THE MASTER RETURNS
“I appreciate the sentiment, but I have no intention of taking on any new younger-sister figures.”
I politely bowed my head to a new student with a ribbon in her hair.
“Please,” she kept begging despite my refusal. “I will do my absolute best as your sister.” She sounded so desperate, which made me feel even worse.
“I have had many requests just like yours, and I have turned them all down. So you see, I cannot make an exception just for you.”
My refusal was very reasonable, but that made me feel even sorrier for her, because it meant I was turning down this girl solely for impersonal reasons, regardless of her sincerity.
That said, I had no way of knowing if she was particularly more reliable or faithful in comparison to everyone else I had turned down so far, so I still couldn’t choose her.
After about more five minutes of a futile back-and-forth, an individual who seemed to be her friend appeared and handed her a handkerchief.
At some point, unbeknownst to me, she had started crying.
The friend graciously bowed to me and said “I apologize for causing you so much trouble, Upperclassman Laika,” then comforted the crying girl as they left together.
“…Ahh, I’m so tired. I feel as though I’ve just emerged from a gauntlet of one hundred battles.”
I staggered backward to sit on a brick planter directly behind me.
Then, out from behind one of the shrubs in the garden stepped Hialis.
I had been aware she was hiding there for some time.
“You don’t have it easy, Sister. Here, have one of these new salted croissants.”
“As always, thank you. Ah, the salt makes the butter all the sweeter.”
When I bit into the croissant, I felt a bit better.
“You sure are popular with the new students, though, Upperclassman Laika.” She emphasized the title.
“I know challenge is part of the school motto, but it still is not easy to be challenged…”
Time had flown by, and I was now a second-year student.
The sixth-years were heading toward graduation, but there were scarcely any of them in the student council, so I hadn’t had to deal with any related issues.
But as one group leaves, a new one must take its place, and so a fresh crop of first-years had arrived at the academy.
And what was waiting for me, a newly minted second-year student, was a deluge of requests from said first-years to act as their big sister…
“That girl was the fourteenth… Do they think I am the only second-year student? And second-years are not the only upperclassmen they have, either. They should consider a more diverse range of options.”
Hialis came to sit beside me, placing a warm hand on my back to cheer me up. Red dragons typically had warm hands.
“But it’s only natural, Sister. You’re the only second-year in the student council, and so they have a lot of chances to see you when you’re conducting orientations—and you’re you, after all.”
“That last part isn’t a reason.”
“And people in the third year and above already have lots of followers in the lower grades. The first-years probably feel like they have no chance with them. That’s why they go for the second-years, who probably don’t have sisters in a younger grade yet.”
“I understand the logic, but it does not sound very convincing from you, another second-year who calls herself my ‘little’ sister.”
“But isn’t it normal to train under someone stronger than you?”
I had better grades, but Hialis could almost always talk circles around me. According to her, my one fault was that I was too honest. However, she had gone on to say that my virtue was also being too honest, so I was not entirely sure which it was.
“But soon they will be joining clubs, and they can find some elder-sister figures there.”
“That’s not very convincing coming from you, considering you never joined a club after your brief stint in the training association.”
Ah… Once again, she was talking circles around me.
“And not every club will have strong upperclassmen, like my ghost investigation club, for example.”
“Oh yes, that is your club, isn’t it?”
“We typically conduct our activities on our own. One of our members entered an abandoned house that was said to be haunted and hasn’t come back for three weeks now.”
“I think it’s high time you sent a search party.”
“I don’t know about humans, but there is no ghost strong enough to kill any of us dragons with a curse. She’s just doing a very thorough job investigating. I know she’ll show up again before long.”
We were dragons, after all. Even our cultural clubs were extreme.
That aside—
“In which case, why did you not come out of hiding to say that I’ve already reached my capacity for younger sisters? That might have settled things much faster.”
“Are you honestly asking me that, Sister?” Hialis looked genuinely astonished. “Had I done that, that girl would have challenged me in order to take my place. Anyone who joins the academy already has high confidence in their skills. Then things would have only gotten more complicated.”
“Y-you are correct… I underestimated the Red-Dragon Academy…”
These sparring matches were happening across campus, all the time—even during breaks and after school.
The academy asked students to polish both their beauty and their strength—
“Yes, you must push your will forward with strength. If you cannot, that is a sign that your will is still weak.”
All of a sudden, Ricuen stood before us.
My croissant caught in my throat.
“Please stop appearing like that without warning. You are not an assassin…”
“My boss was speaking with a first-year student, so I wanted to know what was going on.”
Yes, I might be her boss, but she was still hard to deal with.
Hialis, incidentally, had started shivering when she saw Ricuen. Anyone would be on edge if they were right next to a member of the student council, after all. They were probably even more frightening than ghosts.
“So I thought I may as well drop by to speak with you. There is an oddity among this year’s new students.”
Her sharp gaze flitted around the area.
Was she surveilling? I had indeed lowered my guard, but while there were a lot of battles here at school, it was against the rules to attack someone without warning. It was required that we first request a fight.
But when she lowered her voice, I understood that she had merely been checking for potential eavesdroppers.
“One of the new first-years has been challenging upperclassmen and winning badge after badge.”
Ricuen gripped her own badge.
“What! How can that be?!”
When an underclassman won against an upperclassman, they would take the senior’s badge as a symbol of their victory—this was a long tradition at the academy, a show of the underclassmen’s independent spirit.
But it was not an easy feat.
There was a massive gap in skill between under- and upperclassmen, especially between first-years and those in the higher grades. Hardly anyone had ever managed to pull it off.
Even if they were to win a few times, they would attract the seniors’ attention and soon be crushed. Once that happened, all the badges would be returned to their original owners, and in some cases, the underclassman would become the younger ‘sister’ of the one who defeated them.
The only girl who had ever succeeded had continued winning badges until she rose all the way to student council president—my sister.
“This hasn’t been announced publicly, since it would greatly unsettle the academy, but it is almost certain there is someone truly terrifying among the new students. The first-years are likely to recognize you, so be careful, Boss.”
I was almost certain that she was calling me boss intentionally, out of spite.
Even though Ricuen was the earnest type, like me, I found it hard to open up to her. Then again, I had the feeling that even if I had a subordinate exactly like myself, I would find it hard to open up to her…
Now that I thought about it, I was thankful there were many in my grade who respected me, and I felt like my reputation had only improved after we successfully fought off the blue dragons during our field trip… Though, I got the feeling people thought of me less as a friend and more as someone to admire and look up to…
Opening up to others was not easy. Perhaps it was even more difficult than physical training.
Ricuen’s gaze slowly drifted toward Hialis.
“Hialis, was it?”
“Y-yes! I am Bodybreaker Hialis… C-can I help you…?” She was terrified.
“As vice secretary of the student council, my job is to support Secretary Laika. But it is your job as her little sister to support her emotionally. Good luck.” She then extended a hand.
Hialis was perplexed, unsure what to do.
“Shake my hand,” Ricuen told her, and Hialis timidly reached out to do so.
“My boss is easily swayed by her emotions. Sometimes she can give it her all, but sometimes she can only give thirty percent. Give her the strength she needs.”
“O-o-o-okay! I will! I-i-i-it’s an honor to speak with a member of the student council!”
I was reminded once again that those in the student council were special.
Ricuen and I exchanged a brief glance.
I thought I saw the corners of her mouth curl up.
“See ya.”
By then, she was already gone. She was truly fast.
There was a first-year student taking upperclassman badges.
As I headed home, thoughts of this epic-sounding story filled my head.
It was after I had finished my work at the council for the day, so I was later than usual, and there were not many others around.
Perhaps I should check the first-years’ student roster? No, I should not be snooping around in such a manner, and the rosters did not contain battle records anyway.
Maybe I would even witness the badge taking, if this student was indeed winning so many…
I passed a particularly empty lot on my way home.
There, I found a girl wearing the academy uniform surrounded by other girls dressed the same.
This was off-campus vigilantism!
That was completely against the rules. Unless you were suddenly attacked by an enemy and had no choice, fighting outside of the academy was strictly forbidden. That was because fights among academy students could greatly affect the environment around them.
That aside, seeing so many others fighting a single student was unusual.
Battles between uneven numbers of students were permissible if both sides agreed to the arrangement. But more often than not, an entire crowd surrounding a single individual was evidence of cowardice.
Furthermore, crushing a student in an unbalanced skirmish was an immoral deed worthy of suspension.
But I was also hesitant to interrupt without seeing what was going on first. Intervention into red-dragon matters would often only complicate any problems, and a fight that both sides agreed to would be difficult to stop, even if it was against the rules.
“You took Cotor’s badge!” “She looked so exhausted that I was shocked.” “I won’t let this happen again! Know the wrath of an upperclassman!” “Your badge hunting stops now!”
To think I would come across vigilantism against the badge-hunting first-year!
I had to stop them!
Even beyond my duty as a student council member, I needed to protect my underclassman!
But before I could stop them, the fight had begun.
In fact, it was essentially already over.
The underclassman moved with such calm, weaving between the older girls’ attacks.
In the end, she dispatched her foes by using their own energy against them.
Anyone with a background in martial arts could tell, after a few moments of watching, that she needed no assistance. She completely overwhelmed her opponents. I decided not to intervene.
As I watched, captivated, all four upperclassmen collapsed, their shoulders heaving.
The younger girl stooped down and casually plucked the badges from her seniors’ uniforms.
What power!
But it was not as though she was brimming with energy. I suppose you could call it a cool strength. There was an otherworldly calmness about her—like she had already learned all there was to the world, or like she was a sage who lived alone in the mountains.
The image of a certain woman suddenly flashed across my mind.
She reminded me of Miss Pixie Cut, under whom I once studied.
I had never battled with her in reality, nor had I ever seen her fight, but I had a feeling that this was how it would look, if she were to do battle in the real world. Everything about this girl’s movements reminded me of her.
But wait—was it possible for someone else to bear such an essence?
Now that I thought about it, I noticed the underclassman had a pixie cut, too…
“You are brittle. You are brittle because you rely too heavily on your power.”
The sound of her voice changed my doubt into conviction.
“Miss Pixie Cut!” I yelled just as she kicked her final opponent to the floor.
And when the first-year student turned to look at me…
…it was obvious that she was the one I had imagined.
“Ahh, Laika. I am aware that you’re a member of the student council. And you don’t need to address me with ‘miss’—I’m your junior now. I decided to join the academy in order to test the results of my training. They say the most powerful red dragons can be found there, after all.”
Her words were shocking but spoken very simply.
“So far, I’ve had decent results. I’ve taken sixteen…no, I have four more now, so twenty badges.”
She was so powerful, though I suppose I already knew that.
And it was not simply her raw strength, but the flexibility with which she used it. It had been cultivated over time, just as wood takes on a shine after many years of use.
Then, as if this were of no consequence, she said to me:
“It’s a bit sooner than I’d planned, but this was always my intention. Laika, battle with me. In reality this time.”
I sensed no fighting spirit from her, but she was overflowing with an unusual presence.
“Last time, we fought only in our mindscapes, and I have the tendency to lose initiative when I act as a mentor. I am a hundred times stronger than I was then.”
I doubted she was bluffing.
“Laika, as one of the Four Secretaries of the student council, you will have the honor of losing to me. I shall challenge you to a fight at the next morning assembly.”
I had never imagined the badge hunter herself would challenge me to battle in such a manner.
“That way, I will have an idea of how powerful the student council is, and you will get a taste of my strength as well.”
Her only goal was to test her power, so it made sense that she would call me out.
I had the lowest seat in the student council, the body said to be the pinnacle of the academy.
But there were other possible reasons I could think of.
“I will accept your proposal, but are you also intending to dismantle the student council itself, Miss Pixie Cut?”
To some people, the council might look like an organization completely under the control of its evil president, Leila.
“You don’t need to call me ‘miss’,” she corrected me before continuing. “And I’m not interested in any of that. I know that my sincere desire may appear as a joke to someone else, not unlike a cat playing with a ball of yarn. But it is also my wish to fight you, my former apprentice.”
Personally, I couldn’t imagine a fight with Miss Pixie Cut being anything less than dead serious.
Good grief. It was not so long ago that I was worried about all the attention I was getting from the first-years.
If I were to lose this battle, there would certainly be fewer people hoping to be my younger sister, since I would be branded as a graceless loser. Perhaps losing was just the thing I needed.
But on the other hand, I needed to win to prove to myself that I had grown.
“What is your name, Miss Pixie Cut?”
“Noenalle.”
That was the first time she told me her name.
Just as Noenalle had promised, during the student council announcements at the morning assembly, she stepped out from the first-year line.
As a murmur rippled through the room, she held up the bag containing the twenty badges she had taken and challenged me, the lowest-grade student in the council, to battle.
There was a mixture of animosity and expectation directed at this unusual first-year student in the assembly room.
The student council president glanced my way. Despite her position, she loved trouble; glee was written all over her face.
“What do you think, Laika? Can you do it?”
“Of course. I cannot run from this fight. Otherwise, the council’s trust in me would plummet. It would hamper student council functions in the future as well.”
Now that she had officially challenged me to battle, it would be embarrassing for me to turn her down without an appropriately good reason.
“That’s not what I’m saying. I’m asking if you think you can beat that first-year.”
I could see a grin on my sister’s face.
I had a feeling the more unsettled I looked, the happier she would be.
It was so typical of her. I fought back a smile. “I will win. I will.”
“Good, that’s what I wanted to hear. I mean, you apparently beat Flatorte once, so you’ll be fine. Of course, Flatorte has her ups and downs, so I guess it depends what mood you caught her in.”
“Are you saying both of us let our emotions affect our ability?”
Ricuen had pointed out the same thing earlier.
“No, just that she’ll pick fights even when she has a stomachache. She’s easy when that happens.”
So she was just a fool…
My sister had already turned to look at Noenalle. “Our secretary has agreed. The fight will take place at the next morning assembly, in this auditorium. Any objections?”
“None,” Noenalle replied boldly.
And so the most powerful first-year and I were officially set to battle.
That day, after class but before heading to the student council room, I made my way to the cave.
The very same cave I had used when I was a part of the training association.
There, I found Noenalle, sitting with her legs crossed.
“So you are still using this place.”
“It’s fallen into disrepair. I see you haven’t been using it.”
“It isn’t wise to get too attached to a single place. I have learned that in order to get stronger, it is best to associate with many other people.”
“Mmm. There is no reason there cannot be many paths to the truth. You must seek it your own way.”
We began talking, almost as though we had been part of the training association together for years.
“I thought you would look more uneasy now that the match is official, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.”
“It was difficult to deal with in class. Hialis, the one who acts as my younger sister, was very worried about me.”
Even though I stood to lose what I had built so far, my heart was calm as a placid sea. To be honest, I was a little happy.
“I have always wanted to battle you in earnest, Miss Pixie Cut.”
“You don’t need to call me ‘miss.’”
“Leaving it off sounds unnatural…”
“I wanted to see how you’ve changed, as well.”
We had said all we needed to say. Other students might have asked why she decided to join the school now, or her real age, but none of that mattered to me.
“May the best dragon win.”
I quietly left the cave.
I might never have reason to visit it again.
From that day until the day of the match, I did no special training or preparation. All I did was carry on with my usual basic exercises.
I did not shirk my duties at the student council, either, so once class was over, I headed to the council room.
I must have come a bit earlier than usual, because I found Ricuen sitting there alone.
“There’s a difference between relaxing and lazing around, you know,” she scolded me again.
Each time she said this, I replied that my opponent would not be defeated with superficial training—and that keeping a routine was much more important. This conversation happened a handful of times, and every time, I gave her the same answer.
“I get that… But I have seen plenty of students with the same refreshing attitude who had actually just given up.”
I took Ricuen’s words to heart. I, myself, had a hard time separating my present state of mind from the feeling of giving up in despair. It was no wonder I was worrying those around me.
I sat down in my chair, intending to begin my council work.
But then Ricuen wrapped her arms around me from behind.
“I’m so worried and scared that you’ll lose and quit the student council. I can’t sleep.” She continued without letting go. “This is a battle that the council itself has accepted. You don’t need to shoulder all this alone. You don’t need to feel responsible for any of it.”
Perhaps this sounds odd, but I was so happy to hear her warm words of encouragement. Ricuen was only worried about my well-being.
“I will win. And I will not quit the student council. This is not an election. Even if I lose, all she will do is take my badge. It’s not as though I forfeit the right to sit on the council.”
“…I believe in you.”
Despite her words, her expression remained sour.
“But I can’t send you off like everything’s okay… Maybe this is my weakness talking.”
“I don’t consider it weakness. I see it as kindness.”
For a while, my small-framed senior stayed behind me, arms outstretched.
The auditorium was packed with students. No, it wasn’t just students. I saw plenty of teachers, too.
I heard some of them saying, “This might be the first time since the student council president…” That reminded me, Noenalle was rehashing what my elder sister had done: taking down upperclassman one after the other until she had risen to the seat of student council president.
However, Noenalle was not trying to become student council president. Even if she did receive the position, I could easily see her quitting after an hour and leaving the school entirely.
My challenger was already waiting for me on the stage built in the center of the auditorium.
She had pushed up her sleeves in preparation for the fight. It was not a very elegant look, but she would scoff if I pointed that out to her.
I came and took my place before her.
I could hear people cheering for me, but even more in the audience held their breath, waiting to see how this would unfold. As far as they were concerned, the very order of the school hung in the balance.
Though many students feared the student council members, it was those members who had long kept the academy safe, after all.
Their worries were groundless, however. Decades ago, my sister had been a revolutionary, but now her order was accepted by all. People grew accustomed to these things.
But I did not care about any of that.
I wanted to fight Noenalle, and I was going to give this my all.
“You seem like you’re having fun,” Noenalle said, her expression stiff.
“Of course. I am happy you came back, Miss Pixie Cut.”
“I keep telling you, you can drop the ‘miss.’”
We faced each other and exchanged a few words before the teacher who acted as a referee stepped forward to explain the rules. No fire. No taking on dragon form. This was an untimed battle where the victor would be decided once someone acknowledged defeat or fell unconscious.
Let the battle begin!
As the fight began…I closed my eyes.
Noenalle must have done the same thing, because I heard others exclaim in surprise, “Both of them closed their eyes!”
Nevertheless, the fight was taking place. We both knew where the other was—and where they were aiming. The pain from Noenalle’s attacks served as a means of locating myself.
I had a reason for closing my eyes.
As Noenalle and I fought in reality…we were also fighting in the mindscape!
Behind my closed eyelids, I saw not darkness but Noenalle and myself standing in a martial arts gymnasium.
Only Noenalle and I were aware of this. This was something only she and I shared.
After all, she was the very teacher who had shown me how to fight in the mind!
This meant we were fighting two battles at once.
“I did not think you had reached this stage,” Noenalle said to me in the mindscape.
“I continued my training, even after you left. But I also learned a lot from others.”
“You can only learn so much from friendships with your fellow students.”
“That’s not true. There are many things one can gain by interacting with others. You came back here because you felt the same, did you not?”
Cheers from reality reached my ears.
“Amazing! They’re having a real fight, even with their eyes closed!” “They’re so fast that I don’t even know what’s going on!”
The audience’s words made sense. Ever since my first day of school, I had slowly grown in power. I understood why many would be shocked upon seeing me fight.
As I dealt a kick to Noenalle in reality, I blocked a punch Noenalle threw at me in the mindscape.
This was the world’s first simultaneous reality-mind battle!
No, I was still being pulled toward reality.
I should be able to fight more freely! I took on my dragon form in the mindscape.
It would be against the rules for me to take on my dragon form in the auditorium, but I was free to take on either form here. I had no restrictions.
“Heh. Then I will do the same.” Noenalle transformed, too.
Our battle raged on, one massive life-form versus another.
The necessary tactics were different compared to fighting in human form, so imagining it was also a challenge. However, I doubted something as insignificant as that would slow me down. I had gone through plenty of mental training.
A honed mental image was an advantage in the real world, too.
Human scholars agreed—a positive mental image made magic in the real world more effective. That meant the state of the fight in the mind could influence reality.
As I moved my physical body, I breathed fire in my mind, scratching Noenalle with my dragon claws.
There was tangible heat, pain, and sound that came with it.
Perhaps it was more apt to say there were two realities rather than calling one a mindscape.
“This…is like a mirror,” dragon Noenalle sputtered, her breathing heavy. I could hear the satisfaction in her voice. “This fight is indeed the result of enlightenment. I never thought I would do battle with someone who so embodies my ideals… Joining the academy was worth the trouble.”
“I appreciate the compliment, Master.”
“But we need to end this soon. I need to defeat you so I can advance to further heights.”
She came at me with vigor such as I had never seen in a red dragon.
She was right. One’s training was never done.
I would repay her for her kindness.
I am going to surpass you, Noenalle!
The moment my master’s imaginary dragon form dashed toward me, my dragon form swelled to a size ten times bigger.
Yes—this was the mindscape.
I needn’t be concerned about real sizes. I could become big enough to crush my opponent underfoot.
We are all of us caught in shackles—the shackles of a poor imagination and a weak will that urges one to give up on the impossible.
Once those shackles are gone, one’s battle ability in the mindscape is limitless!
Dragon Noenalle looked up at me. Her form was darkened, hidden under my shadow.
She then nodded slowly.
“Excellent. Laika, you are far more enlightened than I!”
I nodded, then stomped on my dragon master as hard as I could.
—Simultaneously, our fight in reality came to an end.
Noenalle and I lunged at each other with all our strength, and it was my fist alone that made contact with my opponent’s face.
A gratifying blow.
Confidently, I opened my eyes.
I saw Noenalle fly backward and slide across the floor before eventually coming to a halt.
The teacher who was acting as referee announced the end of the fight.
It seemed I had been able to accomplish what I set out to do.
…However, victory came with a cost.
The moment I passed through the school gates, I was surrounded by dozens of other students.
“Please let me be your apprentice!” “I’ll draw water, clean, do laundry or anything else you want!” “I would be perfectly happy to just study by your side!”
There were too many to turn down… And some of them were in grades higher than me. I couldn’t make my seniors my little sisters…
“This is your own fault, Sister,” said Hialis. “No one had ever heard of someone fighting with their eyes closed in front of the whole school. And then you won. Of course you’re popular.”
It didn’t seem like Hialis was interested in defending me—she bit into her pastry alone.
Then Ricuen appeared suddenly before us, a terrifying light in her eyes. “Do not bother other students! Remember your manners!”
Had she not dispersed the crowd for me, it would have been difficult to get to class. Wyrmspeed once again lived up to her name, appearing suddenly and coming to my rescue.
“Thank you. It’s been two whole weeks since the match, and the fervor still hasn’t died down.”
“You just need a bit more patience. And, Laika…” The strength in Ricuen’s eyes weakened. “I’m sorry for suggesting before that you might quit the student council or that you might lose… You were never that weak of a dragon.”
Back then, in a way, Ricuen had been much more concerned than I had.
“I was simply looking forward to fighting against my master. That’s all. I appreciate your concern for me.”
Having an underling worry about me as her boss (even if in name only) wasn’t half bad. I was looking forward to her support in the future.
“And it seems her entering the academy has inspired the other students.”
In front of the flame pillar in the garden, Noenalle was going through strength training—armless push-ups and slow abdomen exercises—with her new trainees.
The training association had reached a roster of over ten people and had apparently gotten official recognition from the school.
I, too, had to strive to do better as a former member of the association.
As I passed Noenalle, she murmured something to me. “Laika, I am training to become your younger sister one day.”
“I don’t think I would be much of a big sister to anyone. Please find someone else.”
I turned Noenalle’s wishes down using the same words I had received once before.
I understood now. One could not make another their sister with half-hearted feelings alone, much less someone with skill and talent worthy of respect. Of course, I had done just that on my first day of school… But it was too late to take that back now…
“Then I will only pretend I am your younger sister. In the mindscape, you are my elder sister.”
“In the mindscape…? Is that possible?”
But Noenalle remained unfazed.
“Yes. We are currently bathing in the mindscape. I have just started to scrub your back.”
“That is unnecessary!”
I began to wonder if Noenalle had become enlightened in more ways than one…
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