Chapter 9
Beastification.
A racial trait and secret art once used by the mammalian beastfolk during the Seven Years’ War.
It awakened the primordial beast instinct sleeping within their blood, for they were beings closer to humans than beasts.
In exchange for reason, this secret art greatly enhanced physical abilities, the toughness of the outer hide, reflexes, and the like, making it an unmistakable symbol of terror to the magic knights sent to the front lines during the Seven Years’ War.
I, too, witnessed countless beastfolk undergo beastification right before my eyes, and cut down the necks of innumerable beasts that had lost their reason and run wild.
The war god Valgarta had also used beastification when driven into a corner, and I had barely managed to cut off his head after gambling one of my arms.
Had the healing magic of the reinforcements that arrived right afterward not been available, I would probably be wielding a sword with only one hand by now.
‘But why is Miriam using beastification…?’
Still, several things made me hesitate to conclude that what Miriam was doing was beastification.
First, beastfolk cannot use mana.
Mana was a kind of power granted exclusively to humans, and apart from an extremely small number of mutants, monsters and beastfolk were incapable of even sensing it.
Yet although Miriam’s transformation resembled beastification, it was clearly scattering mana from her extremities.
Even that, strictly speaking, was not perfect mana control. With excessive mana pooling at her extremities and scattering blue smoke or particles into the air, this state was commonly called ‘mana excess’—an improper method of handling mana that wasted more than half of the mana in use.
Even if the control was not perfect, a caster who truly controlled their mana should not have so much surplus mana that it was visible to the naked eye.
Second, beastification was a technique that exchanged reason for physical ability, yet Miriam was clearly retaining her sanity.
The beastification of beastfolk was different. Traditional beastification was a secret art regarded as a last resort even among beastfolk, one that completely stripped away reason and left only instinct.
In severe cases, there had even been instances of people losing their reason immediately after activating it, then running wild while biting into their comrades’ flesh.
But even after performing that ‘transformation,’ Miriam was clearly still in her right mind. That was the most fundamental difference between it and beastification.
“Miss Miriam.”
“Yes?”
Miriam tilted her head. At some point, a tail had sprouted from the small of her back and was swaying from side to side like rippling waves.
“How did you learn that spell?”
“I don’t remember!”
Miriam answered confidently.
“It just sort of started working somehow?”
“Somehow….”
I nodded and thought.
‘Given Miriam’s personality, she probably didn’t lie to the other instructors either.’
And unless the other instructors were idiots, they must have figured out what beastification was… as well as the similarities between Miriam’s wolf magic and beastification.
Even so, they hadn’t placed any sort of restriction on her, and considering that she was attending the academy without any apparent problems….
‘Then this must not be something I should meddle with rashly.’
“Sorry. I was lost in thought.”
“That’s mean!”
I apologized sincerely, and Miriam sulked angrily at my words.
“Please take this seriously!”
“All right.”
At Miriam’s complaint, I obediently nodded. Miriam flashed a grin, then kicked off the ground and charged straight at me.
It was a straightforward charge in a straight line, with no tricks or feints.
‘At first, should I hold back a little?’
I could dodge the attack and openly go for her back once. I wondered how she would react.
As I thought this, I instinctively tensed, sharpening my senses in preparation for the attack that was about to arrive.
It was a kind of routine. Repeated for seven years, it had become something like a conditioned reflex ingrained in my body.
And then I looked straight at Miriam.
I saw her fur-covered forearm and sharply raised claws.
-Click.
A switch flipped in my mind. My heart began pounding violently, my field of vision widened, and my thoughts grew cold.
My ears grew muffled, and silence descended. I could no longer hear anything except my own heartbeat.
I had survived seven years in a place where failing to remain calm and empty my mind meant death.
In exchange for surviving, I had forgotten how to hold back.
I slipped past the claw thrust wrapped in sharp mana. It wasn’t because I underestimated my opponent. I had to deflect the attack precisely while staying as close as possible, so that subduing her afterward would be easier.
The opponent’s
posture was badly thrown off. The pounding of my heart grew even more violent.
As I drove inward,
the opponent’s
torso was laid bare. It was riddled with weak points. The neck, solar plexus, and flank. No matter where I struck, I could inflict a fatal wound bordering on instant death….
-Crack.
The bitter taste of blood filled my mouth. The pounding of my heart subsided, and my mind, which had turned cold, returned to its ordinary liveliness.
“Hng….”
The tip of my incisor had dug into the inside of my lower lip, and I tasted blood. I exhaled a heated breath and groaned softly.
Only belatedly did I remember that this was the royal capital, not the Eastern Front. This was Magnus Academy, and the war had ended three years ago.
My opponent was not an enemy. It was Miriam. She was the first person I had met at the academy, and a precious student.
And yet, I….
The blow to Miriam’s jaw had rattled her brain, knocking her unconscious in a single strike. But until the instant before, I hadn’t been aiming for her jaw or anything like it.
I had been aiming for Miriam’s throat—or rather, I had almost struck it. If I hadn’t changed my hand blade into a fist and struck her jaw at the last moment, Miriam would have….
“……”
Without a word, I hoisted the unconscious Miriam onto my back.
=
With a splitting headache, Miriam opened her bleary eyes.
“Ah, she’s awake…!”
A voice laced with a sigh of relief came from above her head.
“…Teacher Haru?”
“Thank goodness. I was worried you might not wake up….”
By now, the sun had set, leaving the night sky pitch-black. At the center of her vision was Haru’s face, looking down at her.
Looking up at Haru’s face, which seemed red and swollen around the eyes, Miriam recalled what had happened just before she lost consciousness.
Her attack had been casually dodged right in front of her, and she had then taken a counter to the jaw. How long had it lasted? Thirty seconds? Forty? The only certainty was that less than a minute had passed before she lost consciousness.
Haru had been playing in an entirely different league.
“…Ugh.”
In frustration, Miriam bit her lip.
Haru’s face against the backdrop of the pitch-black sky blurred and twisted.
“Uuugh….”
“Oh, goodness.”
When Miriam suddenly burst into tears, Haru became utterly flustered, unsure what to do.
“A-are you all right? Does something hurt after all….”
Miriam shook her head tearfully. Then she sniffed hard and asked Haru in a choked voice,
“How can I become as strong as you, Teacher?”
“What? Ah….”
Only then did Haru seem to realize why Miriam had burst into tears. After tilting her head for a moment, Haru shook it with an awkward smile.
“Um… I’m not sure what I should say….”
“Anything is fine!”
Miriam said, sniffing back her tears.
Haru thought that it was just like Miriam to recover in an instant, even though tears had only welled up in her eyes for a moment out of frustration.
“Um….”
Haru thought for a moment, then said with an awkward wink,
“You just have to work yourself to the bone on a battlefield for seven years.”
“Eeh.”
At the unexpected answer, Miriam froze blankly with her mouth hanging open. Haru belatedly gave a stiff laugh and scratched her head.
“Ha ha ha! I’m joking. That makes no sense, right?”
….”
Haru chuckled and scratched her head, then lowered her eyes and muttered,
“…I’m sorry. Actually, I wasn’t joking.”
“I see.”
Miriam, however, answered calmly.
“I thought as much.”
“What?”
“I can always tell when you lie, Teacher Haru.”
Miriam said.
“…Is it?”
Haru looked down at Miriam with a complicated expression, then quietly opened her mouth.
“You know, Miriam.”
“Yeah.”
“Actually… during our spar just now, I almost killed you.”
“Uh, huh?”
To the flustered Miriam, Haru calmly confessed what she had been thinking.
“As I said, I grew strong by constantly crossing the line between life and death during the war. Rather than becoming strong because I wanted to, though, it feels more like I only realized I’d ended up this way after I survived.”
….”
“A sparring match where neither side is trying to kill the other… This was my first one, with you, Miss Miriam.”
Haru continued with a bitter smile.
“But the moment I saw you charging at me, I thought, ‘I have to kill her.’ Even though this is just a spar, not that kind of fight.”
Haru muttered, forcing a sorrowful smile.
“A-ahaha. I’m disqualified as an instructor, aren’t I? If I’m already like this before we’ve even started… I don’t know whether I can become a proper instructor.”
Looking up at Haru, Miriam pressed her lips together.
Then she abruptly sprang to her feet from Haru’s lap and shouted,
“Then I’ll help you!”
“What?”
Facing the flustered Haru, Miriam gripped both of Haru’s hands tightly and said,
“From now on, let’s spar here every day until the entrance ceremony! We’ll practice together until you can control your strength properly, Teacher Haru!”
“B-but.”
“It’s okay! There are barrier stones in the sparring grounds, so what you’re worried about won’t happen.”
….”
“So stop tearing yourself down like that.”
Miriam looked at Haru with a serious expression and said,
“I like you, Teacher Haru. I’ve only known you for a day, but I want to keep seeing you from now on. So don’t say things like you’re disqualified as an instructor or whatever.”
The corners of Haru’s mouth trembled at Miriam’s words. In a trembling voice, Haru slowly opened her mouth.
“Do you really… mean that?”
“What?”
At Haru’s barely audible words, Miriam tilted her head.
Belatedly flustered, Haru waved her hands and squeaked, her face bright red.
“N-no! That’s not what I meant! I mean the barrier stones… I was asking whether they’re really safe…!”
“Oh, is that what you meant?”
Miriam replied, rubbing beneath her nose.
“Of course they are. Not to brag, but how many times do you think I’ve used those things?”
“…I see.”
Haru cautiously asked Miriam, who sounded utterly confident,
“Then, may I ask you to do that…?”
Miriam smiled brightly and nodded.
“Of course!”
Then she pulled Haru to her feet by the hand.
“Then shall we go now?”
“Go where…?”
“To practice. Weren’t we starting today?”
Looking at Miriam, who said it as though it were obvious, Haru thought,
Surely she hadn’t suggested this just because she wanted to keep fighting… That was the somewhat impudent thought that crossed her mind.
“What are you waiting for? Hurry up!”
Haru smiled faintly and slowly walked toward Miriam, who was shouting impatiently from a distance.