Chapter 45

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***

Filina lowered her gaze, which was looking at Henry, and held the wooden sword in her hand again.

She couldn’t sleep well because of nightmares anyway, so she was thinking of going to train all night.

She vowed to leave at least later than Henry.

Kang!

However, the moment the wooden sword was struck hard, a cracking sound was heard. Filina looked down at the wooden sword in her hand with a puzzled face.

Not surprisingly, it was made of wood, so there were fine cracks.

‘No way… will it break?’

However, as Filina struck the sword a few more times, the cracking sound from the wooden sword resounded even louder.

“Sir Debussy.”

As she glanced blankly at the cracked wooden sword, Henry’s voice was heard from behind.

When Filina turned her head, the man’s beautiful purple eyes were staring right in front of her.

“Why?”

When Filina answered in a harsh voice, Henry’s forehead twisted slightly.

“Your wooden sword seems to have cracked, it’s dangerous to continue using it.”

Filina looked around her wooden sword and said roughly.

“Don’t worry about it. I will take care of it.”

Henry let out a low sigh at her indifferent voice.

“Didn’t you listen to the theory class? A wooden sword made for training is dangerous because it is like a blade if broken.”

Filina looked at him with a frown. What Henry said was something she also knew.

The wooden sword for practice has the grain of the material facing each other and extends sharply and becomes sharp when broken.

“If it breaks during training, there is a risk of flyaways, so you have to be careful.”

If the wooden sword was cracked, it should be replaced immediately. The wooden sword could be changed after writing down the name and affiliation to the instructor in the investigation room, but now it was dawn.

There was no way there was an instructor in the investigation room now.

In fact, after training like this, it was enough to go back to the dormitory. She could change the wooden sword after the morning.

However, Filina did not want to leave this place before Henry. Moreover, she fell asleep with ambiguous physical strength and was in a nightmare.

Rather than suffering, consuming even a little more physical strength was also a way not to dream.

So, she was thinking of leaving after using as much energy as possible.

Even if it wasn’t a wooden sword, she could do other training.

But Henry seemed to have a different opinion than hers.

“It’s very late. You won’t be able to train any more with a wooden sword like this anyway, so why not just go back to the dormitory?”

Perhaps he was more dissatisfied that Filina remained in the training room until this time.

Filina gave an exaggerated smile and spoke calmly.

“No. I’m going to do more training here, so Sir Argeny should go back to the dormitory.”

Hearing her words, Henry closed his mouth firmly and stared at Filina’s face. A brief silence followed. She, who had drawn small arcs on her lips, furrowed her eyebrows.

“What are you looking at?”

Henry, who opened his eyes slightly at her question, recited, avoiding her gaze.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Your smile is a bit..………”

“A bit… What?”

Filina raised her eyes and said sternly.Then Henry, who glanced at her, carefully continued.

“…I think you’re forcing yourself to smile.”

‘Was it obvious?’

Filina drew a light smile instead of answering. It had a positive meaning. Then Henry burst into a small laugh.

“You have a very colorful expression, Sir Debussy.”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

Filina, who said so, turned away as if she would no longer talk to him. However, Henry caught her once again.

“Then, I’ll give you mine. Sir Debussy’s wooden sword is dangerous, so use mine instead.”

As he was to go get his wooden sword, Filina said with an annoyed face.

“Don’t pay attention to me. I’ll take care of it.”

“But..….”

“Have you always been this interested in other people’s business?”

Henry looked back at her with a firm expression. Filina said with a dry smile.

“No, do as you normally do.”

“….”

“And, I don’t want to be helped by Sir Argeny.”

When she said so, she held her wooden sword tightly and soon released her posture.

She tried to practice longer than Henry, but all she got was displeasure.

Filina let out a low sigh and mumbled.

“…I don’t feel like training anymore.”

She was going to go back to the dormitory. Somehow, she lost her energy. She wasn’t motivated. Henry watched Filina quietly packing her belongings. He seemed to have more to say, but he didn’t say anything until she finally turned around and left the training room.

***

“Sir Debussy is more straight-headed than I thought.”

Filina raised her lips prickly at the voice coming from in front of her. Carmen was looking at her with a face that asked if she was still at the military academy. The appearance was very annoying.

“Good. I like upright people very much. I hope that you will keep that heart to the end.” 

Filina, who had been quietly listening to Carmen’s words, answered, forcing her lips to lift.

“Come on, pick a training partner for me, vice commander Carmen.”

‘Let’s stop talking about private matters.’

Filina swallowed the back words and smiled brightly. Then Carmen wiggled his eyebrows and glanced at the cadets of the 2nd Order.

“I didn’t know Sir Debussy like my class this much. Not contrary to the expectations of Sir Debussy, I find you a partner.”

Filina frowned at his words. It was an opponent who did not go against expectations, Filina had a somewhat ominous feeling.

She was just a freshman who had just entered the school. So, there was no need to expect anything, and training was only possible if the opponent was the same level.

Now she was in Carmen’s swordsmanship class. 

It was a one-on-one battle while learning defense techniques using a wooden sword.

As soon as morning dawned, Filina went to the investigation room and changed her cracked wooden sword to a new one.

“Well, yes. Green hair there.”

Carmen beckoned to someone. It seemed like he didn’t even know his name. Filina turned her head in the direction he was pointing.

“Me?”

Then a green haired senior of the 2nd Order walked forward with an awkward gesture, probably not expecting he would be chosen.

“You’ll be Sir Debussy’s opponent.”

At Carmen’s words, the students in the training hall began to murmur. Filina’s also hardened.

“But I’m a regular knight, Sir Debussy is also a freshman.”

So far, the training method had been that when six people stand side by side in front of each other, the instructor put a suitable level of cadets one by one to fight.

So, of course, Filina had to pair with a freshman as well.

When the senior responded with a face that he did not understand, Carmen spoke coldly.

“Isn’t it the same anyway? If the level of being promoted after training for a year is only one rank, what is the difference from the freshman class?”

The senior’s expression hardened. Watching him clench his fists tightly, Filina sighed.

She sighed at the fact that she had to fight someone who came in over a year ago.

It was like only Filina was going to die. A cold sweat ran down her forehead.

However, contrary to her anxiety, the senior opened his mouth with a calm face as if he was familiar with this kind of thing. 

“No matter how bad I am, my opponent is a freshman who has just entered the school.”

At his words, Carmen touched his chin with his hand.

“Then let’s do this. The opponent will use a wooden sword with his left hand. Don’t tell me you can’t block it, Sir Debussy.”

A pitiful arrow pierced Filina. Anyway, she didn’t have a choice. She nodded helplessly and replied.

“Yes, I’ll try.”

“By the way, don’t go easy on your opponent just because it’s practice. You have to train like real any time. If I see any signs of roughly doing it, I’ll give a minus to each team’s score.”

At the instructor’s words, the face of the senior, who was standing opposite Filina, changed with difficulty.

“Start the confrontation.”

As soon as the instructor’s voice fell, the senior slashed the wooden sword he was holding with his left hand.

Filina barely stopped it. The force from above was too strong. It was difficult to maintain a defensive posture for a long time. Filina quickly dodged his sword to the side.

The attacks came in succession without any gaps. It was fairly fast movements, but it was lax as it was not a specific movement.

Kang!

She and the other cadets standing next to each other were all moving in unison and fighting.

The rest of them watched them and waited for their next turn.

The wooden sword approached with the sound of a sharp wind.

In fact, it didn’t help Filina much even the senior wielded his sword with his left hand. In the beginning, swordsmanship training was practiced using both hands.

Of course, the right hand was sharper. Moreover, since she was using only one hand, her balance as a whole was biased towards one side.

Kang!

His wooden sword passed Filina’s cheek. Despite being made of dull wood, it was painful like it was cut by glass.

The senior was doing his best to fight.

Perhaps, he was afraid that the score of his team would be adversely affected.

Kang!

His wooden sword slammed hard on Filina’s shoulder. Her eyes contorted. An excruciating pain came over her.

The senior’s movements were mostly messed up. So it was more difficult. The position of the wooden sword that rushes recklessly

was difficult to comprehend. Even if it looked like he was attacking from the left, then quickly struck down diagonally from above. So she just defended quickly without time to read the movements.

“End the confrontation.”

The match was soon over. Filina’s appearance was a mess. Her hair was all loose and scattered all over her face.

“It’s a terrible skill.”

Carmen glanced at her and smirked. Then, without a break, the order was changed quickly.

“This time, the one who defended will attack. Block it as much as possible. The fight begins.”