"A sailor, in the general sense of the word, is really just a lackey. There's endless deck-scrubbing and an endless pile of odd jobs to deal with. They're basically no different from slaves."
Annie said casually,
"But today, we're going to teach you the profession of a sailor. By the end of the course, I want to get you as close to professional level as possible. So, are you ready?"
You En remembered Teacher Ed's teaching style. It seemed outrageous, but it still had limits. Surely it couldn't be more dangerous than being constricted by a python, so he nodded.
"Yeah."
Teacher Annie continued, "Let me make this clear first: I won't hold back or go easy on you. We don't have many classes, so you'd better be prepared to suffer."
At that,
You En understood a little. When someone warned you over and over, that meant there really was danger.
But he'd already signed up for the class, and it was full. He couldn't just skip it. Otherwise, his points would go to waste.
"I'll give it a try."
"Good."
Annie kicked You En straight into the sea without giving him any time to react.
"If you want to be a sailor, you might as well get used to the sea first."
You En surfaced and spat out the seawater in his mouth. He really wanted to say something.
It wasn't as if he knew nothing. Even when people went wild swimming, they stuck to shallow, explored areas. Who just went out to sea and kicked someone in to make them practice? How was that any different from attempted murder?
But judging by the way she looked, if he wanted to get back on the boat, she'd probably kick him in again. Two or three rounds of that, and he'd be out of strength.
So he could only go along with Annie... He didn't want to call her teacher anymore. She had no idea how to teach.
"Splash—"
Annie jumped into the water too. She nodded at You En.
"One important thing about being a sailor is that you have to listen to the captain. Even if you've been kicked overboard, you stay in the sea until you're told to come back up."
"I don't want to teach you about ship maintenance or anything like that. I'm going to teach you a sailor's core skill: the sea itself."
Annie plunged beneath the waves. She didn't surface again for about three minutes, and You En nearly thought she'd died.
"You go under too. Stay down for two minutes."
You En looked at her and spoke with absolute confidence.
"I'll die."
"So what?"
Annie's tone was cold and cruel. There was something unsettling about her presence, and You En realized she wasn't just making threats.
"Don't make me push you under."
You En could only try diving on his own. He knew that people without professional training could hold their breath for at most a minute and a half. But he hadn't trained at all, so even lasting a minute was questionable.
The most important thing now was not to panic. Survive the two minutes, then surface.
At around thirty seconds, an invisible force pushed against him.
You En's right hand swept down, and the water beside it seemed to vanish. His hand felt as though it had cut through empty air... But he kept his panic and fear in check and didn't struggle much.
But forget half a minute—
Every second that followed was torture. His mind grew increasingly restless, and his diaphragm began to twitch. It was pure agony, and the pain kept getting worse.
Endure it, endure it...
You En wondered if he'd even be able to make it back to the surface on his own. Was there any other strength he could draw upon?
In this dark, desolate sea, he could only rely on himself. No one would save him...
He'd just have to rely on "himself."
Under the "influence" Hoshinomiya-sensei had left behind, You En's "Second Self" was gradually changing. It no longer helped him only on a mental level. It was beginning to affect his real self!
The twitching of his diaphragm eased slightly, and his restless mind gradually settled. Time ticked by, one moment at a time.
You En felt he was reaching his limit. After holding his breath this long, he couldn't keep track of the seconds anymore. He prepared to surface, but as he neared the surface, he couldn't help opening his mouth. A huge mouthful of water rushed in and entered his windpipe.
"Cough, cough..."
He couldn't draw breath. The last of his strength gave out, and You En began to sink, farther from the surface.
Two arms reached around him from behind. Annie hooked her arms beneath his armpits and swam upward with him, until they broke the surface and he saw the blue sky again.
Annie brought You En, who was only half-conscious, onto the deck. She turned his head to one side, put her fingers into his mouth, and searched for anything that might be blocking his airway. After draining the water from his respiratory tract,
she saw that he was still half-unconscious.
Annie leaned over, preparing to give him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
Just then, You En opened his half-lidded eyes and spoke clearly.
"Teacher, I'm awake."
"I knew you'd woken up, you little brat."
Annie smiled. "I just wanted to take advantage of you a little. It's not like I'd lose out either way. Why'd you stop pretending to be asleep?"
You En didn't want to talk about that. He only asked, "How long was I underwater?"
"Just under two minutes. You missed it by a few seconds."
Annie was surprised. She'd set that time because she could tell You En wouldn't last two minutes, but she hadn't expected him to manage it. She didn't want to say that, though.
After You En went underwater, she'd stayed right behind him, ready to rescue him at any moment.
But why had he... seemed to take in a breath of oxygen underwater? Could he breathe through water like a sea creature?
The club building,
the Kyudo Club's main hall,
Qiao Heng sat in front of the archery range in her kyudo uniform, holding an exceptionally proper seated posture. Yui sat across from her, in the Kendo Club's uniform.
Yui looked away from the docks. "You're not seriously planning to use one of your 'arrows' already, are you?"
Qiao Heng picked up her teacup and took a small sip.
"The 'arrows' I left behind were meant to be used."
"That's such a waste," Yui said. "Trade me one of your 'arrows.' I'll go help him."
Qiao Heng didn't answer.
Yui knew her well and kept talking to herself.
"If you don't agree, fine.
"But your eye for these things is incredible. I've never seen such a pure Second Self before. It can have this kind of effect even while its owner is still an ordinary person."
Qiao Heng spoke softly. "It is rather remarkable, but that's not what I care about."
"Then what is?"
Yui was puzzled.
"Is there anything else about him with even greater potential?"
Qiao Heng didn't want to explain it to her.
Yui narrowed her eyes, trying to see more. Then she smiled again, reverting to her innocent self.
"I don't even know what to say. He's unbelievably lucky, and his natural talent is above average even by human standards.
"If the absolute human limit is 500, his talent is probably somewhere between 200 and 300. That already makes him a genius by ordinary standards.
"The key is that his 'Second Self' is pure, too, and he has one. That means the two don't just add together—they compound.
"A succubus's blessing can raise the maximum to 90,000... Though his current physical capabilities limit him to only slightly exceeding human limits, he should still be able to reach around 500."
The more Yui spoke, the more amazed she became.
For the other students, this school only got harder as they advanced. The odds of dying or failing kept rising. But it was different for You En.
For him, the hardest part was getting started. As long as he survived this first year and grew stronger, things would only get easier. As his strength increased, the effects of his "Second Self" would become more and more apparent.
"Little Hoshinomiya really did well. Getting that kind of blessing in the first month guarantees at least his first semester."
Yui seemed to remember something. "I remember you had that dream too. Who did you have it with?"
Qiao Heng remained expressionless, unwilling to say a word. The person in her erotic dream hadn't been anyone else. It had been herself...
"You're all such oddballs. No wonder you get along. You've found a way to use a perfectly good succubus dream like this. Giving in and enjoying yourself could have eliminated mental abnormalities, including some stubborn mental curses, but you all held out and gave yourselves a permanent buff with no side effects."
"..."
Qiao Heng had actually wanted to say that she hadn't held out exactly. At most, she'd lasted longer than the others, only to fail at her own part of the ordeal.
You En was the only one who'd truly endured it.
"Ah, I can't take it anymore. Seriously, give me a break."
You En spat out seawater. This was the third time he'd been fished out of the water, and this time he'd actually lost consciousness for a short while.
If his physical condition hadn't been absurdly good, with his recovery ability at its personal peak, he felt he'd be close to death by now.
Annie looked at You En as though he were some priceless treasure.
"If you'd been around in my... old days, you'd have been worth a fortune."
"Cough, cough."
You En could now climb out of the water by himself. He'd made a lot of progress, but did Annie have anything to do with that? This was pure abuse. She wasn't teaching him at all. For anyone else, it would be attempted murder.
"Teacher Annie, I have a question."
Annie swung her long legs through the water.
"Go ahead. You've earned one question."
You En asked,
"Do you actually have a teaching license?"
Annie was taken aback, then instinctively prepared to kick someone into the sea again.
But You En had already jumped in himself. Floating on the surface, he continued,
"Working without a license is a bad idea. Why not get one before you keep teaching?"
Annie stood up. She wasn't angry; instead, she smiled and swayed her hips as she stretched.
"It's fine. This school doesn't require one."
"..."
You En realized there wasn't even anywhere to report a negligent teacher. He couldn't help feeling a vague sense of sorrow.
"You little rascal. Save figuring out how to handle a beautiful woman for after class."
The blonde teacher slipped into the water with a freestyle stroke.
"It's punishment time. If I catch you, you're getting a beating."
You En wasn't afraid anymore. You couldn't give in to a villain. He kept taunting her.
"I feel ridiculously strong right now, little Annie. Think you can catch me?"
Annie laughed. "Hahahaha. How about this? I'll give you a full minute to swim first."
"You said it."
You En swam away, but he wasn't foolish enough to waste all his energy during that minute. He kept his pace steady and maintained his strength as he put distance between them.
Yet it wasn't even twenty minutes later.
Someone was being dragged back onto the deck again for resuscitation.
Annie raised an eyebrow. "You're picking a fight with your captain?"
You En felt alive again. The world was beautiful, but he still had to mouth off.
"But Captain Annie, where's your ship? This little boat isn't enough to make me accept you as my captain."
After he said that,
the usually cheerful Teacher Annie looked unusually dejected.
"Yeah. How could a little boat like this make me a captain?"
You En thought she'd kick him again, but this time he wasn't going to dodge. If she was angry, letting her kick him and vent would be better than having her come after him to kill him.
Annie rested a hand on You En's shoulder. Her touch was gentle, and her voice was serious. Her blue eyes were like the sea.
"Do you want to become a captain?"
You En asked in return,
"Is it fun?"
"It isn't fun, and it isn't interesting. Sailors and captains alike... It's just life."
"Life can be fun too,"
You En said with a smile. "Why say it's just life? Teacher Annie, do you think your time at sea was fun, or not?"
"Of course, it was... fun."
Annie met the boy's gaze. It was as if she'd returned to her own era and seen the figures of those remarkable people again. At last, she understood that the boy before her was different from ordinary sailors.
He wasn't ignorant, nor was he reckless, and he wasn't without complaints.
Just like that childish question, "Is it fun?" He had to make sure he loved something before deciding whether to pursue it. Because he loved it, he wouldn't regret it.
Annie thought the boy before her was born to be a captain.
If she'd lived in his era,
she... would definitely have sailed on his ship.
But the sky was gradually turning to dusk. Her era, like the yellowing clouds on the horizon, had become nothing but a fading shadow.
Annie came back to herself and looked at You En, who was slacking off.
"Stop slacking. Class isn't over."
You En sat on the deck, not wanting to get back in the water.
"Maybe we could talk a little longer? I could... tell you a story?"
Annie didn't kick him again. Instead, she took him by the wrist.
"I'll go down and practice with you."
She wasn't the sort of person who liked explaining things, but she still said,
"A sailor's core skills can't be taught through theory. They can only be learned through practice. I have to push you. It's better for you to nearly die today than for me to see your corpse tomorrow."
The teacher terminal vibrated. The school issued a warning, and the punishment had already been handed down, but she didn't care.
You En had finally met a teacher who spoke from the heart. He felt the school was getting closer and closer to what he'd suspected.
Teacher Annie must have taken a huge risk to tell him that. There was no need to press her for more.
You En looked at the sea. "With you as my practice partner, what else can I say?"
He still had some questions in his mind.
What kind of situation could cause most of the students to drown at sea?
What era was she talking about?
But those questions were destined to go unanswered. He would have to experience it for himself.
Maybe one day, he really could become the captain of a ship,
and sail these seas unchallenged?
Before you continue