[165] A Dangerous Deal (1)
"Huh? The government controls entry? But the Galliant government and the natives' autonomous district are different administrative bodies. If we insist on going in no matter what, isn't there nothing they can do?"
"Of course, that's true. It's control in name only. I just think there must be some reason they go so far to block it. Sorry if I'm spouting something useless."
"No, it's fine. We didn't know either. But we're still going. As long as you guide us, Jis."
"Obviously! If it's guiding, it's gotta be Jis, right?"
Jis thumped his chest with confidence—then sucked in a sharp breath at the pain. Only after quite a while, once the pain subsided, did he speak again.
"B-but, with my body like this, I don't know if I can even get around properly."
"Don't worry about that. Tomorrow we're going to the healing mage Freemon introduced. Most external injuries can be fixed there."
"Whoa, a healing mage? Treatment like that must cost a fortune."
When Jis stared wide-eyed in surprise, Amy looked at him through half-lidded eyes and said,
"It'll be cheaper than the guide fee you quoted."
Jis scratched his head. Put that way, he could feel on his skin just how much he'd been about to gouge them.
"Ha ha, why bring that up now? It's water under the bridge."
Sirone sank into the soft sofa.
"Anyway, we should rest today. Your mental strength will recover after sleep, but until Rian and Tess receive healing magic, they'll be uncomfortable."
"Huh? No, I'm fine. My wounds are already healed."
At Tess's words, everyone turned to her. Sure enough, the cuts on her cheek and arm had healed cleanly.
"Whoa, how'd you do that? Is it similar to what Freemon did?"
"Yeah. I set my second Schema to Mitochondria."
"Mitochondria?"
"The cellular organelle that produces energy. If you use a Mitochondria Schema, your base physical abilities—explosiveness, regeneration, endurance—rise dramatically. That's why swordsmen whose talent isn't outstanding often choose Mitochondria as a base build. Kingdom soldiers and mercenaries probably use the Mitochondria build a lot."
"I see. But what do you mean by 'second build' and 'base build' and all that?"
Having been mobbed by blades in the fight with the Parrot Mercenary Corps, Sirone wanted to know a bit more about Schema.
It was certainly a different pattern from magic combat. Not knowing what dangers might be in the ruins ahead, it was best to gather as much combat-related information as possible.
"By 'build' I mean the technique tree. When people explain Schema, they often tell you to imagine a virtual body, but when you actually learn it, the sensation is different. Your body's cells awaken and broaden their clarity. Okay, here's a question: how do swordsmen stack multiple builds?"
Amy and Rian knew the answer but didn't respond. Tess had the highest grasp of Schema at the table, so they wanted her to handle the explanation.
"Hmm. If it's a virtual schematic, maybe you split it up by parts—arms, legs—and develop them separately?"
"That's what most people think. And it isn't impossible. But done that way, you can't tune the body's balance. For example, if you keep developing only the nervous system, your muscles will burst. Conversely, if you develop only brute strength, your fist might shatter when you throw a punch."
"So that was the issue. I've always been curious—sure, you strengthen the body, but how do you keep the balance?"
"It's similar to magic. You've probably got a systematic method for handling the mind too—some special patterns."
"Yeah. We call it the Four-Directions pattern. There's also a sequence-type, and so on."
"It's the same for swordsmen. That's what a build is. Think of creating several transparent diagrams and stacking them. For example: you lay the Mitochondria Schema at the very bottom, put a Strength-Enhancement Schema on top, then lay an Eye Technique on top of that—like that. Because you ride the technique tree after completing your base, the risk of your balance collapsing and your body breaking drops dramatically."
"Ah! So that's how."
"The highest efficiency is in the base Schema. If the efficiency of the bottom Schema is 100, the second layer is 50, the third is 25—drastically dropping like that. You can change the order, but unless you're a master of technique trees, it's hard to apply on the fly in a real fight. There are a few exceptions, though—the representative one is a technique called Reversal."
"That's the one Amy mentioned Freemon uses, right? How do you do it? Do you set a specific pattern in advance like the Four-Directions method?"
"No, Schema doesn't work like that. Put simply, Reversal is possible because you can change the point from which you experience the Schema."
Tess stretched out her hand over the table and mimed picking up and moving sheets of paper.
"Say you stack three transparent sheets here. Looking down, your gaze passes through them in order. If we call that 1, 2, 3, then Reversal flips the viewpoint so you look from below upward—3, 2, 1—like that. Beyond that there are countless technique-tree operations: escape, penetration, folding, crossing, and more. Taking all that into account as you stack Schemas—that's what we call building."
Sirone was impressed. He'd thought swordsmen simply raised physical ability, but it turned out to be technical enough to rival mages.
"I get it. So your second technique tree has the Mitochondria Schema laid in it—meaning its efficiency is half of the first."
"Right. The Mitochondria build is popular, but there's something wasteful about concentrating the body's activity at the position where Schema efficiency is 100—if it isn't literally body-to-body combat. So true practitioners of the sword choose the Schema most suited to their technique. In my case, I chose a Nervous System build. When handling a slender blade, what matters most is precision."
Now Sirone understood. If two swordsmen wielded the same slender blade with the same level of Schema, a Nervous System build would overwhelm a Mitochondria build.
"The mercenaries we met in the Rooms of Achievement and Sacrifice were pretty good in that they didn't choose Mitochondria. The warrior seemed to be Strength-Enhancement, and the archer was likely a Sensory build."
"Huh? The Nervous System and Sensory—aren't those the same?"
"They're similar, but the reinforcement targets differ. Put simply, it's the difference between internal sense and external sense. My Nervous System build is internal sense. I can execute bodily movements more precisely than anyone. A Sensory build is external sense—by that I mean the primal senses like eyes, nose, ears, and the proximal senses like tongue and touch. For an archer, of course you train the primal senses. That's why their sight, smell, and hearing are several times sharper than other people's. For the record, my third build is Sensory."
"Mm, so that's why tailing someone is hard if there's an archer."
"Exactly. Anyway, the key is to find a build that fits you. Obviously, diligently polishing each Schema is basic. Even if you pick Mitochondria, if your training is lacking, your physical ability can fall behind a swordsman who put Mitochondria in their third technique tree."
"Got it now—what Schema is as a concept. Why you call it a body diagram."
"In the end, think of it as another self-image. For instance, there's the phenomenon called phantom pain. Even after an arm is amputated, if an object is placed in the space the arm would pass through, the person unconsciously feels pain. That's Schema's reality."
Listening, Amy felt much the same as Sirone. She'd thought a swordsman's explanation would be easier to follow, which was why she'd yielded the floor—but the further it went, the more it covered things she herself hadn't known.
"Then, Tess, how many sheets did my dad stack? From what I remember as a kid, he had a staggering number of techniques. If efficiency drops with each layer, then from the fourth sheet on, isn't building almost pointless?"
"Right. Normally, yes. But there's a way—how to make the second technique tree operate at 100 efficiency."
Already captivated by Schema, Sirone leaned in with interest.
"Oh, really? What is it?"
"Swordsmen call it 'embodiment.' As I said, to explain Schema you can imagine a shadow of your own outline. Opening a Schema is like peeling away the black parts to transparency. But honestly—how many people completely grasp their body? I mean someone who's stripped away every black portion on a single Schema sheet."
"Mm, that does sound hard."
"Right. It takes tremendous training and genius. But there are people who've done it—becoming perfectly transparent so it ultimately fuses with your body. So if you embody a particular Schema, it's effectively as if that layer doesn't exist. If someone has embodied five Schemas, then the sixth Schema runs at 100 efficiency. But this is a matter of time and effort—talent can shorten it, but still."
"Woaah."
Sirone let out a breath he'd been holding. He'd dreamed of being a mage since childhood, but when he crossed real blades with Rian he'd also glimpsed the infinity of the sword.
Mage and swordsman. Spirit Zone and Schema. There was a reason these were called the twin pillars of force in this world.
"That's really amazing, Tess."
Blushing at Sirone's sincere praise, Tess said,
"Oh, it's nothing. I've just known it since I was little. Honestly, I did go a bit long because I hoped it'd help you as a mage."
"Yeah. It helped a lot. If the same kind of situation happens again, I think I can respond better than before. So Tess is already recovered, and tomorrow only Jis and Rian need healing magic."
Sirone said it casually, but Tess suddenly realized something, and her face hardened.
Come to think of it, even while they were talking swords and Schema, Rian hadn't said a single word.
Tess snuck a look at Rian. He was listening with his usual blank calm, but his gaze lingered on his own body.
It was, in a word, a wreck.
He had overwhelmed Falcoa at the end with an imaginary Schema, but the weakness of not having mastered Schema was huge.
Even now, it felt not like he was recovering, but that his wounds were worsening.
'Damn it! Why am I…'
Tess looked at Rian with pity, and at the same time her heart pounded with tension. She felt as if she'd unintentionally hurt him.
'His pride must be stung. He's the one who's feeling the worst.'
Realizing his friends were looking at him, Rian hastily adjusted his expression. As if nothing had happened, he flashed a bright smile and thumped his chest.
"Ha ha! I'm fine. No need for healing magic. I'm tough."
Indeed, even as Rian pounded his body with tremendous force, not only did he not show pain—his expression didn't change.
But everyone knew. He was enduring it on sheer superhuman will.
As wondrous as that mental strength was, without treatment his combat ability would plummet.
Even so, no one pressed Rian again to get healing magic. They understood the misery of having no choice but to show weakness.
But Sirone was different. On this journey, Rian had carried out the duty of a sworn guard in earnest. If Rian was serious, Sirone felt he had to face him with the same resolve.