The more I thought about it, the more it became something I couldn’t understand.
Avoidance, pairing… isn’t it a bit strange?
If I were to complain about it, I guess there’s nothing more to say, since it’s something that somehow manages to hold up. But still, the questions kept coming, and I couldn’t help it.
Of course, that was just a brief moment. It was a problem I could never find an answer to anyway, and my stance was that as long as it worked well, the result was what mattered.
So I never really analyzed it deeply.
“Deflecting an attack itself is categorized as a basic defensive technique in combat, but to deflect an attack with enough force to send your opponent flying—well, that can only be seen as having reached a certain level of mastery. From my analysis, that technique is…”
Maybe that’s why. The crown prince kept rambling on by himself, but I couldn’t really understand what he was saying. All I could do was respond with the usual “mhm, mhm” to keep the conversation going.
After rambling on for a while, the crown prince finally came to a conclusion.
“Therefore, while it’s impossible to perfectly replicate it, just mastering the key points, or even simply imitating it, will significantly improve my combat skills.”
It seemed like, to him, my techniques had already reached some kind of level of mastery.
It was a cheat ability that I could use simply because I had possessed the character, but now that he was so passionately trying to learn it, I started to feel guilty.
Feeling awkward, I decided to ask a question first.
“Is there a particular reason you’re training so intensely?”
In fact, the crown prince wasn’t a particularly important character.
The route where the emperor dies is one of the rare ones, and even if he were to die, the game would end before the crown prince could properly take over the throne.
Still, I know everything I need to know, but because I’m not familiar with the finer details, it’s a bit awkward, like meeting a friend who’s a little out of touch.
However, one thing was certain: he wasn’t someone with a strong drive for improvement in combat.
I could be wrong about him in some ways, but when it came to the Seria family history, I knew it inside and out, and based on that, I came to the conclusion that, at the point of the final chapter, the weakest member of the Seria family was the crown prince.
It wasn’t a matter of talent; he’d focused more on various studies as the next emperor.
So why, then, was he so insistent on asking me to teach him techniques? That was the question I couldn’t help but have.
“The reason I’m training…”
The crown prince hesitated for a moment in response to my question, but he didn’t seem to be troubled by it.
It seemed like there was a clear reason, so I quietly waited, and soon, he answered.
“Yesterday, Seria said to me, ‘If you want to share meat with me, at least you should be able to stand shoulder to shoulder with Lord Velorix.’”
At those words, I had to hold back a chuckle.
Velorix. That name belonged to the commander of the knights.
He’s often depicted as a strong figure in the world, but when it comes to being a truly important character, his position is ambiguous.
In fact, in the game, he was more often called by his title, “Commander of the Knights,” rather than by his name, so there’s not much more to say.
But his strength? That was for real.
When he wielded his sword with full intent, rocks would split, and even the mountains behind him would crack apart.
It wasn’t an exaggeration—this actually played out in a cutscene.
It was said to be because he drew upon his strength, but… no ordinary human could split a mountain just by tapping into their power.
And he’s being told to stand shoulder to shoulder with someone like that?
Clearly, Seria was just politely saying she didn’t want to, but this guy was taking it seriously.
“Seria seems to think you’re on the same level as Lord Velorix… or even above him.”
Whether he didn’t realize it or just didn’t care, the crown prince spouted such nonsense.
No way. I can’t even scratch a rock, let alone split a mountain.
For now, I decided to discuss just how unreasonable Seria’s goal was.
“You know that’s impossible, right?”
“I know. Although, right now, I’m nowhere near Lord Lux’s level… I’ll push myself as far as I can.”
That’s why he must have gone through all this trouble to set up this meeting, right?
The crown prince’s expression was utterly serious.
…This is honestly ridiculous.
I mean, would anyone really go this far just to get a piece of meat from their little sister?
There were many things I wanted to say, but for some reason, I suddenly became exhausted, so I decided not to say anything at all.
“Well then, please teach me.”
The crown prince drew his sword.
It was a bit late to mention this, but the place the crown prince brought me to was the royal banquet hall.
It was large, and when not in use, there were no people around. It was the perfect place for the situation.
“It’s been months since I’ve been here. The last banquet was for Seria’s entrance ceremony.”
That was the first thing the crown prince said as we entered.
It seemed like everything at the palace revolved around Seria, even the banquets. Truly royal behavior.
Of course, I hadn’t expected to be doing this kind of thing in a banquet hall.
There was something I needed to take care of here as well… but for now, I decided to let it slide.
The crown prince and I stood facing each other in the spot where we’d dance at the banquet.
A sword dance is still a dance, so I figured it was a fitting location.
With such a silly thought in my mind, I drew the sword from my waist.
“I’m not really planning to teach you anything seriously. I don’t have the ability to do that… It would be best if you just figured it out and learned on your own.”
I added a little safety net to that.
There was no choice. Teaching power that went beyond the rules of the game was impossible from the start.
Letting someone else in on it was even more so.
I told him to figure it out and learn on his own, but honestly, I didn’t think it was something he could actually do.
“Since you’re going along with my stubbornness, there’s no reason to complain.”
But surprisingly, the crown prince’s reaction was quite obedient.
Did he think so highly of my abilities? It was hard to decide whether I should take this as a compliment or not.
“Alright then. Let’s begin right away… Oh, wait.”
Come to think of it, just sparring didn’t seem like a good idea, so I gave him a few specific attack stances.
What he wanted was my parrying technique, so I showed him the motions that would allow for it.
“You said you weren’t planning to teach seriously, but you’re giving such detailed instructions.”
He took even that as part of the lesson, and honestly, this was more pressure than I expected.
Anyway, the crown prince followed my instructions and made direct, honest attacks. I, on the other hand, almost for the first time, gripped the short sword with both hands.
It was for the purpose of performing a proper blade parry, which is possible with all types of swords.
Until now, I had only parried with the handle of the short sword… but if I did that now, it would look way too flashy.
At the very least, I thought I should make it look like I was properly countering.
Clang!
A sharper, more intense sound than a handle parry rang out.
At the same time, the crown prince’s body staggered a few steps backward.
“…As expected, truly marvelous…”
He stepped back for a while, checked his sword and his body, then muttered quietly to himself.
Then he asked.
“How long do you think you can keep this up?”
“All day, if necessary.”
“Right. Lord Lux never showed signs of tiring when sparring with me. I asked a pointless question.”
It wasn’t that, though. The stamina was unlimited, so I wouldn’t get tired.
Anyway, after that, we repeated the same action for a long time.
Whenever the crown prince swung his sword, I parried it—again and again, over and over.
After repeating it dozens of times… it was only just before reaching triple digits that the crown prince finally stopped.
“Haah… I really don’t get it. You’re not cutting through with a swing, and you’re not using any magic… so what kind of principle is behind causing enough recoil to send someone flying?”
It’s game mechanics. Don’t try to understand it with common sense.
But even though he said that, it wasn’t like there was no progress at all.
From the middle point, he started responding to the recoil when parrying, so even if he didn’t understand the deflecting technique, he seemed to quickly master at least the counterattack technique.
“Still, I have to give it a try. Will you swing your sword at me?”
Of course, it didn’t seem like he was satisfied with just that; he hadn’t gone through all this just to learn that.
Since I had no reason to refuse, I followed his words and swung my sword.
He brought his sword up to meet mine… and it was immediately countered.
Clang!
Naturally, there was no recoil. It just looked like his sword had blocked mine.
“Even with a light swing, stopping the sword completely is all there is to it…”
He seemed a bit deflated after analyzing the situation but failing to find any clues.
Hey, don’t be too discouraged. It’s normal not to be able to do it.
Just as I thought I should at least offer some kind of comfort, the door to the banquet hall suddenly swung open with a loud bang.
BANG!
Both the crown prince and I were startled and turned our heads toward the door, and there stood Seria, quietly.
“What are you two doing here?”
At her question, the crown prince quickly withdrew his sword from where it was facing mine and sheathed it.
I followed suit and put my sword back at my waist, though honestly, it was a pointless action since she had probably already seen everything.
In this awkward moment, Seria slowly walked toward us and suddenly used magic to lift the crown prince into the air.
“Se-SERIA?!”
The crown prince, flustered, called out her name in a panic, but Seria casually muttered as if she hadn’t heard him.
“Honestly. Why is everyone so desperate to bother Rudion?”
Then, she sent the crown prince flying out the window.
“If you try to come back in, you’ll be eating dinner alone tonight.”
With that threat, he was exiled, so I doubted he’d be coming back here anytime soon.
Now, alone, Seria sighed and glanced at my arm.
Though I was covering it with my long sleeves, she seemed to be concerned, knowing about the injury.
“Is your arm okay?”
“It’s a bit uncomfortable, but it’s not a problem.”
As long as I didn’t apply pressure directly, it didn’t hurt much, so it was bearable.
But it wasn’t exactly a shallow wound that would heal quickly either.
When we get back to the academy, I’ll ask Professor Reina to treat it.
While thinking about that, I suddenly remembered the “thing I needed to take care of” that I had let slide earlier.
I called out to Seria, who was still looking at my arm with a worried expression.
“Seria.”
“What is it?”
“Is it okay if I break that floating magic stone?”
“…Why?”
Well, if I leave it there, there’s going to be a disaster at the victory party later on.
It’s not exactly urgent enough to handle right now, but now that it’s in my sight, I want to get rid of it quickly.
But Seria, who doesn’t know that fact, probably won’t let me do it.
It’s a shame, but I guess I’ll deal with it next time…
“Well, do whatever you want.”
“…Really?”
“I know you’re not the type to break things for no reason. Or should I break it? It might be easier to clean up afterward.”
She said that, then cast her magic without hesitation.
I really appreciate how she always trusts me, but it’s starting to get a little scary.
I thought to myself that I shouldn’t lie to her in the future.