三十七話
一歩、二歩と、刀剣を足場にして宙を駆け上がる。
故に、見上げても尚、全貌見えない〝ジャバウォック〟の全貌を見下ろす為に俺は上空へと無心に駆け上がる。
そしてやがて、地上から十数メートルと駆け上がったあたりで
薄い唇を吊り上げ、瞳を細めて俺は笑った。
......というより、笑うしかなかった。
宙を駆け上がった事で、一時的に俺と〝ジャバウォック〟の視線の位置は同じとなった。
全身を覆う緊張感を誤魔化さんと浮かべた笑みは過去一番に変な笑みであった。
鏡を見ずとも、それだけは理解出来た。
「ちょ、何してるのユリウス君ッ!?」
どこからともなく悲鳴のような叫び声が聞こえた。それは、フィオレの声。まるで狙ってくれと言わんばかりに宙を駆け上がった俺の行動が理解出来なかったのだろう。
ただ、フィオレには悪いがその声を俺は黙殺した。
......どくん、と普段よりずっと大きく響く心音。それら全てが耳障りであるとして、無視を敢行。
そんなものに気を取られるな。
集中だ、集中。
ちゃんと思い浮かべろ。思い浮かべて、模倣しろ。意識は全て、剣にのみ向けておけ。
ひたすら己にそう言い聞かせ、全ての音をシャットアウト。肌を撫でる風にすら気は向けない。
身体を巡る酸素が希薄となって漸く、呼吸すらも忘れて集中していたのだと理解。慌てて肺に空気を取り込みながら、俺は剣を天高く振り上げた。
行う事はただひとつ。
烈風の如く白刃を虚空に走らせる。
〝魔法〟を扱えない人間が、自前の努力とセンスと天賦の才のみで、〝魔法〟レベルにまで技を昇華させた。剣を振れば振るほどその規格外さが身に染みて分かる。
最早、人間技ではないと。
そもそも、剣を振るって斬撃を生み出すなんて事が出来るものか。数年剣を振っていたけれど、そんな事が起きる予兆というものはこれっぽっちもなかったのに。
「——————!!!!」
何かの叫び声だろうか。
お陰で剣を持つ俺の手すらもそれのせいで若干、震えてしまう。
「......俺はまだまだ未熟だから、ちょっとだけ
『キミがその、〝流れ星〟? を放つ際に毎度の如く腕がへし折れる理由、やっと分かったわよ』
それは今から一年前の話。
冒険者の一人————女剣士リレアは興味本位で俺の鍛錬に付き合う中で、そんな事をある日突然言い放ったのだ。
『キミって恐らく、〝魔力〟の扱いが恐ろしいくらいに上手くて、それでいてド下手なのよ』
『......どういう事?』
鼓膜を揺らしたのはそんな矛盾を孕んだ一言。
『キミも薄々は理解してたでしょうけれど、普通、剣を振っただけで腕が折れる程に自傷するなんて事はあり得ないの。何かとてつもなく頑丈な的に対して剣を振るったならばまだしも、キミの場合は宙に向かって振るっても腕がへし折れてる』
......本当に、その通りであった。
ただ、〝流れ星〟の威力が威力なだけに妥当な代償であると踏んでいた俺は疑問に思いながらも、勝手に納得をしていた。
しかし、リレアはそうでなかったのだろう。
どうやらその原因を模索していたらしい。
『唐突だけど、キミは〝魔力〟についてどこまで理解してる?』
『......〝魔法〟を扱う上で必要なもの。人間誰しもに備わってるもの。そのくらいかな』
『ええ。それで間違ってないわ。でも、若干言葉が足りてない。〝魔力〟ってものは、体外に何らかのカタチで放出する事で、〝魔法〟に昇華する存在なの。キミのように「創る」魔法であったり、魔法師のように、「打ち出す」能力であったり、〝魔法〟というものは多種多様に存在する。そしてキミの〝
......ただ、私も使おうと思えば使えるでしょうけど、絶対に使いたくはない〝魔法〟ね。と、苦い顔を浮かべてリレアは小声でそう補足した。
『あえて言うならそれは、斬る魔法。本来、〝魔力〟は放出するか、均等に身体の中で巡らせるものなんだけれど、それをキミは〝流れ星〟を放つ時だけ、剣を持つ手へ一点集中させているの。〝魔法〟は〝魔力〟の集合体。つまり、キミの場合は極端な負荷をかける代わりに己の腕を限界まで強化してるって事。だから、必然、とんでもなく威力の大きい一撃が生まれる反面、耐え切れずに腕は折れる』
だからこそ、意識的か無意識的かはさておき、その技に至れてしまった点だけを見るととんでもなく〝魔力〟の扱いが上手い。
ただ、にもかかわらず、毎度の如く腕を折るその様をみて、扱いがド下手であるとも彼女は指摘したのだ。
『......どうして?』
図星過ぎて言葉を失う俺に対して、
『私も一応これでも剣士だから、憧れに手を伸ばす気持ちは分かるのよ。私も、そうだから』
彼女はそう言って、笑ってくれた。
......とはいえ、リレア曰く、俺は〝魔力〟をためる事が出来る人間らしいけど、実際のところ〝魔力〟のため方なんてものは俺には分からない。
なにせ、意図的に一点に集中させようと試みるといつも失敗していたから。
リレアはそれを才能と呼んだ。
しかし、魔法や魔力に頼らず、目を見張るほどの威力を自前の力のみで撃ち放っていた男を見ているからか、俺はそれがズルであるとしか思えなくなっていた。
けれど、今の俺はそうしてでも修練を積み、一歩でも高みへ近づかなくてはならない。
俺のような凡人は、ズルをして漸くこの土俵に手を掛けられるのだから。
故に、ソレを使う事に対する躊躇いは微塵もなかった。
「なぁ————ッ!! お前は、〝星が降る夜〟を見た事があるかっ!!!!!」
堪えきれずに俺の口の端は吊り上がっていた。
ジャバウォック
〟。そんな想いを込めて、腹の底から思い切り声を出す。
〟と彼女に意識を向けていた〝ジャバウォック〟の焦点が俺にあてられる。
やってくるその緊張感は、やはり段違い。
けれど、それに構っている余裕なんてものは持ち合わせていない。だからこそ、既に振り上げた剣を振り下ろすモーションに移っていた。
チャンスは一回。
成功しても、しなくても、恐らく俺の腕がまともに機能してくれるのはこの一回だけ。
「無いんなら、精々刮目しとけよ......!!! この、理不尽の塊を—————!!!!」
〝星斬り〟の男が己の技と呼べるもの全て、星由来にしている理由は、星という存在が理不尽の塊であると他でもない彼が認識していたから。
そう結論づけていたからこそ、彼の技は全て————!!!
「撃ち墜とせ—————ッ!!!」
さあ、避けられるものなら避けてみろよ。
これから流れ落ちる光は全て、お前に牙剥く
Chapter 37
With a few steps, I used my swords as footholds and launched myself up in the air.
Thus, I intently ran up into the sky to get a full view of the Jabberwock, a view that I was unable to see no matter how much I tried to look up at it.
And when I was about a dozen meters off the ground:
With my eyes squinted and my thin lips contorted, I laughed.
...More accurately, I couldn't help but laugh.
Running up into the air aligned our gazes at the same level ever so briefly.
The laugh I let out to disguise the tension that shrouded my entirety was the strangest laugh I could've ever possibly made.
And without the need to look at a mirror, I figured that much.
"Wh-What are you doing, Julius?!"
Perhaps she was caught off guard, given the recklessness that I did running up into the air as if I was begging the Jabberwock to come at me.
I felt sorry, but I decided to ignore that very voice.
...Thump. My heart beat much louder than usual.
Don't let the distractions get to you.
Concentrate, concentrate.
Picture it. Imitate it. Focus all of your consciousness on your sword.
I shut myself out from the sound, and didn't pay heed to the wind that caressed my skin:
As the oxygen circulating in my body became scarce, I finally understood that I had been concentrating so hard that I had forgotten to even breathe.
There was only one thing left to do.
And that was it to run my sword through the sky like a fierce gust of wind.
He was a person who couldn't handle magic but ultimately honed his skills and magic to an unbelievable level through only his own efforts, sense, and natural talent.
The more I became experienced with the ways of the sword, the more I realized that his techniques weren't fruits of human skills.
I'd been wielding my sword for several years now, but there was never a time I had any premonition of any of this happening.
"----!!!"
Was that some kind of scream?
The air shook so much that even the hand holding my sword trembled because of it.
"...I still have a lot to improve on, so I guess... I'm going to have to cheat just a little bit."
"I finally figured out why your arm gets destroyed every time you deliver that{ Shooting Star } technique of yours."
It was a year ago now.
One of the adventurers-- Lilea, a female swordsman  --was curious about my way of training, and one day suddenly said something like this to me:
"I'm guessing that... you're terrifyingly good at using 'magic,' but you're also terrifyingly bad at it."
"...What do you mean?"
It was such a contradictory statement that shook my eardrums.
"As you probably already knew, it's not possible for a swordsman to hurt himself to the point of breaking his arm just by swinging a sword. It could happen if you were swinging your sword against an incredibly solid target, but in your case, you were swinging into thin air, and yet your arm still snapped."
...It was just as she said.
But even though I had my own doubts, I was already convinced on my own that it was a reasonable price to pay for the power of the "Shooting Star."
However, Lilea wasn't so convinced.
And it seemed like she was searching for the cause of the problem.
"I know this is sudden, but just how much do you know about 'magic'?"
"...Well, I know that magic is something that is very important, and that every human being has it. That's all..."
"You're definitely not wrong, but you were missing a few things here and there. Magical power is an entity that is transformed into 'magic' when it's released outside the body in some form. It could be something like 'creation magic,' just like you have, or 'casting magic' like other magicians have. But your technique, 'Shooting Star,' is almost just magic... No, it's definitely just pure magic."
...I could probably use it too if I wanted to, but I would never come to the point where I actually would want to use it, Lilea added in a whisper with a bitter look on her face.
"I would venture to say that it's a magic solely dedicated to slaying purposes. Magic power should be evenly distributed in your body as one would release it, but when you do a{ Shooting Star, } the magic is only concentrated in your hand. Magic is the aggregation of magical power. What I meant is that in your case, you are strengthening your arm to the limit in exchange for an enormous amount of strain. So, inevitably, while you produce an incredibly powerful blow, your arm breaks because it can't stand the strain."
For that reason, whether I was consciously or unconsciously skillful in handling magic power, no matter how we looked at it, it was impossible to store excessive magic power in one's arm.
In spite of knowing this, I myself also admitted that I wasn't very good at handling it, seeing as how I broke my arm every time.
"...Why do you want to know?"
She was so right on the mark that it made me speechless.
"I'm a swordsman myself, too, so I know firsthand what it's like to want to reach out for that longing."
She laughed as she said so.
...Nevertheless, according to Lilea, I'm a person capable of storing "magical power," but in reality, I thought otherwise.
Whenever I tried to intentionally focus my magical power in a single specific area of my body, I always failed.
Lilea called it a talent.
Perhaps it was because I had already seen a man who succeeded in performing this technique with such remarkable power without relying on magic and magical power, but only his sheer strength, that I could no longer think of it as anything other than cheating.
But even so, I had to train and get one step closer to that higher level.
An ordinary person like me could only get into this world by being unfair.
Thus, I had not the slightest hesitation in using it.
"HEY--!!! Have you seen a night filled with shooting stars before?!"
The corners of my mouth lifted almost unbearably.
Just turn around and face me, Jabberwock.
With such a thought in my mind, I let out my voice from the depths of my stomach with all my might.
The Jabberwock's focus, which had been directed at Fiole's{ Corpse Puppet: Parade } was now on me.
The tension that was coming toward me was definitely different.
But I didn't have the luxury of worrying about it, which was why I was already in the motion of swinging down my sword.
I only had one chance.
Whether I succeeded or not, this was probably the only time my arm would function properly.
"If you haven't seen one already, make sure to pay close attention to this...!!! You lump of absurdity--!!!"
The reason why the Star-Slayer had derived all of his techniques from the stars was that he recognized their existence as a mass of absurdity.
By concluding so, I--!!!
"SHOOT HIM DOWN--!!!"
Come on, dodge it if you can.
Each and every light that'd fall from here on out is a meteor shower of deadly blades that will rip into your entirety.
Star-Slaying Swordsman
星斬りの剣士
https://www.novelupdates.com/series/star-slaying-swordsman/
Action Fantasy Martial Arts Mature Psychological Shounen
Adapted to Manga Dark Fantasy World Male Protagonist Mature Protagonist Medieval Philosophical Romantic Subplot Sudden Strength Gain Sword And Magic Sword Wielder Transplanted Memories
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n7336gg/
アルト／遥月