In the blizzard, flying iron filings brought a brief wave of heat before rapidly cooling.
CLANG!
The sound of clashing blades was clear and sharp, piercing through the white plain. Snowflakes danced wildly in the turbulent airflow, melting into streaks of water on the bright spine of the sword, turning into translucent ripples with every swing.
CLINK! CLINK! CLINK!
Ryu felt the rhythm of his heart. Even in the freezing snow, his blood was boiling—quite literally. A visible steam rose from his body as he moved.
Leather armor, a longsword, a one-handed shield. Ryu currently looked like a standard medieval infantryman, and the enemy he faced was a three-meter-tall troll with muscles as solid as granite, wielding an iron club!
In terms of size and equipment, the two were a complete mismatch. The troll's wide, sweeping attacks were far more ferocious than a thin steel sword. In reality, however, the nimble longsword managed to open a wound on the enemy's massive body with every strike, while the devastating iron club was always dodged.
The key was attack range!
The troll's arm span and weapon were both superior to Ryu's. Keeping a distance would put him in a passive, defensive position. Fighting such a monster up close seemed terrifying, but it actually restricted its ability to swing freely.
Roll!
A simple dodge wouldn't do. Each evasion had to be diagonal, moving against the trajectory of the troll's swing.
It couldn't turn nimbly, and the inertia of the iron club made it difficult to change its attack in time. The more powerful and heavy the strike, the bigger the opening it created.
Pfft!
A deep gash was cut along the muscle of the troll's left calf. Fresh blood once again stained the snow red.
A pained and furious war cry shook the accumulated snow and chilled the soul, but the boy's gaze didn't waver in the slightest. In his state of supreme focus, he had already forgotten himself.
If this were a game, it wouldn't matter which body part he attacked; he would just need to chip away at its HP. But to him, this was a battle, and every setup was for the final, decisive blow.
Whoosh!
The speed of the iron club suddenly increased. The troll's veins bulged all over its body as if it had stirred up a red cyclone, enveloping Ryu with lightning-fast momentum.
BAM!
The shield shattered in an instant, wood chips flying everywhere as the iron club pushed through unstoppably.
The next moment—
Having curled his legs and leaped two meters into the air, Ryu felt the fierce wind scrape beneath him like a knife. The muscles in his back, like a chain, drove his waist and shoulders. The moment his entire body integrated into one, his hands shot out as swiftly as a snapped bowstring.
CLANG!
He swung his longsword before the troll's astonished, crimson eyes. A thin line of blood flew from the troll's throat, stretching infinitely in the blizzard, as if splitting the vast, unified white world in two...
[Winner!]
—
Shuchiin Academy Infirmary. Ryu lay on a hospital bed wearing a helmet. His school uniform jacket was folded neatly to the side, and several rubbery sensors were attached to his white shirt, resembling a sci-fi version of leather armor.
Ruri sat by the bed. With a slight turn of her head, she could see the small server and the life-signs monitor. She would occasionally take out her phone, but most of the time, she was reading a book.
Despite her consistently elegant and calm demeanor in public, the threshold for her job was actually very high. After all, it was difficult for an ordinary person to keep up with her master's (Ryu's) pace. She could never relax.
Genius, prodigy, monster... there were far too many such titles attached to this person. To become his right-hand woman and stand openly beside such a genius, Ruri also had to display 'passing' talent and aptitude.
Otherwise, she wouldn't be an assistant, but a lover or a pet—at least, that's how outsiders would see it.
And keeping up with Ryu's pace was difficult because the guy's hobbies were too extensive, and yet he seemed to be omnipotent~
From a young age, he had displayed an 'activeness' far beyond his peers, as well as an enthusiasm that cooled down all too quickly. He seemed to be interested in and passionate about everything in the world, from sports to artistic cultivation, from literature and history to natural sciences, from games and anime to movies and novels, and he would often display extraordinary talent.
Baseball, piano, swimming, French, painting... he could achieve proficiency in all of them within a month!
And he would invariably develop a new interest a month later. Only a rare few could hold his attention for long, such as shooting and kendo—his skills in those were already aiming for a world ranking.
True, he never lacked for professional-level teachers to impart their skills, and he could even use his connections to invite transcendent national masters. He had the best educational resources. But even so, his progress... or rather, his rate of evolution, had still left countless people dumbfounded.
Initially, Ruri had wanted to ride on his coattails and was quite confident in her ability to do so. After all, she had also worked hard under a super-high-intensity elite education. But not long after coming to the Kuse family, she abandoned that naive idea.
It couldn't be helped. Her intelligence and competence were only relative to ordinary people. And Ryu?
—Ryu wasn't human!
When the gap between people is too large, it breeds admiration or jealousy—not even fathers and sons are an exception. But when the gap becomes absurdly large, exceeding all common sense, the human heart can actually calm down.
That was how it was for Ruri. Now, she no longer had any desire to compare herself to Ryu and simply focused on doing her own job well.
The meaning of her work was to allow her master to devote himself to his passions without any distractions. For Ruri, this was not a burden; on the contrary, it made her feel extremely fulfilled, even happy.
It all started on that day, the day she was 'bought' by Ryu...
"Haaah~"
Closing her book, Ruri quietly gazed at Ryu's sleeping face. She did nothing, simply contemplating it for a long time as if admiring an artist's masterpiece.
The afternoon sun was warm and peaceful. The sounds of the track and field club training on the sports ground could be faintly heard, along with the occasional chirping of birds perched in the trees. This small infirmary felt as if it were separate from the rest of the world, with only the sound of her own heartbeat and the low hum of the server.
Suddenly, a gentle breeze blew in, causing the white bed curtain to flutter playfully.
Ruri blinked, looking at Ryu's tranquil appearance, a watery light rippling in her eyes.
The rounded curve outlined by her long school uniform skirt lifted gently as she rose from her seat. The girl bent down, tucking her hair behind her ear, and carefully lowered her head, making sure no strands would tickle her master's cheek.
The watery light in her eyes grew hazier, and the crimson blush beneath her skin was proof of her shyness, but she didn't close her eyes.
She didn't want to close her eyes.
Her lips parted slightly, a sliver of an opening releasing a somewhat hurried, warm breath. The muscles at the tips of her lips twitched faintly, as if they were no longer under her control.
...The wind stopped. The curtain fell, and the sunlight shining on it cast a shadow of two heads overlapping.
"Huu..."
She straightened up. With a look of affection, she used a handkerchief to gently and meticulously wipe the trace of moisture and transparent lip balm from the corner of the boy's mouth.
She stared at the handkerchief for a moment, lost in thought, then folded it with great care and placed it in her pocket.
As if time had resumed its flow, only now did she once again hear the hum of the server and the sounds from outside.
Even though no one was around, she still gave a light cough, picked up her book again, and let time slowly pass...
Suddenly, the girl's eyes darted. Hiding the lower half of her face with the book, she cautiously glanced at Ryu on the bed—he showed no signs of waking up.
So, she bent down and leaned in again—
Swish!
"Ryu-chan, you're hiding away to play games again, aren't you? So sneaky! I want to... Ruri-chan, what are you doing?"
Remaining in position, Ruri turned her head to see an excited Fujiwara Chika walking in. Her face flushed hot in a rare moment of losing her composure.
________________________________________
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