The Company Commander has returned

Chapter 4 - The Lake

The area around the town hall was chaotic.

Food rations were being distributed to the refugees.

A half slice of rye bread for one meal.

They must have been hungry the entire time, so complaints were inevitable.

"If we hadn't sold Light, we would've been in the same situation."

"If we hadn't sold it, we would've had to eat that."

"Right, just bake it, what?"

"There's a notice."

Interrupting the conversation, he pointed to a newspaper posted on the wall of the town hall.

It was about the war.

To summarize the contents after reading carefully:

First, the seal that had bound the Demon King for a hundred years was lifted.

Second, the awakened Demon King started a war to usher in the era of monsters.

Third, thanks to the efforts of Special Operations Unit Marcello Arnis, a defense line was barely established.

That was it.

"What's more frustrating is that there's no big reason."

"Isn't it better that we don't need to think too deeply about it?"

In fact, the real reason would be revealed later, but there was no need to mention what I knew now.

"Okay, done! It's really over! There's nothing left!"

The soldier distributing food shouted.

His words only added fuel to the refugees' discontent.

"You've hidden more, haven't you?"

"We're citizens too!"

One by one, troublemakers began to emerge.

"Let's just submit the applications and head back to the inn."

As soon as I finished speaking.

"We can't live like this...!"

A man drew a dagger.

The man grabbed the tall man next to him.

With black hair and blue eyes.

He was just under 190 cm, a 187 cm tall man.

Kinjo Shuah.

"Ma, Mago."

"Give me more! I know you're keeping it all for yourselves!"

The man shouted, holding the dagger to Kinjo's chin.

The soldiers set down their bread knives and drew their swords from their belts.

"This bastard...! What are you doing?!"

"Put down the knife right now!"

"I've lost my house, and I've lost my wife! I have nothing left to lose! Got it?"

The man raised his voice in response.

Taking advantage of blending into the crowd, he threatened others as well.

The moment the man swung the dagger, someone—no, more than one—would be wounded.

It was a time when the soldiers needed to suppress the situation swiftly, but from the moment they hesitated, they had already lost.

It would be hard to respond forcefully since the man had just stated he had lost both his home and wife.

Public sentiment was breaking, and tomorrow would see an even greater uproar.

"Put down the knife! Now!"

The soldier shouted louder.

"Stay away from me!"

The man lightly cut Kinjo's neck.

I was the only one nearby who could subdue him.

With that thought, I looked at the man.

"Cut the nonsense!"

The man stretched out his right arm holding the dagger.

The focus of his eyes locked onto the tip of the dagger.

The back of the blade and its edge aligned, merging into one point.

That point seemed sharper and more dangerous than anything else in the world.

A ringing sound that disturbed my senses echoed.

It mixed with the surrounding noise, drifting around us.

"Yeah, Mago... You had a fear of blade lines..."

Kinjo muttered as if he knew.

Upon hearing that, the man pushed the dagger further forward.

"Fear of blade lines? What are you talking about? Are you afraid of knives?"

He even let out a sneer.

"Mago, I'm fine, so back off. If this goes on...!"

"Hey! Say something, huh?"

The man sneered as he stepped closer, acting as if the end was near.

"Mago! No need to push it! Leave it to the soldiers...!"

I closed my eyes.

I simply closed them.

"Am I afraid of knives?"

"Huh...?"

By now, the ringing had faded away.

The remaining sounds were sharp and clear.

I could hear the soldiers swallowing their saliva.

The trembling hands of the excited man, shaking the dagger.

Even Kinjo's controlled breathing.

At that moment, plop.

A drop fell.

Like a large stone thrown into the center of a lake.

A blue ripple spread widely.

The wave swept over everything around.

Whether it was a human or an object.

It caressed each grain of sand that had piled up between the cracks in the stone floor.

Everything It passed over.

Everything that followed entered my sight.

"If it were like before, I might have..."

There was no light.

A world where the colors seemed to drain away, as if the water had receded.

The world I saw along with the circular wave spreading out was in black and white.

It wasn't about overcoming fear; it was about avoiding it.

Things in front of me had changed.

I leapt forward in an instant.

Before the man could react, I struck his face.

The man lost his balance and fell backward.

For a moment, he floated in the air.

I chased after him, from above, downward.

To his abdomen.

The blow landed squarely on him.

He crashed to the ground, unconscious, as his dagger flew out of his hand.

The fallen dagger spun horizontally, whirling like a top.

I turned my back and looked at Kinjo's blank face.

Kinjo groped at his own neck.

Blood stained his fingers, but there were no more serious injuries.

The soldiers surrounding the man muttered in confusion.

"Wh-what was that just now?"

"It looked like you had your eyes closed..."

They split into two groups.

Half of the crowd subdued the fallen man.

The rest drew their swords and approached me.

The soldier who came to the front spoke.

"Th-thank you... for now."

"No. It's nothing."

"Where are you from?"

"From that guy's house."

I pointed behind me at Kinjo with my thumb.

"No, I mean, where are you originally from?"

"I don't really know that myself."

"Or at least your name?"

"It's Mago."

"What? That's it?"

"I don't have a family name."

"If you're not trained in a noble family, then who taught you?"

"I didn't learn from anyone..."

"Are you saying you can't reveal your master's name?"

"No, really, there's no one."

I waved my hand and stepped back.

"Do you two travel together normally?"

"What do you do?"

The barrage of questions continued.

"We're just..."

I sent a glance at Kinjo.

It was a signal to quickly hand it over and leave.

Kinjo took out two sheets of paper from his coat.

The papers he handed over were taken by the soldier.

At the top, in large letters, were the words:

"Enlistment Application."

"We're new recruits."

He said this and then spoke to Kinjo.

"Let's go."

"Where to?"

"Where else, to the inn."

"Not the hospital?"

"You're not seriously injured. The hospital is probably full right now. We need to leave room for those who need it more."

"I need it too...!"

We exchanged some trivial words and left.

The soldier who had received the application unfolded the papers.

"New recruit, huh... Heh..."

"Guess you'll be a trainee starting next month."

"If it had been just a year earlier, I could have competed with that old man. Is it luck or what...?"

***

"Fear of blade lines, right?"

While having a meal on the first floor of the inn, Kinjo asked.

I nodded in silence instead of replying.

"My father told me about it before. He said it was a fear caused by trauma. He also said that's why it's easier to control people with it."

I abruptly stopped eating.

"Oh, sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

"It's fine. You're someone who could easily say that kind of thing."

"Aren't you scared of other things?"

"Not at all."

"Your standards are vague."

"I know. I realize it's strange."

I tapped my temple lightly.

"I understand it with my head."

"It wouldn't make sense to ask if you've completely overcome it, since you must have tried already."

"You know well. You're right about what you're thinking."

"Then what was it earlier?"

Kinjo, who had finished his meal, started cleaning the dishes.

He had impeccable table manners, probably because he was nobility.

"You closed your eyes."

He started seriously.

Basically, how he moved as if he could see despite his eyes being closed.

"How did you do that?"

"Well…"

I couldn't say I learned it while fighting the Demon Army.

Instead, I could describe the sensations I experienced in detail.

It felt like a drop of water landed near my feet.

The ripples spread out, and everything the ripple touched came into my vision.

Then,

"So you could see everything? In a black-and-white world?"

Kinjo interrupted and asked.

"Huh? I didn't mention anything about black-and-white."

"Really?"

"How did you know?"

"I've heard of it."

"So, how did you… I didn't figure it out until the very end."

"The very end?"

"Anyway."

"Well, anyway, the reason I know is simple. I learned it at school. You know I graduated from a magic academy, right?"

Kinjo shrugged.

"Magic, that's mana."

"Mana? Are you saying I was using magic?"

"Yeah. Of course. What else would it be?"

"I thought it was just the maximization of my senses."

"You're not some beast."

He took a deep breath before continuing.

"Mana is the medium that triggers magical reactions. It exists inside your body, and also in nature, like in the air. The difference in how you use either body mana or natural mana is what sets apart the levels of mages."

"Now that you mention it, you sound like someone who's actually learned something."

"I said I learned it at school, didn't I?"

"Why didn't I know about this earlier? If I could do this from the start, I wouldn't have had to suffer so much."

"It's understandable. You already had your body."

"What does that mean?"

"You didn't need it. If you were to apply it to the laws of the wild, you were already strong from the moment you were born with that tough body."

"So, you're saying I instinctively knew I had to use mana?"

"That's right. Your body probably realized it needed to read mana for survival. To put it simply, it was an awakening. It probably happened then."

Kinjo placed his fingers on his chin.

"On that day, at my house. The day the war broke out."

After some thought, he came up with a hypothesis.

But it was wrong.

It was two weeks before I died in my previous life, when the Demon Army's silver-haired woman nearly wiped out the 63rd unit.

Anyway, according to Kinjo, my body instinctively learned how to read mana.

That's how it was.

At the moment I faced death.

Only after I had filled the silver grave with gravestones.

"But, magic."

He extended his index finger.

"Whether you're a beginner or a grand mage, there's always a limit to mana consumption. It's just a matter of quantity. No one is infinite."

"So, I can't just keep walking around with my eyes closed. I get it."

It wasn't like I didn't try experiments.

I just couldn't find a way to improve.

After all, I didn't even know I was using magic, so it was probably expected.

"That's right. There will be a limit to how many times you can use 'the lake' and how long it lasts."

"How do I extend it?"

"It's simple. You need to train your mana. But you don't need to train your body, since it's already perfected. First, we need to figure out the limits of 'the lake.' Can you use it again?"

I closed my eyes with a flourish.

The moment a drop of water hit the ground, the ripple spread out.

The scenery of the inn's first floor unfolded in black and white.

Kinjo was holding up his left hand's fingers.

"Magic, guess how many."

"Three."

I answered simply.

Then Kinjo extended two fingers on his right hand.

Thumb and index.

"Two on the right, three on the left."

"What about now?"

"Both hands are clenched into fists."

"Huh? This is weird…"

Kinjo stood up from his chair.

He slowly walked toward me.

"Magic, what about now?"

"Only my left pinky is out. Why did you suddenly stand up?"

"Now?"

"You've lowered both hands. What's going on?"

"What… why… how…"

He lightly tapped my shoulder.

To look at him, I had to turn my whole body.

He was standing behind me.

"You can see behind you too…"