NBAA Vol. 6 Chapter 4 Part 2
After the match, Reito returned to the waiting room and communicated with Airis. Whenever he was curious about something, he would ask her. He wanted to know more about the “Crimson-colored Magic” that she mentioned during the last attack he launched.
『Airis.』
『You want to ask about the last attack. It was quite an amazing blow, wasn’t it?』
『What was that all about?』
『A person who has fully awakened as a Sword Demon will become clad in crimson magic. It proves that Mr. Reito is becoming a tried and true Sword Demon.』
Airis explained that Reito’s change was evidence that he was beginning to acquire the full power of a “Sword Demon” and that the “Crimson Magic” generated at the end was proof that he was awakening to his powers.
『Perhaps support magician and swordsman are surprisingly compatible jobs. Only Reito would think to combine gravity magic with his sword fighting.』
『Don’t make me blush.』
『That said, the last blow has taken a heavy toll on your body. In fact, you lost a lot of your strength and magical energy, didn’t you?』
『Honestly, I’m pretty bushed…』
After returning to the waiting room, Reito gulped down the recovery medicine that Ferris had prepared for him out of concern, and he lay down on a bench to rest. During the match, he had expended so much of his magical energy and physical stamina. He could heal his injuries with recovery magic, but he had no choice but to wait for his stamina and magic to recover naturally or take some kind of medicine. The last blow alone consumed nearly one-third of his magic and physical energy capacity.
『I’m really tired… but it would be amazing to master that power.』
『A true Sword Demon can easily produce an attack of that magnitude.』
『I would be a true beast!』
『Well, I don’t know if you can reach that level quite yet. You should refrain from using it for the time being. Even if you need to use it in battle, keep it to one time only.』
『One time only…』
『If you do that kind of attack too many times in such a short period of time, your body will not be able to keep up. Oh, and that attack is called “Demon Blade” among Sword Demons. This is not a battle technique, but we need a way to refer to it, so please call it that from now on.』
『Demon Blade… that’s a cool name.』
After the communication ended, Reito got up. Thanks to his ultra-recovery boost, he had no more physical damage, but his fatigue had built up considerably. He needed to rest for a while. Just as he is thinking about getting some sleep before Ferris comes to pick him up, there is a knock at the door.
“Ms. Ferris…?”
He figured Ferris had come to visit him, but there was a strange presence from the other side of the door.
Reito stared at the door for a while, and eventually, he slowly opened the door.
Then, a female soldier entered from the passageway, who seemed familiar.
“Reito.”
“What?”
She brought her hand close to her face and revealed her true face. A familiar face was waiting underneath.
“It’s me.”
“Kotomin!”
“Purupuru.”
It was Kotomin who had come to visit. She was disguised as a soldier by Suramin’s camouflage ability. Hitomin also peered out from behind her back. It seemed she had disguised herself as a soldier and sneaked in here.
Kotomin approached Reito and gave him Hitomin. Hitomin knew it was Reito even in Luna’s form because Kotomin had explained the situation to her. She sat down next to him.
“Purupuru.”
“Wow, thanks for worrying about me…”
“I watched the match. It was amazing!”
“You don’t have anything more to say!?”
“More than that, please lay down.”
Reito was astonished that Kotomin had so little to say, but she made Reito lie down on his stomach. He looked back at Kotomin to see what she would do, but she held his back with her palms.
“I’m going to take away your fatigue.”
“Wooo… this is quite something.”
“Purun?”
Kotomin started pushing her thumbs into Reito’s back. Apparently, she was doing some sort of acupressure massage.
Reito felt his fatigue ease up. Reito was grateful to Kotomin, who was poking the pressure points on his back with exquisite force. He petted Hitomin and Suramin’s heads.
While performing acupressure, Kotomin was on Reito’s back, so her weight and the soft feel of her body were also transmitted. Usually, Reito treated Kotomin like a pet, but he realized once again that she was a proper lady, and he felt a little embarrassed.
To hide his embarrassment, Reito spoke to Hitomin.
“I remember you guys had the ability to mimic. Maybe if I had you guys with me before the match, I wouldn’t have had to go through the trouble of changing.”
“Purupuru.”
“Wow. I feel a lot better now.”
“You can move now.”
As Kotomin go off Reito’s back, Reito got up. His body was considerably relieved, and Reito patted her head and thanked her. Kotomin made a “meow” sound like a cat even though she was a mermaid, and happily moved her ears as if she was a cat.
“Mr. Reito! I’m sorry to bother you.”
“Oh, hi.”
“Hey.”
“Who are you!?”
Without knocking, Ferris and her guards, Alice and Grohl, entered and were surprised to see Kotomin in the room. This waiting room is off-limits except to concerned personnel, but Reito explained the situation, and she was allowed in.
“I’m surprised you didn’t tell me first that you have such a lovely girlfriend.”
“Girlfriend… don’t make me blush,” Kotomin said.
“If anything, I love them like pets.”
“Pets… that’s not too bad either,” Kotomin said.
“What the hell? You’re not going to get mad at him?!”
Ferris made fun of her. Alice warned him, “But from now on, please refrain from letting people inside without our permission, even if you know them personally. Someone might see your real form…”
“I understand. I’ll be careful.”
“I wonder… well, I really appreciate your hard work today. I didn’t expect you to win against such a massive giant…”
“I thought I was going to die a few times.”
Reito remembered his opponent, Daigo.
He was arguably the strongest opponent he had ever fought in the arena. But if this were not a match, there would have been many other ways to win.
Daigo was huge and strong, but his movements were slow and sluggish, and he could only make large swinging attacks. If it were a life-or-death battle, there were many ways to defeat him, such as unleashing magic on his face, cutting off his legs and thrusting his sword into a vital spot when he was out of position, or using the magic of “Earth Block” to break his foothold.
Nevertheless, Reito decided to concentrate on his swordsmanship in order to establish “Luna” as a swordsman who wielded a broadsword by the public, and to make Luna’s name known for the trading company. It was undeniable that Daigo was a powerful opponent, but that did not make him unbeatable.
“Since ‘Luna’ defeated such a big giant, haven’t you already accomplished your goal already?”
When Reito asked, Ferris shook her head.
“The audience who saw this match learned a lot about Luna’s abilities. But you still need to compete in the main tournament of the Battle Tournament.” Ferris said.
Grohl added, “The match was brilliant, especially the final blow. It was the kind of attack you would expect from the strongest swordsman in the world.”
“Uh, thank you.”
Reito was puzzled by Grohl’s statement. Grohl’s demeanor had changed a lot since the beginning. He was probably originally a serious warrior. That is why he was proud of his sword and did not like the fact that a stranger had taken his position as a representative, but now he was satisfied and responded to him in an auspicious manner.
“So I’m sorry to rush you into this, but… your next match is set for tomorrow.”
“What? Tomorrow?”
The considerable high pace took Reito by surprise.
“I’m so sorry! But there’s a guy who really wants me to fight you… it’s scheduled for tomorrow morning, will you fight?”
“I don’t care if it’s tomorrow… but this time, make sure you give me the right information about my opponents.”
“Yes, of course!”
Reito took up the fight in this match without being informed of his opponent. This is why he was taken aback when Daigo showed up. However, even if he had been informed in advance, he would certainly have been astonished at first sight by such a huge opponent, so Reito could not complain too much this time.
“The next opponent is also a swordsman. And not just any swordsman, but one from the same country as Kagemaru, who belongs to the Hailstorm Guild, she’s an assassin.” Ferris explained.
“Assassin?”
The only assassin in Hailstorm he knew was Shinobi Kagemaru. He was an acquaintance of Reito’s and has worked with him on several occasions.
“Actually, someone else had signed up for Reito’s match, but… Maria wanted to change the order of the opponents a little bit.”
Reito was curious about what Ferris was saying but was more concerned about tomorrow’s opponent.
He recalled hearing from Maria that Kagemaru was from a special country and had acquired a covert profession that he would not normally be able to master. If his next opponent is from the same country as him, he may have a similar profession as Kagemaru.
“I need to rest my body until tomorrow’s match…”
“I’ll let you rest for today. Oh, and here… this is your compensation for today. Please take it.”
“Oh, thank you.”
As if suddenly remembering, Ferris took out four gold coins. Since he had bet all the gold coins he had made on the most recent match, he would receive double the amount this time as well.
After receiving the gold coins, he and Ferris boarded the carriage and returned to the trading company headquarters.
◆◆◆
At the same time, three swordmasters were gathered in the spectator’s area of the match hall. They silently recalled the last blow that Reito had shown them.
Gathered in the audience were Shun, Jannu, and Loga, who usually didn’t like arenas, and they slowly started to talk with stern expressions on their face.
“That girl… what was that final attack?”
“I don’t know… but I’ve never seen an attack like that before.”
Shun and Jannu could not stop sweating a cold sweat when they saw Luna’s “Demon Blade”.
On the other hand, only Loga recalled a person who once used a technique very similar to that of Luna, in the past. It was fifty years ago, in the days before he was called a swordmaster. Living as a mercenary, he remembered a warrior he had seen on the battlefield.
“I’ve seen it before.”
“What the hell?”
“Really?”
“Yes… but if she can use the same technique as that other swordsman I know…”
Loga fell into a complex silence. Once he made up his mind, he spoke. His eyes burning with a strong will.
“We have to kill her. By any means necessary.”
◆◆◆