Sharing someone’s secret, or even your own secret with someone else, has its bright and dark sides.
The good side is that you can freely share things that are awkward to talk about since both you and the other person know the secret, making it easier to discuss sensitive topics without worrying about it leaking out.
Conversely, the bad side is that the story could be shared with others.
Well, I’m not too worried about that. I don’t think Jian would go around blabbing my secrets.
…However, on a different note.
Jian is a descendant of the Swordmaster. That’s all I’ve set up; I don’t know which era the Swordmaster came from, whether they were male or female, or what great deeds they did. But there’s a possibility that I might have seen him in a textbook—after all, it’s the ‘Swordmaster’ we’re talking about.
Someone called the Swordmaster, who has nothing but good connotations surrounding their name, probably wouldn’t commit bad deeds, and since Jian got into the Academy, this person must have been a hero too. No way someone who achieved the prestigious title of Swordmaster wouldn’t be in textbooks.
And even if that name was omitted, it’s certain that they were a highly renowned figure.
Naturally, there’s a good chance that their descendants were heroes too, which is probably how Jian became friends with someone as rich and prosperous as Erica.
And naturally, if Jian’s father is also a descendant of the Swordmaster, he might have been suspicious about Jian’s sudden strength.
If Jian had asked a lot of questions, eventually, if Jian had confessed to his father what he had been through, his family would have found out too. Even if that didn’t happen, it was only a matter of time before they noticed something was off. A descendant of the Swordmaster wouldn’t just laze around at home without training.
Fortunately, I don’t know the Swordmaster, but I do know Jian’s parents.
Of course, I don’t know them in person; I know them as characters I made up.
In truth, there are no detailed settings regarding them. However, the story progresses from Jian’s first-person perspective, and from Jian’s viewpoint, the father is kind but strict when teaching, while the mother is good-natured and caring.
Of course, this mother is also portrayed as a powerhouse, rivaling the father.
…Come to think of it, there was a scene where Selena saw a picture of Jian’s mother and dramatically lost confidence. So, this might apply here too? But anyway, that doesn’t matter.
Even so, it’s not like Jian would spill my story to his family, nor would I ever meet Jian’s family and have a casual chat… but still, better to be cautious, right?
Plus, ever since last night, Jian seems to be more casual around me.
So, what does that feel like…?
Until yesterday, there was a subtle wall between Jian and me.
Sure, we were friends, but how should I put it? We didn’t engage in unnecessary conversations, at least not to the extent where I would share my thoughts or where he would sit beside me nonchalantly like Linea or Aurora, or speak up first like Selena, or even argue openly like Rina.
However, this morning, with him grinning at my face, it looks like our relationship has suddenly jumped to the level I have with Rina after our conversation last night.
…At least, it seems that’s how Jian feels.
Well, to give an example—
Whew! Salty! So salty! The seawater is really salty! But it’s different from salty water! How curious!
Just like Aurora shouting this out, our first experience would be the sea.
We didn’t really vote on it, but it was written in Seo-A’s rough plan: ‘Sea, Valley.’ Aside from that, there was really nothing in the plan, clearly prepared for fun.
“Don’t worry! The plan submitted to the Academy has everything written in detail!”
Looking at Seo-A winking at me like that, it didn’t seem to matter much anymore.
By the way, the plan for our first day, the day we arrived, was originally ‘Sea + BBQ.’ Right. It seems they didn’t intend to stick to even such a simple plan.
Well, since both the sea and the valley were nearby, I didn’t feel a need for a heated debate about planning. That was everyone’s common sentiment, and in the end, on the second day, everyone rushed to the sea.
It was the first time at the beach for Aurora, and she was so excited that she dashed over to taste the seawater with her fingers.
…Can’t blame her.
Once that water gets in your eyes, it’s not so fun anymore, but seeing that vast water body with land nowhere in sight for the first time must be exhilarating.
While she looked like someone who had been to the beach multiple times with that bikini on,
The yellow bikini suited Aurora’s slightly reddish-brown bob hair quite well, but, how do I put this, it was a little revealing. Anyway, that’s how it was.
In fact, it’s not that the size was small; the swimsuit area wasn’t massively inadequate either; it was just a simple bikini design with some frills, which could be considered ordinary. However—
The real problem was the size of her chest.
As embarrassing as it is to compare, Aurora’s was still smaller than mine.
However, when compared to her peers… no, when compared to the average women’s size, it was quite large. Thus, bouncing around like that catches anyone’s eye.
Moreover, because of where the frills were positioned, they swayed to show how significantly different the front and back sizes were every time she jumped. Just think about the straps on cargo trucks securing loads that stick out. The frills were serving that exact role.
With that bikini on, regardless of size, it was highly emphasized.
On that day, it wasn’t that I found it entirely inappropriate, nor could I find fault since both size and design were normal, but I wondered if I should’ve said something. Still, Aurora really wanted to wear it; it would be difficult to stop her.
Well, I was at ease knowing that here, beach hunting events, like in light novels or comics, wouldn’t suddenly happen to the female characters.
And every time I looked at her swimsuit, I felt like I made the right choice in selecting mine. Naturally, I must have been bigger than Aurora, in terms of height and size.
…In that sense, I wanted to at least thank Seo-A for not choosing a swimsuit design like that.
Ah, how did the conversation get to this point?
Right, it was about Lee Ji-An’s change in attitude that brought us here.
…I feel like I veered too far off-topic, but anyway, back to the main point—
I can’t swim, so of course, I brought a tube along with me. Thankfully, since Rina had also never been to the river or beach, she didn’t tease me about it. She threw me into the pool and teased me about not being good in water, but she was no different.
Having come to the beach after quite a while, I relaxed on the tube, enjoying the feel of the hot sun and splashing seawater when—
“Can’t swim?”
A voice suddenly interrupted my peaceful floating.
That was Lee Ji-An, of course.
He approached me, who was lounging a bit away from the group avoiding the children beating the water senseless in some water fight.
I had my arms and legs relaxed, my eyes closed, fully enjoying the warmth and the sea spray when I became anxious from that unanticipated voice.
“I can’t really swim, but… I don’t plan to learn, you know.”
When I got to the ‘can’t really swim’ part, I noticed Jian’s mouth slightly drop open, so I quickly added.
I genuinely had no intention of learning to swim.
I’m not such a swimming enthusiast that I go to the pool every day. To be honest, I absolutely hate it when something gets into my nose, ears, or eyes. It’s terrifying, right?
Since the moments I enter the water, unless it’s a hot spring, wouldn’t even exceed a week in a year, I didn’t feel the need to learn, and that’s genuinely how I felt.
Moreover, if the one teaching me were a guy, I’d dislike it even more.
I would prefer at least a girl helping me out.
“Really?”
Still, even when I stated that clearly, Jian didn’t seem to be offended. In fact, he didn’t even make the awkward expression he usually did. He had a pleasantly content look on his face.
It irritates me that the handsome guy wears that kind of expression while looking at me.
“Why are you smiling like that?”
I asked with my brows knitted, and Jian shrugged his shoulders, responding.
“Just wondering if this is your true self.”
…What?
Is he throwing shade at me right now?
Is he implying that my way of cutting him off is my real character?
“…”
But I didn’t strike back.
Because this guy is the strongest character in this world, after all.
And he’s even the one who has already awakened his future abilities, easily claiming the title of this world’s strongest.
I could probably beat demons one on one, I think.
“I’ve noticed that the atmosphere when you deal with me or a girl like Rina has been quite different.”
Well, it’s probably because you’re a guy.
I mean, physically, I’m still a healthy young person. On the outside, I look like a pretty girl, but that doesn’t mean my sexual identity will shake after half a year.
Even if I’ve never had a girlfriend! I still want to have my first love with a girl!
Of course, I had friends of the same gender in that other world. It’s just that it’s too pathetic to have no friends of the same gender if you’ve never even had a girlfriend. At the very least, I had friends I could hang out with or grab a drink or meal. Though after starting work, I couldn’t meet them often.
But in that previous life, I was a male. Naturally, I had no qualms about making male friends. There were no misunderstandings because of that. It was only the macho types who think that if there are two guys together, they assume they’re gay, or the otaku who assumes that two guys standing together are definitely involved romantically.
However, in this world, I’m female.
I can hang out with girls without being misunderstood, but being around guys, it’s quite predictable what misunderstandings will arise. Especially if it’s with a handsome guy like him.
Plus, he’s popular too.
…Whether I should be sad or happy that I don’t get misunderstood while hanging around women, and that it doesn’t matter if I’m surrounded by women, it’s truly confusing. But regardless, I didn’t intend to expand my circle of male friends needlessly.
“To relate easily with each other. Honestly, I was jealous.”
“Jealous…?”
You mean the relationship where we growl at each other and dunk each other in the water is something to be envious of?
Oh, but nowadays, we have our share of time without fighting, sitting side by side drinking water or soda, and sometimes engaging in small talk, but I don’t see how a relationship that involves swinging weapons at each other every day is one to envy.
…I guess the thoughts of a descendant of the Swordmaster are different.
Despite a myriad of thoughts swirling around, I felt that anything I said to that guy wearing a good smile wouldn’t really get through, so I simply waved my hand at Jian and slightly distanced myself.
“Ji-An, saying your thoughts are a little weird—!?”
Before I could finish saying, Have you never heard of that before?, my tube flipped over!
“Ahh!”
I quickly lifted my body. Fortunately, the water was only up to my waist, so I didn’t struggle, but I ended up with seawater in my nose, eyes, ears, and mouth.
“Salty! The seawater is really salty!”
Spitting out sand that entered my mouth, I exclaimed, and then—
“Do people have some rule about how to react when they drink seawater?”
I heard a voice from behind.
Turning my head around, of course, it was Rina.
Seeing her completely drenched from head to toe, she must have come from swimming…
Hadn’t she? Oh, wait.
“Are you saying you came up from below to flip me over?”
When I asked her that, she averted her gaze slightly.
“Just say I swam over.”
“…”
Looking back at Jian, he was smiling softly as he was this morning.
“…Rina, as much as I would love to take that bait right now, I don’t think I can.”
“Huh?”
Normally, I would have jumped in for a body blow, but when I spoke calmly like that, Rina responded with a somewhat puzzled noise.
“First—”
While saying that, I grabbed the flipped tube and yelled—
“Just stop smiling like that!”
And with all my strength, I threw it at Jian’s face!
The tube flew and hit Jian on the head, bouncing off with a thud.
Of course, the impact was zero. They say one of the powers of Demon God Baal is to reduce the pain felt.
Well, an Academy student wouldn’t complain about a tube hitting their head.
However, my toss was merely a distraction!
By the time the tube bounced off Jian’s head, I was already dashing full speed.
And I harnessed that momentum to hit Jian’s stomach with a body blow!
But my hands slipped, hitting Jian squarely on the stomach with my shoulder instead!
The warmth meeting my shoulder felt bumpy! How annoying!
Once I managed to successfully push Jian underwater, I realized that in that position, my face would end up shoved into the water too.
Yah!
At the strange shout, all the club members at the beach, enjoying it in their own way, directed their attention to one spot.
There was Clara, wrapped around Jian’s waist, soaring through the air.
…Although I expressed it as ‘wrapped around,’ her face was against Jian’s side, shoulder touching his stomach; rather than a scene from a romantic movie, it looked more like a scene from an intense wrestling era.
When you think about those two who soared two meters before crashing into the water, it might as well have been a special effect from a movie.
“Clara!?”
The first ones to react were, of course, Aurora and Linea, who rushed towards sinking Clara.
Observing them in surprise, Selena sighed dramatically, “What are they doing…?”
“Hey, Erica you should hurry over too!”
“Uh, um? Oh, yes…”
And Seo-A was pushing Erica towards Jian.
“…Really can’t read the room.”
While watching all of that from a distance, Kihmuhir spoke up.
“…”
Satsuki, accidentally left behind with Ramihi when everyone rushed over, seriously pondered if she should respond. Kihmuhir and Satsuki had barely spoken even after joining the duel club. If they did talk, it was just for some formalities.
“About Clara…”
Once Kihmuhir added that, Satsuki realized that wasn’t just random mumbling.
Ramihi’s gaze remained on their group. Aurora and Linea were pulling Clara, who had sunk to the bottom, while Selena yelled something at Jian. Jian scratched his head with a smile.
Erica was carefully asking Jian something, while…
Homeroom teacher Seo-A, for some reason, was sneaking glances at Satsuki and Kihmuhir instead of focusing on her own group.
“…Just your average person.”
Finally, Satsuki straightforwardly expressed her usual thoughts. No matter how awkward their relationship was, it wasn’t polite to ignore someone when they initiated conversation.
“Just the average person.”
Kihmuhir tilted his head at that remark.
“I think it’s more than that… but given that you’ve known him longer than I have, your assessment might be more accurate.”
“What?”
Satsuki was taken aback by his words.
For an elf to respect someone’s assessment means that they consider that person’s judgment as credible as their own.
In a sense, it was almost like a literal interpretation; that judgment delineated whether elves discriminate against others or not.
In simple terms, it determined whether they view the other as an equal.
“Is that strange?”
Kihmuhir glanced back, and his expression showed no particular emotion, almost as if it were only natural.
Satsuki clearly noted that his response was a stark contrast to those she had encountered in the Elven Village.
“…No.”
Yet, it felt awkward to ask why not.
Satsuki had seen Kihmuhir evaluate elves. Like when the cadets from the Officer School bullied Erica. While that, in a certain sense, could be perceived as justified anger… glaring at others while treating them like bugs was essentially indicative of how elves often belittled others.
Whether watching Clara and Remihar change his perspective or if he had originally had a more flexible mindset than other elves, that would all become clearer over time.
“By the way,”
Kihmuhir turned his gaze back to the distant horizon.
“There sure are more fish than I expected. Though it’d be odd if there weren’t life in such a vast body of water.”
“Fish?”
When Satsuki asked, Kihmuhir pointed his finger towards the distant horizon.
“Over there, there seems to be quite a few. It’s a little embarrassing, but I’ve never seen ocean fish before. They’re quite interesting.”
Or perhaps, should I say they look a bit odd?
Kihmuhir’s voice echoed, but Satsuki couldn’t see the fish.
…Was it the difference between mixed blood and pure blood?
Satsuki merely thought that flatly.
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