“Put the sun into a needle hole.”
Surely, it was supposed to be like this.
It wasn’t a story I had paid much attention to. Wasn’t it unreasonable?
In a sense, the demand to pierce through space out of nowhere was just as absurd.
Even graduate students from the Magic Department, notorious for their slave mentality, would shake their heads at such a command.
However, I was given no chance to argue.
This was because a woman’s frail scream echoed from afar.
“……Kyaah!”
“Puhuh, ahaha… Hahaha!”
And then came a loud, hearty laugh.
It was a jovial rhythm that didn’t match the clear and pure tone at all.
I didn’t even feel the need to identify the owner of that voice. The source was obvious.
It must be the sounds made by a vampire and a blade master.
Eventually, my eyes and the great witch’s turned blankly back to the battlefield. There, a vampire was barely supporting her ragged clothing with her arms. Alongside her was a maiden, whose uniform was also torn in several places, equally battered.
The maiden’s eyes were blazing with intense competitiveness. That emotion could easily be labeled as ‘madness.’
Grinding her teeth, the blade master raised her voice.
“How about it, you monster! I clearly said… I would return what I was given!”
“Aren’t you the crazy one?!”
Curiously, the roles of perpetrator and victim were reversed.
But I could tell.
Just like the vampire, the blade master’s body was beginning to show signs of injury.
What if this ‘blade master’ were to desert us like this?
There was no answer.
A monster equivalent to a master could only be faced by a master.
As if reading my thoughts, the great witch let out a small sigh.
“Well then, I ask of you.”
“What about the great witch…?”
The reply to that question came with a bitter smile.
“I’ll be playing with my foolish sister for a while. You should join the blade madman.”
Only then did a hypothesis flash through my mind.
“If the blade master splits space and I assist…!”
“No, the blade madman cannot be involved. The ritual forming this barrier is related to the five elements. In other words, it means that the dissolution cannot occur without my vision, which contains similar principles.”
The great witch left me, who had seen my last hope shattered, with only a scoff.
“It’s a barrier that took decades, if not centuries, to prepare. Therefore, if the spellcaster gets into a fight with a master… Of course, it should not be taken lightly.”
“……Then why the blade master?”
“Still, they are a swordsman, right? They might give better advice than I do… Well then, I’ll take my leave.”
With that, the great witch fluttered her hand and departed.
Until the sound of her footsteps caught the attention of the two women focused on the battle.
The vampire’s expression, who was deeply engrossed in combat, showed signs of confusion.
“How did you…?”
“You shouldn’t underestimate me, brat.”
As she spoke, the great witch gently turned one of her palms upward.
Fire, water, and electricity began to rise.
“Even though I can’t draw out my true strength, I can still use the powers of the three elements like this… unlike someone without talent.”
It was a blatant provocation.
The intent was so obvious, but the vampire wasn’t someone who would care about that.
Unless she was consumed by inferiority complex, that is.
Crunch!
She had put so much force into it that the sound of her teeth shattering echoed.
The one truly taken by surprise was someone else.
The blade master, showing displeasure on her face, attempted to restrain the great witch.
“Old hag, are you insane?! That monster is my share…!”
“Is that so? Then I guess I’ll have to teach this brat a lesson instead.”
“……But I’ll especially yield to you!”
The girl was persuaded in an instant and immediately kicked off the ground to retreat.
It was a situation the great witch could only have desired.
No, in fact, it was the same for the vampire.
The great witch took a deep breath, trying to calm her heart. Even so, she couldn’t completely erase the enmity rising in her light green eyes.
“Ugh, it reminds me of old times.”
“……I don’t remember anything.”
The vampire cut her off sharply, beginning to spread crimson mist.
The air touching the mist rippled. It was obviously an extraordinary skill.
“I’m not the old me anymore, okay?!”
And then, explosions.
The blood-red mist expanded, melting everything in its path. The distorted blades, revealing themselves through the cracks in space, targeted the great witch’s soft skin.
It was a tough fight.
I pretended to be calm, but pushing back the blood-red blades with magical power while repelling the mist was no easy task. The momentum contained within the blood-red weapons exceeded my imagination.
Thud, thud, thud!
It sounded as if a hammer was driving in a nail.
Even the space torn apart by the red mist poured down all of nature’s forces. Storms, lightning, and waves of scorching fire engulfed the world.
I couldn’t wipe the worried expression from my face.
But there was someone there blocking me first.
The girl, who landed proudly in front of me with tattered clothing, had lost all functional capability in her outfit, revealing her pristine white skin underneath.
It was an incredibly embarrassing sight.
I quickly averted my gaze, but the girl seemed completely oblivious to what was wrong. She raised her sword with excitement, looking rather pleased.
“Brat, have you finally made up your mind? Yes, that’s right. A swordsman must learn from another swordsman, shouldn’t they?”
“Um, elder…?”
With my face burning with embarrassment, I couldn’t remove my hand from my cheek as I carefully spoke up.
At that, the girl looked at me with a puzzled expression. The innocence of her reaction pressed down on my chest like a weight of guilt.
I squeezed my eyes shut and shouted.
“Th-That, your body…!”
“Hmm? Ah, ahhh!”
Only then did the blade master seem to realize something.
Just when I thought relief was on its way, I sensed the blade master inching closer to me.
A playful smile filled my view.
“How about it, pretty, huh?”
What’s this about?
I could only stare at the girl with wide eyes. Then, I caught a glimpse of her white skin out of the corner of my eye, forcing me to turn my gaze once again.
As I hesitated to respond, the blade master let out a small laugh and shook her head.
“Yeah, yeah. It’s a natural desire… I understand. What if I let you touch it?”
“No, what are you… Have you finally gone mad, elder?!”
At this point, I could no longer hold back.
As I raised my voice in shock, the girl merely laughed joyfully.
Could it be that the vampire was up to some scheme?
Just as I started to genuinely fear it, I swallowed hard.
“……Don’t do that! Here! Touch it once!”
With that bold declaration, what the girl extended toward me was none other than a sword.
The silver sword she had been holding.
In an instant, I became dazed, unable to comprehend the situation. Regardless, the blade master just smiled contentedly.
“I didn’t think you’d know the name of this sword. ‘White Body’… It’s said to be a relic created during the Unification Empire era. A particularly tragic love story of the craftsman is memorable…”
“Blade master.”
As my words were cut off, the girl stared at me with a bewildered expression.
I hesitated, gazing into her dull blue eyes for a few seconds.
In the end, all I could do was let out a sigh.
“……The great witch is in a tough spot. We must go now.”
“Hmmm, is that so? That old hag should be having a hard time.”
I was relieved that the blade master had a surprisingly agreeable nature.
Honestly, I wanted to tell her to cover herself.
Thus, the blade master and I were able to immediately begin our strategic meeting.
“Blade master, can you put the sun into a needle hole?”
It was a straightforward question.
And it was the core of this dilemma. The blade master’s reaction to facing this enigmatic question was quite blunt.
“Hmmm, maybe I’m lacking in medicine…?”
“No, no. It was the great witch who said so.”
Only then did the blade master stop rummaging through her tattered clothes.
I doubted there was even a pocket left that wasn’t torn.
A small hum escaped the girl’s closed lips. Even amidst all this, the explosions continued to resonate behind us.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Occasionally, piercing sounds would add to the cacophony. A quick glance revealed that countless spheres tracing luminous trajectories were in a tug-of-war with the blood-red mist.
Then came the cracks.
Right after a sound like a crack whispered past my ears.
An explosion powerful enough to shake the entire earth erupted.
The aftershock itself caused the ground to tremble throughout the world. I felt the wind scratching at my skin like claws and pressed on the unfortunate girl.
“Do you have any idea about something?!”
It might have been because of that.
“Can the sword cut through the sky?”
The blade master suddenly began a nonsensical riddle.
I swallowed my frustration inwardly.
