Amidst the increasingly strong gusts of wind, a horse carrying a man came riding down the road.

Kino stood at the very middle of the road, waiting for the knife-user. She wore her gloves and goggles, with the rubber knife ready in her hands.

The man, who did not remove his sunglasses even though it was cloudy, stopped his horse’s strides.

“Good afternoon. Please take care of me today as well,” said Kino, whose eyes beneath the transparent goggles showed an unusually delighted expression.

“That’s a nice look you have today.”

Then he got off and put the horse in the stable.

The man returned on the road, and took a distance away from Kino who waited for him with an imposing stance. He absent-mindedly took out the rubber knife from his pocket and turned and grasped the knife lightly in his hands.

“Let’s begin. ―En garde.”

“Yes.”

Amidst the fierce noises in the forest, the man bent his knee and assumed his stance.

And then Kino took three steps back from her position.

“?” The man slightly tilted his head.

A broken tree branch rolled from where she stepped back. Kino’s feet avoided the branch so as not to step on it.

The next moment, Kino let go of the knife she was holding in her right hand. Before it fell to the ground, she intentionally stepped on the branch with her right foot. A powerful force ensued.

“What?” came the man’s surprised voice. The branch served as a lever, and something sprung up from beneath the ground. Inside the hole, a large-caliber revolver covered in dusty cloth appeared, rotating slowly, and danced in the air to Kino’s right side.

“—Ha!” The man charged with a speed that did not match his large body. The enlarged muscles of his legs kicked on the ground.

While looking at the man’s form, Kino did not panic and remained impassive. She swung down her right hand. The revolver in the air was now in Kino’s hand.

Kino raised the hammer with her thumb, aimed at the charging man’s bulky chest, and pulled the trigger.

There was a dull explosive sound.

The bullet engulfed in white smoke hit the man’s belly.

“Guh!”

Beyond this, the man did not show any sign of the damage he received, but his legs stopped. The rubber bullet bounced off the man’s chunky abs, then dropped and fell at his feet.

The man and Kino stood face to face a few steps away from each other. The man’s mouth spread into an amused smile.

Kino fired. The second and third bullets hit the man’s chest where the heart is located. Each rubber bullet did not miss aim, and rolled down beside the man. As the last gunshot faded away, the sound of the wind reclaimed the surroundings.

“I won,” Kino said, still holding the revolver in her lowered right hand.

The cabin door opened. The old woman who came out gazed at the two from the top of the terrace. Kino looked up at the old woman.

“I won,” she said tersely.

Hermes interrupted with a mumble.

“No, that was cheating, wasn’t it?”


—

“Ahaha! Ahahaha! Finally, you defeated me!”

The man’s lively laughter drowned the sound of the wind.

“Ahahahaha! You finally did it! Yes, how wonderful!”

Not only the man, but the old woman also seemed glad. “That’s right. Thank you for all your hard work up until now.”

“Whatever you say. It was very fun and interesting. Back when you were teaching me, and even now.”

Kino left, silently observing the two; the old woman and the man seemed happy.

The two talked a little bit about future plans, and expressed their gratitude to each other.

“Kino. You’re wonderful!”

The man left with these words and said nothing more, as he straddled his horse and ordered it to gallop. With a good mood, he rocked on top of the horse, and left on the road where he came from.

Kino stood alone in the middle of the road. Hermes was beside her, while the old woman was left on top of the terrace. The old woman called out to her.

“Kino.”

“Yes.”

The old woman smiled at her. “You won.”

“―Yes.”

“Well, is that all right?” asked Hermes.

“Of course. You saw it too, didn’t you? Kino prepared, and won.”

“That’s true. But using a persuader instead of a knife…isn’t that unfair?”

“The old woman nodded deeply. “Yes. Very unfair.”

“Eh?”

“Kino. —Did you think it was unfair? That what you did was so cowardly?”

This time, Kino nodded clearly. “Yes. It was a sly and cowardly trick. But, because of that, I won. I did not ‘die’.”

“It’s wonderful, don’t you think? I thought that it was very well done,” the old woman above the terrace wore a smile all over her face.

“Is it really okay?”

“Yes, it is,” The old woman gave a firm answer to Hermes’ question, then turned her gaze to Kino. “Kino, you’re fairly skilled in knife combat. You have shown amazing progress. For now, even if you set out on a journey, you’re probably skilled enough to protect yourself. Even so, the reason why you could never win against that man, is the gap in your experiences, and most of all the difference in your physiques. That’s why, no matter how many times you fight with him, you will probably never win. Be it a hundred times or two hundred times, you will still lose. You will still ‘die’.”

“…”

“When you have no choice but to fight in order to protect yourself or someone else, the most important thing you have to remember is the ‘element of surprise’. Leaving your opponent unprepared, rendering yourself unreachable by his persuader, setting up a one-sided attack—if these conditions are not available, you should do your best to attain them, even if you have to escape for the meantime. The more cowardly the tactic, the more reliable it is. —In sum, that’s what we wanted to teach you with this training. You realized that on your own, and admirably accomplished your task. That man looked very happy, and I too, felt like a young woman once again.”

“Thank you very much, Master.” For the first time that day, a smile appeared on Kino’s face.

“But somehow…,” Hermes muttered while looking at Kino and the old woman.

“Well then Kino, shall we move on to the next training? Or do you want to take a little break?”

“Right away, please!”

While looking at the delighted Kino, the old woman grinned and laughed.

“Keep up that spirit. But first, kindly fire off all of your remaining rubber bullets.”

“Yes.”

Three consecutive gunshots. When Kino turned around and fired the three shots, all the rubber bullets traced a mountain-like trajectory and hit the frying pan.

Kino looked back to the old woman.

“Well now, the next one ―”

“Yes.”

The old woman reached out her hand behind her waist, and opened the cover of the holster. She held the grip of the revolver in it.

“For the next one, we will be doing training for unexpected gunfights. You, with me. We will be sparring using rubber bullets from morning until night, inside the forest, and also inside the house. You may fire any time you see an opening. Always think that you are being targeted; acting under pressure is the best sort of training.”

“Eh?”

“Then let’s start.”

As soon as she said this, she pointed the barrel of the short revolver towards Kino.

“Eh?”

Kino looked at her right hand, still holding the revolver she emptied out earlier, and then raised up her face in surprise. Her eyes met with the old woman’s, who was smiling, and aiming at her with her right hand.

“Ah―”

Bang.


—

“Just like this, you can never loosen your guard at all times. Never forget to prepare your persuader. A persuader without a bullet is nothing but deadweight.”

The old woman happily left these words and went inside the house.

On the road, Kino touched the bruise on her forehead,

“…”

Lifted up her face, and gazed at the flowing clouds.

“Kino?” Hermes asked.

“Ahaha—!” While laughing, Kino answered.

“Unfair.”