Asking Simone Orso
“… And that’s what she said to me.”
“Hmhm…”
At noon on the next day, Simone and I were sitting on a bench in the academy courtyard. While we would’ve normally eaten in the cafeteria, it was especially crowded today so we decided to eat outside. I was telling her about what Mei and I talked about. Unfortunately, Simone didn’t seem to be particularly interested as she continued to chew through her little sandwiches while nodding along.
Lily-sama and Mei were not with us. The two of them had been called away for a meeting about the monster extermination that would take place just before the festival.
“So what do you think?”
“Nothing in particular, I guess. I’m not really good with complicated stuff like that.”
Grabbing another sandwich from her tray, she began munching on it.
“I’m not good with complicated stuff either but… Something’s bothering me.”
“And what’s that?”
“… I guess… It’s because it has to do with ‘weakness’.”
“I don’t really understand what you’re getting at.”
Even while chewing away, Simone was still willing to hear me out.
“I’m pretty sure I’m aware of my own weakness.”
“Oh? Little miss perfect superhuman Alea has weaknesses of her own?”
“Don’t make fun of me…”
“I’m not. I really was just surprised to hear that. So? What’s your weakness?”
“… I’m thick-skinned, so much so that I just can’t pick up on others’ weakness or pain.”
I did feel embarrassed having to admit to it, but I was the one who brought the topic up. I decided it was best to be open about it.
“For example Simone, you mentioned that your feelings toward mother Rei were rather complex, right?”
“Yeah, I did.”
“From my perspective, it looks like you’re just unfairly holding that grudge against her.”
“Being pretty frank, huh.”
“Sorry if that was too insensitive.”
“No, it’s fine.”
As she moved to grab her third mini sandwich, she continued,
“You know Alea, I don’t exactly disagree with what you’re saying, you know? Regardless of how I perceive things, if I try to look at what I’m doing objectively, holding all that against her is unfair.”
“Right?”
“The fact that you can be that blunt about it though, really is very you, Alea…”
“Ah, er, sorry.”
“Again, I don’t mind.”
Simone forced a smile in response when I promptly agreed in reflex.
“But basically, that’s what you’re saying your weakness is, yeah?”
“That’s right. I can’t really sympathize or empathize with others’ weakness, pain, or their perceived reality, and instead I just insensitively brute force right through with my logic…”
“I see what you’re getting at, but I don’t know if there’s anything you can do about that.”
“…? What do you mean?”
I needed Simone to explain. After taking a moment to chew and swallow, she reached for her next sandwich and continued.
“I think you were just born strong.”
“I wouldn’t…”
“Just think about it. Your parents are Claire-sama and Rei-sama, your sister is a quad caster, and you’re standing at the pinnacle of this world’s swordsmanship, hailed as the God of the Sword―just how blessed can someone be?”
“No that’s…”
I was about to tell her about how I struggled with my cursed blood, but I stopped myself. There was no way that Simone wasn’t already aware of it. Our origins were well known as they were told as part of the tale of the Ten Saviors.
But to recap, Mei and I both possessed cursed blood that would transform anything that our blood came into contact with into magic gems. The two of us had gone through a lot as a result of that, but… I had no intention to get into those details here with Simone.
Simone surely meant, even considering that, I had been graced with many blessings.
“Like, Alea, have you ever felt worried or anxious over something you couldn’t do?”
“You’re definitely taking things too far. There are a lot of things that I struggle with. For example, I’ll never get better grades than Mei or be better than her at magic.”
“That’s true, sorry, I didn’t quite phrase that right. But you’re aware about those things and you don’t really mind it, do you?”
“Hm? What do you mean by that?”
“Like, you’ve never once felt that you have nothing, or worry that you’ll never amount to anything, right?”
Now that she mentioned it… I suppose not.
“Looks like I’m right.”
“Yes, it would seem so.”
“Even if your grades aren’t so good or you can’t use magic, you have your swordsmanship―you can frame things in that way. Honestly, I’m sure that even if something happened and you became unable to swing your sword, you’d find something else that was uniquely yours.”
“…”
Simone certainly had a point. I had my swordsmanship. An absolute confidence that my sword wouldn’t falter to anyone―that’s right, as I was now I didn’t feel that I’d lose to Lily-sama either. Even if I were to suffer a huge injury and had to let go of the sword, the confidence I gained from pursuing and achieving that mastery would continue to support me. So long as I had that as my foundation, I would be confident that I could find something else to pursue.
“If you find this hard to answer, you don’t have to but―”
“What is it?”
“Have you ever worried about that? You know, that you don’t have anything, or that you’ll never become anything…”
“The fact that you’re able to ask that with a straight face is exactly what makes you crazy…”
“So? Have you?”
Simone took some time to munch on her sandwich before she answered.
“I think it’d be harder to find someone who hasn’t worried about that. For kids our age, I think these are doubts that we all wrestle with.”
“…”
Simone’s answer hit hard.
“In that sense, I suppose you could say that’s your weakness Alea.”
“It would appear so.”
“But you know, at least from my perspective, I think it’s one of your strengths too.”
“What do you mean?”
Taking a pause for a sip from the milk carton that Frater had recently begun selling, Simone smiled before she continued.
“Your insensitivity! Alright, for example among our roommates you could say that Lily is the most sensitive to the weakness we’ve been talking about, right?”
“I would think so, yes.”
“But well, I think that Lily would make compromise after compromise to accommodate for others’ weakness.”
“Isn’t that a good thing?”
I didn’t quite understand what Simone was trying to say.
“It can be, but not always. I think when it comes to people’s struggles, sometimes ignoring their stance and ruthlessly pushing through things anyway can be important.”
“Ruthlessly…”
“That’s right. That’s the kind of thing that you’re able to do, right? Without constraining yourself to the other person’s context, but also without malicious intent, you’re able to push through with sheer force.”
Could that… really be considered a strength?
“How difficult.”
“That’s true, none of this is simple. But you know, isn’t that fine? Just being able to have that worry is a blessing in and of itself, us normies never had that choice in the first place.”
“Mm?”
“Before we have the chance to worry about strength or weakness, us normies have our hands full just dealing with the problems right in front of us. Like serving as a waitress for our class café!? There’s no way I’m fit for customer service!”
I couldn’t help but chuckle. Her exaggerated lamentations likely stemmed from her abundant kindness. A little hyperbole to help cheer me up. In that respect, I felt that Simone shared some similarities to Mother Rei… Though she’d definitely be upset if I were to say that to her.
“Thank you for talking me through this, Simone. At least for now, I’ll try not to worry about things so much and focus on my role as a fill-in for the drama club.”
“I think that’s a good idea. But you know Alea, you shouldn’t forget about our class’ café either. We’re doing what we can to cover for you, but you’re the class representative, you got that?”
“Why yes, of course.”
To some degree, the uncertainties that had welled up from Mei’s words had settled. There were still things that I couldn’t wrap my head around, but I felt that was fine for now. At present, it was more important for me to put my best foot forward, that’s all there was to it.
“Simone, you’re a really wonderful lady.”
I praised Simone with words that came from the bottom of my heart, and that was also exactly when a little rumble came from the bottom of my stomach. Come to think of it, I had been so stressed about this that I didn’t have much of an appetite going into lunch. As a result, all that I had for lunch so far was juice.
“That flattery isn’t gonna get you anywhere with me! Good grief… Here, you can have this.”
“Looks like it got me a sandwich though!?”
Accepting the sandwich from Simone, I could swear that it tasted just as good as the sandwiches Mother Rei made for me.
Translator Note: It might just be that Alea is an open book, but it really hasn’t been all that long since they’ve met. I think Simone is very perceptive toward others to be able to say the things she did to Alea in this episode.
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