34. Invitation to a Tea Party

34. Invitation to a Tea Party

A few days have passed since the sparring match with Claire.

There haven’t been any special events at the academy during that time. It would be strange if something happened at school every day.

However, there was one piece of news that caused a stir in the academy: the news that the head of Priscilla’s family, the Marquis Louer, had changed.

According to what I learned from my sister when I was young, a Marquis was a very high title. It was the second highest title when counting from the top, so the news of the head of the family changing was definitely a big event that would cause a stir in the academy.

But it wasn’t something that particularly resonated with me.

“So, as I learned, when we washed together, my sister’s face turned incredibly red….”

“I see.”

It was because the person at the center of that news didn’t consider it a big deal.

Priscilla was diligently chattering about her sister, waving her small hands. There wasn’t a single trace of worry on her face, so how could I be swayed by such news?

Moreover, according to Priscilla, the succession of the family head was achieved through a very ‘peaceful’ method, so I had no reason to worry about her. If I had to worry about anything, it would be my score on the pop quiz a few days ago.

As I was listening to Priscilla’s words, she soon called out to me.

“Skadi!”

“Huh?”

“Um, as I mentioned earlier, I’m hosting a tea party this weekend. I received great help last time, so I wanted to invite you… Would you, perhaps, like to come…?”

Priscilla’s face held a hint of worry that I might refuse her invitation.

Her eyes looking up at me sparklingly, her small, tightly clenched fists.

And her plump, bouncy twin-tails.

“Of course, I’ll go.”

There was no way I could refuse the invitation after seeing such a pleading look.

I stroked Priscilla’s collarbone, which was nestled in my arms, with my index finger. Hearing her little “Ah,” it seemed she was quite pleased that I decided to go.

… Speaking of which, a tea party.

I had never participated in anything like that since reincarnating in this world. After all, I lived in the Northernmost part of the Empire, a place where outsiders rarely visited.

Even if outsiders did come, they strangely never showed themselves to me, so in my 20 years living in this world, I had never received an invitation to a tea party or anything else.

It was fortunate that the word ‘tea party’ appeared in the book my sister gave me, otherwise I might not have understood what Priscilla was saying at all. Even if it’s your mother tongue, you don’t know words you don’t use.

Moreover, for me, the Imperial language was like a second language, so it was no different.

Anyway.

This is what I learned about tea parties from books.

A small gathering for drinking tea and snacks, a type of social event.

And, for some reason, after drinking tea, suddenly collapsing in the bushes and engaging in passionate, lingering kisses.

Of course, the book my sister gave me was a novel, so there might be some exaggeration, but the general concept should be similar. It was hard to believe that such things would happen at a tea party, but considering this is another world, it wasn’t entirely impossible.

I thought as I gently stroked Priscilla’s body, which was nestled in my arms. My fingers passed through the fabric of her clothes, lightly caressing her soft skin.

Hearing Priscilla’s “Hiiit,” I nodded repeatedly. In a world where women do such things so readily, kissing while drinking tea is not out of the question. It was truly a strange world in many ways.

I smiled at Priscilla.

——

A tea party is a tea party, but as a student of the academy, there was something I had to do.

“So, what did you say?”

“… Question 1: What is the first movement in the Imperial Standard Swordsmanship Manual?”

“Hmm.”

In front of me now was a student with blue hair, Ella von Silverine. She was a student in the same Basic Swordsmanship A class, and also someone connected to me.

And between her and me lay a piece of paper with a dynamic drawing of human movements, along with a test question.

One question, four drawings.

Movements numbered A, B, C, and D.

I looked intently at the movements and opened my mouth.

“B?”

“No.”

“Then C.”

“That one too.”

“Is it A?”

“…… It’s D.”

Ella looked at me with a very pathetic expression.

I couldn’t have imagined Ella giving me such an expression before. But after I asked her to help me study a few days ago, Ella’s expressions towards me have become very varied.

I, for one, am happy that we seem to be getting closer.

A moment later, Ella opened her mouth.

“Haven’t you read the swordsmanship manual?”

“I haven’t.”

In the first place, I didn’t even know there was an Imperial Standard Swordsmanship Manual. To be honest, even now that I know of its existence, I have doubts about the effectiveness of a swordsmanship manual.

I complained to Ella, who looked at me with an expression of disbelief.

“Honestly, when fighting, do you really need to strike such poses? Can’t you just cut them down without any fancy moves?”

“It’s a foundational movement for other swordsmanship techniques, so it’s naturally necessary….”

Ella looked at me for a moment. She scanned me up and down, then, with an expression of boredom, muttered weakly.

“It doesn’t seem necessary….”

“Right? It’s not like I’m the weird one.”

Against overwhelming power, no matter how fancy the technique, it’s meaningless. This was a lesson deeply ingrained in my heart from being beaten by my father countless times.

It would be more efficient to split the opponent in half with greater strength and speed than to perform such complex movements in a real fight. At least, honing intuition to respond to any sword strike through practical training would be a better method than following a book.

Such a swordsmanship manual being the Imperial standard. I can’t believe it.

“… Even if it’s not necessary, you have to memorize it for the test.”

“I know.”

But tests don’t consider practical application. No matter how strongly and accurately I swing my sword, if I choose the wrong answer option, the test will ultimately be worth zero points. Yes, just like the pop quiz a few days ago.

“After only making us spar, why are they giving us a test like this….”

“That’s because someone broke the sparring grounds… No, it’s not.”

Ella looked at me. Her expression was not much different from before, a look that seemed to regard something trivial.

Yes, I must study diligently.

I don’t want my sister, who will come to the academy next year, to hear that her older sister is a foolish person who can’t even study. I’m not asking for perfect scores, but I’d at least like to achieve an average level.

I want to be a reliable older sister to my sister, even if I’m not to others.

If I remain ignorant like I was in the past even after coming to the academy, I’ll surely hear things like, ‘My sister can’t do anything on her own! I really need to be there for my sister!’ Just like my sister used to say to me when we were young.

Being with my sister is definitely a pleasant thing, but I don’t want to be considered a lacking older sister by her. To avoid that, I need to at least get average grades, average.

I called out to Ella again.

“Tell me the next question.”

“Yes. Question 2: What is the appropriate counter-movement to the attack shown in Figure 1?”

“C?”

“Incorrect.”

——

Exercise is the best way to cool down a feverish mind from intense studying. After giving Ella a farewell kiss, I headed to the dormitory to get my training clothes.

“… Where did the other one go?”

However, there was only one set of training clothes in my bag. I searched through the bag, but couldn’t find any more training clothes.

“Ah, found it.”

Instead of my bag, I searched various places in the dormitory room and fortunately found my clothes under Priscilla’s bed. It seemed I had forgotten to put them away after wearing them then.

Anyway.

After changing clothes, I headed outside immediately.

After running for a while, I was sprinting through the academy at full speed when I suddenly spotted a child with golden hair. She was walking along the road nonchalantly, whistling a tune.

“Claire?”

“Skadi?”

“What are you doing here?”

Claire replied.

“I’m skipping class!”

“Where is your maid?”

“Not a maid, a lady-in-waiting… Anyway. Of course, I snuck out!”

Claire put her hands on her hips and wore a proud expression. Then she asked me back.

“What about you? What were you doing?”

“As you can see, I was running.”

Since I was alone this time, there was no need to slow down, so I ran quite fast. As a result, even though I didn’t run for long, I was sweating and out of breath.

“Don’t tell me I have to run too…?”

Hearing my answer, Claire recoiled in horror. I gently shook my head.

“No. I was planning to rest for a bit. Claire, do you want to go to a cafe together?”

Claire, looking somewhat relieved that I wasn’t going to make her run, replied.

“Yes! I don’t mind going anywhere as long as I can escape from Edel!”

“Okay, then let’s go.”

After receiving Claire’s consent, I immediately headed towards a nearby cafe.

“The cafe isn’t that way!”

… I turned back again.