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Arc 2 Martial Arts Festival
Prologue
“Hey, hey, master?”
“What is’t?””
This forest was located in the southernmost part of the Anderberg territory, where the trees were thickly growing.
Perhaps because of its remote location, there was hardly any sign of human presence, and the land was rich in nature, with no signs of pioneering work.
Perhaps because there were no humans there, it was also a place where monsters thrive.
The deep in the heart of such a place, a boy was facing a small girl.
“I want to be able to use magic, didn’t I say that? I want to learn magic, not this kind of fighting. I want the power to protect someone, to not be made a fool of.”
The boy unleashes a merciless kick at the girl.
The girl avoided his kick with no effort, and then she threw a palm strike with all her might at his body, which was full of opening.
“Gaaaah!?”
The boy was blown away and rolled many times on the ground. Since he was not able to maintain his passive stance, the momentum of the kick was not fully extinguished.
Aku Suka Web Novel - tresnokoe[dot]xyz - Web Novel Translation
“Doth not complaineth, lad. Primarily, i’ve nev’r seen ‘r hath heard of anyone without mana using magic.”
“Master’s raison d’etre is

”
“Thou art a malapert lad, aren’t thee?”
Whether it was because he had been hit or because he was really disappointed, the boy hung his head without even hiding it.
“I mean, Master, you’re wearing a skirt, but I can’t see your pants! You’re moving around so much, but I can’t even catch a glimpse of your pants! Don’t screw with me! That’s tyranny!”
“What a precocious bratchet thou art

.”
Cecilia akhirnya sampai di depan makhluk buas itu.
Perbedaan ukurannya begitu besar sehingga ia harus mendongak untuk melihat wajah binatang itu, dan Cecilia yang ramping akan terinjak-injak dalam sekejap.
"GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!"
"Aku ngerti...... aku ngerti kok, Julis ......"
Cecilia memeluk kaki depan yang besar dan kokoh itu.
"Itu pedih, kan? Itu menyiksa, kan? Aku yakin Julis berusaha ngelindungin seseorang terus menjadi kaya gini....... Beneran deh, Julis itu baik banget. Biarpun dia sangat menderita sendiri."
Makhluk buas itu mengarahkan kaki depannya yang lain ke Cecilia, mencoba menarik Cecilia yang memeluknya menjauh.
────lalu.
"Eh!?"
"I, ini......"
Kaki depan itu berhenti tepat pada waktunya.
Cecilia tidak terluka, dan kaki depan itu berhenti tanpa tanda perlawanan.
Namun penderitaan itu muncul dalam bentuk teriakan.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRR!!!"
Tetapi.
"Aku belum bisa balas budi sama Julis buat segalanya...... Julis selalu ngelindungi aku, tapi aku terus banyak ngerepotin Julis.────Cuma ini yang bisa aku lakuin buat Julis sekarang."
Cecilia menguatkan lengannya yang memeluk kaki depan itu.
Ia ingin kehangatannya dirasakan, ia ingin perasaannya tersampaikan.
Cecilia tersenyum lembut pada makhluk buas itu, mengatakan kepadanya bahwa tidak apa-apa sekarang, bahwa dia tidak perlu berusaha terlalu keras.
"Aku bakal ada di sisi Julis...... sepanjang waktu, sepanjang masa. Julis ngga cocok sama penampilan kaya gitu, tahu? Kalo kamu balik lagi ke Julis yang biasanya, yang konyol, yang bisa diandalin, sama yang lembut.────Aku bakal seneng banget."
Translated by - Aku Suka Web Novel - tresnokoe[dot]xyz - Web Novel Translation
The girl’s shoulders drop in amazement.
Indeed, the girl was wearing a one-piece dress right now. It was not the kind of clothing you’d expect to see in a sparring match, and it was plainly short. So the boy was eyeing the relic pants with an eagle eye────, but unfortunately, he couldn’t able to catch even a glimpse.
“I has’t not aught to showeth thee. Well

 If ‘t be true thee can showeth me “raison d’ĂȘtre” ‘r “how to kicketh the bucket”,────alloweth high-lone this und’rwear of mineth, I’ll giveth thee mine own corse, how?”
“

 Master, my father had once said, “Pleasure is Raison d’ĂȘtre!”.”
“Alloweth not me beest associat’d with such a vulgar.”
The boy’s father, unbeknownst to him, had been called vulgar.
“But,──── is there any way for a vampire to die? They’re immortal, right.”
“Yond’s wherefore I’m looking f’r one.”
“Shall I bring you some garlic and a crucifix?”
“I liketh not the smelleth of garlic. Besides, unlike oth’r vampires, I’m a half-breed, and the sunlight is not ‘mongst mine own weakness.”
“

half-breed?”
The boy sat on the ground and listened to the girl.
The girl sat down next to the boy and looked up at the sky a little sadly.
“Aye. I am a half-human who is’t hast inh’rit’d only the ability of imm’rtality,

a pathetic creature with nay weaknesses whatsoev’r.”
No matter whether you snapped her neck, punctured her torso, burnt her body in a fire, or plunged her body into the depths of the sea,────she couldn’t die.
Vampires by nature were a nocturnal species that would disappear when exposed to sunlight. But if not for that weakness, they would be an immortal monster,────a race that was usually a threat, even if they were not hostile to the human race.
“Is that why you took me as your disciple?”
“Well, forsooth. I madeth thee mine own disciple 

 on a whim and with half a desire────thee wouldst endeth up being nothing m’re than a whim.”
“Isn’t that rude!?”
The girl giggled at the exasperated boy.
It was an expression he rarely showed before coming here.
“Watch it, Master! I will definitely grant you what you desire! I’m a man who does what he decides to do!”
He stood up and pumped his fist in the air. The girl watching him was smiling in a way that was innocent and appropriate for her age.
“V’ry well

 I’m looking f’rward to t, O mine own disciple.”
“Yeah! Leave it to me, O my master!”
♩♩♩
Aku Suka Web Novel - tresnokoe[dot]xyz - Web Novel Translation
Years had passed since the boy began to commute to the forest where the girl was.
The boy grew up and the girl──── still remained a girl.
And today, the girl waited for the boy’s arrival in the hut.
She sat on a round chair watching the fire in the fireplace, thinking 

 and indulging her thoughts.
(T’s already been four years since then

 timeth sure passes so apace

)
The girl thought of the boy.
He visited her every day, training and 

 chatting with her, and every time the young man left, she feelt sad.
(Kufufu

t seemeth myself hast been poison’d

.)
I wond’r, how many hundreds of years has’t been since I has’t hadst this emotion?
The girl felt happy because she hadn’t experienced it in an excessively long time.
(So lamentable

 to loseth this timeth is so lamentable

.)
The girl played with her long, light pink hair, twirling it as she waited for his arrival.
Di depan kami, ada sederetan piring kayu yang kosong.
“Anjiiir, akuh udah makan banyak... akuh gak bisa nambah lagi ....”
Firia mengatakan itu sambil menepuk-nepuk perutnya. Jumlah yang dia makan sangat sedikit, hanya sekitar sepersepuluh dari porsiku.
“Gua pikir elu tipe yang ngabis-ngabisin, tapi enggak nyangka elu cuma makan dikit, ya.”
Karena dia bilang 'enak, enak' jadi kupikir makanannya sesuai dengan seleranya, tapi sepertinya perutnya tidak sebesar itu.
“Akuh pingin nambah lagi, tapi tangki bensinku udah penuh nih. Akuh iri bat ama elu bisa makan banyak gitu, Yuri-san.”
“Penampilanlu keliat ringan banget. Gimana kalo menambah berat badan dikit lebih banyak?”
Aku mengamati tubuh Firia sekali lagi.
Meskipun dia mengatakan bahwa perutnya kenyang karena makan, tidak ada perubahan sama sekali pada tubuhnya yang ramping.
Ketika aku menatap Firia seperti itu, dia menyilangkan tangannya seolah-olah menyembunyikan dadanya yang sederhana.
“Ah, Yuri-san mikirin kalo akuh menyedihkan....”
“Jangan sembarang nuduh lah cuk!”
“Apa, salah ya tod?. Alhamdulillah.”
Sambil tertawa ringan seolah bercelu, Firia berdiri sambil mengatakan 'Oi sho'.
“Makasih badhogannya. Rasanya mantul, manjiw tenan.
 Kalo gitu, akuh pikir akum mesti cepet-cepet cabut deh.”
“Sek sek, mengko disek cuk.”
Gua manggil Firia yang berdiri dan berniat meninggalkan rumah gua.
Dia mencondongkan lehernya seolah bertanya, ‘Ada apa?’.
Sama Firia yang kaya gitu, gua ceritain perasaan jujur gua sama dia.
“Gua juga pengin cabut dari hutan ini. Apa gapapa kalo gua cabut bareng lu sampai luar hutan?”
Gua gak pernah ngerasa kesepian sejak gua tinggal sendirian di dalam hutan ini.
Gua juga gak merasa ngga puas sama mata pencaharian gua di sini, karena ada fakta kalo gua bisa dapet beberapa magical beast buat makanan gua ndiri.
Tapi, aku ketemu ama dia.
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“If ‘t be true I consid’r about t, I may not beest eft to decease

.”
The reason why she felt regret was because she had a lingering attachment.
For the girl who had been wandering around looking for death all her life, she had never thought she would have any lingering attachment────but.
“Rejoiceth, o mine own disciple

, grant you mercy to thee, myself hast hath found mine own raison d’ĂȘtre.”
The girl laughed.
She looked happy, really happy

 with tears in her eyes.
And then────
“Rejoice, Master! And praise me, Master!”
The door of the hut was opened with full force.
Without knocking, the door was opened brazenly and the boy appeared.
“What happeneth

thou art talking crazy all of a sudden

.”
For a moment, the girl thought it was something that had just happened, but when she saw the happy expression on the boy’s face, she realized it was not.
Aku Suka Web Novel - tresnokoe[dot]xyz - Web Novel Translation
The boy approached the girl with enthusiasm, grabbed her by the shoulders, and brought his face close to her.
(Wh, what’s this

 Mine own heart is pounding?)
The girl’s face turned red as her heart pounded at his action.
The girl wonders about this, which should never have happened before.
But the next moment────, the girl’s excitement dropped in an instant.
“Master! I finally found a method for you to die, Master! Finally, I finally found it!”
The boy uttered in a truly joyous tone.
But the girl was different. Because although it was something she has been seeking for a long time,

 just a short while ago, she no longer craves that method.
“

I seeth.”
At the training ground where the members of the knight order practiced hard.
As an instructor, I was teaching swords to all the Knights.
"Then, the next step is to swing the sword a thousand times. You won't improve just by swinging blindly. You need to imagine the opponent's movement."
""A, thousand times?""
"Kaizer-san. Are you sure you not making a mistake one digit?"
"Oh, right."
"Hoo~..."
"When I and Elsa were in the village, we used to swing 10,000 times a day, but, you guys won't be done until the day changes, will you?
""You misinterpret the word mistake on one digit, are you?""
The standard of my and Elsa's training was probably too high, and most of them couldn't follow even the light menu.
"Come on, you'd better hurry up or it's going to get dark."
I clapped my hands and urged them.
The knights began to swing their swords while screaming.
As the warming up, they were running ten times around the training ground with their armor on, few of them could swing their swords properly.
"Is Knight Commander Elsa doing this training from an early age..."
"I thought she was a genuine genius swordsman.....that's why she's so strong.. we didn't even reach half effort she did."
"Either Kaizer-dono or Knight Commander Elsa is outrageous..."
I saw the helpless knights and mumbled.
"Umm. Looks like our normal isn't everyone's normal.''
"I was surprised when I came to the royal capital, because the training of the Knights, which was known to be tough, was felt only in lukewarm water. The training I had done with chichiue was, to most people, out of the norm."
Elsa murmured next to me.
"I didn't mean to be particularly strict...."
"I think so, too"
The knights couldn't endure the training and exhausted. Then one by one, they fell like a broken doll.
But, one person among them――.
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Aku Suka Web Novel - tresnokoe[dot]xyz - Web Novel Translation
The girl was in a mixed mood.
She had a lingering attachment and still wanted to live. But she was also glad that the boy finally found a method

 and that he worked so hard to get there.
“What’s the matter, Master? Are you not happy?”
The girl who had said she wanted to die so badly was not happy.
The boy worries about her. But the girl immediately put a smile on her face.
“Alloweth me heareth, o mine own disciple──── what is the method wh’reby I can decease?”
The boy told her.
The name of that method────
“The method is the sorcery I have invented────, Avaritia!”
(TLN: in the raw, it’s a kanji of “Greed” with furigana “Invidia”. Whut???)
♩♩♩
“Master ────, I’ll exercise it, okay?”
“Ah

 cometh f’rth. Mine own disciple.”
Leaving the hut, the boy confronts the girl.
It was not the usual hand-to-hand sparring, this time he found himself

to do the killing.
“Master’s right to live──── I will take it.”
Slowly,

 really slowly, the boy told her.
The girl felt a strange sensation of something entering her. If she refused, it would go out

, but the girl did not refuse.
“Taketh t

, mine own right is yours.”
Only a few dozen seconds in the meantime.
A life-long purpose was about to be accomplished in

 a short time.
All that remained for the boy to do was

to seize her rights and────he would die.
But suddenly,

 the boy looked at his own hands with a deep feeling.
The boy then opened his mouth in a low tone of voice, as if the excitement he had just shown was a lie.
“

I was happy that I could finally grant my master’s desire until a few minutes ago. Because I knew you’d always wanted to die.”
“

”
“But now that I’m on the verge of fulfilling it like this

 my hands are shaking.”
When she looked at them, the boy’s hands were really shaking.
It was not because────he would take a life for the first time.
“Hey,

 Master? Can I be selfish for a second?”
“

.”
The girl did not spin the words.
But the boy was still spinning words.
“As I thought

 I don’t want you to die. It was fun and I appreciate it.──── knew you’d always wanted to die

. But I still don’t want you to die. I don’t care if you kick me out for being selfish,

, but can you please live just a little bit longer?”
Tears trickled down the boy’s cheeks.
Was it because someone close and dear to him was about to die, or was it because he sincerely felt that way?
Selfishly, he had asked those who had wanted to die to experience the pain of living a little longer.
Or perhaps it was because he was sorry for that.
Seeing him like that, the girl said────
“What a clotpole, thou art.”
“

 eh?”
She approached the boy and took his trembling hand.
“I’ll at least doth thee a fav’r, mine own disciple────as I has’t unexpectedly

 cometh to wanteth to liveth a dram.”
To protect someone, to not be ridiculed by others, and then────
The boy’s first sorcery was Greed, because he wanted to keep his benefactor alive.