Chapter 2: The World After the Void
While living in the warm village, I devoted my days to training. Before I knew it, I had become 12.
It varied from person to person, but an elf’s growth slowed significantly at around this age. For elves, it was, in various ways, a turning point.
Even if it was only a small affair, we celebrated the passing of 12 years since birth. This was also the time period in which one began to attend school full-time.
For humans, school started sometime between four to six years old. However, these were elves, the long-lived race. Time flowed much slower for them.
In any case, turning 12 years old was a turning point for me.
When one reached this age, many new possibilities opened up. But, by far, the change that I was looking forward to the most was attending school.
The reason being that, finally, my ability to read would no longer seem unnatural. I was somewhat looking forward to going to school, but… This elf school was not as simple as it seemed….
“Uu. I’ll be so lonely without Slava.… Make sure to come home during the holidays, won’t you?”
“Stop making such a big deal about it. I’ll try to come home as much as possible.”
“I’m counting on you, Slava. Because when Mama is sad, Papa is sad, too, okay?”
First of all, living in the dormitories together was compulsory in this so-called school.
Even if I was not directing an attack at anyone in particular, this power was not something to be flaunted about. So, in order to keep my abilities hidden, I would have to devise a way to train in the dormitories. At the very least, I would have fewer opportunities to perform shadow dancing than I’ve had until now.
Even so, if I thought about it as a period of learning, I was able to bear it. I wanted to appear as much as possible like a normal young boy right now, so I had been staying away from books. If I properly attended a school, though, it would no longer seem unnatural.
Since, in the end, it was only two or three years—if all I had to do was hold out for that long, I could deal with the restrictions on my training. … Or so I thought, but I soon learnt that my judgment was naïve.
“Muu— But not being able to live life to the fullest with Slava…. And it won’t just be for two or three years, you know? Aren’t you sad, darling?”
“Of course! But if going to school will help Slava grow, Papa will endure it.”
Watching my parents’ back-and-forth for the umpteenth time, I heaved a sigh.
From what I’d heard just now, it seemed that—maybe because of the late age at which you attended elven schools—you were enrolled for, at the very least, more than 3 years.
I was about to go mad over having to restrain myself from fighting for just three years. To have to hold back for even longer was just….
“…I also think that it seems like a pretty long time.”
“What’s this? Will Slava also be lonely, just like Mama? It will be fine. Your time at school will go by in a flash.”
From my father’s words just now, to an elf, the span of time spent attending school could be described as “a flash” in a few years.
…Hmm, I can feel the “culture gap”.
In my previous life, I could not understand the words that the youngster used.… But the difference between races was even more noticeable to me now.
“Well, it’ll be fine. I’m sure it’ll be fun. I think there are many things to gain from it. Papa is cheering for you~!”
I understood that those were his real feelings, but I still couldn’t shake the feeling that he was brushing it off like it was someone else’s problem.
My parents confused my slightly reproachful look for a kid’s cute desire not to be separated from his parents. I did not hide my sigh.
I was reading a book with the sound of children’s laughter coming from behind me. Unlike Altora, the village in which I had grown up, there was an unusual amount of children here.
Perhaps because they were a long lived race, there were not many elven children. However, this place had enough children to make one think that there was nothing but children here.
Which was not surprising. After all, this was Milafia’s national Alfaleia Academy. It was one day away by carriage from the village in which I had lived.
I attended this school, in which elven children from all across the country of Milafia gathered.
Just like I had first planned, after being placed into an environment where I could not move recklessly, I began to read books as soon as I was taught how to read. It was not like I could not read before that, but I was sure that a child reading characters he’d never even been taught would seem strange.
After being placed into an environment where I had no choice but to study, I discovered that learning something other than martial arts was pretty interesting. If I thought back and put together my experiences from over 100 hundred years, one thing was clear: I had hopelessly single-tracked mind.
“Are you reading a book again, Slava-kun?”
As I was sitting, bathed by the rays of sunlight filtering down through the leaves of the tree, a young girl’s voice called out to me.
I slipped a bookmark into the book and turned my head towards the voice calling from below. There stood a girl with velvety flaxen hair weaved like fabric into two braids behind her head, smiling in my direction.
Her age was… In human terms, it was about 10 years old.
She was a girly girl whose trademark trait was her friendly smile.
“Oh, Selia. …Yes, since today is a cool day.”
Even at a school where no one had previously known each other, after attending for a month, one was bound to have made an acquaintance or two.
This girl named Selia was the first friend I had made in this life.
Kind to everyone and always cheerful, she was popular in class. It seemed that she’d first called out to me out of worry that I lacked the cheerfulness of a normal child.
After that, we began to talk often, and, for someone of the same grade, she had a thoughtful and somewhat mature way of thinking.
Being friendly and lacking in shyness, when she found out that I knew more than other kids in class, she had started to follow me around a lot.
After she came to pester me for the answer to a question, we would wind up talking and laughing with each other. We would pass our days together like that. After spending so much time together, she and I slowly became best friends.
After she told that to our classmates, the way in which they treated me became unreserved. Even now, I was able to enjoy an uneventful school life.
“Ehehe. Can I sit next to you?”
“Yeah, go ahead and sit. I wonder what kind of question you have today.”
“Uh-uh. Not today. I just wanted to spend some time with you, Slava-kun.”
I’d had a daughter in my previous life, but this time it felt like having a granddaughter. I wonder if this was what it felt to have your granddaughter come to play.
“Hey, Slava-kun, what are you reading?”
While I was enveloped by a feeling of peace, Selia looked at the book in my hands with sudden interest.
…Hmm. The book doesn’t really suit my image, but… I guess it doesn’t matter if I show her.
By the way, at some point in time, I had started being called “gramps”. Kids at this age cannot be underestimated. They are sharp in unexpected ways.
“This is a book about the history of martial arts. I wanted to know how the people I respect were remembered.”
I turned the book to show Selia the cover, careful not to let the bookmark fall out.
It simply read, History of Martial Arts 13048.
13048 was the latest year on the calendar used by the elves. In other words, it was about the current year.
Elven history was apparently much older than the human calendar, which was only about 1000 years old.
“Martial arts? Isn’t that the thing that Alma-sama’s famous for?”
Selia tilted her head while smiling, an invisible question mark floating above her head.
…Alma-sama, was it? The god of martial arts, Alma. I heard that in the elven country, she was so famous that there is no one that did not know of her and her master, Slava.
I felt a little uncomfortable about someone like me, who was unable to reach to pinnacle of martial arts, being talked about. But, more than that, what caught my attention was the name of my disciple, Alma.
She had followed my words and worked hard to leave behind the Shijima name.
I wondered just how many years it took her, and what became of her after she trained her body to the fullest.
Yes, that was the thing that bothered me the most. It was the thing I wanted to know most at the time. I had forgotten while peacefully passing the time with Selia, but now I remembered.
Until now, I had been unable to come across the information that I wanted. And when I finally became able to read openly, the book that I wanted had come at a high price.
Starting a few years back, I became old enough to receive an allowance. Although that allowance was only enough to buy small sweets, I saved that money for a long time and finally got my hands on The History of Martial Arts… which I currently held in the palm of my hand.
“Since I don’t really know much about Alma-sama, I thought I could study from this book.”
“That’s weird. You don’t know much about her, even though you have the same name as Alma-sama’s master.”
I smiled wryly and did not say out loud that I knew that.
Even if I said that the book was really about me, no one would believe me. I would just be ostracized for being a weird kid.
“Well then, I wish to continue reading this book now. Is that alright?”
“Hmm? Sure! Just being together with Slava-kun is fun.”
Selia smiled, carefree as a blooming flower. I opened my book to the page with the bookmark again. There it was—the name I’d been looking for.
”Alma Shijima”. So that child had passed down the Shijima name after all. I began to read the passage on her.
Alma Shijima.
The martial artist that succeeded the Shijima style Iwao Shijima established.
Originally an orphan, she was raised as a foster child by Slava Shijima (born Slava Vesa). Looking up to Slava Shijima, the father who had raised her, she dove into the Shijima style. By combining her outstanding magical power and the superior martial arts of the Shijima style, she took down many powerful martial artists.
Recently, she has also spent a lot of effort training newcomers, in order to pass the Shijima style on to promising young boys and girls. She has set up a tournament held in various places. She named it the Iwao Shijima cup, after the founder of the Shijima style.
Looking at her record, she had never lost in an official match, and many experts regarded her as history’s strongest martial artist. The author of the book seemed to agree with that view.
However, Alma herself is adamant about the fact that her master, Slava Shijima, was history’s strongest martial artist. From this, one can see that she deeply respects her master, Slava Shijima.
Still…
I couldn’t believe that that girl accomplished so much. Looking at the detailed record of her brilliant accomplishments, I couldn’t help but smile.
It looked like the little girl that I thought of as my own daughter had grown even more than I expected.
She had always been a diligent child after all; there was no doubt that she had followed my words and honed her techniques.
I forgot that Selia was watching and continued to read the article without hiding my big smile.
The article was a raving review. I could not stop grinning—but suddenly, I had a weird feeling and my eyes froze.
“Huh? What happened?”
Selia turned to me.
“Is there something you don’t like in the book?”
Her voice was filled with worry. It wasn’t that I’d seen something that I disliked, but there was one thing that had caught my attention. I told her that and flipped back one page.
What caught my attention was the part in the outline that read ‘recently’.
The way it was written made it seem almost as if though she were still alive.
Could it be that I might even get to see the face of my accomplished disciple again?
Feeling an unexpected stroke of good luck, I grew terribly excited as I searched for a specific entry—
It was currently the year 13048. Going off of that number, if Alma had been born between 12700 and 12800, as an elf, there was a good chance that she was still alive.
I found the line that I was looking for, and my heart filled with delight.
12956 – . There was no number after the line. In that case, it meant that Alma was still alive.
This was what you would call a miracle. I thanked the heavens for granting me the chance to see my disciple’s growth with my own eyes.
If that was the year of her birth, then counting down meant that right now Alma was…
“Oh? That back is….”
As we were absorbed in reading the book, the dignified voice of a young girl floated down to us from above. Beautiful blue hair that would put the ocean itself to shame, eyes filled to the brim with a gentle light while still conveying a stern feeling—that otherworldly beauty, I had seen it somewhere before.
“Fufu, it’s kind of embarrassing. Looking at a book about myself makes me feel a little weird.”
Her face was exactly like the one in the book.
No matter how much time passed, there was no way that I would ever forget my beloved disciple’s face. She was standing just above me.
Alma Shijima. Born 12956, still alive as of 13048.
In other words, Alma was currently 92 years old. In human terms, she’d be around 20 years old.
That meant that, in the current world, only about 30 years had passed since I died.
Looking at the unchanging face of my beloved disciple, who, from my perspective, I’d just recently parted ways with, made me freeze up.
I’d thought that she would have become an old lady long ago, but it appeared that, unexpectedly, I had been reborn not too far into the future.
Too little time had passed….
Alma had grown into a dignified lady. To me, it was not long ago that I’d seen her clinging to me and crying. It felt as awkward as an actor declaring his retirement, then coming back after only one or two days. My jaw dropped.
“Ah!! It’s Alma-sama!! Are you the real one? Say, are you the real one?!”
“Fufu. What a good, energetic child. Mm-hmm, I’m the real one. Although I don’t know if someone like me even has impostors to begin with.”
There was no one among the Elves that did not know her, the legendary martial artist. Selia ran and jumped right into her arms.
Her opponent might’ve been a big 12-year-old girl, but Alma effortlessly took her head-on charge.
Alma spun her around as gently as a father would his own son.
Her eyes spinning, Selia squealed in delight.
That game went on for a little while. Eventually, Alma gently returned Selia to the ground.
Selia seemed a little reluctant, but even so, she happily stepped down.
…In my previous life, Alma always used honorifics, but… The “Alma Shijima” before my eyes spoke with a strong sense of dignity.
I wonder if this change happened after I died, or if she had always been like this when I was not around…. My mind was in mayhem, thinking pointless things like that.
“Well then. There’s something I want to ask, but before that. What’s your name?”
“I’m Selia. Why is Alma-sama here?”
“I see. Selia is a good name. It’s nothing. I just have a little business in this school—Hmm? There was one more?”
While merrily chatting with Selia, Alma noticed my presence.
Alma bent down to take a look at my face. Looking into those eyes that I was so familiar with filled me with a strange feeling.
The terrible feeling of dying and leaving her behind. Saying all of those things, only to end up living in the end. Well, I’m not sure if that’s the right way to put it, but at any rate, it was something like a feeling of guilt.
What dominated in my jumbled thoughts was a strong sense of duty.
I had to make sure not to reveal my true identity to my daughter.
She had a deep admiration for Slava Shijima. Now that I’d been turned into an elven boy, I doubted she would make the connection…. But any careless word or gesture could make her realize.
To begin with, the fact that Slava Shijima had died was the undeniable truth. The dead never return.
Certainly, I had the mind of Slava Shijima. But at present, my body was that of Slava Marshall. Which meant that I was no longer Slava Shijima. I was just a young boy who aimed to become a martial artist.
It had already been 30 years. Slava Shijima died a long time ago. That was the undeniable truth, and I was sure that my daughter had come to terms with it.
Revealing my true identity was not an option. In her shoes, even I would not believe in such serendipity. I wanted to avoid stirring up trouble in the present world.
…Or so I say, but in reality, to the current me, the relationships from my previous life were unnecessary.
It seemed that, for the last few decades, Alma had spread my name far and wide. If I revealed my true identity to her, she would most likely do the same thing again.
I had finally gotten this nimble body, so losing it right now would be a waste.
The more famous my name became, the more trouble may follow.
I did not know exactly when it will happen…. But when I reached the epitome of martial arts, then I could reveal my true identity to her.
I swallowed my desire to reveal my identity to my beloved daughter and strengthened my resolve to hide my true identity.
I had been given the chance to start over again. This time, I would reach profound peak of “the strongest” without fail.
Since I decided that, I must make sure not to show any openings.
“Eh. Umm… Nice to meet you?”
So I purposefully decided to use the words “nice to meet you” in order to keep myself aware of the fact that it was our first meeting.
I was sure that, without some form of hint, even a genius like Alma would never suspect the boy before her to be her own master. Alma smiled at me after my awkward greeting.
“Nice to meet you. Are you Selia’s friend? What’s your name?”
Well, it wasn’t like I could avoid the most troubling question.
My name was the same as in my previous life—or rather, I was named after myself.
If I said that name to Alma, she would most likely relive some painful memories. If possible, I would like to use a fake name…. But, since Selia was here, I couldn’t do that.
“My name is Slava Marshall. I heard that my parents took the name from Alma-sama’s master.”
Therefore I decided to be completely honest. From the moment I decided to hide my identity, I made up my mind. If asked, I would give my name even to those I’d had a connection with in my previous life.
As expected, adding a “-sama” to my daughter’s name felt unnatural, so I almost dropped the honorifics by accident. The fact that I was able to hold back was my only saving grace.
“…I see. From my master’s name….”
Now then, what will my daughter think? It looked like the answer to my question was the worst case scenario.
Alma looked down, and a slight shadow appeared over her smile. She had a few tears in her eyes.
…It had been 30 years, and she still hadn’t let go of her grief? 30 years may seem like a long time to a former human like me, but to an elf it wasn’t long, so I supposed it was understandable.
Seeing my daughter’s tears like this, I wanted to reveal my true identity to her—but there was no way she would believe me, anyway. Because of that, I did not tell Alma.
Before long, Alma swallowed her tears and smiled.
“It is a good name. That is the name of the greatest, strongest martial artist in history. Become a splendid man worthy of that name, okay?”
“O-okay…”
Alma smiled and returned to her normal self. …My daughter was strong.
But, “the greatest, strongest”, huh? Even if I was her father, wasn’t she overselling me a little?
It ended up becoming a chance for me to hear another person’s assessment of me. But… As expected, it was embarrassing.
Now that I thought about it, there was a period of time when she worshiped me almost religiously. I guess I should have properly rejected those feelings towards me at the time.
“Now then. Selia, Slava. There’s something I want to ask you. Do you know where the principal’s office is?”
After regaining her composure, Alma straightened her body which she had bent in order to peer at my face.
Now that she mentioned it, she had said that she wanted to ask us something. It seemed that she’d wanted directions to the principal’s office.
“Yes. To get to there, you…. No, on second thought, I will guide you. The directions are a little complicated, and I am not confident that I can say them properly.”
“I see. In that case, please do so.”
In order to efficiently guide Alma to the somewhat hard to get to principal’s office, I stood up and put away my copy of “Martial Arts History”.
Alma looked happy as she accepted my proposal.
“Yay! Together with Alma-sama!”
“Whoa, whoa. You’re really energetic, huh, Selia.”
Selia happily jumped towards Alma.
Just like before, Alma received Selia like it was nothing and held her up in her arms.
If you think about it from a human’s perspective, there was no way that lifting a young girl with one arm—no matter how small she may be—could be considered easy for a 20 year old girl…. And yet, Alma walked naturally, as though she couldn’t even feel the weight.
When I focused my eyes a little, I noticed the extremely smooth and powerful layer of magic that covered Alma. Good. It seemed that she had continued to meditate.
I was able to see my disciple’s growth in an unexpected place. Unintentionally, I nodded in happiness.
———————————————————————————————————————————–
“Well then. Now that everybody has gathered, let us head off to the lecture hall.”
After guiding Alma to the principal’s office, I returned to my classroom, where I waited sleepily until the homeroom teacher, Finley McGavan, startled me back to my senses with his loud voice.
The teacher looked around the classroom with a calm expression. When I looked to the sides, except for a few boys who were absent, just about every seat was filled.
Oh, right. Now that I thought about it, they had said there would be a assembly in the afternoon.
I followed the instructor, who led a group of kids who had only just turned 12 years old.
For some reason, my classmates had decided that I would be the class representative. So I lined up right behind Professor Finley.
As part of my job as class representative, I had to make sure that no one missing in the line.
“Everyone is here, professor.”
“Thank you, Slava-kun. Then, shall we go?”
After receiving my report, the professor took a quick look for himself and began to walk.
We looked just like ducklings. When I began to walk behind the teacher, the other 20 students realized they had to follow as well and began to walk.
We met up with the other classes and students from different years, and we all walked together at the same pace. Before long, we arrived at the prided lecture hall of Alfalei Academy.
I wondered if there was any particular reason for the elegant ornaments scattered throughout the hall. When I asked, I was told they were built to be extremely resilient. I arrived at the auditorium tilting my head in confusion at the elves’ love of beauty and functional aesthetics. I sat down in the area where the rest of my class was. When I said “easy does it” as I sat down, I realized that I still had not gotten over my habit from a previous life.
… Now then. What exactly was this meeting supposed to be about?
The principal was already standing on the stage.
Despite being of elven blood, he had a white head of hair and a full white beard. I’d heard a rumor that he is over 1000 years old; but to have been born just after the start of human history. Wasn’t that just a fossil? If possible, I would also like to live that long. If I had that much time, I was sure that I could glimpse the peak of martial arts.
“Ah—Ahem. Can everyone hear me?”
The principal’s voice was transmitted to every corner of the lecture hall by a magical stone installed on the stage.
While I thought jealously about his age, the rest of the students arrived.
Before I knew it, the afternoon assembly had begun.
“Good, good. It seems that you can hear me. Everyone is so nice and well-behaved, aren’t they? Now then, before everyone begins to make fun of the principal’s long speeches, let us get to the topic at hand.”
The old elf laughed merrily and stroked his beard.
Just like he said, a principal’s speeches tended to be long and rambling. Although it was only a faint memory from more than 100 years ago—I felt like when I went to school as a human, the principal’s speeches then had also been long.
I was never certain of the meaning of those speeches at the time, and I was sure that that it would be the same now. It might have been different if I were an educated old man that returned to school, but I was just an idiot obsessed with strength. Most likely, the content of the speech would fly right over my head.
In that sense, the principal’s decision was right.
Kids of this age were huge rascals. They couldn’t understand tedious speeches.
“Good. Now then, please come in.”
The principal looked towards his left, away from the students.
The stage was set up so that the left and right sides of the stage had to be entered from the opposite direction; which was why, from my perspective, it looked like someone was coming in from the right.
Now then, who exactly was coming? Just when I started to formulate a guess, I saw a figure.
…That blue hair waving along with her gentle steps.
That blue hair that I saw just a few moments ago from up close was swaying in the distance. …No way.
“Now then. Alma Shijima-dono, please greet the students.”
“Understood. … Some of you may know me already, but my name is Alma Shijima. From today on, I will teach all of you at this school martial arts. You will begin martial arts and I hope that, even more than your bodies, I can train your minds. It may only be for a short while, but I look forward to our time together.”
Loud cheering broke out immediately. My ears were assaulted by a wave of yelling.
It wasn’t at the point of “there may be some of you that know me”. Not a single person here that didn’t know her! The students’ feverish passion was enough to make me think that.
I thought they had been exaggerating when they said that there was no one who did not know Alma. My mouth hung open in disbelief as I realized that was indeed the truth.
And not only that, but she would be teaching martial arts here. I wondered if I could keep my identity hidden.
I heaved a sigh. The training that had already been hard to begin with had just become all the harder.
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