Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Master (3)

Sierra, who had spoken with a person for the first time in decades... was incredibly talkative.

I had many conversations with her even on the way back to the carriage.

Because Sierra led the way and showed me the direction of the main road where the carriage was, I did not come across the white cloths I had tied for the return.

The fortunate thing was that, as I had expected, Sierra could neither be seen nor touched by others.

When I returned to where the carriage was, the coachman I met did not notice Sierra at all, even with her transparent lower body.

Then, on the way back to the academy.

Inside the carriage, Sierra chattered, and outside the carriage, the coachman chattered, and I felt as if I might lose my mind.

[...So, this Rebellion Against Heaven. It begins with a reverse grip, holding the sword in a reverse grip. ]

Sierra brightly said this to me while holding my shoulder.

She said that even moving things like carriages made her body pass through them, so if she did not hold on to me, she would have to keep moving, which was troublesome.

“Did you meet your master well?”

The coachman asked me while driving the carriage.

“Yes... she was doing well, haha...”

I had spoken with Sierra in advance.

That I could not answer her words when people were around.

[ Hmm...? My disciple’s shamelessness has reached an extreme. To tell the coachman as you pleased that you were going to meet your master... ]

Listening to the conversation between me and the coachman, she pressed close to my shoulder, close enough that her chest was flattened against it, and said this.

Her mouth, which had told me I did not have to answer her words and only had to listen, showed no intention of stopping.

Like that, I listened to the voices of the coachman and Sierra for quite some time, answering halfheartedly.

Mental fatigue was not something Reina’s bracelet could resolve.

“Haa...”

Inside the rattling carriage, I let out a deep sigh.

***

[ You were an academy student...? ]

After getting off the carriage and entering the academy through a side path, Sierra asked me in surprise.

[ You did look young, but... you were even younger than I thought... ]

Sierra followed me while calculating things like the difference in age, which should no longer have meaning to her now that she was dead.

“Um... when are you going to enter the pendant...?”

After confirming that there were no people around, I quietly spoke to Sierra without even turning my head. I wondered if I should learn ventriloquism in order to converse more comfortably from now on.

[ There is still plenty of leeway, so it is fine. After escaping that stuffy bamboo forest, I feel excited. ]

Sierra placed her hands on her waist, thrust out her chest proudly, and inhaled deeply. I did not know whether she, as a soul, needed to breathe.

[ I always wanted to visit Innocence Academy someday... Disciple, since the chance has come, will you not give me time to look around? ]

Sierra thrust her face in beside me, her eyes gradually narrowing, and coaxed me.

“The academy should have existed in your time too, so why did you not enter?”

[ When I was young, not entering places like the academy was the trend. They said that was cooler... ]

“Ahaha...”

I suddenly felt the generation gap with Sierra.

It seemed generation gaps arose regardless of whether the world was fantasy or anything else.

[ Truthfully, I wanted to go to the academy, but... the strong people I wished to defeat were outside the academy, so I could not go... ]

Sierra, who had stopped following me, suddenly stood still and spoke in a gloomy voice.

It was morning, when the sun was only beginning to rise, and there was still plenty of time before class began.

“...Then I’ll show you around. It must have developed far more than it had back then, so I am sure you will enjoy it.”

And so, I decided to show Sierra around the academy.

Having entered the academy through a side path, I did not head toward the dormitory and instead went straight toward the streets inside the city.

The streets were not lively yet.

Most of the shops were only just preparing for business.

[ How do you... have all the roads memorized? ]

“Should I say it feels like there is a map inside my head?”

The map of the academy I had seen in the game still flickered in my head, so it was not exactly wrong.

[ You called it perception, yes? What a peculiar ability. To think you went around telling others that I taught it to you... Now that I have become your master, I feel as if I am being toyed with by my disciple... ]

Sierra, who had suddenly gone ahead, widened her eyes and approached me.

[ Take this! ]

Sierra shouted at me and chopped the crown of my head with the edge of her hand.

However, it did not hurt, nor did it feel unpleasant.

[ I do not know what you wish to hide, but... since my first disciple does not seem to be someone with a wicked heart, from now on, I wish to help you at your side as your “real” master. ]

Sierra smiled at me as if telling me to cheer up.

[...So you do not need to struggle to bear everything alone. I simply hope the day comes when you can tell me everything. ]

Sierra said this and stroked my head with the hand she had raised.

The voice ringing from my head was gentle and warm.

She did not know much about me.

Not only her, but no one else knew about me either.

I think what happened during the night was more than enough to bewilder Sierra too.

I had merely used her situation and her story.

Still, it was fortunate things had turned out this way before she entered the cursed blade, but...

I felt sorry toward Sierra.

No one was a “character” inside a game anymore.

They were people living in reality, and in her case, a dead person from the past with a story filled with resentment.

Looking at Sierra’s vivid smile, I engraved that in myself once more.

“...Thank you, Master.”

I meant it sincerely.

Even though I had told her not a single piece of information, even though everything had been full of lies.

Sierra seemed to have faintly noticed that too. Even so, I felt deep gratitude toward Sierra for trying to understand me.

“I should do my best too...”

Defeat the Sword Saint.

It was impossible right now, but one day, definitely.

Together with her.

As I walked, people gradually began moving around the streets.

Naturally, I became unable to answer Sierra’s words.

Still, Sierra kept talking.

[ There, what is that...? A general store? There are things like this inside the academy too. Disciple, let us go in. This way. Hurry! ]

I followed Sierra into a general store that had opened early.

“Oh my, our Blind Saint has come... It has been a while... Thank you so much for last time...”

When I entered the general store, the old lady shopkeeper I had not seen in some time expressed her gratitude to me.

“I feel as if I say this every time, but no matter what, Saint is far too burdensome... Haha...”

In the game, she had been an NPC named “Old Lady Suffering from a Cough.” Since she hated medicine so much... one had to bring a sweet medicine similar to candy to complete the quest.

Fortunately, it seemed she no longer coughed now.

[ Blind Saint...? It seems my disciple has wide human connections. ]

A word from Sierra, who was watching this.

“So, what did you come to buy this early in the morning? Just tell me...”

“Hmm...”

At the old lady shopkeeper’s question, I let out a low sound and waited for Sierra.

[...This! This is a fascinating object. A potion of charm...? The perfect gift for someone you love...? ]

What Sierra chose was a “junk item” called a potion of charm. It was truly an item with no meaning. Even in the game, I remembered that item never raised any particular person’s affection.

“She says she’s curious, so I should buy it for now... But how do I explain asking for that item?”

After thinking for a moment, I opened my mouth.

“...A friend said they wanted to play a prank, and I heard this place sells something called a potion of charm... Do you really have something like that?”

“Oh, we do... hehehe...”

“Yes, then could you give me that?”

I was about to take out a money pouch from my clothes, but the old lady shopkeeper grabbed my arm and held out the potion.

“Come now, for something like this... Just take it.”

“Ah... thank you.”

I greeted the old lady shopkeeper and left the general store.

I stuffed the potion roughly into my backpack.

Would Sierra later tell me to try drinking it so I could check it?

“It has no effect, so that would be meaningless, but...”

Like that, I walked around looking at places Sierra wanted to see here and there.

There was still time before class.

I was now hungry too.

For a moment, I came to a deserted alley with Sierra and was talking with her.

Standing while leaning against the alley wall, I hid my presence enough that others would not pay attention.

[ You are hungry? At last, you are eating! I thought my disciple was a golem who neither ate nor slept. ]

“Even if I eat, you won’t be able to taste anything, Master...?”

[ That is true, but I think merely watching you eat will be satisfying. Do you think I lived on great feasts during my closed-door training? I miss appetizing food so terribly... ]

Well, I heard that even in reality, there were people who felt satisfied watching things like “eating broadcasts” without eating themselves... Was it similar?

“Appetizing food...”

At Sierra’s words, I wondered what would be good to eat.

“Is there perhaps any food you liked?”

I did not know what food Sierra liked.

I knew nothing about Sierra’s tastes.

After walking around the streets and listening to her talk, I had only felt that her tastes were a little peculiar.

[ Hmmm... A food too burdensome for the first meal would be inappropriate. Yes, soup would be good! I used to eat soup every morning. ]

“Soup... It isn’t a shop I’ve been to, but I know where it is.”

I had never particularly craved soup, so I had never visited the shop. There was a shop I knew served good soup.

“They sold chicken soup, right?”

I left the alley and walked while remembering the shop’s location.

As I approached the shop, I saw a familiar cafe.

“...That cafe.”

It was the place where I had completely collapsed thanks to the coffee mixed with alcohol that Eisel had recommended.

The coffee mixed with alcohol... tasted good, but I never wanted to drink it again.

Looking back now, it seemed stronger than I thought.

I stood before the soup shop across from the cafe.

Sierra had entered the shop first and was looking around inside.

I opened the shop door and sniffed.

“Here... what kind of food do you mainly sell, perhaps?”

“Huh? Ah...! At our Cranber Soup, chicken soup sells the best!”

The owner hesitated when he saw the bandages around my eyes, but soon answered me naturally.

“Kek...! Kehk...!”

One customer listening to the conversation between me and the owner coughed, perhaps choking.

“Huh...?”

When I looked closely at the customer, pink hair I had glimpsed somewhere before entered my sight.

It was Kaen.

The problem was... Sierra, who had entered the shop earlier, was standing beside Kaen and watching her intently.

Kaen was the Sword Saint’s disciple.

In other words, she was also the disciple of Sierra’s sworn enemy.

“Did she notice...”

I could only hope Sierra’s eyes did not roll back in rage.