Ryuu Kusari No Orishin No Naka No Kokoro
Chapter 1 Part 2

Academic City of Alcazar

The city where the Solminati Academy was founded and was famous on the continent as an educational city. The school is located in the center of the city, and a cobweb-like road is built around it. In the northern part of the city, there are political institutions such as administrative institutions that control the politics of the city. The political institutions are managed by nobles from each country.

The eastern part is a civilian area, home to many student dormitories and ordinary citizens, and the southern part is a commercial area where goods from various countries gather, making it the economic center of the city. There were also adventurer guilds where students could get jobs depending on their rankings.

The western part was the artisan district where many craftsmen gathered, and craftsmen who utilized the techniques of each country such as blacksmiths, doctors, etc competed every day.

Roads stretched north, south, east, and west outside the city, and dense forests stretched beyond the roads, blocking the entry of people. Various monsters appeared in this forest, ranging from monsters that could even be won by ordinary people to those that were troubled with veteran adventurers.

However, powerful monsters lived in the depths of the forest and did not appear around the city and the highway.

A hut was built in such a forest to watch over him. A boy and an old woman exchanged blows in the courtyard of the hut. One of them is Nozomu Bountis, a student who cannot attend school. The old woman was named Shino. This match was won overwhelmingly by the old lady. This is not comparable to a match with Mars in school. He was able to surpass the slash of Mars, but the match with the old lady was even more one-sided, and Nozomu was like the old lady's toy.

During the 3 times the exchange occurred, his posture was lost and he was hit. The old woman immediately chased after the rolling Nozomu and swung her katana without hesitation.

Nozomu focused his attention on his legs and exploded. One of the Qi techniques, "Instant Steps". He sped up in an instant, but the old woman immediately used the same technique to speed up and deliver a slash. Spin around behind the retreating Nozomu and slash with sword techniques. He could not stop due to his momentum, so he turned his body with one leg to fight the slash, but his posture was heavily collapsed.

A chase by the old woman approached there. Against the old woman's Strength, Nozomu tilted his katana, deliberately loosened his legs, and dropped his body. The pursuit of the old woman did not hit her body, she slipped and turned around with her katana lying down. However, at the same time, the old woman's kick happened.

Nozomu judged that it was impossible to avoid him when his body was dropped. He put strength into his legs, flew back, simultaneously trying to repel it with the katana grip, but his body crashed. Nozomu, who was lying on the ground, had no time to recover his posture, and the old woman chased after him and thrust her katana into his neck.

"……I gave up"

"Hmm, the journey is still long.

The old woman said so and put down her katana.

This old lady, Shino, was Nozomu's sword technique mentor. He met her while Nozomu was training in the forest. Back then, she was abandoned by Lisa and desperate for not being able to fulfill her vow, and she trained hard.

It wasn't practice but escapism. He tried not to think about his lover by practicing until his body was in tatters. It all started when the old woman called because she could not stand the violence and meaninglessness.

"It's time for dinner, Nozomu, prepare."

"Yes, Shisho"

Nozomu answered the old woman's voice. Although his voice looked tired, he prepared for dinner with a clear expression.

(It's still dragging, but he's growing.)

He looked at her and muttered to himself.

When he met her, he was training in the forest, but she was in a very bad condition. His muscles were thin and his cheeks were burned due to repeated exercises that did not give him time to recover from the accumulated fatigue. The skin of the hand holding the sword chipped, its joints inflamed, and its body was in tatters. It was so terrible that he tried to interfere, but there was no sign of stopping it. His face at that moment was lifeless as it seemed, and behind his eyes was a negative emotion that was even darker than it seemed. When he saw himself in his eyes, he was extremely disgusted and immediately left the place. She decided to ignore him at one point, but over time she worried about him.

Karma flashed across his head, even if he tried not to think about it, and when he went to look at the situation, he was attacked by a demonic beast.

It was the Wild Dog that attacked. It was a demonic beast that lived throughout the continent and usually acted in groups. His rank as a demon beast was low and could be subdued by ordinary adventurers, but it was a threat equivalent to a dragon for him who had reached the limit of exhaustion.

Nozomu's consciousness was stunned, his body was injured and bleeding everywhere. He had no one around to help. An ordinary person would give up in that desperate situation, but he did not. He fought off stray dogs, though he lost enough blood that he could die from blood loss.

"I don't want to die"

"Don't give up"

Sword science and tactics are still immature. However, his eyes, which had dark emotions, shone with a clear and strong desire to "live" before he realized it. When he saw it, he was cutting off the Wild Dog that attacked him. A week later, in front of his hut, he saw a boy holding a katana, not a sword.

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Nozomu POV

After dinner and cleaning, I sat down opposite Shisho who was drinking tea after eating, and I also drank tea.

I met Shish and studied swordsmanship, and I studied things to this day.I feel like I can see light while struggling in the dark.

Dumped by Lisa, I couldn't keep my vows, and there was no one around me. Escape by continuing to do absurd exercises every day, attacked by Wild Dog to the rags. On the border between life and death, I felt that "i don't want to die" rather than the feeling that "i want to die" again. The feeling of "I don't want to die" becomes the feeling of "I want to live", and it becomes the feeling of "I'm not going to give up".

I was saved by Shish, became his disciple, and continued to practice.

It's painful to remember Lisa. But now I feel lighter than before.

Maybe because there's a Shisho now.

"Why look at people's faces. Are you in love with me now?"

Immediately, I counterattacked the cheerful Shisho.

"Please think about your age first before speaking. No matter how old I am, Shisho's age range is a bit too much!"

Surprise ran through my spine when I said something like that. Shisho clenched his fists like a punch and shot out a shockwave. Moreover, this was the first time the candy on the table had not exploded.

"Nozomu, what did you just say!?"

Shisho looked at me with a hidden dragon expression.I ran for self-protection called an apology, reflexively.

"No, It's Nothing, I'm just fascinated by Shisho"

Shisho doesn't need to show off advanced techniques even though he's just Tsukkomi. He retired in a place like this, but his ability was undoubtedly one of the best on the continent.I remember when Shisho said, "Line with the best swordsman in school."

By the way, the best swordsman in this school is Jihad Roundel. He was an S-rank knight and a famous swordsman in the continent. The one who is ranked the same as Shish. I wonder what kind of person he is.

While immersed in such a sea of thoughts, it was time to finish drinking tea and finally return to the dormitory.

"Then, Shish. I'm going back to the dorm."

"Eh, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yes, good night Shish"

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POV Shino

I looked at Nozomu's back and returned to the hut.

He's getting stronger. He didn't realize it because his physical abilities were suppressed by the suppression of his abilities, and his sword skills hadn't reached my level yet, but he was quite close. Really, it seems an unaffordable place.

This is not normal given the growth in the past year.

From the very beginning, he was more suited to using a curved sword than the straight sword used in this continent.

Rather than smashing with the strength of his arms, he used his entire body to cut.

It was an effort that made him stronger than anything. Even if it comes from an escape from reality. In the beginning, He had only done a simple swing all day and ran through the forest in earnest.

Naturally, he was attacked by demonic beasts, but he managed to do it himself. As expected, I was guarding the remaining opponents so that He wouldn't notice it.

Next is mock battle. Naturally, I devoted all of my skills to her until she did not die. He was dropped without any help, and fractures, vomiting, and fainting were common. Now He can handle it, and it is unlikely that He will sustain a serious injury such as a broken bone. He has undergone the training I have put in place. The average man will quit in less than a week.

With his current skill and without ability suppression, there was no doubt he would be able to defeat me. Even so, the fact that he could not win a mock fight and his grades in school did not increase was largely due to the suppression of his abilities. Limited in strength and energy, there was almost no magical power that not even beginner magic could use. Reinforcement with Qi and items had almost no effect, and enhancement magic could not be used.

To fill this shortcoming, He refined his Qi skills and control, but the skill He used was a high strength concentrated one point, and his killing ability was extremely high, so he can't use it in school simulation combat.

Muscle strength, which requires momentary strength, is severely limited by the suppression of ability, but fortunately, one's basic abilities such as motor nerves and endurance do not seem to be suppressed, so He can practice.

However, since the Qi-like strengthening effect was extremely low, the effect would not be noticeable, and if the opponent strengthened, the opponent would even surpass his unstressed ability.

It's not working very well.

Another thing to worry about is that his future goals have not been set.

It's a "lifetime", it might be good, but it might not be like that in the future.

If you say "what makes you stronger", you need "the core in your heart". If you use force without your "heart core", you will eventually be affected by that power.

The core was already broken once.

I don't know what he will do in the future, but I will teach him everything.

Don't let him regret it, like I did.