Now I had gotten used to the broom’s speed. The cityscape seen from above was so beautiful that I almost forgot to keep my grip on Lucia.
“Once again,” she said, “I’ve learned a completely useless skill.”
“Well, learning is all about building experiences,” I replied.
“Huh?! Just apologize!”
Maybe she had a point. Perhaps I was a little too used to outrunning the jaws of death. Well, outrunning wasn’t quite the right word.
Making sure not to tug on her hair, I tightened my embrace so I wouldn’t fall off again.
“You really pulled through for me back there,” I said.
“Next time, I won’t bother.”
Everyone should have a competent Magus for a little sister. She charged my Relic, and if not for her, I would’ve fallen apart a long time ago. Well, even without Luke and the others, I would’ve fallen apart.
Or maybe if not for them, I would be retired and living a peaceful life? The moment this crossed my mind, I stopped thinking. The future is what’s important, not the past.
Changing my tempo, I endured the wind and looked forward, where I saw something unbelievable. I couldn’t help but rub my eyes and look again. We were headed towards the place where the Sword Saint’s dojo should have been.
“That’s funny,” I said. “Wasn’t there a large building here?”
Lucia didn’t reply.
Soln Rowell, the Sword Saint, was considered the imperial capital’s strongest Swordsman. Though he wasn’t a treasure hunter, the skills he had devoted his life to honing were surpassed by only a few high-level hunters, and he was believed to be one of the best Swordsmen of all time.
In a land such as Zebrudia, where martial skills were lionized, he was naturally a man of renown, with authority comparable to the most powerful nobles. If you counted the branch locations, he had dozens of dojos in the imperial capital alone.
If memory served, the building here was a gift donated as a show of respect by an apprentice who was also of the nobility. It was the main dojo, and it was supposed to be here. I could recall the excitement I felt, the cries of joy Luke and I had both let out when we first saw it. Now there wasn’t a hint or trace left.
Wait, no. Maybe there’s that much left.
“Did they demolish it?” I wondered. “It was pretty new.”
Lucia didn’t say anything.
There was now a mountain of rubble where a massive training ground had once been. Surrounding it was a buzzing crowd of rubberneckers and knights here to keep the peace. There was a sporadic wall or pillar still standing, but this would obviously take some time to repair.
Yet what caught my eye was the dojo’s defining feature. It was a tall spire in the center of the building. It was now gone. Well, it wasn’t gone. It was there, it was just about a third shorter. I wasn’t imagining it. I could tell, with the roof gone and all. All I could do was laugh.
“Are they remodeling? Lucia, does that look shorter than usual? Ha ha ha.”
She stayed silent. My dry laughter disappeared with the wind.
This can’t be real! How? How do you shorten a spire like that? Huh?
Why wasn’t something this big in the papers? This was definitely the result of a disaster. What was strange was that the other buildings were all right. It probably wasn’t visible from the ground, but the surface of the tower suggested it had been...
I tightened my arms around Lucia, who was still not saying anything.
“Look, Lucia. It looks almost like it’s been cut with a sword. But that can’t be! You’d need a massive blade! Hey, say something. Lucia?”
Finally, she responded. “Brother, you idiot,” she murmured.
This looked bad. It was possible this was my fault. Had anyone been hurt? Who did this? Was it Luke? Could I solve this with money and grovelling? Could I just say I had never imagined something like this would happen? And how had a sword torn apart a building? Wasn’t that odd?
I-I want to run. But I can’t.
Maybe if I were on my own, but I was here with my little sister. She had already seen my bad side plenty of times, but I still had my pride.
“It looks like there are people gathered in the dojo,” she said. “I think I see Luke as well. I’ll bring us down there.”
Keeping a tight hold on Lucia, I moved my head so I could see the center of the wrecked building. She was right, I could see a few figures amid the rubble.
“You’re awfully brave, Lucia.”
The Sword Saint was supposedly very proud of this building. Even if I was only indirectly related, I had no idea what he might say to me now that it had been destroyed. It didn’t help that Luke was always causing trouble for him. Luke was serious when it came to matters like strength and swords, but he didn’t know any manners and showed no regard for money and authority.
Considering that some of them were nobles, I’m sure some of Luke’s fellow apprentices already disliked him. This just poured oil on the fire.
“Whose fault is this? Whose?!”
“H-Hold on. Just a moment. I didn’t think, uh, right! I didn’t think someone as stalwart as the man considered Zebrudia’s strongest Swordsman would lose to a Devil Sword.”
She didn’t say anything.
Besides, I hadn’t even known that thing was a Devil Sword. Sure, it had looked plenty ominous, but Luke and I had both been with it. Damn that Eliza. She always stared off into the distance, yet she had somehow managed to find a real nightmare of an item.
As I tried to think up a new excuse, Lucia silently changed course and accelerated.