Chapter 73
Luna's sword was pointed at me.
Looking at her, I cheerfully said.
"I don't want to."
"..."
"Luna?"
"Ah, why! This is the moment where you should say something cool like, 'Keke, then let me teach you a thing or two!'"
Luna yelled and approached me.
I understood her thoughts. ‘She wants to become stronger.’
That’s why she wanted to spar with me.
The effort named experience.
Nothing else helps a person grow more than that.
I would have liked to help her. It's also good for me if Luna becomes stronger.
But even if I wanted to, I couldn't.
If I were to spar with Luna.
‘I would lose 100%.’
A hundred losses in a hundred matches.
A guaranteed one-sided thrashing.
‘If I use skills, Luna might die, and if we only use swordsmanship, I'll be hopelessly defeated.’
Strong against the strong and weak against the weak.
An entity that would be called crazy in society.
That was me.
"Why can't you do it!"
"Keke, because for me, sparring is murder."
"What nonsense!"
Luna, it's not a joke. For me, sparring is murder.
‘Even if I die, it would still lead to murder, right?’
So, sparring is murder for me.
I flicked my finger towards the agitated Luna.
"But I can give you an assessment."
"An assessment?"
"Yes. Could you show me your skills?"
"Fine."
Luna displayed her swordsmanship.
From ordinary sword dances to the secret techniques of the Lester family.
"How is it?"
Luna, panting, asked.
Hmm, the situation is more serious than I thought.
‘I can't understand anything.’
My condition was serious.
It seems gaining levels doesn’t grant insight into swordsmanship.
But I wasn't without something to say to Luna.
Because I thought of a method.
A method that might greatly help Luna grow.
"Excellent. If you use effort as your driving force, you can become stronger. However."
"However?"
"It's a pity you haven't learned properly. Especially the secret sword techniques."
It was obvious.
Her family disappeared before she could receive proper training.
It was amazing that she had come this far on her own.
"...Can't help it. There's no one left who knows our family's sword techniques."
"Then why not learn?"
"Didn't you hear me? There's no one left who knows our family's..."
Luna, speaking petulantly, suddenly paused.
Right. There was someone.
Someone who knew the Lester family's sword techniques well and could perform even better secret techniques than her.
"Keke, isn't that person right in front of you?"
It was me.
* * *
Training with Luna began.
The first secret technique of the Lester family style.
One Flash.
Flash!
Kwagwagwang!
[One Flash] unleashed with the power of [Divine Imitation].
The training ground didn't collapse.
It was designed to withstand even 7th circle magic.
‘So my One Flash is weaker than 7th circle magic.’
A-level forced fixation due to [Divine Imitation].
And stats that are pathetic for my level.
It couldn't be helped but to be weak.
Well, being stronger than 7th circle magic would be even stranger.
Clang!
"Damn it!"
Luna, who also used One Flash, cursed.
Because her One Flash was clearly inferior to mine.
The difference was as big as between a dragon and an earthworm, to put it simply.
"Ugh, what's the difference?"
"Keke, finding that out is exactly Luna's task."
"Can't you just teach me slowly and kindly?"
"That won't do. You can't become stronger without realizing it yourself."
"Haa... whatever."
Luna flopped down.
I wanted to teach her properly, but it was impossible.
‘Divine Imitation is a skill that automatically activates the moment I think of the technique name.’
The only things I could set were the angle and direction.
The moment I think of the technique name, I lose control of my body.
Even now, I used [One Flash], but I had no idea what movements I made.
That’s why it came to this.
Figure it out and learn by watching.
"Can I ask you one thing I'm curious about?"
"Keke, feel free to ask."
"How can you imitate a technique after seeing it just once?"
Because it's the skill called [Divine Imitation]?
-I couldn't answer that.
"Well, how should I put it? I can see it."
"See what?"
"The preparatory stance before using the technique, the progression, the finishing pose – every part of the body is clearly visible to me."
"You can see all that with your eyes so small? Hmm, is it like a magnifying glass or something?"
Now she's casually making fun of my appearance.
If this goes on, you might rival Raymon in that regard.
"Wait, so you copied my stance for One Flash?"
"Keke, that's correct."
"Then shouldn't it have the same power as mine? Why was it more powerful?"
Oh, quite a sharp observation from Luna.
But I was prepared for this too.
"It's because of insight."
"Insight?"
"Yes, I can use a wide range of secret techniques. And I have gained insights from using various techniques."
Analyzing problems and thinking about how to make them more powerful, then applying them.
That's why my One Flash was stronger than Luna’s.
I thought it was an excellent excuse.
"So it's true that you can use other families' secret techniques."
"Just to clarify, I'm not perfect. It's just imitation after all, so it's impossible to perfectly replicate them."
"Really?"
"Yes, maybe about 50% of the maximum?"
"Isn't 50% a lot!?"
Luna was astonished.
Well, my words weren't wrong.
The skills imitated by [Divine Imitation] are all fixed at A-grade.
And the power of S-grade skills is typically considered twice that of A-grade.
"Yes, a true One Flash would not be like this. It would be bigger, stronger, more beautiful."
Like me.
"And this is why I don't just give Luna the answers. You need to develop insight and discover it yourself..."
To reach the true One Flash.
Well, the biggest reason was that I couldn’t teach her as I mentioned earlier.
"Hmm... I feel like I've learned a lot more about you."
"Keke, I told you because it's Luna."
"Because it's me?"
"Yes, because you are special, Luna."
"Hmm..."
Luna suddenly leaned in close to my face.
"Then just teach me."
"I can't. Didn't you hear me? You need to develop insight to reach the true One Flash..."
"Then just raise me to your level first, and then I can develop insight or whatever later!"
What's insight or whatever!
You didn’t understand a thing I said, did you!?
"Aaaaaah!! Tell me! Tell me! Just spill everything you know!!"
Luna began to roll around on the floor.
I should just let her out like this.
While pushing the rolling Luna with my hands, we reached the entrance of the training ground.
"Don't be like that! We're friends, right? Eh? Eh?"
"Because we're friends, I'm doing this. If you just take what's given to you, you won't become a good adult."
"I don't have to be an adult if I just take!"
What a miraculous line of reasoning.
Just as I was about to open the entrance to the training ground.
Luna grabbed my hair and pulled it hard.
Hmm, it feels like I'm about to learn something new.
"Tell me! Tell me!"
"Luna, please let go!"
A fierce struggle began.
Caught by my hair, I had no choice but to fall to the ground.
"Got you."
I lay there, looking up at the sky.
Then Luna climbed on top of me, firmly grabbing my wrists.
That's when I realized something had gone terribly wrong.
"Lu, Luna? Can we have a truce for a moment?"
"Now you ask? I won't let go until you surrender."
Luna sat squarely on my stomach.
Ah, this is really dangerous.
Physically, morally, socially, and even censoriously!
"Hehe! I'm not letting go. Surrender quickly."
Luna leaned down.
As I started to resist strongly, it was an action to exert force.
As we got closer, Luna's features became clearly visible to me.
Cat-like eyes. A round and cute face that didn't quite match them.
Hair tousled from rolling on the ground.
Her body covered in sweat from swinging the sword for two hours.
Even the school uniform was disheveled from the intense training.
‘Yeah, if this goes any further, it's the end.’
I instinctively felt it.
Of course, I meant socially catastrophic.
I lifted my hips to try and escape.
"Oh? Getting a bit cheeky, aren't we?"
Luna, who was sitting on my stomach, slid down a bit to maintain balance.
Ah.
This is really driving me crazy.
"Huh? What's that behind..."
No, this is a social burial.
Last chance.
Just as I was using all my strength to push my hips up.
Drllrk-.
"Excuse me, your reservation time is up. It's our turn now..."
A group of girls entered the training ground, opening the door.
At that moment, when I was giving my last effort, our eyes met.
"Hyek!"
Luna rolled off to the side.
Luna, panting and soaked in sweat.
And next to her, me, in a pathetic state trying to push my hips up.
"..."
"..."
An awkward silence filled the training ground.
The girls who appeared at the door.
We knew each other well.
Classmates. And they were part of Yuridia's faction.
It's okay. I can explain everything.
There was still a chance.
"Hey! Be gentle! It hurts!"
Luna's outcry.
How can one choose such words in this situation?
It was astonishing, almost breathtaking.
The girls' faces turned bright red.
"Sorry, so sorry. Have, have a good time."
"We'll give you our reservation time! We suddenly got busy!"
And so, the girls left.
With a tremendous misunderstanding.
"Huh? What? They're giving us their reservation time? Nice girls."
"..."
"Hehe! Don't know what's going on, but it worked out. Zero, let's train more."
Yes, Luna.
A tear rolled down my eye.
* * *
In the Galeta region.
In the darkness, a shadow dropped down and transformed into a human figure.
‘He's dead.’
A corpse, eyes wide open in death.
Caron gently closed the man's eyelids.
One of the rats he had spread in the Galeta region.
One of Caron's subordinates.
‘Aljazin, I hope you don't have to eat garbage in the next life.’
There was nothing he could do.
He could only hope that in the next life, this rat wouldn't have to scavenge through trash.
‘Zero, the information he gave was accurate. I can't believe it.’
The rats spread efficiently throughout the Galeta region.
Thirteen rats disappeared.
Not just so far.
On the first day he arrived. Thirteen rats disappeared just on that first day.
It meant something unknown was living in this region.
Two rats disappeared on the second day.
The number of missing rats dropped drastically.
Not because they were cautious. The unknown entity realized it was being hunted.
‘As soon as it knew we were on its tail, it must have tried to hide.’
But the rats were persistent.
Not sparing their lives, they kept searching for garbage.
And finally, they found the garbage they were looking for.
A body, parts disassembled and reassembled, something between human and demon.
That corpse.
--TL Notes--
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