The Paper Arena

One week after the awards ceremony, Lady Maika came to my room to give a report on the progress of the brick research team. We both sat on my bed at quite a close distance. While we were both not quite of marriageable age, it would not have been strange to think that we were engaged in terms of this world. Although she may have just acted so familiar as my childhood friend, this could have led to bad rumors if someone had seen us.

“Maika, thank you for the report, but are you not sitting a bit too close?”

“Don’t worry!” She strongly asserted herself and squashed my question in an instant.

“I do not mind myself, but Arthur could come back any moment.”

“I told you not to worry about it!”

Her face was up close as she looked me straight in the eyes. Considering our age, she should have been more aware of the physical distance between boys and girls.

“You should not make a habit of getting this close to boys.”

“Don’t worry, I only do this with you!”

“I guess that is fine, then...?”

I was also slowly getting to the age where I no longer knew whether I could remain a gentleman in situations like these, but I should be alright for a few more years. Seeing how much she had matured, I gave it maybe another three years.

Lady Maika’s face turned red before my eyes, probably because I had been staring at it. That was already not very gentleman-like of me.

“Are you that worried?” she asked.

“Of course! You are a charming girl, so you need to watch out!”

She had a likable personality, she was accomplished in both the literary and military arts, she was pretty, and she came from a good family. Looking at it this way, she was ticking all the boxes.

“...Cha... Charming? D-Don’t worry! L-Like I said, I won’t do it with anyone else!”

“Yes, please refrain from it!”

“Hehe, so you don’t want me to get too close to other boys...”

Lady Maika wiggled while holding her cheeks. It was endearing, but I would have preferred if she focused on my warning rather than my compliments. Although she looked undeniably cute.

With those worries on my mind, I once again looked through the brick research team’s report.

It appeared that the Church had deemed information regarding bricks to be worthy of being stored in city libraries. This must have been due to their wide variety of practical applications and the fact that it was possible to make them with basic technology and resources. There was a lot of information available and it seemed that we could begin trials within months. The only problem was that many of the technical terms were no longer in use. I once again realized the difficulty of reviving a once-dead technology.

“We should use this as a basis when discussing with Modi,” I said.

Modi was a prisoner who had been an apprentice to a ceramic artisan. As such, he was perfect for this job. Just by telling us which clay we should use, he was already going to be a big help. It may have been a long road until being able to manufacture firebricks strong enough to build a high-temperature furnace, but just using the appropriate materials would improve the performance of cooking stoves right away.

“For the time being, I will join the brick research team.”

“Really?!”

Lady Maika suddenly leaned forward, bumping her head against mine with a thud. It hurt quite a bit, but it seemed that she did not really feel anything. Her eyes just kept sparkling.

“Are you sure? Don’t you have to help the plane team?” she asked.

“Yes, it is fine. We have completed what can be done at the moment, and for anything beyond that, we need better technology first.”

Even if we were to build a manned airplane out of wood and cloth, we would still need some sort of motive power to make it fly. Naturally, rubber or animal tendons would not be powerful enough. We needed an internal combustion engine. Or alternatively, there was the slightly more adventurous, steampunk option of developing an extra-high performance steam engine. Either way, the required metal technology was not there yet. The goal of making our model plane was to boost morale and make a distant goal easier to understand. From here on out, we had to embark on a sober march through Hell with our lifted morale.

“But Quid really did take a liking to that plane.”

After the test flight, Quid strongly advocated for the mass production and sale of tendon-powered planes. Since I had introduced it as a toy, he did not see it as a research item so much as a luxury item up for sale. And yes, apart from the technology, it did not use any extremely scarce resources, so if pressed I would have to say that it was possible to sell it. However, since the technology used was something straight out of the legends, Mrs. Rihn put a stop to it.

Currently, policymakers in charge of commerce and industry as well as leaders of the commerce guild were discussing the issue at the administrative halls. It had become quite troublesome—I mean, quite the honor.

Hermes was also taking part in the talks as a developer from our team together with Lady Reina, who was there as support. They had also asked me to participate, but since I did not think my humble opinion was going to be of any benefit, I refused. Quid was well-trusted by the villagers due to our shared history, and Lord Itsuki’s bureaucrats were not really corrupt either. Putting Hermes aside, this was a good opportunity for Lady Reina to gain some experience in that area. All in all, there were many valid reasons for me to refuse other than it being troublesome.

“So yes, my schedule just opened up,” I concluded.

Or rather, I had cleared it.

“That means we can work together again! I’ll do my best!”

“Yes, let us do our best!”

Lady Maika seemed overly happy. Not that I had any objections to that.

“I won’t disappoint you! It’s been a while, after all!”

“We used to do almost everything together.”

“Exactly! That’s why it felt a bit lonely without you.”

I felt nostalgic thinking back to those times, even though it was only one or two years ago. Working in the fields, looking after the bees, and studying together—it had always been us two. Since coming to the city, my number of allies had increased, which meant that more work could be done. Therefore, I had started putting Lady Maika in charge of different teams. I may have unwittingly burdened her.

“You are the person whom I trust the most, so I may have ended up depending on you more than I should have. I apologize for that. But even more so, I want to thank you.”

As I expressed my sincere gratitude, she smiled so much that I was afraid she was going to pull a muscle. “You think I’m reliable?”

“Yes.”

“You trust me the most?”

“By a large margin.”

No one kept up with me as well as she did. She usually agreed with me and she supported me by taking care of things out of my reach. I also had a lot of faith in her abilities. Although I would have preferred if she did not scold me as much.

“Heh-heh. For you to say that, it means that I’ve grown a lot.”

“If you appreciate the praise from someone like me, I will give you as much as you like.”

“I appreciate it precisely because it is from you!”

Really? Even though I’m still a twelve-year-old?

“I mean, you’re the youngest person to ever receive a silver medal. You’re a hero of Noscula! The only other person who has that medal in the village is my dad!”

“Now that you mention it, he always wore it during greetings at festivals.”

Until receiving it myself, I had never realized that that was a medal. By the way, Mr. Klein also had a golden one. Considering that silver was already a huge achievement, I wondered what he had done to obtain a gold medal.

“Yeah! If you wear a medal, everyone knows what a great person you are straight away! They are great for showing off at weddings too! Marrying someone with a high-ranking medal would be such an honor!”

“Oh, I see! It serves as an accessory for formal dress as well.”

“If I’m going to marry someone, it’s definitely going to be a person like that!”

Medals appeared to be a requirement for the ideal marriage partner for girls in this world. It acted as a sort of status symbol, similar to high income and high academic achievements. Even someone as broad-minded as Lady Maika cared about those things. Or rather, considering her social standing, that may have been the minimum requirements for any potential marriage partners of hers. While she was very friendly and sociable, she was still the offspring of an influential figure in the city. On top of that, she was gifted with both intelligence and beauty, making her a point of interest for the count’s line of succession. Anyone who wanted to marry her needed to be in a position to convince those around her too. It must have been hard to find someone like that.

“I imagine your future husband will be a wonderful person.”

“Of course! I especially like guys who are intelligent...”

No matter the world, girls love to talk about romance. Lady Maika frantically told me her preferences while gesturing with her hands. I was swept away by the tidal wave of words and did not really hear what exactly she was saying. It had been a while since I got to experience a girl’s power like this.

“S-So, thinking about this, you just received a silver medal... so that means...” She suddenly lowered her voice while looking around the room.

After a moment, her gaze immediately returned. Her expression had changed—she must have noticed something.

“Wait. Where is your medal, Ash?”

“Is it not on top of the desk?”

I did not have any space to display it, so I had put it on my desk... which was empty now.

“It’s not.”

“You are right, it is not there...”

That was strange. I did not carry it around and I had not used my desk either, so it should have been there still.

“Maybe it fell because of some vibration?”

I looked in the vicinity of the desk, but I could not find anything. Just to make sure, I searched the rest of the room, but still nothing. Amidst all this, Lord Arthur had come back, but they did not know where my medal had gone either. It appeared that it was still there when Lord Arthur had left the room. After that, the room had been empty until I arrived together with Lady Maika. Of course, the medal could not have just disappeared on its own. Even in this world there were not any fantasy concepts that biased against humanity. Probably. Which left us with one possible explanation.

“Someone stole it,” Lady Maika proclaimed with eyes as dark as the bottom of the valley of death on a moonless night. For some reason, she was angrier than me.

Lord Arthur also agreed with an unusually sullen look on their face. It was a stare as cold as ice that would not have melted even in Hell.

“Given the circumstances, that’s the only explanation. Especially when it comes to Ash, it’s more likely that it was stolen than him losing it.”

Did others resent me that much? But if it was indeed stolen, I already had a hunch of who did it. It was difficult for any outsiders to get into this dormitory, and when it came to people on the inside, the likeliest culprit was the person who harassed me at every opportunity. In other words, Moldo and his gang.

“That damned Moldo...” That was the first time I heard Lady Maika curse someone like that. “Should we send them to meet their maker?” And now she had thrown in a euphemism for killing him and his friends.

Lord Arthur consented to her unsettling statement without hesitation. “The wolf god? Or the monkey god?”

“The dragon god, of course.”

Wait, you two. You shouldn’t be saying stuff like that so lightly. Calm down, take a deep breath.

“Ash, you’re too kind,” Lady Maika said.

“She’s right. In moments like these, you have to act!”

“It was just the prank of a child!” I did not think we had to resort to execution just yet.

“That’s not true! Stealing a medal is a serious crime! The medal represents the owner’s honor. It’s like they’re trying to pick a fight by making light of your achievements!” Lady Maika protested.

I did not really mind myself. The monetary reward was safely stored away somewhere else.

“Exactly! It’s also an insult to the person who awarded it if the medal is treated so carelessly! Just losing it can already lead to punishment for ruining their reputation!”

That sounded scary. But I did not think Lord Itsuki was the kind of person who cared about things like this. I was sure that if I properly explained the situation, he would laugh it off and praise me as an honest person.

“Lord Itsuki is too nice to punish me,” I said.

As I smiled, they both looked at each other.

“Arthur, we need to get the medal back and discipline Moldo.”

“I agree. As Ash’s friend, a member of the academy, and someone related to the government, I can’t let this slide.”

They just naturally ignored me.

“We have to get it back before the martial arts tournament in fall!” Lady Maika declared.

“You’re right. It would be bad if he showed up without it there.”

“Yeah, he’ll get noticed as the youngest recipient of the silver medal.”

“He’ll be the center of attention for sure. No surprise, given what he’s done.”

Both of them got excited and started talking about more and more irrelevant stuff. For the time being, I decided to rope in Lady Reina and Hermes, since it looked like it was going to end badly if I left our counter-strategy to these two. The best way to deal with a liquid that was too thick was to dilute it.

In addition, I needed to send a message regarding the incident to Lord Itsuki via Mrs. Rihn. Proper social etiquette required one to admit to their mistakes. Of course, that is true only when one could expect a productive reaction from their superior. If that report led to me getting a reputation of having sloppy administrative abilities, then I would have to deal with it. At the end of the day, it was me who had left the medal in a spot where it could be easily stolen. I had to be prepared to take in the appropriate criticism.

Needless to say, the thieves were probably going to be judged even more severely, but that was none of my concern. I was only going to report my blunder. I did not necessarily want Moldo and his gang to suffer because I was a little irritated. As long as the victim did not cry themselves to sleep, pranks like this did not bring any satisfaction to the instigators. It showed that they had no real power over the victim.

“I just can’t have someone who defeated a werewolf being looked down upon!” Lord Itsuki agreed with the general consensus after gulping down his wine.

“Actually, it was not me who finished off the werewolf...” I replied by stating the facts with a knife and fork in my hands.

We sat in the dining room of the count’s mansion. Today Lord Itsuki had graciously invited me to enjoy Chef Yacoo’s superb cooking. It was delicious.

“When eating, you look like a normal boy your age.” Lord Itsuki observed me with an amused look on his face while Lady Maika was grinning next to me.

“Ash has always been like this. He’s cute when he eats,” she remarked.

“Is that so?”

I mustered up a strained smile in response to his question. “People often tell me that I look like a child when eating. It is embarrassing, but I just love delicious food.”

Ultimately, leading an abundant life boiled down to eating as much delicious food as possible, in my opinion. If someone asked me what I missed most about my past life, I would have answered, “Filling my stomach with delicious food.”

“I see, I see. There will be crepes for dessert. Yacoo can’t wait for you to try them. It appears that you taught him the recipe?”

“Oh! I look forward to trying them. I cannot wait to see how he arranged the recipe. No doubt they are even more delicious when he makes them.”

“Yacoo seemed quite confident himself. He said he was going to wow you.”

Now I wanted to eat them even more knowing that Chef Yacoo had altered the recipe.

Somehow, Lady Maika and Lord Arthur seemed restless, though.

“Lord Itsuki, you’re getting off-topic.” It was Mrs. Rihn who cautioned him with a composed expression. As expected from someone as professional as her.

While Lady Reina next to her showed excitement at the mere mention of the word “crepe,” her mother did not react even in the slightest. But I imagined that on the inside she was looking forward to the crepes too. A while ago, Mrs. Rihn had asked me in a roundabout way if we were going to make them again soon. Of course, I obliged and made her a load.

“I’m sorry. Where was I? Oh yes, I can’t have Ash being looked down upon.”

“With all due respect, I am still only twelve, so it is only natural that people would not take me seriously.”

I did not have a particularly imposing presence or physical strength, either. Accordingly, the guards at the gate always told me to take care when I walked past them.

Lord Itsuki frowned upon hearing my opinion. “You may be right, but looking down upon a person who fought a demon and received a medal also means that they are making light of the threat of demons. In fact, there has already been talk that demons aren’t very dangerous, since a child was able to take care of one.”

Mrs. Rihn went on to substantiate his claims. “It is as Lord Itsuki says. Since there are many students at the academy who have bested Ash in a match, they are growing rather impudent thinking that they could take on a werewolf without problems themselves.”

I saw their point and frowned.

In terms of fighting strength, I was in the lower-middle tier of the academy, so I understood their way of thinking. However, a werewolf was not an easy opponent. Even both top students, Glen and Lady Maika, probably would have only been able to buy some time in a one-on-one fight. I only managed to somehow hold my own because I concentrated on self-defense, landed a hit with the tear-inducing poison, and above anything had experience fighting with my life at stake.

After looking at my expression and confirming that I had understood the situation, Lord Itsuki continued. “I really can’t turn a blind eye if that train of thought is already spreading among the students. New recruits often overestimate their power and behave recklessly, but if their future commanders do the same that will only lead to tragedy.”

What he said was quite reasonable, but for some reason he was speaking in a very monotone voice. Oh, I see. He already had a plan and invited me to this dinner party to feel me out. That made sense. While he had called Lady Maika and Lord Arthur to dinner before, it was unusual for him to invite me along too.

“So, Ash. We have to make them understand that your strength is nothing to be looked down upon.”

I guess it has come down to this. I smiled, but could not bring myself to agree or disagree.

“At this rate, it is highly likely that young people with a promising future will have their fleeting lives come to a quick end. Besides, the population of the fief also wants to see the bravery of the youngest boy to receive the silver medal first-hand.”

This whole situation had become quite troublesome. If there was time for something like this, I could have just as well read another book. Let’s think of an alternative. Especially for my sake.

I tried to convey my feelings with a smile while remaining silent.

Contrary to my negative self, Lady Maika leaned into the proposal. “Dear uncle, what exactly are you thinking about?”

Don’t ask! He’ll slowly drag you into the swamp!

“Well, I was thinking that it would only be considered natural for someone who brought down a werewolf by themselves to defeat their fellow students with ease in a duel.”

“I do not think so.”

As I threw in the towel before the duel had even started, Lord Itsuki inspected me with one eye closed. “Are you sure? Baleas said that, if you got serious, none of the students could beat you. And you know how much I value the opinion of that overly serious guy.”

“Maybe I could do it if I treated all of them to a feast for breakfast and we changed the rules so that I win all my matches by default.” In other words, it was essentially impossible.

Nonetheless, Lord Itsuki clapped his hands in delight. “Hahaha! It’s as Baleas says. You’re without a doubt the strongest student this year, or maybe even in the history of the academy!”

How did you reach that conclusion?!

“And I can’t possibly let someone that strong restrain themselves to only fight his fellow classmates. No! Baleas... Sir George, who also proved himself against the werewolf, volunteered to be your opponent!”

...Are you seriously telling me to fight my teacher?

Sir George was as powerful as his overly serious attitude suggested. Attending his classes and observing his skills left me wondering why someone as strong as him was in charge of managing the equipment.

As I was at a loss for words, Lady Maika stood up from her seat with a grim look on her face. “I can’t allow that, dear uncle!”

As expected from my most trusted friend. She protested even before me.

“Moldo and his gang are the ones at fault! They should be the ones who get punished and have to suffer! If you’re going to make someone meet their maker, it’s them!”

I felt like her objection had gone a bit off the tracks.

“Ah, the ones you suspect stole the medal. That’s indeed another problem. Isn’t it enough to show off strength and make them know that I’ve set my eyes on them? Like I did with this dinner?”

It appeared that today’s invitation also served the purpose of letting the others know that I was close to the acting count. I had not realized that at all. I had just assumed that I was invited as Lady Maika’s plus one.

Mrs. Rihn and Lady Reina took it upon themselves to answer Lord Itsuki’s question.

“That seems unlikely. If that were enough, they would have already stopped after knowing that Ash is friends with Lord Arthur and Lady Maika.”

“My mother is right. Unfortunately, they don’t seem to get those hints.”

Hearing their advice, Lord Itsuki leaned back in his chair and let out a sigh. “That’s unfortunate. I heard that this year was full of brilliant students, but it appears that some shadows remain.”

“I would not necessarily call them shadows. It seems like a natural state of mind to me. The line between competitiveness and jealousy is paper-thin, after all,” I said.

Everyone looked at me as I defended Moldo and his gang. Why were they surprised? Sure, I was annoyed too, but I did not want to make a bigger deal out of it than it already was and waste even more precious time. I could have used those efforts to work towards achieving my dreams.

“You’re something else. I guess that’s what they mean when they say that a dragon doesn’t roar at small birds.”

“You’re too nice, Ash.”

While Lord Itsuki seemed satisfied, Lady Maika voiced her dissatisfaction. Rest assured that, on the inside, I’m roaring the small birds into oblivion.

“In any case, it looks like Ash doesn’t want to punish them, so I don’t want to force anything.”

“But they can’t go unpunished!” Lady Maika protested.

“That’s true, but I was thinking it would be enough to make this crime have a bad influence on their upcoming performance review...” Lord Itsuki was about to let it slide, but he quickly changed his answer after noticing the look of disappointment on his adorable niece’s face. “No, you’re right! That’s not enough! How about you punish them at the tournament? You can teach them a lesson with the sword skills that you learned from my dear brother-in-law! If you don’t mind, I’ll rearrange the fighting order.”

The organizer just openly declared his intention to cheat. There was no way that Lady Maika would agree to—

“Hmm... Sounds good.”

She agreed instantly.

Followed by a request to have the referee judge in her favor at the end of the match.

Lord Arthur also seemed to enthusiastically support the idea, adding that they wanted her to give Moldo some good hits on their part. At this rate, it appeared increasingly likely that I was going to have to fight with Sir George, too.

My hunch was proven right almost immediately. Lady Maika, who was the only one that had opposed our duel, now grabbed my hand with a broad innocent grin on her face. “Ash, do your best in the duel with George! Let’s show them your real power!”

“Hehe... I would prefer to refrain from it...” I forced a smile as my face twitched.

Before I could think up a plan to escape this situation, Lord Itsuki brought out his trump card. “Oh, that’s right! I almost forgot! If you agree to the duel, I will give you an additional monetary reward for your fighting bravery!”

“I think your concern is quite justified, Lord Itsuki. Let me help you dispel your worries,” I immediately replied.

His plan had worked. My desire for money was too strong. You could never have enough money, after all.

“So you will fight?”

“Yes! I fought Sir Werewolf and came back from the verge of death. I know all too well what a formidable enemy it was. I cannot stay silent knowing what futile loss could come out of someone taking on a demon unprepared.” Yeah, just ignore what I said earlier.

Lord Itsuki seemed happy that the situation had been resolved. And I was happy that I was going to receive money. In the end, everyone won.

“I’m glad that you’ve come to an agreement, but...” Mrs. Rihn brought back the attention to the main point of interest. “What are we going to do about Ash’s stolen medal?”

The look on Lord Itsuki’s and my face revealed that we both had completely forgotten.

While Lady Reina seemed to think about a solution, Lady Maika and Lord Arthur looked confident already.

“It’s easy to get it back, right Arthur?”

“Yes, Maika. If all goes well, no one will even notice that it was gone!”

It seemed that they already had a plan, so I was just going to leave it to them. I had to plan ahead for my duel with Sir George to make sure it was going to be a success. I already felt energized at the prospect of an additional monetary reward.

The martial arts tournament was supposed to be the main event of the city’s autumn festival. I was going to experience it for the first time myself. Rumors of the festival had circulated in the village, and many of the villagers yearned to attend it at least once before they died. Personally, I had never cared for those rumors since I was too busy feeling despair at my poor life or later trying to improve it. To think that I was now a participant in the martial arts tournament. Life truly was strange.

My parents had also come to the city. It appeared they wanted to see their son’s hour of triumph. As the autumn festival was essentially a harvest festival, work in the fields must have calmed down by now, but I was still impressed that they had made it all the way here. As it turned out, Mr. Quid had brought them along. After obtaining a monopoly on selling the tendon-powered planes, that guy was a bit too excited all the time. He had even given me a cloak to wear during the ceremony. It was a solid quilted coat, but when I inspected it closer, I noticed the design of a firebird. Or in other words, a phoenix.

To quote Mr. Quid, “You’re famous for not dying even if you’re killed, after all! You’re like the bird that keeps rising from its ashes that Father Folke mentioned. It suits you perfectly!” Apparently, the design that I had drawn as a little jest on the wings of the Phoenix Feather had somehow become a symbol synonymous with me.

I had only brought up the phoenix as a metaphor for my wish of reviving a lost technology. But considering that my name was Ash, it was not strange that people associated me with the legendary bird that could raise from the ashes. Still, I will die if I’m killed.

Nevertheless, I was very pleased with the present, since I did not own many nice clothes as the son of a farmer. After attaching my medal, which had been safely returned, I went to greet my parents. My mother burst into tears, and my father’s voice was shaking too. It looked like I had managed to make them proud of me.

As for how the medal had returned? All it took was to spread some rumors with the help of the study group members and Mrs. Rihn. Rumors along the lines of, “If anything ends up getting stolen at this dormitory, we will make sure to thoroughly investigate the case in the name of the count and make sure to severely punish the culprit.” The thieves must have quickly realized that they had been found out, and with the prospect of an official punishment through the application of the law, they decided to return the medal to its rightful place. I wonder who the culprit was.

By the way, during the army academy division of the martial arts tournament, Lady Maika showered Moldo and his gang with blows. And since the referee was also somewhat late in stopping the match, she even ended up making them cry. It was quite scary to see Lady Maika’s cheerful smile while swinging her sword.

After the rest of the student’s matches had ended, it was finally my turn.

“Next up, as the final presentation from the army academy, we have a special exhibition match!” The loud voice of the announcing soldier invited the cheers of the crowd that had gathered on the square. “The two contestants will be the two heroes who fought off the sudden attack of the werewolf! They will show us a real battle simulation!”

Clad in leather and cloth armor, Sir George and I entered the arena side by side. The armor used for practice matches covered up the whole body including the head. However, while our spears had blunt edges, they were still made out of iron, and as such, I was not sure if this gear would be good enough to protect us. Compared to the other members of the academy, who had fought with sticks wrapped in cloth, this was indeed a real battle simulation.

“The first contestant is the youngest person to ever receive a silver medal—Ash! Even though he is still young, he managed to hold his own in a one-on-one fight against a werewolf! Make sure to pay attention to his steady defense!”

The crowd cheered even louder as I responded with a moderately enthusiastic wave. There was a girl in the front row who almost climbed over the railing while shouting her lungs out. Taking a closer look, I realized it was Lady Maika.

“And his opponent will be Sir Baleas George! He received a copper medal for his bravery against the werewolf and is a respected figure among the regional troops!”

Sir George also waved his hand to the delight of his young female supporters. While his face was hidden by a visor, his pretty face was famous across the city. Once again, you could hear passionate cheers coming from one person in the front row. To no one’s surprise, it was Mother Yae.

“As I mentioned earlier, the duel between these two extremely talented people will be a real battle simulation. There will be no forbidden moves! They are allowed to use any tactics that they would employ in a real battle, so please look forward to a heated fight!”

After finishing our introductions, the announcer left the arena where Sir George and I were facing each other. Now we had to wait for the referee to signal the beginning of the match. However, this was a special exhibition match promoted as a real battle simulation. Before the referee had reached the middle of the arena, where we both were standing, Sir George suddenly stepped half a step forward, thrusting his spear towards my face. In an attempt to evade, I slid my foot backwards and lowered myself, so that the spear passed right over my head. I decided to fall back before Sir George could launch another attack.

The cheers of the crowd had fallen completely silent; you could not even hear a single cough. While we wore full-face helmets, there was a big enough gap for the spear to pierce through. This armor was made for sword combat, and while it did protect the eyes and nose from damage by the edge of the blade, it could not deflect a direct thrust at the face. No matter how blunt the tip of the spear was, such a direct hit could have easily led to death. Faced with this reality, the crowd had become petrified. Even now, Sir George had his spear pointed at me, ready to attack as soon as he saw an opening. But so did I.

The announcer tried to energize the frozen audience with a little commentary. “That was a dirty trick! Sir George started the match by launching a surprise attack before the referee even arrived! Usually that would be considered against the rules, but this is a real battle simulation match! As I said, there are no forbidden moves! Surprise attacks are allowed! It’s the fault of the opponent for being careless! Let’s see how it continues!”

Nice follow-up.

Realizing that it was going to be a dirtier match than anticipated, the audience let out gasps of amazement, shock, and disgust all at once. Some criticized Sir George’s surprise attack, but that was no problem. I had some tricks up my sleeve too.

Our weapons were the same, but Sir George had a slight advantage due to his physique. He once again took the initiative with a low sweep, followed by a double strike against my right wrist, which I had used to stop the former attack. I let go of the spear with my right hand to evade, but this weakened my grip on the weapon. Seeing that I did not counterattack, Sir George took the opportunity to launch a fierce attack. He really did not show any mercy. As I desperately continued to defend myself, I could see him slowly run out of breath.

Now it was my turn to go on the offense. At once, I took out a small bottle from a hidden pocket around my hips and threw it with a snap of my wrist. Sir George displayed a splendid reaction by trying to protect himself against the hit on the spur of the moment. Unfortunately, the purpose of this weapon was to break and scatter around its content, so it was pointless.

“What is this?! Ash blinded his opponent! Sir George didn’t hold back earlier, so Ash decided to show some dirty tricks of his own!”

How rude! I showed quite a bit of mercy with this generous choice of weapon! Since it was just a duel, I had adapted the contents. It only contained sand. If I had used my special tear-inducing agent, there would have been a risk of him losing his vision permanently.

As the sand reached his eyes, he lowered his spear. This was my chance to turn the tides and win this match! I went for a hard low swing, but my attack did not go as planned. Sir George had stopped my spear by stepping on it. My hard swing backfired, as the spear slid out of my hands.

“Damn!”

As I hurriedly retreated, I noticed that only one of Sir George’s eyes was filled with tears. The other eye was clearly open. He must have managed to close that one eye just in time before the sand hit him. Trying to keep me from getting back my spear, he made a move to kick it further away. This is where I saw a chance at victory. Since one of his legs was occupied, his posture was no longer as steady, providing me an opening to charge at him. As expected, Sir George decided to counter with a spear thrust. While his reaction was fast, he did not manage to put in much power, making it a weak strike.

In comparison, I managed to use my momentum to close the gap between us and send back his spear as I grabbed it by dodging to the side. While he was bigger than me, the difference was not significant enough to ignore my counter. He quickly decided to abandon his spear. Suddenly, the tides had turned with me having a spear and Sir George being empty-handed. However, in a matter of seconds, he picked up my spear, which he had tried to kick away just moments earlier. With no time for a follow-up attack, we were back to staring at each other.

“What an amazing exchange of blows! Both of them are so serious that it makes you question whether this is really just an exhibition match! This truly is a real battle! I’m glad we asked these two to compete today!”

The cheers started back up again following the announcer’s encouragement.

So far, so good. Everything’s going to plan. Or to put it differently, this was a fixed match. I had met with Sir George in advance and we had practiced a few times in secret. It was just an exhibition match, after all. It looked like we had managed to make it look real enough to excite the crowd and meet Lord Itsuki’s expectations. However, this was as far as our arrangements went. We did not have enough time to prepare the rest of the match. Since we both had had our standout moments, it was probably alright to make the rest up on the spot.

Seeking out confirmation, I saw Sir George giving me a tiny nod. From here on out it was going to be an honest competition without any script. Let’s do our best not to get hurt.

In the end, I had lost fair and square. There was no way I could have won considering the difference in physique and stamina between an adult and a child. Nevertheless, since the exhibition match had the desired effect, Lord Itsuki gave both me and Sir George a monetary reward. As it was more than I had expected, I used some of it to buy presents for my parents before they returned to the village. I gave them the cloth and ironware that they had been lacking last time when I visited. I prayed for the further development of the village.

After my parents left, the enthusiasm from the autumn festival was replaced by a cold wind slowly bringing winter to the city. It was thus late autumn when another visitor from the village arrived in the city. I showed up at the temple after receiving word from Mother Yae about the guest.

“Hello, Mother Yae. It has been getting cold outside, hasn’t it?”

“Hi, Ash. Yeah, it’s almost winter now. Make sure to take good care of yourself.”

The coat with the phoenix crest was a little ineffective against the cold wind. Since it was made out of rough fabric, the wind penetrated it easily. Precisely because of that, I imagined it was cool in summer, but I probably should have looked into getting another coat for winter.

“You said that there was a guest waiting for me. Who is it?”

After receiving the silver medal and standing out at the martial arts tournament, my face had become widely known. However, since there was not much to gain from interacting with a twelve-year-old child—and a poor peasant on top of it all—people rarely sought me out.

Anyone who would have benefited from such an interaction had already sent their children to the army academy in the first place. At most, I was greeted while walking through the city. No one went out of their way to summon me. I had no idea who it could have been, especially since they came to the temple.

Seeing my puzzled face, Mother Yae smiled quietly. “I think you will be surprised.”

“Oh? I am looking forward to it.”

“And I look forward to seeing your surprised face too.”

Cheeky Mother Yae. Laughing with a look of anticipation. I loved seeing that expression coming from a beautiful woman.

She led me to the parlor, where a surprising figure indeed awaited me.

“What are you doing here?!” It must have been the first time in my life that I spoke in such a loud voice and with such a look of surprise on my face.

I was greeted by Father Folke, who should have been back at the village managing the church. “Haha, you look awfully surprised. It was worth having you called here without mentioning my name.”

“Of course I would be surprised!” I ran up to Father Folke and patted him to check if he was really there. “You are really here. Not a ghost, not an illusion... Could it be?! An impostor?!”

“Aren’t you exaggerating a bit too much?!”

“I just cannot believe so easily that the real Father Folke would show up here!”

Mother Yae observed us with a nostalgic look on her face, as if she associated our interaction with a heart-warming episode of her past. I hate to disappoint you, Mother Yae, but the relationship between Father Folke and me is not the kind to watch over with a gentle smile.

“There is no way that the real Father Folke would come to the city! He is so obsessed with his research that he would never waste any time that he could use to lock himself up and decipher the ancient language! What kind of unnatural phenomenon would bring someone like him out on a trip? Oh, did you hit your head really hard? Is that it?”

The idea of Father Folke going out of his own accord was even more fantastical than that of a werewolf made out of metal. This was a dream. An illusion. A legend.

“You stupid brat! Your mouth is as foul as ever!”

“That comeback sounded just like Father Folke! You are great at pretending to be him!”

“I’m the real one! And I do go out when I’ve things to do! Come on!”

After having had my fill of listening to his sharp tongue unbefitting of a priest, I was convinced that he was in fact the real deal. “Hm. It looks like I have to admit that you are the real one. So, what made you leave your church?”

“Come on, say ‘leave the village’ at least! I’m leaving the church all the time.”

“Yes, about once every three days.”

“That’s a lot!”

Hearing the veteran shut-in’s perception, Mother Yae covered her mouth in surprise. Going out only once every three days was unimaginable in this world.

“Let’s not sweat the small stuff. There was something important enough that convinced me to go outside.”

“Something that convinced you to go outside? Like the end of the world?” How terrifying.

As I started to seriously guess, Father Folke knelt down to look me in the eyes. That was a rare gesture from him. He only ever put himself on the same eye level as me when having a serious talk. Normally, he was a middle-aged delinquent who liked to joke around. Seeing him serious was a rare sight that only occurred a few times a year.

“I’m going back to the capital. I will leave Noscula village before winter arrives.”

“You are leaving?”

This was news to me. We frequently sent letters back and forth to each other via Mr. Quid, and we had talked at length when I had gone back to the village a while back. Still, he had never mentioned going back to the capital, even though that was a big deal.

“I’m sorry to spring this upon you. It’s not like I was hiding it. I only received the news in a letter yesterday myself.” For some reason, Father Folke apologetically explained himself. “I thought I had to let you know right away. I told Chief Klein and came here straight afterwards... You’re the second person that I’ve told directly.”

“Wow, that is indeed very sudden... Does that mean...?”

He used to be a researcher deciphering the ancient language at the capital before his research funds were cut off due to a lack of results. This led to him reluctantly coming to Noscula village. I could only think of one reason for him to suddenly go back to the capital.

“Yes! I have been approved to continue my research in the capital! They will once again cover my expenses!”

“Oh! That is wonderful!”

The capital was much better suited for conducting research. Besides, he always told me about his many colleagues there with whom he could talk about his interests. Even though it was abrupt, it must have been an extremely happy event to him.

“Congratulations! This means you can take your research to the next step!”

“Yeah. I don’t know how to put it... but I didn’t expect you to be this happy for me.”

“Of course I am happy for you! I owe you immensely. To hear that your heart’s desire has come true... Oh wait, that would be the deciphering of the ancient language. But either way, this is a huge step forward. I should prepare something to celebrate. I will treat you to dinner tonight!”

I was thinking of making him a lavish meal including Hamburg steak and crepes.

“Thanks, Ash.”

“That’s the least I can do! Let us celebrate your triumphant return to the capital! I know some livestock farmers and someone who processes food, so I can make you a meal that will be even better than those that I made at the village!”

“No, that’s not what I mean.”

While I was focusing on what meal I could make from the ingredients available to me right now, Father Folke grabbed both my shoulders, bringing me back to reality. He looked just as serious as he was when engaging with the ancient language.

“Ash, I want you to know how enormously grateful I am for what you’ve done.”

“I appreciate the gesture, but...” It sounded like I was about to refuse a gift. “Did I do something that warrants your gratitude?”

“Yes, and no matter how often I say thank you, it will never be enough. Thanks to you, I was able to produce results worthy of official approval.”

“Ah, you mean because I pointed out that the ancient alphabet was made up of characters representing sounds and characters representing words?”

That brought back memories. It was the start of our collaborative research. Since coming to the city, I had not really been able to help him much, but we still exchanged opinions via letters.

“Yeah, that was a big help. Thanks to your hint, I was able to decipher a part of the text. I still need to compare it to other texts for verification, but that is what I will be doing at the capital.” It seemed that was not everything. He was carefully choosing his words. “Above all, I want to thank you for bringing my useless old self back on track after I had despaired at my research not going exactly as I had expected it. If it wasn’t for you, I probably would have died without achieving anything.”

When we had first met, he was indeed in bad shape. He seemed lifeless and almost reduced to a skeleton. His nickname, “the zombie priest,” fit him perfectly. In contrast, now he was a splendid, foul-mouthed priest who probably would not have died even if someone killed him.

“No doubt I died once. I was crushed by my dream and was rotting away as a corpse. And it was you, Ash, who brought me back to life.” Hearing such gentle words come from Father Folke’s lips, who was quite harsh half of the time when engaging in conversation, was somewhat embarrassing.

“Father Folke, I am glad to hear that I helped you, but I do not think I did anything out of the ordinary.”

As I played down my part to conceal my embarrassment, Father Folke expressed his eager gratitude by hugging me. “You taught me how fun my dream is. Thanks to you, I’m able to chase it so happily. I’m alive because I’m chasing my dream. That is the most extraordinary thing there is.”

The man who was only alive because of his dream, the man that had distorted his own vision because he was too focused on his dream, patted the phoenix crest on my back.

“To me and my dream, you are a real phoenix. I’m glad I got to meet you.”

What an embarrassing middle-aged priest! If you say this much, I won’t be able to contain my happiness.

Did he think that I did not have any respect for a fellow dreamer, who had survived much longer than me in this cruel world?

I did not know what to say. I felt gratitude on the inside, but if I replied to his thanks with a thank you of my own, that was only going to make the whole situation confusing. Even with past-life memories, accurately expressing one’s feelings was too difficult.

In the end, I replied by putting some vague thoughts into vague words. “Your dream is the same as mine. I pray that it will come true. May you work with all your might towards it.”

Father Folke laughed free from worry, and as usual retorted, “You too, Ash.”

Following the heart-warming encouragement, he let go of me and took a few steps backwards. We looked at each other for a while in awkward silence. I was the first one who could no longer take it.

“So, what are we going to do about this awkward mood?”

“Is that really what one would say in a situation like this?”

“What else do you want me to say? Please show me the model answer.”

“Well... I mean...”

I did not know what he was thinking, but this awkward mood only happened because he suddenly decided to pour his heart out to me. One should plan their speeches ahead.

“Besides, while I appreciate your gratitude, I will not stop contacting you just because you are moving to the capital.”

“Ah, yeah. You’re right. Letters will still reach me there.”

“And I will not let you forget about our contract.”

“I’ll never forget about that impactful contract either.”

Somehow, my broad grin and his wry smile were a perfect match.

“As punishment for baselessly calling him a liar, the priest Folke will grant Ash permission to borrow without restriction any book under his supervision.”

I had not put a time limit on our contract on purpose. In other words, it was an inhumane contract which he could not escape until his death.

“The contract will of course also apply in the capital. I am counting on you obtaining books that are only available there,” I said with a smile.

It was indeed extremely lucky that I could enjoy books from the library at the capital.

“I’m afraid the rules will not allow books from the capital’s temple to be lent out to a remote region like this.”

“Well, then we have to find a way around the rules. Our brains exist to be racked. In the name of our contract, please find a solution.” I had high hopes for his guileful craft. “Ah, I cannot wait for it. Once you are in the capital, it will be much easier to get my hands on the books I want. I have to splurge on your farewell gift!”

“You little devil.”

What a harsh flip-flop considering he had called me a phoenix just moments ago.

“So, after calling an innocent child like me a liar, you now call me a devil. I am terribly hurt. I feel like I am about to cry. Maybe it is time to add something to the contract?”

“How can you say that when you’re not even hurt in the slightest? You really have become as strong as a demon.” His retort was accompanied by a nostalgic look. He seemed to remember having a similar conversation when we signed our contract back in the day.

In consideration of his good memory, I decided to renounce the idea of expanding the contract. “Enough of that. How is the deciphering coming along?”

As I took a stab at the subject that he probably wanted to talk about the most, the mood of the middle-aged priest lightened up. “Oh, you want to hear about my progress?”

Before I got the chance to tease him saying something like, “Do not pretend you do not want to talk about it yourself,” he started explaining at high speed.

“As I told you previously, I was looking for vocabulary that could be proper nouns, and there were three words that often appeared together. I assumed they represented the three gods: wolf, monkey, and dragon, which led me to corroborate it with passages from scripture.”

“That is a good approach. Did you manage to get any results?”

“More or less. It turned into a comprehensible passage. However, there are so many different kinds of symbols... And I can’t necessarily read the other parts... It’s a slow progress...”

“It is also possible that you are misreading it.”

“At the very least I’ve probably made some minor mistakes. I just have to steadily keep moving forward.”

It would have been much simpler if the symbols were only phonograms. I greatly admired his devotion.

“And when it comes to the crucial three gods—well, I’m not even sure if that’s what it is referring to—the three gods seem to have different names than now... But I’m still not too confident...”

“Is it a different way of referring to the gods? Like ‘the Great Creators’ or ‘the Alpha and the Omega’?”

“Not quite... Or maybe it is? As I said, I’m not sure. They were called ‘the Resurrectioner, He who restores life.’”

“‘The Resurrectioner’? I have indeed never heard anyone refer to the gods like that.”

There was the god of life, the god of wisdom, and the god of battle. While there were honorary titles respective to their functions, no one referred to all three of them together as anything related to revival or resurrection. The wolf god, who governed life, was the only one somewhat related in that regard. People turned to the wolf god to ask for salvation from serious illnesses, for instance.

“Hmm... Perhaps our perception of the gods is different than what it used to be.”

According to my past-life memories, there had been gods whose functions had changed over time. Many of them had absorbed legends and powers of different gods to become even more powerful and revered. Maybe the three gods, the center of current belief, had a similar history behind them.

As I offered my opinion, both Father Folke and Mother Yae showed themselves impressed. “I see. The gods may have changed. You really have some interesting ideas.”

“I would have never imagined that, but if you asked me what someone two thousand years ago believed, I wouldn’t have any proof that all the ancient people worshiped the same gods as we do.”

These two were a bit too open-minded in regard to their belief, considering they were religious leaders. Some may have even said that they were impious. Regardless, it was also quite likely that there was a mistake in Father Folke’s current translation, so my opinion was just a hypothesis on top of a hypothesis. It was not really a productive discussion.

“It is just something that you should consider if you cannot find any mistakes. For now, there is not really any point in overthinking it.”

“You’re right. I’ll keep it in mind and come back to it once I’ve reached a dead end.” He took out a notepad out of his pocket to write down our conversation. “I’ve got to make sure to keep in contact with you, Ash. I wouldn’t want to miss hearing your invaluable opinion.”

“You do not have to mention it.”

I would have preferred if he expressed his gratitude through physical gifts. As a long-term friend, he surely knew what I wanted.

“I am looking forward to your life in the capital!”

“Why are you looking forward to it? Well, you don’t have to answer, I already know the answer.” Father Folke tapped my head with a sarcastic smile. “Although just a while ago I heard that the situation in the capital is quite turbulent. Hopefully it won’t be too rough.”

“Did something happen?”

I was curious, since I did not receive any information from or about the capital. Itsutsu city was located in a remote region of the kingdom, so a disturbance in the capital would not have much influence, but it was not irrelevant either. My future plans were tied to the city’s economy after all. I could not overlook it.

“It appears to be some dispute related to the right of succession. A royal who is ranked low in the line of succession tried to overthrow the ones above them.” However, Father Folke dismissed it, saying it was double hearsay and that it was not clear whether it was true.

“Hm. With this little information, it is not clear how cautious you should be.”

“Considering this is as far as the rumors go, it probably isn’t much cause for concern. Once a quarrel between royal family members turns really ugly, anyone can tell something’s wrong.” There was some truth to Father Folke’s optimistic point of view.

“Either way, there is nothing I can do about it as of right now. Not that I even want to do something,” I said.

“Yes, unless you want to marry the princess,” he joked.

Me? The son of a poor farmer? That really would be a fairy tale, making even the revival of the ancient civilization look realistic.

“If that ever happens, please write down my story.”

Father Folke and I both burst out into loud laughter.