I Was Abandoned Because I Was Told I Had No Talent, but Four Incredibly Strong Yet Clumsy Older Sisters Took Me In. Even the Sword Saint and the Great Sorcerer Insisted on Me Being Their Top Disciple. As a Result of Raising Me in Such an Overprotective Way, My Ultimate Talent Finally Awoke. - Chapter 13

Disciple Scramble: Morning Battle

A week had passed since I got four masters.

My day starts with war.

“Rut. Wake up. Time for your run.”

“Rut-kun♪ Good morning♪ We start with meditation♪”

“…(silently yanking off the blanket)”

“Rut-kun! Good morning! Let me take your temperature!”

Before the morning sunlight even came in, four voices slammed me awake.

When I opened my eyes, the four masters had completely surrounded my bed—the one Reizel-sensei had carved from wood during the expansion.

“…Good morning.”

The moment I said it in a sleepy voice, all four moved at once.

“Sword first.”

“Magic♪”

“…(shoving my shoes at me)”

“Breakfast! Nutrition comes first!”

It was like this every single morning.

None of them would back down even a step. They each grabbed my right arm, left arm, the back of my shirt, and the scruff of my neck.

“U-um, maybe we could take turns—”

“There is no taking turns. I’m first.”

“No, I’m first♪”

“…(silently pulling)”

“No way! If I let Rut-kun exercise on an empty stomach he’ll collapse!”

After all the tugging, we ended up with the harshest schedule possible: doing a little bit of everyone’s training all at once.

I swung a wooden sword while circulating mana for magic, stayed alert for Viola-sensei sneaking up behind me without a sound, and chewed the nutritious food Soleil-sensei kept shoving at me from the side.

I was doing everything.

Because I was being made to do everything, my body was always wobbly by the end of morning training.

“Rut. Your core is off balance.”

“Rut-kun♪ Your mana is scattering♪”

“…(knee from behind. My heart nearly stopped)”

“Rut-kun, you’re sweating too much! Here, drink some water!”

Strict. Gentle. Scary. Heavy.

But every single one of them was watching me. They needed me—this kid who had been thrown away—so much.

Just that was enough for me to smile again today.

＊

“—You guys are seriously idiots, aren’t you?”

During a break in afternoon training.

Riene sat on a tree stump with a completely fed-up look on her face. The cut on her cheek from yesterday’s fight with pursuers had vanished without a trace thanks to Soleil-sensei’s healing. (Though apparently Soleil-sensei had smiled and asked “Who hurt my Rut-kun’s friend?” in a way that was genuinely terrifying, so Riene had been trembling the whole time she was being treated.)

“Want to train too, Riene?”

“Hah? Who’d want to train with someone like—”

“Could you do some sparring with me? Reizel-sensei told me to cross swords with someone my own age.”

Riene’s eyes twitched.

“…Fine, I guess. You’re probably too weak for it to even be worth it, but I’ll at least give you some practice.”

She already had her thin sword drawn as she spoke.

Wooden sword met thin sword.

Riene was fast. Three times faster than me. My sword got knocked away on the first clash, my legs swept on the second, and I rolled across the ground on the third.

“Weak. Not even worth talking about.”

“One more time!”

“…You really are persistent.”

Fourth clash. Fifth. Sixth. I lost every single one.

But on the sixth, I felt like I caught just a tiny glimpse of Riene’s sword path for the first time. I only saw it—my body couldn’t move in time.

“Your eyes aren’t bad, at least.”

Riene muttered. She wasn’t really praising me. It was just stating a fact. Still, it made me happy.

“Thanks, Riene!”

“I didn’t do anything that deserves thanks!”

The moment Riene shouted with a red face— I felt an insane pressure from behind that felt like it might burst my eardrums.

When I turned around, the four masters were “observing” us from the shade of the trees.

Reizel-sensei stood with her arms crossed and a blank face, but her eyes were measuring the distance between me and Riene down to the millimeter, ready to strike at any moment.

Meltya was smiling sweetly, but the grass at her feet had withered across a wide area.

Viola-sensei was perched on a branch right above Riene’s head, silently radiating killing intent from her red eyes.

Soleil-sensei waved with a smile and called out, “Rut-kuuun, it’s time for hydration♪ Come on, stop that dangerous sword play and come over here♪” She was clearly here to forcibly end the spar with Riene.

“…What is with those four? They’re seriously scary.”

Riene backed away with a stiff face.

“I think the masters are just worried about me.”

“I don’t think it’s worry for you. That’s the face of females protecting their territory…”

“Females?”

“…Never mind. I have no obligation to explain anything to a natural airhead like you.”

Riene sighed and sheathed her thin sword.

“Whatever. I’ll give you practice again tomorrow. You better be grateful.”

“Yeah! Thank you!”

“That’s why I said don’t thank me—! Geez, you throw me off!”

＊

Night.

Dinner around the campfire in front of the expanded cabin.

Meltya’s stew. Soleil-sensei’s bread. A huge pile of berries that Viola-sensei silently dumped onto my plate. Reizel-sensei’s dried meat. Riene was a little farther away, secretly getting a second helping of stew.

“Tomorrow we’ll increase the distance of the morning run.”

“Tomorrow’s meditation will include a new perception technique♪”

“…(silently heading off to set tomorrow’s traps)”

“Tomorrow we’re doing a test on telling herbs apart♪”

“Tomorrow” came flying at me from four directions.

It was busy. But there was a “tomorrow” for everything. That made me happy.

When I looked up at the sky, the stars were beautiful.

A little ways away, Riene wrapped herself in a blanket and muttered, “I’m worried about your stamina.”

—I was happy.

I wished this time could last forever.

I really thought that from the bottom of my heart.

＊

Around the same time.

Observation room in the main headquarters of the Church of the Temple, central continent.

One of the countless instruments was blinking with an eerie red light.

“Report. Continuous observation of four-colored mana reactions in the remote forest region.”

“Four colors?”

“Yes. Red, blue, black, and white. All at the great-mark class. It is estimated that at least four great-mark holders have gathered at the same location.”

The superior who received the report furrowed his brows.

Four great-mark class individuals gathering in a remote forest—that couldn’t possibly be a coincidence.

“In addition, there is a faint unidentified reaction mixed in. It is the same unclassifiable waveform that was detected during the previous barrier unsealing.”

“…Report to Archbishop Caldis. Include a recommendation to dispatch a special investigation team.”

After the recorder bowed and left, the superior looked up at the night sky outside the window.

“Four great-marks and an unidentified reaction… Just what is happening out in the borderlands?”

The church still had no idea that a single boy was sleeping peacefully deep in that distant forest.