# Returnee's Notepad Episode 3
Rediscovery (2)
"……Sion. What are you doing over there."
A voice suddenly rang out while I was glaring at my 「Notepad」, lost in serious thought.
I turned to look at him.
"You don't look so good."
It was Dent, the swordsmanship instructor of the orphanage. Since there was only one knight at this orphanage, I recognized him immediately. I had also looked up to him quite a bit in the past.
I answered briefly.
"I'm thinking."
"About what?"
Thanks to Libra, it seemed the 「Notepad」had grown somewhat, so I was thinking—thinking about how I could use this to bring Libra down—
I changed the words swirling in my mouth and spoke them aloud.
"Thoughts about what I should do to be helpful to Libra, things like that."
"……How admirable. But that's simple. You just have to win this match. The orphanage is an important tradition even within Libra. The direct line of the main family will be watching as well."
Direct line.
At those words, I turned back to look at Dent. Dent let out a dry cough.
"Ahem. The youngest will be coming. Don't get your hopes up too high."
The youngest.
Meaning neither the eldest son, the second son, nor the eldest daughter, but the youngest—'Zia.'
Zia Selsien Libra Rein.
The smallest person who would later become the biggest person.
I know the history of Zia, who started with a measly inheritance of 5 million Ren and usurped the great house called 'Libra.'
"Is that so? How fascinating. To think the youngest would come."
To me, she is a mystery.
As much as I hate her, my reverence for her is equally great.
Born as a daughter of a different mother in this desolate great house, growing up without any standing, a person who eventually monopolized Libra by killing, pushing out, and exiling her siblings, numerous elders, collateral relatives, and cousins.
"Yes. So work hard. Don't just…… sit still like you are now."
No wonder, it seemed Dent had ultimately come to spur me on.
After all, they don't know that I have dantian cancer.
Even I was in the denial stage at this time. Why, the terminal five stages of denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.
"Sion. You grew up here too, so you should know. The orphanage is an inheritance that must not disappear, and the humanity that Libra holds dear. So—"
"Yes. I will do my best."
Voicing words I didn't mean had become familiar by now.
"Yes. Aren't you a loyal knight of Libra, Sion? Just as your father was a knight of Libra until his final moment."
Fucking—
I barely suppressed the words that had nearly burst out like a cough.
I bit my lip hard and only bowed my head deeply, and after patting my shoulder, Dent left.
* * *
The match that would decide the orphanage's fate was scheduled for Friday, February 25th.
Perhaps because of that. The nine chosen as 'warriors of the orphanage' woke up at dawn and devoted themselves to various trainings, falling asleep the latest.
I was a bit different. I slept more than eight hours a day, ate meals regularly, did my own training after eating, and occasionally sat on a bench reading books while observing the nine.
——One! Two! One! Two!
This morning was no different. Six men and three women running around the training grounds shouting chants. The orphanage's children, youths, and teachers sitting in the stands cheering them on.
I sat on a park bench a short distance away from there.
——One! Two! One! Two!
I had no desire to mix with them.
I too had grown up in the orphanage, but I didn't have many good memories. To be exact, I couldn't get close to the orphanage.
It was because I had suffered from a severe illness since childhood, and because I had parents who 'had once existed.'
The young hearts of children sometimes transform into malice without malice.
They said you'd catch germs if you were near him—he smells weird—the scar on his head is gross—maybe he's an alien—maybe he eats his own poop—he's always throwing up, disgusting—
"Pfft."
If I close my eyes on this bench of memories, those young voices occasionally echo in my ears, making me smile.
Of course, it wasn't the children's fault.
It's just that all my memories of the orphanage are nothing but filth already stained with 'later hatred.'
It's an orphanage that made me mistake my enemy for my benefactor in the first place. Good memories simply couldn't exist for the current me.
……Anyway.
I was training too. Not heavy things like cardio, weights, swordsmanship, or spearmanship.
—Footwork is the foundation of foundations in boxing. It's not simply stepping; it's a technique that helps you explosively dash in any direction you want.
I was watching YouTV on my phone.
A YouTV channel called [Sengun], belonging to a boxer mercenary. His current subscriber count is 500,000.
This [Sengun] is famous as a powerhouse capable of contending with active high-ranking knights. In five or six years, he would even establish his own martial arts school.
I intended to learn boxing through YouTV. Boxing is a martial art with especially high versatility, so the earlier you learn it, the better.
It's not like before my regression, when I lacked even the time to earn money and had no leeway to learn things like this—
"……Hey."
Suddenly, a voice laced with discontent called out to me.
"Hmm?"
I turned to that spot.
There was nothing.
"Not there. We're here."
"……What. Where."
"Berry, down here."
A tone coming from slightly below.
Behind the tree, two small children were glaring at me while half-hiding their bodies.
Ziiing—lasers seemed to shoot from their eyes.
"Who are you guys?"
"I'm Berry. This is Belle."
Walking out confidently as they introduced themselves, they put both hands on their bellies and bowed deeply at the waist. Quite polite.
"Oh. I see."
Both had blonde hair, chubby cheeks, and large eyes. So, they were very cute. Even the way they glared at me.
"What do you want?"
At that, Berry narrowed her big eyes.
"You said you weren't the only one not training."
"……Yeah."
The younger sister agreed with her older sister's words.
Ah, so they came because they were dissatisfied about that.
I let out a chuckle and put my phone down.
"So?"
Thwack—! Berry thrust her small finger at me and shouted as if passing judgment.
"Would big brother like it if our house disappeared?"
Our house.
A childlike choice of words.
"Well. I'm not sure about our house, but I am training. I may look like this, but I'm quite physically gifted."
"Liar. You always just sit there all day……."
"Sitting there……."
I shrugged my shoulders.
"It's not a lie. I have no intention of losing either."
Rather than wearing out my body with running, it's better to get my condition right first.
I had experience running around as a deliveryman and cleaner before my regression, so if I summoned the Notepad's 'Perion' on top of that, my chances wouldn't be completely zero.
Berry pouted her lips.
"Berry doesn't understand what you mean. If you don't wanna lose, you have to train."
"……You have to."
"I told you, I'm doing it."
I showed the kids my smartphone.
—When this footwork develops, it becomes 'movement arts.' The core of movement arts is balance. You could call it the center of gravity. Not just when running, but even when walking, mana must always circulate through the lower body.
"See? I'm watching a boxing lecture right now. I'm learning how to fight."
Then the sharp, steely faces of Berry and Belle melted instantly.
Their eyes suddenly went round like a deer's and began sparkling.
"Wow…… a smartphone……."
"Smartpho……."
"Huh?"
Are smartphones amazing to them?
When I moved the smartphone, the two pairs of pupils followed it.
Well, even for me at this time, it was something I'd barely bought while secretly working part-time jobs. When I first activated it, I'd nearly cried while hugging it.
I shook that smartphone and spoke.
"You guys wanna try it out?"
"Woah! Really?!"
"Yeah!"
"Come on up here."
When I gestured, Berry and Belle scurried over on their short limbs and jumped onto the bench.
"You guys know Jelly, right? The animation."
"We do! You can watch it every Monday at three!"
"Yeah!"
"I'll show you that."
I searched for Jelly on YouTV. There were a few full episodes.
[Jelly's Winter Vacation]
"Here, watch."
"Thank you!"
"Thank you!"
Their complaints were completely forgotten, and they watched the smartphone screen with their heads pressed together.
"Wow…… Jelly's riding a sled……"
"It's fun……."
I slowly got up. I planned to practice the boxing moves I'd just watched.
"Footwork."
I performed the footwork exactly as [Sengun] on YouTV had explained. Tap-tap-tap—though slow, I tried to follow accurately, but strangely, my movements were light. Just like Sengun's in the video.
"……?"
Something, something was a bit strange.
Even I could tell that the flow of my steps was too unusual.
"Aah! Jelly's falling. Go get 'em, Jelly……."
"Oh no!"
Of course, it wasn't that I lacked physical talent entirely. Though I was a cancer patient, I easily learned most physical skills and had made quite a name for myself as a cleaner and deliveryman.
"……What the hell."
But now, something was different.
I, who was using this body, could feel it.
Every time I stepped, every time I extended my arm, [Sengun]'s movements from the video seemed to replay in my head, and I could execute those motions without a single inch of error.
Despite having only watched the video once, I was like an expert who had devoted a long time to boxing.
Crack—!
I drove a straight punch into the tree. The bark shattered. A clear fist mark formed on the surface.
"……."
I was briefly at a loss for words.
However, the cause of this impossibly 'amplified' physical talent was perhaps surprisingly easy to deduce.
"Is this also because of the Notepad?"
Spectrums are generally divided into Active and Passive. Just like active skills and passive skills in RPG games.
From that perspective, this phenomenon might be the Notepad's 'Passive.'
Actions or martial arts are naturally memorized through the naked eye, as if saving files to the 「Notepad」.
I've heard of a similar talent somewhere before.
Wasn't it called 'Look-See-Do'?
Not tuxedo, but Look-See-Do.
Simply put, it means 'watch and follow exactly.'
"……The body sees first, memorizes, and follows exactly."
The core of Look-See-Do—that is, the process of 'memorizing' after watching—was where the Notepad naturally intervened.
"......Wow......"
I heard the children's sounds of admiration.
They must have been watching.
"Hmh."
I peeled off the bark stuck between my knuckles. Smirking, I turned to them and spoke.
"……I might not lose this match—"
"Berry, we watched all of Jelly~"
"It was fun."
Berry and Belle held out the smartphone with bright faces.
"Can you show us the next one too……?"