A few days ago, Lord Akitaro visited the personal training room of the successor who was practicing late into the night.
“I’m going to Korea, Emika.”
“Korea, you mean?”
Emika responded, somewhat surprised. Korea had not been invited to the National Exchange Tournament hosted by the World Wizarding Alliance for three consecutive years. The media in Japan had been critical of Korea’s low educational standards.
“I don’t think the wizards in Korea are lagging behind in the world. It’s just that their curriculum is different.”
Just looking at the Academy competitions, using wands is prohibited. Excellent students in Korea prefer to become static theoretical wizards rather than dynamic battle mages. The priority is achieving good grades within the academy rather than being recognized internationally. These factors combined led to the lack of a national representative for a while, but while watching the Academy competition, Akitaro discovered new possibilities.
“I heard the niece of the Korean cardinal is sixteen this year. I was sure she would compete in the exchange. With the ‘divine artifact,’ external manifestation would be a huge advantage.”
Yet perhaps due to the brutal defeat in the competition, she vanished. Jo Soo-yeon lost five to one. What’s worse is that she was on the side with five.
After watching the Seoul Regional Academy competition, Katsuhata Akitaro couldn’t help but feel a chill.
“The fact that that little girl shattered an inherited sword wasn’t just talk. NoName’s ability to handle aura is nearly world-class.”
“…!”
Emika trembled. She was thinking that someone like Name could contend with the national team players. The Lord had verbally confirmed it himself.
“Then the reason for going to Korea…”
Akitaro nodded with a serious expression at Emika’s words.
“I’ve recently hit a wall. The key objective of this training camp is to awaken your external manifestation.”
Akitaro assigned Emika homework. She was to repeatedly watch videos of Name’s Academy competition and Sports Day.
Emika couldn’t agree to this.
“But in our Katsuhata Sect, if you have a sword, external manifestation isn’t necessary…”
“What’s the point when you can’t even hold onto your sword?” the Lord retorted firmly.
“A sword user who drops their sword is as good as dead. Yes, Otake-sensei’s teachings are famous. But if there’s anything scarier than death, it’s losing at the Tokyo Stadium.”
Emika’s gaze sank to the floor. She realized she was not trusted by the Lord. If dropping the sword at the tournament was acknowledged, what was the meaning of nearly ten years of training?
Emika bit her lip, troubled.
“Soon, NoName might participate in the National Exchange Tournament within three years. Or maybe next year, even this year, wouldn’t be strange.”
“Does the Lord not believe in my talent and effort?”
“It’s better to have an honorable defeat than a shameful victory. The latter can always be glamorized, so don’t be so stiff, Emika. From the moment you decided to participate in the National Exchange Tournament, you’re not representing the Katsuhata Sect, but Japan. It doesn’t matter whether you win through swordsmanship or any means.”
“Yes, I’ll keep that in mind…”
Your swordsmanship cannot conquer the world.
Akitaro’s simple remark stabbed at Emika’s heart.
Nights of insomnia continued for several days.
*
The Katsuhata Sect contacted me secretly. They wanted me to advise Emika on external manifestation.
[Isn’t it much easier for a peer to explain than for adults who talk endlessly?]
Isn’t there a bit of an age gap between me and Emika?
Anyway, being true to the Japanese way, they did not forget to offer me a reward.
500,000 won for each visit. They promised to pay 500,000 won each day I visited, regardless of how many hours I stayed. So if I visited twice, that would be one round of 5-circle magic… not a bad exchange.
With the academy wrapping up early on Wednesdays, using all weekends, I could manage about 15 visits. If I filled in the extra five days leading up to the last week of June, I’d complete exactly 20 lessons.
[Thanks for your guidance on external manifestation. If I succeed before returning to Japan, I will double your compensation.]
Double compensation means 200 million won.
Going to see a friend and getting paid for it? I had no reason to refuse.
So, I made my way to the Katsuhata camp with a light heart.
Adella stopped by a specialized kendo equipment store, 1 hour and 40 minutes round trip, to pick up a practice shinai made of ebony.
‘It feels like I asked her to run an errand for no reason.’
I couldn’t remember the last time I held a sword that fit my body. Eager to swing it, I waved it in the air a few times, but the driver shot me a fierce glare from the rearview mirror, and I quickly stopped.
The Katsuhata camp was all in a tizzy. There were still unpacked boxes piled against the yard wall, and camp personnel buzzed around busily.
I caught one of them and asked, “Do you know where Katsuhata Emika’s room is?”
“Kid, how did you get in… Ah, you’re the friend who was supposed to come today! If you go around the back of the garden, you’ll find the junior suite.”
“Thanks!”
I followed the trickling stream through the garden, cutting across the bamboo grove.
The hotel with a whole garden was something else.
While sparrows fluttered about chirping songs of spring, shouts of men echoed robustly.
I entered through the partly open gate at the end of the garden and checked for any signs of life.
“Is anyone here?”
A single shoe was left on the maru (wooden floor).
Given the size, it surely belonged to Emika.
I took off my shoes and climbed up to look around the hanok’s interior.
‘It looks like a hanok outside, but the interior is almost modern.’
Aside from feeling tidy, there was nothing particularly special about it.
“Lord Akitaro will be arriving in 15 minutes! Please prepare for Katsuhata!”
A loud voice called for Emika from the other side of the garden.
Ignoring it, I moved deeper into the back room.
No sooner had I entered than I caught sight of a girl in a pure white dobok with a ponytail peeking through the sliding door.
‘Is she meditating?’
I quietly approached her and lightly tapped her head with the shinai.
“Hi, Emika, it’s been ages since we last met. How have you been?”
“…”
“Um?”
Emika swayed slightly and then simply collapsed sideways.
“Emika?”
There was no time to be flustered.
She had rolled her eyes back and was foaming at the mouth.
Coincidentally, the moment Emika had a seizure coincided with the entrance of the Katsuhata disciples.
“Katsuhata! No matter how much we call, there’s no answer. What are you doing…! Katsuhata! Why are you lying on the floor?!”
“AHH! The lady! Lady, please, come to your senses!”
I hurriedly dropped the shinai I was holding to avoid misunderstandings.
Thud
Today, the sound felt a bit louder.
Suddenly, several stern-looking men rushed in and glared at me.
“Who are you! What have you done to our Lady Katsuhata?!”
“No, I didn’t do anything…”
I pouted my lower lip, protesting my innocence.
How could this be so unfair?!
*
If I hadn’t been a child, I would have been doomed to be labeled the culprit.
When the misunderstanding cleared up, their stance changed completely, thanking me for finding the lady early.
Well, I came to see Emika anyway.
“If there’s someone who thinks being comfortable means being relaxed, get out of here. Since each of you has your goals—be it the Emperor’s Cup, the Super League, or the National Exchange Tournament! Don’t ever think victory will come easily. Only those prepared to die can achieve their goals. Do you all understand?”
“Yes, understood!”
“Okay, disperse!”
At Koizumi grandpa’s command to disperse, around 30 men and women stomped away.
I lay on the wooden deck, viewing the solemn oath of the Katsuhata disciples from a distance.
I could spot a few kids around Emika’s age scattered amongst them.
Each of them were praised as having the best talent in Japan.
But only Emika had been singled out as the successor.
I suddenly thought about the immense pressure that poor girl must be under.
In such cases, jealousy and spite from the seniors would naturally follow.
Yet outwardly, they seemed to cherish her as the cute little sister.
“NoName! Lady Katsuhata has awoken!”
“Oh really? Since I’ve come this far, I think I should at least see her face, so I was waiting.”
The medical staff from the sect guided me to Emika’s room.
I was able to meet Emika lying on a warm ondol (heated floor) with a soft blanket, enjoying the cool air from the air conditioner.
‘She’s really living the life.’
Upon seeing me, she immediately sat up and greeted me.
“Hey, Name! I’ve been waiting for you!”
Her high ponytail swooshed as she moved.
“Already putting on airs after just waking up. I was surprised when you fainted suddenly.”
“Ahaha.”
“What were you doing? Did you have a seizure like that before?”
“No, it’s not that…”
“If it’s not that, then what?”
Emika glanced around and whispered to me.
There was no one listening, so what’s with all the embarrassment?
“I was trying to practice handling the aura heart by reversing the aura…”
“What? You silly girl! Why would you reverse the aura that flows perfectly well?”
“Name, saying ‘silly’ is a bad word. You shouldn’t use it.”
“What else would you call someone being silly? It’s not like we’re in the medieval ages.”
“Hmm…”
It’s called chronic-sensitive epilepsy.
She likely used the method of reversing the aura to measure time in the imaginary world.
But the aura heart has a tendency to return to a state optimized for the ‘present.’
As a result, when she experiences shocks from outside or emotional turmoil during meditation, time in the imaginary world runs rapidly, causing electrical chemical signal disturbances in the brain.
To put it simply, it’s like a cheap version of the possession trope you often see in novels or films.
The treatment is astonishingly simple.
Just look at a clock that indicates the current time.
Thus, it’s a condition that wouldn’t occur naturally in modern people.
It’s not like scurvy; I’ve never seen someone afflicted by chronic-sensitive epilepsy even in past lives.
As I continued to look at her with a pitiful gaze, Emika’s cheeks flushed bright red.
She was starting to show signs of being somewhat clumsy.
“Oh right, the oath ceremony!”
“It’s already over. They all dispersed.”
“Ugh! What should I do now? I’m gonna get in so much trouble with Master…”
“By the way, the Katsuhata Sect holds training camps in the city? I thought you were holed up somewhere in the mountains.”
“You’re right, we actually do hold training camps in the mountains, but this year is a bit special.”
This is the real deal.
Emika’s words rekindled my doubts about Japan’s elite education system.
Could it be that the Katsuhata Sect achieved excellent results on the international stage not due to good teaching but simply because they only selected outstanding kids from the outset?
“Actually, I decided to go to Korea because of you, Name.”
Emika’s added words made me frown.
“Because of me?”
“Yeah. The Lord wishes for me to definitely achieve external manifestation. Only then can we win in the exchange tournament.”
Emika then showed me a large bundle of paper.
A thick stack of A4 paper that likely exceeded a thousand sheets.
It contained screenshots of my performance during the martial arts challenge last week, framed out.
“What’s this…”
“There’s so much to learn from Name. It took me three days just to replicate this stance!”
It was the martial arts move I used against Kim Ye-ji from the 2nd grade during the Sports Day.
Emika jumped from her seat and opened all the windows on the terrace.
“I’ll show you.”
Emika took a deep breath and began.
She gathered her hands at her side and released the aura throughout her body.
Thump-thump-!
Her left and right feet alternated rapidly, striking down.
The magically treated floor shook violently from the strong impact.
In the perfect timing, Emika extended her hands in a flawless stance.
Boom-!
The air in front of her palms compressed powerfully, creating turbulent waves.
The swirling wind swept through the leaves of the garden.
“How long did it take to learn this?”
“Three days. Exactly three days and eight hours.”
“Ooh, is that so?”
I slowly stroked my chin.
She indeed had astonishing talent.
At just fifteen, it was easy to understand why she had been chosen as the successor of the Katsuhata Sect.
Her talents were exceptional, and her will was also strong.
To learn a five-second movement, she printed out 300 frames of connected actions and analyzed them with a red pen.
I could see potential here.
“Even though it’s not my business, I feel like we can aim for your external manifestation within a month?”
“Really?”
Emika’s face lit up with a bright smile.
“Then how about we meet every Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday? On Wednesdays, around 4 PM for about two hours. Saturdays and Sundays, we can just go with the flow.”
“Sure. Times don’t matter at all.”
“Good. Actually, I’ve roughly measured Emika’s proficiency from the last movement, so I’ll think about the curriculum and come up with something.”
“Wow, this feels so exciting. I’ve had guidance in paired training from my seniors, but this is the first time I’m getting instructed by someone younger than me.”
“So, are you jealous?”
“Not really, just something I thought of saying!”
“Then you, too, should quickly achieve external manifestation and graduate.”
There’s nothing more enjoyable than teaching talented kids.
I set to work on creating the curriculum and the homework I would assign going forward.
*
[NoName: Learn the basic movements by next Wednesday.]
[NoName: (I sent a photo.)]
[NoName: (I sent another photo.)]
(…)
[NoName: (I sent a message.)]
[Unread messages: 101]
“Whaaat? How am I supposed to do all of this in just two days? Is this real?!?”
