Songs in the Void

Arifureta Universe, Tortus, Heiligh Kingdom, Royal Capital.

The training grounds fell into silence after James interfered in the sparring match between Kouki and the emperor of the Hoelscher Empire, Gahard D. Hoelscher. Everyone present was surprised to see James, who had been seated with the rest of the onlookers suddenly appear next to the emperor with is sword resting on the monarch's neck.

Getting past their surprise, the entirety of the onlookers turned to look where James had been sitting. When they did, they were able to see his after-image fading out of existence. However, the one who was most surprised by what they were seeing was Shizuku, who was sitting right next to James' previous location.

"Just how much stronger is he than everyone else?" Shizuku muttered in disbelief.

Meanwhile, Gahard, who had been interrupted while he was flaring his killing intent, thinking it was better to get rid of such an incompetent Hero, shifted his gaze from the blade on his neck, following the blade to the hand that was wielding it and finally to the face of the owner of that hand.

"Not bad, Kid." Gahard said casually. "But I think you've jumped the gun a little bit, haven't you?"

"Yeah, right…" James said just as casually. "Anyone putting out that much killing intent and directing it so precisely shouldn't be left alone. And although I could see why you want to kill this dumbass, he doesn't deserve to die for his ignorance."

While Kouki gritted his teeth and gripped his sword tightly at the insult he just received, Gahard could not help but blink his eyes in surprise.

"Hahahahaha!" Gahard burst into loud, unrestrained laughter after James' words had the time to settle in. Then, he looked at James with a bit of appreciation in his gaze. "I see… It looks like you're different than the rest of the kids who were summoned to help the humans in the war against the demons. You know what, you should come work with me instead of staying in this little kingdom. I'll even give you your own army to command. How about it?"

"No thanks." James replied nonchalantly as he pulled his sword away from the emperor's neck and sheathed it in one smooth motion. "You see, I absolutely hate slavery…"

["Even though your people practice a form of slavery back home."] Ddraig said in a tone filled with schadenfreude.

"… and from what I know, you're country is the biggest advocate of enslaving beastmen." James continued, ignoring Ddraig's retort in its entirety. "So, let's say I was to agree to go back to Hoelscher with you, I'd probably end up killing a lot of people because of their attitudes towards slavery."

"A pity." Gahard replied with a shrug. "Oh well, your loss."

"Not really." James replied with a shrug of his own. "anyway, since I stopped you from killing this idiot, I'm going back to my room. I've had enough of this little show."

With that, James turned around and left the training grounds, leaving Gahard interested in having a general as powerful as him and Kouki fuming at the repeated insults he received. However, Kouki was not the only one present who was angered by James' words and actions, as Ishtar was staring at him with the intent to kill, as well.

'He so openly looks down on Lord Ehit's decrees of the beastmen's inferiority..' Ishtar thought to himself while gritting his teeth with anger. 'I'll have to report this to the Lord's apostle. I'm sure she will deal with him.'

"I will kill him someday." Eri, the last person who was absolutely livid because of James' actions muttered to herself with a dark gaze as she watched the caramel-skinned Half-Devil leave the training grounds.

"Eririn, did you say something?" Suzu, who was standing next to Eri, asked curiously.

"No, nothing." Eri replied while shaking her head as she put on a well-practiced fake smile. "I'm just glad that no one got hurt."

"Yeah, it's good that no one got hurt." Suzu said, agreeing while nodding her head vigorously, appearing to be completely unaware of her best friend's true nature.

Not long after James' departure, the rest of the onlookers and the participants int eh spar left the training grounds, as well. While the students, the Pope, and the Heiligh Royal Family left to do whatever it they normally did, Gahard, now the leader of the diplomatic team from Hoelscher, and the rest of his entourage followed a maid to the castle's guest wing.

After the maid bid them goodbye and let them know that they could call on her should they need anything, Gahard and his entourage sat around the room to finally relax after their journey.

"Your Imperial Majesty, you wouldn't have really killed that boy, would you?" Vesta asked curiously, the thought not seeming to bother him.

"Of course not." Gahard replied before laughing hardily. "I just wanted to let him know that wars cannot be won on ideals alone. Hopefully, with this his attitude will change and he'll take his situation more seriously."

"I see." Vesta replied with a nod, not doubting his emperor's words in the slightest.

With that, Gahard closed his eyes and enjoyed the comfort of the chair he chose. However, his thoughts were quite different from what he just said.

'If the opportunity had presented itself, I would have killed that foolish child without batting an eye.' Gahard thought to himself. 'Having someone like that leading the forces of humanity would be even more dangerous than simply letting the demons run rampant. *Sigh* Unfortunately, even if the young man who stopped me had not acted, that old fool Ishtar would have acted instead. Oh well, I guess there's nothing left for me to do here. I'll take everyone back to the empire tomorrow.'

Like that, the rest of the day passed peacefully. When dinner time came around, Gahard, completely unbothered by the irritated glances he received from Kouki, sat down with the Hero Party and regaled them with stories of his old conquests while simultaneously trying to get closer to James to entice him into coming over to his empire.

However, nothing came of Gahard's attempts in the end, and the entire group retired to their rooms for the evening after dinner ended.

The next morning, Gahard left his room, hoping to catch James in the middle of his morning training. Thinking that he would challenge the young man to a spar to really gauge his ability, he headed to the training grounds rather early.

However, when Gahard arrived at the training grounds, James was nowhere to be seen, disappointing the emperor a little. But his eyes lit up when he saw a young swordswoman, Shizuku practicing alone.

"Oh, you are perfection." Gahard said in his most charming tone as he approached Shizuku. "such beauty, such strength… I think I've fallen in love. Young lady, would you perhaps like to become one of my concubines? I promise I can give you anything your heart desires."

Surprised by the sudden proposal, Shizuku stopped practicing her sword forms and turned towards the vaguely familiar voice. However, when she saw it was from the emperor of the Hoelscher Empire, she was taken aback. But in hindsight, he was the only one who would speak to her in that manner.

"Sorry, but I'm not interested." Shizuku said as she turned away and prepared to restart her training.

However, Gahard had no intention of giving up so easily. But just as he opened his mouth to make another pitch, the voice of the young man he was looking for made him close his mouth immediately.

"I'm sure you didn't know this, but that's my girl." James said casually from just behind Gahard. "Because of that, I'll let this slide. But I'd appreciate it if it didn't happen again."

'When did he get behind me?' Gahard thought to himself as he turned around slowly, trying his best to hide his surprise.

Meanwhile, Shizuku looked at James in surprise, a slight blush creeping onto her cheeks. She then shook her head, understanding that James only said that to make Gahard give up. A moment later, however, that realization made her a little sad.

'*Sigh* Of course he's only saying that to make Emperor Gahard leave me alone.' Shizuku thought to herself as she took her stance once again. 'I'm not cute like Koari, after all. There's no way a boy would want me to be his girlfriend.'

Unfortunately, Shizuku, after being around Kaori so much and seeing how the boys all swooned over her while she was basically ignored because of her lack of femineity, Shizuku was unable to see just how attractive she was. On top of that, it did not help that she usually kept her more girly aspects hidden from everyone else.

"Sorry about that." James said after getting Gahard to leave. "I hope I didn't offend you by saying that you were my girl."

"It's fine, don't worry about it." Shizuku replied, stopping her practice once again. "I appreciate your help, though."

"I can understand why he made that proposal, though." James said while shaking his head. "The image of you swinging a sword is truly beautiful."

Shizuku's blush returned quickly after hearing James compliment.

"It actually amazes me how you don't have a boyfriend yet." James continued, pretending as if he never saw Shizuku's blush. "Then again, I bet most boys are too intimidated by Amanogawa and Sakagami to try and ask you out. Hell, even I was sure you were dating Amanogawa when I first came to train at your family's dojo. Otherwise, I probably would have started trying to get to know you better right away."

Hearing that, Shizuku's eyes opened wide in realization. Being so close to the two most popular boys in the school had been keeping other boys away. And since she had no interest in either Kouki or Ryutaro, it was keeping her single, as well.

"But since I've had more time to see how you, Amanogawa, and Sakagami interact, I realized that my first impressions were wrong." James said, continuing as if he did not notice any of the changes in Shizuku's expression. "And that's why I've been making an effort to come out here and train with you before everyone else comes out for the last few days."

James then started rubbing the back of his head while wearing an embarrassed smile.

At this point, Shizuku's shock rose to its peak and her blush reached the tips of her ears. However, she had no idea how to respond to James' indirect confession. Even though she was definitely flattered and quite happy to receive such a confession, there was a reason why she could not accept it on the spot.

And that reason was Kouki.

Even though Shizuku was not romantically interested in Kouki, he was still one of her best friends. And she had noticed that Kouki's emotions have been a little unstable lately. More specifically, since Kaori started spending most of her time with Hajime.

'*Sigh* I get my first confession and I can't accept it.' Shizuku thought to herself. 'If I do, Kouki will definitely have a misunderstanding that he will twist in to what he believed actually happened. And when that happens, the tension between him and Alaverus will get even worse.'

"I see…" Shizuku began to say, however, when she thought a little further, her words came to an abrupt stop.

'But if I reject him, what will Alaverus think?" Shizuku asked herself. 'Will he think that there really is something going on between me and Kouki or Ryutaro? Maybe I can just not give an answer. No! He'll probably just think I'm leading him on if I do that. What do I do?'

Unbeknownst to Shizuku, as she was too lost in her thoughts, she had dropped her practice sword and started pulling at her hair in frustration. Meanwhile, James could only watch her with a somewhat amused smile on his face.

'She's just like one of those bookish girls that thinks way too much from the different Manga I've read.' James thought to himself. He then chuckled internally as his thoughts continued. 'But man… I'd love to see the look on her face when she realizes just how silly she was acting.'

"Well, sorry for springing that on you." James said, deciding to take a step back, despite wanting to see Shizuku's utter embarrassment when she processed what just happened. "I won't disrupt your training any more. But if you wanna talk or train together, as the only two who use the katana in this little group, I'd be more than happy to accompany you."

With that, Shizuku's thoughts ground to a complete halt. With all her mental panic about her situation, she had forgotten everything around her for a brief time. Meanwhile, James, deciding to spare the girl's pride, had already turned around and started walking away while waving casually over his shoulder.

However, before James could get too far, he saw a blur with a black streakm of hair trailing behind it rush past him and out of the training ground. Smiling wryly, James could only shake his head.

'*Sigh* I was trying to make sure that I didn't embarrass her even further by seeing her face after she realized what happened.' James thought to himself. 'But thanks to my dynamic vision, I was able to see the panic and fierce blush on her face when she ran by. *Sigh* Being nice is such a chore.'

"Huh? Shizuku?" Kouki's voice from the training ground's entrance broke James out of his thoughts. "What's wrong, are you okay?"

Looking in the direction of the voice, James saw Shizuku run right past Kouki and Ryutaro, who were coming to train. And when he saw that, James knew exactly what he could expect from the self-righteous idiot Hero.

'Yup, and here it comes.' James thought to himself with annoyance as he saw Kouki turn back towards the training ground and frown after seeing him. 'I can see it in his eyes. He's already painted me as some kind of villain who did something unspeakable to his friend.'

"Hey, Alaverus!" Kouki shouted in self-righteous fury. "What did you do to Shizuku?"

While shouting, Kouki rushed forward. Then, when he got close enough, he stretched out his arm in an attempt to grab James by the collar.

"I told her I like her and asked her to go out with me." James replied in a bored tone. "Or is that some kind of crime?"

Immediately, Kouki came to a stop as his eyes widened.

'Oh, like Reya would say, Amanogawa.exe has crashed.' James thought to himself while shaking his head.

Instead of waiting for Kouki to regain his bearings, James simply stepped around him and walked towards the training ground's exit. Meanwhile, Ryutaro had frozen like Kouki. Though, their reasons were different.

While Kouki was having thoughts along the lines that someone, a murder, no less, was trying to take Shizuku away from him, Ryutaro was frozen because he was shocked at how casually James talked about confessing to Shizuku.

'Hmm… I wonder what her answer was.' Ryutaro thought to himself while staring after James blankly. 'Maybe I should try being more bold, too.'

As that thought passed through his head, Ryutaro could not help thinking about a certain, short, brunette mood maker with twin tails.