Once Johan departed, the dojo, always so noisy, sank into silence.
"What the hell was that bastard...."
Andrea was the first to break the strange silence, sounding utterly bewildered.
It had already been two months since Johan had enrolled at the dojo.
In all that time, he had never trained properly even once.
Every time, he had merely waved his wooden sword around weakly with a listless look on his face, then gone home.
Yet Johan had defeated Andrea.
The unmotivated lame boy had beaten a powerhouse from the Song Dojo, a boy far bigger than the others who had trained since he was eight years old.
The shock swept over everyone equally, and silence fell.
While everyone remained quiet because they did not know what to say,
"You've been so cocky. Has some sense finally been knocked into you? That's why you shouldn't bully the kid."
Anna was the next after Andrea to regain her senses.
At her words, laced with laughter, Andrea's face crumpled at once.
"Bully... ha. I never bullied him. You wouldn't understand because you're a girl, but men have their own way of doing things."
"A pathetic man's way, maybe. Smiling as you offer your hand for days, then beating him when it doesn't work—that's hardly a man's way."
At her irritating words, Andrea shouted in outrage.
"Hey! It wasn't days, it was months! I spoke to him before you did!"
"Oh, is that so? You must be happy that you tried so hard to become friends with Johan. So, did you become friends?"
As expected of rivals, Anna skillfully teased Andrea.
The boy was strong and boisterous, but not particularly patient, and he exploded.
"You didn't become friends with Johan either!"
"At least I didn't rush at him without a thought and hit him like you did. I approached him carefully."
"Forget it. I'm an idiot for talking to you."
They clashed over every little thing, but there was no real resentment between them.
With a face flushed by indignation, Andrea grew angry, then suddenly rubbed his head.
He muttered with a deflated expression.
"Still, what the hell was that bastard? He had that kind of skill, but he flopped around like a jellyfish until now?"
Johan had clearly been frightened in their first spar.
The wooden sword in his hand had trembled, and his legs had trembled even more.
Frozen like a fawn facing a tiger, he could do nothing.
Then, after taking one hit and getting up, he acted like a completely different person.
Andrea felt as if he had been scammed.
Anna was no less perplexed.
But she had always thought well of Johan, so she tried to defend him.
"Uh... um. They say a knight can change completely if you don't see him for three days, right? He's been coming to our dojo for two months. Maybe his heart changed."
It was a forced excuse.
In truth, Anna knew as well.
Johan's sudden change was difficult to explain with any words.
She had only said it because she wanted to take his side, if no one else would.
Mercilessly, Andrea immediately picked apart the hole in what she had said.
"What knight in the world would shake like that? Could a bastard like him even become a knight in the first place?"
"That... no."
Anna conceded reluctantly.
Andrea did not stop there and pressed the point further.
"Besides, how can his swordsmanship change just because he got hit once? Knight or whatever, is that even possible for a person?"
"Was he possessed by an evil spirit? No, he seemed awfully fresh for that."
Having ultimately conceded Andrea's point, Anna tilted her head.
Along with a strange adolescent fantasy.
"Fresh, my ass. What kind of fresh bastard smacks someone in the head these days? If he acts fresh two more times, I'll split his skull with a sword."
At Andrea's growling words, the other trainees nodded.
Johan's sudden change, after he had acted like a harmless little animal, was more bizarre than refreshing.
Anna hesitated for a moment at the others' reaction, then shrugged.
"Maybe it depends on whose head he hit? Because it was you, it looked refreshing."
"You really are! Ow, ow...."
Andrea, who had been about to shout through gritted teeth, clutched his head and groaned.
It seemed Johan had held back to some extent, but it still hurt terribly.
Watching Andrea with delighted eyes, Anna gave a sly smile and came to a practical conclusion.
"Well, the evil-spirit thing was only a joke. Really, he must have learned swordsmanship somewhere else."
"I heard he was shut away in his room for ten years."
"Maybe his parents invited a private tutor to their home."
"His family isn't that rich."
However much Johan had lived like a shadow, he was still a member of the local community.
The trainees who lived nearby each repeated what they had heard from their parents.
At their reasonable objections, Anna shrugged again and answered.
"Then he's actually an absurd genius who became stronger than Andrea the moment he picked up a wooden sword?"
"That doesn't make sense either."
"Then he learned it separately. None of you watched his house all day, so you might not know where or how he learned it."
It was equally implausible, but with no other answer, the children nodded.
It was the only way they could understand it, even if they had to force it.
Andrea alone growled amid the others.
"Then that makes him annoying in a different way. He deliberately hid his skill, pretended to be a coward, then figured this was the moment and went wild? Even taking a hit first?"
"Surely not. He must have had the skill but lacked courage. Honestly, that's not something you can act."
At Anna's words, the children each recalled what Johan had been like.
How he had limped through the dojo door for the first time, wearing the face of someone half dead.
How he had teetered while holding a wooden sword and flopped about before slumping down.
Even the way he ran off at the slightest chance, with a look as if he wanted to dig a burrow in some corner.
No one could perform such an act for two whole months.
At least, the Johan they had seen had been truly guileless and timid.
For once, Andrea agreed with Anna and nodded.
"I suppose that's true. Anyway, whether he was possessed by an evil spirit, hid his skill, or is a genius!"
"Don't shout! You're loud, idiot!"
"Next time, I'll kill him! I won't let my guard down, and I'll kill him!"
"Are you trying to become a murderer?"
"I'll beat him black and blue, idiot!"
Andrea roared while Anna scoffed at him.
From the reactions of the Song Dojo's two strongest trainees, everyone instinctively knew that the sudden tsunami called Johan would not subside so easily.
On the day the scent of an approaching typhoon was in the air,
The lame man's story, which had been cut short, resumed in the heart of spring.
***
It was an afternoon that shocked both me and the other people who knew me.
After defeating Andrea, I gathered my things and left the dojo at once.
The city where my home stood was Raechia.
As the greatest trading port in the peninsula nation of Aliati, it was a wealthy place.
Naturally, the streets were full of people at midday.
I walked through the crowd boldly, without hesitation or fear.
People's reactions to my limping gait generally fell into two categories.
Contempt and pity.
I hated both of them enough to make my skin crawl.
That was why, even that morning, I had gone to the dojo by hiding from people's eyes in corners and alleyways.
Now, things were different.
The memories of the Sword Saint, a lame man who had nevertheless become a great martial artist, taught me something.
Neither the way people looked at me nor the leg that made me limp because one side was shorter was anything to be ashamed of.
The only shameful thing was my heart, which could not stand tall before itself.
Of course, a person's heart could not change in an instant.
Even now, the gazes fixed on me were frightening and shameful. Still, I squared my shoulders and straightened my back.
With gratitude toward the self in my dream who had come to me.
"Hm? Isn't that Johan? This is the first time I've seen you at this hour."
"Ah... yes, it is. I suppose I'm at the swordsmanship dojo during the day."
Had the suddenly changed me drawn his attention? Or was it because of the connections my parents had made over a lifetime here?
I did not know the reason, but a merchant who supplied goods to our general store was walking over from the other side when he spoke to me.
I instinctively shrank back, but then smiled and answered.
Deliberately focusing on his traditional hat and robe rather than his face.
"Before I started going to the dojo, I only stayed in my room."
"Ha-ha... there were times like that, weren't there? Not anymore, though."
Should I call it fortunate?
The Sword Saint's memories, seeing the clothes of his homeland for the first time in a very long while, helped me.
I could focus on feelings that were unfamiliar and nostalgic rather than embarrassment.
Thanks to that, I could carry on the conversation with some ease, and the man looked at me meaningfully.
"I was a little worried when Georg said he was going to send you to the dojo, but it worked."
"Yes, very much."
My answer came in a voice from which all trembling had finally gone.
The man grinned at my now much firmer self and stroked my head.
Then he took a piece of candy from his pocket and handed it to me.
"Good. It's nice to see. Keep living bravely from now on. This is a gift to help you do that."
"Thank you!"
"What are you thanking me for? It's only candy. I need to be going now; I'm busy."
As I watched the man walk away, I suddenly opened my hand.
He had called it just candy, but sugar, all of which was imported from the archipelago, was precious even in Raechia.
Candy made from it was naturally more precious.
Even a wealthy merchant would find it somewhat difficult to hand it out freely to just anyone.
That was why this candy was not merely a lump of sugar, but kindness.
"Whew, that was scary. Still... I can do this."
I gave a small smile at the little change brought about by my changed frame of mind,
then walked on vigorously.
Perhaps because of what the small encounter had made me realize,
before I knew it, all fear and shame had cleared from my heart.
The street I saw with those cleansed eyes was beautiful.
The canals flowing throughout Raechia, and the gondolas floating along them with people aboard.
The ivory Doge's Palace, the orange bell tower, and the statues of a fairy in a traditional overcoat, holding a bow, and of a winged tiger.
Even the children in rainbow-striped jackets, running through the broad San Marco Square with peals of laughter.
How long had I walked with a smile through the springtime homeland that seeped into my heart?
After passing through the square and crossing several canals, I soon reached the store.
The general store run by my parents was bustling today as well.
It was a sight that, not long ago, would have made my face turn white as I searched for the back door.
But I made my way through the crowd politely yet boldly.
"Who are you to cut in line?"
"I'm sorry. I'm the son of the people who run this place, so please let me through."
"Oh, really? Uh... all right."
I bowed my head as I passed a person who had reacted sharply.
"Hm? Johan, it's been a while since I've seen you."
"Yes, hello! Thank you for stopping by every time."
"Ha-ha, there's nowhere else with goods as good as your family's store."
To those who recognized me and greeted me, I answered warmly as I passed.
At last, after passing through the crowd that blocked my view, I reached my home and nest.
My parents were there.
My mother, who always worried and fretted over me, was young and beautiful.
She was exactly as the Sword Saint had longed for her all his life.
Perhaps it was because his memories made my chest swell with emotion.
I walked slowly toward her, looking at her with trembling eyes.
"Mother...."
"Hm? Goodness, Johan? You came to the store? More importantly, Mother? Did something happen—oh my?"
To the mother who opened her eyes wide in worry at the sudden appearance of her son, who had never once come here because he feared and hated people, I walked up.
Then I embraced her.
"Thank you."
As I conveyed a feeling I had never been able to express, a single tear ran down my cheek.
It was the tear of an old man who had welcomed again a spring that would never return.
And the tear of a boy who had not even known that spring was spring.
At last, the spring rain that called forth youth was hot.