"Sleeping, did you feel anything?"
The young woman asked Lin, who had finished dressing.
"...No." Lin didn't feel that sleeping in the same bed had any substantive feeling of "marriage." He and Kevin often slept in the same bed before.
Hearing this, the young woman tapped her chin, seemingly pondering something. Her ethereal eyes continuously lingered on Lin.
After a while, she asked, "Then should we try eating and exercising together?"
Eating and exercising...
Clearly, the young woman took Lin statement about shared interests from yesterday seriously. If so, they might as well start trying to cultivate the same interests from today on, along with exercising, eating, and sleeping together... This should be marriage, right?
"Then let's go exercise first."
"...Who is she?"
Even though Mei said Lin hadn't changed, Kevin still couldn't understand what Lin was thinking now.
Especially when he brought the young woman into the Second Gym, Kevin became even more bewildered by Lin.
"MSA-970," Lin introduced. The young woman also looked at Kevin with a perfectly calm expression.
"...I asked for her name."
"I don't know."
"...Did you two just bump into each other on the road?"
"No, I brought her here."
Kevin observed the young woman carefully. He ultimately reached the same conclusion as Lin—the young woman could absolutely not be a soldier.
Would Lin bring her to this Second Gym, which was essentially only used by him and Kevin, without even knowing her name?
"..."
Never mind. Kevin didn't want to interfere with Lin private matters. He ultimately followed Mei's suggestion—for the current Lin, it was best not to interfere too much.
In any case, the gym was large enough for three people to use the facilities freely.
"Kevin, want to spar?"
Lin casually picked up a wooden sword. His swordsmanship had improved rapidly under Sakura guidance. Even Sakura sighed that if he had been born into a swordsmanship family and started training from a young age with his talent, he would have become a great swordsman whose name went down in history—his swordsmanship talent was even higher than hers.
Kevin also picked up a wooden sword. He didn't say anything, but the raised sword made his intention very clear.
"Bang!"
The exchange began with the sound barrier crackle from the wooden swords and their mutual collisions.
Lin and Kevin's fight was different from Lin and Sakura. Their two fighting styles were self-developed and honed through actual combat, completely unlike Sakura battle style, which was rooted in swordsmanship principles. Thus, they were competing not on technique, but on speed and strength.
To an outsider, their movements might be too fast to be seen with the naked eye, appearing perfectly evenly matched, but Lin was already feeling strained.
Not being fully recovered was one factor, but Lin knew that even in his peak state, without the aid of external objects, his speed was already falling short of Kevin's, only slightly better than Sakura.
It was at this point that Lin knew he couldn't beat Kevin without resorting to a trick, so he began to showcase the sword techniques he had learned from Sakura.
"Bang! Shrrk—"
As Kevin delivered a sweeping overhead cut, a large, open strike aimed at Lin head, Lin suddenly changed his footing. The wooden sword narrowly missed him, and Lin thrust aggressively aimed for Kevin's abdomen.
However, Kevin's reaction speed was terrifyingly fast. His muscle memory made him instinctively retract his sword and instead deliver a horizontal slash toward Lin exposed waist.
Unexpectedly, Lin thrust didn't actually reach Kevin. His right hand suddenly lifted, meeting Kevin's horizontal slash. The instant the two wooden swords clashed, he twisted his sword and jammed it into the ground. Kevin's wooden sword was instantly knocked loose and flew out of his hand.
Kevin, disarmed, was not flustered. Trying to retrieve his weapon now would only lead him into Lin trap, and even empty-handed, Kevin felt no fear.
Lin also released his wooden sword at this point, delivering a jab straight at Kevin's face.
"Bang! Bang!"
After switching to a different form of sparring, Kevin found that even though his strength and speed were superior to Lin, he was constantly suppressed by Lin. He realized his disadvantage in technique.
Finally, the sparring ended with Lin delivering a stepping counterpunch.
"Bang!"
Kevin, who had taken a solid punch, stood up as if nothing had happened. He still said nothing, silently picked up his towel, wiped off his sweat, and left.
Lin closed his eyes, seemingly oblivious to Kevin's departure, reflecting on the long-awaited match.
But this momentary peace didn't last long; it was interrupted.
"Lin, spar with me."
The young woman brandished the wooden sword in her hand. Her clumsy grip made Lin speechless.
"Do you know how to fight?" Lin asked his biggest question since meeting the young woman.
Lin had considered whether the young woman might be a new researcher, but she herself admitted to being a soldier, yet her demeanor was completely unlike one.
The young woman answered honestly: "A little."
"..."
Lin skeptically adopted a stance, but the next second, his normally placid eyes narrowed.
"Bang—"
The impact from the violent collision made the web of his hand tingle. Lin took half a step back and dodged the wooden sword, which, having knocked his own sword back, continued its swing with undiminished force.
The young woman's strength and speed far exceeded his expectations.
He was forced to dedicate all his attention to the duel with the young woman. If one considered the young woman's swinging trajectory, it was indeed simple and straightforward to an extreme degree; one only needed to observe once to predict the direction of the next swing.
But with the addition of such speed and power, even a simple swing was difficult for Lin to dodge.
Was he too exhausted from his fight with Kevin? He found himself completely unable to match the young woman's speed, forced solely into defense.
And Lin wondered if it was just his imagination, but he noticed... the young woman was copying his and Kevin's moves.
Starting from a chaotic, random flailing, her posture was rapidly becoming standardized; she was improving at an astonishing speed.
But Lin could still win.
"Bang!"
On the final clash of the wooden swords, both swords shattered into two pieces. Lin hand gripping the broken sword trembled slightly, while the young woman showed no change whatsoever.
"...Let's end it," Lin put away his fighting stance.
There was no point in continuing the fight.
"Hmm... is it over already?" The young woman hadn't yet recovered from the taste of combat. She shook her head in confusion. "Why do I still not feel like this is marriage?"
"..."
"Then let's eat together next."
Lin shook his head. He pulled out his communicator and called Mobius.
"I have to cook for someone else today. Solve your own lunch."
"Wait a moment, what am I going to eat?"
"Instant noodles, I guess."
Lin hung up the communication. Watching the young woman excitedly trying out the gym equipment, he finally realized why he didn't feel like this was marriage.
Sleeping together: He had slept in the same bed as Kevin.
Exercising: This was a mandatory activity for him and Kevin.
Eating: Both Kevin and Lin often chose to eat together.
"..."
Was this... just friendship?