronye’s voice once again.

“N-No… No… No……!”

Tiezé likely reached her limit with her close friend’s crying voice. Large drops of tears and a scream overflowed from her at the same time.

“No… save us… save us, Eugeo-senpai! Eugeo-senpai—!”

A law that dealt a punishment this harsh to Tiezé and Ronye who mustered their courage to act for their friend, Frenica.

A law that did not stop the plan to lure the girls into a trap thought up by Raios and Humbert who were getting rid of their chastity this very moment.

If following such a law would be considered good.

“I……”

Eugeo put his all into lifting up his body which felt heavy as though everything from his feet to his head had turned to lead, and reached his right hand out to the hilt of the Blue Rose Sword gripped by his left hand. His right eye had went past pain and became a scorching hot mass before he knew it, painting his vision red, but he ignored it and tightly grasped the hilt with force.

The instant Eugeo draws the sword with its sharp steel blade, he would probably lose all that he had achieved in this academy. His position as the fifth elite swordsman-in-training, his place in the academy, even his goal to participate in the Swordsmanship Tournament as the academy’s representative swordsman.

But if he merely looked on at Raios’s actions at this very moment here, he would definitely lose something important. The pride of a swordsman… no, his own heart itself.

When they were enjoying themselves in the forest the day before yesterday, Kirito said this. That there were things that must be done even if prohibited by the law. Something more important than the law, the taboo, the Axiom Church.

He had finally understood after this long. Why Alice had ended up touching the ground in the land of darkness eight years ago.

There was no mistake that Alice was trying to help the Darkness Knight who was on the verge of death after getting pierced through the chest by the integrity knight at that time. For what was inside of herself: that important something.

And now, Eugeo’s turn was here. What exactly that important something was, wasn’t what he could put into words—though to many people living in the Human World, that might just be «evil».

“But…… I!”

With a wordless shout, Eugeo drew the Blue Rose Sword from its scabbard.

However.

Clank; as if the sword and its scabbard, no, his entire arm was buried in ice, the motion of his right hand suddenly froze. At the same time, a tremendous, intense pain penetrated the core of his head from his right eye. Sparks scattered across his vision dyed bright red, his consciousness leapt away.

……What… is this.

……No, this is…… the same, as that time.

Eight years ago. The time he tried to help Alice who was being taken away by the integrity knight in the plaza before the church in Rulid; it was exactly the same.

With the sword still drawn out a mere few millice, Eugeo couldn’t move. His voice couldn’t come out either.

As if his two legs had grown roots spreading deep into the ground, he couldn’t even make the slightest motion.

Raios and Humbert turned to look at him, perhaps having noticed the abnormality, and made broad sneers at Eugeo’s unsightly, frozen state, still gripping onto his sword.

Slowing down their pace further, they moved their waists closer to Tiezé and Ronye shouting away in their crying voices, as if they were showing off.

In front of them, Eugeo saw a strange mark.

It was in the middle of his vision dyed in pale red. Shining in the color of blood, multiple sacred letters lined up into a circle, rotating towards the right. It should be read as [SYSTEM ALERT:CODE871], but he did not understand it at all.

However, Eugeo’s instincts told him. This was some sort of «seal». A seal applied deep within his right eye hindering his movements and enforcing his compliance to the law that time eight years back, and now as well. Due to this, he couldn’t do anything aside from looking on as Alice was taken away.

“U… gu… oo…!”

Holding onto his vanishing consciousness with all he had, Eugeo stared at the deep crimson seal. And, on its other side, Raios and Humbert who were truly going to penetrate the girls’ bodies.

Unforgivable. Definitely unforgivable. Turning the resentment he held for those two into strength, he moved his right arm. Inside the scabbard, the blade slid through bit by bit. The sacred letters in his sight steadily enlarged in proportion to that, with their rotation rate speeding up as well.

“N-Noooo——! Senpai——!!”

Tiezé shouted-

“U… oooaaaa———!!”

And Eugeo screamed as well; that was when it happened.

With explosions of silver light at his right eye, the eyeball itself popped out from inside with a splattering sensation.

His vision degenerated to half of what it was, but Eugeo still ignored it and savagely slid the Blue Rose Sword out of its scabbard. Before it was completely drawn, the blade already carried a blue radiance.

Aincrad-style secret move, Horizontal.

Perhaps perceiving the single hit that resembled thunder at the edge of his vision, Raios barely dodged below it. His flowing blonde hair touched its edge and scattered away.

However, Humbert was deeper inside and it was too late before he noticed Eugeo’s movement. The moment he stopped his body that was on the verge of penetrating Ronye and sluggishly turned towards the left, his two eyes opened up widely.

“Eek……”

With that short shriek, the Blue Rose Sword hit near the elbow on his left arm that he instinctively put up as if the sword was attracted to it.

There was no substantial resistance. However, Humbert’s left arm was sliced into two halves and flew into the air as it spun about, falling onto the extravagant carpet.

No one made any sign of either moving or talking for a while. With his sword swung straight ahead all the way, Eugeo felt the pain that still remained where his right eye should not exist anymore.

Eventually—

A large amount of blood spouted out from the severed portion of Humbert’s left arm that was raised up high with a spraying sound. Most of it fell onto the lustrous sheets, but one bit of it rained onto the left of Eugeo’s body, creating black specks on his indigo blue uniform.

“No… aah… aaaaah——!?”

Following that, a shrill scream surged out from Humbert’s throat. His eyes and mouth opened widely, his sight was fixed onto the blood flowing profusely out from his own arm.

“M.. my… my arm’s…! Blood… so much blood…!! My Life… my Life is droppingggg!!”

That was when he finally grasped the severed part with his right hand, but the blood didn’t stop with merely that. While the red fluid spilled onto the sheets in drops, he slid up towards Raios at his immediate left.

“Ra-Raios-donoo! Sacred arts! No, normal arts won’t make it anymore… please, please share your Life with me…!!”

The bloodstained right hand reached out as though it wanted to cling onto Raios—but he smoothly slipped away and got off the bed. It appeared Tiezé and Ronye were still in a daze over what had happened, as they lay on the sheets with a blank expression.

“Raios-dono, your Lifeee!”

Raios looked towards Humbert, still shouting away, with eyes containing both surprise and apathy and spoke.

“…Stop that commotion, Humbert. You won’t lose all of your Life with just a single arm falling off… or so I read in some book. Wrap it up in those silk strings and stop the flow of blood.”

“N-No way…”

“Rather—did you see, Humbert?”

Taking his sight away from Humbert who was coiling two ropes, used to bind Ronye’s and Tiezé’s legs, onto the wound with a frantic look, Raios looked down at Eugeo who was crouching, having completed the swing of his sword. The tip of his tongue licked over those much crooked lips countless times.

“What cut and blew away your arm was that bumpkin’s sword. Magnificent… this is… the first time I’ve seen someone commit a taboo. I was expecting nothing more than an act of disrespect, but… to think he would violate the Taboo Index of all things!! This is truly magnificent!!”

Turning around with his front still exposed, Raios walked up to the wall opposite of the bed. He withdrew a large long sword from a scabbard of red leather hung from there.

“The authority to judge was to be used only on lower class nobles and those who live in my domain, but… that restriction does not matter against someone who committed such a grave taboo!”

While shouting with a voice that seemed even more excited than earlier, when he was assaulting Tiezé, the sword scraped as it was drawn from its scabbard. He brandished the silver blade that shone like a mirror high above his head with his right hand.

Outside the window, a noticeably fervid peal of thunder roared. The violet light glanced off the blade, getting into Eugeo’s left eye. Raios Antinous will judge Eugeo with that sword… in other words, he clearly intended to murder him. However, Eugeo made no movement. Even though he violated the Taboo Index and got his right eye blown away by an unknown seal, the shock from the act of slicing Humbert with his sword was too much for him and he couldn’t hold his sword properly, or even make the slightest motion at all.

“Kuh, kukuku… What a pity, Swordsman-in-training Eugeo-dono. And I was looking forward to crossing swords with you in the official match next month too. I certainly didn’t think I would be saying farewell to you in this manner.”

Speaking in a voice mixed with insane joy, Raios took one step, two steps closer.

Eugeo looked up at the sword held high above through his misty left eye.

I can’t die here; even as that thought ran through his mind, he heard a defeated voice as well; I’ll die if I don’t move. The dream of becoming an integrity knight and going to meet Alice would disappear forever. His beloved sword would take in the blood of humans and Eugeo will become a villainous criminal. But still, he was able to help Tiezé and Ronye in the end at least. Raios and Humbert shouldn’t be assaulting those girls any further. Hence—even within this terrible crime he had committed, there was a fragment of relief.

“Kuh, kuku… It’s the first time taking off a human’s neck with a real sword, even for me. No, even my father or uncle shouldn’t have done it. With this, I’ll get even stronger… much more than even that aloof heir of the Levanteinn family.”

Raios’s sword and face glowed white once more and the roar of a crack of thunder followed that. Even Humbert, hugging onto his left arm, opened his eyes wide as though he forgot the pain of his wound for the moment while Tiezé, still bound on the bed, tried her all to voice something out.

Eugeo returned a small smile to the novice trainee who worked hard serving him as his valet, though it was merely for a single month, and bowed down his head.

“Swordsman-in-training Eugeo; no, Criminal Eugeo!! This eldest son of a third class noble family, Raios Antinous, will now execute thou through the nobles’ judgement authority!! Offer all of your Life to God… and atone for your crime!!”

Raios Antinous shouted out loud and his sword followed as it growled—

Clink! He heard the noise of a heavy collision. The blade did not come for his head no matter how long he waited. Eugeo slowly raised his head, and then, he saw.

Below Raios’s sword, swung half the way downwards, was another… long sword with a jet-black blade stopping its advance. The sleeve that covered the arm extended fully from behind too, was black. The hair drenched in rain of the intruder likewise—was black.

“Kiri… to……”

Upon Eugeo saying his name, his partner, who should have went to the novice trainees’ dormitory to look for Tiezé and Ronye, gave a faint nod while moving only his lips to whisper “Sorry”. Shifting his sight back to the front, he spoke in a solemn voice.

“Take away your sword, Raios. I won’t let you hurt Eugeo.”

With that, Raios’s mouth warped in animosity for a moment, but returned to a smile all at once and answered.

“So you’ve finally arrived, Swordsman-in-training Kirito. However… you’re a little too late! That bumpkin over there is no longer a student of this academy, or even a subject of this empire for that matter. He’s a heinous criminal who disobeyed the Taboo Index! Hence, I—Raios Antinous, the eldest son of a third class noble family and the head elite swordsman-in-training, have the authority to judge over that crime. Back off and look on from there… as this criminal’s head falls like a flower of the past!!”

At Raios’s long-winded speech, Kirito responded with words much shorter, but held several times more weight.

“Like I care about taboos or the nobles’ authority to judge.”

Without any attempts to wipe off the drops of rain trickling down his hair, he glared Raios with shining eyes set aflame.

“Eugeo’s my best friend. And you’re a piece of garbage worse than even the goblins from the land of darkness.”

Upon hearing that, Raios’s face was first dyed in fright, then hatred, before finally filled with a sadistic joy.

“Dear me. ——Oh my, this is such a surprise! To think the fellow bumpkins from the outskirts would commit the crime of high treason, hand in hand! With this, I will be able to deal with both of you all together. This is such a fortunate day… this must truly be the guidance of Stacia!!”

Pulling back the crossed sword swiftly, he got back into the upper-level posture. But this time, he was holding on to the lengthy grip with both hands. He halved his stance with his sloppy long garment fluttering, lowering his waist, and the blade shone in a red mixed with blackish tinges. High Norkia-style secret move, «Heavenly Mountain Rending Wave».

The instant he saw that stance, Eugeo instinctively tried to get up.

Kirito dueled the previous head swordsman-in-training, Uolo Levanteinn, two and a half months ago and destroyed his Heavenly Mountain Rending Wave with the Aincrad-style four-hit consecutive skill, «Vertical Square». However, the ominous spirit being let out by Raios’s secret move far exceeded Uolo’s. It was likely that he could hardly hope to match Uolo in terms of skill, but his «pride as a noble» had swelled to its utmost limit, bestowing power upon his sword.

It’ll be dangerous by yourself even if it’s you, Kirito; Eugeo tried his best to rouse his body, but he could gather no power in his legs at all.

But his partner then gently grasped Eugeo’s right shoulder with his left hand. “It’s alright”, Kirito deeply whispered and made Eugeo fall back to the left wall, before gripping onto the handle of the black sword with both hands like Raios.

His consciousness was half covered in haze, but still, Eugeo was startled and opened his left eye. The Aincrad-style should have been identical to the Zakkaria-style in how most of the skills were for single wield. Especially for the secret moves, of which none can be activated with a two-handed weapon. In the first place, the grips for Kirito’s black sword and Eugeo’s Blue Rose Blue were much too short for both hands to hold—

“……!!”

Just as he thought so, Eugeo was rammed by an even greater shock and swallowed his breath.

While letting out a repetitive clinking sound, the black sword’s grip that Kirito held onto stretched longer, even if it was just a little. No, it wasn’t merely the grip. The blade itself was growing in both width and length as well. It wasn’t at the level of Raios’s large sword, but it was already longer than the Blue Rose Sword by five or six cen now.

Kirito held the black sword that increased in size with his two hands at the right of his waist. The sword made the air tremble as it gleamed green like jade. That skill was not from the Aincrad-style. He had seen it countless times in the official matches of the previous year—the Serlut-style secret move, «Whirl Current».

“Kuh, kufufu… that sham of a skill made in desperation, huh! I’ll crush some substitute like that with my secret move!!”

“Come, Raios! I’ll pay back everything I owe you!!”

Both of their fighting spirit howled and painted the bedroom, which couldn’t be said to be very wide, red and green.

Humbert who was cowering on the floor and now up on the bed, Tiezé and Ronye who were motionlessly stuck on each other, and Eugeo who propped himself up on one knee by the wall; all of them stared at the two swordsmen facing off.

If it wasn’t for today, it wouldn’t be odd to see these elite swordsmen-in-training in the finals of the official match the coming month—they moved at the same time, with the next crack of thunder.

“Keaaaaaa!!”

Along with that shrill war cry, Raios swung his sword straight down.

“Seyaa!!”

With that short scream, Kirito slashed diagonally upwards with his sword.

The two swords clashed as the red and green grappled with each other, the resulting impact made the floorboards tremor while the glass windows cracked and broke towards the outside. As he stared at the black and silver blades struggling where they collided, Eugeo finally understood why did Kirito not use the Aincrad-style.

Single wield skills, that fall behind in pressure even if they excel in speed, could not defend against the two-handed skills of the High Norkia-style in a single strike. The skill would have to connect two or three hits while jumping back and warding off the force at the time of the collision, but that would not be possible in this bedroom, far narrower than the practice arena. It would likely be different if it was the living room next door at least, but Kirito could only fight here to protect Eugeo who couldn’t move from Raios’s depraved blade. That was why Kirito did not use the Aincrad-style, but let out Whirl Current from the two-handed skills of the Serlut-style instead.

“Ki… Kirito…!!”

At the same time Eugeo forced his partner’s name out of his dry, rough throat, Kirito left shoulder slumped down. While releasing a creaking, grating noise, the black sword was driven back. Raios’s eyes and mouth were upturned until they could be raised no more and a completely high-pitched scream gushed out of him.

“How’s that… how’s that!! You load of bastards without family names!! There is no way this Raios Antinous-sama could be defeated!! Even if you could make dead flowers bloom again with some suspicious technique, those deceptions will not work on my sworddddd——!!”

Raios’s fighting spirit had turned from red to dusky black unnoticed and that covered not only the blade, but his body as well, starting from his arm, ruffling his long garment and blonde hair violently. Kirito’s sword was pushed back close to where it started and its emerald spirit swayed unsteadily.

“Kiri……”

When he was about to call out his partner’s name again, Eugeo suddenly noticed.

Whirl Current pushed back by the Heavenly Mountain Rending Wave. He had seen this exact same scene a short time ago.

That was during the finals of the last official match for the previous elite swordsmen-in-training, in the third month of this year. Sortiliena-senpai was pushed onto one knee by the mighty sword of the head, Uolo, just like how Kirito was right now… but this was when——

“U… ooo!!”

Kirito roared once again. A vivid jade radiance welled out from the black sword, dying the room in its color. The second hit of a single-hit secret move. The bold move from Liena-senpai that defeated Uolo at the end of ends.

Normally, the various secret moves would stop if their forms were broken. However, only in the situation that it were to return on the proper trajectory of its slash, could it be held on for much longer. Having noticed that in the duel between Kirito and Uolo, Liena-senpai mastered it in a mere half month. The second hit of the Serlut-style secret move, Whirl Current.

Kirito was Liena-senpai’s valet, but as she graduated right after the official match, he should not have had the time to learn this skill directly from her. In other words, Kirito must have made his master’s skill his own after seeing it once as well.

This truly was how the relationship between the swordsman-in-training and the valet trainee should be.

And this truly was the essence behind the sword.

Tears flowed from Eugeo’s left eye. These were the tears from being overly touched by a magnificently performed skill and the regret of not having studied the sword much more. In the middle of his blurred vision the Whirl Current let out once again by Kirito split Raios’s sword into perfect halves—

The two arms of the head elite swordsman-in-training were severed and blown away a little before where the wrists were.

 
Thrown away behind and landing on his backside onto the carpet, Raios stared at the bottom half of his own long sword and the two hands that held its grip, rolling a short distance away, with a curious look.

Before long, he turned his sight to his own two arms. The white arms extended from the bright red long garment were cleanly severed before the elbows. A large amount of fresh blood suddenly gushed out from the smooth cuts, dying Raios’s chest and stomach in the same red as his long garment.

“N… N… Nooooooooo——!!”

With his two eyes and mouth opened as wide as they could, Raios screamed in a shrill voice.

“M… my arm!! My arms’ss!! Blood, there’s blood!!”

It seems Raios, who told Humbert to “stop his commotion and stop the flow of blood” when his left arm was sliced by Eugeo, could not keep his calm when he suffered the same fate. His widely opened eyes fluctuating from place to place as he looked around himself, the moment he spotted Humbert cowering a short distance away, he sidled up to him on his knees.

“Humbeeeeert!! Blood!! Stop my blood!! Untie your strings and tie my wound!!”

It appeared that even Humbert, who usually acted as though he was Raios’s follower, could not obey that order as expected. While hugging onto his own left arm wrapped up in the red silk strings, he kept shaking his head bit by bit.

“N-No! I-If this is untied, my Life will drop!!”

“What did you say?! Humbe—rt, you want my Life to……”

However, Raios got his voice cut off there.

The two strands of silk string, originally used to bind Tiezé and Ronye, were now being used to stop the flow of blood from Humbert’s left arm. Both of those strings must be used if the blood from Raios’s two arms were to be stopped. However, with the wound itself yet to be healed, blood would flow again if the strings were untied from Humbert and his Life would begin to drop once more. Reducing another’s Life without a justifiable reason or agreement—that was a clear violation of the Taboo Index.

“But… my blood’s… Humbert, you… taboo… however… my Life……”

Raios recited incoherent words in a hysterical voice. His line of sight restlessly switched from the blood still flowing from his own wounds and the silk strings wrapped around Humbert’s wound.

Raios Antinous, the successor to a third class noble family, was now forced into a situation where he had to choose between «his own life» and «the Taboo Index». To the gigantic mass of pride that he was, his own life must be countless times more important. However, at the same time, he could not go against the absolute law, the Taboo Index. If he were to do that, he would become a heinous criminal, just like Eugeo who he himself tried to decapitate.

“Aaaah… taboo… life… bloodd… tabooooo……”

The one who approached Raios, still continuing his screams, was Kirito.

Coming to a stop two mel before him, he first reached out to Tiezé and Ronye who were huddling into each other atop the bed with his hands. He touched their shoulders as if to assure them and after a nod, he untied the string binding Ronye’s upper body. He must have planned to stop Raios’s blood with that, but the knot wasn’t easily untied. Even while that happened, the frenzy that the head swordsman-in-training was in amplified in intensity.

“Blood… taboo… li… ta… rif… da……!”

It was when Raios threw his entire body back as incomprehensible words leaked out from him that Kirito took a step towards him with the string he finally gotten untied—that was when it happened.

“Life, daboo, rife, daboo, di, d-d-dedede-”

Raios’s voice sounded out with a tinge of peculiarity. It felt more like the cry of a beast rather than human speech, or the strange noise emitted by a tool that was already broken.

“D-D-De, de, dei, del, deldeldel, deldeldeldeldel————”

Abruptly, the noise ceased.

Raios Antinous fell straight backwards and landed with a thump. Blood remained flowing from the wounds on his two arms, so that would mean that he should still have Life remaining, but Eugeo intuitively understood Raios was living no longer.

Even Kirito was frozen with a facial expression showing fright as expected, while both Tiezé and Ronye, who was trying to untie the rope that bound her, opened their eyes wide—while that happened, Humbert timidly approached Raios and looked into his thrown back face.

“E-Eek!!”

A scream filled with fear immediately welled out of him.

“Ra-Ra-Raios-dono’s… h-h-he’s dead…! Y-Y-You… you killed him, you killed him!! Murderer… y-you monster… monster…!!”

Crawling away from Kirito and getting up with both knees trembling away, he fell out into the living room. It seems he rushed out into the corridor like that, as the footsteps and screams vanished towards the staircase.

Eugeo already had no idea of what would happen and what he should be doing from now on. Too much had happened in succession and he even thought of the right eye that popped out as a trivial issue.

For the time being, he returned the Blue Rose Sword still held in his right hand back to its scabbard and somehow got on his feet.

He first exchanged glances with Kirito and after a single, silent nod, he took one, two steps towards Tiezé who still sat on the bed.

But he stopped his feet there. Thinking about it, Eugeo was now a criminal who went against the Taboo Index and sliced apart Humbert’s arm. To a girl who lived for merely sixteen years, he must be the same as Raios… or perhaps, his existence might even be several times as abominable.

Not even able to look at Tiezé’s face any longer, Eugeo lowered his own and tried to draw back.

But before he could do so, a small figure flew into his chest with a thump.

The messed up red hair strongly pushed against Eugeo’s uniform. Simultaneously, a harsh voice struck his earlobes.

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry, Eugeo-senpai… It’s… it’s because of me that…!”

Eugeo reacted by vehemently shaking his head, then interrupted Tiezé’s speech.

“That’s not it, it’s not your fault, Tiezé. I… I didn’t think through it enough. You aren’t at fault for any of it, Tiezé.”

“B-But… but…!”

“It’s fine, both you and Ronye ended up unharmed. I have to apologize too… sorry for making you go through all those scary things.”

When he said that and stroked the autumn-colored hair awkwardly, Tiezé begun to sob even harder. Ronye was pushing her face into Kirito’s chest while crying as well, at his side. Moving his line of sight upwards, his partner gave a slight nod when their eyes met.

It happened when Eugeo tried to nod in return. Kirito’s face twitched into a grimace as though someone pulled onto his hair. His eyes darted left and right and looked up at the ceiling next.

Those black eyes suddenly opened wide, so Eugeo traced their sight. And—he saw that.

Near the northeast corner on the bedroom’s ceiling, something that looked like a violet board was hovering. It resembled the «Stacia Window» greatly, but was much larger, not to mention round. And from deep inside that, someone was looking down at the room… no, Eugeo and the rest. It was unknown whether that someone was male or female, young or old. There were eyes on the pale skin, round and like glass marbles.

……Somewhere in the past.

……I have seen that person somewhere long ago in the past.

While Eugeo’s intuition told him that, the white face opened its bottomless pit of a mouth. In that instant, Kirito who stood at his side whispered in an extremely soft voice.

“Don’t let Tiezé and Ronye hear it!”

Eugeo instantaneously embraced Tiezé’s head with both arms strongly while she was still sobbing. It then happened right after Kirito did the same, wrapping up Ronye.

“Singular unit detected. ID tracing…”

A mysterious voice emerged from the being on the opposite side of the purple board, no, window. Verses for a sacred arts ceremony—he thought, but there was none of the vocabulary he learnt from the lessons. The face remained silent for two, three seconds before-

“Coordinates fixed. Report complete.”

It closed its mouth with those final words and vanished without a trace along with the window. It was a strange phenomenon, but Eugeo’s mind was far too exhausted to feel surprise or fear. Leaving the explanations to Kirito, he gently let out the breath he held.

The storm outside the window had left unnoticed, leaving the ongoing sobs from Ronye and Tiezé to sound out alone. Eugeo firmly held on to his valet trainee’s small frame while he lowered his sight from the ceiling towards the floor.

The corpse of Raios Antinous, who died with his two arms that lost everything from the elbow onwards and his back bent as far back as it could, was there.

Kirito was the one who cut Raios, but Eugeo sliced off Humbert’s arm as well, so they were the same. He could recall Humbert’s screams deep in his ears.

—Murderer. Monster.

Those were words that appeared in the old tales his grandmother told and greatly frightened his brothers and himself when they were children. The demi-humans from the land of darkness held no laws or taboos to uphold and killed even those of their own race, his grandmother recited. Eugeo found it to be the truth by experiencing it first-hand in the underground cave in the mountain range at the edge two years ago.

…That’s right, I’m already the same as those goblins. The human named Humbert Zizek… who was even my peer at this Master Swords Academy; that person was cut by me in my fit of anger.

In that case, to at least prove that I am different from those goblins, even if it’s only by a little, shouldn’t I judge my own self? Shouldn’t I, having become a monster, not have the right to beg for forgiveness from Tiezé’s body warmth like this…?

Eugeo’s shoulder, while he tried to bear the torment by firmly closing the left eye he had left, was—

Tightly gripped by Kirito’s hand which reached out from the side. A deep murmur came with it.

“You’re human, Eugeo. Just like me… committing various mistakes, and still struggling to find the significance behind them… that’s how humans are.”

The moment he heard that, Eugeo felt a warm fluid spilling out from his own left eye. Thinking it might be bleeding like his right eye, he timidly lifted his eyelids, and the various golden fragments glistened in the light of the wall lamp.

What flowed was not blood but tears. They traced his cheek and dripped onto Tiezé’s hair one after another. After a short while, Tiezé nervously brought her face up and looked at Eugeo. Those red eyes wet with tears brought to mind a leaf on a tree in autumn, brimming with morning dew.

The girl who was still Eugeo’s valet trainee at this very moment made a nearly indiscernible smile and upon retrieving a white handkerchief from her uniform’s pocket, she gently touched Eugeo’s cheek with that. Tiezé continued wiping the tears that flowed out over and over again, without end.

 
5

“……It’s a pity. Truly.”

Saying so softly, Dormitory Supervisor Azurika followed up after a short pause to think.

“And I was sure the two of you would be the academy’s representative swordsmen this year too.”

“I was planning on that as well though.”

He certainly couldn’t emulate Kirito who went ahead and said that in this situation; on the contrary, his left eye gradually grew hotter, so Eugeo looked up in a fluster.

The 5th month’s sky was cloudless, as though they were washed away by the storm last night. Many small birds were chirping in the branches of the trees sparkling in the verdant green of new sprouts. It would surely feel good to lie down on the lawn at the central plaza on a day like this—but Eugeo and Kirito would never have another chance to take an afternoon nap at this academy again.

 
The two spent the whole of last night on the other side of the iron door towering behind them—the underground discipline chamber of the Master Swords Academy’s administrative building. The chamber was rather clean despite it barely used since the start of the school and the beds were close to those of the novice trainees’ dormitory, but Eugeo was unable to get a wink of sleep as expected.

Kirito was Kirito as always, trying hard the entire night to treat Eugeo’s right eye that popped out with sacred arts, but regeneration of an organ was difficult when sealing the wound without a catalyst already took his all. In the first place, it was unclear why his right eye stopped working when it did not receive any external injuries. The sacred power in the surrounding atmosphere dried up as the ceremonies for various arts were tried and even Kirito, with his usual tenacity, could not help but to give up for the time being.

The night ended before long, the morning sun shone in the narrow window and the lock to the discipline chamber turned with the 9 AM bell. He thought it would be the empire’s imperial guards here to escort them for sure, but the one standing beyond the door was surprisingly, Azurika-sensei from the novice trainees’ dormitory—that was what happened.

The female instructor, who could be thought to be in the latter part of her twenties, loosened the tension in her mouth just a little bit at Kirito’s words, and turned to Eugeo. Those grey-blue eyes that brought to mind a cleanly polished blade and reminded Eugeo of Sister Azariya from Rulid Village always made him nervous, but he continued staring into those eyes without averting his eyes this particular time.

Dormitory Supervisor Azurika was about to say something, but then closed her mouth and fetched an item from her coat’s pocket next. A small light green sphere. It resembled a glass ornament but wasn’t one. It was the crystallized form of the sacred power harvested from the «four sacred flowers» cultivated in the academy’s flowerbeds.

The dormitory supervisor broke the precious catalyst pinched between the fingertips of her left hand without hesitation. With a fleeting sound, glittering beads of light danced in the air. Without a moment’s pause, she chanted the ceremony for the art with her right hand held at Eugeo’s right eye.

“System call. Generate luminous element…”

It was a recital speed far quicker than the instructor for sacred arts. Even while Eugeo and Kirito stood still dumbfounded, complex paragraphs of procedures were smoothly compiled together, and a warm light coalesced on the wound at Eugeo’s right eye—

“Try opening your eye.”

He heard that whisper at the end, so Eugeo timidly raised the right eyelid sealed for the past sixteen hours. Upon doing so, the right side of his vision returned as though it was never gone, a sigh of surprise and wonder escaping from him. Eugeo looked through the surroundings countless times before he gave a deep bow, finally having noticed.

“Th-Thank you very much, Azurika-sensei.”

“It’s fine. Rather than that… Swordsman-in-training Eugeo, and you too, Swordsman-in-training Kirito. Before I hand you over to your escort, I’ll say this one thing.”

Softly mentioning so, Dormitory Supervisor Azurika showed a rare sign of hesitation before placing her right hand on Kirito’s shoulder and her left on Eugeo’s shoulder.

“The both of you will likely be judged for the offence of disobeying the Taboo Index and harming the Life of another now. However, don’t forget. That the Taboo Index… no, even the Axiom Church itself was made not by God, but by man.”

“Eh… wh-what do you mean by…”

Eugeo questioned in reflex.

Even a child knew about how the God of Creation, Stacia, gave birth to the Human World, no matter how young. And that the Church which supervised the Human World too, was created by God as well.

“For now… that’s all I’ll say. But you’ll definitely find out soon. About the truth behind this world.”

That was when Dormitory Supervisor Azurika frowned and closed tightly, her right eye alone. Eugeo intuitively knew that she was enduring a sharp pain.

“…Swordsman-in-training Eugeo. You’ve broken a seal that I didn’t. If that’s the case, you should definitely be able to go where I couldn’t… Trust in that sword and your friend.”

She nodded and turned to face Kirito next.

“And you, Swordsman-in-training Kirito. About who you really are… even I couldn’t understand in the end. However, something will definitely happen when you reach that tower. I’ll be praying for light in your path from now on, from here. Always.”

Her words became even more puzzling, but it seemed Kirito understood them. He nodded and covered up Dormitory Supervisor Azurika’s hand, on his own left shoulder, and brought it to his chest.

“Thank you, sensei. I’ll come and meet you again someday. We’ll definitely have a chat then. About what you want to know, all of it.”

Finishing what he had to say, he gently tapped the slender fingertip held between his two hands against his own mouth. Dormitory Supervisor Azurika blinked countless times in surprise and though it might have been a trick of the light, a little color seemed to have went into her cheeks, before she gave a faint smile.

Kirito made a face like someone pulled on his hair yet again in that instant, but the dormitory supervisor didn’t seem to have noticed that. She slowly withdrew her right hand from Kirito’s and took her hand off Eugeo’s shoulder—

“Well then, let’s go. Your escort is here.”

 
The academy grounds usually filled with students bustling from classroom to classroom had turned quiet, without any sign of people around.

In exchange, Eugeo found something unexpected in the plaza before the large practice arena and widely opened his just-recovered eyes.

A gigantic living being given a dazzling sheen under the light from Solus pouring down from the sunny skies. The metal armor equipped on its chest and head, and naturally, the triangular scales adorning its entire body as well, all gave off a silver gleam. It was obvious even without looking at its folded wings which towered like a couple of spires and the long tail that drew an arc to know that it was a flying dragon. Ridden by the guardians of law and order, the integrity knights, it was the greatest and thus, the strongest sacred beast in the Human World.

It didn’t look like the rider was around. Without a trace of hesitation at the flying dragon that looked down at the three from above, Dormitory Supervisor Azurika guided Eugeo and Kirito to the practice arena and stopped in her tracks there.

She looked at the two in turn, gave a light nod and silently shifted aside. Dormitory Supervisor Azurika left for the novice trainees’ dormitory with her long boots ringing out, the both of them took a deep bow towards her back. Raising their heads only after the sound of the footsteps were gone, they glanced at the flying dragon to check it out and turned back towards the large door leading to the practice arena.

“……If a flying dragon’s around… our escort’s an integrity knight… I believe?”

There were slight tremors in Eugeo’s murmurs, but his partner made a hmph through his nose as he usually would and nonchalantly reached his hand out towards the closed door.

“Wouldn’t know until we see it.”

Pushing it open the moment he said that, he stepped in with large strides. Eugeo steeled himself and chased behind.

The insides were dim, perhaps due to the closed skylight. The wooden-boarded practice arena and the surrounding spectator stands were naturally enough, devoid of students and instructors.

A piece of art was drawn on the white wall far in front of them with the creation myth, «The Three Goddesses who drove away the God of Darkness, Vector», as its theme. And, right in the middle of the vast practice arena was a single silhouette looking in the opposite direction, at the wall—

Eugeo had once seen an integrity knight from the Church from up close. Of course, that was when the young Alice was taken away. The integrity knight who called himself «Deusolbert Synthesis Seven» had an immense body with a height close to two mel. However, the one standing before Eugeo’s sight now was far smaller than that knight. That height might even be a little shorter than Eugeo if only that was taken into consideration.

The blue mantle clasped onto those two shoulders was embroidered with the Axiom Church’s crest, a composite between a cross and a circle. However, what caught the eye beyond anything else, was that which flowed straight down from above the mantle, that long golden hair. It was of a color far more deep and pure than Raios’s, gleaming like molten gold even under the obscure lighting.

That figure made no movement, so Eugeo exchanged glances with Kirito and slowly begun to walk. Crossing straight, through the practice arena, they stopped around five mel from the small-framed person.

“…From the North Centoria Empire, Master Swords Academy, I am Elite Swordsman-in-training Eugeo.”

When he managed to name himself without choking on his words, his partner continued without a moment’s delay.

“Same here, I’m Kirito.”

It was the type of scene where he would usually complain ‘stop cutting corners and name yourself properly!’ in his mind, but that thought didn’t come to mind at all this time. It wasn’t all due to his anxiety. As he looked at the blue mantle and golden hair fluttering in the gentle breeze blown in from the entrance, still open a mere few steps behind, a queer feeling begun to develop in his chest.

—Somewhere.

This blend, of blue and gold. It felt like, he had seen it, somewhere before…

The strangling distress turned into a shock that could practically stop his heart several seconds later.

 
“United Centoria City Region, integrity knight of the Axiom Church—I am Alice Synthesis Thirty.”

The knight stated her name with her back still facing them. There was no mistaking that voice. It was a voice he heard almost daily for close to ten years since he gained awareness as a child.

And that name. The family name had an unfamiliar ring to it, but he surely heard her name right. «Alice».

It couldn’t be a mere coincidence. Eugeo took one, two sluggish steps forward and whispered incoherently.

“…Alice…? It’s you…? You’re… Alice……?”

It seemed that Kirito quickly reached out with his hand from the left, but Eugeo slipped away from that and took another step closer. The golden hair and mantle were fluttering right before his own eyes, and a faint fragrance spread out. It was a gentle, nostalgic fragrance that brought to mind a flower garden that received plentiful sunlight. A fragrance that always drifted about that blue apron dress his childhood friend wore.

“Alice…!”

Once more, and while calling out clearly this time, Eugeo tried to touch the integrity knight’s right shoulder. After turning around, the knight would greet Eugeo with that impish, aloof and demure smile and—

That idea was crushed by a streaking flash of light.

The terrible impact assailed his right cheek and Eugeo was helplessly blown away, collapsing onto the practice arena’s floorboards, back first.

“Eugeo!”

Kirito helped him get up straight away, but even that didn’t register in his consciousness as Eugeo opened his two eyes wide, dumbfounded.

Still facing them with her back even now, the knight had her right hand extended horizontally and now held a long sword before anyone noticed. However, it wasn’t a naked blade but was sheathed in a gilded scabbard. The knight had removed the scabbard from its sword belt and attacked Eugeo’s cheek with its tip in that instant.

Lowering the sword in a smooth motion, the integrity knight spoke.

“…Speak and behave yourself with care. I have the authority to deprive the both of you of seventy percent of your Lives. The next time you try to touch me without my consent, that very hand will be sliced off.”

Informing so in that cool and clear like water thawed from ice, yet frigid and stern voice, the knight finally turned around.

“……Alice…”

Eugeo could not stop that name from escaping his mouth once again.

The integrity knight who carried that golden sword was once taken away from Rulid Village; Eugeo’s childhood friend, Village Chief Gasupht’s daughter and Selka’s sister, Alice Schuberg—that grown-up figure couldn’t be anyone but her.

Her outfit was obviously different from then. Her chest, shoulders and waist were covered in light armor with elegant engravings set in them, and her long skirt could even reach her feet. But there was no mistaking that face.

Glossy golden hair without creases. Pure white skin with a sense of innocence. And above all that, that indescribable deep blue within those two slightly upturned eyes, a color he had never seen on anyone except that girl, even after coming to the central.

It was only the light that hovered in those eyes however, that differed from that of his memories. They lost that radiance overflowing with curiosity when she still lived at Rulid Village, and Eugeo felt nothing but a mere cold gaze concentrated on him as he lay collapsed on the floor.

Those lips in the color of cherry blossoms moved and that lovely, yet cool-headed voice flowed out once again.

“Huh… I planned to take off thirty percent of your Life, but it was only reduced by half of that. If you averted that with merely the judgement from your body, that would be proof of your appointment as an elite swordsman-in-training… or perhaps of one who committed a heinous crime like murder, I suppose.”

The way she spoke made it clear that she read through Eugeo’s «window» without even touching his hands, but he couldn’t even think about its implications.

Eugeo didn’t want to accept those words streaming into his ears by all means. There was no way that gentle Alice could say such things. No, before even considering that, Eugeo couldn’t believe that Alice would show no reaction even upon seeing him, inflict a merciless blow on his cheek and in the first place, stand before his very eyes as an integrity knight.

It was when he ignored the warning and tried to call out once more.

Kirito gave a short whisper near his ears.

“That knight’s the «Alice» you were searching for, isn’t she?”

His partner’s voice was distinctively calm despite the circumstances and Eugeo managed to retrieve a mere bit of his composure. After forcing out a small nod, that whisper came again.

“…Obey her instructions for now. If we enter the Central Cathedral, even as criminals, we should be able to understand the situation a little more.”

Enter—the Cathedral.

Eugeo finally noticed upon Kirito mentioning it. It was what he wished for; although it wasn’t by winning and proceeding through the Empire Swordsmanship Tournament and Four Empires Unity Tournament, then being appointed as an integrity knight, but by having committed a taboo instead, he still ended up closing in to his goal a year earlier than scheduled.

Entering the Central Cathedral and meeting with Alice. That was Eugeo’s final goal.

The sequence was different and Eugeo didn’t know the reason behind Alice acting like a different person as an integrity knight, but at the very least, he had achieved half of his objectives at the present moment. In that case, he should definitely find it if he entered the Cathedral. A way to return Alice to how she was.

Just as Eugeo managed to restore his composure, Knight Alice restored the sword in her right hand to the left of her waist as well. Her mantle fluttering, she started walking towards the large door.

“Stand, and follow me.”

There was no option to go against her instructions any longer. Helped up by Kirito, Eugeo chased behind Alice in silence.

Upon exiting the practice arena, Alice headed straight towards the flying dragon on standby at the plaza and softly stroked its formidable muzzle with her right hand. Continuing on, she took out strange tools from the large cargo area created behind the saddle.

That, three thick leather belts joined together by iron chains—was a restraint device. It was exactly the same as the one that bound the young Alice eight years ago.

Approaching with a restraint device in each of her two hands, Alice made Kirito and Eugeo stand up straight and informed them coldly. That voice was far quieter than Raios’s shouts when he tried to cut Eugeo, but it held a majestic effect as though it was a delegate for the voice of God.

“Elite Swordsman-in-training Eugeo. Elite Swordsman-in-training Kirito. The both of you will be arrested, taken into custody, brought to trial, then executed at a later date.”

The restraint devices were coiled around the two’s frozen bodies by Alice’s hands. Their two arms, chest and waist were tightly bound by the leather belts, completely losing their ability to move all at once.

Grabbing the chains extending from the pair’s backs and returning to the side of the flying dragon, Alice fixed them onto the clasps on the armor that covered the sacred beast’s two sturdy legs, one at a time. Thus, Kirito was then attached to the dragon’s right leg and the left for Eugeo.

Eight years ago, Integrity Knight Deusolbert had fastened the young Alice onto the dragon’s leg in the same manner and flew away. However, even a flying dragon takes an entire day to get from Rulid to Central Centoria. How harsh and frightening that experience must have been for a child, merely eleven of age, was beyond imagination if she was suspended for that entire duration.

And that Alice had for some reason, became an integrity knight and now tied Eugeo to the dragon like what was done to her eight years ago. He couldn’t help but recognize the lack of hesitation in her actions. The knight, Alice, before his eyes was Alice Schuberg, while a different person at that same time. Some great power had changed the girl.

As Kirito had said, they might find out that secret if they were to go to the Central Cathedral. However—the question was whether Alice would return to how she was before.

No, before thinking about that. What if the same thing happens to himself? What if he forgets everything and becomes a different self? The time he lived at Rulid, the long journey to the central… and even the events at this Master Swords Academy; what if he forgets all of it……?

It happened then, when Eugeo was assailed by fear and uneasiness.

Two sets of soft footsteps came from behind and Eugeo turned to Kirito as the latter did the same.

The ones approaching with staggering but earnest steps were novice trainees wearing grey uniforms. The one with long red hair, Tiezé Shtolienen. The one with short dark brown hair was Ronye Arabel.

The reason for their faltering gait was due to the burdens the two of them carried with both hands. Tiezé’s was a long sword kept in a scabbard of white leather. Ronye’s was a long sword in a scabbard of black leather. There was no room for mistake. It was what they left behind in Raios’s room last night, Eugeo’s Blue Rose Sword and Kirito’s black sword.

Tiezé’s and Ronye’s palms were worn out and bloody as they reverently held the scabbards. Naturally. Those two swords were heavy to the point that even their owners, Eugeo and Kirito, could not wield them without giving it their all.

“Tiezé…”

“Ronye!”

Eugeo and Kirito called out their names simultaneously and the girls showed a small smile while enduring the pain. But then, Integrity Knight Alice left the flying dragon and looked at Tiezé and Ronye. Recalling the severe blow that numbed his right cheek even now, Eugeo instantly shouted.

“No, Tiezé, don’t come!”

However, the two novice trainees did not cease their steps. As drops of blood trickled onto the stone paved plaza, they walked through the final ten mel and slumped onto their knees before Alice.

They let out rough breaths for a while, but Tiezé was the first to firmly raise her head and speak.

“Kn-Knight-sama… please!”

Next, Ronye continued in a trembling voice.

“Grant us the permission to return our seniors their swords, please…!”

Alice looked down at the girls in silence, but gave a small nod before long.

“Fine. However, I can’t have criminals wearing swords. I will hold onto these. If you wish to speak to them, I’ll permit you to do so for one minute.”

First grasping the Blue Rose Sword with her right hand and the black sword with her left next, she effortlessly lifted them from Ronye’s and Tiezé’s hands. Returning to the flying dragon’s side with movements like she felt no weight at all, she stored the two swords in the cargo area the restraint devices were in.

Tiezé and Ronye held their hurt, scraped hands together at their chests and showed relieved smiles as though they didn’t feel the pain at all. Wavering as they stood up, Tiezé and Ronye approached Eugeo and Kirito respectively.

“……Eugeo-senpai…”

Tiezé who stood still before Eugeo’s eyes widely opened her own, evidence of having wept still within them, and looked at him.

After nearly averting his eyes by instinct, Eugeo tried his all and received Tiezé’s gaze.

Eugeo had sliced away Humbert’s arm before Tiezé’s and Ronye’s eyes last night. With his arms cut off as well, bizarre screams escaped from Raios as he passed away. there was no mistake that tragedy was a huge blow to Tiezé and Ronye, despite them not getting any actual injures.

Eugeo shouldn’t be a reliable mentor to Tiezé now, but a miscreant who broke the Taboo Index. A heinous villain with his freedom stolen by unsparing restraint devices, tied up by chains.

Then.

Large drops of tears welled out from Tiezé’s autumn-colored pupils and flowed down her cheeks.

“Eugeo-senpai… I’m sorry… it’s… it’s my fault that…”

Holding her hands tightly together, she continued as though she was squeezing her frail voice out.

“…I’m sorry… because… of that foolish thing… I did…”

“No… that’s not it.”

Caught off guard, Eugeo shook his head endlessly.

“You didn’t do anything wrong, Tiezé… you did the right thing for your friend. …It’s entirely my fault that things ended up like this. There’s nothing you have to apologize for, Tiezé.”

Upon hearing that, Tiezé looked straight into Eugeo’s eyes as though she could see through the depths of his soul and forced a smile onto her lips with all her might.

“This time…”

The young valet trainee spoke in a quavering but decisive tone.

“This time, it will be my turn to save Eugeo-senpai. I… I’ll do my best and definitely become an integrity knight, and go save senpai… so please wait for me. I’ll definitely… definitely…”

Sobs swallowed the rest of her words. Eugeo could do naught but nod over and over again.

Having finished her short conversation on the other side of the flying dragon as well, Ronye put the bundle in her hand into Kirito’s bound hands and spoke in a voice mixed with tears.

“Erm… this is a bento. Please eat it if you get hungry…”

The words from Kirito in return were drowned by the sound of the flapping wings of the flying dragon, reverberating far.

“It’s time. Get away.”

Knight Alice had mounted the flying dragon’s saddle without anyone noticing. A snap sounded out from the bridle and the dragon roused its gigantic frame. Eugeo’s body hovered slightly in the air, pulled by the chains.

With their unceasing tears flowing out, Tiezé and Ronye backed off several steps. The silver wings beat out with strength and the wind they created ruffled the girls’ hair.

Even as the flying dragon started its approach run and made the earth tremor, those two chased behind as fast as they could, but their feet soon tangled and their hands fell onto the stone paving. Right after that, it used noticeably more intensity to kick off the ground with its sturdy legs, and its huge body gently floated into the air.

As the flying dragon whirled up, drawing spirals in the skies, Tiezé and Ronye below became ever smaller. Their figures soon vanished into the grey of the stone paving, and the entire view of the North Centoria Empire Master Swords Academy appeared far off in the distance in an instant—

The flying dragon, with an integrity knight on its back and criminals hanging off its two legs, aligned towards the enormous tower that rose from the exact middle of the central, the Axiom Church’s Central Cathedral, and soared in a straight line.