Chapter 157: More Slayers, More Problems
Natsuya blinked in mild surprise.
The name sounded faintly, oddly familiar...
"Natsuya," the young man introduced himself.
Seeing the visitor's puzzled expression, the young man smiled and switched to a southern accent. "Back in the Earth Federation's Asia-Pacific region... well, I suppose at this point in history, it's called the Great Yan."
"Eh? Natsuya-kun is from Yan, too?"
The visitor's eyes lit up instantly.
"If it's you, just call me Natsuya. It sounds more familiar."
"Natsuya...-kun, then?"
A rare expression of relaxation washed over the young man's face. After spending several years in the Far East, life hadn't been kind to him. Meeting a compatriot in a foreign land—someone who was a respected local figure, no less—brought a complex, warming comfort to his chest.
"Your Far Eastern name is quite interesting. Did you derive it from the old idiom, 'Abundant with Five Cartloads of Knowledge', Natsuya-kun?"
"Given how brilliant your medical skills are—even Professor Oishi can't stop praising you—you must have studied exceptionally hard in your youth."
Natsuya: "Ah, yes, yes. I actually wanted to name myself Ten Carts, but my Adoptive Father somehow short-changed me by one cart."
The young man blinked, temporarily failing to parse the joke about the "adoptive father."
However, as the atmosphere warmed, the two began to chat freely. The conversation naturally gravitated toward the medical arts.
The young man had come to the Far East specifically to pursue advanced medicine. The premature death of his father from illness, combined with the stubborn superstitions of his hometown, had driven him to seek out a science more advanced and systematic than traditional herbalism.
His original goal was to save people.
Yet, after arriving in Tokyo and later Sendai, experiencing the reality of the world and reflecting deeply, he had come to a startling realization:
Medical science alone could not save everyone.
Or rather, many of the "diseases" plaguing the world couldn't be cured purely through surgical intervention or pharmacology.
The medicine he had crossed the sea to study was the art of saving one person at a time.
Natsuya nodded in quiet agreement.
The young man sighed, offering a self-deprecating smile. "Forgive me. I suppose my studies are lagging, and I simply needed someone to vent to."
"You want to save more people?" Natsuya asked.
"Indeed. Natsuya-kun, do you happen to have a different perspective?"
Natsuya thought for a moment and answered with absolute seriousness. "I do. The art of saving people is divided into three tiers: Lower, Middle, and Upper."
"Medical science can only save one person at a time. Unless you're sparking a revolutionary paradigm shift in pharmacology or breaking through monumental technical bottlenecks, most doctors simply treat patients one by one."
"To some extent, medicine is merely the Lower Tier."
The young man nodded. This matched the harsh reality he had been forced to accept over the past few years.
"But if you want to save dozens, or hundreds of people at once..."
Natsuya stood up, walking to the edge of the courtyard.
The young man followed, looking out over the training grounds. Aside from a few equipment racks, there were iron-reinforced wooden practice dummies scattered about.
Natsuya raised his right hand.
Without channeling any visible Breathing Style, he simply threw a punch.
BANG!
A sharp, sonic crack whipped through the air. Even though he was a meter and a half away from the target, the sheer concussive pressure of the fist-wind left a visible, caved-in dent on the iron plating of the dummy.
For a Hashira, cracking a two-meter boulder with a sword or tearing through solid steel with bare hands was standard procedure—something mastered shortly after graduating the tutorial.
If he used a full-power strike without holding back, Natsuya could have blown the dummy to splinters.
For the young man, however, it was an entirely different dimension of reality.
He stared at the dented iron plate, then back at Natsuya's completely uninjured fist. His voice trembled.
"Natsuya-kun... is this... internal qi from martial arts novels?!"
No, it's probably closer to Qi Gong, but let's go with it.
Natsuya didn't bother correcting him. He shook out his hand and explained:
"Eliminate the threat, or bend others to your will through sheer, overwhelming force. That's how you save hundreds at a time."
"Slightly skilled in martial arts, unmatched by a hundred men, a one-man army."
"Martial Might is the Middle Tier."
The young man fell silent. A long moment passed before he asked in a barely audible whisper.
"Then... what about saving more? Tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, an entire population... what is the Upper Tier?"
The Upper Tier?
"That's the realm of Nation-Building Arts."
"For instance: advancing a nation's technology so far ahead of the curve that poverty and disease become obsolete."
"Or reinforcing your military until your sheer deterrence makes foreign powers drop their weapons."
"Or mastering economics—though I'm not well-versed in that, history proves nations have maintained global hegemony through financial dominance alone."
"Of course... none of those are things a single individual can accomplish alone."
The young man fell silent once more. But this time, the fire in his eyes hadn't been snuffed out—it was burning hotter and brighter than before.
Finally, he spoke, his voice heavy with resolve. "Is there... anything an individual can do?"
Good grief. He's asking me for a grand philosophy of life now?
Natsuya countered, "What do you want to do?"
He could tell the young man had harbored these ambitions for a long time, hesitating only because he lacked an external catalyst to push him over the edge.
"Me?"
The young man hesitated, then spoke from the heart. "I want to write books. Write articles. Use words to heal..."
"No—to awaken people."
"Words?"
"Yes. After coming to the Far East, I realized my homeland doesn't just lack advanced medicine."
"Perhaps the sickness isn't in the physical body... but in the soul."
"You already have a plan, don't you?" Natsuya noted.
"I did intend to return home soon to start writing..." The young man paused, his gaze shifting. "However, I think I'd like to delay my departure for a little while."
Natsuya: "?"
Is he pivoting to a career change right in front of me?
"Do you have a new plan?"
The young man's youthful, earnest face flushed with a hint of embarrassment.
"If it's not too much trouble... could you teach me that 'Middle Tier' martial art you just used?"
Ah. So he wants to learn hands-on problem-solving.
As a young man with a fiery spirit, learning how to punch through iron plates was an objectively more attractive hobby than writing essays.
Natsuya naturally wouldn't refuse. Teaching a civilian basic physical conditioning wasn't hard, and who knew? Maybe he'd pick up a new Life Skill or trigger a unique side quest.
"Sure."
"Come by on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, or whenever you can sneak away from your studies."
"I'll teach you."
Natsuya thought for a second and added, "As a bonus, I'll throw in a set of close-quarters knife techniques."
"Wing Chun. Great for fast-paced strikes in tight spaces. Since you're learning martial arts, you might as well have a complete loadout."
The young man bowed deeply. "Thank you, Natsuya-kun!"
That very afternoon, the young scholar began his first lesson in fundamental physical conditioning.
As for Natsuya?
He found his thoughts drifting to a different problem.
The in-game version of this era doesn't let players cross the ocean out of the Far East yet. But once the main quest is cleared, will the map expand?
If the sandbox gets that big... leading a revolution in the neighboring continent using modern strategy games logic sounds like an incredible end-game expansion pack.
☆☆☆
-> 20 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you