Translator: Haruto.

“T-The winner is Shimizu Shuu!”

Aoyama’s curved greatsword appears right after the referee declares me the winner.

Cracks spread through its blade until it finally breaks completely, and all that’s left are small particles of light that are subsequently absorbed by my dual blades.  

Now that I think about it, what’s going to happen to the debt now?

“The debt will be paid off in installments. I hope that won’t be a problem, sir,” said the referee to answer my doubt.

I’m not exactly in need of money at the moment, but I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to have some cash at hand.

They also gave me five long-term sacrificial cleric spells as an apology.

Unlike the ones used in duels, you can keep these forever, but they don’t have any healing or damage-reduction abilities.

Even so, they’re still really valuable because they can take your place whenever you’re about to suffer a blow that could cause you instant death.

I must say, though, Dimensional Slash is definitely the best prize I could have asked for.  

I want to give it a try already.

“Dimensional Slash.”

Activating the skill makes my blades change colors. They look as if they had small universes inside, with comets traversing the starry space here and there. It’s quite a sight.

I swing them and a slash, seeming to have yet another universe inside, goes flying about 100 meters forward until it shrinks and disappears.

Okay, now I’ll try using only one blade at a time.

First, let’s try it with the one in my right hand.

I swing it and another Dimensional Slash goes flying in front of me.

It doesn’t go that far before it stops in the middle of the air and it creates a sort of spatial rift in the form of a crescent moon.

Next, I give my other blade a try but there’s no flying slash this time. Instead, my blade creates a spatial rift right where I swung it.

I put my hand in and…

It comes out of the other rift.

I feel like Apex’s Ash.

Basically, I’m able to warp now…

Dimensional Slash must have adapted to my dual blades.  

The slashes that they produce are also smaller compared to those of a curved greatsword, which makes sense considering a curved greatsword’s blade is obviously bigger.

My slashes are just large enough for me to squeeze inside them by turning sideways.

“Hohoho! You sure look like you’re enjoying yourself!”

“Ah, the old perv.”

“I’d prefer if you call me master.”

“That’s never gonna happen.”

“You’re going to make me cry.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Ah, nothing special really. I was just packing my things since I’m moving in with you.”

“Huh? What did you just say?”

“That I’m moving into your house.”

“Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?! You’ve got to be kidding! Don’t you have work to tend to?!”

“Don’t worry, they only ever need me during major emergencies anyways. Ah, just so you know, I already got your parents’ consent.”

“Damn it! You arranged everything behind my back?!”

In contrast to my frustration, the geezer smirks without a care in the world.  

However, just a second later, his expression turns serious.

“Six years… You have six years to grow strong. Times are changing and I’m not just talking about those high-rank calamities you encountered making a move. As of yesterday, all seven shrine maidens have finally been appointed. There’s no doubt that new and powerful enemies will appear in the years to come. You must grow stronger if you wish to protect that young lady, and well, that’s exactly why I’ve decided to move in with you—to facilitate your training!”

It’s vexing how I find myself agreeing with what he’s saying.

“You say that, but I bet you just poured all your money down the drain gambling!”

I tease the geezer with a little joke.  

“Urk…”

“Wait, I was just messing around. Don’t tell me you actually…”

“N-No! It’s not what you think! I was this close to striking it big but…”     

“On top of being an old perv, you’ve also got a gambling problem…”

“Stop it! Don’t tarnish my reputation!”

“It’s always been tarnished to begin with.”

“Tell me you’re joking again! Ah, y-your training! How about we go train right now?!”

The geezer attempts to change the subject in a hurry.

Oh well, I don’t mind following along in exchange for his mentorship.  

“…So, what are we going to do in that bathhouse?”

“Do you remember that skill you stole—I mean, that skill that you won in your duel against that Aoyama kid?

“Yeah, what of it?”

“What do you think will happen if you mix it with your dual blades’ Ethereal Beauty?”

“Wait a second, you can mix battle skills?

“It’s impossible for most people but I can teach you how to do it. And guess what: when you mix skills together a new one is born!”

“Okay, I still don’t understand why we’re standing in front of a bathhouse, though.”

“Because we’re going for a dip later, obviously. But, for now, let’s head over to that vacant lot.”

“Alright.”

We arrive at a fairly large vacant lot after walking a few minutes.

From what I can see, it’s still being regularly maintained.

“First things first, we must discuss the so-called “Auto-Mode” you go into whenever you use a skill, and its counterpart, Free-Mode, that could allow you to use skills however you like.

“Your body moves on its own when you use a skill because your divine arms are activating the skill for you—you’re basically borrowing the skill from them. However, that also prevents you from controlling the skill freely, only allowing you to make small alterations such as its trajectory and its output.

“Hmm, it’d probably be easier to show you what I mean. Activate Chaotic Dance, but stop after the third attack. Then, I want you to unleash the fourth one from a different position than usual.”

I’ve used Chaotic Dance countless times so a small change like that one shouldn’t be a big deal.  

“Chaotic Dance.”

1, 2, 3… Alright, now stop and… Ugh!

“I can’t…”

“You see? That’s Auto-Mode’s downside: you’re able to cancel a skill that’s been activated for a certain amount of time, but you can’t cancel it right after it’s been activated.

“You’ll first practice with Chaotic Dance since it’s easy to discern if you’re utilizing Auto-Mode or not when you use that skill. And once you’ve got it down, you’ll move on to Ethereal Beauty.  

“Each skill’s sequence of movements just pops into your head when you’re going to use a skill, right? Well, in order to get the hang of Free-Mode, you’ll have to trace those same steps but you cannot activate the skill. You’ll have to learn how to fire Chaotic Dance intuitively, without having to resort to skill activation. Pulling that off is what we call mastering a skill, and that’s how we’ll make Chaotic Dance truly yours.”

Okay, I think I got the gist of it. Thankfully, his explanation wasn’t that convoluted.

I just have to copy the skill’s movements without activating it…

1, 2, 3 hits. Stop and…

“Agh! I can’t do it!”

“Hohoho! Come, stand up! Or are you going to stay on the floor forever?”

I continued training until late in the evening but there were no signs of success in sight.

In the end, we just enjoyed the bath and headed home afterward.

Training near a bathhouse wasn’t such a bad idea after all.  

“Say, won’t people find out about what we’re doing if we continue practicing at that vacant lot?”

“Don’t worry, that lot belongs to me, and I also set up a concealing barrier! So you can keep failing all you want without shame!”

“I see. You must actually be pretty loaded, huh.”

“Hohoho! I don’t have a single sen left though!”

“Hahaha…” we both laughed.

When I arrived home, I found Mom cooking dinner. Surprisingly enough, Amane was also there with an apron on.

“Amane-chan?! What are you doing here?”

“I was told Shikiryuu-san would be training me from now on, and that I had to move into your house, Shuu-kun!”

For real?!

Heck yeah!

“I made the miso soup!”

“I can’t wait to taste it.”

“Yay!!”

I slept like a baby that night.

Amane’s miso soup was truly delicious.

She turned beet red when I told her I’d like to have it every day.

“I promise I’ll be a great wife, Shuu-kun!” she responded for some reason I don’t understand, but hey, if she wants to be my wife, I’ll welcome her with open arms.

Amane is as cute as always! This is the life!!

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