73 – 73. There’s Nothing ‘Absolute’ in this World.
The warning came from the blonde little Eris.
“Hmm, is it a magic restriction?”
It is crucial not to create a dangerous situation.
Rather than feeling oppressed by restrictions like being made of gold and thinking, ‘If you use too much power, surprised parents will come running,’ there was no sense of being suppressed.
While there may be more to worry about at school than before, it didn’t feel like a big issue.
“Since I’ve already finished up to chapter 4.”
Negotiations with Tokito Minami and issues with Sawako-Chimiho had been resolved long before.
It was almost safe to say that there wouldn’t be any incidents at Karakura High School in the future.
Well, nothing is absolute in this world, so we shouldn’t let our guard down absolutely, but you know.
“Now, let’s train!”
There was no reason not to improve combat power and coping skills by sparring with party members.
It relieved my stress, improved my skills, and was a win-win situation.
Kenichi had been training diligently since his awakening, but today was a special day.
“What’s this?”
Training alone with Sento.
Sawamura Sento looked around the expanded training ground with a puzzled expression.
As she usually went through theories quickly, she seemed a bit awkward in the current situation.
Since she always had Kenichi as the vanguard during practice, this was the first time they faced each other alone in the training ground.
Sento glanced at me and blurted out, “Do you think I’ll act as unreasonably as Kenichi?”
“Oh, if you say that, it sounds like I’m the one tormenting Kenichi!”
“Wasn’t I right?”
“Absolutely not!”
“Hmm, seems like I’m right.”
Perhaps because she hadn’t experienced being punched directly by a martial artist, she didn’t seem tense.
It would have been meaningful to let her experience it for the first time now, but today, I was determined to focus on the training content.
“I am an excellent teacher.”
I didn’t need others’ approval there.
If you’re good at magic, swordsmanship, and martial arts, wouldn’t that make you an excellent teacher?
I had no intention of accepting or refuting Sento or Kenichi’s opinions.
I was only going to pass on my teachings.
I had laid the foundation to some extent for Kenichi, so it was up to him to do the rest, and now, what remained was our precious young sorceress.
Shwip─!
Covering my face with a folding fan, I pointed at the young apprentice in front of me and asked, “So, what do you think your shortcomings are?!”
“What are you suddenly saying?”
The young pink sorceress frowned and looked humbly at my outstretched hand.
After staring at the smiling face in front of her for a long time, Sawamura Sento found her answer, whether she didn’t like the situation or the type of melodrama.
The sorceress apprentice, who was in her third month of magic initiation, finally spoke after a long contemplation.
“I’m slower in casting spells, have weaker firepower, and encounter fewer manageable situations than you.”
“Oh, well, there’s a difference in the time you’ve been learning, so if you were already better than me, that would be a problem.”
“You haven’t been learning for long either.”
“Huhuhu, but it’s inevitable to feel a bit chilly when surpassed by a disciple, isn’t it?”
In that sense, I might be a bad disciple who hurt the heart of Lin, a master of magic.
Having forgotten all teachings in just a few months. When I retired, how moved Lin was, shedding tears.
Still, I think I can take comfort in having such a great master more than anyone else.
I chuckled and drew a line of magic in the air, creating a spell.
“Mr. Sento, your weakness is being weak against strong individuals, as I just mentioned. You learn quickly, have abundant talent, but fall short of being called a top-notch sorcerer who can’t be outdone by anyone.”
“…I know that too.”
“It’s just my standard, but for most opponents, you’re a strong sorcerer to the point of being a disaster for ordinary foes.”
Sawamura Sento may be slower than me, but he can compose a spell in an instant.
There’s a distinction between magic for facing multiple enemies and magic for facing a single strong foe, with an intelligence that can discern them at a glance.
He learned most of the common magic from Lin and me, and even mastered spells like the Hell’s magic, which only the chosen ones can use.
“You are a fine sorcerer.”
You just haven’t reached the peak yet. You haven’t fully developed your talent.
Inside Sawamura Sento resides a ‘monster.’
If betrayed by humanity, he gets angry; if he sympathizes with a fox spirit, he turns into a hidden boss.
If mishandled, he explodes with a bang, no different from dynamite.
Or rather, even if he can’t be caught, the firepower to destroy a city is there, should we call it a nuclear bomb?
But fundamentally, the sin lies not in the weapon itself, but in the sins of the wielder.
“Well, that’s it.”
Having embroidered all the starlight and constellations, I smiled widely as I looked at my disciple before me.
Sawamura Sento, with a slightly surprised expression, gazed at the nebula in the sky blooming by blue magic.
At my will, this could turn into a blade to kill an opponent, or even a spell to set a city ablaze.
But for now, it’s just a beautiful cluster of stars.
“Shall we discuss the proper usage then?”
According to the description in the crappy game ‘End of the World,’ a woman with a sinister title of ancient weapon.
A child born unlucky due to a curse on her soul.
My disciple, born with innate magic and the Five Elements, possessing natural talent as a sorcerer.
I intend to impart teachings to Sawamura Sento before me.
“How to manipulate the light and darkness of the soul.”
With a gesture, at that moment, the star cluster turned into darkness.
***
Yokai hide in darkness.
Being born from someone’s darkness, their main diet being negative emotions, they too hide in the dark shadows of cities and people.
From Noble mtl dot com
That’s why yokai mostly appear at night, emerging from the shadows.
If we call them ancient yokai, Sawamura Sento’s monster also resides in her darkness.
Deep consciousness.
A monster lurks in the dark area even she herself is unaware of.
If she realizes that properly, if she can control it as she wishes, she can become much stronger than Kenichi.
“Well, even if it’s me, it was impossible to teach in just one day!”
“That’s only natural, Shiki.”
As I felt guilty for not properly grasping today’s lesson and my mind was in turmoil, Shihei Rin, with a casual expression, added while sipping his green tea.
“No one can memorize and execute sword techniques like you at a glance. Let alone what she’s learning now is not just swordsmanship but a principle. Something like the truth, how could she learn it in a day? Not everyone in the world is a monster like you, right?”
“Calling me a monster is too much!”
“From the moment we first met, you’ve been someone who thwarted my lifelong wish.”
As the head of the family, as a child, Shihei Rin, who wanted to defeat the White Whale, took away my lifelong enemy.
Instead, the ancient demons and the future intertwined with the spirits vanished, and I gained a life.
A life where I can move forward with a firm grip on the future without losing anyone in the present.
For Rin, the Shihei family is not just a family, but life itself, and above all, a precious existence.
With a faint smile, Shihei Rin set down his teacup and continued.
“So, who is your next opponent?”
Knowing the future to some extent, I recalled their memories.
The fanatics who worship evil, who fervently cry out for the end of the world, a bunch of pseudo-religious folks called the End Cult.
As their goal is the destruction of the world, they are quite formidable. Their power and methods were formidable, but they lived hidden in the darkness like demons.
Shadows of the earth.
Living beneath this land.
***
“The Great Plan is near.”
A voice echoed in the darkness.
“Our Liberation Army will burn the city, liberate the abandoned gods in the shrine.”
The leader of the End Cult.
The apostles of evil delivered the gospel to the ministers of the cult gathered around the table with solemnity.
“On the summer solstice, June 21st, when the sun is at its highest. The invasion will be in Shibuya, where the shrine is located. On that promised day, we will shatter the deceitful sky and the sun that deceives all people.”
Some rejoiced at the imminent arrival of salvation, some cried out in ecstasy, while others listened to the apostle’s gospel with a stern expression, determined to achieve the Great Plan.
“Prepare thoroughly until the day of the Great Plan. Do not fear the slightest possibility of failure. As long as you are in the shadows, the grace of God will be with us.”
The apostle spoke with a voice full of conviction.
“No one can see us, catch us. Until we emerge as light ourselves, never…!”
***
“Yes, there are moles.”
The pseudo-religious fanatics entrenched deep underground.
Foolish individuals who think that if they bury their heads, no one will ever find them.
I sipped my green tea, chuckling softly, and said,
“There is no such thing as absolute in this world.”
Except for me.