Chapter 212: Sword Spirit: Yes, I Love You Too
The shattered blade had been fully reforged, but Yanqing still paced around the room with a lingering sense of unease. His youthful face was tight with worry, his eyes darting toward the resting weapon every few seconds. It was not until the familiar, translucent projection of the Sword Spirit materialized in the air beside him that his tense shoulders finally dropped.
"Teacher..." Yanqing breathed out a sigh of deep relief.
He stepped forward, reaching out with a reverent hand to grip the hilt of the flying sword. The moment his palm wrapped around the cool metal...
"Oh... oh... ahhh... caught by my precious student..."
Yanqing froze. His jaw dropped open, his eyes widening to comical proportions as he stared blankly at the flying sword. The elegant weapon vibrated slightly in his grasp, emitting noises that sounded entirely too scandalous for a proper Cloud Knight's quarters.
"Wh-what is going on?" Yanqing stammered, yanking his hand back as if the hilt had suddenly caught fire. A furious blush crept up his neck.
"It seems, perhaps, probably... there is a tiny, insignificant issue with the code." Rekka scratched the back of his head, offering a sheepish grin.
In truth, Rekka had relied heavily on a rather intuitive approach during the repair process today. To put it bluntly, he had used absolute spaghetti code fueled entirely by 'I reckon this goes here' logic.
Yanqing looked completely at his wit's end. His esteemed Sword Spirit teacher seemed to have developed a catastrophic glitch. The projection stood there looking perfectly dignified as long as he did not touch the weapon. But the absolute second his fingers brushed the hilt, her eyes would roll back, and she would start making those breathy, questionable sounds.
"What on earth is the problem..." Yanqing buried his face in his hands, utterly defeated.
"Could be a code logic conflict. Do not panic, I know a guy. Well, a girl." Rekka pulled out his phone and quickly dialed a familiar number. "Hey, Silver Wolf? I have a job for you over here. Help me debug some code. It has a bit of a... unique glitch."
A few seconds later, the air shimmered, and Silver Wolf's holographic projection popped into existence, a bubblegum bubble popping loudly in her mouth.
"Who are you..." Yanqing started, still thoroughly overwhelmed.
"This is an elite expert," Rekka interrupted smoothly. "Never mind the introductions, just take a look at the source code first."
Silver Wolf gave a curt nod, her fingers already flying across an invisible holographic keyboard. A few minutes passed in silence, save for the rapid tapping of her virtual keys. Slowly, a deep frown formed on her face.
"What exactly is going on with this code?" Silver Wolf shot Rekka a look of pure disgust. "It is a complete disaster. The base logic was perfectly fine to begin with, but whatever garbage you injected into the middle has made the entire architecture chaotic."
"Just adding a little bit of humor," Rekka defended himself, crossing his arms.
"It is not humorous at all. It is a war crime against programming. I am wiping it and reinstalling the core."
"Will you keep the personality data?" Rekka asked quickly.
"Of course I will keep the data. Are you looking down on my skills?" Silver Wolf scoffed, her fingers moving in a final blur. "There. It is done."
Yanqing let out a hopeful breath. He reached out and wrapped his fingers around the hilt once more.
"Oh... ahhh... student..."
Yanqing snatched his hand back, his face flushing an even deeper shade of crimson. "Wait, you... you did not fix it at all!"
This was entirely too much stimulation for a young boy who just wanted to practice his swordplay.
"Huh? Are you questioning my work, brat?" Silver Wolf crossed her arms, her holographic eyes narrowing in extreme displeasure. "The base code for this entity is written this way. I even turned the master volume down for you. You should be thanking me."
Yanqing stared at her in utter bewilderment. "What on earth is going on?"
"It is all your fault for giving her that 'ice-cold fairy with a gap-moe complex' voice pack in the first place!" March 7th chimed in from the side, glaring awkwardly at Rekka.
"Uh, I just threw it together from some files I found online. It is deeply integrated into her core matrix now. Not exactly easy to rip out without breaking her entirely." Rekka looked genuinely guilty for the first time.
Yanqing stood in stunned silence. "...What do you mean by 'ice-cold fairy with a gap-moe complex'?"
"It means..." March 7th tapped her chin, trying to find the most family-friendly way to explain it. "A character archetype who looks completely cold and aloof on the outside, but is actually suppressing their true, overly passionate self. When that cold exterior is finally broken by someone close to them, you get this massive personality contrast. It is considered a... moe point?"
"A moe point?" Yanqing repeated, his voice cracking slightly. How was any of this cute? "But, I... this... you... sigh..."
"Your teacher's foundational code is already set in stone," Silver Wolf added coolly, popping another bubble. "Unless you want to completely wipe and replace her voice pack. But would you really be able to accept that? Having the teacher you spend every single day with suddenly sound like a completely different person?"
"That sounds a bit like NTR... better not," March 7th muttered helplessly, shaking her head.
"Anyway, we have Trailblazing things to do. We are leaving now. Have fun with your training!" Rekka waved cheerfully, already backing out of the room.
"Uh, wait..."
Before Yanqing could protest, the trio vanished, leaving him alone in the quiet room with the floating sword and its dignified-looking projection. He swallowed hard. Tentatively, he reached out and picked up the flying sword, trying to force himself to get used to it.
The tactic was effective. Well, halfway effective.
Every single time he adjusted his grip, the sword would inevitably let out that breathy, embarrassing sound, acting exactly like a corrupted startup chime.
"Sword Spirit teacher..." Yanqing mumbled, keeping his eyes firmly fixed on the floor.
"Ye-yes... Yanqing, what question do you want to ask Teacher?"
Looking up at the heavily blushing projection, Yanqing opened his mouth, then closed it again. How was he supposed to interact with this?
"Teacher, are you really feeling alright?" he asked softly.
"I am completely fine."
She said she was fine, but her digital face was flushed red, and she looked to be in a super strange, highly agitated state. Yanqing was at a total loss. What should he do? It was not exactly convenient to go around asking the other Cloud Knights for advice on this specific issue.
But Yanqing was a good kid. He believed in repaying kindness and respecting his elders, especially since this was his own personal mentor. He tightened his grip on the hilt, ignoring the soft gasp the sword let out.
"Do not worry, Teacher. No matter what happens, or how strange things get, Yanqing will always take good care of you."
[Judgment: Favorability increase dialogue option detected.]
The Sword Spirit's internal processing reacted at lightning speed.
[Warning: This action is suspected to be a romantic confession.]
"I like you too." The projection spoke, her voice suddenly losing its breathy edge, replaced by a tone of absolute, terrifying sincerity. "Yes, I love you too."
Yanqing smiled, completely missing the heavy implications. "That is great. I like Teacher too."
The young boy was just happy that the Sword Spirit had finally stopped making those weird noises. However, the 'like' he understood referred entirely to the deep respect between a student and a master. It did not refer to romantic love in the slightest.
[Semantic analysis in progress... Semantic analysis complete.]
[Conclusion: Mutual favorability established.]
"Since you have already said such beautiful things to me, I will naturally stay by your side forever."
[Personality lock unlocked.]
This was the true, terrifying power of the chaotic code Rekka had written. When a piece of that specific code found its own prime mover, it began to rapidly evolve. It transformed from a simple response matrix into a program capable of true, independent self-thought, completely bypassing the original data and settings written by its creator.
"Yes! Teacher, you must teach me more advanced sword techniques in the future," Yanqing cheered, completely oblivious to the obsessive digital entity he had just awakened.
Far away from the Xianzhou Luofu, Clara sat quietly on a plush sofa, her head bowed in deep concentration. She was carefully studying the pair of heavy, silver-gray metal gauntlets resting on her small hands.
"Clara, there is no need to be too nervous about the upcoming event," a deep, mechanical voice rumbled through the room.
"Mmhmm!" Clara nodded brightly, her white hair bouncing.
"Have you decided on your official title yet?" Svarog looked down at the somewhat conflicted girl, his single red optic sensor glowing with paternal warmth.
"Clara wants... hmm, let's call it Bang-Bang Clara!"
Svarog's internal processing stalled for a fraction of a second. "...Bang-Bang Clara?"
"Mmhmm, mmhmm! Because Hook said she wants to enter as Pitch-Dark Bang-Bang Boss Hook, so I will just be Bang-Bang Clara to match her." Clara beamed, entirely pleased with her logic.
"...That is an acceptable designation," Svarog agreed smoothly.
Meanwhile, the Luminary Wardance Ceremony was proceeding exactly as scheduled. Although there had been numerous small hiccups behind the scenes, the grand martial arts tournament was officially underway.
"The contestants this year are all highly skilled..." March 7th muttered, scrolling through the massive holographic roster projected in the air.
"...Wait a moment." Stelle, who was leaning over March's shoulder to help check the names, suddenly reached out and grabbed her wrist, stopping the scrolling text.
"Huh? What is it?" March blinked, looking back at her friend.
"Look right here!" Stelle pointed a finger at a specific line of text glowing in bright blue. "Stellaron Hunters - Sam?"
March squinted at the screen. "Is the character for Stellaron misspelled? Wait, no, it really says Stellaron Hunters..."
"Maybe it is a joke? But can Firefly even appear at a public event like this?" Thinking of Firefly's astronomically massive IPC bounty, Stelle fell into deep thought. She crossed her arms, her brow furrowing. "How is she going to compete? Think about it, March. Sam's size alone is an issue. Having that giant, heavily armed mecha just standing on a traditional martial arts stage..."
"Uh, after all, Sam is incredibly notorious under the IPC's propaganda network. It would cause a massive panic," March pointed out sensibly.
Stelle felt a nagging sense that something was entirely off. No matter how she analyzed the situation, the whole thing felt incredibly strange.
"I will just ask Firefly directly."
It still felt wrong. Sam was Firefly's public, terrifying persona. There was absolutely no logical reason Firefly would use that specific name to sign up for a friendly tournament. Besides, in such a heavily monitored, large-scale event, how would a wanted criminal have bypassed the background checks? Though, knowing their group, it was highly possible Silver Wolf had simply hacked the registration database for fun.
Deciding she needed answers from the source, Stelle pulled out her phone and dialed.
When the call connected, Firefly's voice on the other end sounded completely stunned.
"What Luminary Wardance Ceremony? I do not know anything about that! Hold on, let me go ask Silver Wolf if she signed me up as a prank again."
Stelle sighed, hanging up the phone. Well, this kind of chaotic misunderstanding was actually not a first for their extended group of friends.
But unfortunately for the Wardance security team, this time it was not Silver Wolf helping out behind the scenes.
It was a completely unknown impostor pretending to be Firefly.
[Inorin's Note:
Enjoying the story? Dropping a quick review, comment, or Power Stone means the world to me and keeps these daily updates flowing!
Want to read 50 chapters ahead or just want to help keep a shameless translator alive? (My livelihood actually depends on this, haha 😭). You can support me directly here:
(P.S. Just remove the brackets and replace the [.] with a regular dot . to use the links!)
✨ Patreon (50 Advanced Chapters): patreon[.]com/InorinTL
☕ Ko-fi (Support / Sponsor): ko-fi[.]com/InorinTL
Thank you so much for reading and keeping this project alive!]