Chapter 15
Me, Kuruni, and a black-haired woman in a robe.
A strange silence hung over the bustling main street for a few moments.
"Oh, isn't that Fis-chan?!"
Kuruni was the one who broke the silence after recognizing the woman's face.
"Kuruni. You were here."
"I was!"
The woman called Fis only shifted her gaze from me to Kuruni after hearing her name. Her expression didn't change; she seemed to have genuinely just noticed Kuruni.
"Kuruni, do you know her?"
The black-haired woman seemed to know me, and she apparently knew Kuruni too. Since I couldn't place her at all, I decided to ask Kuruni to explain.
"...Sensei, don't tell me you don't remember her?"
"Huh...?"
For once, Kuruni shot me a look that seemed to blame me.
"Beryl-sensei is mean. I'm sad. Sniffle, sniffle."
"E-even if you say that..."
I was at a loss for words as she pretended to cry without changing her expression.
But honestly, I really couldn't place her.
The same thing had happened with Surena, but my last memory of her was from when she was very young, so I hadn't been able to connect it to the person she was now.
By contrast, the woman called Fis didn't seem much older than Kuruni. And since she knew Kuruni and was asking whether I remembered her, it was likely she'd studied at my dojo around the same time.
But if that were really the case, surely I should have been able to figure it out.
Even Kuruni had recognized her at a glance.
"Hmm. No choice, then. How about this?"
"Hmm...?"
Maybe irritated that I still hadn't remembered her, Fis puffed out her cheeks and pulled a sword from inside her robe.
Right, I recognize that sword. It's the one I gave her as a parting gift.
Wait, does that mean she's one of the pupils who mastered everything at my dojo?
Hang on. If I still can't remember her after seeing this, that's incredibly rude. This is bad.
Her appearance... I shouldn't rely on that too much. Young women can change a lot in just a few years. Her hairstyle isn't much help either.
Her hair color, on the other hand, probably wouldn't change much, so I'm pretty sure she had black hair. Her personality probably wouldn't have changed all that much, either.
A black-haired woman who spoke with a distinctive rhythm, and a pupil I'd given a parting sword...
Fis... Fis?
"Ah... Could you be Fissel?"
"Correct. But you were slow. I'm sad."
Apparently, the woman before me really was Fissel.
Fissel was still a little sulky, but once I remembered her, my memories came flooding back.
Fissel Harbeller. She was one of the pupils I'd given a parting sword to.
Her time at the dojo had overlapped with Kuruni's, that's true. But unlike Kuruni, who'd left after two years, Fissel had stayed for around five, graduating only after she'd thoroughly mastered our swordsmanship.
However, the Fissel I remembered had been more of a tomboy, and she looked nothing like the person standing before me now.
She'd kept her hair cut short, and she'd been slender. She wasn't one to carry a conversation, so aside from the bare minimum of interaction, I remember her quietly practicing her swordsmanship.
I couldn't remember her wearing anything but simple clothes, either. She wasn't the sort of person who'd wear a fine robe that covered her down to the knees.
My last memory of her was when I gave her the sword as a parting gift.
After her expression softened for once, she seemed to suddenly hit upon an idea and said only, "I've found something else to do," before leaving the dojo.
A good while had passed since then, and yet here we were, meeting again in such an unexpected way.
"Well, I say this every time I run into one of my pupils, but... you've changed so much."
"I've grown, too. But I'm sad you didn't recognize me."
"S-sorry, I really am..."
No matter how much she'd changed, she was a former pupil—one I'd given a parting sword to. Forgetting her was unacceptable for a teacher. I needed to reflect on that properly.
"You haven't told me I've changed, Sensei..."
"S-sorry."
I'm sorry. Kuruni's just fine the way she is; she's a comfort to me.
"Well, it's fine. But Fis-chan is amazing! She's doing great as the ace of the Mage Corps now!"
"That's right. I worked hard, too. I'm great."
"Huh? The Mage Corps?"
Why? Why had she joined the Mage Corps after learning swordsmanship at my dojo?
Well, it was undeniably impressive. Mages were rare even across the world, and only a limited number of people had that kind of aptitude for magic.
With swordsmanship, even someone without much talent could get reasonably good if they kept practicing.
But magic didn't work that way. Without talent, you'd stay at zero forever. There was no growth. I had no talent for magic whatsoever, either.
Only those with genuine talent could become mages.
"Still, you studied swordsmanship here and then learned magic too... You really worked hard."
"Yeah. And I've been putting Beryl-sensei's swordsmanship to good use, too."
"Oh?"
Since I'd given Fissel a parting sword, her swordsmanship was above average, to say the least. If she could also use magic, then she really was a rare talent.
But if you asked whether swordsmanship directly affected one's skill as a mage, I'd have to pause. Talent for the sword and talent for magic were completely different things.
"Sword Magic. It's what I'm best at."
"Sword... Magic...?"
What was that?
"Just what it sounds like. I can send slashes flying with my sword movements, or add fire or ice to them."
"W-wow. That's amazing..."
Maybe Fissel was casually doing something incredible. My response came out a little sluggishly.
"Are there other people who can use Sword Magic?"
"There are some. But most can't handle a sword very well."
Now that she mentioned it, that made sense.
Magic required talent, of course, and effort on top of that. The same could be said of swordsmanship.
If you were imbuing a sword with magic, the foundation of the movements would be swordplay. Naturally, someone well-versed in swordsmanship would be better at it.
Perhaps "magic swordsman" would be a more accurate description than "mage."
I've never heard of that as a profession, though.
"By the way, why are you in the capital, Beryl-sensei?"
"Oh, well..."
Once our conversation about Sword Magic had reached a stopping point, Fissel asked the obvious question.
I told her that I'd become a special instructor for the Knights, and that I was about to go sightseeing in the West District with Kuruni as my guide.
"Then I'll come along too. It's been a while, Kuruni."
"Oh, is that all right?"
"It's fine. I'm done with my errand. I'll join you."
"The two of us will show you around, Sensei!"
As she spoke, Fissel took up a spot beside me. I could see a shopping bag in one hand, presumably from a shopping trip, but was it really all right for her to come along on my stroll? Well, if she said it was fine, I had no choice but to take her at her word.
"...Fissel?"
"The West District is crowded. The streets get narrow. It'd be bad if we got separated."
Fissel's hand took hold of mine. Its warmth slowly enveloped my left hand.
"...I see. Then I'll leave the guiding to you two."
"Leave it to me!"
"All right."
Well, why not? There was no reason to pull my hand away.
And so, led along by my two pupils, I got to enjoy sightseeing for a while.