Seirei Gensouki's
Chapter 78: Flip

Using one of the rooms in the restaurant of Rikka company, Rio wrote a reconciliation contract that would be used for negotiations with the Stead group.

After he finished making the contract, he returned to Miharu and the others who were waiting for him on the terrace chair, Rio noticed the gloomy atmosphere floating in that place.

It seems that they are waiting with worry for Rio's return. Only Aisia looked like her usual self.

Celia, who worries about how the situation is changing and feels guilty for giving up everything in the negotiations to Rio, can say that Miharu's group, who is Japanese, is showing faint signs of fear.

It has to be natural.

For those who came and lived peacefully in Japan until some time ago, the situation that almost turned into a bloodbath in the restaurant seemed to be the first time for them.

They almost turned into slaves after coming to this world.

But, since the event was strange in many ways, their sense of crisis faded for the time being, the current situation was one they could easily understand.

After that, their peaceful daily life took place thanks to Rio, they barely had the chance to go anywhere else because they were too busy learning the local language.

That's why, today's event might be a good opportunity for them to feel the crisis again.

Rio decided to teach swordsmanship to Masato immediately.

The next day, in the open space within the forest located southwest of Almond, Rio and Masato faced each other.

Although Miharu and Aki will be taught in pole art, he decides to teach swordsmanship to Masato first, responding to a request called wanting to see their training, but he does not want to, Miharu and Aki were sitting on a hanging chair placed in front of the house.

「This is unexpected but, today we will do a mock battle. Things like foot movement and shape are materials for the next time. Let's do a light warm-up before starting 」

「Ossu！ Help u! 」

Masato replied somewhat tensely over Rio's words.

As long as the battle was not really a time for warm-up, as now was the practice, they needed to make the necessary preparations to lower the chance of injury.

Rio looked at Masato's excited state that was heating up while doing a light stretch on himself.

「Uhm, Haruto-san. You're not going to do anything too dangerous, are you? 」

Miharu timidly asked Rio.

"Yes nih . It might be a little rough but, I will be careful not to cause as many injuries as 」

Miharu's making hopes that she doesn't cause any injuries to Minoru, Rio replied while showing a smile as if trying to ease his worries.

The things in their hands were real swords.

Although he could heal the wound with spirit arts if something unexpected happened, it did not mean that Rio had a tendency to show a scene that was bad for the [blooded] heart.

There was little consideration during training, but he decided not to indulge Masato.

Rio steeled his consciousness to avoid bloodshed as much as possible.

Section 2

「You are also Masato-kun. And Haruto-san is also 」

Miharu said those words because she blindly trusted Rio to not cause any injuries

"We..... . Masato's sword learning problem is something we consider necessary. But, uhm. Uhm, I'm asking for an unreasonable request is something I understand but, I really don't expect to get injured or, uhm ..

Before her mind could catch her well, perhaps because she greeted Rio with a boost of heart, Miharu was at a loss for words since she was unable to convey her feelings well.

It only came out when he noticed his own unease when he saw the shape of Rio holding his sword.

Suddenly, Rio's gallant form defended them before appearing in Miharu's mind.

Although Rio at that time was completely reliable, he thought that he was like a separate existence that created a great distance from them.

Miharu also noticed the figure of a boy when looking at his back.

（Is it because I said such words to Aki-chan .....）

Miharu remembered the words spoken by Aki when they were in the Almond clothing store.

―― …. . Somehow, Haruto-san resembles Haru-kun.

Back then, why did he suddenly say those words to Aki? It was something he himself did not understand.

But, after her first visit to Almond together with Rio, Miharu started to vaguely overlap her childhood friend figure with Rio.

His catalyst was when the two of them were walking in the city, that was when he felt deja vu walking on the side of the road.

He He noticed that he walked like this with that person a long time ago.

Although she could not remember herself, at that moment, Miharu recalled Amakawa Haruto's whereabouts.

After that, even though the time when they shop together to buy lingerie is really embarrassing, the time is really fun.

And then, when they had lunch, she heard a little about Rio's previous life.

Rio was a student in his previous life.

He didn't mention his name.

He said he would tell a detailed story after the situation calmed down.

Moreover, if talking about anything else he knew, was it some sort of Arbeit in the restaurant?

Next was the fact that he regained memories of his previous life during his childhood, after which, Miharu heard a cryptic story about him traveling to various places alone.

His real name is Rio, he usually uses Haruto as an alias.

Haruto――, for Miharu, this alias is another reason why Haruto's figure overlaps with Rio.

As soon as she started to feel a similarity between Rio and Haruto, on several occasions Miharu became aware of Rio.

And then, even though it was something impossible to understand, he was suddenly suspicious.

Perhaps, Rio is the reincarnation of Amakawa Haruto. [TL: Is this the power of love? Hero corrections? or will the gods?]

Since their atmosphere was somehow similar to each other, perhaps when Amakawa Haruto grew up, he might resemble this person.

Section 3

But, Rio and Haruto are different people.

First, their age is inconsistent.

Rio's age is the same as Miharu's age, and Haruto is a student, it doesn't match no matter how she counts it.

Although Miharu also steeled herself to hear the name of Rio's life earlier, she was afraid to hear his answer.

He promises to hear the story of his previous life.

But, more than anything, even though it was only a possibility that they might not be able to return to earth, a world without Haruto was truly terrifying.

This is a memory of her 7-year-old self and maybe just beauty but still, Miharu felt her chest become warmer again and again every time she thought of Haruto. [TL: It's just your IMAGINATION]

These emotions have never changed even until now.

That's why Miharu subconsciously stopped herself from putting Haruto in Rio.

— I want to go back . I want to go back . Haru-kun …. . Father mother .

That was his wish after coming to this world, the nights where he cried alone were not few.

But, she somehow felt relieved the next morning when she saw the face of Rio whose familiar call Haruto.

Somehow, Rio felt very familiar with her, he felt relaxed just when he was in this place.

This kind of hesitation was like this as if they were always together.

So Miharu felt that of course, Rio and Haruto might be similar in this regard.

… . Although he knew that it was very disrespectful for him to do something like overlap Haruto in Rio, whether it was for Haruto or to Rio.

Yesterday, Miharu felt her chest in pain as she peeked at Rio's profile when she was dealing with Stead's group.

Rio at that time showed an extremely cold face but, to Miharu, it was painful to see that, as if he was desperately bearing something.

Celia says that there is no need to think about this but ――

She's afraid.

The trace of Haruto that he saw in Rio seemed to turn into a completely different person.

Rio at that time was obviously a completely different person from Amakawa Haruto who was overlapped by Miharu.

Despite Haruto's existence, overlapped by Miharu, it seems to disappear from within Rio――

His body and mind trembled as he realized the change.

The person he had in his memory, who was a little awkward but had baseless kindness, was lost during that time.

――No, please stop！

And now, looking at Rio who was standing in front of Masato while holding his sword, Miharu unintentionally revealed her own thoughts.

His face was not as cold as yesterday, but, the current Rio was a little tense.

「Miharu-san?」

Rio called out to Miharu who was crying silently before he noticed it.

「Uhm, I'm sorry .... I suddenly feel weird」

Miharu shook her head while chanting the best smile she could do for Rio who was staring at her face as if worrying about her.

Section 4

「Please rest for a while at home if your physical condition is bad. Because, uhm, training content may be a little extreme 」

Rio smiled faintly as he suddenly turned his gaze away from Miharu.

Miharu noticed the shadow on Rio smiling face.

It was very painful for him to see her smile, it seemed like he was holding something――. [TL: My guess is the toilet]

He did not want to see a face like this in Rio.

「Haruto-san」

Miharu's calling Rio with a restless voice.

Just like that, he noticed that Haruto in Rio had completely disappeared.

He almost reached out his hand with a impulse, but, still, he desperately held it back.

Ah, I can't do this, this guy isn't Haruto, I can feel it.

He was unintentionally fed up with his own weakness.

"Yes, that"

Rio replied firmly when his name was called by Miharu.

She knew just by taking a quick look at Miharu, she was denying her painful smile.

「Uhm, Haruto-san can't hurt himself too, you know?」

The words that came out of Miharu's lips back then were these kind of comments.

Miharu smiled as if feeling annoyed by him.

"Yes nih . Understood 」

And, Rio nodded while smiling wryly.

And then, at that moment.

「O ~ y, Haruto-anchan！ I'm done with my warm-up！ I'm ready!」

Masato who finished with the warm-up exercise in a slightly separated room, called out to Rio in a cheerful tone.

「Ya, I'll be there」 soon

Rio left that place when answering Masato's call.

「Then, I go」

After saying those words in a somewhat cold tone, Rio left from Miharu's side, and faced Masato in the open field.

「Although you should pay attention when holding your sword, it is better if you use every bit of your power. Surprisingly, your movements when you become excited will become stronger and harder to control. Because we use original sword 」

Section 5

Rio said that when he saw Masato who was filled with energy.

Masato had light leather armor on his body, and was equipped with a shield and a one-handed sword he bought in Almond

In Rio's hand was a one-handed sword and shield that he usually didn't use.

Originally, Rio did not use a shield, his bare hands were left as he used hand-to-hand combat, and thus he usually only used strong gloves on that hand. [TL: Did the author create Left-I mean Rio after watching SAO?]

Therefore, even though the combat style that used the shield was not Rio's specialty, he was currently using it to guide Masato

The combination of sword and shield is the standard sword style in the Strahl region, although there are different details for each country, generally this combination is used in most areas.

From which country the knights or warriors came from, the foundation of swordsmanship using swords and shields was included in their training, which meant that there were many users and teaching it to others was probably because Rio learned it in the royal academy.

Although this type of swordsmanship was basically geared towards assuming a battle against humans, it did not mean that it was completely useless when using it to fight against ferocious beasts or monsters.

There were of course differences in the movement of the running position and its size, although the sword and spear styles in both hands were suitable for dealing with large monsters, orthodox swordsmanship was suitable for learning the basics of battle.

「The greatest advantage of combining a one-handed sword and shield is the balance between attacking and defending, in fact, personal experience is the fastest method to understand. Now come to me as much as you want 」

Taking a short breath after saying that, Rio completely shifted his consciousness.

SHIIIN.

Although he would definitely not be killed, after sensing the clear aura of death, Masato's body reacted with goosebumps.

「…… !!!」

Rio put his left foot one step forward and his right foot one step behind.

It was inevitable to put the shield on his left hand facing forward.

You can say that it is an orthodox attitude with no loopholes.

In front of him, Masato took a position that was quite close to the fighting pose by raising both hands.

Both sides of Masato had many gaps.

「What's up？ Come fast」

Rio said those words with a cold tone.

Masato felt a painful stabbing sensation in his chest.

Even though he had just had a brief warm-up, his rising heart rate could not be stopped.

「UOOOOOO!」

Masato suddenly stormed Rio while raising a battle cry.

But, maybe because he was infested with fear, he suddenly stopped attacking right in front of Rio.

Rio let out an actual battle atmosphere without thinking about training, depending on his method, it was easy to kill someone with a real sword weight, everything about that fact weakened Masato's movements.

「What's up？ Don't hold back. Swing sword. No matter how you struggle, at the moment you can't even scratch me 」

「........... RAA!」

Section 6

Perhaps because of Rio's provocative words, Masato brandished his sword at Rio.

Or rather than slashing, it was more accurate to say that it was just swinging.

Rio calmly walked forward towards Masato's sword that defeated him and used the power of the swing to repel the sword with his shield.

The sword bounced off Masato's grip because of the impact.

「GUH」

"Frozen!"

Rio shouted at Masato.

The tip of Rio's sword was in the throat of his disciple who became helpless before he realized it.

Gulp.

Masato unintentionally gulped his saliva as he truly felt that death was by his side.

「Hold your sword properly. Hold it like the way I teach you. And then, think properly about what went wrong with your movement just now. Now, take your sword. Come to me again 」

Rio drew his sword after saying those words with a sharp tone.

Masato was defeated due to the very different atmosphere compared to the usual Rio.

Not only did Miharu pay attention to Rio's changing atmosphere before training, Aki and Celia also noticed the change and felt a little scared by Rio.

Miharu faced that as if feeling anxious was being reflected at the end of her vision.

Rio silently bit his lips.

「What's up？ Download it quickly」

Ignoring the feeling as if slashing his own heart, Rio said that to Masato who was standing still with a dumbfounded expression.

「…… !!!」

Masato's body trembled in fear.

Although his line of sight was directed at the sword that fell right by his side, his body would not move an inch.

「Do you remember what I said before we bought your sword? What do I say I'll teach you？ 」

Rio said those words with a cold tone as if penetrating into the bone marrow.

This is not a game .

To make Masato really realize it.

In fact, Rio had no intention of teaching swordsmanship to him if Masato did so with a sense of play.

「...... This is art ..... Killing」

Masato was completely withered like a child being scolded for unreasonable reasons even if it was his teacher or Old Man.

His words were also different from his usual friendly tone.

In that place was only a 12-year-old child who was unaware of death until now.

Section 7

「You're only half right. The target of murder is not just humans. Every living thing that comes to attack and cannot be stopped unless you kill them. If you understand, choose your sword 」

「You-yes ……. 」

After replying, Masato picked up his sword waiting on the ground.

After gripping his sword with trembling hands, he turned to Rio.

「If you get cold feet like that, you will lose even if your opponent is empty handed. Your handle is still light 」

When he casually approached, Rio flicked the sword from Masato's hand with a light swing.

The flicking sword pierced through the ground behind Masato.

"Once again . Choose your sword 」

「A ..... U ......」.

Masato groaned as if he was about to disappear.

「Choose your sword quickly」

When Rio said that, Masato picked up his sword hurriedly in a state of fear.

After that, Masato who came to attack Rio with a weak stance and a weak grip on his sword was rejected by Rio's sword when he showed a gap in his defense, he said, Rio continued to torment her by thrusting the tip of his sword into the front of her throat.

Even Masato who experienced this many times, became a little irritated and started to lose his constraint.

「AAaAAA!」

Perhaps because it was frightening, or frustrating, Masato started swinging his sword while crying.

She let out a lot of tears from her eyes, spilling nasal mucus from her nose but, she kept swinging her sword.

Maybe because she started to adapt to Rio's movements by watching him move, the gap in his movements reduced bit by bit.

"Religion . Shields can also be used to deliver blows. But, don't swing it carelessly. It will only increase your opening 」

While saying that, Rio swung his sword at where Masato died, and then thrust the tip of his sword in front of Masato's throat.

Masato's movements were interrupted.

「U ....」.

Masato groaned in frustration.

When they take distance from each other to do the game again.

「U-Uhm！ Oh, haruto-san! 」

Aki called out to Rio with a loud voice.

"What's the problem?"

Section 8

Rio asked forcefully suppressing the emotions in his voice while glancing at Aki at a glance.

「Ah, uhhm, can you calm down for a moment ..... Sword science has" the word "or something like that is true？ Can you teach like that like how you taught us before?」 [TL: Kata is a form of martial arts, e.g.: Pencak silat from Indonesia has katas which mainly imitate wild animals such as tigers, eagles, or monkeys which they call “form /tiger” word. And stop referring to xianxia for the word because basically they only fire the Chinese version of kamehameha] [Ed: Katas is a detailed choreographed movement pattern performed both solo and in pairs. ]

Despite being choked by Rio's strength, Aki said those words while looking into his eyes.

Aki could not help but stand up for her younger brother as she looked at his pitiful figure.

It was truly an important matter even if he could barely give his opinion without flinching at the current Rio who exuded an atmosphere that felt like killing intent.

Even if he usually reprimanded with harsh words, that alone was proof of how much he thought about Masato.

「Although bad, the thing I teach now is a problem before I teach him a form of swordsmanship」

Rio slightly shook his head.

「Then, what are you trying to teach him？ It only oppresses weak people」 」

Snapped Aki to Rio.

「I mean, even Masato is scared of it!」

He continued while pointing at Masato.

After looking properly, his body trembled slightly.

「Masato, do you want to stop?」

When Rio asked that, Masato was trembling from the twitch.

「You can stop if you want. Because a fight is already impossible if you don't even put up with this level of training 」

Rio narrowed his eyes as he said those words and looked at Masato.

The water-like silence continued for a while.

It's not just Aki.

Miharu, Celia, and Aisia were too silent looking at Masato.

Even if they want to say something, it is not the right mood to cut their conversation.

"……hd"

Masato muttered in a low voice.

"…… Come!"

Now he said his words loudly while glaring towards Rio.

Rio's a little grieving.

「That's the answer. Sorry, but you should not interfere with our training after this 」

He said that to Aki.

「…… !!!」

Section 9

Aki made a face as if chewing on a bitter insect.

Although he tried to say something, Masato stopped him with his gaze.

And then, Rio and Masato started their mock battle again.

When the limit in Masato's stamina came, the next thing Rio did was teach the pole art for self-defense to the girls.

Different from when he was training with Masato, the first thing Rio decided to teach carefully was "Words".

Aki was unwilling to accept that.

Although she came in angrily and asked for the same kind of training as Masato, Rio rejected her wishes.

Unable to quietly watch Aki who was in a bad mood, Celia asked for pole art and partnered with Aisia, even Aki could not continue her silence and reluctantly gave up on her request.

Aki was a fairly logical person, although it was probably because she fought a war due to seeing her previous training with Minoru, probably because she was originally a good person, she said, it seemed like he wasn't really gifted with pole art.

Celia is, or should she say "As expected", the least skilled person among the four with very slow reflexes.

Even though it was within limits if he increased his physical abilities with magic, he should not do anything unreasonable, as the damage to his body would be great if he did not train his body.

Unexpectedly, the one who showed the most talent was Aisia.

For some reason, Aisia was used to using the poles combined with an incredible combination of body strengthening and her strengthened physical ability, she showed a strength that even Rio had difficulty handling.

After completing the training in various ways, although dinner time arrived immediately, he somehow received a tense atmosphere until bedtime.

After that, until the day he went to Almond to meet Liselotte, it was just a repetition of training every day, somehow the days filled with tense atmosphere also continued.

☆ ★ ☆ ★ ☆ ★

The first training night, Rio looked dazedly at the ceiling while lying on his bed.

「Do I hate?」

After sighing deeply, Rio muttered in a low voice.

"That's not true"

Aisia's voice which was currently in her spirit form resounded within Rio's head.

Although her figure could not be seen because she was inside her body, the image of Aisia slightly shaking her head floated on her head.

After which, he noticed that his chest became slightly lighter.

「I ..... Wonder about it」

Rio's seemingly agitated voice sounded within the room.

『It's something they need,？ That is something you teach because they might die if they have to fight』

Although his voice had no modulation, his atmosphere of concern for Rio was transmitted.

"Religion . The truth is, I wanted to teach her starting from a word like Mi-chan as well, but doing the above mocking way was better. Just for Masato, I hope he adapts to the atmosphere of a real fight as much as possible 」

Section 10

So he would not hesitate when facing an opponent who had come to take his life.

Out of fear, his body movements dulled that sensation.

By knowing about those facts, the probability of its survival would greatly increase.

They would be able to move to a certain extent if their opponent was of a lower rank had they learned some sort of pole art from the start.

For the ingrained movement into your body will not betray you.

But, Masato was too weak.

It's not like they were taught bare-handed combat in Japan, they haven't even been able to use magic or spirit arts.

Judging from the amount of their magic power by using the magic tools that Celia developed, the magic power of Masato, Miharu and Aki could not be compared to the humans living in this world, even though his name was actually Odo, from the very beginning they had no talent for using spirit arts like Rio.

The thing they needed to use spirit arts was suitable training.

Training to feel the odo inside their body, training to release the odo according to their wishes, training to feel the odo that has been released outside their body, and, training to control the odo on their body, training to see the odo, training to sense the mana floating in the atmosphere, and training to invoke the intervention of the phenomenon in which by manipulating their odo. [TB:

Training to feel the odo inside their body, training to release the odo according to their wishes, training to feel the odo that has been released outside their body, and, training to control the odo on their body, training to see the odo, training to sense the mana floating in the atmosphere, and training to invoke the intervention of the phenomenon in which by manipulating their odo

1 ~ 4 required to use magic, 1 ~ 7 required to use spirit art]

Human magic only requires the first 4 steps and using the magic formation for the rest eliminates the following process after the control of odo, even if it was someone without much talent, training would be done in a few months.

On the other hand, depending on the individual's talent in using spirit arts, it required several months to years of training.

From the fact that in Rio's case, he had already found a suitable contract partner in Aisia from a high ranked spirit before, although he could use spirit arts without any prior training, he had, it was a fact that Rio awakened his spirit arts talent when he regained his memories from his previous life.

Although the reason why he could not use spirit arts until he regained the memories from his previous life could not be confirmed, perhaps Rio's experience was the reason Aisia and Haruto woke up.

Moreover, if the summoned ones learned spirit arts directly, half a year was the time they needed the most no matter how much talent they had.

And maybe another half a year is needed to apply it in real combat.

In this world, the matter of handling spirit arts or magic was the sign of a truly powerful person.

In short, the time until they learn how to use spirit arts or magic, the Miharu group must live in this world until they can rise from their position as a very weak person.

Although he obviously had no intention of making them kill anyone, someone might try to kill them.

If they go elsewhere after this, there is no guarantee that such a case will not happen.

They would not be able to protect themselves if at that time he was not in that place to save them.

Rio did not want any of them to die like that.

That's why he taught swordsmanship to Masato, and pole art to Miharu and Aki.

"Then, what do you teach？ It only oppresses weak people！"

In this way, Aki's angry face and Miharu's crying expression behind her clung onto Rio's brain.

If it will increase their chances of survival with this――, He doesn't care even if he hates.

Even though he decided to strengthen his heart, he couldn't help but fear being hated by them.

Teaching the art of killing only to Masato, and teaching nothing but martial arts to Miharu, and Aki is Rio's egoism.

Section 11

He did not expect Miharu or Aki to bear the marks of killing as much as possible.

As for Masato, even without doing any explanation to prepare him, he would go to him with sufficient killing intent.

Even if he explained this in words, they were too spoiled, that was why he could not explain well about the severity of this world to them.

He wanted Masato to take the initiative of protecting Miharu and Aki in the worst case.

On the other hand, Rio chose to teach the pole art to Aki and Miharu.

But, he had no intention of confronting them with killing intent.

Of course, even pole art could be used to kill someone, if it was just to kill, spear art was better.

Just in case, considering the possibility that they might return to earth, he might instinctively avoid and not expect them to kill someone as much as possible.

Rio smiled mockingly at himself.

They want to return to Earth soon.

For those who return to earth rather than live in a world like this will definitely make their lives happier.

（However, I tried to hold Mii-chan in this world to convey my feelings）

Because of this he became fed up with himself, and did not know how far it would go.

Even now, he wanted to convey his feelings to Miharu, he did not want her to return to earth.

Because that's what he likes about her.

He did not want her to dirty his hands with blood no matter what.

Because dirty work is his job.

That is the kind of egoism called coercion.

『Say, Haruto』

Aisia's voice suddenly sounded in Rio's head.

Rio twitched as he reacted to her voice.

『Are you afraid to convey your feelings to Miharu?』

As if she somehow fully understood Rio's current feelings, Aisia asked about it.

"I'm not afraid . I will convey my feelings. But you know the timing is a bit difficult for me because of the various events

Rio replied not to rush in while showing a somewhat wry smile.

『Then, is it because the scary thing for Haruto is that you are different from his previous life?』

Rio's eyes opened wide as those words hit his pain spot.

He looked through the deepest parts of himself, even the ones he hid on purpose.

「..... That's right, maybe」

He nodded slowly after a few seconds.

Section 12

The other side that he has not wanted to show Miharu, he who has already killed humans, he who will kill when the need has come, he who burns to avenge――

What will Miharu think about me when she finds out about that.

If it was for his revenge, he would have left no matter how deep hell awaited him and, even though he had already decided with a firm heart, that was all that frightened him.

「But, I'll convey my feelings」

Now his voice contained his determination.

『Then, if Miharu says that she wants to return to earth, will you help her?』

Rio chest shouted again.

But, Rio released that emotion.

「I'll help him」

And repay.

『Then, if Miharu loves someone else, it's okay for you if she says that she wants to come back for that person?』

Aisia asked in an increasingly cold voice.

「I'll hate it but …. . I'll take it. If it's related to Mii-chan's happiness 」

Rio answered while killing his emotions.

Although he noticed that his trembling was transmitted to Aisia inside his head, Rio ignored him.

『Haruto ....』.

Although it was her usual emotionless voice, to Rio, somehow Aisia's voice seemed to be crying.

But, Rio laughed softly with an expression as if he realized something.

"No problem"

So he muttered to her.