CH 71

Match

On lunar day, Sheila was having her first hand-to-hand training with Zechs in a while.

Since it was a holiday, only a pair of sword fights echoed in the spacious training hall.

Sheila swung her sword quickly, and Zechs deflected it with plenty of time to spare. She struck him several times, but she couldn’t seem to reach him at all.

Unlike before, he wasn’t swayed by Sheila’s sword. His movements were much better.

Once she had gained some distance, she stepped in again. As they glared at each other up close, Zechs laughed fearlessly.

“You only come on so strong at times like this, don’t you!”

He swung his sword wildly with his words. Sheila was blasted backward, and she adjusted her stance in mid-air. She landed on her feet, killing her momentum, but the soles of her shoes scraped the training ground and finally stopped.

Sheila swung her sword again and leaped forward.

The blades clashed and sparks flew in the air.

Sheila smiled back at him.

“Jornwerner-sensei’s fun supplementary classes have started, so I’ve got a lot of things piled up!”

“Your eyes are completely different!”

“You’re one to talk, your eyes are all serious!”

Fighting against strong opponents was fun. Both Sheila and Zechs looked for each other’s openings with belligerent smiles on their faces.

They struck each other hard, and Sheila used the caught blade as a fulcrum to move behind Zechs. Landing back-to-back, she immediately swung her sword at him.

Zechs caught the blade without any trouble and pushed it back with just his physical strength.

At this rate, she would be defeated. Sheila clamped the other’s blade with the hilt of her sword and fought with all her might.

But it was only for a moment. She quickly killed her strength and took advantage of the opportunity when he slipped.

Zechs had anticipated this. Effortlessly dodging the blade that was swung from under him, he aimed back at Sheila.

Then, something unexpected happened.

Sheila’s figure suddenly disappeared in his field of vision.

Zechs hurriedly looked around. Where in the world did he lose her―.

He suddenly saw a shadow and looked up into the sky in astonishment.

Sheila, who folded her body into a small size, swooped down towards Zechs. Her blade came down at once.

Zechs tried to redirect it as quickly as he could, but he couldn’t completely eradicate the unexpected attack.

He managed to divert it sideways, cutting down on its momentum.

However, he couldn’t keep up with the speed of the blade that Sheila fired next. The match was finally decided when he was hit in the chest with the sword.

“We’ve got a winner!”

Cody, who was refereeing, raised his voice.

Sheila and Zechs collapsed simultaneously.

Both were breathing heavily at once. Their lungs craved oxygen, and it was hard to catch their breath. The heat, which hadn’t bothered them during the match, seemed to scorch their skin.

“Uu~…. It’s hard to go all out in the summer…”

Felix asked Sheila to grow her hair out, but the hair on the nape of her neck was still annoying. Should she shorten it again?

“Damn it! I’m still no match for you!”

Zechs roared in frustration, but even Sheila was just barely winning.

When he slipped, Sheila deliberately made him follow her movements by launching a predictable range of attacks. If she could convince him that she was aiming for this opening, it wouldn’t be difficult for her to get into his blind spot. This was because the opponent, thinking that she could dodge this, would concentrate all his energy on the attack in front of him.

However, the blow that she struck with all her might when she leaped up wasn’t the decisive blow. In spite of his delayed reaction, Zechs was able to almost overcome her.

Although it was good that Sheila managed to win, it was truly a victory on thin ice.

It was true that Zechs had improved his strength remarkably during the one-month period. But more than that――.

Sheila clenched and opened her fist to test her senses.

‘I need more training. More, I want to be stronger.’

Zechs was still exhausted, but Sheila, who had inexhaustible strength, stood up first.

At that time, there was a figure walking toward them.

“――If you don’t mind, would you let me participate too?”

It was Seiryuu who appeared dashingly with his black hair tied up high and swaying.

His slitted eyes gazed serenely at Sheila. In his hand was his beloved single-edged sword.

“Seiryuu-senpai! Aren’t you going back to your parents’ house today?”

“Oh, no. I don’t go home every holiday.”

Cody rushed to him happily, and Seiryuu also broke into a gentle smile. His eyes were warm, as if he were watching over his little brother.

“I told you, Cody, you can call me Seiryuu.”

“I can’t call you that.”

“Cody is so serious. Even Sheila calls me that.”

“That’s because Sheila is Sheila.”

“…. That’s true.”

Sheila’s lips twitched as Cody and Seiryuu nodded at each other. What are you two agreeing about?

“Are you having fun speaking ill of me? Seiryuu-senpai, Cody-senpai.”

“Don’t sulk, Sheila. I’m not a senior to begin with. I understand your desire to be sarcastic, but you’re using it the wrong way.”

Seiryuu, who was smiling wryly next to the troubled Cody, approached Sheila and gently stroked her head.

“I’m sorry I made fun of you. Don’t be so sullen.”

Seiryuu’s hand slid down naturally. He pinched Sheila’s plump, puffy cheek.

When she looked up at him up close, his movements stopped abruptly. His wide-open eyes remained fixed on Sheila.

“――I’m sorry!”

Seiryuu lifted his hand from her cheek as if he had been burned. His face, staring awkwardly at the palm of his hand, was bright red. Sheila tilted her head.

He was probably apologizing for his earlier exchange with Cody.

“Then, if you beat me in a match, I’ll forgive you.”

“But Sheila, you’ve just had a match, so you should take a little rest….”

Seeing Sheila’s enthusiasm, Cody frowned worriedly. In the training hall, Zechs, her opponent, was still lying on his back.

“I don’t have time to rest. Besides, we agreed on a match before, didn’t we?”

Cody’s concern was appreciated, but Sheila shook her head. She shifted her gaze directly to Seiryuu.

Sheila hadn’t forgotten the promise they made at the end of the match when she passed the competency test.

He looked at her and smiled sharply.

“That’s right…. All right. Sheila, let’s have a match.”

“I’d like that.”

Wiping the sweat from her chin, Sheila readied her sword again.

Sheila noticed that Cody was puzzled by her, who had a different atmosphere than usual. But right now, she just couldn’t afford to address it.

Sheila attacked Seiryuu.

The dull sound of blades clashing echoed through the air. As expected, Seiryuu’s muscle strength seemed to have improved, and his arms weren’t shaking at all compared to when they had clashed before.

Deciding to attack with speed rather than strength, Sheila quickly retreated.

‘But he knows that I can jump high and how fast I am…..’

What could she do with a small hand[1]?

Sheila thought for a moment and then leaped towards Seiryuu again.

No matter how many times they struck each other, he had no opening. The conclusion was that no matter where Sheila attacked him, she wouldn’t stand a chance.

Determined not to be defeated, Sheila took a low stance and lunged at him again. She thought that if she aimed at the feet of the taller Seiryuu, he might falter even slightly.

As she had hoped, he was caught off guard.

When Sheila took advantage of the opening, she suddenly felt a pain on the nape of her neck.

Driven by a bad premonition, Sheila looked at him and was met with a wry smile.

It was all an act.

He was deliberately showing his opening. What Sheila did in the competency test was done right back at her.

She realized this and tried to turn herself around, but Seiryuu wasn’t going to let her escape.

The match was decided quite easily.

A sword was quickly thrust at her throat, and Sheila closed her eyes.

“――I give up….”

Translator Notes:

1. A small hand means “few surprises” or “few hidden strengths”. ↵