Side Story 4: The Isolated Island 05

「We will now begin the mock battles! Rank 50, Rijin! Step forward!」

「Yeah!」

The very next day after our arrival on the island, we got straight to work on the request at the training grounds.

Incidentally, their most skilled healers had yet to return from the dungeon, so the next best healer was placed on duty instead. That seemed a bit worrying to me, but they said it was fine because they purchased the highest-grade potions from the Lucille Trade Association.

Well, I guess I can always heal them instead if push comes to shove.

「I, Rijin of the Mighty Palm, shall be your opponent!」

「Nn. Come at me whenever you’re ready.」

「Oroooogh!」

Rijin roared and charged straight in, using the momentum to deliver a palm strike. Judging by the mana cloaking his hand, the blow seemed quite powerful. His movements were pretty sharp too. In adventurer terms, I’d put him around the upper end of Rank C.

That said, his strength was no match for Fran, who easily read his attacks and evaded them perfectly. Rijin delivered a series of blows, but none of them even grazed her. After a few more exchanges, Fran drove her fist into Rijin’s stomach.

Rijin staggered backward after the blow to his gut. However, his face displayed admiration rather than frustration.

「To think a swordswoman would beat me in hand-to-hand combat…」

「Come at me seriously.」

「Very well! I shall show you my ultimate technique! Haaaaaaaah! Mighty Palm Strike!」

Rijin drew his fist back to his waist and gathered his mana. Then, he unleashed an attack similar to the palm strike he used to start.

However, the speed and amount of mana imbued were on an entirely different level. Even more interesting was the shape of the mana.

The mana had spread out into a circle around his palm, almost like a shield. This technique seemed to be capable of striking the opponent while protecting the user at the same time. In other words, it was something like a shield bash using mana.

By the way, he shouted the name as “Mighty Palm Strike,” but this was actually an art called Charge Knuckle, from the Fist Arts skill.

Just like with magic, it’s possible to modify the form an art takes through mental image and training. Rijin probably took advantage of that to develop an original art of his own. This wasn’t quite enough to be registered as a distinct art by the world, but it was a pretty unusual way to use arts.

Fran also seemed to be intrigued by the interesting technique. She hoisted me onto her shoulder and took a step toward Rijin, clashing me directly against his art.

As a result, we cut through the mana shield like paper, and Rijin collapsed onto the training ground in a pool of blood.

「Guh…」

「A good try, but you need to concentrate more mana.」

『Uh, Fran, I don’t think he can hear you in that state.』

As I healed Rijin, the next challenger immediately stepped forward. He didn’t look concerned about Rijin’s wounds in the slightest.

It wasn’t that he didn’t care. The people here probably considered it perfectly normal to sustain such injuries during mock battles.

「Next! Rank 49, Zende of the Ice Spear!」

「Hell yeah!」

And so, Fran continued beating one challenger after another. I’m pretty sure it took less than a full hour for us to beat everyone from Rank 50 to 41. Still, each of them had their own special arts and fighting style, so Fran enjoyed every second of it.

Oh right, one of the challengers was Ouri-kun, the guy who fought a promotion match yesterday. We won without much trouble. Unlike yesterday, he used a sword style focused on heavy blows, but Fran was able to read all his movements.

We heard about him hitting a wall in his growth, so I hope he learned something from sparring with Fran. I guess Fran did technically offer him some words of advice, but I’m doubtful if it really helped.

「Thank you for your efforts. This concludes the session for today.」

「I’m not tired at all. We don’t have to wait until tomorrow.」

「Hahaha! As impressive as always! But unfortunately, the next group of challengers is not ready yet.」

I can agree with Gekkou there. No way to move up the schedule by a day and expect everyone to be prepared for it.

「So what did you think about your opponents today? Did anyone catch your attention?」

「Hmm. There seem to be a lot of styles like the Ouka Style.」

「Oh! Are you curious about that? To explain that, I must first tell you the history of this island…」

Gekkou seemed to be the type of old man who loved talking about history. He went on to give us a detailed account before anyone even asked.

Apparently, people settled on this island in the distant past, so long ago that no records remained.

Only the strongest could survive on an island with such powerful magical beasts, so naturally, the settlers trained like their life depended on it.

They eventually became famous as an island of powerful warriors and martial artists. However, further development stagnated for a long time. I can understand why. Having a bunch of musclebrains wouldn’t do much to advance trade or industry.

If anything, they would only become more violent.

Then, one event changed all of that. A certain group of foreigners lost a political struggle in their home country, and sought refuge on the island.

The islanders welcomed the refugees, and they eventually became involved in governing the island. Well, it sounds like the original inhabitants were all warriors, fishermen, and farmers, so perhaps they simply forced the boring jobs on the newcomers.

In any case, the newcomers were grateful to be accepted, and devoted themselves to the development of a new government.

You might expect them to abuse their authority against the original islanders, but think about the difference in the strength. It’s impossible to oppress warriors who are way stronger than you, because they’ll just fight back.

As a result, the island became a unique country with no king or nobility. It governed itself through a council of representatives recognized by the islanders.

『And then it later became a territory under the Hagane Shogunate?』

「Indeed. Though it seems that was merely an excuse to recognize the island as an autonomous territory before the Holy Nation of Silard tried to seize it.」

The island seems to export a lot of useful materials, so perhaps that’s what caught the attention of the big countries. In fact, they seem to offer a tribute of orichalcum, medicinal herbs, and other stuff in exchange for paying almost zero taxes.

『So what does all of that have to do with the Ouka Style?』

「The records say that the founder, Ouka, was among those refugees. She was still a young girl at the time, but she developed her talents after training on this island.」

『I see…』

I had assumed that martial arts flourished on the island due to the development of the Ouka Style, but it was the other way around. The legendary swordswoman realized her potential because of her visit to the island.

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