Side Story 3

The child seemed to think that with just a little more force, Aivert’s face would contort in pain.

But.

“Nice to meet you.”

As Aivert casually waved his hand and shook the child’s hand, the child’s face became confused.

“…?”

But Aivert tousled the child’s hair as if the child hadn’t used any force at all.

“You’re very well-mannered, shaking hands before a spar.”

Aivert’s relaxed demeanor made the child step back.

At that moment, one of the other children, who had been arrogantly looking down on Aivert, stealthily approached him from behind.

Then.

“Yaa!”

The child tried to strike Aivert’s back with a wooden sword.

Aivert couldn’t possibly have failed to notice the movement, yet he simply took the hit.

— Thump.

“?”

The child’s face was confused, unaware that Aivert had slightly twisted his body to minimize the damage.

“Oh, are you holding back? You don’t have to.”

Aivert’s taunt made the child’s face flush.

“Ugh!”

But the reactions of the other children nearby were a bit different.

“It really doesn’t hurt him.”

“Heron is the strongest among us, though?”

However, even when the child named Heron struck Aivert multiple times with the wooden sword, Aivert just caught it with his hand.

“I really don’t need you to hold back!”

But to the children, Heron seemed to be hitting him with all his might.

Yet, Aivert’s expression remained unchanged, and the children began to gather around him.

And.

“Whoa!”

A “spar that wasn’t a spar” broke out between the children and Aivert.

And a few hours later.

Naturally, Aivert was standing, while the children were sprawled on the ground.

Of course, Aivert hadn’t attacked the children. They were just exhausted.

Their faces were full of relief, as it was the first time in their lives they had been able to use their strength to their heart’s content.

“As you can see, I was born with an abnormal amount of aura, just like you guys.”

He picked up a wooden sword that had fallen to the ground.

— Crunch! Crack!

He crumpled the sword from the tip with his bare hands.

Even a wooden sword is made of hard wood and has been processed.

It’s not something that can be crumpled like a piece of paper without using significant force.

“But me…”

Aivert dusted his hands and approached Rodella.

Then, he gently took Rodella’s hand.

If he couldn’t control his strength like the children, Rodella’s hand could have been badly hurt.

But Rodella took Aivert’s hand without any hesitation.

“…!”

The children flinched, but of course, Rodella’s hand was perfectly fine.

“—This way, I can hold the hand of the person I love. I learned how to control my aura and strength from this person.”

He looked back at the children.

“Do you want to learn from this teacher, too?”

The children’s eyes, though tired, sparkled as they shifted from Aivert to the ‘teacher,’ Rodella.

Aivert smiled.

His gaze seemed to say, “This is what you meant by ‘playing,’ right?”

Rodella nodded. It was a good start.

***

The children ate and rested their fill before gathering again.

Since they were children born with an abnormally high amount of aura, they recovered quickly.

“Can we really do what you do, mister?”

“Were you like us too, mister?”

Rodella calmed the still-excited children, whose words and movements were fast.

“Of course. Let’s all sit down with a little space between us.”

She had people from the academy bring all sorts of objects and laid them out in front of the children.

There was a variety of items, from hard ones like a metal shield, a metal sword hilt with the blade removed, and wooden swords, to easily-torn objects like dolls, books, and cloth.

“Okay, today we’re going to practice holding these objects without deforming them.”

Rodella stood in front of the children.

Then, she said something important.

“Of course, it’s okay if you mess up the object. You won’t get in trouble. And anyone can fail the first time. Even this guy.”

Rodella pointed to Aivert.

“Aivert was like that at first, too. But now he can turn a page of a book with his bare hands and hold a quill pen.”

The children’s eyes began to sparkle a little.

“He practiced a lot to get to that point. But since Aivert will be teaching you how to control your aura, you’ll be able to do it much faster.”

Rodella smiled.

“So, let’s each try to grab a shield in front of us.”

It was a shield heavy enough that an average adult man would have a hard time holding and swinging it.

But most of the children effortlessly lifted the shield.

— Crunch!

And half of them ended up crumpling a part of the shield.

“Uh,”

The children looked around in embarrassment, but Rodella wasn’t surprised.

“It seems many of you have put too much strength in your fingertips because you’re nervous. Let’s try to relax the strength in our fingertips.”

At Rodella’s words, the children started to relax their grip.

“If you feel like you’re going to drop it, it’s okay to put the shield down on the floor.”

At that, some of the children put their shields down.

— Crunch!

No, they slammed the shields into the floor.

These were children who couldn’t control the aura flowing through their bodies at all.

Aivert approached those children and checked the flow of their aura.

“Think of your aura as always gathered around your heart. You don’t need to use aura at your fingertips. People with aura are naturally strong.”

As he carefully adjusted the flow of their aura, the children who had crumpled the shields gradually started to improve.

Just as the children were one by one moving past the shields,

— Crunch!

A child who had already crumpled four shields beyond recognition looked sullen.

“I don’t think I can do it.”

He then mumbled dejectedly.

Rodella approached the child.

She knelt down to meet his eye level.

“I’ll stay with you until you succeed.”

The child’s eyes widened. He looked a little scared.

“It might take a long time.”

“Then I’ll just stay here and not go home.”

Rodella sat down completely.

And she smiled.

“But I believe you’ll eventually succeed. That’s why I’m here.”

Rodella held out her hand.

“It’s okay to get better slowly, just a little at a time. There’s no need to be afraid of failing, and even less need to give up.”

Rodella pointed to Aivert.

“Everyone struggles at first. Some people are fast, and some are slow, but neither is wrong. So there’s no need to feel sorry.”

Rodella tapped the shield.

“Just try and don’t give up, and your teacher will never be disappointed.”

The discouraged child slowly, but very brightly, smiled.

The child’s eyes sparkled like stars.

Aivert watched this and suddenly thought,

“I’ll never be disappointed in you.”

With those words that Rodella had said to him every time he failed, he was able to try things with a free mind.

Even when he became timid out of fear of breaking everything around him, he was able to endure because there was someone next to him who would never leave.

“Oh!”

And after dozens of attempts, the child who had been failing finally succeeded in holding the shield without deforming it.

“Ooh!”

Not just Rodella, but the other children who had been secretly watching him clapped their hands.

The child’s face was flushed.

Just as he had found hope in her when he was a young boy, many children were now finding hope in her.

The person who always shines.

Those children, too, will find their light because of her.

Just like him.

Aivert smiled silently.