"Dinner's on you, right?"
"So I'm not even 'sir' anymore..."
"Don't worry. On the job, I'll call you Team Leader properly."
"Ha... fine... what am I supposed to do about that..."
"What else? I'll say I broke it. Oh, want some dried persimmons?"
"You're still a kid—what are you doing with dried persimmons...? Fine, give me some. My head hurts, and my sugar's dropped."
"Then what now? Hey, can I do sword fighting here?"
"Sparring is possible, but... first, let's put the real blades down and talk."
"...?"
"Why are you looking so blank? Who spars with live steel in a place like this?"
"Huh? Isn't sparring supposed to be done with real swords?"
"...I think I'm starting to understand where that monstrous skill of yours came from. Along with that scar on your neck."
"This scar? Ah, if you're a swordsman, isn't that just something you're supposed to have?"
"Hahaha! Good grief. Don't tell me your body's just covered in scars too?"
"..."
"Ah... it isn't, right?"
"All right! Who wants to spar with me?"
"Haah, my word. Aren't these kids all too soft? And you expect to work in the police like this?"
"...I'd like to try."
"Oh, your name was... James, was it?"
"Yeah... and earlier, when we first met, I was rude. Sorry."
"It's fine. It's over and done with. Come on up."
I'd never swung a wooden sword before, come to think of it. This is funny in its own way. It's too light. Still, it should be fun to swing.
"Victory condition: make the opponent drop their sword or admit defeat. That should do it, right?"
"Good. Then... here I come!!"
Good momentum. He's nervous as hell, but separate from that, his fundamentals are solid. Still—
"You're full of openings."
"Huh?"
In just two exchanges, after the blades met, I struck James's hand and made him drop his sword.
"Being faithful to the basics is good, but you trusted them too much. Your hand was wide open. Not just you—everyone here is too careless with their hands."
"Everyone here...?"
"I only saw the people who use swords first thing when I came in earlier. Every single one of you leaves too many gaps in the hand and wrist."
That was only from a brief glance, but the fact that those areas were exposed so consistently probably meant there was a weakness in the basic swordsmanship taught here.
In truth, it wasn't a fatal flaw. This was swordsmanship designed for combat against people, so its defining traits were pressure and suppression; it didn't allow easy approach in the first place. And since they were already part of the Guard Bureau, there was no question they lacked skill.
"I'm just that much stronger, I guess."
It felt a little arrogant to say it, but I was confident I'd gone through far harsher training and real combat than they had. That's why I could judge more coldly, too.
"Next. Come on in. I'll take on anyone who's hesitating."
I thought they'd hesitate after a junior lost in two exchanges, but that wasn't the case. Everyone's eyes were burning with something they couldn't hide. As swordsmen, a fight against a strong opponent. Expectation, desire, or the urge to crush him underfoot...
"I don't care if it's one-on-one or all at once. Come at me whenever you want!"
"...I'd like to challenge you."
"Me too, me too!!"
"I'll do it as well. Please."
"Ahh...! This is the best."
I couldn't see my own face, but I could feel that same spark burning clearly in my eyes now.
"Phew... everyone worked hard. Let's rest for thirty minutes and then fight again."
"What..? You're not tired?"
"At this age, you should have an Originium generator in your heart at minimum. And all of you need to go back and rebuild your basic conditioning. You've only lasted a few exchanges and you're already whining—tch, tch..."
Honestly, I thought I was just getting warmed up, but if they were all in that state already, that was a little disappointing.
"Talulah, you want a turn too? I don't mind."
"Then... may I ask for a round?"
Not a one-handed sword like the others used, but a longer two-handed blade. So she'd already been training with that.
"Reach, strength—on those two points, I'm definitely at a disadvantage. Arts... since we're using wooden swords, there's a high chance she won't use them, and in speed I'm absolutely ahead."
The two of them only stared at each other in silence. No signal to begin, just quiet and taut.
Then, when the sound of sweat dropping from someone's hand hit the floor, the two lunged at each other. No, more precisely, they tried to lunge.
"W-when did she...?"
They should have started at the same time, so why was Baekhyun already in front of her? It was an incomprehensible situation, but there was no time to think about that now. It was more important to raise the sword quickly and block the downward strike.
"So heavy... That's impossible."
Talulah was a Draco descendant, one of the most physically gifted races on Terra. Even she could feel a force in that blade that should not have been there. That was not the kind of strength a single Liberi should be able to produce.
"Tch, it won't break through."
"You're coming in hard from the start? I'm surprised, but the real fight starts now."
"Well, same here."
Gentle Breeze—Tailwind
A pleasant wind drifted in softly. From the open window, from the narrow gap under the door, around the boy's body.
"There wasn't a rule saying we couldn't use Arts, was there?"
A pleasant wind pushed at his back and cooled his body.
"There definitely wasn't."
"Then keep up. I'll probably get a little faster."
Faster than that? Then he needed to get into a defensive stance immediately and prepare...
"Ghk...!"
"If you look away, it gets dangerous. If this were the field, you'd be dead just now."
Pain in his arm before he'd even managed to raise his sword. And the wind he felt, and the voice behind him. There was only one meaning: Baekhyun, who had been standing in front of her, attacked the instant she prepared her stance and passed behind her.
"If I'd put the blade to your neck, it would've been over."
The difference in skill was obvious. A scene she never would have imagined coming from a boy younger than herself.
"One chance. This is your last chance. If you're not going to come at me properly, there won't be another."
".....Right. I was the one being rude. I'll go all out too."
Because of the nature of fire Arts, the destructive power was intense and control was difficult; the weapon itself was made of wood, so it should be used sparingly if possible. But after hearing that look and those words, wouldn't it be the height of discourtesy not to use it?
"Exactly two minutes. We have to settle this within that time."
"Good. That's enough."
And from the young dragon, a flame of holy fire rose—one that would one day bring enormous change to Terra.
"He's really using it..."
"You're the one who provoked me."
"Honestly, I was looking forward to it. But I thought you wouldn't use it. There are people watching, after all—there's no reason to show it off."
Still, I was extremely glad she did. First, if I could collide directly with Terra's best Arts caster using Arts, I might be able to pick up a few useful tips for handling Arts myself. And separate from that, I also wanted to measure Talulah's current level against mine.
"This is no joke..."
My Arts manipulate wind. I can generate it too, but controlling the wind around me is far easier than creating it directly, so I prefer control.
Because of that, I understood just how absurd Talulah's fire was. It was astonishing enough that she could create the flames, but the key was that she was controlling them. The fact that fire was wrapped around the wooden sword yet did not crumble, instead maintaining its shape, was proof of that.
She creates fire and rules it. She was, in every sense, perfectly suited to the dragon race.
"Arts-wise, she has the overwhelming advantage. She's erasing my wind."
When the flames lashed their red tongues violently, my wind was utterly ravaged, shredded into the air and lost its way.
"All right then... here I come!"
Heat rushed in with a whoosh. The breath in my throat caught as the heat that could evaporate even falling sweat surged over me.
"Looks like I've run straight into my perfect counter, huh?"
Defeated in Arts, defeated in physical ability, and my breathing was being choked off. A fight that had turned grim in an instant...
"This is incredible, isn't it...?"
My heart was pounding. Not the tension of a battle where my life was on the line. This was only a spar, and yet a chill ran down my spine, awakening the survival instinct buried in me as a living creature.
"If it were me, how would I get through this? What card would I play?"
A question to myself, and an answer carried out in action.
"Ghk! Cough, cough! That hurts."
First, block the sword driving toward the solar plexus. If I blocked it head-on, the blade would break, so I let it slide off instead. I couldn't stop it completely and gave up my flank, but that was fine. If anything, it snapped me fully awake.
"Good. I found a way out of this."
The longer I thought, the lower my odds of winning became. Right now, I just had to rush in.
"Right now, this is..."
Before I could finish speaking, I swung my sword to knock Talulah's blade aside and poured my will into it. It wasn't a national sword, so the efficiency was terrible, but I wasn't using it to kill her anyway.
Self-law
A deep blue force slammed into the Draco's arm, and flames began to sear across my entire body. Even as the fire threatened to roast me alive, I kept wrapping myself in wind and resisting.
Wind protector. I continuously wrapped my body in wind from the outside and sent the air saturated with carbon dioxide from the flames upward over my head. It was a kind of makeshift domain.
"The efficiency is awful, but the effect is solid."
My proficiency was still too low to guard my whole body. The wind was pierced here and there, and smoke got into my eyes and stung, but what mattered was that I endured. And—
"You're not resistant to smoke either, are you?"
Talulah, who seemed resistant to her own flames, was also weak against smoke. Her breathing grew ragged, and the flames gradually died down. That confirmed my theory.
"Enough. I lose."
"Cough!! Damn it... I'm going to catch lung disease at this rate."
"I never thought you'd charge in that stupidly. Didn't it burn?"
"Aside from my whole body stinging and feeling half-roasted, I'm fine."
"That's not fine at all..."
"It's fine. Once I sleep, a friend will heal it all."
"A friend...?"
"I've got one of those."
"You little bastard, I'll kill you for real! That's a full-body burn, a full-body burn!! Do you not know the meaning of 'enough'?"
"Heal me."
"My head... my poor head... what am I supposed to do with this cursed lunatic...?"
"You'll heal me, right? I trust you."
"Danguk profanity I'm really going to kill you."
"So you're saying you'll heal me. Playing hard to get, huh~"
"Danguk greetingDanguk severe profanityDanguk ancient profanity"
My ears itched. Who was cursing me like that? As if there were anyone else in the world as upright and proper as me.
"You'd have no excuse even if you were beaten to death..."
My ears are itchy... haah.
"That was a good match."
"Uh... ah... I'm hungry... where did the team leader go earlier? I need to mooch a meal off him."
"If you mean the Team Leader, he rushed out to report the facility condition..."
"What about the facility? It looks fine to me. A little burned here and there, sure."
"That's the problem, though...?"
"Ah, I don't care. Hey, Talulah, let's go eat. I know a place with good food."
"Huh? After making this mess?"
"If you don't come, I'm leaving you behind. Everyone, thanks for your hard work. See you in the field."
"W-wait, I'm coming too! My apologies!"
The magpie drifted away leisurely, with the dragon following behind. Watching the two of them—having burned down half the facility in just two minutes—everyone present thought the same thing.
They never, ever wanted to meet them in the field.