Ddingding~ Good morning~ Ddingding~
As the morning sunlight streamed through the window, I couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought that the long night had finally passed.
Since I didn’t sleep, there was no real reason to get up, yet this obnoxious alarm echoed loudly in my head.
Well, given the situation, I had no choice but to enjoy it.
I got out of bed and did some light stretching.
Although I hadn’t slept, thankfully, I didn’t feel too tired. It seemed like there wouldn’t be much of an issue going about my day as usual.
To be honest, staying up all night for a day wasn’t a problem I hadn’t experienced before. I often worked part-time jobs early in the morning to cover my living expenses.
Now that my body was much stronger than back then, I figured a lack of sleep wouldn’t be too bad.
Lost in these thoughts, I realized it was time to head to the Academy.
Arriving a bit early, I found Mei cleaning the area as usual, out before anyone else.
“Hello, Mei.”
“Oh, Scarlet! Good morning. You must be tired this early; want something to eat?”
As I greeted her, Mei, with a morning smile, pulled out some chocolates from her bag and offered them to me.
I hesitated for a moment but eventually reached out to take the chocolates she handed over.
I put them in my pocket and unwrapped one, letting the sweet and slightly bitter chocolate dissolve in my mouth.
Feeling the energy from the sugar, I definitely felt the fatigue waning a bit.
… Mei said it before, chocolate is the best thing during tough times.
Maybe I should stock up on chocolates at home along with bean sprouts.
While I pondered this while nibbling on the chocolate, Mei spoke up.
“Did you hear about the special class today?”
“Oh, yeah. I heard Leonor’s uncle is coming as the instructor.”
“…I wonder if I can do well. Since I had personal lessons, I should at least be able to keep up with the other kids, but I’m feeling a bit insecure…”
Mei muttered this in a slightly nervous tone.
I couldn’t help but feel a bit surprised. I always thought Mei was brimming with confidence because she worked so hard.
I guess everyone has their worries one or two, huh?
Thinking this, I decided to encourage Mei.
“You’ll do great, I know you will.”
Mei responded with a half-hearted smile.
“…Yeah, thanks. I’ll do my best. Scarlet, about you…”
“About me?”
“…No, it’s nothing. Let’s just cheer each other on.”
*
“…Honestly, until a moment ago, I was a little worried. When I heard that you all faced a witch, I thought there might be some who would want to give up on becoming heroes out of fear.”
The blond guy with brown skin, Leon Lionelle, muttered as we gathered in the gym for class.
Having said that, he glanced at the kids, then smiled broadly as if feeling proud.
“I can’t believe no one has quit; that’s a pleasant surprise. If a hero succumbs to fear, then what’s the point? I guarantee you all that, at heart, you’re already proper heroes.”
I could feel the atmosphere among the kids getting energized.
The heroes they idolized had acknowledged them.
It was no wonder they were all moved.
But just as they were caught up in excitement, Leon’s expression turned serious, and the kids once again listened intently.
“However, no matter how strong-hearted you are, as a hero, you naturally need to possess a certain level of strength. Especially in this era where witches have started to show themselves again. Of course, I’m not saying you need to be strong enough to fight witches or higher-level demonic beasts. What I’m going to teach you today is—”
Suddenly, Leon pulled out the spear he was carrying and pointed it at us.
“The way to survive.”
In that moment, it felt like the spear in his hand pierced my throat.
Intense killing intent enveloped the gym.
I could see the kids turning pale, unable to breathe properly.
After momentarily observing the frightened children, Leon eased the tense atmosphere and continued speaking.
“I believe that having faced a witch, most of you have experienced a sensation similar to this. When one comes face to face with a stronger being, a person’s body tends to freeze up without them even realizing it. Intimidated by the killing intent or pressure. Naturally, that usually ends in death. If you want to survive, whether you run or fight, you need to train yourself to move even in such situations. For now, we’ll start by having each of you get used to that.”
Without a blink, Leon stood in front of us and dragged the spear across the ground.
That was a line.
He hadn’t actually drawn a line on the gym floor, but I knew the kids would feel that a virtual line had been drawn in the spot he marked.
The atmosphere screamed: cross that line, and you won’t end up in a good place.
“To start, cross the line I just drew. Who wants to go first?”
Leon casually asked as he returned to his previous spot, but none of the kids stood up immediately.
I felt a headache coming on.
I sensed Leon subtly gesturing towards me.
It was a clear hint that he wanted me to go first and show him how it’s done.
I didn’t want to draw too much attention, but…
Reluctantly, I stood up and faced Leon.
“Oh, going first?”
Leon seemed to act nonchalant, but I felt a slight guilt from him for having me do it.
I waved my hand dismissively, indicating not to worry about it, and faced the imaginary line he had drawn.
It reminded me of what happened at Leon’s place before.
He had asked me to cross a similar line then.
Having done it once, it didn’t seem too difficult now.
Stepping confidently over the line, I saw Leon’s incredulous expression.
He spoke in a tone only I could hear.
“…As I thought, you are a rather unique girl. Didn’t you feel any resistance crossing that line?”
I tilted my head at his question.
Huh? Was there any reason to feel resistance?
Crossing the line felt just like any other day, nothing special.
It was all familiar sensations I had grown so accustomed to.
Since nothing about it felt particularly noteworthy, I wondered if I had ended it too anticlimactically in front of everyone.
Leon made a slightly awkward expression and asked me.
“…Since you seem so familiar with it, how about we add a bit more training? Let’s spar a little, how’s that?”
I had no real reason to refuse, so I nodded.
Leon then reversed the spear for safety and said in a small voice.
“I’ll go at a similar speed as last time, so give it your all.”
As those words left his mouth, Leon lunged at me with the spear.
And as I watched his attack, my thought was,
“Wait, isn’t that a bit slow?”
I mean, it wasn’t like it was a slow attack, but it felt weirdly clear to see.
When I was trained by Leon before, I remember reacting instinctively to dodge.
But now it felt like I could just see his attacks coming and dodge them.
I barely tilted my head to evade his strike, and Leon, looking somewhat spaced out, asked me in a low voice.
“…It hasn’t been long since we trained, but did something happen in the meantime?”
…I don’t know either.
Maybe it was the result of the special classes I had taken so far.
Yet, it felt like my physical abilities had somehow improved too much to explain it that simply.
While dodging a few of Leon’s attacks, I thought, maybe, and during that moment, Leon looked at me with surprise.
“…Looks like you’ve been working very hard. We might not be able to train like this anymore. So, I’ll show a bit of seriousness; you bring your best shot too.”
As Leon finished speaking, the spear began to spin in front of my eyes.
After quickly dodging a strike aimed at my head, I threw a punch, but he had already vanished from that spot.
He swung the spear at me with a look as if to say, “What are you going to do now?”
I lowered my stance as best as I could, evading his strike while thinking.
Yeah, it should be normal for training to be this tough.
As I avoided and countered, the distances were too far.
This was a hand-to-hand fight against a spear that had the longest reach among weapons.
The further I stepped back to avoid, the more I put myself at a disadvantage, so I decided to close the gap by rushing forward.
However, despite my charge, Leon maintained a perfect distance, attacking me without allowing space.
It was so well-timed for an online streamer gameplay that it made one lament.
I could dodge just barely and still counterattack, but not catch him was irritating.
Even if I shot flames from the prosthetic arm, I doubted I’d hit him.
With every evade and counter, I was increasingly frustrated.
I needed to find a way to land a solid hit—
[Burn.]
…Suddenly, a good idea struck me.
Thinking back, we were in a spar.
If I purposely took a hit, Leon would surely come to check on me.
[Burn.]
If I launched my counterattack right then, I’d land a solid blow—
Ah.
In that instant, my body froze as I thought that.
Thud, Leon’s attack slammed directly into my stomach.
“-Cough, cough… ugh…”
“Are you okay?! Why did you just stop like that? You were doing so well, and then suddenly…!”
Through watery and blurred vision, I could see Leon’s worried face.
What… what was I thinking just now?
This couldn’t be happening.
It shouldn’t be happening.
As I gasped for breath and tried to suppress the urge to vomit, I spat out apologies.
“Ugh, ah. I-I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”
“Wait, there’s cold sweat on your face….”
With every ragged breath, I felt the heat within me draining away.
As it subsided, my body began to shiver as if I had gotten chills.
“…I’m sorry, I need to… go to the nurse’s office…”
“Oh, okay. I thought you were fine, but I guess that was just wishful thinking… I’m sorry; I must have pushed you too hard. Go and rest up quick.”
Not even waiting for Leon to finish his words, I rushed out of the gym.
I hurried into a stall in the bathroom inside the school building and buried my head against the wall, choking back sobs.
“…It’s just… I didn’t sleep, that’s all. I couldn’t sleep…”
But I knew myself well enough to realize that wasn’t the case.
Even if it was accidental, the thoughts that crossed my mind couldn’t have been solely due to lack of sleep.
After shaking for a while, seated in the bathroom from fear, I stuffed all the chocolates I had in my pocket into my mouth.
But even the sugary taste, intense enough to make my head spin, didn’t stop my trembling.
Unfortunately, my limit for enduring was only my own death.
My site has received a lot of DMCA notices, lol. From now on, I will update the MTL on https://darkmtl.com/.
The site is fast and lightweight because there are no ads yet. However, the theme is different from Cybor-TL, so take some time to familiarize yourself.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.