Chapter 41 - Reason Behind Strength
The duel ended and it was decided that I would be moving into the same room as Yurina-san. I started moving my luggage into the room.
「Eric will be staying in the same room as Yurina-san… How nice」
「Nn? What? Tina, did you want to room with Yurina-san?」
「That’s not it! I want to room with Eric!」
Well, it’s not an exaggeration to say that Tina and I always lived together in the village.
We’ve slept in the same bed too huh.
「I think there were empty rooms at the magic knight dormitory. Can’t me and Eric room together there?」
「You cannot. Only magic knights can live in the magic knight dormitory. There is also the possibility that other people will join in the future and they will need those rooms」
Upon hearing Jere-san’s explanation, Tina visibly became downcast.
「Well, we can see each other normally everyday so it should be fine right?」
「Un… that’s right. I can endure this」
Tina replied while looking depressed.
After moving my luggage, the plan was for Yurina-san to show me around the facilities and the city.
Since Tina was already shown around, it seems that she will go together with Jere-san to greet the magic knight commander.
If she doesn’t make a good impression now, Tina would become an apprentice instead of a magic knight. I hope she does her best with the help of Jere-san.
As for me, I arrived in front of the room I would be living in from now on.
「We’re here. Getting here might be confusing at first so take care as to not get lost」
Yurina-san said so as she opend the door.
The room inside was twice the size as my old room.
The beds were lined up, and the one Yurina-san had been using was clearly overflowing with life.
There was space in between the beds. And it seemed that our living area was divided from that center.
Yurina-san’s bed was near the door, while the area further in was my quarter.
「Coming in, excuse me」
After saying that, I headed towards my side of the room… but not before my eyes caught something on top of Yurina-san’s bed.
A red cloth..?
That’s what I thought at first glance, but looking closer, I came to realize its true form.
Those are pants.
Not in the sense of actual “pants”, but in the context of underwear “panties”.
The moment I realized that, I turned my face away from it.
Maybe because I suddenly turned away, Yurina-san who came in after was suspicious.
「What’s the matter? Did something… happen…」
Her words trailed off as it dawned on her what was on her bed.
「!」
Her face dyed red, and Yurina-san moved even faster than during our duel earlier to grab and hide the panties behind her back.
「A.. apologies! I’ve shown you something unsightly..!」
「No… it’s fine」
「Because of the duel earlier, I changed my clothes in a hurry. I’m not usually this messy so please rest assured!」
Ah, so she changed clothes for the fight…
Hmm? Wait a minute… was it necessary to change your underwear as well?
Combat underwear… no good. Stop with the weird delusions, me!
「Eric? What are you thinking about?」
「Uhm!? No, nothing! I’m not thinking about anything!」
Tina who came in to see the room I was going to be living in, said what I had been thinking. Almost as if she could read my mind.
Lately, it seems that Tina’s intuition has become sharper…
We left the room after setting down my luggage.
I’ve be living together with Yurina-san from now on… is it going to be alright?
Tina who was going to meet with the magic knight commander separated from us.
As for me, I was shown around the facilities by Yurina-san.
「This is the dining common. The only place where both the knights and magic knights gather together. Which is why it’s the second largest behind the training grounds」
It was like Yurina-san had said and was super large and spacious.
It seems that the total number of knights and magic knights just in the capital, exceeded 10,000.
Adding up all the knights scattered in each city, the total number was said to be over 100,000.
For a country this big, it probably needs a lot of knights.
Among this incredible amount of knights, Jere-san was the highest authority.
He was a really important person and I’ve been addressing him casually. I wonder if this was fine.
Yurina-san continued to show me around and we finally arrived at the training grounds.
It definitely was larger than the dining common. Quite a few knights were currently training here.
There were people with swords and spears sparring each other. And there were also those who swung swords by themselves, honing their swordsmanship.
「Today isn’t a day where everyone trains. But you’ll find that many knights voluntarily train by themselves」
「I see」
I observed the scenery of knights training. There didn’t seem to be anyone particularly eye-catchingly strong.
Some were strong1, but would still probably lose to Yurina-san.
It goes to show just how strong Yurina-san was.
She possessed both speed and power not commonly found in women.
「…Looking at them training like this, I can’t help but think I’m stronger」
Yurina-san muttered as she observed the same knights I was.
It wasn’t pride nor arrogance, just reality.
「Of course I didn’t think I’d be able to beat either the commander nor vice-commander, but I did think of myself next in line in terms of strength. And yet… I didn’t imagine myself losing to someone younger than me.」
She said to herself full of regret.
Oh man. That’s… technically true, but in reality I’ve lived about twice your life. I’m sorry.
「Your name was Eric right?」
「Ah, yes it is」
「Then Eric, why did you become so strong? I was confident that the amount of time I trained was second to none. Compared to those older than me, I felt I was training more seriously. Even so, you who had been training for the same amount of time easily beat me」
Yurina-san looked straight into my eyes and asked me.
「What made you become so strong… Won’t you tell me?」
Having been asked that, I pondered just where the difference of ability between me and Yurina-san lay.
The thing that popped into my head would be the difference in our experience.
Although we trained for the same amount of years on paper, I had also trained in my previous life. On top of that, I was used to fighting.
I believed that difference was the biggest reason for our gap in ability.
After that would be technique.
In terms of speed, she was faster than the average person. Maybe even a little faster than the current me. She also had power unbefitting of her frame.
However, she lacked the technique to fully utilize it all.
Those were all big reasons for our difference in ability, but what Yurina-san was asking about was not that.
『For what reason did you become strong』was what she was asking.
「Let’s see… It would probably have to do with the difference of『quality』in our trainings」
「You’re saying that the quality of my training was poor? My parents are nobels and because of that, I was able hire and learn from a sword instructor. In terms of the quality of our trainings, I think mine is at least higher than someone who came from a village」
That may be the case. Having been born in a village, the only person I learned swordsmanship from was my dad. And his style was different from mine.
But it wasn’t a problem since I was taught by my best friend Christ in my previous life.
Regardless, that wasn’t really the issue either.
「Yurina-san, a question for you」
「What is it?」
In order to answer her question, I instead asked her one of my own.
「Have you ever seriously swung your sword before?」
-
Can anyone help translate this
頭一つ抜き出て強い人↩
Devin
05 Jul 2021 @ 03:23 UTC+0000