Chapter 3: Inheritance

As her name suggests, Violet-san is an elven warrior who makes purple flowers bloom and fights clad in brambles. We first met as duel opponents when she was guarding the Elder, but now we sometimes meet as good friends.

「Lately she’s got nothing to do. That’s your fault.」
「My fault?」

We left Yellow-Green-san and, along the way, Ultramarine came out with that.

「You shut up the lizardmen and the giants, didn’t you. Violet’s job was to keep that lot in check, but they’ve been completely quiet for, what, a hundred years now, so she’s got nothing to do.」
「Well… peace is a good thing, isn’t it?」

Both the lizardmen and the giants are extremely belligerent and will attack for no real reason. Hiiro has been raided a few times, but Nina and I drove them off, and by negotiating patiently we’ve managed to reach a sort of truce for now.

「‘Peace,’ huh… You still say incomprehensible things. Oh, there’s Violet.」

Before I could ask what exactly was incomprehensible, Ultramarine waved her arm vigorously.

「I’ve heard about your visit. Please, come in.」

Speaking gently, Violet-san led us—presumably into her home—inside a hollow of a giant tree. Elves can learn most things that happen in their forest from the trees’ whispers. She likely knew we were coming and why, and had made preparations. Wooden cups of water had been set out on the table for each of us.

「Am I to teach the handling of the sword?」
「About that…」

After a sip of the cold water that seemed to permeate my whole body, Violet-san broached the topic—and I said what had occurred to me while listening to Ultramarine earlier.

「If you wouldn’t mind, would you yourself come to our village, Violet-san?」
「Me…?」

It must have been an unexpected proposal. Violet-san blinked in surprise.

「Yes. Together with Nina, I was hoping you could teach not only the sword but magic as well.」

Even if we could learn to cut meat cleanly, I have no intention of building that kind of ranch in Hiiro. That means we’ll have to study animal husbandry on our own, but we’re short on hands as it is.

We have so many children. One teacher can manage at best a few dozen. There are hundreds of children, but only two teachers—Nina and me. We split days and times for classes, but that leaves no time for research.

Nina and I had discussed more than once that we needed to increase the number of teachers to prepare for the children who would surely keep increasing. In that regard, Violet-san seemed ideal.

「…It’s true that I’m interested in Sensei’s school.」

After thinking for a moment, Violet-san answered thus.

「However, I am the Warden of this forest. I cannot so casually leave the forest just because I’m interested.」
「You say that, but you lost to a bear-ape, didn’t you?」

Ultramarine pointed it out cleanly, and Violet-san nodded without taking offense.

「Yes. If it’s to learn that strength, I would be granted permission. However, it has been centuries since then. I know human lives are not so long. That person is no longer alive, is he?」
「…Yes.」

Clutching the stone ornament at my breast, I nodded. Even now, when I remember those days, I feel like I’ll cry.

「You’re idle anyway, so what’s the problem?」
「That is not the issue.」

At Ultramarine’s words, Violet-san shook her head decisively.

「You could come, Ultramarine.」
「Absolutely not.」

Even though I’d been recommending Violet, when I tossed the idea to her, Ultramarine answered as if it were obvious. Well, that’s how she is, and I can’t see her as a teacher anyway. …Come to think of it, I’ve never actually seen Ultramarine use magic. It’s probably something like making blue flowers or leaves grow.

「If you come here and I teach you the sword, I will be glad to do so as much as you like.」
「Thank you. If there’s an opportunity, I’ll come by.」

I drained my water, stood, and bowed. Not that such an opportunity is likely. In my case, if I’m going to fight, it’s faster to turn back into a dragon and slug things than use a sword.

「I don’t really get it, but—」

Just as I was about to leave, the one who spoke up was Yuuki.

「If I’m stronger than you, Violet-san, will you become a teacher?」
「…I know Sensei is strong. If you took your true form, I could not match you. …However—」

Violet-san swung her arm, and a bramble extended from her hand to become a sword.

「That strength is inborn—the strength of a dragon. What I seek is different. The sword is technique, something honed and cultivated after birth. That is what I wish to pursue, human child.」

Dalga was also a man born strong. But he managed to beat Violet-san because he learned magic under me. If it had been him as he was when we first met, he would have lost.

「Okay. Then—」

Yuuki drew the sword at her waist. In a scabbard made from wolf‑lion hide rested a sword whose wooden blade had stones set into it to serve as its edge.

Not a spear, not an axe—a sword. The very mainstay of the line called Tsurugibe. And then I drew in a sharp breath.

「If I win, that’s fine, right?」

At Yuuki’s words, Violet-san’s eyes narrowed. Her genial smile vanished, and she looked down at Yuuki as if appraising her.

In height, Yuuki’s head only reached about Violet-san’s chest. Even allowing for racial differences, it was obvious she was an undeveloped child, and Violet looked to me, as if to read my intent.

Had Nina predicted this would happen? She was the one who told me to bring Yuuki along to this forest, which I had originally planned to visit alone.
If so, there was no choice but to accept.

「Be careful not to get hurt.」

I said that to them both.

「Yuuki is strong.」


* * *


The two took their stances and faced off.
Violet-san held a shield made by hardening brambles into a board and a short sword of stem with a sharp point, while Yuuki held her stone-edged wooden sword one-handed. Their builds and equipment were completely different, yet their presence felt somehow alike.

「I’ll stop it when I judge a winner, so withdraw your swords immediately then. Especially you, Yuuki, all right?」
「Okay!」

Yuuki nodded brightly, but I was a little worried. That said, I was the one who’d agreed to this match, so I couldn’t call it off now.

「Then… begin!」

At my signal, Violet-san moved first. A thrust as fast as lightning shot from her long arm, extending unbelievably far. The distance I’d thought perfectly safe vanished in an instant, and that strike targeted Yuuki’s grip.

「I’m fast!」

In that instant, Yuuki’s figure vanished, leaving only her voice. But Violet-san lost sight of her for less than even a tenth of a heartbeat. An elf losing track of her opponent in the forest is unthinkable.

「I’m tough!」

The blow loosed as she turned was, incredibly, knocked aside by the back of Yuuki’s free hand. A point that could easily slice through a great tree bounced off with a hard, stone-like sound.

「I’m strong!」

At the same moment, an accelerated slash went for Violet-san’s throat. She reflexively raised her shield and glanced the blow aside. The stone blade easily cut the bramble shield, shearing off its upper half.

「Gh…!」

She must have finally realized that this little girl was not to be underestimated. In concert with Violet-san’s leap back, bramble armor wrapped her entire body.

But that was a bad move.

「You’re slow!」

The moment Yuuki shouted that, Violet-san’s movements visibly dulled.

「You’re soft! You’re weak!」

Violet-san barely managed to evade the cascading downward blows, but her legs lost strength and she buckled, her posture collapsing.

「Let there be light! Thou art my other half, thou who seizes all and rends it!」

Seizing the opening, Yuuki raised her wooden sword, and light erupted from its blade like lightning.

「That’s enough!」

As I shouted, Yuuki’s shining wooden sword cleaved the bramble blade Violet-san had raised in two, split her helm, and stopped dead.

…As ruthless as ever. She stacks self-enhancements, inflicts debuffs on the opponent, and finishes by empowering her weapon—a strike you can neither dodge nor block. It produces enough power to fell even an armored bear in a single cut. A simple yet polished way of fighting—it’s hard to believe she’s nine.
She even calls herself boku for this—because it omits one mora compared to watashi. Thorough.

「Just now… um, who taught you to fight like that?」

Violet-san, looking dazed, asked Yuuki.

「My dad did, Violet-san.」

At Yuuki’s answer, Violet-san started and looked at her face.
Her small frame and adorable features were nothing alike, but the red hair and red eyes were identical.

「Dad learned from Grandpa. Grandpa learned from Great‑Grandpa. We’ve been taught it all along—it’s the Sword Clan’s art.」

Tsurugibe—the Sword Clan. It was the last gift I gave Dalga—the world’s first family name, as far as I know.

「Even so… your way of fighting is not the same as his.」

Violet-san’s voice trembled.
As she said, Dalga’s fighting style had been far more grand. Though the self-enhancement magic was the same, the way he swung his sword and moved his body was completely different.

「Uh‑huh. The magic was made by the Founder‑sama, but the way to use the sword is different.」

Not all of Dalga’s descendants had physiques as excellent as his. So Dalga crushed the rock sword into stone blades and devised a way to fight even with small, light weapons.

「He said he copied the swings of someone he met in the forest who was super strong.」

It’s a story passed down in the Sword Clan—a tale of adventures with a dragon, an elf, and a girl.

「So getting to fight you, Violet‑san, makes me super happy!」

Yuuki’s eyes sparkled as she said it in a bouncy voice.

「…The strength of the children of man. And the fate of my sword. I have witnessed them both.」

Violet-san dabbed at the corner of her eye with a fingertip, then replied with new formality.

「Well then…」
「Yes. Please allow me to be in your care at Sensei’s school as well… if the Elder permits it.」

At that final addendum, I let out a weary groan. So it can’t be by her own say‑so. Will the Elder consent?

「It will be fine.」

To reassure me as I knit my brows, Violet-san gave a bright smile.

「He surely won’t say ‘No,’ after all—」

At Violet-san’s meaningful smile, Yuuki and I tilted our heads in unison.