Part 8 — Setback

Wow, that was intense. They’re really living it up.

Honestly, it was a speech that made me want to applaud. Happine Batterabbe was working hard to convince the girls from the Tempera Village.

She has a point. In order to convince an agitated Ran to go along with the plan, the help of her companions would certainly be invaluable. It’s the right decision to go ahead and cover their bases while she was passed out from exhaustion.

“Snerk.”

At the same time, I can’t help but feel uneasy at Lady Douve’s snickering. No doubt she finds it hilarious that her inferior, Happine, sympathizes with a bunch of yokels that she views as being even beneath her rival.

“You know, I’ve never lost, so I can’t understand what she’s going through. It’s such a shame that I can’t relate.”

Standing next to me, Blois looks a little disgusted. It’s true that Blois and I have almost never lost. Or really, if we’d ever lost, Lady Douve wouldn’t be alive. Which is why we can’t lose, of course, but for that reason, Lady Douve has never actually suffered any sort of setback.

She’s treating the dejection from the setbacks that Happine and the girls are bonding over as something completely foreign her to. She’s dismissing it as losers trying to soothe one another’s bruised egos...

“Besides, there’s no way some village of hermits could be that strong.”

Lady Douve, I was off cloistered in some random woods, and isn’t that about the same thing?

But still, putting aside her malice, she’s not exactly wrong. At the very least, the reason Ran was without peer in her home village was because the village was closed off and stable. Putting it positively, the techniques were well-developed and had spread to a large population; to put it negatively, it’d become mired in formalism and little more than a sport, so everyone used the same movements.

If her strength came from superhuman reflexes and concentration, then she could defeat practitioners of the same school with ease, no matter how many of them she fought. This isn’t the best phrasing, but their village had been at peace for a long time. While they practiced martial arts, they probably didn’t do so with warfare in mind. Even considering that, of course, she’s still absurdly strong.

“I mean, is there even enough value to keep her alive in spite of all that? Sansui, what do you think?”

“The berserker, Ran, is a remarkable talent, but the others are quite normal.”

The four that made up Ran’s retinue weren’t particularly skilled wielders of their Rare Arts. They probably weren’t particularly elite, just the kids who happened to be drawn to Ran’s strength.

“Berserker... They’re supposed to be legendary monsters, but even Tahlan’s sister beat her, right? So at most she’s maybe at the level of the Sword and Shield Companies?”

“No, she’s at least a few levels above them. She’s strong enough to take on the entirety of both the Sword and Shield Companies and bring them down with her.”

Hearing my evaluation, both Lady Douve and Blois turn pale. Well, yeah, that’s understandable. I beat her easily, and Sunae beat her, too, so it’s not surprising that they didn’t view her as that big of a threat.

“Her strength comes from her agility and reflexes. Without using the Mystic Arts to reinforce one’s defenses like a paladin, or improving one’s physical toughness with Spirit Summoning, a normal human being wouldn’t be able to stand up to her just by wearing armor.”

It seems that she has regenerative abilities, but I doubt they’re so ridiculous that she can recover instantly from a direct hit from magic. As such, they can beat her if they can hit her, but none of them can hit her in the first place. She doesn’t just have superhuman speed, she’s also got the reflexes to control that speed. Even if the lightning and heat spells are faster than she is, if they’re wielded by humans with average reflexes, they won’t ever land.

She’s probably nearly invincible against infantry. The only way to beat her, aside from Spirit Summoning, would be to overwhelm her with sheer numbers. Mystics might be able to survive her attacks, but they’re limited on their offensive abilities.

“Still, she’s still quite raw. If she can learn to control herself, she’ll become much stronger.”

What she needs is self-control. If she can nurture that, then it’s likely no one but Saiga and I could handle her. No doubt even a group of Spirit Summoners would fall before her. It’s not that her attack ability would really go up, so I suppose she might not be able to defeat mystics. She already has an immense amount of Tainted Blood. It goes without saying she’ll become much stronger once she can control it.

“Does that mean... She’d approach the same realm as you, Sansui?”

“No, that wouldn’t happen, Blois. I’d rather not say this myself, but that’s asking for too much.”

Sure, in theory, she’d be getting closer to me, but that’s just theory. I suppose I’m not one to talk, but training doesn’t bear fruit that easily.

“Still, she’d likely become an extremely powerful warrior. That much I can guarantee.”

Though, I suppose the issue of how to deal with a flying opponent would remain. But I’m not good at that either, so I can’t really be too critical there.

“A warrior that’s next to the aces in power... A new force for House Batterabbe... W-Well, I have you two, so it shouldn’t be a problem.”

Well, if we’re going to go there, I’m pretty sure my master is at a level where he could take on all the aces at once and win. I mean, I don’t really know a lot about Disaea’s ace, but I’m sure my master could beat him. In my case, I can’t use fancy techniques, but my master simply chooses not to use them while still knowing how to wield them. That difference is also probably quite pronounced.

“But that’s still up to her. If she won’t listen to her friends and goes on a rampage... Well, that would be up to your judgment, Lady Douve.”

She doesn’t have much in the way of defensive power, so she’s a relatively easy opponent for me. This sounds arrogant, but right now, there’s no way for her to catch me.

“...Since you put it that way, I don’t plan to issue any proactive orders. Keep your responses to the bare minimum needed.”

An order to kill her if she goes on a rampage isn’t particularly in character for House Sepaeda. For all that, it seems like she’s at least thinking about Happine’s position when she’s acting as a member of House Batterabbe. Should I take that as the confidence of the strong, or an attitude common to the nobility?

At the very least, Lady Douve has moved her understanding of the girl Ran from someone who can be killed to someone to be watched. Indeed, she’s not wrong there. I suppose that’s the line Lady Douve won’t cross.

“Still, Tempera Village... That there’s such a village, and that your master once decimated it... Such an odd confluence of events.”

On that I’m in complete agreement. I mean, the other day I ran into seven of the Eight Sacred Treasures and all of them knew my master. There’s evidently still numerous remnants lingering from when my master was still wandering around the world instead of cloistering himself from it, as he is now.

“As it happened over two thousand years ago, I suppose it’s only natural that their names are no longer known. It all occurred over fifteen hundred years before I was born. It’s an unimaginably long span of time.”

“...Oh that’s right, indeed.”

Lady Douve’s a little repulsed, but faintly jealous. I suppose immortality is one of those things that’s thought of that way and it can’t really be helped.

In the end, Ran didn’t wake up that day. Having used up the entirety of her power for the first time in her life, she slept through the entire night.

“Urgh... Ugh...”

And even once awake, it took her a while to get out of bed. She was finally able to get out of bed with the help of the other four. Her aura was very weak, and it almost hurt to look upon it.

“So...hungry...”

Evidently, she used an immense amount of calories to repair the missing flesh, and her hunger was obvious with her hair in its natural color, rather than its usual burning silver. She’d been through so much that it’s hard to remember why she came here in the first place.

“Yum, delicious.”

At first she had her friends feed her, eating a porridge made by soaking bread in soup. As her strength returned and she began to feed herself, she started asking for meat and fish. Saiga and I are watching over her in case she goes on a rampage, but wow, that’s an impressive appetite. The Regent’s being extremely generous with her food, and it’s certainly an appetite that’s a joy to feed.

“Mrrrmph!”

After almost choking on a plateful, she somehow finishes eating and lets out a breath. From her point of view, no doubt she was desperate to recover from virtual starvation.

“Her Tainted Blood decreased a bit... Looks like she used it to convert her meal into energy.”

“You can tell things like that?!”

The Regent looks at me intently. Still, based on Ran’s presence, she’s been subconsciously using her powers as a berserker. It depends on what it is, exactly, but there are foods that require energy to digest. That’s why she was being fed soup and bread, which are both easily digested.

However, once she regained some strength from that, she must have forced her body to replenish itself so that she could eat on her own. She has an almost staggering amount of vitality.

“At any rate, currently, her Tainted Blood isn’t keeping up with her physical recovery. It’s easy enough to see with her hair, but right now, anyone should be able to restrain her.”

“What, what are you talking about?! What’s going on...? Wha?! My hair!”

Ran checks her hair. There’s no ferocity in her actions, just confusion. No need to read auras to see that.

“As Eckesachs explained, you’ve unconsciously kept an Art activated. The source of that power, your Tainted Blood, ran out, so the hair color, which was evidence of your enhancement, returned to its original color.”

Of course, from her point of view, her hair had always been silver, so she doesn’t see it as her hair returning to anything.

“As proof of that, you’ll notice you can’t use your usual strength.”

“That’s because I’m still recovering!”

“Well, that’s accurate to a certain extent, but...”

Of course, I’m sure she’s recovered quite a bit from spending the entire night sleeping. Still, I don’t feel as much vitality from her as I did yesterday. At the very least, it’s not overflowing from her.

“I’m not weakened! Just watch!”

She furrows her brow, tensing and turning red with effort. It looks like she’s just trying to tense her own muscles, but since her Art is a simple enhancement, she’s actually taking the right steps to activate it.

Those around her are confused, but they relax as I watch in silence. I suppose they’re dependent on me. Well, actually, I suppose they’re certain that I can restrain her if needed.

“Raaaaaah!”

Her long hair ripples like flame into a silver color, starting at the roots. This means she’s enhancing herself. However, that also means she’s depleting herself, as well.

“...!”

And, of course, she quickly runs out of energy. She remains seated in her chair but faceplants into the desk. The color returns to her hair. She couldn’t finish with her enhancement.

“Am I... Am I...done for?” she said, weakly.

Despair, puzzlement, a concern that she was no longer strong. It’s likely the first time she’s suffered such a setback.

“That really is the best of life...”

Thinking about it, did I ever suffer such setbacks in my life? I mean, I spent all my time training, so I’ve never lost, and I’ve never lost anyone close to me. In that sense, it’s easy to imagine, but hard to relate.

“Ran...are you okay?”

“You need to rest a little more.”

“Yeah... Are you fully awake?”

“Do you remember why you were asleep?!”

I’ve heard it was a pretty brutal fight. It must have been a duel between a demon and a beast, and it sounded bad enough I was glad Lain hadn’t watched it.

“More...more food...”

That’s an impressive digestive system. I’m honestly impressed. Her stomach rumbles again, so evidently she’s hungry. Then again, she looks like she needs to go to the bathroom, too.

“I see that berserkers also have enhanced metabolisms.”

You know, I wonder if berserkers also have a shorter lifespan. They look like they’re rushing through life so quickly that you’d almost expect them to burn out of natural life by the time they’re somewhere in their thirties.

“Oh my... Then I’ll bring you some more.”

The Regent looks pleased that Ran is eating so much. Still, Ran is being supported by her friends, so she doesn’t have a shred of strength left in reserve. I suppose that if she’s hungry she can’t be unhealthy, either.

“So that’s what it’s like to activate the Tainted Blood...”

At the same time, Saiga was watching her attempt to reawaken her power. By actually watching her bring forth her Tainted Blood, it seems he’s managed to grasp something. He probably intends to practice it later. Likely as not, he’ll probably get the knack for it after a few times. The question is, can we get her to want to restrain herself?

“You’re still quite weak. You’ll need to take some rest.”

“Dammit...”

“This is probably the first time in your life you’ve ever felt any fatigue, failure, or depression... So, listen carefully.”

Thinking about it, she’s probably been told this many times in her life. I’m honestly not sure I’ll get through to her, either.

“Yesterday, you lost to me in a fight, and lost to Princess Sunae as well. I’m sure you remember this.”

“...”

“You’re strong. It’s not that you’ve rapidly become weaker since your arrival here, it’s just that you fought opponents you couldn’t defeat. Right now, no matter how many times you challenge us, you won’t be able to defeat me or Princess Sunae.”

There’s no rage; there’s no counterargument. She quietly waits to hear what she’s missing.

“The thing you are missing. It is...”

“It is?”

“The ability to wait. Self-restraint.”

Hearing those words, the five from the Tempera Village open their eyes wide. I suppose that’s to be expected, as no doubt they’ve all heard that before.

“Still, I doubt you will understand right now how that translates into strength. It’s said there are such things as mysterious wins, but no mysterious losses. However, there are times when you don’t know why you lost.”

I mean, in my case, I knocked her out with the first blow. She probably doesn’t have the faintest idea of what I actually did to her. That’s how I fight, after all. As such, self-restraint doesn’t have much to do with it.

Well, that’s on me. I need to train more.

“However, if you don’t nurture your ability to wait, you won’t be able to stand again. I understand your desire to fight, to drive away your irritation, but for now, please focus on recovering your strength with your companions.”

“Until now, the old men in the village kept telling me to bear it. But wasn’t that because they saw my strength and couldn’t bear it themselves?”

“I think there’s an element of that. You’re strong, and it’s difficult for ordinary people to restrain you. Which is why I want you to restrain yourself.”

“Then there should be no reason for me to conform for those weaklings!”

She’s got a point. She’s touching upon the fundamental reason people seek strength.

“To live as you want, to fight as you want... That, too, is the privilege of the strong. But I don’t believe you understand what it means for you to lose and expose yourself to the world.”

She doesn’t yet understand fear. She’s no different from my students before they faced me. She doesn’t think there’s anything in the world that won’t bend to her will, and can’t bear the thought that there is. In her case, bearing it is even more difficult than for most.

“If you learn self-restraint, at the very least, you will be able to defeat Princess Sunae.”

“...And can I beat you?”

“As for that, you will discover just how difficult that will be, if you mean to learn self-restraint.”