Chapter 5:
Yuri vs. Filia
“BACK ON IT AGAIN today, Filia?”
“Sorry, but yes, I’ll be busy today too. Rather, I’ll be busy the entire time over the next three days until it’s time for our fight. I’m going through intensive training, after all. So I can win.”
It had been four days since my duel with Ashley. Filia, as usual of late, had been off doing her own thing.
I didn’t know what had happened that night, but I did know that Filia and I would be fighting. Until we did, Filia said, she was going to do some personalized intensive training. Don’t get me wrong, I was happy to fight Filia, but I didn’t really wanna accept requests by myself. Most A-Rank requests weren’t just something you could knock out in one day and come back, after all.
I’d thought about training in the Demon Forest, the only place nearby that really worked for that kind of thing, but apparently Filia and Ashley were already using it as their spot. It’d be awkward if I bumped into them there, so…nah. Normally, I would’ve considered going on a long trip or something, but if I went too far away from Filia, there was always the off chance she could be kidnapped, and then how could I do anything to stop it? It wasn’t super likely, but better safe than sorry.
“Huh? Is something the matter?” asked Filia.
Perhaps I’d been staring at her too much, because Filia tilted her head and looked puzzled. Her long silver hair swayed about, gently pulled by gravity.
“Nothin’…you go on ahead.”
“Excellent. Well, I’m off!”
I didn’t say I was worried—I could tell from the look in her eye that I’d get teased for it. I just watched her go in silence.
“Well, guess I’ll start training.” There were still lots of things to do even without accepting any requests. I pounded my fists together with a loud crack and put on a bold smile.
Several hours later, I was working out alone in the quiet room, sunlight streaming in. To other people, it might have looked like I wasn’t really doing anything, but I was gushing sweat like a waterfall. This training was very intense. What I was doing was called an “air chair,” but it wasn’t just a simple “air chair.” No, I was basically floating in the air from a seated position.
I was pushing my body into the air by moving my legs so fast that you couldn’t even see an afterimage. To stop myself from spinning, I also had to keep moving my hands in order to maintain balance. Since I had to keep using both my arms and legs constantly in this exercise, it was extremely difficult to keep it up, even if I was only going at it for a few minutes.
“Agh!” I stopped my air chair in midair and landed on the floor. I used my sweat-drenched shirt to try to wipe still more sweat from my face. Both my arms and legs cried out in exhaustion—they said I’d been moving them too vigorously. Too cruelly. I ignored them.
When it’s time to rest, you should rest. But this wasn’t that time.
Ah, they’re growing. I can feel my muscles growing! The corner of my mouth curled up into a grin. Honestly, that was why I did muscle training. Feeling myself getting stronger was an incomparable pleasure.
“All right, what next…huh?” I looked up at the ceiling. I heard sounds coming from the roof.
Drip, drip. It was raining.
“Perfect.” There was a great exercise you could only do indoors on a rainy day. The exercise was called “counting the number of raindrops hitting the roof.” It was just the right kind of training to do at a time like this. Surely the Muscle God had given me the gift of rain in light of my tireless efforts.
“Thanks, Muscle God!” I showed gratitude to my muscles and began my next exercise.
One hundred fifty-nine thousand, eight hundred and seven. One hundred fifty-nine thousand, eight hundred and eight. One hundred fifty-nine-thousand, eight hundred and nine…
A few hours passed in this way. I counted the number of raindrops with single-minded focus. As the rain grew more intense, the sound of the raindrops hitting the roof sounded almost like a waterfall. It certainly was no easy feat to keep track of them all.
This exercise targeted two things. First were my ears, which I honed so that they could hear every sound, no matter how small. Second was my thought process, which I honed so that I could process information and count while listening with my ears.
This way, I trained both things at the same time! I closed my eyes and focused all my senses solely on the information that I could obtain from my ears. By relying on a single organ, that one organ could become exponentially sharper.
Just then, my ears caught a sound other than the sound of the rain. While I continued counting the raindrops in my mind, my brain recognized the sound of someone approaching the door to my room.
“I’m back!” A pleasant voice like the ringing of a bell. Filia had returned. From her footsteps, I could tell that she wasn’t wandering around; she was walking directly toward me. “Oh, Yuri, are you sleeping?”
Ah, I bet she thought that because my eyes were closed. I was standing in the direct middle of the room in a wide, imposing stance, but I had also often slept while standing up.
One hundred and fifty-nine-thousand, nine hundred and fifty. One hundred and fifty-nine thousand, nine hundred and fifty-one. One hundred and fifty-nine thousand, nine hundred and fifty-two…
I concentrated on my training without paying any mind to Filia. Now that Filia was back, I’d call it quits after one hundred and sixty-thousand.
“Yuriiii? Huh. Maybe he really is sleeping?” Filia walked around me over and over as I was standing there. The scent of soft flowers stimulated my nose.
Don’t come any closer! It’ll break my concentration! But…wait, that could become yet another kind of training! All right, Filia, I’ll accept your challenge!
One hundred fifty-nine-thousand, nine hundred and ninety-seven. One hundred fifty-nine-thousand, nine hundred and ninety-eight. One hundred fifty-nine-thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine…one hundred sixty thousand!
“Still asleep, huh? Hmm. I bet I could pull a fun little prank on you… Tee hee hee!”
“I’m awake.”
“Uphth-bwah?!” shouted Filia, in an odd voice.
After enduring temptation and finishing my count all the way up to one hundred sixty thousand, I opened my eyes, feeling refreshed. Standing right in front of me was Filia, a thick black marker in hand.
More importantly, though, how in the world had she made such weird words fly out of her mouth so instantaneously? Was that a kind of training too?
“O-oh, you’re awake…” she mumbled. “Please don’t surprise me like that.”
“Sorry, my bad. By the way, what’s with the marker you’re holding in your hand?”
“Th-this? This is…a good question! Hmm! I just, uh. Don’t remember. Sorry!”
Liar. She had definitely meant to draw all over my face. Filia acted all innocent, her eyes flicking about, and she was touching her face with her hands. “Well, whatever. You’ve been trainin’ today too, huh?”
“Of course. So there’s no need for you to be all depressed even if you lose to me, okay?” said Filia, letting out a little snort like she was trying to provoke me.
“Oho…interesting. Okay, then. If I lose, I’ll listen to one request from you, no matter what it is.”
“Really?! Wow, I’m feeling super motivated! Now then, what kind of unreasonable request am I going to make of you, mmm?”
“You’ve already decided it’ll be unreasonable, huh?”
Filia looked incredibly animated, like her mind was just crawling with ideas.
Maybe I’d made a mistake. Nah… I shook my head to try and get rid of weak thoughts like that. As long as I won, there wouldn’t be a problem. I’d never lose to anyone, no matter who!
While I was thinking that, Filia crossed her arms, looking very serious. Just as I was wondering what she was thinking, her peach-colored lips parted, and she spoke. “But Yuri, it wouldn’t be fair if you were the only one to get punished for losing. Yes, it’s decided! If you win, I’ll give you the right to carry my bags the next time we go shopping!”
“No thanks.” I mean, wasn’t that more like a punishment for losing a game?
Filia’s eyes widened, as if she was incredibly surprised. “Oh? That’s so unusual, though. Isn’t allowing you to touch my personal belongings a reward? It is, isn’t it?”
“I honestly cannot believe how you say all that stuff with a straight face.”
“Oh, Yuri, please believe me: I am being unquestionably sincere,” Filia announced, putting her hand to her chest, wearing an angelic look—no, maybe even the look of a goddess. But when you compared that look to the words coming out of her mouth? Jeez, she was just rotten to the core!
“If you’re being sincere, that’s worse! You know that, right?”
“Know what?”
“Ugh. Anyway, I won’t need a reward like that when I beat you!” I declared.
“Oh? Well, I refuse to lose, Yuri! I’m training reallllly hard, and I’m going to beat you to a pulp!” she retorted, meeting my arrogant declaration with her own.
Even so, just being able to fight Filia was getting me pumped up! I knew Filia could freely call the Wind God now, but I still didn’t know how serious she was going to be in this fight.
Ah, c’mon, calendar! Can you move a little faster? Just three days…