Swordsmanship Duel (1)

To avoid misunderstanding, I’ll say this, but it wasn’t *just* my goal to stay in the forest alone with Ethan.

That was merely a secondary objective that arose from choosing to stay in the forest; what was truly important was training in the forest and acquiring experience points.

If I was going to do it anyway, I thought it would be better to do it with Ethan than alone, and it would be good if there were no other disturbances. However, it doesn’t mean I stayed in the forest *just* because I liked being alone with Ethan so much.

By the way, after Ethan and I voluntarily extended our Natural Science Exploration class, a few uninvited guests came to our camp. They weren’t monsters like Goblins or Hobgoblins that appeared every day, but uninvited guests who were actually students taking the exploration class.

“For what reason did you intrude upon Lilith’s and my camp? Choose your words carefully when you answer.”

“S-sorry, Blackwood Prince-nim… My companion injured their ankle in the forest… C-could we borrow some fire, even just for a moment, to disinfect the wound…?”

“I-I’m fine, so let’s go somewhere else, Ted… I-if we keep staying here, it’ll be a nuisance to Blackwood Prince-nim too…”

“But Lin…”

“Ah, just a moment. This isn’t a wound that should be disinfected with fire. If you disinfect it with half-baked knowledge, the wound will just fester more, so I’ll disinfect it with Clean and apply a splint to the wound.”

“…Huh?”

“When it comes to survival in this forest, Lilith is more of an expert than I am, so follow her instructions quietly. …By the way, how many monster proofs have you collected from the forest so far?”

“…T-the two of us combined have collected a little over one person’s worth.”

“I’ll give you the materials for the remaining one person’s worth, so use that to apply for early completion with the Natural Science Exploration professor. Looking at that woman’s condition, it seems you can’t stay in this forest any longer.”

“Y-yes…? But we can’t impose like that…”

“The biggest imposition is you people being here right now. Don’t disturb Lilith’s and my private time. Did you not understand my words to disappear from the forest?”

“S-sorry…!!”

Roughly in this manner, Ethan and I sent away the surrounding students who had been led to our camp, one by one, and completed the entire 5-night, 6-day camp.

Thanks to that, the experience point rewards we gained weren’t too bad. I was able to raise my stagnant level by another two stages.

『Lilith has reached Level 28!』

『Lilith has reached Level 29!』

My level, which had just reached 27 around the end of last year’s Hunting Festival, was raised to the late 20s, so it was truly a fruitful extraction from the Natural Science Exploration subject.

On top of that, Ethan and I also had several enjoyable moments alone for the first time in a while. I would occasionally flash my body to Ethan, who stood guard, claiming he would protect me while I washed in the river. And when the temperature suddenly dropped at night, we would silently hold each other and sleep.

Other than that, although we struggled fighting monsters several times a day, I’ll just say that it was an exploration class with more enjoyable moments than struggles.

‘…But we never did anything naughty.’

It absolutely doesn’t mean I was specifically hoping for anything naughty. It was during class, after all, so it was naturally something we shouldn’t have done.

I just thought that at some point, he might not be able to hold back and would pounce, so it’s a little surprising that he didn’t. I’m absolutely not saying that I’m disappointed or anything like that, nope.

Having completed the exploration subject that took almost a week, a week of rest was now scheduled. After attending Harold’s class, which was held on the first day of every week, the remaining six days would be like a temporary vacation during the semester.

Well, instead, next week I’d have a hard time exploring the underground dungeon, but that was a problem for next week’s me, not for current me.

“Haaah…!!”

“Hmph, put a little more strength into your swing, Ethan. Your skill after a week of training can’t be just this much.”

“Hmph, haaah…!!”

In Harold’s swordsmanship class, which returned after a week, I was blankly watching Ethan and Harold’s sparring match.

The fact that Harold was giving advice to Ethan during the sparring match meant he had enough leeway to wield his sword while going easy on him. In other words, it also meant it wasn’t a good situation for Ethan.

Of course, Ethan had just returned by carriage last night from the 5-night, 6-day Natural Science Exploration class, so he probably hadn’t fully recovered his condition yet.

Since Ethan was someone who could only defeat Harold by being fully prepared and exchanging blows, it was inevitable that he looked drained in today’s sparring match.

‘…If I had known it would turn out like this, would it have been better to just leave early?’

If he had rested for about two days, Ethan would have been able to win a round against Harold.

If that happened, I would have a reason to give Ethan a reward, and then tonight, for the first time in a while….

“……”

…Yes, to be honest, it’s true that I’m just wishing for Ethan’s victory because I want to.

What’s the point of hiding this now? There’s less than two years left. It would be good to make various memories with Ethan while we can.

However, that doesn’t mean we should just recklessly mingle bodies. It’s not because I’d regret giving my body to Ethan or anything like that; it was all for Ethan’s sake.

The right to do whatever he wanted with me for one night was the ‘reward’ I gave to Ethan now. So if I were to break this rule and pounce on Ethan according to my desires, many problems would arise.

It would be good the first time I mingled bodies with Ethan, because I could just be intoxicated by the pleasant sensations without thinking much.

-Thwack!!

“Hmph, haaah!!”

But if such acts were repeated, Ethan would become indifferent to the ‘reward’ he gained from sparring with Harold, and I might never again see Ethan, who strives so hard to win in swordsmanship against Harold.

If I made a mistake, he might turn back into a lazy pig who has nothing to do with effort, like the ‘Pig Ethan’ of the original story. Even though the current Ethan is on a completely different path from ‘Pig Ethan’, fundamentally, Ethan and ‘Pig Ethan’ were the same person.

…To prevent such a future from happening by mistake, I shouldn’t needlessly test his willpower. Since I’ve gone to the trouble of raising him to be strong and cool, I want that guy to be happy until the very end.

-Thwack!

“Kuhaaah…!!”

‘…Haa.’

Having lost one sword earlier, his struggle to block with only one sword seemed precarious, and in the end, Ethan lost his other sword to Harold’s swing.

Thinking that there would be no ‘reward’ to give this week either, I quietly let out a silent sigh in my heart.

“…This is it, Ethan. You worked hard.”

“…You worked hard.”

With a frustrated expression, biting his lip tightly, Ethan picked up his sword and returned to my side. I hoped that feeling of regret and frustration would continue to drive Ethan to work harder.

Thinking such thoughts, I quietly folded away the impure desires in my heart.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

The day after Ethan suffered a ‘complete defeat’ in a swordsmanship sparring match with Harold for the first time in a long while.

Ethan and I, from the very next morning, came out to the Swordsmanship Training Ground and swung our swords at each other, even though it was an official holiday with no classes.

-Clang, clang, clang!

“Hmph, hmph, haaah…!!”

With all his might, quickly blocking the daggers I swung, Ethan repeatedly attempted attacks through the openings he created himself.

No matter how I tried to parry and attempt the next attack, the feeling of being blocked repeatedly kept frustrating me, and that was Ethan’s swordsmanship, constantly aiming for such openings.

For me, who doesn’t have as deep an understanding of swordsmanship as Ethan, just defending against such attacks was already my limit. In other words, there was already a clear difference in skill level between Ethan and me, just from this.

-Cha-eng!

‘Ah, fuck.’

-Kaaang!!

“Aaaah!!”

Aiming for an opening that even I perceived a beat too late, Ethan swung his sword with his right hand. The moment his sword hit my left-hand dagger, a numbing vibration surged through my entire arm.

-Ttenggeurang!

“Haa, h-keueup…”

“Lilith?! S-sorry…! I couldn’t control my strength for a moment…”

“Haa, damn it… Y-you promised not to say sorry during a sparring match, didn’t you…?”

“B-but…”

Going easy on a sparring opponent right in front of you? If you did that, there’s no way you could properly improve your skills.

It applied not only to Ethan, who had to go easy, but also to me, who would become addicted to that consideration.

“Ah, anyway, I think it’d be good to rest a bit, Lilith. That last attack probably had quite an impact.”

“…I think I should, Young Master Ethan.”

Just from blocking one swing, it felt like muscle pain was surging through my arm as if I had slept on it for three hours.

I’ve always felt this whenever I sparred with Ethan, but his arm strength, which he’d trained daily, was still a bit too much for me to handle with a sword.