–saw Snow clinging to me as she sleeps, as if it was natural.
She, whose even eyelashes are pure white, is clinging to my chest while breathing rhythmically in her sleep. And perhaps because the large bath in the Flavum provided expensive and good quality shampoo, I can smell a very nice smell from her hair. Also, she is kinda soft. Her arm or any part of her body is just soft.
By the way, our futons should have been placed at a reasonable distance. But for the past few days, one of those futons has always been empty. In short, even though we should have been sleeping separately, we always awaken in the same futon.
Every time, Snow always said 『I have a bad sleeping habit.』, but when it’s been going on for days like this, I can’t help but think that she did this deliberately.
Right now, it is 3:30 early in the morning. Since it’s still early spring, the air is still cold. Although this soft warm heater1 is convenient, I can only see the sight of me getting ruined if I put my hand on it…. Or rather, this girl isn’t trying to set up a honey trap to get my money, right?
While trying to get rid of the temptation, I tried to get out of the futon. But perhaps because she was clinging to me like a child who couldn’t sleep without her teddy bear, even though I was careful not to wake her up, with drowsy eyes, Snow woke up.
“…”
“You sneaked into my futon again. Go back to sleep. It’s still 3:30 in the morning.”
“…”
With her hair down, Snow then said with a defenseless smile.
“Have a good day, Hiiro-sama…”
“…”
I have to protect Yuri, I have to protect Yuri, I have to protect Yuri, I have to protect Yuri, I have to protect Yuri, I have to protect Yuri, I have to protect Yuri, I have to protect Yuri (Self-Suggestion).
After overcoming the temptation of the devil, I went outside the dorm and saw Lily-san cleaning. And as the hard-working maid saw me in my training clothes, she approached me with a smile.
“Good morning, Sanjou-sama.”
“Ah, good morning to you too. I hope you will have a good day.”
Putting her hand on her mouth, she laughed elegantly.
“Sanjou-sama sure is early every morning.”
“I have training, after all… Isn’t Lily-san also early? Perhaps you also trained in secret?”
“No, no way.”
Holding a venerable bamboo broom, she smiled.
“Although we usually leave everything to the workers, this is still a dormitory managed by the Eisbert Family. So, as expected, even if I cannot handle everything, I thought it is obligatory to keep the entrance always in good condition.”
What a wonderful maid-san… Her respect for her master is visible even to me. I hope a certain white-haired maid who can kick her master without hesitation can learn from her. But well, that girl also has many good points, though.
“I see, let’s do our best. Well then, excuse me.”
“Ah, please wait for a bit.”
Taking a comb from her pocket, Lily-san then combs my hair.
“You still have a bit of bed hair.”
“Ah, I’m sorry, thank you.”
“Have a nice day.”
Lily-san smiled and bowed deeply.
While thinking ‘what an exemplary maid’, I ran through my usual running course and arrived at the park.
And Master, who has been waiting for me, approached me with the Nameless Tombstone in one hand.
“You’re fast!! How can you be this fast even though you must be flirting with your fiancé!!”
“Speaking of which, Master sure is quite the type who holds a grudge… Or rather, is that a compliment?”
“YES!!”
“What a loud voice, even though it’s still morning… Anyway, good answer…!”
Immediately, I started the training by swinging my sword. Of course, it’s not a normal swing, but with the console 『Generation: Blade』 fitted in the slot, creating a non-attribute blade, so I also have to maintain its form with my magic power.
Even if I say a blade, it has many elements to generate such as length, width, hardness, blade pattern, the curve, etc… In other words, I have to imagine all sorts of elements in my brain and continuously keep its form.
If it gets out of my imagination even for a moment, it will cause the blade to be disorderly, such as the blade disappearing or the length of the blade suddenly changing. And if that happens during an actual battle, it will be a goodbye to this life.
I mean, until now, I have never thought about the distance or even swordsmanship, after all… It’s always muscle-brain style that relies on parameters. But that style also has its limits.
That is why, maintaining the correct posture and magic power will be indispensable and will also become a lifeline.
“Ugh?!”
Master hit my wrist and the back of my knee with the scabbard of the Nameless Tombstone, correcting my posture.
“… That’s wrong.”
And at such times, Master will never be lenient. Thanks to that, my body is full of bruises.
While being glared at by her beautiful blue eyes, she continues to train me without holding back.
You must be thinking that she is too strict, but it was actually a natural thing to do. Because if Master decided to train me leniently, and I ended up memorizing a strange posture, I would be the one who would die in the actual battle.
By always training me seriously, Master wants me to always maintain a sense of urgency. For example, if this blow was made by a real blade rather than scabbard, I would probably have died many times.
The more tense and fearful I am, the better my training will be. Because originally, this is a world where I would probably die if I received such a blow in a real fight. Thus, if I always get a feeling closer to the actual battle in training, my bearing will also be steadily guided to a better direction.
At any rate, after that, Master gave me a short break. She then took off my shirt and started to apply the ointment with a look that said it was a natural thing to do.
“…”
“…”
“… I’ve always wanted to say this.”
“What is it?”
“The sight of a beautiful woman smearing something on a half-naked man in the park early in the morning… If the neighbors see such a sight, won’t they harbor a groundless suspicion?”
“D-did you say beautiful woman?! Mou, Hiiro sure is good at complimenting!”
“Are you a small fry who can’t grasp the point of the talk?”
In reality, Master is a very kind person. This can be seen from how she took her time to apply the ointment to every corner of my bruise with an apologetic face. That is why I never felt any suspicious atmosphere when she did that.
“I’ll do it myself.”
“Not allowed~! It is not allowed. If you say something willful again, Master won’t forgive you, okay? Muu!”
Stop with the 『Mu!』, you 420 years old girl…!
In the end, after being 『Smeared』 by my Master who seems to be having fun, I started practicing Nil Arrow.
However, as a matter of course, it doesn’t hit the target.
“Hmmm…?”
Is it not stable enough?
The arrow that I made was flabby just like usual. Even though I have set it between my index finger and middle finger and aimed it straight, it still deviated from its course.
Nil Arrow is, so to speak, a magic that transforms a magic bullet on the rail into an arrow.
Imagine a cylindrical rail shaped by magic. Then, shoot a magic bullet with 『Control: Shoot』 along the inside of that rail. And when that bullet hits the target, create a water arrow using 『Attribute: water』 and 『Generation: arrow』.
By doing that, your magic power will be affected by the form and nature change by the magic device. And in order to increase the flight distance and speed and proper the magic bullet, first, you have to generate a bullet in the shape of a water arrow and shoot it on the rail.
That first water arrow that was generated was actually just a lump of magic power that can be seen, and even if the generation of that water arrow was canceled, the imagination of the generation of the water arrow will be remembered by your magic operator. Therefore, as long as you gather your magic power again, a water arrow will be created when the magic bullet lands without the need to generate it again.
That was the principle of Nil Arrow.
Magic power is like a collection of magic operators. They exist abundantly in human’s body and in the air, and they don’t directly affect human’s body. In other words, even if your body is hit by a magic bullet, it doesn’t hurt nor itch. That is why in order to use them as weapons, it is necessary to create a substance (arrow) using the generation console. Whether you generate it from the beginning or later.
And in case of Nil Arrow, by creating the arrow later, you will be able to make your arrow invisible based on the magic power that flies in the air.
“….”
While I was deep in thought, Master was watching me happily.
At any rate, it looks like it’s better to learn the principle of how arrows can fly first. Then I have to train how to make an arrow in the correct shape and spend more time training the magic power rail. Like that, while I was deep in thought, my magic power should have been recovered quite an amount.
After my training plan was decided, I parted from Master and returned to the Otori Magic Academy.
“….”
“….”
“… Fun!!”
Then, I joined my group and stood in the middle of the awkward atmosphere between Tsukiori and miss underdog.
"
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Please use this homeroom time to introduce yourself to each other…. That’s what Marina-sensei said before she moved away to watch us, but the atmosphere in this group is so tense that I wanted some help.
“I am the daughter of the Margeline family. To think they want me to get chummy with this group, with a man… I refuse, I refuse!!”
“Why did you say that twice–”
“I refuse!!”
Wow, she even said it three times…
“Then, how about you leave?”
Tsukiori sleepily yawned.
“I am fine as long as I’m with Hiiro.”
“Ara ara, what an intimate relationship.”
With a flashy fan that I don’t know where she took from, Ophelia gracefully fanned her face.
“Perhaps you are dating a man? If that’s the case, commoner and a man, what a well-matched–”
“Un, we are dating.”
Perhaps because they’re listening, the classroom starts making noise, until someone suddenly stands up with a bang.
“….”
It was Lapis, who was staring at me with a dumbfounded expression.
“….”
Meanwhile, Rei turns around and keeps staring at us motionlessly.
“Ne, Hiiro-kun.”
Then, Tsukiori leaned her head on my shoulder.
She, who is probably grinning inwardly right now, stared at me with upturned eyes.
“Ahaha!! Stop with the joke, Tsukiori!! (Loudly) You and I are friends, no more or less!! (Shouting)”
“But, we live together under one roof, right?”
“UNDER ONE DORM, OKAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!! (Roared)”
“F-fun, filthy. To think you dated an inferior creature like men, foolish–”
“Are you dating someone?”
“Eh.”
With that, the eyes of my classmates gathered onto miss underdog at once.
Ojou, who attracted the classmates’ attention, then sends a breeze to herself awkwardly.
“O-of course… T-that… ano… Ah, lovers, right…? I have 500 of them….?”
Don’t get carried away by her, Ojou! Come back!!
“Hee, it will surely be hard for you at night.”
“N-night…? T-that’s right. I’m always troubled because the dinner table isn’t big enough…?”
Ojou… Ojou…! (Crying)
She couldn’t endure it in the end, huh.
Then, Ojou, who noticed that she gave the wrong answer after someone spouted out, stands up with her face bright red.
“I-I will remember this!!”
After breaking Marina-sensei’s restraint and leaving a splendid parting remark, she left like a wind.
And Tsukiori who snuggled up to me laughed scornfully as if she had won.
“… Tsukiori, don’t bully her too much.”
“She is so responsive, it’s fascinating.”
Is this a Yuri? (Reaction speed 0.05 seconds)
“I wonder if she will challenge me again… I’ll beat her ass off.”
“At that time, I’ll stop it with all my might–”
At that moment, sounds of pulling a chair echoed in the classroom.
Rei sits in a beautiful posture on Ojou’s chair and smiles at Tsukiori.
“Tsukiori Sakura-san.”
Then, she said with her eyes not laughing.
“I challenge you to a duel.”
“… Hee.”
In the middle of Tsukiori and Rei who were staring at each other, I am dumbfounded.