episode_0068

After changing my clothes, I arrived at the training ground, took the Zweihander, which I had become more familiar with than any other weapon, fastened the safety device, and took my seat.

Seria, who arrived at the training ground before me, was swinging her sword in the air as she did something, and she was already sweating quite a bit.

“Since when have you been like that?”

“Ah, you’re here! lol. I was practicing early this morning!”

Seria smiled brightly, wiping the sweat from her forehead with her sleeve.

From early in the morning… … .

“I must have told you to rest the day before because I didn’t want you to overexert yourself and get hurt, right?”

“Ah. Well, early in the morning――not, as long as… … . I started doing it about an hour ago… … Me?”

“I don’t really remember Ceria,” she said, glancing at me.

haha. It’s about a 15-minute walk from the dormitory to the training hall. The round trip alone takes 30 minutes.

Considering that Seria was holding a sword and shield when I came out of the room in the morning, it means that she came to the training ground at least once.

Considering that he came to the dormitory one more time to call me, that time alone was an hour. But what? 1 hour before?

I looked at Seria quietly, wondering what she was going to say, and it’s not like I swung a sword all day today. It didn’t seem like much of a stretch, so I decided to just skip it.

“It’s good to work hard, but do you know what happens if you overdo it and fall down?”

“Ahaha… … . know. You know! If we just spar this one time, I’m really going to go in and take a rest!”

It was a lie that was obvious to anyone, but there was no need to point out that part.

It seemed like something was going to get out of hand, so even if I tried to talk to Seria, who was in a very high state, I didn’t think she would listen.

Seeing Ceria’s eyes sparkling, I sighed and shook my head.

“Keep those words. Don’t let my efforts that trained you for a month go to waste.”

“Yes!”

Nodding confidently, Ceria approached me and held out her sword.

He looked at Seria, wondering something, and saw that the sword was not equipped with a safety device. He took the sword, put a safety device on it, and returned it to Seria.

“Hehe, thank you!”

After nodding roughly and standing up, Ceria, who had put her sword aside for a moment, placed her hand on her chest and muttered something.

Reinforcement magic? No, I can’t feel the flow of magic power. blessing? Neither is this. If it were a divine blessing, the weapon and body would glow softly, but nothing changed for Seria.

Curse your subordinates? Neither is this. No one except me does something crazy that puts a curse on themselves. It was like that in every episode.

Even if Ceria in this episode was a possessor like me, not only would there be no reason for her to do such a thing, but if she really cursed her, I wouldn’t know about it. So what is it?

As I was quietly watching Ceria’s condition, Ceria nodded once, raised her head, and pulled out her sword again.

“What did you say?”

“Huh? What?”

“You were muttering something to yourself. I was curious about what you said.”

“Ah, um… … . Order of victory?”

For a brief moment, a bad thought popped into my head and then subsided again.

After gathering my thoughts by massaging my eyebrows, I asked again.

“Winning spell?”

“Hehehe, it’s not even a winning spell. It’s just, I can do it–that’s all I’m saying is the same thing.”

Seria smiled brightly and said that.

Was it something like that? Well, it is said that strong self-suggestion actually moves things to happen, so it could be called a winning spell.

Looking at Seria’s condition, it doesn’t seem like it would be particularly effective.

“Hmm… … . Okay, since the question has been answered, let’s spar. That way, I can rest, and you can also rest in preparation for tomorrow’s duel.”

Ceria nodded, adjusted her sword, and took a stance. I was momentarily impressed by the completely different atmosphere and much better posture compared to when we first confronted each other.

Seeing Ceria taking one step forward, I took a deep breath――

“Phew――”

I took a stance.

.

.

.

Swing the sword, use the shield, and stab at the gaps. Create a path for the sword to fit in, then move forward and step back repeatedly.

It was a very simple movement, but if it continues, it becomes an incredibly complex dance move.

“Ha!”

Ceria quickly pushed in, holding a shield in front of my arm to prevent me from swinging the sword, and swung her sword with great energy.

It’s really amazing to see it sometimes. I can’t believe he’s grown this much in just one month. With a grin, I slid backwards and swung my sword horizontally.

“What!?”

Ceria adjusted her buckler and tried to block the sword being swung sideways from the front.

I’m sure he warned me not to try to block Zweihander from the front with the buckler.

bang–!!

The sound of a hammer hitting a wide steel plate was heard, and Ceria’s body floated as if it had bounced and rolled on the floor.

“Qu… … !”

After rolling on the dirt floor a couple of times, Seria immediately got up and ran towards me once again.

“Hot!!”

This time, the attack was aimed at the right shoulder.

Just as I was trying to deflect Ceria’s sword by raising the sword at an angle, Ceria’s buckler took a step forward and swung toward my face.

‘He’s been quite aggressive since then.’

I immediately brought the sword back in front of my face to block the buckler, then raised my arm wide and threw the buckler away.

“It came too far forward.”

“Profit… … !!”

I lifted my raised arm and lowered it, aiming for Seria’s face with the pommel.

However, rather than blindly blocking, Seria lowered her posture extremely low, as if she was sitting down, and tried to hit me with the buckler, aiming for my instep.

As she reflexively withdrew her foot, her attack was in vain and her posture collapsed, but since this was the same for Seria, she took a few more steps back and adjusted her posture.

‘The more I look at it, the more amazing the growth rate is… … .’

No matter how much I try to control my strength while fighting, I never would have thought that he would just let go of all my attacks and even attempt a counterattack.

If it were me a few episodes ago, I would have gone crazy with jealousy and killed Seria. Well, actually, it’s still the same now. At least now I know how to hold back for later, so it’s different from back then.

While I was thinking about random things, I saw Ceria running in again and adjusted my sword.

Seria quickly rushed in and tried to stop me from swinging my sword, but I blocked her approach by swinging my sword sideways before she could approach.

“ugh… … !”

While Seria hesitated, I immediately retrieved the sword, took a step forward, and stabbed it.

Ceria, with wide eyes, held out the buckler forward, and the moment my sword and the buckler touched, she pushed the buckler greatly out of her body.

I felt the arm holding the Zweihander being pushed outward along with a dull thudding sound.

‘Paring… … !?’

“That’s it… … !!”

Naturally, the stab, whose trajectory was distorted, could not even get close to Seria, and Seria immediately took a step forward and exhaled her spirit.

“Aaaah!!!”

I see Ceria’s sword stabbing towards my stomach. Although I knew very well that there was a safety device in place, I couldn’t help but feel an eerie feeling.

okay. This is what I said I felt like I could get a feel for. Looking at the growth rate, I expected it to happen someday, but I never thought it would be now.

‘That’s interesting.’

I chuckled. Lift up your left hand, which was sitting still.

He held the sword with both hands.

“Huh?”

I retrieved the sword with incredible speed, stepped back slightly, and raised Ceria’s sword as if scooping up dirt.

Cheaeng–!

With a sound, Ceria’s sword flew away.

Ceria, who had been blinking, looked at me blankly, and when I smiled brightly, she let out a short exclamation, perhaps realizing that her sword had flown far away.

“Ah.”

I smiled at that stupid-looking face and set the sword aside, and Ceria’s arms fell limp as she looked down at her hands.

“I thought I could finally get a shot… … . It was a bit of a turning blow… … .”

“Even though you have grown since a month ago, it is still not enough for me.”

After hearing what I said, Seria became very sullen, started crying, and lay down on her back.

“Wow, it’s breaking down!!”

After shouting like that, Seria stretched out her arms and stuck out her mouth five feet wide.

It looked like an angry duck, and I laughed without realizing it. I squatted down next to Seria and straightened her bangs.

“I was quite surprised by the parrying shown at the end. You said it felt like you could get your hands on it, so I wondered something. Are you practicing something like this?”

“This is my first time actually using it… … . Yes.”

“That’s amazing. I can use this much in the duel tomorrow.”

Ceria’s eyes twinkled at what I said, as if asking if it was true, and I nodded quietly.

“Of course, there won’t be many situations where parrying can be used.”

“Ah.”

Seria once again made a sullen face.

“Still, you did a good job. Looks like you worked really hard on your own.”

“Ehehe… … . Well, I did put in a lot of effort!”

“Fuck you.”

His confident appearance was quite unlucky, so he clicked and placed a chestnut on his forehead.

Ceria covered her forehead like last time and trembled, and I stood up and said,

“I think my handling of the sword and shield has improved somewhat, so I won’t say more. From there, you have to figure it out on your own.”

Seria, who was rubbing her forehead, nodded slowly at my words.

“Yes… … . I understand.”

“One more. As I said last time, using magic in a duel is not against the rules. So, be sure to think about ways to use magic. Got it?”

“Yes, teacher!”

“… … .”

I thought he would just laugh it off no matter what I answered, so I sighed quietly and turned my back.

“Then I’ll go in first. Just because I go first doesn’t mean I can stay here and practice alone? Control your condition. Got it?”

“Yes!”

Well, it would have been enough if it had been done like this. I’m looking forward to the duel tomorrow.

With that in mind, I went back to my room.