The Academy’s Sashimi Sword Master

In my cadet years, my control over thunder magic was quite poor.

The fact that I had gone back in time to eliminate the false gods was, in large part, thanks to Lycan.

That someone like me, who had spent almost twenty years doing nothing but wielding a sword, would suddenly receive thunder magic and overnight become Zeus?

It didn’t make sense.

Besides, Lycan had assessed that my magical talent was just slightly above average.

‘Not that it bothers me or anything.’

But for a corps commander of the Demon King’s army to say I was “more than average”? That meant I could quit being a swordsman and switch to mage if I wanted.

The problem was that in Miracle Blessing M the concept of a mage didn’t even exist.

Anyway.

At that time, I was right in the stage where Lycan was teaching me how to use thunder magic. To be exact, I had just crossed the threshold.

And, like every beginner, at eighteen years old I was stuck in the peak of clumsiness.

Zzzeeeeew!

The wind hit my skin like blades. Even though it was midsummer, it was no exaggeration to call it cutting wind. All because I was going too fast.

I was flying while holding Ryozo, one hand behind her knees and the other at her neck.

Below us, along the trail of our flight, the sea surface foamed white.

Chizzzzt!

Small reddish cuts began opening on my face. The air resistance was tearing me apart.

The problem was, if it were just me, it’d be fine—but Ryozo, in my arms, was also at risk of getting hurt. Even though she kept her head down, at this rate, her beautiful face could end up marked.

‘I can’t control the speed…!’

Damn it. Trying to show off in front of my girlfriend was going to turn me into a ragged mess.

Silently, I asked Lycan for help.

‘Help me control the speed.’

Lycan appeared in his spiritual form (only I could see him), shooting sparks at me as if scolding me. I hadn’t yet become addicted to Thunder Squirrel transformation.

— Didn’t I tell you that high-speed displacement is still too much for you? Thunder magic is high-risk, high-reward. If you don’t have enough mastery, it’s worse to use it than not to.

‘And who do you think doesn’t know that?’

— Oh yeah? Then who’s the one doing this?

‘…It’s just that I was too embarrassed to say it out loud… but I wanted to score points with my girlfriend.’

— The shell of an adult and the mind of a teenager. That’s what you look like.

‘Call it living young. Anyway, help me this once. After all, we’re soulmates, right?’

— The soulmate isn’t me, it’s that girl you’re carrying like a princess.

‘Don’t be petty!’

— Ha…

Sighing with exasperation, Lycan’s spirit clung to me and then merged into me.

As soon as I felt that strange sense of unity, Ryozo noticed the change.

“Geom-Ma, hey…”

“Wait a moment, don’t move.”

It was Lycan’s voice using my vocal cords. Right now, he had control of my body.

‘Couldn’t you sound a little gentler?’

— She’s your girlfriend, not mine.

‘I know, but I’m the one who looks bad.’

Seeing me so dejected, Lycan gave in a little this time.

“Thunder magic requires delicate control, Ryozo. If not handled carefully, even the current flowing through your body could be affected.”

Internally, I brought a hand to my forehead.

‘I see human and demon standards of kindness differ greatly.’

While I suffered for lending my body, Ryozo blinked rapidly.

Then, without saying a word, she rested her face against my chest.

Fuuuuh.

The sea breeze turned gentle. The salty, piercing scent of the ocean struck my nose.

The speed decreased.

The flight stabilized.

I, Kang Geom-Ma, stepped forward through the void as if walking on an invisible bridge.

Maybe this was what martial arts novels called “walking through the air,” a feat reserved only for supreme masters.

Ryozo also lifted her gaze.

Her eyes, the color of the sea and sky, slowly widened.

We were defying gravity. To anyone seeing it for the first time, it was impossible not to be left speechless.

“We’re going to descend.”

Lycan made my vocal cords vibrate.

“…Descend…?”

“Hold on tight.”

“……!”

Ryozo’s ponytail bristled upward, stiff.

What was happening was that we were plummeting straight downward.

Right before plunging into the sea.

‘Uwaaah!’

Pzzzt—!

An enormous electric current whipped through my skin.

— From now on, what matters is precise application of magic. Watch closely. You might need to use this again someday.

With that heads-up, Lycan coated my body in electricity and dove straight into the ocean.

Ryozo instinctively shut her eyes tightly. I almost did the same.

Then Lycan recited a spell in a voice only I could hear.

[Electrode Barrier]

A point glowed on my chest.

Flash!

In an instant, it expanded.

At the speed of light, the point formed a spherical electric barrier. The yellowish sphere throbbed like the heart of the ocean.

Dum-dum, dum-dum.

That pulse was a warning signal to the sea creatures. Fortunately, the nearby fish scattered in all directions.

But that wasn’t all.

[Aqueous Resonance Wall]

The electric energy made the water vibrate, manipulating the polarity of atoms and rearranging the H₂O molecules.

Ryozo, astonished, murmured,

“You separated the hydrogen and oxygen to create a vacuum inside the sphere… huh?”

How had she managed to put it into words?

She touched her neck, surprised.

Lycan smiled with the corner of his lips.

“Inside the barrier, the water molecules have been completely expelled. You can breathe. Think of it as a quasi-subspace.”

While speaking, Lycan conveyed another thought to me.

— It’s amazing. That she can instantly grasp a phenomenon like that—this intuition is a natural talent for magic.

‘Are you saying she’s a genius in magic too?’

Lycan nodded silently.

— A mediocre person interprets phenomena based on experience. A genius is different—they first intuitively obtain the result in the brain, then create a convincing explanation and compare it with experience to confirm.

‘The difference is enormous, even if it’s just the order of cause and effect.’

Lycan chuckled.

— Don’t overthink it. Kang Geom-Ma, you’re the same—at least when it comes to wielding a sword.

‘……?’

— “If I cut, it will split.” That certainty is the essence of your swordsmanship. Do you really think that feeling you get when you swing it is a product of training?

‘Well, no, of course not.’

— You make a perfect pair. However, it would be best if this girl stays away from magic, even intentionally.

‘…?’

‘But you said her intuition was brilliant.’

— Precisely why. She could be devoured by magic. Why do you think the founding hero built a special facility in the Academy? To contain the danger of awakening the Blessing.

— Enough rambling. I’ll leave the final touch to you, Kang Geom-Ma.

Lycan’s spirit shot out of my body and disappeared somewhere in the sea.

That bastard was a master of “hit and run.”

‘Thanks, Lycan.’

I gladly took over.

[Electric Palace of the Ocean Current]

The yellowish vision began to fade.

The surroundings became transparent and, little by little, a deep blue landscape of soft curves filled my sight.

Corals lay peacefully at the bottom, entire schools of unknown fish moved together, and the bluish light from the outer world filtered through, shattering the watery scales of the sea.

From the fish’s perspective, we must have looked like strange bipeds trapped inside a transparent drop of water. It was the exact inverse of a regular aquarium.

I looked at Ryozo.

Despite being isolated in this blue world, I couldn’t distinguish her hair from the sea itself.

‘Ryozo, not only do you resemble the sky—you also resemble the ocean.’

She, fascinated, extended her arm toward a scarlet fish that was approaching.

With only a thin membrane between them, they almost touched.

But the fish flicked its tail and fled immediately.

Ryozo puffed out her cheeks, then smiled.

“Now that I think about it, I’d also run away if I saw a fish out of the water.”

“I know exactly what you mean.”

Oh yes—I’d felt that down to my bones in my encounters with mermaids.

Ryozo stretched widely.

“It’s strange—we’re trapped in the ocean, but I feel less stifled in here than outside.”

“There are no eyes watching us here.”

“And what about the eyes of the sea creatures? Don’t those count?”

“W-well, maybe not.”

“You always have an answer, huh? Always.”

Ryozo poked my chest with her index finger. Then, she chuckled.

“When I saw the notice that it was closed, I felt like the world was collapsing. Thank goodness it wasn’t.”

“I may not be able to bring you a star from the sky, but I can rent an entire ocean.”

“Normally I’d have an objection, but I’ll let it slide this time.”

Ryozo looked around, amazed.

“Geom-Ma, if it weren’t for you, how could I witness a landscape like this?”

“Let’s come back whenever we get the chance.”

Ryozo shook her head.

“Once is enough. If I repeat it, I’d get used to it—and I want to keep this memory intact.”

So she was saying it so it wouldn’t fade.

“Anyway… later on, it’d be nice to have an aquarium that looks like this.”

“Then build it yourself.”

“My family has political influence, not wealth. How am I supposed to build an aquarium with private funds? If it’s done, let it be with tax money.”

“…Huh?”

Had I heard that right? Taxes?

That’s when it happened.

The fish, swimming in orderly formations, scattered in a stampede.

A massive presence was approaching.

“That’s…”

It had a spear on its nose.

It was a swordfish.

‘I’ve only ever seen them canned…’

Seeing one in person was a whole different story. Maybe because I was a swordsman, my heart started racing.

But suddenly…

‘Why is it heading toward us…?’

Ah, right.

I remembered what I’d heard—swordfish were extremely aggressive creatures. There were rare cases where they attacked fishing boats, even causing human casualties.

That ocean tyrant was charging straight at us.

“Will this barrier hold up?”

“…Eh…”

I should ask Lycan, but that didn’t seem possible right now.

“Geom-Ma?”

“Ryozo.”

I gave her a smile.

“I’m sorry.”

The swordfish’s spear struck the thin membrane.

Boooom!

***

Ryozo spat out saltwater.

“Pff, pff.”

We walked out of the sea like General MacArthur landing at Incheon.

The difference was that the general, very dignified, even had a pipe in his mouth, while we looked like drenched rats.

In space, I’d slaughtered creatures that looked like monsters from the deep, and yet we lost to a simple swordfish.

‘If Lycan had seen that, he’d be laughing his ass off.’

Twisting my jacket, I wrung out the dripping water.

With the muggy summer air, it didn’t seem like it would dry anytime soon.

‘What a pain.’

The worst part was the shoes.

Sand had gotten between the socks and the shoes, and that gritty sensation tormented my feet.

Ryozo probably felt the same.

Maybe that’s why she took off her shoes.

She also removed the long stockings that reached up to her thighs.

“Now I can finally breathe.”

Holding all that in her hands, she left deep footprints in the damp sand.

I followed her and did the same.

I hung my shoes and socks from my index finger, rolled up my pants to my shins, and walked after her footsteps.

Evening was falling.

The sound of waves was joined by the everyday noises of the world.

Especially at the beach, where rows of umbrellas were packed with people.

Everyone looked up toward the sky.

So did we.

The famous nighttime drone show in Haeundae, Busan, had just begun.

“It’s beautiful.”

I murmured without thinking.

Ryozo stared at me and immediately reached out her hand toward the sky.

Then, one of those little lights broke off from the group and flew in our direction.

It was like a shooting star coming closer and closer.

The drone, which had been buzzing with the noise of its propellers, landed softly on Ryozo’s hand and fell silent.

‘Did she already hack it…?’

I was still trying to find the words, and meanwhile Ryozo held the glowing drone out to me.

“See?” she said.

“I can bring down a star for you.”