At the same time that the morning sun illuminated the horizon, that started.
Great swords comparable to their own heights readied with both hands, the two boys ran at the same time.
Their footfalls which created sand clouds accelerated them. Their momentum reached the peak already at the second step and they spun their bodies sideways like a whirlwind, brandishing their great swords horizontally across.
That was not simply physical strength. Shifting the centre of gravity to one's feet and knees, spinning motions utilizing the waist to the shoulders and centrifugal force from the shoulders to the arms ── all of it was housed in single strike upon the sword edge.
Claangggggg!
A short but sharp sound tore through the air and echoed. Great sword clashed head-on against great sword and the resulting recoil blew the two boys backwards.
"......!"
A little breath leaked out.
Adjusting the sword tips which were flowing backwards from the impact, they once again swung at the same time. Silver flash overlapped with silver flash and the sound of swords clashing rang out once more.
One after another, the endlessly continuing weapons and interlocking of swords knew no end. Ten times between twenty, twenty became fifty, fifty became a hundred and still there was no end in sight.
Then──
The morning sun which painted the sky blue had at some point changed to an evening sun which painted it red.
Crunch......
The great sword sank about halfway into the ground.
Letting go of its grip, one boy fell backwards while facing the sky.
"........................"
The boy looked at the sky with eyes which clearly showed fatigue. His dazzling blond hair had become covered in dirt and his simple training shirt had countless rips cut into it.
"............"
In an absentminded state, he only continued to breathe loudly.
And.
"Done?"
The figure of a person looked down at that boy.
"If you're done, say you're done and then fall over. I thought it was a trap and was about to attack you."
The boy looking down suddenly lifted the corners of his mouth.
Everywhere along his forehead and nape was flowing with sweat like a waterfall, but there was not a scratch upon his shirt. Despite having fought that harsh of a battle from dawn to dusk.
".........is.........da............!"
The collapsed boy murmured.
"What was that?"
"............This damn brother......" [T/N: The word used is "aniki". Fairly lacking in respect.]
"Silence."
The silver-haired boy kicked the fallen boy's head without mercy and smiled intrepidly.
The collapsed side and the side looking down ── both had silver hair, blue eyes and sharp and graceful features. They were boys in their early teens but with a tall body close to that of an adult in height.
"............Why......are you stronger......?"
The younger brother clenched his molars and leaked that out.
"Because......even though you were only born a little earlier......than me."
Yes, his birth was only slightly earlier.
Even so, what was this difference?
No matter how many times he challenged him, no matter how much special training he did, he could not close this gap in skill. And in the end, his desperation attack had ended with these results.
"Do you think there's an older brother who would lose to his younger brother in this world?"
The older brother wiped his trickling waterfall of sweat.
"......I don't ge─t it. There are tons of those."
"That's true. I just felt like saying it."
"You......damn older aniki."
Spurring on his body which was exhausted all over, he barely managed to raise his upper body and sit cross-legged.
"Want to keep going?"
"............I'll let you off for today."
"Cheeky. That's not a line for the shamed side to say."
His head was knocked.
"I'll get going now too. I have to hurry or I'll get yelled at by the captain."
"......Even though you'll get drilled about when you returned."
Rising up in the center of the floating continent, Orbie Clar, the tower which connected to the heavens ── 'Tenketsu Palace <Sophia>'.
His older brother was working as a Guard of the tower but he would sneak away unnoticed by his superior like this and come to the Living District, then accompany him for his training like this. At those times, it seemed that he would be scolded for leaving without permission.
"Yeah, that. ......I wonder if it'll be especially harsh this time? Since I was told to behave myself because the promotion exam is coming up soon."
"Sennenshi?"
"Too early for that. I'm still a Regular Guard. Next is an Elite Guard and after that, a Senneshi. Well, I can probably do it."
"......You're saying that lightly."
The most powerful bodyguards of which each of the five Priestesses had only one, 'Sennenshi'. Even throughout the floating continent <Orbie Clar>, they were accomplished martial artists whom you could count on one hand. Swordplay, hand-to-hand combat, gun handling, spear techniques: they were inidividuals who had reached their respective territories in which they were unmatched by any on the floating continent <Orbie Clar>.
"Because if you talk about Sennenshi......"
"It's nothing special. It's the same as having already become one."
It was his older brother's habit. He would easily speak of difficult accomplishments.
"──Leon."
"Mm."
Having his name sudden called, he blinked.
"It should be fine around now; I don't mind if you enter Tenketsu Palace <Sophia>. I'll permit it."
"Really!?"
It was a dream he'd had for forever.
He wanted to be part of the same group as his older brother and become a Guard and perform the duties like his older brother.
"Well, if you're this strong, you should be able to handle the Instructor's grueling trailing."
"......Watch me, I'll catch up to you in an instant."
"A Regular Guard? By the time you become a Regular Guard, I'll have been at the summit of the tower long ago."
"Sennenshi?"
"Those are the partners of the five Priestesses. There's already a class in the Guards one level 'above'."
Suu ── his older brother pointed his index finger to the skies.
"'Master of Heaven'. There is only one within the tower: the partner of the Queen."
"......Ahh, that."
Hearing his brother's proclamation that he'd gotten used to, Leon didn't even feel like hiding his wry smile.
──Even though it's unknown whether that really exists or not.
It was of the same rank as the Queen who was master of the tower, thus 'Master of Heaven'. At any rate, it was a class of which nobody had been publicly promoted to. There should be nobody there but it was certain that the class was prepared in Tenketsu Palace <Sophia>'s central computer.
"Aniki really likes those kinds of things."
"It's not fun if there's nothing to aim for; it feels like you'll forget to work your hardest without a goal."
Shouldering his great sword, his older brother turned his back to him.
......Even though our heights should also be exactly the same.
......Somehow, my older brother's back as he walks towards the sun looks really large.
Time flowed from there──
Unnoticed, the younger brother's age became the same as his older brother's and surpassed it.
Tenketsu Palace <Sophia>, floor 273, the Sennenshi-only floor.
"............Leon."
"Mm?"
The area around his elbow was jiggled and Leon openly his eyes halfway.
"............Are you okay?"
The one looking worriedly at him was a young girl in a kimono-styled vestment.
Syun-rei Pia Nucclene ── the fourth Priestess for whom he was the partner. She was a talented girl who had become a Priestess at the tender age of sixteen.
"............Your meditation was taking longer than usual."
"......Ahh."
Remembering that he had been indulging in reminiscence, he smiled wryly.
"Sorry, I was just thinking about something."
"───Okay."
The Priestess said only that and smiled, looking relieved from the bottom of her heart.
Though a young and frail girl, she was supporting the barrier which protects the floating continent <Orbie Clar>. It was for that exact reason that the Sennenshi were to protect them.
"Time to reconsider."
Having a Priestess look out for a Sennenshi was defeating the point.
......Moreover.
......I wouldn't be able to face him like this.
Standing up wordlessly, he looked down at the floor which had been polished almost like a mirror.
A shockproof board colored a rusty blue. It was not just the floor but also the walls and ceiling. There were also heat-resistant, shockproof metal plates everywhere on this training floor.
Move away. He signaled that to Syun-rei with his eyes and he took a step away from her in the himself.
"──"
He gripped the great sword which had a twofold structured hilt. The non-standard great sword which surpassed an adult in height was a personal sword tailored precisely for Leon's physique and muscular strength.
He swung that sword up and down.
With all his strength.
With the intention of copying his older brother's sword from that time.
"............"
The sword whipped up a whirlwind while shining. Leaving behind the sound and air, just single-mindedly sword strikes devoid of distraction.
But──
"Leon?"
"......It's far."
In front of Syun-rei who tilted her head, Leon put on a thin wry smile.
It's still far.
Rather than far, the gap has widened even more since then.
"It's not fun if there's nothing to aim for; it feels like you'll forget to work your hardest without a goal."
......A goal.
......My lifelong goal will always be him, huh.
No matter how much he raised his skill, the older brother in his memories would definitely be one step ahead. Maybe memories were like that: the more time passed, the more they would be idealized, and he could not compare now.
His older brother was no longer here.
He took a hit from a wyvern's claws to the head in protecting his unit comrades and fell into a distant valley like that ── in the end, he did not return no matter how long they waited.
......I wonder when I will surpass you.
His older brother's distant back.
With frustration, anger, disappointment, and above all, with aspiration, did he gaze at that back.
"......Okay."
Pouring strength into the great sword's handle, Leon stared fixedly at the ceiling.
At the point which was beyond the ceiling, at the summit of the tower.
"Wait there, I'll chase after you this time." [T/N: "there" is written as "ideal".]
Four days later.
Leon once again remembered that vow.
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