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 met 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 me brightly, while outside, the carriage driver chattered on and on. It was enough to drive me 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 me brightly.
Even moving things like carriages could pass through her body and if she didn’t hold onto me, she had to keep moving, which was a hassle.
“Did you have a good time meeting your teacher?”
The carriage driver asked me.
“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 me tightly, pressing her chest against my back, as she listened to our conversation.
She had told me 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 time.
Even the mental 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 me, calculating the age difference that no longer means 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 something 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 sometime…disciple why don’t you give me a tour?]
Sierra’s eyes narrowed as she leaned in close, beckoning me.
“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 me 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 me, suddenly stopped.
The sun was just beginning to rise in the morning, and there was still plenty of time 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… memorize 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 game was still fresh in my mind.
[You said it’s a feeling or an unusual ability. To tell others that I taught you makes me feel like a teacher being played by her student…]
Sierra, who had gotten a little ahead of herself, stumbles toward me, eyes wide.
[Take this!]
Sierra snapped at me 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 me, as if to cheer me 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 me.]
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 me, 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 game 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 meant it.
Sierra must have realized that in some vague way, but I felt deeply grateful for her willingness to understand me.
‘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. Come 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 me last time…”
As I entered the general store, the owner, an old woman I hadn’t seen in a long time, thanked me.
“I feel like I’m telling you every time, but even so, being a saint is too much for me… Haha…”
In the game, she was an NPC named “Coughing Grandma,” and she was averse to medicine… I had to buy her a sweet candy-like medicine 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 come 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 mesmerizing potion…? What a great gift for a loved one…]
Sierra picked up a ‘miscellaneous item’ called an mesmerizing potion. It was really a meaningless item as I don’t recall it ever increasing the likability of a character in the game.
‘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 mesmerizing 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 me.
“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 me 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 some time before class but I was getting hungry so Sierra and I came 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 some unusual tastes.
[Hmm…Something that’s not too heavy for the first meal. 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 remembered the location.
As I approached the shop, I saw a familiar cafe.
‘…That cafe.’
It was the place where Aizel had gotten me 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 me.
‘Huh…?’
While listening to the owner I look closely at the customer 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 nemesis.
‘Did she notice…?’