81. Training Assistant

81. Training Assistant

A few days after sending the books to Mother. No major problems arose at the Academy during that time. In fact, it would be strange for any major issues to occur at the school.

Although Claire’s maid seemed to be having trouble with the investigation, there was nothing I could do to help. I put that aside and enjoyed a pleasant Academy life with my friends and siblings-

And then, I received a terrible announcement that the long break was over.

“Ugh… I wish it were vacation forever. I don’t want to study.”

“But isn’t Skadi’s thing training, not studying?”

“… Is it?”

Hearing the word ‘training,’ I realized I didn’t need to be so gloomy. I idly fiddled with Priscilla’s rolled-up hair and then got up.

“Priscilla’s still on break, right?”

“Yes. They said the building is still under construction. But they’re still holding the exams as scheduled, so I need to study quickly. If my grades are low, Sister will get angry.”

“Right. Good luck, Priscilla.”

Priscilla had recently started studying for exams in a hurry. She said she hadn’t been studying because she was buried in my tail.

Priscilla’s textbooks were filled with content that made my head ache just looking at them, so I just gave Priscilla a brief greeting and headed for the door.

My dorm room was quite empty now compared to the crowded situation a few days ago. The reason was simple: Iris had returned home because her father had come back, and Claire had been dragged away by Edel again.

As for Freya….

-Freya student, you have too many absences. If you have any more absences, I’ll have no choice but to give you an F.

-Do you know who I am?! I’m the Grand Duke’s daughter! If you mark me absent, your teaching career could end….

-Freya, you should study hard.

-No, wait, Sister?! Don’t push me, no! This is one of the few chances I have to be with Sister!! Ack!!

… For the same reason, I pushed her into the lecture hall.

In conclusion, there weren’t many people around me right now. A sense of solitude I hadn’t felt in a while, perhaps; it wasn’t unpleasant.

Henir followed me silently towards the sparring grounds. Her steps were light, so quiet that you wouldn’t know she was there if you didn’t pay attention.

I moved my tail and gently placed it on Henir’s head. Henir’s steps faltered.

“Hiccup.”

She was walking stealthily like an assassin until just now, but her body faltered with just one wag of my tail. Her reaction was amusing.

I slowed my pace slightly while Henir was flustered, and stood beside her. Before Henir could say anything, I entwined her brown tail with my own.

Two fluffy things, white and brown. Henir was startled and tried to pull her tail out, but my movements were quicker, and Henir’s tail was becoming increasingly entangled with mine.

Henir’s ears trembled, her tail struggling to escape. Henir finally couldn’t stand it and cried out.

“Ah, Young Lady, entwining your tail with someone like me….”

“Why?”

“B-because tails are for… for precious people…. You can surely meet better people, and….”

“You’re precious too.”

Henir, as well as Freya, Priscilla, Claire, Iris, Golden Sun, and the other acquaintances I’ve made since coming to the Academy, were all my precious friends. If I didn’t call them precious, who would I call precious?

“Y-yes?!”

“You’re precious too, Henir.”

I said, stroking Henir’s head as she looked up in surprise. Her soft brown ears twitched at my touch, and her tail, which had been struggling to escape, grew quiet.

“Th-then….”

“Shall we go now? We might be late.”

I walked ahead, leaving Henir, whose face had turned bright red, behind me. As I untied the knot, Henir’s tail swayed as if in disappointment.

We arrived at the sparring grounds after getting lost and then returning with Henir’s guidance.

I peeked my head out and scanned the sparring grounds.

“… We’re not late, are we?”

“Yes, we arrived just in time.”

“That’s a relief.”

Having been scolded for being late so many times in my past life, I often found myself getting scared when I thought I might be late. To avoid thinking about anything else and being late, I immediately ran and joined the students.

“Hello, everyone?”

“Yes, yes… Ah, hello….”

“Why is everyone so down?”

Of course, it’s sad that the holiday is over, but isn’t this class supposed to be a fun training session, not boring studying? Then why are they all looking down and seeming so listless?

As I tilted my head in confusion, something with blue hair kicked off the ground and rushed towards me. I caught her with my hands and looked at her face….

“Ella?”

“I missed youuuuuuuu!!!”

It was Ella, the baron’s daughter with long blue hair. It had been a while since I last saw her after the tea party, but why was she acting like this all of a sudden?

“Kiss, kiss me!!”

“Uh, huh?”

“I’ve been holding back for so long… Hurry!”

Ella’s blue eyes were terrifyingly rolled back. Ella clung to me like a dog that had met its owner after years, and I smiled back and stole her lips.

Swallowing tongues, exchanging saliva. After breathing in and out, I pulled away.

“Pah-“

“One more time…!”

“Uh….”

But Ella wasn’t satisfied with just one and sought my lips again. We mingled tongues like that several times, and only then did she pull away, seemingly satisfied.

“Hehe… This is it… This feeling… This sensation… What I’ve been waiting for….”

She wasn’t this giddy before. I was deeply concerned that her brain might have been damaged after being hit on the head by Freya.

“It’s okay, Ella. Even if you become an idiot, you’re still my friend.”

“Uhe….”

As I stroked Ella’s head, Ella melted into my arms with a melting expression. I sniffed her head, and it smelled pleasant.

“Who… is this?”

“My friend.”

After briefly introducing Ella to Henir, the professor arrived shortly after. It seemed they had deliberately arrived with some leeway for the first class in a while.

“Long time no see, everyone! Isn’t the sparring ground clean? After diligently bowing to the Chancellor, I succeeded in getting the sparring grounds repaired as a top priority! Thanks to that, we were the first to resume classes!”

The students chuckled slightly at the professor’s gesture of bowing. The professor continued.

“Now, what we will learn today is one of the swordsmanship techniques for dealing with individuals….”

——

“Huk.”

“Young Lady, please wake up. They are calling you.”

“Uh, uh-huh?”

I wiped the drool that was flowing from the corner of my mouth and looked ahead. During the long explanation, I had fallen asleep without realizing it, and the professor was looking at me.

“Now, student Skadi! Please come forward.”

“Uh, uh. Yes.”

As I stepped forward to the front of the sparring grounds, the professor handed me a wooden training sword. The professor himself picked up a sword and took a position at a suitable distance in front of me, then said to the other students.

“Now, everyone, watch me carefully. Immense strength itself is an invincible weapon, but as I said earlier, with a sufficient level of swordsmanship and skill, one can dare to contend with someone many levels stronger. Now, student Skadi, shall we begin the demonstration!”

“Uh, uh.”

I’m still not fully awake.

However, the professor moved his sword without regard for my sleepy face.

“Haaat!”

The sword strike flew straight towards me. I thrust my wooden sword towards it, and the professor’s sword, unable to withstand the impact, shattered and flew high into the sky.

The professor, as if he had expected this, took out another wooden sword and said.

“As you can see, opponents with vastly different strength levels cannot be defeated by ordinary methods. Simply by relying on strength, it’s natural that you cannot win if you lack strength. Bu-BUT!”

The professor looked at me. His face seemed to ask if I was ready. I nodded, and the professor shouted.

“With skill, the story changes! Haaat!”

The sword flew towards me. However, its trajectory was not straight; it bent and twisted, making it difficult to predict its path.

I knocked it away with force, and the professor’s sword shattered and became a star in the high sky.

“… Hmm! One more time!”

“Yes.”

The professor’s eyes began to burn metaphorically. A quiet tension filled the air, and soon the professor’s hand left afterimages, creating ripples.

The sword strike flying towards me. However, it was not a single strike. From a single sword, several trajectories appeared and headed towards me.

“Oh….”

One is one, and two is two. It’s impossible for multiple trajectories to come from a single sword. Therefore, it meant that all but one of these sword strikes were false feints. However, I wasn’t smart enough to distinguish between feints and real strikes.

So I blocked all of those trajectories. If the rest were feints, then one must be real, so if I blocked them all, I’d hit something.

As expected, a single real strike collided with my sword, and the professor’s sword shattered and flew into the sky.

The professor, sweating profusely, whispered to me with his lips.

-Student Skadi, it’s a demonstration, a demonstration! Go a little easier!

“Ah.”

… Finally, after deliberately dropping my sword, the demonstration ended.

——

After the demonstration, which had a minor issue, the professor told the students to spar amongst themselves and then disappeared somewhere. The students, who had been dazed for a moment, soon began their respective training.

“Hmm.”

“Why are you like that, Young Lady?”

“Isn’t everyone’s training a bit too lax?”

I had thought this before, but everyone’s training intensity was far too weak. Henir also looked at the students and nodded.

“Yes… compared to what I received, it is.”

“Let’s help them.”

“Yes?”

In the past, I had only commented that the students’ training was weak, which led to a fight with Baldy. So this time, to avoid such a thing, I decided to help everyone myself.

“Henir, help me too. Ella, okay?”

“Yes?”

Let’s start with ‘posture correction’ first.