The Second Strongest Has Returned

Chapter 12

Friends

He told himself to stay calm. The nickname “Joke Assassin” wouldn’t have spread that widely yet. Look, even Ariasphil…

“Is that also a new assassination technique you’ve developed, Leonardo…?”

“……”

…Was there a pretty bridge nearby? A bridge high enough to die from falling would be ideal.

“…What do you mean?”

Now officially labeled a “Joke Assassin,” Leo asked with a depressed expression.

“What you just did…”

“What I just did?”

“Talking to me formally… I mean.”

At those words, Leo suddenly had a question.

“…I should speak formally, of course. I’m a servant.”

“But when we first met, you spoke informally.”

Well…

“At that time, I wasn’t a servant. Now that I am, I should be polite.”

“But still…”

She awkwardly crossed her legs and arms and carefully spoke. Her behavior, which had not been noticeable even in her previous life, increased Leo’s curiosity.

“Before discussing that, Leonardo, I’d like you to show me what I asked for first.”

Before his curiosity could be resolved, Chris reminded him of her request. Come to think of it, he had promised to demonstrate the mana refining technique.

“I’ll show you right away.”

“I look forward to it.”

At that moment, Leo didn’t notice, but Ariasphil’s expression darkened. It was a shame that it wasn’t clearly visible because Chris was blocking the view.

“Then, first…”

Leonardo took off his shirt, revealing his bare skin.

“Why are you suddenly taking off your clothes?”

“The refining technique works better with exposed skin. Wearing clothes doesn’t drastically reduce the effect, but it’s better to be sure.”

[I thought it was the first chapter of the Joke Assassin’s secret technique, ‘Exposure Comedy’…]

Ahhh, I couldn’t hear anything. The hallucination of an old geezer grumbling was probably because I was tired.

“You have an excellent body. To be this well-trained at 13…”

The compliment about his body was a bit embarrassing, but Leo had a certain pride in his physique.

The firm muscles and healed scars on his body visualized the boy’s training to some extent.

“…Ugh…”

For some reason, Ariasphil was not looking directly at him but was glancing at Leo’s body with her eyes.

Even so, she clearly and vividly captured the muscles and flesh in her eyes.

Leo, however, was busy concentrating on the mana around him.

“Hoo…”

As he exhaled, Leo began to perform the mana refining technique.

[Oh, your skills have improved. This is the secret technique of the Joke Assassin, mana refining…]

Regardless of the nonsense and jokes, Leo’s training skills had grown one step further.

The divided mana particles had become finer, and he had become more proficient at opening the skin pores through refining.

“…This… is unbelievable…”

Chris, witnessing the scene, couldn’t keep her mouth shut. Even if she wanted to clench her jaw, her jaw muscles seemed paralyzed, pulled down by gravity.

“How…!! How did you do it!?”

Barely freeing her paralyzed muscles, Chris ran to Leo and asked.

“Pardon?”

Leo, who had been demonstrating, was rather taken aback by her overly excited reaction.

“The technique just now!! The way you split the mana and insert the particles into your skin pores!!”

She had only been this excessively excited when she saw a black wyvern with red eyes and when she met a heterochromatic wizard.

“First…! First… calm down…!”

“Calm down?! You don’t realize how amazing this achievement is because your knowledge is still limited!!”

Although it was hard to accept, being inwardly in his mid-20s, Leo had to agree for now. Denying it would be too frightening, given the excited middle-aged woman in front of him.

“Ch…Chris, please calm down…”

“…I…I’m sorry. Ahem…”

At Ariasphil’s words, Chris barely regained her composure and calmed herself with a cough.

“…Leonardo, are you familiar with the basic mana breathing technique?”

“Yes, it’s a method of inhaling air mixed with mana to attach particles to the body.”

The Reinhardt family’s mana training method was also based on breathing techniques. Among them, the Reinhardt family’s breathing technique was the most outstanding.

“Exactly. We thought there was nothing better than breathing for refining mana. But it had one fatal flaw.”

Although her tone was somewhat exaggerated, Leo had an idea of what that flaw might be.

“”You can’t train your body while doing mana breathing.”” they both said simultaneously.

The Sage was impressed by their synchronized speech.

[They seem to get along surprisingly well. Do people with nicknames have some sort of connection?]

Ignoring the nonsensical comment from the renowned Sage, Leo focused on his conversation with Chris.

“Yes, you can’t train your body while doing mana breathing. If you do both at the same time, the breathing gets disrupted, and the physical training becomes sloppy.”

Research to combine breathing techniques with physical training had been a hot topic since before Leo was born.

However, physical training was almost like poison for the delicate mana breathing technique.

The basic principle of mana breathing and the breathing for muscle use were distinctly different in form and rhythm. Everything from the amount of inhalation to the holding time varied subtly, and the differences became significant depending on the posture.

Thus, focusing on mana breathing quickly exhausted the body, making endurance training meaningless.

Focusing on endurance training made mana breathing irregular, reducing mana absorption and increasing the likelihood of side effects.

For these reasons, people had conducted mana breathing and physical training separately for efficiency.

“But Reinhardt’s unique constitution and training method overcame that, didn’t they?”

The Reinhardt family had a constitution imbued with the blood and soul of a hero. Simply absorbing mana allowed their bodies to grow remarkably without the need for physical training, and the traditional training methods passed down for 300 years had long surpassed conventional training methods.

“Indeed. However… wait a moment.”

At that moment, the well-flowing conversation was interrupted.

“…What’s the matter…”

“…How do you know that? Information about our constitution and training methods isn’t easily accessible.”

Oops. It hit him. His past self might know, but his current self couldn’t possibly know this information, nor should he.

“That… I don’t know the details, of course.”

So he tried to sound as natural as possible.

“I just heard rumors during my brief time as a mercenary. I was convinced when Ariasphil perfectly absorbed the training method I taught her.”

He had to make up a plausible story.

“Hmm… It seems that fate also plays a role in the life of a warrior.”

Although he spoke naturally, hearing such words made his face contort unnaturally. He had to endure it.

“Anyway, even the Reinhardt family’s secret techniques have that drawback. The point is that the total time for physical training and mana training is separate.”

Now he finally understood the overall meaning.

“…The mana refining technique can be done simultaneously.”

“That’s the remarkable part! As a result, it can shorten the training time, and with a little more refinement, it will be of higher quality than either mana breathing techniques or physical training methods!”

It was indeed revolutionary. Although Leo himself had created it, he hadn’t fully grasped the significance of this achievement at the time.

[That’s because I taught you. You know that, right?]

[If you do, include my name in the mana refining technique. It’s your master’s order.]

[…Of course, I’m joking. Joke Assassin, you have no sense.]

Should I really kill him with a joke?

“If it’s not too much trouble, I’d like to propose this training method to the family head. If it’s well promoted, it could change the landscape of mana training! I swear on the name of the Black Darkness!”

He didn’t know how significant the name Black Darkness was, but he nodded for now.

“Then let’s go! I’ll report this right away!!”

“Oh… yes…”

[The mood change is too extreme.]

Sage, this isn’t my fault.

As he said that, Chris disappeared from the training ground like a shadow melting into the darkness.

“…Ah… yes… that’s how it is.”

Leo said to the remaining Ariasphil.

“Your clothes…”

“Pardon?”

“Put on your clothes…”

She picked up the shirt that had fallen on the ground and handed it to him.

“Oh, thank you.”

As he picked up the offered clothes and put them on, Leo expressed his gratitude. Even though he was young, seeing the body of the opposite sex, especially one with considerable scars, could be unpleasant.

“Stop… doing that…”

“What?”

“…Stop talking like that…”

In Leo’s calm eyes, Ariasphil’s face was reflected. For some reason, her face looked sad.

***

When Leonardo first said he would come to the family.

Although she didn’t show it, Ariasphil was so happy she could jump with joy.

“Leonardo is coming to our house? Tomorrow? Immediately?”

Just thinking about it drew a bright smile on her doll-like face.

“We can train together every day. Talk every day, spar together, and laugh together.”

Was that all? Whenever she wanted, she could see Leonardo’s face. She could hear his voice, see his swordsmanship, and even feel his warm touch.

“…Hehe…”

With a girlish laugh, a laugh she had never made before, the girl eagerly awaited the next day.

But

“…I suddenly want to eat oranges.”

“Bwahahahahaha…!! Ah! Ah! Heehee! Gurgle…”

After Leonardo knocked out Alfred, something seemed to go wrong.

Of course, she was worried about the fallen Alfred. Alfred, who was over twice her father’s age, had always shown a healthy appearance, so she couldn’t help

but worry.

But more troubling than that…

“What should we do!? Leonardo…! Leonardo…!”

It was Leonardo who had gone into the interrogation room.

Two hours had passed since Leonardo had gone into the interrogation room and not come out.

What if he was being tortured or something?

The story her grandfather or Alfred used to tell about being eaten by a monster in the interrogation room if they did something wrong came to mind.

Leonardo would surely defeat such a monster magnificently, but she couldn’t help but worry.

Fortunately, Leonardo was released not long after.

But

“Why is he going to a distant annex instead of the main house?”

Her life with Leonardo did not go as she wished.

It was unsatisfactory that he was going to an annex instead of the main house,

And she didn’t like that Leonardo was a mere servant, not a guard knight like Jehad.

At this rate, it would be difficult to see him every day even if she wanted to.

Above all,

“Ariasphil.”

“…Of course, I should speak formally. I’m a servant.”

Listening to him speaking formally was unbearably burdensome.

“Why is he speaking formally…?”

Was it because he was taken to the interrogation room as soon as he arrived?

If that was the case, she could make it up to him in any way.

Or was it because other servants bullied him?

If that was the case, she could just get rid of those insignificant servants.

Or… could it be because of me?

Could it be that he disliked me?

“…Why are you speaking formally?”

If that was really the case, what should she do?

Her mind went blank, and she couldn’t think of what to say.

“Weren’t we friends…?”

Since he was her first friend, her first friend,

She couldn’t think of the right words to say.