Eris heard that Eugene had come to Roa just as she was debating whether or not to throw her arithmetic slate out the window.
The problem on the slate asked how to divide one hundred and thirty-seven sacks of wheat among eight wagons.
"If we load seventeen sacks on each one, there'll be one sack left!"
Eris jabbed the remaining number hard with her chalk.
"That's correct."
"Then put the leftover sack on the last wagon."
"Then only the last wagon will be heavier."
"It's just one sack."
"One sack becomes two, then three. If one wagon's wheel breaks, the wagons behind it have to stop as well."
Eris glared back and forth between the slate and me.
Her arithmetic was correct. It was not that she failed to understand the question, either. She simply disliked that she had already found an answer, yet I would not let the problem end there.
In the past, she would have stormed off as soon as the numbers ran longer than two lines. Now, even as she grumbled, she was considering where the remaining sack ought to go.
It was excellent progress.
It would have been even better if she no longer looked as though she wanted to strike her teacher, but the world rarely went as one wished.
"Then take a little from each load and make them equal."
"By opening up the wheat sacks?"
"...Get another wagon."
"The cost of hiring one is greater than a sack of wheat."
Eris put down her chalk.
Very carefully.
The fact that she had not brought the arithmetic slate down on my head meant today's lesson was already half a success.
"Isn't this the sort of thing a steward calculates?"
"Then you would not notice if that steward stole three sacks of wheat."
"Catch him and beat him up."
"You have to know he stole them before you can catch him."
Eris closed her mouth.
Her gaze dropped back to the slate. She looked convinced, yet unwilling to admit it.
"Next problem."
"We haven't finished this one yet."
"But I got it right!"
"One sack of wheat remains."
Eris's hand gripped the edge of the slate.
The window was four steps away.
If I rushed her now, I could stop her. But getting my arm broken while defending an arithmetic slate was not within a tutor's duties.
Then there was a knock on the door.
"Master Rudeus."
It was the voice of Alphonse, the butler.
I praised him inwardly.
Who would have thought the day would come when a Boreas Greyrat family butler saved my life?
"Come in."
The door opened. Alphonse entered with his usual straight-backed bearing. Neither his expression nor his clothing was in the slightest disarray.
"Lord Philip asked me to inform you that a guest has arrived from Buena Village."
"From Buena?"
"It is Eugene Greyrat."
I rose from my chair and slammed my knee into the desk.
The arithmetic slate rattled and the inkwell tipped. I caught it by a hair, but Eris laughed at the sight.
"What was that? You looked ridiculous."
I had no room to answer her.
"Has he just arrived?"
"He has passed through the main gate. Lord Philip requested that you come to the receiving room."
Eugene was here.
I had received his letter. A few days ago, I had even heard that he had set out. But knowing that in my head and hearing that he was passing through the mansion's front gate were entirely different things.
I pushed the books and arithmetic slate aside.
"That will be all for today's lesson."
"Wait! I haven't said I'm done yet!"
"I need to greet our guest."
"I'm coming too."
Eris immediately rose from her seat.
There was no reason to stop her. Once Eugene stepped into the mansion, it would be difficult for him to avoid Eris anyway. They would simply meet a little sooner.
When we entered the corridor, more servants than usual were hurrying about. Windows facing the main gate had been opened, and fresh teacups had been placed in the receiving room. It seemed Lord Sauros had turned the entire mansion upside down for a single guest.
In truth, Lord Sauros had wanted to summon Eugene to Roa for quite some time.
On the day Ghislaine Dedoldia returned from Buena Village, Lord Sauros had heard of their sparring match and shouted that a knight should be sent at once. It was called an invitation, but at first it had probably been closer to an order to bring Eugene here.
Lord Philip and Ghislaine had stopped him then.
Lord Philip said that if Eugene refused, they would only lose face. Ghislaine's answer had been simpler.
They could not bring him.
At that, Lord Sauros had apparently fallen silent for a moment.
Only for a moment, of course.
After that, whenever a letter arrived, Lord Sauros asked about Eugene. If I avoided the question, he cornered Ghislaine instead. Lord Philip was wary of news of such interest reaching the Royal Capital or the Notos main house.
The mere rumor of a powerful child was enough to draw people in.
A child with noble blood, who could use magic, and whom Ghislaine admitted she could not defeat. On top of that, he was conspicuously beautiful. If word reached the Royal Capital, someone would try to take him as a disciple, someone would speak of marriage, and someone would try to bind him down because he was dangerous.
I mostly agreed with that assessment.
I could not imagine Eugene allowing himself to be bound so easily, but I did not want to think about what might happen to those involved in the process.
This visit had been Eugene's request.
He wished to investigate the changes in mana recently observed throughout the Fittoa Region, along with records of past disasters. Buena Village did not have enough material available, so he had asked for access to Roa's lordly archives.
Lord Philip granted permission immediately, while Lord Sauros picked a date before he had even finished reading the letter.
I had yet to hear what Eugene had found.
His letter had only said that the amount of mana was increasing little by little. It did not explain its attribute, where it originated, or whether it was dangerous.
Perhaps that was simply like Eugene.
He never wrote at length that he did not know something. What could not be confirmed, he left blank.
It was the reader's burden to worry about those blanks.
As we descended the stairs, a horse whinnied outside. Eris ran ahead and threw open a window.
"Where is he?"
"Do not run in the corridor."
"You're running too!"
I slowed my pace slightly.
I had not sprinted at full speed in the body of a child, so it could not be called running. It was merely brisk walking. That was an important distinction.
A carriage bearing the crest of the Boreas Greyrat family had stopped before the main gate. Two wooden crates were lashed into the luggage compartment, and the guard seated beside the coachman descended first to open the door.
Eugene stepped down from the carriage.
The last time I had seen him in person was the day I left Buena Village.
He had been beautiful even then. Beautiful enough to make me resent that we had been born to the same parents.
In the years since, that difference had only grown.
His hair, which looked more white than gold beneath the light, fell past his shoulders. His traveling clothes were black and almost entirely unadorned, and no sword hung at his waist. He was not much taller than me, but his slender frame and straight posture made him appear a little taller.
Judging by his face alone, one might believe he was a delicately raised young lady from a noble house.
The problem was that thought disappeared the closer one got.
There was no hesitation even in the simple movement of setting a foot down from the carriage. His eyes seemed leisurely as they surveyed the grounds, but he moved like someone who had already taken in the main gate, the walls, and every guard's position.
He was the Eugene I knew.
Even after all these years, that part of him had not changed.
Eugene turned his head.
Our eyes met.
For a moment, I wondered whether I should raise a hand or run to him. In a reunion between family members separated for years, the proper thing would usually be an embrace.
But this was Eugene.
If I charged at him carelessly, I might be welcomed into his arms only to be held upright by the collar. No, he probably would not grab my collar. He would most likely sidestep just before I collided with him.
Before I could decide, Eugene walked over first.
"It has been a long time, Rudeus."
"It has."
The words that came out were more ordinary than I expected.
Eugene looked me over once, from my face to my toes.
"You do not appear to be injured."
"That's your first question?"
"Your letters said you were beaten often."
I looked at Eris.
Her eyebrows were drawn tight.
"What are you looking at?"
"Nothing at all."
Had I written unnecessary things in my letters?
No, I had merely written the truth. Informing one's family about the hardships one suffered while working as a tutor was a worker's rightful privilege.
Eugene extended a hand.
I thought he meant to shake hands, but his hand settled on my shoulder. He pressed once through my clothes, then withdrew it.
"Your muscle mass has increased."
"Don't inspect me as soon as we meet."
"It means you have endured Ghislaine's training."
It was difficult to tell whether that was praise.
Still, he probably did not mean it badly.
Behind Eugene, the coachman and servants began unloading the crates. Only then did I really notice the luggage.
"What's all that?"
"Things sent from home. Zenith Greyrat and Lilia prepared them."
"Mother did?"
"Some of Paul Greyrat's things are mixed in as well. Most of it is food, however."
The moment I heard that, I could not take my eyes off the crates.
It was probably dried meat and cheese. There was not much worth carrying all the way from Buena Village. Yet simply hearing that it had been sent from home made those wooden crates look like treasure chests.
As I started toward them, Eris stepped in front of Eugene.
"You're Eugene?"
Eugene looked at her.
"I am."
"Rudeus's twin?"
"We were born on the same day."
Eris looked between Eugene and me.
Her gaze traveled repeatedly from my hair to Eugene's, from my face to Eugene's.
"You don't look alike at all."
I knew that too.
Still, hearing someone else say it with such certainty stung a little.
"Our eyes and hair color are similar."
"Where?"
Eris leaned close to inspect my face.
There was no need to verify it.
"More importantly, Lady Eris."
I nearly pushed her back a step, but stopped myself. If I put a hand on her, a fist might come flying.
"You should greet a guest before anything else."
"I already did."
"Asking his name is not a greeting."
"You're noisy."
Eugene watched our exchange in silence.
"This is not greatly different from what was described in the letters."
"What do you mean?" Eris asked.
"I heard that you act quickly."
"Of course I do!"
Eris accepted it as praise.
It was not wrong. It simply meant that she acted faster than she thought.
Lord Sauros was waiting when we entered the receiving room. Lord Philip and Hilda were present as well, while Ghislaine stood near the wall.
The instant Eugene entered, Ghislaine's ears moved.
It was an extremely small change.
Eris might not have noticed it, but I had spent years being beaten by Ghislaine. I knew the direction her ears moved when she was tense or on guard.
Eugene looked at Ghislaine as well.
The two silently bowed their heads to each other.
Lord Sauros rose from his chair.
"So you are Eugene!"
His voice boomed through the receiving room.
Eugene did not so much as blink.
"It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Eugene Greyrat."
"You're far thinner than I heard! Are you eating properly?"
Was that really something to ask upon first meeting someone?
Eugene briefly looked down at his own arm.
"There is no issue with my health."
"And with that body, you defeated Ghislaine?"
"I held the advantage in our sparring match."
"So you won!"
Lord Sauros laughed loudly.
Ghislaine did not deny it.
Lord Philip offered him a seat. Rather than choosing a place facing Lord Sauros, Eugene took the seat beside mine.
Once tea had been served, simple greetings continued.
Lord Philip asked about the state of Buena Village and the journey. Hilda asked after Zenith Greyrat and Lilia, while Lord Sauros inserted questions about swordsmanship at every opportunity.
Eugene answered only as much as was needed.
Buena Village was peaceful. Paul Greyrat still patrolled and trained. Zenith Greyrat tended to the village's sick, while Lilia and the children were healthy. Sylphiette continued studying magic and letters.
It was all information I knew from letters.
Yet hearing it from Eugene made it easier to picture the house and everyone within it.
"What about Norn and Aisha?"
When I asked, Eugene removed a small bundle from one of the crates.
It had been wrapped several times in cloth.
"They each prepared something themselves."
Eugene unwrapped the cloth.
Inside were two thin wooden boards and a folded sheet of paper.
The first board held several drawings of faces. They were little more than circles and lines, making it difficult to tell who was who.
Beside a large circle painted gold was probably Mother, while the brown-haired person holding a sword was likely Father. The small blue-haired figure appeared to be Sylphiette.
The problem was me.
I had been drawn very small beside a red lump.
"Is that me?"
"Norn said it was."
"Why am I so small?"
"She said it was because you are far away."
There was perspective even in a child's drawing.
Was the red lump beside me Eris? I had talked about her quite a lot in my letters. It even had hair sticking up like horns, so it was almost certainly her.
At the center of the drawing was a person with long hair. That person was about twice as large as the others, with Norn and Aisha clinging to either side.
Uneven letters had been written below it.
"Big sister."
I looked from the drawing to Eugene and back again.
"Big sister?"
"That is what Norn calls me."
Eugene answered as though it were nothing remarkable.
"Why?"
"At first, I believed it was a pronunciation issue. Now, I do not think she intends to correct it."
"And you just let her?"
"A form of address does not change the relationship."
It was a very Eugene-like answer.
Eris, who had been listening beside us, cut in.
"She calls you big sister even though you're a boy?"
"Yes."
"That's strange."
"Tell Norn that."
Eris shut her mouth.
Apparently, she did not intend to argue with a three-year-old.
The second board was filled with writing. It was too neat to be Aisha's handwriting, and I initially thought Lilia had written it for her.
Looking closer, though, the letters varied in size, and a few places showed where lines had been drawn over again.
"To Brother Rudeus."
Beneath that was a chronological record of things that had happened at home.
Norn spilled milk.
Paul Greyrat broke another leg off the dining chair while trying to repair it.
Zenith Greyrat got angry.
Sylphiette singed her bangs a little while practicing Fire magic.
Eugene made a new chair.
Paul Greyrat was forbidden from sitting in that chair.
"Why isn't Father allowed to sit on it?"
"Because the new chair is Rudeus's seat," Eugene said.
My hand, which had been tracing the letters, stopped.
"My seat?"
"Paul broke the original chair. I made one with the same size and shape."
"Is it still there?"
"It is not used every day, but it has not been put away."
That was all he said.
I looked back down at the board.
At the bottom of Aisha's record was one more sentence, seemingly written by her alone.
"You may come back soon."
Not, "Please come back."
You may come back soon.
It sounded like something Aisha would say. As though she had changed the words to keep waiting for me from sounding like a request.
"Did she write this herself?"
"Yes. She rewrote it three times."
"Why?"
"She said she did not like the handwriting on the first two boards."
I carefully set the board down beside me.
I had continued exchanging letters after leaving home. I knew what had been happening, and I knew my family had not forgotten me.
Still, seeing the drawing and writing in person left me feeling strange.
I had adapted well here. I taught Eris, learned the sword from Ghislaine, and sometimes helped Lord Philip with his work. I no longer thought only of returning home every day, as I had when I first arrived.
Even so, it was good to know that a place for me remained when I did return.
"Thank you."
"I only carried them here."
"Even so."
Eugene did not answer, merely taking a sip of tea.
Then Eris, who had been sitting quietly all this time, suddenly braced a hand against the table.
The teacups shook.
"Now let's fight."
Hilda put a hand to her forehead.
"Eris."
"I wrote about it in my letters. I said we'd fight when we met."
"That is not what one says as soon as a guest arrives."
"He's had tea already."
Apparently, that meant the hospitality was over.
Eris looked straight at Eugene.
"You said you wouldn't run away, didn't you?"
"I answered that I had no reason to run away."
"Then come on."
Eugene looked over Eris's expression and hands. She was not holding a sword, but in her mind the fight seemed to have already begun.
"What form will it take?"
"Wooden swords."
"And the objective?"
Eris was momentarily stumped.
She had probably never considered that someone might ask what purpose a fight had.
"I beat you."
"We need to establish the victory condition."
"Knock the other person down."
"I do not recommend that condition."
Eris's eyebrows rose.
"Are you looking down on me?"
"There is a way to confirm it without anyone being injured."
"What is it?"
"Eris only needs to touch my clothes once with her wooden sword."
The receiving room fell quiet for a moment.
Inside, I shook my head.
Eugene probably had not intended to provoke her. That was what made it worse.
Eris's face reddened.
"Once?"
"A one-minute time limit should be sufficient."
"What about magic?" Ghislaine asked.
Eugene turned to her.
"I will not use it."
"Flying and teleportation?"
"I will not use those either."
"Weapons?"
"They are unnecessary."
Ghislaine looked at Eris.
"It is worth trying."
At those words, Eris's expression changed. Her anger remained, but now she looked as though she was considering how to use the rules before her.
Lord Sauros slapped his knee.
"Good! Let's go to the training hall at once!"
Lord Philip tried to say something, but it was already too late. Lord Sauros was shouting at a servant outside to clear the training hall.
In the end, we all rose from our seats.
People quickly gathered at the training hall.
At first, there were only Lord Sauros, Lord Philip, Hilda, and Ghislaine. But perhaps word spread quickly, because guards and servants gradually clustered around the edges.
They could not openly watch, so they pretended to arrange weapon racks or clean windows.
Three people were cleaning window frames that usually did not show a speck of dust.
Eris returned after changing into training clothes. She tied back her hair, loosened her wrists and ankles, and swung her wooden sword several times to test its weight before approaching Ghislaine.
The two spoke quietly.
Eugene stood in the center of the training hall.
He had no sword and wore no armor. He did not even take off the long outer coat over his traveling clothes.
I went closer and asked him,
"Are you really going to do it just like this?"
"Yes."
"Eris has improved a lot too."
"I will be able to see that."
"If she even brushes your collar, you lose."
"I understand the condition."
His confidence was excessive.
No, calling it confidence felt slightly strange when Eugene spoke like that. He simply did not hesitate to say that he could do something he could do.
Still, Eris was different from before.
She had learned the sword from Ghislaine for years. At first, she merely swung with brute force, but now she used her feet and measured distance. She even knew how to evade my magic and get inside my range.
I had been caught by her several times during training myself.
If all she had to do was touch his clothing with a wooden sword, perhaps it was possible.
"Rudeus."
Ghislaine called to me.
"You keep time."
She handed me an hourglass.
It was a small one-minute timer.
Eris took up position at one side of the training hall. Rather than lifting her sword over her shoulder from the start, she held it low at her side.
It was a stance Ghislaine had taught her.
It made it easier to conceal the first movement.
Eugene stood with his arms lowered. His feet were set slightly narrower than shoulder-width apart. Rather than a fighting stance, he looked like someone who had stopped while walking down a road.
I looked between them.
"Begin."
I turned the hourglass over.
Eris did not charge at once.
In the past, she would have aimed for his head the instant it began. This time, she narrowed the distance, moving her left foot forward little by little.
Eugene did not move.
Three steps.
Two steps.
Eris abruptly accelerated.
Her wooden sword rose from below in a diagonal slash, sweeping from his side toward his shoulder.
Eugene moved his right foot half a step back.
The wooden sword passed as though grazing the front of his coat.
Eris did not follow through with the swing. She twisted her wrist and immediately aimed for Eugene's waist.
Eugene turned his upper body slightly.
The second attack passed as well.
Eris did not stop. She drove forward with her shoulder, probably intending to step on his foot if he retreated, or touch his clothes if his posture broke.
Eugene took one step to the left.
"Tch."
Before her body could pitch forward, Eris switched her footing. She turned with the motion and thrust her wooden sword out.
Eugene only tilted his head.
The tip of the sword passed beside his cheek.
"Thirty seconds."
I spoke.
Eris widened the distance.
Her breathing had grown slightly rough, but strength remained in her hand. Her wooden sword had not touched Eugene's clothes even once.
The spectators were silent.
At first, the guards had seemed to be rooting for Eris, but now they watched only Eugene's feet.
The movements themselves were not large.
He had not run quickly, nor leaped several meters backward. He merely moved the width of his body away from where Eris attacked.
And yet the distance between them remained the same.
The more Eris tried to close in, the more Eugene seemed already to be standing in exactly the right place.
"Watch his feet," Ghislaine said.
Eris lowered her gaze, then immediately raised it again.
If she watched Eugene's feet too long, she would lose her chance to swing. Still, there had to be a reason for Ghislaine's words.
Eris entered again.
This time, she did not use her wooden sword first.
She moved in from the right and placed her foot where Eugene was likely to dodge. She intended to block his path, press close, and brush his sleeve with the sword's hilt.
Eugene did not lift his foot.
He merely shifted his weight from heel to forefoot, slipping out in the opposite direction from the one Eris had meant to block.
Eris's wooden sword struck empty air.
"Fifteen seconds."
Eris gritted her teeth.
She extended a hand as though she might throw the wooden sword, then stopped. Keeping her eyes fixed on Eugene's shoulder, she slowly circled him.
Eugene turned with her.
This time, Eris moved her gaze first.
She noted a shallow rut in the earthen floor, then drove Eugene toward it.
Two slashes.
One thrust.
Whenever Eugene dodged, Eris flowed into the next attack. Her wooden sword did not connect, but its directions were steadily narrowing.
Eugene's heel came close to the uneven ground.
As though she had been waiting for it, Eris stamped her foot.
Dust rose low into the air.
At the same time, her wooden sword rose overhead.
It looked as though she would bring it down.
But Eris did not swing. The moment Eugene evaded to the side, she twisted her wrist and aimed for his sleeve.
It was a feint she had learned from Ghislaine.
When Eugene's foot moved, Eris pursued without missing a beat.
This time, it would touch him.
At that moment, Eugene raised his right hand. He did not move to seize the wooden sword. He merely laid his index and middle fingers lightly against its side and pushed it outward a little.
Just before the tip could brush his sleeve, it slid aside. It did not look as though he had used much force, yet Eris could not recover the altered trajectory and was pushed back two steps.
Eris stopped after those two steps.
The last grain of sand fell through the hourglass.
"Time's up."
No one spoke immediately.
Eris turned around first.
Her face was red. It was difficult to tell whether it was because she was out of breath or angry.
Probably both.
Eugene lowered his hand.
There was not even dust on his clothes.
"Do it again," Eris said.
"The agreed condition has ended."
"This time, you attack."
"There is no need."
"There is!"
Eris pointed her wooden sword at Eugene.
"You only dodged. I didn't see how you fight at all."
Eugene looked down at the tip of her sword.
"Was it not your skill that you wished to confirm, rather than mine?"
"Now I've changed my mind."
How selfish.
But when Eris said something like that, she would cling to it to the end. Eugene probably knew as much from my letters.
Lord Sauros laughed loudly.
"I want to see it too!"
Lord Philip sighed.
"Father."
"Have you come all this way only to watch him dodge? Show us the sword that defeated Ghislaine!"
"This is an enclosed training hall. If there is damage—"
"Then we repair it!"
A very lordly solution.
Ghislaine stepped forward.
"Eugene."
"Speak."
"Show us once."
Eugene looked at Ghislaine.
There was more need for confirmation than curiosity in her expression. They had sparred once in Buena Village, but even then Eugene had only moved within the limits Ghislaine could withstand.
Eugene slowly looked around the training hall and at those gathered nearby.
"There is no need to use it against a person."
He walked to the weapon rack and examined the wooden swords one by one.
He did not choose a new one.
He stopped before one whose handle had been polished smooth by many hands, whose tip was slightly worn.
As he reached for it, Ghislaine stepped half a pace forward.
Eugene lifted the wooden sword and gave it a light shake.
The tip moved once to either side. That was all. Whether he was judging its weight or examining the grain of the wood, there was no way to tell.
Lord Sauros waited with folded arms.
"What are you planning to cut?"
Eugene did not answer, only looked around the training hall.
The weapon racks against the wall, the entrance crowded with spectators, the corridor leading to the mansion, and the stable roof. His gaze went past the walls before returning to the wooden sword.
"It will be difficult here."
"Are you saying the training hall is too small?"
"There are buildings ahead of us."
Lord Sauros laughed heartily.
"A wall or two can simply be built again!"
With the Boreas Greyrat family's wealth, it was probably possible. That did not mean there was any reason to destroy the mansion for a demonstration of swordsmanship.
Eugene did not set down the wooden sword.
"It will not end with only the walls being damaged."
Lord Sauros's laughter stopped.
Eugene turned to Ghislaine.
"Is there a training ground outside Roa with open space ahead of it?"
"There is. The knights use it for mounted training. There is a low hill in front, and a rocky mountain beyond it."
"Any homes nearby?"
"None."
"Is anyone using it today?"
Ghislaine called over a guard by the door to check. The mounted training had ended in the morning, and no training was planned until evening.
Eugene returned the wooden sword to the rack.
"We will go there."
Eris protested.
"We can do it here."
"The mansion will collapse."
Eris stared at Eugene for a long moment, as though trying to determine whether it was a joke. Eugene's expression did not change.
"Really?"
"Really."
Even after hearing that, Eris did not back down. If anything, her eyes brightened.
Lord Sauros was the same.
"Prepare the horses!"
At his command, the servants around the training hall scattered. A few of those who had gathered to watch returned reluctantly to their work, but several guards and knights received Lord Sauros's permission to come along.
Lord Philip summoned Alphonse and gave him a brief instruction. Alphonse immediately bowed and disappeared into the mansion.
"What was that about?" I asked.
Lord Philip smiled faintly.
"I told him to block access around the outer training ground."
"But I thought no one lived there."
"When there is something to watch, people appear even where there are none."
It was a persuasive argument.
Because of Eugene alone, the lord of the Boreas Greyrat family, his heir, a Sword King, and Eris were all riding beyond Roa. If rumors spread, nearby farmers might abandon their work to follow as well.
I rode with Ghislaine. Eris insisted on riding alone, and a horse was prepared for Eugene too.
Eugene briefly inspected the horse's forehead and neck before climbing into the saddle. Though it carried a child it had never seen before, the horse remained docile. Eugene's hand on the reins did not look particularly practiced, but the horse seemed unable to find a reason to resist him.
After we left Roa's southern gate and rode for a while, the road broadened. A plain stretched to the right, while low hills and scattered outcrops of stone lay to the left.
The training ground was wider than I had expected.
The earth had been flattened and packed so horses could run across it. In front of us stood rows of wooden targets for knights to thrust with their lances as they passed. Beyond them was a low hill covered in grass and shrubs, and beyond the hill rose a ridge of exposed gray bedrock.
Long clouds stretched across the sky.
Even the weather was absurdly good.
After dismounting at the entrance, Eugene surveyed the area. The guards Lord Philip had sent blocked the paths on both sides, while the horses and coachmen gathered to the rear.
"How far back should everyone move?" Ghislaine asked.
Eugene checked the distance between the targets and the hill.
"At least one hundred paces behind me. The horses should be sent farther back than that."
"Will fragments fly?"
"That is possible as well."
Ghislaine did not ask for further explanation. She called the knights, sent everyone back, and moved the horses behind a gentle slope outside the training ground.
Eris complained.
"If we go that far away, we won't be able to see."
"You will see," Eugene said.
"See what?"
"The result."
Eris looked displeased, but followed Ghislaine's instruction.
All the lances and shields near the targets were cleared away. Only four old target posts remained in front, and the knights rode through the area once more to confirm that no one was beyond them.
Eugene did not move until the very end.
When preparations were complete, Ghislaine raised a hand.
"It's clear."
Eugene nodded and walked toward the front of the training ground.
I watched from a position roughly one hundred paces away. At that distance, Eugene looked smaller than usual. If not for his black traveling clothes and white hair, it would have been difficult to find where he stood.
He held the wooden sword in his right hand and looked ahead.
The target posts were a little over fifty meters away. The hill was several hundred meters beyond. The bedrock behind it was much farther still.
"He said he would not use magic, right?" I asked.
Ghislaine answered briefly.
"Right."
"Then what is he going to do?"
Ghislaine did not answer.
Her ears were completely pointed forward. Her tail did not move either.
I examined the mana I could sense from Eugene.
At first, nothing seemed to change. There was no expansion like that which came when one drew up mana, nor any hint of an attribute spreading into the surroundings.
Only a little later did I notice what was strange.
The mana was not spreading.
The power moving inside Eugene's body did not leave his skin. It passed through his hand, seeped into the wooden sword, and stopped there. A thin layer wrapped the sword's surface, but it was so quiet that I would have missed it if I had not been looking directly at it.
"Battle Aura," Ghislaine said in a low voice.
"That?"
"Something like it."
Something like it meant it was not exactly the same.
Eugene stepped forward with his left foot.
The ground did not shake, and no dirt flew up. He bent his knees slightly and lowered the sword tip to the right.
The instant Ghislaine saw that stance, she stopped breathing.
I did not even have time to turn toward her.
The wooden sword moved.
One diagonal slash rising from below.
There was no sound.
There was no wind.
Eugene released his strength immediately after swinging. The tip of the wooden sword pointed skyward, then slowly lowered.
I blinked.
"Is that it?"
Nothing appeared to have happened.
Eugene could not possibly have swung for nothing, but the targets still stood and the hill had not changed. At the very least, I had expected the wooden sword to break, yet it too was completely intact.
The first thing to move was the row of targets.
A diagonal line appeared, and the top of the first post slid to the side. Before it fell, the second and third split at the same angle. The final target held for a moment before dropping to the ground, its cut face exposed.
Eris leaned forward.
The shrubs growing behind them snapped one after another. A narrow path appeared through the grassland between the training ground and the hill.
The slope of the hill moved.
Rather than earth and stone collapsing all at once, a thin, long fissure opened across its surface. Small rocks trickled down along it, and a dark line, as though drawn with a ruler, remained in the bedrock behind the hill.
Even after seeing that much, I could not close my mouth.
Eris pointed to the sky.
"There."
The clouds were splitting apart.
Along the direction Eugene had raised his wooden sword and cut, the clouds hanging in the sky were pushed to either side. At first it was only a narrow gap, but the wind caught it and pulled it wider. A long strip of blue sky appeared, forming a straight passage between the clouds.
It looked like the reverse of an aircraft's trail in the sky.
There was no white line remaining where something had passed. Instead, only the white clouds had been cleanly erased.
The delayed sound struck the training ground.
After a single boom, a low reverberation followed. It did not feel as though the earth had shaken. Rather, the entire air seemed to surge once and settle back into place.
The knight beside me crouched. Someone gripped the sword at his waist, and the horses in the rear whinnied together.
Only then did I let out my breath.
I did not know how long I had been holding it.
Eris had stepped back as well. As though realizing she had moved, she promptly returned her foot to its former place, but her fingers searched for the sword that was not at her waist.
Instead of a railing, Lord Sauros gripped a spear standing beside him. His mouth hung open, but no laugh came out at first.
Only after clearing his throat two or three times did his usual voice return.
"Ha, hahahaha! Splendid!"
His laughter was a little more ragged than usual.
Lord Philip did not laugh.
Before looking at Eugene or the split sky, he surveyed the area. He checked the faces of each knight and guard who had come with us, then called Alphonse.
"Ensure that everyone keeps silent about what they saw today."
Brief acknowledgments followed from among the knights.
Lord Sauros waved a hand.
"How could we hide something like this? The clouds were split apart!"
"The clouds will return shortly. And how many people will inspect that scar on the mountain?"
"Is this not something worth boasting about?"
"Nothing good will come of word reaching the Royal Capital."
Lord Sauros looked dissatisfied, but did not argue.
I looked at Ghislaine.
She was staring at the ground beneath Eugene's feet.
Elsewhere, a long trace marked where the slash had passed, yet the dirt where Eugene had stood was barely disturbed. Only one shallow footprint remained where he had stepped forward.
"Ghislaine?"
She turned to me belatedly.
"Could even the Sword God do something like that?"
Ghislaine did not answer immediately.
Her gaze traveled from the target posts to the hill, then to the clouds.
"I do not know."
It was something rarely heard from Ghislaine.
"You've never seen it?"
"The Sword God is faster. If it is a sword for cutting an opponent nearby, he is stronger than anyone."
"Then what was that?"
"It has a different purpose."
Ghislaine looked alternately at the place Eugene had stood and the distant, split hill.
"And everything except what it cut is intact."
I examined the path of the slash again.
The targets had been cut, and a single line of damage ran through the shrubs and grassland. But one step away from that line, the grass had not even been flattened. The hill's earth had not been blown away, and the sword scar on the bedrock stopped at a consistent depth.
The power had not spread into the surroundings.
Only what Eugene had decided to cut had been cut away.
The wooden sword was still intact.
Eris ran over first.
"Teach me that too!"
Eugene stopped walking.
"Are you referring to what I just did?"
"Yes!"
"That is difficult at present."
"Why?"
"If you imitate it, the wooden sword will break first."
"Then make it not break."
"Your wrists and arms will be damaged as well."
Eris briefly looked down at her own arms.
"Then I'll train them."
Eugene did not deny it.
"I see."
"So I can do it?"
"It will require time."
"How much?"
"I cannot judge that in your present state."
Eris was not satisfied, but because he had not said it was impossible, she did not press further.
Lord Sauros began to clap Eugene hard on the back, then stopped his hand. He must have remembered what he had just seen. He tried to seize Eugene's shoulder instead, but Eugene naturally moved half a step aside, leaving his hand grasping empty air.
"Good! You are certainly worthy of being Eris's rival!"
I was not sure who was supposed to be whose rival.
Eugene tried to hand the wooden sword to Ghislaine.
Ghislaine did not take it.
"One more."
"Do you mean the same demonstration?"
"No."
Ghislaine took another wooden sword from the wagon that had carried the weapons. She gripped its handle and swung it several times before standing before Eugene.
"Fight me."
Eris immediately moved out of the way.
My first reaction was worry. I knew Eugene would limit his strength, but after seeing him split the sky, it was difficult to think of two wooden swords colliding as an ordinary sparring match.
Eugene asked,
"Are the conditions the same as before?"
"No. Three minutes."
Ghislaine spoke.
"Use your sword against me."
Eugene examined Ghislaine's stance for a moment.
"Understood."
"Do not use magic."
"I will not."
"Nor flying or teleportation."
"I will not use those either."
"Do not hold back your strength."
To that, Eugene did not answer immediately.
"I cannot accept that condition."
Ghislaine's ears moved.
"Why?"
"You will die."
Eugene said it as though confirming a fact.
Ghislaine did not become angry either.
"Then use enough that I will not die."
"That is possible."
Eris interjected.
"That's looking down on Ghislaine."
Ghislaine shook her head.
"No. He fought like that before too."
"Then why are you doing it again?"
"I am different from then."
Ghislaine's voice was lower than usual.
Eugene adjusted his grip on the wooden sword.
"Three minutes will be sufficient."
---
Ghislaine watched Eugene's feet.
It was the same stance he had taken when they first faced one another in Buena Village.
His knees were not locked, and his weight rested at the center so he could move in any direction. His wooden sword was low. He looked like someone with no intention of attacking, but she had already failed once in trying to find an opening in that posture.
Then, after her first attack had been stopped, she had been unable to continue.
She had poured everything into [Sword of Light], and once that sword failed to reach him, she had lost while searching for her next move.
This time was different.
She began with the assumption that her first attack would fail.
Ghislaine took a breath and advanced.
The distance closed one step at a time.
Ghislaine kicked off the ground.
Her wooden sword vanished from sight.
[Sword of Light], used by advanced practitioners of the Sword God Style. A sword that pierced straight ahead by synchronizing the waist, legs, and explosive release of Battle Aura.
Eugene's wooden sword rose.
Just before they collided, Ghislaine twisted her trajectory.
The sword tip aimed at his throat dropped toward Eugene's wrist. It was a variation meant to take the hand holding the sword even if he blocked.
Eugene did not withdraw his wrist.
He brought the middle of his wooden sword against hers and pushed it outward.
Ghislaine did not let up her strength and pressed in close. She turned once in the direction her sword had been pushed and slashed at Eugene's side. When he retreated, she raised the tip and thrust straight at him.
Twice.
Three times.
The wooden swords made short sounds as they struck each other.
Eugene moved much more than he had in their first sparring match.
Ghislaine did not think it was due to her own improvement. It was more likely that she had not forced him to move, but that Eugene had allowed him to move that much.
But it did not matter now. Even if it was an opening he allowed, she would drive her sword into it.
The instant her thrust missed, Ghislaine aimed the end of the hilt at Eugene's chin. When he drew his head back, she rammed him with her shoulder and drove her knee into his thigh at the same time.
Eugene twisted his left foot.
Ghislaine's knee struck nothing, and as their shoulders brushed, the hilt of his wooden sword touched her side.
It was not a hard blow.
Even so, her breath caught once.
Ghislaine did not retreat, instead swinging her elbow.
Eugene ducked. Her elbow stirred a few strands of his white hair.
Ghislaine caught the wooden sword again with her returning arm. From one hand to two, she lowered its tip and cut toward Eugene's knee.
Eugene's foot slid half a step.
The sword did not touch him.
His wooden sword pressed down on the flat of Ghislaine's blade.
The downward force was not strong. Yet she could not lift her sword. The more strength she added, the more the angle of her wrist collapsed.
Ghislaine let go of the sword.
Before the fallen wooden sword touched the ground, she kicked it up with the top of her foot. She caught the spinning hilt in her left hand and swung toward Eugene's shoulder.
Eugene's eyes moved slightly.
That was enough.
Eugene raised his wooden sword and received the attack.
For the first time, Ghislaine felt a heavy strength behind his sword.
Her arm went numb.
She pressed Eugene's wooden sword down with her right hand, released the sword in her left, and drove inward.
If she could not take his sword, she would entangle his arms and press close. If she eliminated the space to swing, that would be enough.
Eugene stepped back.
Ghislaine followed.
At that moment, Eugene's shoulder moved.
At the same instant she registered it, Ghislaine's vision flipped.
By the time she understood why she had fallen, her back had already hit the ground. Eugene had not grabbed her arm or swept her leg. He had changed the direction of the force between them, making her fall on her own.
Ghislaine rolled to her feet.
Her wooden sword lay three steps away.
Rather than retrieving it, she rushed Eugene. Pretending to aim for his throat with bare hands, she lowered her body and reached for his legs.
Eugene blocked her path with his knee.
Ghislaine did not stop. She planted a fist on the ground and spun, her heel flying toward the side of Eugene's head.
Eugene caught her ankle with one hand.
He could have thrown her just like that.
Instead, he let go of her foot.
Ghislaine landed and recovered her wooden sword.
Two minutes had passed.
Her breathing had grown ragged. Shock had accumulated in her arms and wrists, and dirt clung to her back.
Eugene's breathing was the same as it had been at the beginning.
Ghislaine gripped her wooden sword with both hands.
Until now, she had concealed her killing intent. She had changed the body part she seemed to attack and the part she actually aimed for, using failed attacks as the beginning of the next.
Still, she had not touched him.
All that remained was her fastest attack.
She would use [Sword of Light] as her first move, then strike again in the direction Eugene blocked or dodged. She would not win with [Sword of Light] itself; she would use it to narrow Eugene's choices to one.
Ghislaine inhaled.
Battle Aura gathered in her legs and waist.
Eugene's gaze lowered from her sword tip to her front foot.
He had seen through it.
Even knowing that, Ghislaine kicked off the ground.
The earth burst apart, and her wooden sword shot forward.
Before the sword completed its acceleration, something touched the back of her hand.
It was Eugene's wooden sword.
His sword did not collide with Ghislaine's. It entered diagonally beneath the hilt, between her two hands, and pressed at the point where her acceleration began.
Ghislaine's wrist twisted.
[Sword of Light] did not reach completion.
If she forced her strength through it, her fingers would break first.
Ghislaine released the sword.
At the same time, she lowered her head and spun toward Eugene's waist, but he was no longer there.
A wooden sword touched the nape of her neck.
"Three minutes."
Ghislaine did not move for a while, but eventually steadied her breathing and slowly rose.
"I lost."
"Yes."
It was an answer with no comfort in it at all, yet Ghislaine looked calm.
"As you are now, you can certainly defeat your former self."
Ghislaine shook the dirt from her hand.
"And you?"
"I used more movements than before."
---
I had not seen even half of what happened.
At first, I could follow the sounds of wooden swords colliding and the directions the two moved. Partway through, Ghislaine was suddenly on the ground, and at the end it seemed [Sword of Light] had begun before Eugene's wooden sword was at her neck.
Eris had not taken her eyes off them from beginning to end.
As soon as Ghislaine returned, she ran over and asked,
"How was it?"
"He is strong."
"I know that."
"He has become stronger than before."
"Eugene has?"
"So have I."
Leaving only those words, Ghislaine went to get some water.
Lord Sauros looked as though he wanted to spread word of the sparring match among the knights at once, while Lord Philip looked as though he meant to remember every knight present.
Eugene inspected the two wooden swords that had been used. Ghislaine's sword was cracked near the hilt, while Eugene's was only slightly indented on the surface.
"Should this be discarded?"
When Eugene asked, the training-ground keeper accepted the wooden sword in a panic.
"N-no. We will keep it."
He did not ask why they would keep it.
By the time we returned to the mansion, the sun had begun to set.
Lord Sauros wanted to begin dinner immediately, but Eugene said he wished to see the archives first. In the end, Lord Philip, Ghislaine, and I went down with him into the underground records room.
Roa's archives were larger than I had expected.
Tax and land ledgers, knightly reports, and records of floods and droughts had been accumulated by year. The old documents smelled of paper, dust, and leather bindings.
Eugene did not request only disaster records.
He had them bring records of years when monsters had moved along unusual routes, regions where wells had dried for no known reason, accounts of strange lights appearing in the night sky, legends of people vanishing all at once, and even periods when mana crystal prices had suddenly changed.
Lord Philip asked,
"Did you not say you were looking for records of teleportation magic?"
"We do not yet know whether it was teleportation."
"Then what are you using as a basis?"
"If mana increases in one location, it must leave changes in the surroundings."
Eugene spread an old map across the table.
It showed Buena Village, Roa, the rivers and forests of the Fittoa Region, and its main roads. He placed several records side by side upon it and marked small dots.
"If the source of mana lies underground, vegetation and monster distribution will change first. If it flowed in along rivers or ley lines, there will be a direction. If someone is preparing large-scale magic, losses should be observed at the points where mana is gathered."
I turned documents over beside him.
"So there's nothing?"
"There are changes."
Eugene pointed at the figures he had marked around Buena Village.
"There are only results."
"And no cause?"
"Not within these materials."
Lord Philip folded his arms.
"Could the records simply be insufficient?"
"That is the most likely possibility."
Eugene admitted it immediately.
"However, if the same phenomenon continued for years, at least one direction should reveal preceding changes. Thus far, I cannot confirm a flow generated in or moving into the Fittoa Region."
I looked at the dots on the map.
They appeared to be scattered without pattern, but Eugene was copying the date and mana amount from each record onto a separate sheet.
"Then is it coming from outside the Fittoa Region?" Ghislaine asked.
"If you mean beyond the border or from another continent, no."
Eugene's hand stopped.
"It may not be a matter of distance."
Lord Philip narrowed his eyes.
"What do you mean?"
"I cannot explain it yet."
"Do you not even have a theory?"
"I do. But it has not been confirmed."
Eugene took out a fresh sheet of paper and laid it over the map.
Centered on Buena Village and Roa, he drew circles of differing sizes. They formed lines that did not correspond to the direction of rivers, ley lines, or mountain ranges.
Where the two circles overlapped was a point marked as nothing on the map.
"Mana is not flowing into the Fittoa Region," Eugene said.
"This place's coordinates overlap with something else."
I could not understand what he meant.
Lord Philip could not immediately ask a question either.
The door to the archive was closed, and there were no windows.
Yet the candle flame on the table tilted to one side.
The tip of the flame pointed toward the empty point on the map.
Eugene's hand stopped.
A moment later, the flame returned to normal.
Without a word, Eugene dipped his pen into the ink.
At the place where the two circles overlapped, he made one small dot.
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