Understanding the Sword

Class Cards connected to the Throne of Heroes and obtained power on the level of Servants, but due to compatibility and various other issues, most cards were weaker than the Servants themselves.

Gilgamesh, however, was an absolute exception. As the Oldest Hero King, most of his combat methods relied on that Treasure Vault.

Noble Phantasms themselves were not affected by the cards, not to mention that the one using "Gilgamesh" was a doll.

A doll lacking emotions naturally gained a personality similar to Gilgamesh's through the Class Card. Her compatibility was not much worse than Ritsuka's and Emiya Shirou's.

Whether it was Enzō or that woman, both were extraordinary figures.

"Many of the swords here are broken. I don't have enough mana to repair them yet."

"Calling it a graveyard of swords wouldn't be wrong."

Every sword was tied to a corresponding legend. The legends had already passed away, so calling the broken swords left behind graves was only fitting.

If she could project that divine sword that revealed hell, she would really take off.

"This is my trump card. It should be useful during the expedition, right?"

Ritsuka blinked. There was no displeasure on her face, and everyone let out a sigh of relief.

They had nearly thought that Ais's casual remark about this place, which symbolized the scars in Ritsuka's heart, would anger her. After all, this Imaginary Number Space should count as the deepest secret in her heart.

"Lefiya, don't look so dejected. I let go of what happened long ago."

Ritsuka stepped forward and patted Lefiya's head, snapping the little girl out of her melancholy. The intimate gesture made Lefiya's cheeks begin to flush.

But was it really that easy to let go?

Loki sighed.

Though she did not possess Freya's ability to see through people's souls, as a goddess, she could still tell whether someone was lying.

An Imaginary Number Space was a world that displayed the scenery of one's heart. If she had truly let go, then why did it still look so lifeless?

Loki could not see even the slightest trace of life.

A graveyard of swords, depicting sorrow belonging to only one person...

"By the way, Ritsuka-tan, can the swords here be taken outside and used?"

"Yes. As long as I project them, I can take any weapon from here into the outside world. Fundamentally, projection is also taking weapons out of an Inherent Domain."

Ritsuka pulled a still-intact longsword from the snow and explained.

"There's one more thing. Unless they're inside this 'Unlimited Blade Works,' these weapons can't actually be used 'infinitely.'"

Infinite Magic Swords were practically an impossible miracle. At the very least, it was impossible in Orario.

Unless Ritsuka possessed the real Excalibur, then calling it a Magic Sword that could be used infinitely would not be a problem. But the key was that Ritsuka did not have it.

Thinking of this, Ritsuka suddenly clenched her right hand into a fist and lightly tapped it against her left palm.

"Right, how did I forget this?"

Having been obsessed with close combat for so long, she had forgotten that she was fundamentally an Archer.

The Inherent Domain dissolved, and the thin, frigid mist gradually dispersed. Everyone returned to Ritsuka's room, where their discarded coats had all been tossed onto the bed.

Golden motes of light gathered at Ritsuka's fingertips. She waved her hand, and a long, elegant bow appeared in her grasp.

A sacred yet vicious aura spread from the bow. The blend of divinity and demonic nature made Lefiya, the weakest person present, extremely uncomfortable, while Loki immediately rushed forward.

"Th-this dense divine aura and demonic nature... It even feels a bit like Apollo."

"A divine bow granted by Apollo, the Sun God, to Heracles in myth, fused with the concept of the Hydra—the weapon born from that fusion, the Bow of the Hydra!"

Loki gave Ritsuka a deep look. She seemed to have thought of something, but did not say it in front of Ais and Lefiya.

Riveria exchanged a glance with Loki.

The oblivious Lefiya moved closer and reached out to touch the bow in Ritsuka's hands. "It's so pretty."

"Right? I think this bow looks great too. And its performance is ridiculous—I can shoot it at a maximum range of twenty kilometers."

"..."

The air suddenly fell silent. Loki, Riveria, and Lefiya stared at one another, wide-eyed and speechless.

After thinking it over and deciding there was probably nothing wrong with her ears, Loki cautiously asked in a low voice, "How far?"

"Twenty kilometers."

"Gasp—"

This child was terrifying. She absolutely could not be allowed to live. Not really.

From hundreds of miles away, she could take out the enemy machine gunner with one shot. Not really.

Loki suddenly felt a headache coming on. With an attack range of twenty kilometers, even at her peak, she might not react in time if she were ambushed.

It was far beyond the range of perception. Who could withstand that?

"Wait, that means I can arrange for Ritsuka to ambush Freya from a distance, then become Orario's only king."

"After all, if she can't react in time, she won't be able to use Divine Power to protect herself. With her average physical abilities, she'd definitely die on the spot..."

Loki had broken.

Watching Loki mutter dangerous things to herself as she began drifting off, contemplating a wonderful future, Riveria raised her staff and smashed it down on the back of Loki's head.

With a bang, Loki collapsed, and the room finally became quiet.

"Emiya Ritsuka."

Ais suddenly spoke.

The long-silent Ais immediately drew everyone's attention. Riveria, her "Mama," and Lefiya, her "fangirl," both looked toward the serious-faced Ais.

"Please teach me how to become stronger, and teach me archery too... Ouch..."

Ritsuka irritably flicked Ais on the forehead, interrupting her.

"Stop, stop, stop. First, I have no intention of taking disciples. Second, aren't you a sword user?"

"I want to learn archery."

"Don't suddenly decide to learn something that doesn't suit your abilities."

Riveria pulled Ais, who had leaned close to Ritsuka's face, back toward the bed and scolded her with equal irritation.

Ais was called the Sword Princess because of her exceptional talent with the sword, but that did not mean she could learn every other skill equally well. It was not something that depended on effort alone.

"Tell me, Ais. Do you have any abilities related to developing archery?"

Ais was suddenly startled.

"...No."

"Your abilities have already taken shape. Learning an archery technique from scratch now won't be easy. In the end, it might even delay your sword training and put the cart before the horse."

As the Familia's one and only acknowledged "Mama," Riveria began earnestly persuading Ais.

"But I want to become stronger."

"Ais..."

"As for becoming stronger, Ais, there's actually more you can study in terms of swordsmanship."

Ritsuka spoke up. With a Pocky stick in her mouth, she calmly said something that Lefiya found unbelievable.

"As for rapiers, Ais, you might be using yours incorrectly. More precisely, the way you've used a rapier has been wrong from the very beginning of your training."

Understanding the Sword

Miss Ais was using her sword wrong?

Lefiya felt as though she had been struck by lightning. Her idol had been questioned, and as a fangirl, her first instinct was to speak up in rebuttal.

But Ais looked thoughtful. Growing serious, she asked Ritsuka for guidance. "Please, tell me where I'm wrong."

Lefiya obediently shut her mouth.

"If I remember correctly, Ais's weapon is a powerful rapier with the unbreakable property, the 'Despair Sword'?"

"Yes."

The moment Ais answered, a sword formed in Ritsuka's hand.

Its slender blade gleamed with a sharp arc of light.

The blade resembled a Chinese longsword, with a blue hilt and guard. Ritsuka had projected a sharp weapon identical to Ais's Despair Sword.

"It's very sharp. Unfortunately, I don't understand the principle behind its unbreakable property, so the difference from yours is probably that its durability is much worse."

One was a sword that would grow dull through use but never break.

The other could be reproduced infinitely as long as there was enough mana, but had much poorer durability and might shatter at any time during battle.

Sure enough, the former felt better.

"Rapiers and thrusting swords are fundamentally similar weapon types. Their main method of attack is thrusting."

Bang!

Ritsuka's upper body remained straight as the sword in her hand shot forward in an instant. Considerable force erupted from its tip, producing a sonic boom against the air before her.

"Perhaps because you've fought large monsters for so long, Ais, your attacks aren't thrusts, but slashes, chops, and cuts instead, right?"

"Yes. Because some monsters have defenses that are difficult to pierce."

Ais sat on the bed, her beautiful eyes shining as she attentively listened to Teacher Ritsuka's lesson.

Loki and Riveria exchanged silent looks, then pulled the hesitant Lefiya out of Ritsuka's room with them, leaving the two enough space for their lesson.

Watching them leave, Ritsuka ran her fingers along the sword blade.

"Can't it slash?"

"Of course it can. Slashing is a valid way to fight with a rapier, but because the blade is thin, methods such as slashing and cutting greatly wear down the weapon itself."

"The Despair Sword's unbreakable property largely avoids that problem, but it will become dull much faster."

Wear was unavoidable. Besides, using a rapier like other types of blades was truly a strenuous approach.

It was completely inefficient.

It would be better to simply switch to a weapon like a katana.

"Let's go outside. There isn't enough room here."

"...Okay."

In the plaza inside the Loki Familia, dinner had not started yet. Everyone with nothing to do had gathered outside, curiously watching the situation within.

With Loki's permission, Ritsuka had cleared the plaza and now stood facing Ais, who held the Despair Sword.

"Hey, hey, what are Ritsuka and the Sword Princess doing?"

"I heard it's some kind of swordsmanship lesson."

The spectators chatted among themselves. Tiona and Tione had also mingled into the crowd, asking around about what was happening.

About half a minute later, Tiona muttered with an odd expression, "What is even going on...?"

"Ritsuka is teaching Ais swordsmanship? What happened to this world?"

Orario's publicly recognized greatest female swordswoman was being instructed by a level 1 adventurer. They knew Ritsuka's true strength was absurd, but this situation still went beyond everything they understood...

At the center of the plaza, Ritsuka spoke eloquently.

"Ais, thrusting isn't incapable of breaking through monster defenses. You just need to master the right method."

"You definitely understand attacking weak points, but what if a monster doesn't have any obvious weak points?"

Teacher Ritsuka posed the question. Good little student Ais tilted her head and began to think.

Then Ritsuka nearly coughed up blood in anger.

"Run?"

"..."