“I still feel terrible about what happened to Christina…” Elievina murmured apologetically. She continued that while it seemed like the ideal material, she’d had to give up on using it.
“Metallic fibers into fabric, you say?”
Regardless of what happened to Christina, she seemed to have come up with something close to the ideal gambeson using this method. Thinking about whether there might be anything that would do the trick, Mira suddenly remembered a material that could very well work.
“Why don’t you try using this?” Mira said, opening up her item box and taking out a long length of rope—or more precisely, cable that looked like rope. It was a precious material known as “machilite cable” that she’d got when she’d vanquished the Machina Guardian in the Ancient Underground City.
It was a very versatile material that was both very durable and heat-resistant, and it was quite effective given its light weight.
What’s more, it was molded like rope, such that you could undo it and make it into metallic strands. Were Elievina to weave that into fabric, it’d likely be just the kind of thing she had had in mind. Thinking as much, Mira asked the girl what she thought of it.
“These fibers are much more flexible than they look… I think this’ll work!” Elievina said, a bright look blossoming on her face as she closely examined the cable. She’d found the exact material that she’d been searching for, or so the satisfied smile on her face seemed to say.
“Is that right? I’m glad to hear it.”
Happy herself to see how satisfied Elievina looked, Mira told the girl that she could take all of it, as she still had a ton of it left.
Surprised at how much Mira was giving her, Elievina nevertheless took it and, vowing to make the ultimate gambeson, returned to her room. It was quite heavy and yet, in Valkyrie-like fashion, she brought it all back in a single trip.
Shortly after Elievina departed, the sixth sister, Selestina, came by.
Looking somehow like a student council president, she kneeled quietly before Mira as soon as she was inside the room and asked, “Master, there’s something I’d like to discuss with you… Do you have a moment?” She looked as if something was troubling her.
“Hrm, I don’t mind. What’s up?”
Selestina had a strong sense of personal responsibility and was very reliable. If she were to visit to discuss something, then it had to be a fairly serious issue. Mira didn’t know whether she could fix any such problem, but she could certainly listen. Adopting a more serious attitude, she turned to face Selestina.
“Master. I’ve…been thinking…” Selestina started, with a grave expression on her face. However, what she had to discuss wasn’t grave at all. And yet, from the deadly earnest look in her eyes as she spoke, it was clear that from her point of view it was likely a matter of life or death.
However, it ended up being something that made Mira wonder why she’d considered it such a big deal. That said, it wasn’t as if she didn’t get where Selestina was coming from. It was likely precisely because they were all sisters that she was so concerned.
Selestina had come to talk about her special attack. Upon asking why she was so worried about something like this, the girl explained as if the answer pained her.
Apparently, it all had to do with Christina’s recent exploits. In particular, the attack she’d used against the Machina Guardian with the sacred sword had apparently astonished not only Selestina, but the rest of the sisters as well.
Selestina was the second youngest sister, while Christina was the very youngest. Therefore, the two of them often trained together. And so, up until then, Selestina had always helped Christina with her training as an older sister and had watched as she’d grown.
To Selestina, Christina had been a rather high-maintenance little sister. But beyond that, she still wanted her little sister to look up to her.
However, on that day, Christina had leveled a strike that outdid even their eldest sister Alfina. And now, Christina had further polished the mana concentration skills that she’d used for that technique.
Therefore, Selestina had gotten it into her head that she couldn’t let herself be outdone and had begun working to come up with her own special technique. She wished she could use some awesome move, just like Christina.
“But it’s my first time thinking about coming up with a special technique, so I have no idea what I should do,” Selestina said, sounding depressed. Opening a notebook, she continued, “What do you think?”
Taking a closer look, Mira saw that she’d written down a whole list of ideas for special techniques in the notebook. What’s more, next to the explanations of these techniques, she’d included drawings roughly outlining the movements used for them. And yet, these drawings were about as good as the kind a loving parent of a kindergartner would put up on the fridge. They looked more like cutesy sketches than instructions for finishing moves.
Mira remembered having a sort of special technique notebook that she’d kept when she was younger, and so she felt nostalgic as she carefully looked through the notebook. Finally, she said, “Hrmm… I don’t know if you could call these special techniques…”
Selestina’s notebook mostly reflected her own skills, and so most of the moves there weren’t necessarily what one could consider special techniques.
Selestina’s special skills had a lot to do with her status as a prodigy.
Each of the seven Valkyrie sisters was normally equipped with a sword, and yet, all of them were more than proficient with just about every weapon. Additionally, each of them was particularly skilled with a different weapon. Alfina was especially skilled with a long sword, Elezina with a bow, and Christina with a sword and shield. And were they to get whatever weapon they specialized in, they could demonstrate outstanding combat capabilities.
Meanwhile, incredibly, Selestina was a prodigy who was very skilled with most weapons. What’s more, the weapons the sisters were normally equipped with were all created from light crystals. Therefore, they could summon and dispel them at will. This worked perfectly with her ability to wield most weapons extremely well, allowing her to make use of her full potential.
For that reason, her special technique notebook was full of ideas using each different weapon. But, from what Mira could tell, the moves were entirely combo moves—that is, they were just sequences of ordinary attacks, like the kind one might use in a video game. While it may have been a finishing move notebook, it looked more like a list of combos.
Of course, with her level of training, Selestina had included quite a few follow-up techniques that could be used mid-attack, and the combos were so polished that they almost felt like works of art.
If she were simply looking for a rush-style special move, she already had what she needed. However, considering that she was looking for some kind of grand finishing move like Christina’s with the sword of light, Mira could only say that she wasn’t quite there.
“You started to get a bit off track too, huh?” Mira said, observing as much while she flipped through the notebook.
Selestina herself had picked up on this while writing as well, seeing as halfway through, the notebook simply transformed into a record of special techniques that all used a single strike. However, they were all just the same technique as Christina’s but with different weapons. The most important part of the technique was concentrating one’s mana, in which respect Chistina’s skills were unsurpassed, and so using the same technique without those capabilities made for one which was strictly inferior.
One might even say that looking to come up with a special technique just so she could keep up with Christina was a bit like putting the cart before the horse.
“What should I do…? How does one learn how to do a special technique…?” Selestina muttered hopelessly, when Mira closed the notebook. She’d asked her older sister, and they’d apparently all said that the answer would suddenly strike her in the midst of training or combat.
Lamenting that she had yet to have such a revelation, Selestina looked at Mira imploringly.
I guess even geniuses have issues.
Or so Mira thought, as she felt Selestina’s gaze fall on her. And so, she gently put her hand on the girl’s shoulder and softly said, “In that case, why don’t we come up with something together?” When one feels stuck, all they need to do is talk it over with someone else, and then suddenly a solution will come to them surprisingly often. This was especially true in this case, as one could safely say that Mira was an expert when it came to things like special techniques. Mira smiled while thinking back on all the practical as well as completely silly techniques that she’d come up with alongside Solomon and Luminaria.
Seeing Mira’s supremely confident demeanor, which suggested it’d be a piece of cake, Selestina looked more reassured than ever and said, “Th-thank you, Master!” and, with a truly radiant smile blooming on her face, she bowed.