Chapter 25: Master (3)
After decades, the water of conversation had opened for Sierra… She was very talkative.
Even on the way back in the carriage, we talked a lot. Sierra led the way to the large road where the carriage was, so I didn’t have to follow the white cloths that I had tied up to go back.
Fortunately, as I expected, Sierra didn’t appear or touch anyone else. When we arrived at the place where the carriage was, the carriage driver who t us didn’t even notice Sierra, whose lower body was transparent.
That’s how we headed back to the academy. Inside the carriage, Sierra talked to brightly, while outside, the carriage driver chattered on and on. It was enough to drive crazy.
[…That’s why it’s called ‘Reverse Heaven’. It starts with holding the sword in reverse.]
Sierra held onto my shoulder and said to brightly.
Even moving things like carriages could pass through her body and if she didn’t hold onto , she had to keep moving, which was a hassle.
“Did you have a good ti eting your teacher?”
The carriage driver asked .
“Yes… she was doing well, haha…”
I had talked to Sierra about it beforehand but I couldn’t respond to her in public.
[Hmm…? My disciple’s cheekiness knows no bounds. To just go and see your teacher without permission…]
She held onto tightly, pressing her chest against my back, as she listened to our conversation.
She had told to just listen to her words without answering, but she couldn’t stop talking.
I dryly responded while listening to the voices of the carriage driver and Sierra for a long ti.
Even the ntal fatigue wasn’t solved by Reina’s bracelet.
“Haah…”
I let out a deep sigh while swaying in the carriage.
***
[Were you a cadet at the Academy…?]
Sierra asks in surprise as we step out of the carriage and into the Academy grounds.
[I thought you looked older… but you were younger than I realized…]
Sierra follows , calculating the age difference that no longer ans anything to her now that she’s dead.
“So… When are you going into the pendant…?”
I blurted out to Sierra, not even turning my head to make sure no one was around. Maybe I should learn ventriloquism or sothing so we can talk more easily in the future…
[It’s okay, I’m still relaxing. It’s nice to get out of the stuffy bamboo forest.]
Sierra puts her hands on her hips, straightens her chest, and takes a deep breath. She’s not sure if she needs to breathe as a spirit, but…
[I’ve always wanted to visit the Innocence Academy soti…disciple why don’t you give a tour?]
Sierra’s eyes narrowed as she leaned in close, beckoning .
“There must have been an academy back then, why didn’t you join?”
[When I was younger, it was fashionable not to go to the academy….]
“Aha…”
I suddenly realized the generation gap between and Sierra.
Generation gap is a worldview be it in a fantasy world or otherwise.
[Actually, I wanted to go to the academy… but there were powerful people outside the academy that I wanted to defeat, so I couldn’t go…]
Sierra, who had been following , suddenly stopped.
The sun was just beginning to rise in the morning, and there was still plenty of ti before classes began.
“…I’ll show you around then, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it, it’s so much more advanced than it was back then.”
With that, I decided to give Sierra a tour of the academy.
Entering the academy through a side street, I didn’t head for the dormitories, but instead went straight to the streets of the inner city.
The streets were not yet active since most of the shops were just getting ready to open for business.
[How did you… morize all the streets?]
“It’s like I have a map in my head.”
I wasn’t wrong, as the map of the Academy I saw in the ga was still fresh in my mind.
[You said it’s a feeling or an unusual ability. To tell others that I taught you makes feel like a teacher being played by her student…]
Sierra, who had gotten a little ahead of herself, stumbles toward , eyes wide.
[Take this!]
Sierra snapped at and slashed at the top of my head with her hand but it didn’t hurt, and it didn’t feel bad.
[I don’t know what you’re trying to hide, but… Since you are my first student and don’t seem to have a bad heart, I think I’ll stick around and help you as a ‘real’ teacher from now on.]
Sierra smiles at , as if to cheer up.
[…So you don’t have to try and carry it all on your shoulders, I just hope that one day you’ll be able to confide in .]
Sierra stroked my hair with her free hand as she spoke. Her voice, echoing from the top of my head, was soothing and warm.
She doesn’t know , and neither does anyone else.
I’m sure the events of the night were embarrassing enough for Sierra.
To be honest I was just taking advantage of her situation and her story. I’m glad things worked out the way it did before she entered the Spectral Sword, but…
I felt bad for Sierra.
No one is a “character” in the ga anymore.
She was a person with a real life, a dead person from the past with a story to tell.
I looked at Sierra’s vibrant smile and reminded myself of that.
“…Thank you. Master.”
I ant it.
Sierra must have realized that in so vague way, but I felt deeply grateful for her willingness to understand .
‘I’ll just have to do my best…’
I’ll defeat the Sword Saint with her one day.
As we walked down the street, people began to roam the streets so naturally, I couldn’t respond to Sierra’s words but she still spoke.
[What is that…? A general store? There are things like this inside the academy. Let’s go in, student, this way. Co on!]
I followed Sierra into the general store that had opened earlier.
“Oh, blind saint, you’re back… It’s been a while… You were so kind to last ti…”
As I entered the general store, the owner, an old woman I hadn’t seen in a long ti, thanked .
“I feel like I’m telling you every ti, but even so, being a saint is too much for … Haha…”
In the ga, she was an NPC nad “Coughing Grandma,” and she was averse to dicine… I had to buy her a sweet candy-like dicine to solve the quest.
Luckily, she doesn’t cough anymore.
[ Blind Saint…? My disciple seems to have a good reputation.]
Sierra, who was watching, spoke up.
“So, what did you co here for this morning, just to talk…?”
“Hmph…”
I drooled at the owner’s question and waited for Sierra.
[…This! This is a strange item, a srizing potion…? What a great gift for a loved one…]
Sierra picked up a ‘miscellaneous item’ called an srizing potion. It was really a aningless item as I don’t recall it ever increasing the likability of a character in the ga.
‘Well, I guess I’ll have to buy it just because she is curious… But how do I explain to her that I want it?’
I pondered, then opened my mouth.
“…My friend said she wanted to play a little prank, and that there’s this thing called srizing potion for sale here… Is there really such a thing?”
“Oh, there is…”
“Okay, I’ll take that then.”
I was about to take the money pouch when the old woman grabbed my arm and shoved the potion at .
“Ai, what is this… just take it.”
“Ah… Thank you.”
I thanked the old woman and walked out of the general store.
I tucked the potion roughly into my backpack as Sierra might want to try it later, just to be sure.
‘It won’t do anything, so there’s no point…’
And so we wander around, looking at whatever Sierra wants.
We still had so ti before class but I was getting hungry so Sierra and I ca to a deserted alleyway and talked for a while.
I leaned against the wall of the alleyway, trying to hide my hunger from others.
[I thought her apprentice was a golem who never ate or slept.]
“My eating won’t make you taste or do anything…?”
[That’s true, but it will be satisfying to watch you eat. How did I survive without real food during my training? I miss the flavorful food so much…]
Well, I’ve heard that there are people in real life who are satisfied just by watching others eat…
“Delicious food…”
I wondered what I should eat at Sierra’s words.
“Do you have any favorite foods?”
I don’t know what Sierra likes to eat.
Although we’ve been walking around and talking I think she might have so unusual tastes.
[Hmm…Sothing that’s not too heavy for the first al. Yes, soup would be a good idea, I used to eat soup for breakfast.]
“Soup… I’ve never been to that restaurant, but I know where it is.”
I’ve never had a craving for soup, so I’ve never been to the restaurant but there was one place that I knew had good soup.
‘They used to sell chicken soup, didn’t they?’
I walked out of the alley and rembered the location.
As I approached the shop, I saw a familiar cafe.
‘…That cafe.’
It was the place where Aizel had gotten drunk with alcoholic coffee.
Coffee with alcohol… It was delicious, but I don’t want to try it again.
In retrospect, it was stronger than I expected.
I stood in front of the soup shop across the street from the café but Sierra had already gone inside and was looking around.
I opened the door and poked my nose in.
“This place…what kind of food do you sell?”
“Uh, ah…! Our cranberry soup is our best-selling chicken soup!”
The owner paused when he saw the bandage around my eye, but then spontaneously answered .
‘Huh…?’
While listening to the owner I look closely at the custor and recognize the pink hair I’ve seen before.
It was Kaen but the problem was that Sierra, who had entered the store earlier, was standing next to her, watching her intently.
Kaen is a disciple of Sword Saint. In other words, she was also a disciple of Sierra’s nesis.
‘Did she notice…?’
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