EP.41
When she opened her eyes, she found herself staring at a strange ceiling.
No, upon further thought, it was actually quite a familiar ceiling. This was the ceiling of the hospital room Altina had frequently visited when caring for Jin.
“Are you awake?”
“…Jin.”
As she turned her head, she saw Jin sitting on the chair next to the bed where she was lying.
He must have been sitting there, watching over her until she woke up.
“Honestly, you’re such a worrywart.”
Seeing that Altina had safely awakened, Jin sighed and placed his hand on her forehead.
“What are you doing right now?!”
As his hand touched her forehead, Altina’s face flushed bright red in an instant.
No, this wasn’t right. She didn’t just dislike it; she felt uneasy being so close to him in this situation.
Moreover, she had been in a fierce duel with Erekaya, sweating profusely until she lost consciousness. If he caught even a whiff of her sweat like this…
“No! That absolutely cannot happen!”
As Altina shook her head vigorously, expressing her strong disapproval, Jin pulled his hand away from her forehead, looking perplexed.
“…What’s going on? You cling to me just fine during our duels.”
“Cling? Me?”
“Sure. Over the past month, while training together, I must have touched you dozens of times at least. Why are you making a fuss about it now?”
“Touched me?”
In truth, it would be strange if their bodies didn’t bump into each other during sword training.
The best way to control an opponent wielding a sword was none other than to keep them in check while wielding their own sword.
And that fact should have been even more apparent to Altina, who had reached the level of a Master.
But then—
“…Ah.”
“…?”
Altina’s reaction was a bit odd. Whatever the reason, she seemed to be staring blankly into space.
‘Hey, what’s wrong with her? Just yesterday she had no hesitation at all in body slamming me during our training; why is she acting like this now?’
– Well, I find it even more fascinating that you don’t understand why she’s reacting this way.
‘…What?’
– It’s better if you don’t know. Honestly, it might be for the best that you remain unaware.
Meanwhile, Erekaya kept spouting nonsense without giving a proper answer, leaving Jin utterly frustrated.
Ultimately, abandoning the idea of deciphering the thoughts of these women, Jin let out a sigh and spoke to Altina.
“Is your body feeling okay? And do you remember why you’re lying here?”
At his words, Altina stiffened her expression and lowered her head.
“…Right. I lost.”
She slowly began to recall what had happened just before she lost consciousness.
She had lost. No need to sugarcoat it; she had lost perfectly. There was no need to make excuses or blame uncontrollable external factors.
The sole reason she lost to Erekaya was that her skills simply did not measure up.
The duel between Erekaya and Altina had, in the end, concluded with Altina’s defeat.
…And it had happened right before the eyes of her Master, Jin.
In the final moments, Altina had failed to read Erekaya’s intentions and had lost in a most disgraceful manner.
“…Um, Jin.”
“Yeah?”
“You’re not… disappointed in me or anything, right?”
“Disappointed?”
Disappointed? Why on earth? Both Jin and Altina were well aware that Altina was currently inferior to Erekaya, so where was the room for disappointment?
“Over the past month, you’ve really helped me a lot. Whether it was creating ‘Echo of the Sky’ or letting me know about Erekaya’s habits and weaknesses that I hadn’t been aware of. If it weren’t for you, I could never have pushed Erekaya this far.”
‘No… I didn’t really help you that much.’
In truth, ‘Echo of the Sky’ was a technique that Altina could have developed on her own within a few years, and the habits or weaknesses of the current Erekaya were just information derived from the Erekaya existing in Jin’s mind.
Even if Jin wanted to brag or show off, he genuinely had no memory of doing anything significant for Altina. Though he lacked a conscience, he wasn’t so rude as to take credit for someone else’s efforts.
“…And I lost. I knew everything about Kaya, and I even created a technique to counter her, but in the end, I still lost. I used all of my unfair privileges and still lost.”
Watching Altina look up at him with an anxious expression, reminiscent of a lost puppy, Jin couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Disappointed? Not at all. You did well.”
“…Did well?”
“Yeah, you did well. The brightest star on today’s stage wasn’t Erekaya; it was you. And I’m proud of you.”
Suddenly, Altina froze in place at his words.
“Erekaya was clearly stronger than you. Yet you pushed her to the brink of defeat. That means you held the upper hand for at least a moment against an opponent of superior skill.”
“So you should be proud of yourself. And I’m proud of you too. You’ve surpassed your own limits solely through your own efforts.”
“…”
At his words, Altina felt a rush of indescribable emotions filling her heart.
She felt proud. And so incredibly happy. Just a single perhaps meaningless word from him, and the genuine congratulations and gratitude… warmed her heart so deeply.
In truth, losing to Erekaya didn’t bother her at all. The fact that her skills weren’t on par with Erekaya didn’t matter much.
All she truly desired was to hear such praise from him.
All she wanted was to hear him say she did well.
All she wanted was to hear that he was proud of her as his disciple.
That’s why she felt happy. Even when she reached the level of Master or felt confident that she could surpass Erekaya, she hadn’t felt this happy.
Yes. Nothing else… was needed. Nothing else mattered.
For Altina von Rudel Seryas, just this one thing was enough.
Because she had trained so hard with her sword over the past month for this very reason.
“…Jin.”
“Yeah, what is it?”
“Thank you.”
Really, thank you.
“What for?”
“For everything.”
For being my flawed Master, and for being here beside me at this very moment.
For everything.
Thank you.
After Jin left the hospital room, the person who came to visit Altina was none other than Claire.
“Altina, are you feeling okay?”
Looking at her with a quite worried expression, Claire spoke, and Altina smiled back warmly in reply.
“Actually, it’s not that bad. Above all, compared to Erekaya, these injuries are nothing.”
In a rather ironic turn of events, Erekaya was the victor of this duel, yet when it came to the extent of their injuries, she had suffered far more severe wounds than Altina.
Altina had merely endured internal injuries from the backlash of her own technique, while Erekaya had sustained quite serious injuries from the ‘Echo of the Sky’ that Altina unleashed.
“Honestly, both you and Kaya are too reckless. No matter how important this duel assessment is, it’s just an exam. How could you fight with such desperation that it harms your own body?”
Altina could only muster an awkward smile in response to Claire’s words.
In truth, she also had no interest at all in the duel assessment or scores, and she couldn’t exactly express that her true concerns lay elsewhere.
“Well, it’s true that I was reckless, but at least I’m better than him, right?”
“Who, him?”
“Jin.”
With a feigned sigh, Altina continued, expressing her astonishment.
“No matter how I think about it, what he did during today’s duel was just too much.”
“…Too much, you say?”
“Yeah. I admit that Hugo Bright is a pathetic guy, and considering what he’s said about Jin in the past, I think he deserved what he got. But the issue is that today’s duel wasn’t held in secret; it was public.”
Just thinking about the duel between Jin and Hugo made Altina’s head ache.
Not only was she struggling to fit in at Nineveh, which was predominantly filled with noble students, but her own aloof personality meant she had few friends aside from Altina and Claire.
And now, after witnessing Jin brutally crush Hugo in the duel, it seemed unlikely that anyone would approach him in the future.
“At Nineveh, it’s not just about acquiring knowledge; building connections with others is also extremely important. Such intangible assets can become a great aid later on, whether you realize it or not. It’s just reckless to act out like that when you don’t even have many friends…”
“Um, Altina. I actually don’t think this situation is entirely bad.”
“…What? What do you mean?”
However, Claire’s response was somewhat unexpected for Altina.
“Did you know? Recently, some of the other girls in our class have been showing interest in Jin? I’m not sure why, but it seems there are strange rumors floating around about him.”
“…Strange rumors?”
“You’ve been living in the training grounds lately, so you might not know, but there are rumors that Jin is actually from a powerful branch of a noble family or perhaps a hidden descendant of some dukedom. Ridiculous nonsense like that has been going around among the kids.”
As Claire spoke, she shrugged her shoulders, as if she had no interest in such foolish rumors.
“So now, the other girls are brainstorming ways to get close to Jin, to see how they can strike up a conversation. If those ridiculous rumors turn out to be true, they might actually be able to build connections with a hidden scion of a great house.”
Claire smirked as she spoke. It was a different smile than her usual demeanor, causing Altina to flinch slightly.
“That’s why I really like this situation. That Jin thoroughly stomped on Hugo, and that the duel will make others keep their distance from him.”
Furthermore, the girls who had previously planned to approach him would likely disappear.
“I’m quite fond of how things are right now. It’s just you and me beside Jin, isn’t it?”
She didn’t need or desire anyone else. The thought of having a third person around felt a bit overwhelming to her.
So Claire was very pleased with the current state of affairs.
She wanted no other friends, connections, or girls in his life.
Because right now, she was the one standing beside him.
Claire Delphin Mascarena didn’t wish for Jin to make any other ‘friends.’