I was surprised by the little kid’s sudden request, but I soon understood the reason.
The little kid wanted to play with me.
Well, after losing his parents at such a young age, I was the only person he could trust.
It must have been tough.
But when I, who was like that to him, was away for a long time, it wasn’t unreasonable for him to react like this.
So I decided to play with him properly. Anyway, I had free time now.
I decided to try and match the little kid’s pace as much as possible.
Since we would both benefit from the exercise.
Especially if a situation arose where we have to run away with all our might.
“Alright, I’ll teach you swordsmanship.”
“Yay! Thank you so much!”
“However, there is a condition.”
“What? A condition?”
“You must never wield this power recklessly.”
I had no intention of just playing around.
Since I was playing with him, I decided to fully match the little kid’s pace.
Thankfully, I was his role model.
I had to be comparable to the masters in martial arts novels.
“The sword has no fault. It is the one who wields the sword who is at fault.”
“…In other words, it means that any power depends on how it is used.”
“Power without responsibility will only lead to self-destruction.”
“I will engrave it deeply in my heart.”
“Good, then I’ll give you the first task.”
The masters I’d read about didn’t simply teach.
Instead, they passed on secret techniques and elixirs only when the protagonist passed the tasks they gave.
And the task I decided on was running.
“It’s a simple task. You just need to beat me in running.”
“Does that mean I have to run faster?”
“No, you lose if you give up running first.”
Physical strength was essential.
Whether it was swordsmanship or an ability, even when doing paperwork.
So, the top priority was to consistently build stamina through running.
Of course, it was more serious than expected for a game, but in the first place, if this were real, there’d be no way I could become a teacher.
Because strictly speaking, I was a complete novice myself.
But this was just a game, nothing more.
Even this would soon become boring or tiring, and he would give up.
So, I just needed to match his pace until then.
Moreover, I had no intention of going easy on him from the start.
I was quite confident in my stamina, at least from training until now.
However, that confidence disappeared before long.
“Huff, huff…!!!”
As soon as we started running, the little kid ran at full speed.
So I thought he would get tired easily.
But even after running 20 laps around the empty lot, the little kid never stopped.
Rather, I, who was running behind him, got tired first.
No way, he was still running at full speed even now. And he didn’t show any signs of fatigue?
Was he even human?
Was he a machine?
“Stop! That’s enough.”
“Did I pass the task by any chance?”
“An indomitable spirit that never gives up. You passed splendidly.”
“Then praise me!”
Maintaining a poker face was important, but I felt like I was dying.
However, I was playing the role of a martial arts master, so I couldn’t slip up.
A master-disciple relationship was useless if the master was inferior to the disciple.
More importantly, I didn’t want to be disqualified as a master.
But while I was dying, the little kid wasn’t even tired; rather, he bounced around like a puppy playing in the snow.
I barely managed to squeeze out my voice and praised him.
“Well done.”
“Hehe…”
He finally calmed down when I patted his head.
Seriously, it felt like watching a beagle.
Thanks to that, I was the only one suffering, trying my best to hide my fatigue.
Damn it!
“That’s it for today.”
“Ah… Teacher!”
“Hmm?”
“I… I can do better on the next one!”
“N-next?”
Ah, I almost forgot, it was that type of game.
I was going to just have him run around and then end it; but because of the little kid’s bottomless stamina, that failed.
But what could I do now?
I racked my brain desperately.
Maybe I could teach him real swordsmanship?
No, that wouldn’t do.
What if I taught him and he got hurt trying to imitate it?
What would I do then?
Moreover, I wasn’t skilled enough to teach others in the first place.
I was barely keeping up with the basic swordsmanship that I learned at the training ground.
How could I possibly teach swordsmanship in my current state?
“Actually…”
“Yes! Teacher!”
“…”
I was going to tell the truth, but I couldn’t ignore the pure, sparkling eyes in front of me.
Since it was an adult’s duty to protect children’s pure dreams!
“Actually, I possess the legendary Phantom Swordsmanship.”
“The legendary Phantom Swordsmanship…?!”
“Its name is… the Thunder Dragon Sword Technique!!”
Sigh, I’d just roll with it, it wasn’t like anyone was listening anyways.
By the way, this was obviously nonsense.
I just ripped something from the martial arts novels I’d seen.
“Thunder Dragon Sword Technique…?!”
“It’s a sword technique imbued with the power of the Thunder Dragon that rules the heavens.”
“It’s an amazing sword technique!!”
Usually, one would notice that I was bullshitting, but our pure little kid seemed to wholeheartedly believe my words.
His eyes were even glistening.
The little kid opened her mouth.
“I really want to see it once!”
“Uh…?”
“Is it not allowed…?”
I didn’t expect that.
I never thought he would ask to see it.
As I was slightly flustered, the little kid looked up at me with a dejected expression.
Ugh, I had no choice but to do it…!
“If you really want to see it.”
“Thank you so much, Teacher!”
“Just wait a moment.”
Enthusiasm was good, but what should I do now?
I bought some time for now by pretending to prepare, but it’d still just be a shallow trick.
Since there was no way for me to prepare something like the Thunder Dragon Sword Technique in such a short time.
Rather, was that even possible?
But I couldn’t say no at this point.
After some deliberation, I found a clever solution.
It’d be fine if it only looked like the Thunder Dragon Sword Technique, right?
Besides, this little kid couldn’t possibly know the real thing.
So, I brought a suitable bundle of straw from nearby.
At first, I was going to demonstrate with a tree, but I soon gave up.
In the first place, there was no way I could cut a tree with a sword.
When I brought the straw bundle, the little kid asked me a question.
“Are you going to show it to me now?”
“Yeah. Keep your eyes open and watch carefully.”
“Yes! Teacher!”
I didn’t know if it was a lie, but the little kid’s eyes were focused on my sword.
It really felt like my hand would be pierced through.
I clicked my tongue and placed my hand on the sword handle.
And at the same time, I stopped time.
With me at the center, everything around me turned gray.
The tree branches swaying in the blowing wind, the snow falling from the branches, everything stopped.
After confirming that time had stopped, I walked towards the straw bundle in front of me.
And, I drew my sword before swinging it with all my might.
Fortunately, my current skill was enough to cut a simple straw bundle.
After leaving a diagonal cut on the straw bundle, I re-sheathed my sword.
Then, I took a stance behind the bisected straw bundle.
The key here was to not fully sheath my sword.
Instead, I had to leave at least 1/3 of it out.
Alright…this should be enough.
Time, which had stopped, began to flow again at my command.
Only then did the cut straw bundle fall.
I glanced and turned my eyes.
With that, I felt the little kid’s gaze shift to me.
And to match that timing, I completely sheathed my sword.
As if following, a metallic sound rang out.
“Just now, what was that…?!”
“What did you see?”
“…I didn’t see anything.”
Oh no, I got carried away and unwittingly imitated the tone of a martial arts master.
And the response that came back was more serious than I thought.
Thanks to that, I improvised here.
“This is the second task.”
“…!!!”
“See the Thunder Dragon.”
I was far too immersed, and blurted that out without realizing it.
Then as if enlightened, the little kid made a shocked expression and ran away without looking back.
Thanks to that, I was left alone, dumbfounded.
Damn… Was I too chuunibyou?
But I think I played with him enough.
* * *
The girl’s sharp eyes didn’t miss a single thing.
The people who diligently swung their swords at the training ground, the fist that had been swung at her, she had never missed any of them.
But for the first time, she missed it.
And it was none other than her teacher’s sword.
It was a shock.
Not someone else’s, but to think she missed her teacher’s sword.
Even though she had vowed not to miss a single thing of her teacher’s.
She had failed to keep that vow.
However, what was even more shocking was her teacher’s reaction.
As if he had known in advance.
No, her teacher must have already known.
Because he was her teacher.
[This is the second task.]
What her teacher said was the second task.
What could it be?
The girl already knew the answer.
It was to see that sword that she couldn’t see at all, as if it were in another world.
[See the Thunder Dragon.]
There must be a reason why her teacher personally showed it to her.
She had to recall iit, over and over again.
The scene she saw at that time.
To the point of insanity, she had to recall it repeatedly and try to capture it with her eyes somehow.
Fortunately, there was still time left.
The girl picked up a sword.
Although it was just a wooden stick, too flimsy to be called a sword, to the girl, it was already an indisputable weapon.
And the girl placed the sword at her waist, as if she were drawing it out.
Her appearance closely resembled the form her teacher had shown her.
But, no, no. This wasn’t it!
To reach his sword it had to be more…
I was surprised by the little kid’s sudden request, but I soon understood the reason.
The little kid wanted to play with me.
Well, after losing his parents at such a young age, I was the only person he could trust.
It must have been tough.
But when I, who was like that to him, was away for a long time, it wasn’t unreasonable for him to react like this.
So I decided to play with him properly. Anyway, I had free time now.
I decided to try and match the little kid’s pace as much as possible.
Since we would both benefit from the exercise.
Especially if a situation arose where we have to run away with all our might.
“Alright, I’ll teach you swordsmanship.”
“Yay! Thank you so much!”
“However, there is a condition.”
“What? A condition?”
“You must never wield this power recklessly.”
I had no intention of just playing around.
Since I was playing with him, I decided to fully match the little kid’s pace.
Thankfully, I was his role model.
I had to be comparable to the masters in martial arts novels.
“The sword has no fault. It is the one who wields the sword who is at fault.”
“…In other words, it means that any power depends on how it is used.”
“Power without responsibility will only lead to self-destruction.”
“I will engrave it deeply in my heart.”
“Good, then I’ll give you the first task.”
The masters I’d read about didn’t simply teach.
Instead, they passed on secret techniques and elixirs only when the protagonist passed the tasks they gave.
And the task I decided on was running.
“It’s a simple task. You just need to beat me in running.”
“Does that mean I have to run faster?”
“No, you lose if you give up running first.”
Physical strength was essential.
Whether it was swordsmanship or an ability, even when doing paperwork.
So, the top priority was to consistently build stamina through running.
Of course, it was more serious than expected for a game, but in the first place, if this were real, there’d be no way I could become a teacher.
Because strictly speaking, I was a complete novice myself.
But this was just a game, nothing more.
Even this would soon become boring or tiring, and he would give up.
So, I just needed to match his pace until then.
Moreover, I had no intention of going easy on him from the start.
I was quite confident in my stamina, at least from training until now.
However, that confidence disappeared before long.
“Huff, huff…!!!”
As soon as we started running, the little kid ran at full speed.
So I thought he would get tired easily.
But even after running 20 laps around the empty lot, the little kid never stopped.
Rather, I, who was running behind him, got tired first.
No way, he was still running at full speed even now. And he didn’t show any signs of fatigue?
Was he even human?
Was he a machine?
“Stop! That’s enough.”
“Did I pass the task by any chance?”
“An indomitable spirit that never gives up. You passed splendidly.”
“Then praise me!”
Maintaining a poker face was important, but I felt like I was dying.
However, I was playing the role of a martial arts master, so I couldn’t slip up.
A master-disciple relationship was useless if the master was inferior to the disciple.
More importantly, I didn’t want to be disqualified as a master.
But while I was dying, the little kid wasn’t even tired; rather, he bounced around like a puppy playing in the snow.
I barely managed to squeeze out my voice and praised him.
“Well done.”
“Hehe…”
He finally calmed down when I patted his head.
Seriously, it felt like watching a beagle.
Thanks to that, I was the only one suffering, trying my best to hide my fatigue.
Damn it!
“That’s it for today.”
“Ah… Teacher!”
“Hmm?”
“I… I can do better on the next one!”
“N-next?”
Ah, I almost forgot, it was that type of game.
I was going to just have him run around and then end it; but because of the little kid’s bottomless stamina, that failed.
But what could I do now?
I racked my brain desperately.
Maybe I could teach him real swordsmanship?
No, that wouldn’t do.
What if I taught him and he got hurt trying to imitate it?
What would I do then?
Moreover, I wasn’t skilled enough to teach others in the first place.
I was barely keeping up with the basic swordsmanship that I learned at the training ground.
How could I possibly teach swordsmanship in my current state?
“Actually…”
“Yes! Teacher!”
“…”
I was going to tell the truth, but I couldn’t ignore the pure, sparkling eyes in front of me.
Since it was an adult’s duty to protect children’s pure dreams!
“Actually, I possess the legendary Phantom Swordsmanship.”
“The legendary Phantom Swordsmanship…?!”
“Its name is… the Thunder Dragon Sword Technique!!”
Sigh, I’d just roll with it, it wasn’t like anyone was listening anyways.
By the way, this was obviously nonsense.
I just ripped something from the martial arts novels I’d seen.
“Thunder Dragon Sword Technique…?!”
“It’s a sword technique imbued with the power of the Thunder Dragon that rules the heavens.”
“It’s an amazing sword technique!!”
Usually, one would notice that I was bullshitting, but our pure little kid seemed to wholeheartedly believe my words.
His eyes were even glistening.
The little kid opened her mouth.
“I really want to see it once!”
“Uh…?”
“Is it not allowed…?”
I didn’t expect that.
I never thought he would ask to see it.
As I was slightly flustered, the little kid looked up at me with a dejected expression.
Ugh, I had no choice but to do it…!
“If you really want to see it.”
“Thank you so much, Teacher!”
“Just wait a moment.”
Enthusiasm was good, but what should I do now?
I bought some time for now by pretending to prepare, but it’d still just be a shallow trick.
Since there was no way for me to prepare something like the Thunder Dragon Sword Technique in such a short time.
Rather, was that even possible?
But I couldn’t say no at this point.
After some deliberation, I found a clever solution.
It’d be fine if it only looked like the Thunder Dragon Sword Technique, right?
Besides, this little kid couldn’t possibly know the real thing.
So, I brought a suitable bundle of straw from nearby.
At first, I was going to demonstrate with a tree, but I soon gave up.
In the first place, there was no way I could cut a tree with a sword.
When I brought the straw bundle, the little kid asked me a question.
“Are you going to show it to me now?”
“Yeah. Keep your eyes open and watch carefully.”
“Yes! Teacher!”
I didn’t know if it was a lie, but the little kid’s eyes were focused on my sword.
It really felt like my hand would be pierced through.
I clicked my tongue and placed my hand on the sword handle.
And at the same time, I stopped time.
With me at the center, everything around me turned gray.
The tree branches swaying in the blowing wind, the snow falling from the branches, everything stopped.
After confirming that time had stopped, I walked towards the straw bundle in front of me.
And, I drew my sword before swinging it with all my might.
Fortunately, my current skill was enough to cut a simple straw bundle.
After leaving a diagonal cut on the straw bundle, I re-sheathed my sword.
Then, I took a stance behind the bisected straw bundle.
The key here was to not fully sheath my sword.
Instead, I had to leave at least 1/3 of it out.
Alright…this should be enough.
Time, which had stopped, began to flow again at my command.
Only then did the cut straw bundle fall.
I glanced and turned my eyes.
With that, I felt the little kid’s gaze shift to me.
And to match that timing, I completely sheathed my sword.
As if following, a metallic sound rang out.
“Just now, what was that…?!”
“What did you see?”
“…I didn’t see anything.”
Oh no, I got carried away and unwittingly imitated the tone of a martial arts master.
And the response that came back was more serious than I thought.
Thanks to that, I improvised here.
“This is the second task.”
“…!!!”
“See the Thunder Dragon.”
I was far too immersed, and blurted that out without realizing it.
Then as if enlightened, the little kid made a shocked expression and ran away without looking back.
Thanks to that, I was left alone, dumbfounded.
Damn… Was I too chuunibyou?
But I think I played with him enough.
* * *
The girl’s sharp eyes didn’t miss a single thing.
The people who diligently swung their swords at the training ground, the fist that had been swung at her, she had never missed any of them.
But for the first time, she missed it.
And it was none other than her teacher’s sword.
It was a shock.
Not someone else’s, but to think she missed her teacher’s sword.
Even though she had vowed not to miss a single thing of her teacher’s.
She had failed to keep that vow.
However, what was even more shocking was her teacher’s reaction.
As if he had known in advance.
No, her teacher must have already known.
Because he was her teacher.
[This is the second task.]
What her teacher said was the second task.
What could it be?
The girl already knew the answer.
It was to see that sword that she couldn’t see at all, as if it were in another world.
[See the Thunder Dragon.]
There must be a reason why her teacher personally showed it to her.
She had to recall iit, over and over again.
The scene she saw at that time.
To the point of insanity, she had to recall it repeatedly and try to capture it with her eyes somehow.
Fortunately, there was still time left.
The girl picked up a sword.
Although it was just a wooden stick, too flimsy to be called a sword, to the girl, it was already an indisputable weapon.
And the girl placed the sword at her waist, as if she were drawing it out.
Her appearance closely resembled the form her teacher had shown her.
But, no, no. This wasn’t it!
To reach his sword it had to be more…
