"So you're leaving now?"
"Mm. Our contract ends today, and we can't remain away from our posts for long, so we have to go back."
"I see... We'll only be able to meet again in two years, then?"
"If you don't die, yes."
It was a condition that made reunion sound absurdly difficult.
"Here, underling. Take this."
"Oh, that's heavy... A whetstone?"
"Even after we're gone, make sure you maintain your sword properly on your own. And try to sleep early, get treatment immediately if you're injured, don't be picky with food, and also..."
"Ugh, that lecturing... I'll handle it myself."
"How am I supposed to trust you, underling? Haa... honestly."
"Anyone watching would think I was Otis's son. Worry about Sinclair instead of me."
"Don't worry. Then, see you later."
"...Yeah."
Watching the two of them head back toward the platform bound for Danguk, my real life in Lungmen began.
"Work starts in January."
When I asked whether that meant five days off, the dragon head said yes.
"Hmph..."
Lying in the living room of the house I had received for free, I felt strangely listless. Normally, I would be climbing cliffs or swinging a sword by now.
"This is boring..."
The refrigerator was packed with food, so I could eat whatever I wanted whenever I wanted, and if I felt like sleeping, I could do it anywhere in this house. It was the dream I had wanted most after falling into Terra, and yet I didn't feel excited at all.
"Attachment really is a frightening thing..."
Had I grown attached that quickly, just from living together for a year?
"Tch. I guess I'll eat some dried persimmons."
I had heard chocolate helped when you were feeling down, but that was only because the person saying it had never tasted dried persimmons.
"I wish there were Danguk dramas or variety shows on OTT."
Right, Faust had told me to keep studying Lungmenese too. No time to rest, apparently.
Knock knock!
"Hm? Who is it?"
"Uh, it's me. I hope I'm not interrupting."
"Talulah? What brings you here?"
Could this be about noise between floors or something? If so, I was finished. There was nothing to gain from getting on bad terms with her.
"I just came to visit."
So that's how it is... awkward. Then again, we'd only met yesterday. What was I supposed to say? "Have you eaten?" "Nice weather, isn't it?" "Want to fight once?"
"Ah, right. Talulah, is there anywhere I can use a sword or Arts freely?"
"A sword? Arts? For training?"
"Yeah. If I lose my edge before going into real combat, that's the worst possible outcome."
Edge was the best thing in the world as a fruit... no, that wasn't it. For swordsmen and Arts casters, especially the highly skilled ones, preserving their edge was essential.
For a swordsman, it let technique compensate even after the body's peak had passed, and for casters it let them handle their own Arts with greater finesse. Naturally, losing that edge was a serious problem for someone like me, who used both.
"Maybe... the Guard Bureau's training grounds would work. Want to come with me?"
"You're going too?"
"Chen is going to learn swordsmanship from Uncle, and I'm going to work on my Arts."
"Oh? That sounds interesting. Let's go right now. Wait, I just need to grab some dried persimmons."
"..? Why are you bringing dried persimmons?"
"For when my blood sugar drops. Want one too? Just one."
"Wouldn't chocolate be more efficient?"
"Bah—! Chocolate, huh? How much good can that do for your body? Dried persimmons, on the other hand, are the finest snack: persimmons dried properly in the cold, dry winter wind, preserving the fragrance and flavor of autumn itself!"
"You're weirdly passionate about this..."
Of course I was. Dried persimmons had been insulted. How could I not get worked up?
"Haa... To vent this excitement, I need to swing my sword immediately."
"You're dangerous in a lot of different ways, you know that?"
Then do better, Talulah.
"Brrr... it's cold..."
"Is it? I don't really notice."
Of course you don't. You're warming your body with Arts, you bastard.
"Hey, take this."
"This is... a glove? And it's one you were wearing. Why are you only giving me one?"
I wanted to say it was because losing it would be a problem, but if I opened my mouth I felt like I'd freeze solid, so I snatched Talulah's hand instead.
"Haaah... it's warm... Hey, are you some kind of hand warmer?"
"W-what are you doing?!"
"Your hand. Let me borrow it for a bit~ Why keep all this warmth to yourself?"
"Honestly... what a strange one."
"I gave you a glove. Be grateful."
"What do you mean, be grateful? And I don't even need gloves."
"Just wear it. Are you jealous of the hand I'm holding?"
"Hands get jealous? Sometimes I really can't tell whether you're a child or not..."
"What was that? Hey, why are you suddenly running? Hey? Hey!"
Why was she suddenly running? Making things difficult for me.
"W-we're here. This is it."
"Ohhh, it's huge... But why are you covering your face?"
"S-something got in my eye. L-let's go in. You're not planning to stand outside forever, are you?"
"Yeah, I suppose not. But can you let go of my hand now? It feels like it's been crushed a little."
"Ah..? A-ah! S-sorry! Does it hurt?"
"I'm fine. It's nothing. I once picked a fight with an Ursus and had my hand actually crushed."
Once, I had even pushed Mojang to see how far I had to go before he got angry.
"This hand is guilty for making trouble."
"Huh?"
My hand had been folded into a shape that made me think, if the fingers disappeared, this is probably what it would look like. Compared to that, this was barely an itch.
"This place really is spacious... and what's that over there?"
"Training dummies, and a track for strength and endurance training."
As expected of Lungmen. For a boy from the mountains, this was a tremendous shock.
"Hey. That one is..."
"The one the bureau chief mentioned..."
The murmuring around us made me wonder if this was...
"Are they giving me the cold shoulder because a brat showed up?"
Well, they were field operatives, and the new recruit they were getting was a child who would be paid more than them. If I were in their place, I'd be giving me the cold shoulder too.
"If that's the case... then I guess I need to crush that kind of talk before it starts."
In reality, they were all rattled by Wei Yenwu's not-quite-a-warning that they should treat the child who had single-handedly crippled an entire organization well, and by the field reports from veterans who had already been deployed. But how was I supposed to know that?
"How exactly am I supposed to cut through that dummy?"
It looked solid at a glance. So this was what they used for training here. It wasn't even comparable to the trees I had been cutting.
"Cut through it? Hey, friend. That thing wasn't made to be cut."
"Hm? Who are you, old man?"
"Old man? Call me uncle. I've already been told you'll be assigned to our Assault Division for the next two years. I'm Kevin. Nice to meet you."
Ah, so this old man was going to be my superior. Understood.
"So why wasn't it made to be cut?"
"Because it's absurdly tough, more than it looks. If you hit it wrong, you can ruin your sword. That's why it's usually only used when testing new weapons. If you want to handle a sword, go over there... where are you going?"
Ohhh... so that's how it is? Interesting.
"It's definitely sturdy. Seems about the same as when I first drove my sword into that beast... is that the level of hardness?"
It had been about nine months since that incident. How much stronger had I become in that time?
"Good. It's more than enough to cut down!"
"What? Didn't you hear me? I said that's for testing cannon hits and the like!"
"All right, uncle. Let's make a bet. Five strikes. I'll split that thing in half within them. If I win, you buy dinner. How about it?"
"And if you fail to cut it, what do I get?"
"I'll call you brother instead of uncle. How about that?"
"Oh? That sounds fun. Go on, then! Hey!! Everyone, look over here! The rookie's about to do something interesting!"
Wow, his talent for drawing attention wasn't ordinary. Thanks to that, everyone scattered across the Assault Division, along with the others training nearby, turned to look at me.
"All right, then..."
"His eyes changed."
Until a moment ago, he had looked lazy and casual, but the instant his hand touched the sword, everything changed—his eyes, his expression, all of it, as if he had become a different person.
Clang!!
"W-when did he draw it?"
"Did anyone actually see that?"
And in that instant, so quickly it felt as if everyone had blinked at once, no one managed to see the sword cut through the dummy.
"Tch. It really is tough. Still, I won't fail to split it."
"He... cut it?"
That dummy was a special prototype built to test how far enhanced combat abilities could go against a reinforced target. After the previous disaster, they had felt the need for equipment capable of breaking even shutters prepared for catastrophes, and this was the result. And that had been cut by a child's sword?
"Then... here goes properly."
Then, a red aura began to gather around the boy's sword, and in the very next moment. In less than ten seconds, after the slash was driven home, the sword...
Crack! Crash!!!
The dummy split cleanly into two.