Do Not Mock Me for Knowing Nothing of War
At Seiou Magic Academy, talent is everything—and Sakakibara Chitose has none of it. Born into a martial family with four thousand years of tradition, she's a laughingstock among classmates who wield fire and lightning with a flick of their fingers. Mocked as a relic of a bygone age, she fails her practical exams and endures the whispers: *"Four thousand years of tradition is crying right now."*
But when a mysterious voice calls out to her from the fami
Do not mock me for knowing nothing of war - Clouded Blade, the Master's Silence —The Truth of the Seal and the Sprouting of Doubt—
The storehouse at night showed a face entirely different from its daytime one.
The air was a blend of old wood and dust. A bare bulb hanging from a ceiling beam cast a feeble light through the space. Chitose sat on the floor, staring intently at the wooden sword before her.
The family treasure. A plain wooden stick said to have been passed down through the Sakakibara family for four thousand years. But Chitose knew. Since that night, this wooden sword had definitely "changed."
(...It's getting thicker again.)
Chitose swallowed hard.
Something like a black mist was seeping across the surface of the wooden blade. Before, it had been faint enough that you couldn't see it unless you looked very closely. But not anymore. Now it was clearly visible to the naked eye. Ink-like stains spread across the blade here and there.
One month since she'd begun training.
Each time she repeated the forms Kawori had taught her, the heat deep in her body had certainly grown stronger. A sense of progress that magic had never given her. For the first time, she felt she was truly moving forward—through martial arts.
But at the same time.
This wooden sword was growing darker, more clouded.
"...Hey. What exactly are you?"
Chitose murmured quietly.
No answer came.
Wind blew, and the storehouse walls rattled. The bare bulb's light swayed back and forth. Chitose's shadow stretched and shrank across the floor.
"That night, you talked plenty. Don't play dumb now."
Her voice was swallowed by the damp air.
That night. The night she'd failed magic and fled to the storehouse, half in tears. That was when she first heard a voice from this wooden sword.
"Hey, you failure over there. Try that bare-handed form of yours."
That voice had definitely come from this wooden sword. Since then, whenever Chitose practiced her forms, she would sometimes hear it. A sarcastic, mean-spirited voice—but somehow nostalgic.
"...Hey."
Chitose reached toward the wooden sword.
Her fingertips touched the hilt. A cool sensation. But that wasn't all. The moment she touched it, her left palm grew hot with a tingling burn.
Something ran across the old scar.
"—Tch!"
Chitose pulled her hand back.
For an instant, the black mist seemed to coil around her fingertips. Was she imagining it? No—she wasn't. That black thing had definitely touched her hand.
Her heart pounded hard.
"What the hell is this...?"
That was when it happened.
"—I am the blade that sealed the Sakakibara family's martial art."
A voice spoke.
Not from the wooden sword. It was a voice that seemed to resonate directly within the storehouse. Not entering through her ears, but flowing straight into her mind. The same low, dry voice as that night.
"The stronger you become, the thicker my corruption grows."
Chitose held her breath.
"And as you grow stronger, the clan's seal will break."
"...The seal will break?"
Chitose forced the words out.
"What does that mean? Why does the seal break when I get stronger? What even is the seal? What do you actually know?"
Questions poured out like a broken dam.
But the voice didn't answer.
"...Become stronger."
It only repeated that.
"Become stronger. For now, that is enough."
"Huh? What the hell is that! That's not an explanation!"
Chitose stood up and glared at the wooden sword.
"You did the same thing when you first spoke to me. 'Try the forms,' and that was it—then you clammed up. What are you?! What does 'the blade that sealed the Sakakibara family's martial art' even mean?! Does that mean you're the one who sealed our family's martial art?!"
The voice fell silent.
Only Chitose's ragged breathing echoed through the storehouse.
"...Remember your family's teaching."
After a while, the voice spoke.
"Martial arts are the strongest. Think about why those words exist. You should already realize it."
A chill ran down Chitose's spine.
(Martial arts are the strongest... why those words exist.)
Chitose sank down where she stood.
The coldness of the floor seeped slowly into her body.
The family precept. The absolute teaching passed down through the Sakakibara family for four thousand years. Martial arts are the strongest. Chitose had never been able to fully believe those words. In a world where magic was everything, the idea that martial arts were supreme had always seemed like nothing more than a sore loser's excuse.
But.
What if those words weren't a teaching meant to be believed?
What if those words were a lie meant to hide something?
"...A lie. For the sake of the seal."
The words slipped from Chitose's lips.
(Martial arts are the strongest—have those words been sealing something away?)
(For four thousand years?)
Chitose hugged her arms around herself.
Cold.
Even though it was a summer night, she felt a chill from her very core.
"...Why me? Why now, of all times?"
The wooden sword's voice said nothing more.
The bare bulb's light swayed again.
The black mist looked just slightly thicker than before.
The next day, after school.
The sky was overcast. Thick clouds covered the heavens, blocking out the sun. The wind was lukewarm, carrying a humidity that clung to the skin.
Chitose was heading toward the ruined dojo behind the academy.
Over her uniform, she wore her usual worn-out training clothes. On her feet were old sneakers brought from home, not the academy-issued leather shoes. This was what she always wore for practice with Kawori.
The ruined dojo was, as always, deserted.
Weathered wooden pillars. Sections of roof that had fallen away. Stone paving overgrown with weeds. Remnants from when Seiou Magic Academy had still been a martial arts school. Now it was the most shunned place within the magic-supremacist academy.
Kawori was already there.
Leaning against a pillar, standing barefoot. Her near-white silver hair swayed in the humid wind. Her gray eyes—whether they were looking at Chitose or at something else, Chitose still couldn't tell.
"What are you hiding?"
Chitose cut straight to it, without even a greeting.
Kawori slowly tilted her head.
"What are you talking about?"
"Don't play dumb. The wooden sword told me. You knew everything from the start, didn't you? You've been teaching me those forms knowing exactly what they'd do."
Chitose's voice echoed through the ruined dojo.
Kawori's expression didn't change.
"Who knows."
"Don't give me 'who knows'! The wooden sword is clouded. It's way darker than before. What is that? What's the seal? You know, don't you?!"
Chitose pressed in on Kawori.
Fists clenched, she raised her voice with everything she had.
Kawori deflected Chitose's fury as if it were nothing more than a breeze.
"If you want to know, get stronger."
"That again! It's always that! 'You'll understand in time.' 'If you want to know, get stronger.' You think you can paper over everything with that?!"
Chitose's shout reverberated off the rotting pillars.
That was when it happened.
Kawori's smile vanished.
Just for an instant. The faint curve at the corners of her lips disappeared, leaving her face blank. Something stirred deep within those gray eyes.
"...Yeah."
Kawori spoke quietly.
"You're right. I know. About the seal. About the wooden sword. About what will happen when you become stronger."
Chitose was at a loss for words.
For the first time, Kawori had admitted it.
"But I can't tell you now. Because you're still too weak."
"So what if I'm weak?! That doesn't matter! If you just told me, I could—"
"It does matter."
Kawori cut her off.
"I don't think you could stand if you knew the truth right now, with the strength you have. So get stronger. I'll teach you. Until you're strong enough to bear it, I won't say a word."
Chitose bit her lip.
(What the hell is that? Deciding everything on your own...)
But she couldn't argue back.
There didn't seem to be any lie in Kawori's voice. This person was genuinely thinking about Chitose, and choosing not to speak.
(But that still means she's hiding something.)
The doubt wouldn't go away.
Kawori looked away from Chitose and walked toward the center of the ruined dojo.
"Starting today, I'm changing your training."
"...What?"
"Up until now, it's been repetition of the basics. From today, I'll teach you forms meant for real combat. The difficulty will go up dramatically. Prepare yourself."
Kawori's voice had changed.
Not her usual carefree tone. A serious, taut voice.
"...Your body has already learned the basics. Next comes how to use them. Listen—what I'm teaching you from today are forms for defeating an opponent. One wrong move, and you'll break yourself."
Chitose swallowed.
(She's serious.)
Kawori's entire demeanor had clearly shifted.
"Take your stance."
Chitose took her stance as instructed.
Feet shoulder-width apart, hips lowered. Left foot half a step forward, both hands raised. The basic stance passed down through the Sakakibara family.
"From today, I'm going to touch you. You'll sense my movements and learn them with your body."
"Touch me...?"
The next instant.
Kawori vanished.
No—she only appeared to vanish. In reality, she had moved from in front of Chitose to behind her in a flash.
"—Wha—?!"
Before Chitose could turn, Kawori's hand touched her back.
"Your reactions are slow. Feel your opponent's presence on your skin."
Chitose tried frantically to put distance between them.
But Kawori's hand followed her movements perfectly. Back, shoulders, hips, thighs. At a distance of barely touching, Kawori's fingertips traced across every part of Chitose's body.
"W-wait! What the hell is this?!"
"Don't stop moving. Feel my hands. Where they're touching, where they're about to touch. Read it with your skin."
Chitose moved desperately.
But she couldn't escape Kawori's hands. It was as if every movement she made was being seen through completely.
(This person is really...)
Cold sweat rose on Chitose's forehead.
The training until now had been repetition of forms. Time spent facing her own body. But this was different. Kawori's hands touched every part of Chitose. It felt like the inside of her body was being probed.
"Listen. Your body is still stiff. Tension is getting in the way of your movement. Relax more. Let my hand movements flow through you like water."
"Easy for you to say! How am I supposed to do that?!"
Chitose snapped back, but tried to relax as instructed.
Release the tension in her shoulders. Lower her hips. Steady her breathing.
And then, strangely, she began to read Kawori's hand movements—just a little.
(Right shoulder.)
Chitose shifted her upper body to the left.
Kawori's fingertips grazed her right shoulder.
"Hmm. You're starting to get it."
A faint smile crept into Kawori's voice.
But to Chitose, that smile seemed to be looking somewhere far away.
(She's not looking at me.)
Chitose was certain.
Kawori's eyes were following Chitose's movements. But the awareness behind them was directed at something else—the past, or the future, or perhaps something else entirely.
(What is she thinking?)
Chitose's doubts only deepened.
That was when it happened.
"Oh my."
A familiar voice rang out across the ruined dojo.
Footsteps beating a steady rhythm. Long silver ringlets. Ice-blue eyes.
It was Shiratori Mahiru.
"The two of you are as diligent as ever. What could possibly be enjoyable about getting covered in dust?"
Mahiru toyed with the magic-amplifying ring on her right hand as she stepped into the ruined dojo.
Chitose kept her stance and glared at Mahiru.
"You again, Shiratori?"
"Yes, again. I've been asked to keep an eye on you two, you see."
Mahiru looked not at Chitose, but at Kawori.
She fixed her gaze straight on those gray eyes.
"The organization already knows what you're teaching here."
Chitose's heart jumped.
(The organization?)
Kawori's expression didn't change.
"How diligent of them."
"Don't play dumb. You're teaching the Sakakibara girl the forms to break the seal, ar
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