Chapter 76: Yusera (1)
“Seong Yoo-rang.”
What on earth could she be trying to say?
Is she dissatisfied with what was discussed in the tactics meeting a while ago?
I guess I had no choice but to hear her out.
“What’s going on?”
“It’s about you. You have the crow symbol, right?”
That was a rather sudden question.
But it was the kind of question that could reasonably come up.
I used Overload occasionally in the recent mock battles.
After all, I killed her using that Overload in the first mock battle, so it was strange that it hadn’t come up until now.
‘Well, I don’t really have a reason to hide it.’
It was a power I would be using frequently going forward.
Since the last incident involved a power I didn’t have, it was practically the only one I could use without hesitation.
I answered her as casually as possible.
“That’s right. I have the crow symbol.”
Then she made a strange expression.
“Just as I thought…”
She scanned me with her eyes.
And then she hesitated for a moment.
‘It doesn’t seem like she just called me to ask about the crow symbol…’
I couldn’t just keep waiting for her to speak.
“If you want to say something, don’t hesitate. We’re on the same team, after all.”
At my prompt, she finally opened her mouth.
“Could you show me some archery?”
That was an unexpected request.
However, I had no real reason to refuse.
“Sure. Follow me to the Archery Exam Hall.”
*
The Archery Exam Hall was always open except during midnight.
It was available for any student in the Archery Class to use.
And I had been using that hall tirelessly.
When did that start?
The turning point was the 100th attempt of the second trial.
I seemed to have become a so-called ‘growth pervert.’
Though I still wasn’t very good, I was addicted to archery training, and I was gradually improving the more I shot.
Eventually, if there was nothing else to do, spending most of my time on archery training became my daily life.
But there was another guy like me.
‘Oh, there’s that guy again.’
It was Wilhelm.
He was also holed up in the Archery Exam Hall every day practicing.
Of course, the intensity of his training was different from mine.
Whether it was set by some kind of magic or not, little targets appeared randomly on the board.
He was hitting them all perfectly as soon as they appeared.
Even that looked so flawless that it seemed a bit insufficient for his training.
“That guy…”
Yusera, who had come with me, recognized Wilhelm too.
But Wilhelm didn’t seem to care about us at all.
He was just focused on his own training.
‘That must be what a true sharpshooter looks like.’
I decided not to pay attention to him either.
Though I couldn’t help but be concerned about him at first, I had gotten used to it and really didn’t care anymore.
Moreover, today, I was here to show Yusera some archery rather than to train.
Without wasting time, I took out the bow I had slung over my back and brought it forward.
Then I took an arrow from my quiver and nocked it.
It was a practice arrow, not one of the relic arrows used in the mock battles.
“Alright, I’ll show you.”
I activated the inheritance trait on the arrow at my fingertips.
‘Overload.’
Then the arrow began to swirl with dark energy.
The advantage of Overload was that it could be activated on ordinary objects, not just relics.
Yusera reacted clearly upon seeing that.
“I’m going to shoot now.”
Taking a deep breath again, I released my fingers from the bowstring.
With the sound of the drawn bowstring snapping back, the arrow flew.
And the arrow enhanced by Overload made quite a loud noise as it buried itself deep into the target, despite being an ordinary arrow.
‘This should be enough, right?’
However, for some reason, Yusera continued to gaze intently at the arrow embedded in the target.
Just when I was about to ask if I needed to shoot another one, Yusera spoke up.
“Indeed, the crow symbol and archery go well together.”
That was an obvious statement.
It’s no wonder Yusera’s optimal build is an archery build.
Unlike Wilhelm, who has a set limit on how strong he can be no matter how you level him, Yusera has no growth limits, making her explosive potential greater.
Yet, she was still insisting on a swordsmanship build.
Yusera’s swordsmanship build… to borrow the evaluation of Seong Yoo-rang, who invested a total of 12 times into that build, it was an impractical build.
That’s why I asked Yusera.
“So, you must have already known it to some extent, right?”
Yusera nodded instead of answering.
“If that’s the case, why do you keep using swordsmanship?”
Her expression seemed to twist slightly.
Of course, there was no answer.
She probably didn’t even know the reason herself.
If she had to give one reason, it would likely be just one.
‘The Divine Seat must have commanded her to do so.’
It somewhat overlaps with Elsie’s situation.
She too had escaped a crisis thanks to the Divine Seat when she was young.
So no matter what, she follows the Divine Seat’s orders.
‘It’s not up to me to meddle in this.’
From the beginning, whatever I said here, she wouldn’t listen.
There were only two options.
Either the Divine Seat changes its directives, or she realizes that the Divine Seat isn’t perfect.
*
‘Why do I keep using swordsmanship?’
Yusera pondered Seong Yoo-rang’s words.
Why was she so stubborn about swordsmanship?
In fact, by now, she had gotten used to it, too.
But the root of it was clearly that day ten years ago.
The day she was saved by the existence of the Divine Seat.
He commanded her to learn swordsmanship.
He promised that if she mastered swordsmanship, he would make her a hero.
And he had kept that promise well to this day.
Her swordsmanship was indeed strong.
Originally intended to enhance the quality of consumables like potions and pills, the Stigma from the Crow Association also showed destructive effects on weapons.
Thanks to that, in the mock battle environment of Hero Academy, her swordsmanship had become invincible.
‘There’s nothing wrong with my swordsmanship.’
Most of the other team knights couldn’t last beyond three exchanges when fighting her.
Right now, using swordsmanship didn’t bother her at all.
Actually, she was definitely making an impact compared to Seong Yoo-rang, who was using Overload with archery.
Even the guiding professor, Setia, recognized her achievements.
So there was nothing wrong with her swordsmanship.
“Right? Divine Seat?”
In this particularly difficult battle, she finally managed to overcome her opponent in just nine exchanges and looked up.
She didn’t know where the Divine Seat was.
But the Divine Seat had always answered her questions.
He always gave her reassurance.
Yet why…
‘Why is there no response?’
Her tightly shut mouth clenched harder.
*
Today, I was settled in a shady spot on a tree.
Perhaps I was deemed not to have a large impact on the battle, as Setia, the professor in charge of tactics for our group, practically ignored me.
However, there was definitely something that didn’t sit right with me.
‘She’s disqualified as a guiding professor.’
While participating in the tactics meeting with her, I clearly felt it.
She seemed to be oddly nudging Yusera to continue wielding her sword.
That was presumably the reason she took Yusera into her class in the first place.
‘She must have realized that the penalty from Overload nearly disappears in mock battles.’
She was blinded by her own achievements rather than her students’ growth.
Well, that could happen, especially if she keeps losing to Professor Sigritt from Swordsmanship Class 1 every year.
However, that didn’t justify her actions.
‘Either way, even if the guiding professor ordered Yusera to pick up a bow, there’s no knowing if she would do so…’
I watched Yusera take out the opposing knight from another team using Overload.
This match was against Team B from Swordsmanship Class 1, led by Professor Sigritt.
It seemed that this time Yusera had a tough time, going back and forth with her opponent for nine exchanges.
‘But she still won.’
She had faced a formidable opponent.
Given that she defeated that knight singlehandedly, Setia would be feeling quite triumphant.
‘From Yusera’s perspective, she might start to suspect if her swordsmanship has limits.’
Given the output of Overload she showed earlier, her limit would be around ten exchanges.
Nine exchanges were very close to that limit.
She might be starting to wonder about her direction.
‘Surprisingly, that suspicion is correct.’
Yusera must not let that doubt stop there.
It needed correction.
But it wouldn’t be me who corrected it.
‘The match tomorrow.’
It would be against Team 4-B.
And Team 4-B… is the team with Elsie.
She would finally face her first major hurdle.
‘It’ll be a turning point.’
A moment when trust in the Divine Seat slightly falters.
Or perhaps when her will might shatter.
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