I Blue : Reincarnated as a Cursed Crit-Based Swordwoman-Chapter 25: Limbo – Ashenville (2)

"That aside, are you really not going to play?"

Her question brought Noah back to reality. For a moment there, the whole scene around him seemed normal to him so much so that it felt like he was just talking with one of his classmates back in highschool.

But he saw it now. Those students were still faceless and the sky outside the gym was still a jumbled mess of forms and colors. This girl, the only one with a face, there was no doubt that her questions were of primordial importance.

What if this was more of a purgatory than a hell? Maybe he was judged at this very moment to see whether he would go to paradise or to hell? In that case, replying as honestly as possible was the only option.

"I am not," he said, stretching a bit.

"You don't like basketball either?" she asked.

"I don't like any sport."

"No sport at all?"

"Yes."

"Not even in video games?"

"Not even in video games..."

The girl looked at him a moment, her fist hiding mouth. He could tell what she was going to say next—if her answers were based on his memories then she would probably reply that he was weird for not liking any sport as if it was written somewhere that one needed to love sport to be alive.

"You know what? Me too."

"Well, I am like thaa—huh?"

"Honestly, I don't really like basketball, or football, or the other football, or tennis, or baseball, or volleyball, or blitzball, or even quidditch. I really don't like any of them."

"Huh..."

"I mean, they are tiring and I don't even know about all the rules. Not only do you need to train a lot to be at your level, but you definitely need some blessing of the sky to actually be good!"

"Huh, yeah..."

Was she echoing his thoughts? This was exactly how he felt about most sports apart from a few points.

"I am cursed with a weak body, you know? No matter how I train I always ends up coughing my lungs out after the first lap 'roud this court."

"... Yeah. I can understand that. I don't seem to gain any muscle too, no matter how I train... Well, I admittedly don't train that hard though, but I had a friend who was all muscles after just a week of training."

"See! Those! Those are the kind of people that are blessed!" she exclaimed, stepping closer to his face.

She then stood up again, the ball still in her hand.

"When I look at people like that, I think 'Why am I even trying? Even if I work hard, they will still be better than me anyway' and just give up. Ah, but I don't give up because I am jealous or anything like that! I just don't like the thing that much to begin with so why would I bother with it if I have no talent?"

"Ah! Exactly that! I was thinking... ah..."

He stopped realizing he got swept by his feelings again. Of course she would think that—she was a phantom of his subconscious. If this speech resonated with him so much, it was probably because he spoke it himself in the past even if it was only deep within his heart.

"A problem?" asked the girl, tilting her head in confusion.

"Ah, huh, no. It's nothing," he replied.

"... Ah, maybe I grossed you out?" she asked, suddenly avoiding his gaze herself. "I know it looks like I am just lazy or something but, huh... Okay, I won't say I am not a bit lazy, you know? I feel like I could probably get really good at any sport if I really wanted to."

"But that is only a feeling though," replied Noah. "Your capacities are limited aren't they? You were right when you said you could never compare to those with real talent. They can do amazing things in their respective domain without even liking it that much."

"..."

"You on the other hand, you will need a lot of work to reach the same result and that's if you are just average," he continued. "Considering how quickly you get out of breath, I personally think that you couldn't be good at any sport even if you truly wished to."

"... That's really cruel of you to say."

Her voice was low, full of a feeling Noah knew very well. She had lost her troubled smile from earlier and turned bitter and resigned as if he touched on a subject he really shouldn't have.

"... Sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to..."

"That's fine," she cut, shaking her head. "I really don't like any sport anyway so it's fine..."

"... I see."

A question went through Noah's mind but he didn't know whether or not he should ask it. After all, even he was conscious of how cruel that could sound to someone in her condition.

"If... If you were good at a sport, like very good, would you still hate it?"

In the end, he couldn't resist. It was really a simple question—a question whose answer should be as simple. After all, why would you suddenly like something you hated before just because you are suddenly good at it? It wouldn't make any sense.

You didn't dislike it because you were bad at it, you were bad at it because you disliked it... right?

"I would," replied the girl, categorical.

"Ah!" he exclaimed. "I knew you would understand!"

"Well, I didn't dislike it because I couldn't do it. I couldn't do it because I never liked it in the first place..."

"My thoughts exactly! Haha... ha..."

Th𝓮 most uptodate nov𝑒ls are publish𝒆d on ƒreewebηoveℓ.com.

He laughed a little trying to hide his embarrassment.

Truth to be told, he wasn't thinking that way. If, just if, he was a genius at any sport he ever practiced, he couldn't guarantee that he wouldn't suddenly like it.

It was like he beat those servants. Before that he was totally against violence or at least thought he was. Yet, at that moment, he resorted to violence his spirit quickly accepting it was the solution.

What changed?

It was simple, truly. He got good at beating people up.

So, he couldn't compare himself to that girl. She had stronger positions than he could ever hope to have. She was probably the kind to be able to stick to her conviction no matter what. She was clearly different from him.