CFD – Chapter 12 – Daily routine

After returning home from school, I changed out of my uniform, grabbed a wooden sword, and left the house. I headed straight to the nearby riverbank and summoned Tyr.

While facing Tyr, I hold up my weapon and prepared to engage.

I dodged Tyr’s attacks as it swung its sword towards me, and if I could not evade in time, I blocked it with my wooden sword. While doing this, I looked for openings and attempted to strike back, but it was completely ineffective.

Gradually, Tyr’s speed increased, and eventually, my reactions became too slow. His sword came to a halt, pressing against my neck.

Afterwards, I distanced myself from Tyr and repeated the same process.

It was the usual training scene.

It is important for magic-based jobs to be capable of handling close combat to some extent. That is one of my father’s teachings. Following his advice, I started to train with my sword spirit. I wonder if I could defeat upper-level monsters without relying on the spirits one day. Well, I have no intention of putting that to the test.

My reaction speed which has been developed through this training method has proven to be quite useful, especially when responding to long-range attacks from monsters.

I have never made a mistake that would allow a monster to get close to me.

After a while, as my stamina was depleted, I returned Tyr and sat down on the spot. I took a few moments to catch my breath, then straightened my posture and began to meditate.

There was less than a week left until the promised day with Azami. I wonder if I could form a contract with a new spirit by then. I wrack my brain, trying to come up with something simple yet entertaining for the viewers, but it was difficult.

Since I can summon all the well-known spirits, if I can summon something new from now on, it will inevitably be a rare and unique type of spirit. If successful, it should serve as decent content for the live stream.

Moreover, I have been considering exploring the deeper layers of the dungeon for a while now, so a new source of power could help.

While it’s true that meditation for communicating with new spirits is something I do regularly, the idea of achieving that within less than a week does not seem very promising. However, I can simply allocate more time for meditation. Normally, I would summon multiple spirits to help strengthen my concentration, but I decided against that this time. I will focus solely on the communication aspect.¹

When I close my eyes and concentrate, I felt a sensation as if something unfamiliar was stirring within my spiritual realm. It was a feeling that seems to be known only by a few summoners. However, it did not necessarily accelerate the process of communicating with spirits.

I immerse myself further into the meditation while drawing one of that presence closer.

It felt like a journey of a thousand miles.

Surprisingly, it was closer than I expected. Nevertheless, I maintained a positive outlook. In terms of communication with spirits, it was considerably closer than usual. Well, it was better than being tens of thousands of miles away.

By the way, the reason I meditate outside like this instead of in my room is that I feel it’s slightly more effective. 

After a certain amount of time had passed, during which the sensation of sunlight beyond my eyelids and on my skin completely disappeared, I opened my eyes.

I stood up, feeling the results of the day’s work. It seems that most summoners, especially those who cannot sense the presence of spirits that dwell in the spiritual world, will get up without feeling any results at all. Until the moment when a connection can be made with the spirits, it will be a completely uncertain feeling. I am grateful for my blessed constitution.

While holding my wooden sword in my hand, I started to head back home.

On the way, I noticed a lot of people carrying weapons nearby. There are those with swords sheathed at their waist, while others carry axes or spears, and some hold staffs, who are most likely mages. Perhaps they are returning from the dungeons. I wonder if the large group coming from the other side are monster tamers.

To my surprise, one of those monster tamers turned out to be Azami.

“Yotsuka-kun?” (Azami)

“Hey. Returning from the dungeon?” (Yotsuka)

I asked while looking at the knight (Nai-chan) who seemed to be stained with what appeared to be blood.

“You too, Yotsuka-kun?” (Azami)

“Nah, I’m returning from training at the riverside.” (Yotsuka)

“I see. Good job. Shall we go back together?” (Azami)

“Sure.” (Yotsuka)

And so, I ended up walking alongside Azami and her monsters.

“If we had met a little earlier, Hikari-chan would have been with us too.” (Azami) 

“How was your exploration?” (Yotsuka)

“It went perfectly fine. After that incident, I took some time off and decided to dive back into the dungeon on weekdays, although I did feel a strong aversion² when seeing the dungeon again. I think I am doing much better mentally now.” (Azami) 

“That’s good to hear.” (Yotsuka)

It’s not uncommon for explorers who have experienced a life-threatening situation to lose motivation and retire. It seems like Azami managed to avoid such a fate.

We continued walking while, chatting about trivial matters, until we arrived at Azami’s house.

“Well then…” (Yotsuka)

As we were about to part ways, Azami looked at her home intently before speaking up.

“Yotsuka-kun, do you have some time?” (Azami)

“Time?” (Yotsuka)

I quickly check the time. It is almost dinnertime, but if Azami needs something, I am willing to accompany her.

“I’m ok.” (Yotsuka)

“Then, would you mind coming up to my house for a bit?” (Azami)

“Huh?” (Yotsuka)

Taken aback by the sudden invitation, I let out a slightly foolish-sounding voice.

“Is it no good? I just wanted to talk to you a bit more.” (Azami)

“Is that really ok though…” (Yotsuka)

I glance at Azami’s house. It was dark, with the lights turned off. It seemed like her parents has not returned yet.

“It’s okay.” (Azami)

“Then, I’ll come over. Sorry for intruding.” (Yotsuka)

What could be her intention? Is there perhaps some formal matter she wants to discuss? Or does she genuinely just want to have a chat? Or is it okay for me to expect something more?

Azami opens the entrance door and welcomes me inside. She turns on the lights and guided me to the living room.

“I will be back in a minute.” (Azami)

After saying that, Azami went off to do something. She is probably preparing tea.

In the meantime, her monsters gather around and send their gazes towards me, maintaining a distance that is neither too close nor too far. They seem to have a good relationship, almost like a unified group. It’s refreshing to see them in person, outside of the live streams.

No, now that I think about it, besides the genderless slime, I believe all the others were female.

I tried to reach out my hand, but they ignored it, so I gave up on trying to interact with them.

Instead, I observe the interior of the house.

It’s a tidy space with relatively few items. The cleaning is well taken care of. However, there is a certain lack of homeliness to them. It may sound like a harsh criticism to say that a well-organized and clean space lacks homeliness, but there is something about it that gives off that feeling.

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TL notes:

Thanks for reading!

Towards the end, I think he was trying to either pet Azami’s monsters or something. Funny how last chapter he wasn’t going to visit her house and yet he managed to do it one chapter later.

I am very sure I butchered more lines than usual. Sorry if some doesn’t make any sense.

In other news, the writer for this recently finished the first arc and now is working on the second arc. And… let’s just say things aren’t looking good lol. I will withhold any more comments until more chapters of this arc come out.

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Footnote:

1. Remember that the formula for summoning a new spirit is basically concentration + communication. So basically he is reducing concentration while increasing communication.
2. Aversion = strong dislike