The training grounds of the military academy directly under the Granden territory.
There, we, the special students from the south and Clarice, the special student from the west, stand.
And a little further away, there were so many students gathered around, it must be over a hundred of them, their eyes glowing with unconcealed curiosity.
“Now, who would you like to challenge first? Sword Art, Physical Skill, or Magic, it doesn’t matter. If you can defeat me, go ahead and try.”
Clarice, who is already a soldier in her own right, is full of confidence.
However, I don’t sense any signs of carelessness from her. I can feel that she is trying to carefully gauge the strength of her opponent.
“Hmm, yes. I’ll send out Shaula first from here.”
“Roka? What’s wrong? I thought you’d be the first to fight.”
So the fox girl with the golden ears and tail giggled.
“If she can’t beat you, she’s no match for me. Now, go, my measure.”
“Finally demoted from being a slave to being a thing! Aha, but I’m glad! I’ll do anything for you, Roka!”
“Yes! Beat her for me!”
I felt a little uncomfortable.
Shaula’s opinion that Roka is likely to be the first to fight is not wrong. In fact, that’s what I was thinking too.
And yet, she tried to get Shaula to fight first, this remark…..
But then again, I think Roka might have a real eye for people. I also somehow know the outcome before the fight.
“Here we go, let’s fight, Clarice! I’ll hold you down and then I’ll take my time fucking on you!”
“… ?! That’s creepy…. Well, fine. If you’re a beastkin, then it’s Physical Skill. Come at me anytime.”
Frowning with a chill, Clarice quickly regained her composure and looked at Shaula.
Just the stinging look in her eyes could make an ordinary person sit up and take notice.
Well, if you’re the kind of person who runs away because of that, you wouldn’t be a special student in the first place.
“Don’t regret it!!”
Shaula kicked the ground on the spot, instantly closing the distance between her and Clarice, who was at least ten meters away.
All at once, cheers erupted from the crowd.
“Damn it!”
Shaula’s arm shot through the air as she tried to grab onto Clarice’s clothes.
Clarice, who instantly saw through her opponent’s move, went around to the left side of Shaula and grabbed her arm before she could regain her stance.
Instantly.
A thud sounded, and Shaula let out a cry of distress.
“Aaah ……!!”
“Sure, you’re fast. But that’s all. There are so many gaps!”
He pushed Shaula, who had her left arm dislocated in an instant, directly to the ground and placed her arm on her back to restrain her.
I remember the situation was similar when I disabled Roca in the entrance exam. When you are brought into this situation, there is nothing you can do even if you have a slight difference in arm strength.
“I win. No objections, right?”
“Damn it, ……! You caught me off guard, …….”
A cheer went up.
At this point, a group of adults who appeared to be instructors from the academy began to gather in the exercise area to see what was going on.
Without seeming to care about it, Clarice shouted with a dignified appearance.
“Okay, next!”
Who will be next?
People seemed to be completely into it, except for Liz, who was clearly disgusted.
“Hmm. Well then, Keith. You can go next.”
“…… I don’t know why I should take orders from you, but by all means. However, my specialty would be sword fighting.”
“No problem! Somebody get me a wooden sword.”
Two wooden swords are immediately prepared, as it is only a training ground.
Clarice took them and threw one to Keith.
Keith takes a deep breath and then steps forward to Clarice, who easily receives it at the speed that an ordinary person would die if he or she were to take a direct hit to the head.
“Don’t be shy. Come at me!”
“Alright, let’s start.”
Keith readied his wooden sword and quickly closed the gap between them.
However, he didn’t immediately attack, and seemed to be focusing all his attention on Clarice’s move.
Shaula, who was just beaten in a flash, is far more faster than Keith. He must have decided that he couldn’t beat her in terms of speed.
Clarice walked behind Keith as she had done with Shaula and swung her wooden sword.
The red-haired young man catches the wooden sword as if he had expected it.
“Whoa, that’s amazing! He caught a blow from Ensign Fourestier…!”
“Did Clarice-san attack? I didn’t see it at all.”
Keith and Clarice stared at each other as the students around them were amazed brightly.
“As expected of heir of Count of Lermit, Keith Lermit!”
“…… You too. Clarice Fourestier.”
Hmm? I wonder if they know each other.
When I thought that, Clarice used her fluid sword movement to attack Keith one after another. She strikes the wooden sword at the target.
The excitement of the people around me grew as I took each strong blow that came at me one after another.
When Clarice’s attack slowed down a bit, Keith didn’t miss it and quickly moved into the girl’s gap and struck a blow.
I felt a subtle sense of discomfort at the sight. Keith’s blow was easily deflected, and the next blow struck Keith in the arm.
“Agh!”
“Nice sword line. I can see that you have practiced a lot and studying hard. But it’s lukewarm! You think you can defeat me with a blow like that?”
“Kuh… I give up.”
I peeked at Keith’s profile as he strode back, the air in the training ground hall becoming even more heated.
I could tell from his personality that he was gnashing his teeth in frustration at losing.
But that blow could have bounced off Clarice’s wooden sword if it had gone right. So, why did you go easy on her?
“All right. Now, Liz, you’re next. You go.”
“I’m not going! No, I don’t want to fight that thing!
I give up! I give up!”
Clarice frowned as she looked at Liz, who was thoroughly defiant.
“How dare a student of the Mildiana Military Academy be so cowardly?”
“I’m not good at that kind of thing. My specialty is just barriers and healing techniques. So, I’m going to heal Keith’s injuries, and Roka will take care of the rest.”
“You’re a complete idiot, you know?…..Oh well. Clarice. I know how strong you are. I will personally take care of you.”
“Very well. No need for a wooden sword if it’s a Physical Skills.”
When Clarice was about to let go of the wooden sword, Roka stopped her.
“Clarice. What’s your best fighting style? As far as I can tell, it’s sword fighting.”
“…… Well. You can do anything you want, but you’ll have to force it.”
“Mm-hmm. Then use your wooden sword to fight!”
“Are you insane, ……?”
“Of course. I have experienced war, albeit briefly. I’ve chopped off the heads of men who picked up swords many times.”
The students around me were bothered by the noisy words. The instructors began to show their impatience.
“I see. You’ve experienced a battle between Kingdom of Lugal and the Kingdom of Chiaro Diruna.”
“I didn’t get to do any real battle, though, but I did experience one when I fought a group of barbarians who took me by surprise in my own land.”
“It’s even more so!” Clarice threw away her wooden sword.
“I always aim to defeat my opponents by fighting in their area of expertise. If you are going to fight with your Physical Skills, then I will follow suit!”
“Are you insane? Do you really think …… you can compete with me with your physical skills?”
The always cheerful Roka’s gaze was filled with a little bit of murderous intent.
“Don’t underestimate people too much. You won’t be able to survive on the battlefield if you do.”
“All right. If that’s what you want, then fine. But I don’t care if you cry when you break a bone or two.
“I won’t expose myself to that kind of foolishness even if it kills me. Now, show me with your blow, not with your mouth.”
Roka’s figure was instantly drowned out.
It’s tough to follow her initial speed with your eyes unless you’re very aware of it.
However, Clarice shifted her axis as if she sensed Roka’s presence and dodged her blows.
She also avoids the next blow from Roka’s long tail.
Hearing the sound of the tail cutting through the air, she said as if he was convinced.
“Well, your tail seems to be a fine weapon.”
“Even though you saw it hit Shaula earlier, I’m surprised you saw through it. Many barbarians have had their necks broken and left for the afterlife because of this.”
Clarice also approached Roca with such initial speed that she seemed to have disappeared from the scene.
When Clarice’s fist was about to close in on Roca’s face, she bent down to avoid it. But.
“I caught it!”
“Mmm?”
Clarice’s strike was a feint. The real target seemed to be Roka’s long tai
She grabbed it, put it on her back, and used the momentum to slam Roka to the floor.
However, Roka, who instantly took a passive position, kicked Clarice in the abdomen and jumped backwards to get away from her while she was frightened.
“Not bad, Clarice.”
“……you too.”
They were so light and powerful that everyone was fascinated by their battle.
Liz bit back a yawn, muttering, “Wow, that’s amazing.” She looks very sleepy. She was completely oblivious to what was going on and didn’t have a shred of will to fight, which was very typical of her.
“Hmm. I understand your strength. Shall we call it a draw?”
So says Roka, who is supposed to believe in not stopping until he has beaten her opponent to a pulp. If you looked, you could see that the right arm part of her clothes was torn and soaked with blood. And Clarice also replied while holding her abdomen.
“…. Okay. The fight with you will come again.”
“If I don’t control myself here, I’m afraid I won’t be able to stop myself from getting excited. I can’t afford to get into a fight to the death.”
Draw.
No one seemed to have expected the result, and there was silence for a while, but eventually–
“Whoa! I can’t believe someone would draw with that Clarice ……!”
“Oh, that beastkin is a special student, huh? There are some amazing guys in Mildiana. ……!”
Before I knew it, she was being cheered and applauded. If I follow the pattern, surely Clarice’s gaze will be on me.
“Well, you’re the last one. Theodore.”
“I wonder what’s the next. What would you do? Physical, sword, or magic? If you want, we can put it all together?”
The people around me begin to buzz.
Clarice looked somewhat surprised, but quickly regained her composure and tightened her face.
“You’re serious, aren’t you?”
“Of course.”
“All right. Let’s take it!”
Another cheer went up. It was now a complete spectacle.
“However, we can’t handle magic here. There is a possibility of damage to the surrounding area, so we should move to the magic training area…”
Before Clarice could finish, she heard someone running up to the training area.
When I turned toward him, a breathless soldier recognized Clarice and raised his voice.
“Haa.. Ensign Fourestier!”
“What is it? Now is an important time. If it’s something trivial, leave it for later.”
“Ha, Ha, ……!
What?
After catching his breath, the soldier let out a cry as if it was the end of the world.
“Lady Charlotte has been on a rampage!!”
