Chapter 126 - Chapter 125: Training with Basal
The second day of the second week of the Second Month of Water.
Mika had come to Kistil's house after school.
Today was Kistil's day off from work, so he had come to cast [Heal] on her mother.
"Yes. That's all set."
"Thank you as always, Mika-kun."
Once [Heal] was finished, Kistil's mother offered her thanks.
She seemed to be making a gesture like she was praying, but Mika decided to ignore that part.
"I'm sorry, for always coming to cast [Heal] on you."
"It's fine, it's nothing. Don't worry about it so much."
Kistil said this with an apologetic look, but Mika waved his hand back and forth, brushing it off lightly.
Even if Kistil's mother used [Heal], her illness would not be completely cured.
Still, it seemed that receiving [Heal] made her body feel much more comfortable, so Mika would sometimes ask Kistil about her mother's condition and come to cast [Heal].
It seemed this was why Rish Village's Radi was patroling the village every single day.
She couldn't cure them, but she wanted to restore their stamina and make their condition just a little bit better.
"Then, please do it for Kistil-san too."
"Eh? W-well, I'm fine—-"
Ignoring Kistil like that, Mika quickly cast [Heal].
Kistil goes to work every day and does housework too, so she was looking a bit tired.
If her stamina recovered, it would help her a bit with her energy.
Kistil gazed at the yellow light drifting around her with a dazed expression.
And when the particles of light disappeared, her expression darkened.
"Mika-kun... I am very happy, and I think it's a wonderful thing, but... you shouldn't use [God's Miracle] for something like this."
She said it gently, as if admonishing him.
"Being able to use [God's Miracle] is an amazing thing, you know? You shouldn't use it so easily."
She had scolded him.
Kistil's way of thinking was not just hers alone.
It was a fairly common understanding among those who lived in this world.
Mika could use [God's Miracle], and since he was at the Academy, people who could use [God's Miracle] were naturally around him.
But once you stepped one step out of the Academy, there were almost no one who could use [God's Miracle].
Still, since he was an adventurer, Mika's encounter rate was still on the higher side.
For people living a very ordinary life, they rarely had the opportunity to see [God's Miracle].
For ordinary people, those few opportunities were at the church.
However, even at the church, a donation was required to receive [Heal].
A paid service, actually, in the name of a donation.
Perhaps to establish authority, the church seemed to be acting a bit pretentious about using [Heal].
(Well, I can understand the church collecting donations.)
With the donations collected like that, they placed churches in small villages like Rish Village and opened day schools for children.
Thanks to that, Radi was in Rish Village, and thanks to Radi, Mika had been saved from death.
Orphanages and convents also seemed to be operated with the donations collected by the church like this.
So, he didn't intend to completely deny the church saying "donation, donation" about everything.
But...
(Something about it just rubs me the wrong way. It feels like they are sitting on their high horse above authority.)
This wasn't limited to just the church, but there was a feeling of arrogance because they could use [God's Miracle].
There were no children around Mika with such an attitude, but he often felt that kind of atmosphere in snippets of conversation he overheard at restaurants and the like.
Mika looked at Kistil.
Kistil had her hands tightly clasped in front of her chest, with an anxious expression.
She was probably thinking something like whether it was okay for someone like her to say such things to Mika, who could use [God's Miracle].
Mika grinned.
"It's fine, this is fine. Since you can use it, use it as much as you want."
"Mika-kun..."
Mika didn't lose anything by using it.
So, if necessary, he should just use it freely.
He didn't think he would save everyone in the world who was in trouble.
But if someone was in trouble right in front of him, what reason was there to hesitate to lend a hand just a little?
Especially if they were an acquaintance or a friend.
"There might be times when I'm busy and can't come, but if I have free time, this much is fine. Don't hesitate."
"...Thank you, Mika-kun."
Kistil lightly wiped her eyes.
It wasn't really that moving of a story, though.
Mika smiled wryly, said his goodbyes, and left Kistil's house.
(...The inside of the house was tidier than the last time I came.)
When he first came, the inside of the house was a bit messy.
Had her mother's condition improved, allowing her to do housework again?
Or had her mother getting better reduced Kistil's mental burden, allowing her to focus on housework?
He didn't know which it was, but it seemed Kistil's house had recovered a little.
(It seems your younger brother has started working too. Maybe we have some financial leeway now?)
Since Kistil started working at Yaroibarov's inn, her income increased, her mother's condition improved, and she could do piecework steadily.
On top of that, it seemed her younger brother had also started working.
Her younger brother's job was herb gathering.
It was the job Kistil used to do.
Mika had never seen him, but it seemed he had been taken herb gathering many times, so he had apparently taken over Kistil's job.
His eye for judging the condition of herbs was still a bit lax, so he couldn't earn as much as Kistil used to, but it seemed Kistil was teaching him various things at home.
(If the economic foundation stabilizes like this, savings will slowly increase. I hope they can manage without overexerting themselves.)
There was a slight unease about the younger brother going into the forest, but the lockdown had been lifted for now.
Sometimes Kingdom Army knights and soldiers seemed to be patrolling, so it probably wasn't that dangerous.
Kistil also tended to push herself a bit too hard.
To make sure she didn't take on too much and burst, he would visit her from time to time in the future.
■■■■■■
The sixth day of the second week of the Second Month of Water.
Special training with Rimliche.
This year, even in spring, the temperature rose a bit slowly.
Still, once it reached the Second Month, it was warm during the day.
And exercising in such weather, one would get soaked in sweat quickly.
It had been about five months since the special training with Rimliche changed to [Short Sword].
Rimliche's movements had become significantly better than before.
"Ahhh, it's hot!"
"Haa... Haa... Haa..."
Mika fluttered the collar of his jacket to send wind through it.
Rimliche lay on the ground, catching his breath.
Having advanced to the second year of elementary school, acquiring a new [God's Miracle] had been assigned, but the content of the special training did not return to mana manipulation; they continued with [Short Sword] special training as is.
Including Rimliche, the Leventein Group had not yet acquired [God's Miracle].
As Director Maurice had said, even if there was a slight danger to life, they aimed to acquire it without relying on an all-in gamble first.
Maurice had also told them not to be too obvious about it, so it seemed they had discussed it together and intended to disperse the timing of acquisition.
Still, it seemed Rimliche intended to acquire his first [God's Miracle], [Blizzard], soon.
Well, in Rimliche's case, the second instruction had also come, so perhaps it was better to acquire the first one early.
Of course, there were children who intended to acquire [Battle Fervor] as their second one besides Rimliche, so it seemed they had discussed everything together including that.
Mika wiped the sweat from his forehead firmly and called out to Basal, who was practicing swings alone at a distance.
"Basal! Let's go!"
Basal, whose whole body was soaked in sweat, relaxed his shoulders as he swung his sword down.
I mean, how many swings has he done?
"It's fine. Ah, before that, please do the usual—"
Splash!
Basal, who was in the middle of talking, suddenly got soaked by a lump of water that fell from above.
And Mika got covered by a lump of water just like him.
The two of them roughly shook off the water droplets, shivering.
"Phew... Man, Mika-dono is envious. Being able to do such a convenient magic."
"...I don't really want to do it too obviously at the Academy."
He said that, yet he was using it properly on himself.
Before, when washing Rimliche's scratches, the topic came up about how much water he could make.
"Well? I bet I could keep pouring it on sleeping Basal until he drowns."
"That's a gruesome example... But can you really produce that much?"
"I can."
During the fire, he had sprinkled a considerable amount of water.
Then, when he demonstrated that he could drink it too, he received a request to pour it over him to wash away the sweat.
He tried it out, and since it washed away the sweat and left him refreshed, he sometimes took a bath like this.
Since Mika and the others were training at the edge of the ground, well, they wouldn't get caught, he thought.
After training ended, he had to go straight to the bathhouse or he'd catch a cold.
By the way, Rimliche was watching Mika and the others with a look of envy.
He was probably too embarrassed to say anything, though, so he didn't ask for it for himself either.
Whoosh!
Basal's sword cut the wind above Mika's bowed head.
Mika quickly dove into Basal's range and slashed up his empty armpit with his [Short Sword].
But Basal didn't dodge that; instead, he stepped forward toward Mika and wrapped his arm around Mika's neck.
(Damn it!)
Mika rolled to the side to escape that arm, but Basal kicked him in the stomach.
Thud!
"Guh!?"
While losing his balance, he slashed at Basal, who came for a follow-up attack, with his [Short Sword].
Seeing Basal back away with a back step, Mika also created distance.
"Cough... As always, that's ruthless."
Mika, having been kicked away, grumbled while rubbing his hurting stomach.
On the other hand, Basal, without returning the retort, stared at Mika.
Basal was a very serious person, but his swordsmanship was very ruthless.
Although he was a swordsman, Basal's family style was something like a comprehensive combat art.
It was based on the sword, but from there, anything went.
In short, it aimed to kill the opponent; of course, there were strikes like punching and kicking, joint locks, and strangulation techniques, all diverse.
Most importantly, he used the sword in such joint locks and strangulation techniques, cutting off hands and arms while locking joints, or digging vital points with the sword while strangling.
Groin attacks and eye gouging were also normally incorporated as a series of techniques, destroying the opponent as a process [step] to kill them.
Such techniques were passed down, and Basal had been drilled in them until he entered the Academy.
(...Even if it is your family style, these aren't techniques you should teach children.)
He was dumbfounded, but that was precisely why he seemed to be strict in his upbringing.
It was not techniques to kill people, but the karma [skill] of killing people.
Depending on how it was used, it could turn into a rare great villain or an incredible murderer.
Therefore, Basal had been raised strictly but lovingly by his parents from childhood and educated to become a person of character.
He must never show off such karma [skill] recklessly.
Because it was the karma of killing people, he must not wield it outside the path of humanity.
So, if Basal were to seriously wield such things in training with Mika, Mika wouldn't have enough lives.
So, when training with Mika, strikes, joint locks, and strangulation techniques were allowed.
However, he wouldn't really cut off limbs or break bones... as much as possible.
If it came to it, [Heal] could treat it, but they had set a rule about that.
Well, if he accidentally hit it, he would say "sorry."
Mika jumped lightly up and down, loosening his body.
Then, holding his [Short Sword], he stared straight at Basal.
Basal held his stance in the middle position, and seeing that Mika was ready, he charged straight at him.
The terror of Basal's family style was in places like this.
Very aggressive.
He didn't wait.
He actively came to kill.
Since it was training now, he waited for Mika to get his stance ready, but originally, it seemed a torrent of attacks would come even after dodging a horizontal slash.
If the opponent had no openings, he would break them to create openings.
That was the philosophy of the sword, he had said.
But that was also what Mika desired.
Mika dashed to close the distance.
Originally, there was an overwhelming difference in reach between the [Sword] and the [Short Sword].
Before Mika could reach the distance, he inevitably had to enter Basal's distance first.
If that happened, if he just stayed on the defensive and got pricked, Mika wouldn't be able to close the distance to his own range.
Because Basal actively came to attack, a chance was born for Mika.
A reckless special attack, thought Mika.
Basal swung his sword down heavily before Mika entered the range, and slashed down the moment he entered.
"Daah! Shaaah!"
Gyinn!
Mika deflected Basal's [Sword] with his [Short Sword].
Deflecting Basal's heavy [Sword] was life-or-death even in training.
Of course, if it looked like it would hit Mika, Basal would try to stop the sword.
Even if he couldn't stop it and it hit, well, not enough to die.
Parrying Basal's [Sword] like that was genuinely chilling.
Somehow, Mika shifted the trajectory of Basal's [Sword] that was swung down at his head just a little.
And, with the momentum of the special attack intact, he rammed into Basal.
"[Blast]!"
And with his left hand, he drove a palm strike into Basal's side as if digging in.
"Guuugh!?"
Basal's body flew about ten meters, but he landed firmly on his feet, and his sword was pointed toward Mika.
But, it seemed he took some damage, as his face looked a bit pained.
"Kuh... You managed to read that sword?"
"If I get beaten up like that in a one-on-one [Taiman] all the time, I'd get angry."
At that moment, Rimliche clapped his hands.
It seemed enough time had passed.
Basal lowered his sword.
"Haa... Recently, I've become unable to finish you off at all, Mika-dono."
"Hey, don't say finishing you off is the norm."
Mika cast [Heal] on himself, then cast it on Basal.
With this, his body returned to normal.
He walked alongside Basal toward Rimliche.
"Do you think I've been training for how many years? I never thought there would be an opponent I couldn't defeat at the same age as myself..."
Basal was genuinely frustrated.
It was annoying.
In the training between Mika and Basal, Mika was allowed to use magic.
However, he only used [Blast].
Mika assumed that in actual combat, he would use [Stone Bullet] or [Air Cutter].
Like he did to Basal, he would pierce the side with [Stone Bullet] at point-blank range.
He would cut large blood vessels like the elbows, knees, and armpits with [Air Cutter].
Thinking of such things, he was practicing the use of magic at close range while fighting with a [Short Sword].
In indoor combat, you couldn't just open up the distance and beat them one-sidedly with magic.
Not everyone was as foolish as Zureept's gang.
If even one person was skilled in sword or knife combat, the battle against Zureept's gang would have been quite difficult.
Mika looked at Basal.
"We can't go all out, right? For practice, this is just right."
"That is true... Haa."
Don't be so down.
If you get that down, I'll get down too.
"Good work. Mika-kun, Basal-kun."
"Not at all, I'm not tired. I can face Rimliche right away, though?"
"Really, Mika-kun. Saying such things again."
He was showing off his ease for no reason.
Rimliche smiled wryly, but still proposed taking a break once.
The three of them sat in a circle on the ground.
"But, if we really want to settle this black and white, it can't be measured without a rule-less actual combat."
"That would be a fight to the death? Want to do it?"
"No, stop it, both of you."
Rimliche admonished Mika and the others' gruesome conversation.
"It's a joke, a joke. I hate bullying the weak."
"You said it..."
"Really, Mika-kun!"
Rimliche started to get angry.
But Mika grinned and looked at Basal.
"In actual combat, I'd go with [Physical Enhancement] x5, okay? I'll use magic suitable for actual combat too?"
"Gugh... That's... surely I can't win."
Basal hung his head in defeat.
In training with Basal, or rather, in this Saturday special training, [Physical Enhancement] was currently prohibited.
The purpose was to train the base state.
(Basal is strong, though.)
Probably, a serious Basal would be quite strong regardless of age.
But that was within the realm of humans.
He hadn't reached the level of someone like Mika who mastered [Physical Enhancement] and stepped half a step beyond the human realm.
"But, you succeeded in manifesting [Physical Enhancement], right? Then, once your mana capacity increases, you'll get stronger and stronger."
And, please surpass the Enhanced Knight quickly.
"I can finally manifest it, but I still can't control it well. The road ahead is long."
"I also struggled with mana control. After being trained by Mika-kun for so long, I could finally manage not to be left behind by everyone."
Rimliche supported the dejected Basal.
"Still, Rimliche-dono is now at the top class of grades. I envy you."
"Rimliche didn't give up and kept working hard. Basal, if you work hard, you'll be fine."
While talking like that, they took a short break.
Then, they resumed sword training.
Until the surroundings were dyed in twilight, the three of them continued swinging their swords.