CH 106

Results

The next day.

In the training hall, where the snow shoveling was finally finished, Sheila and her friends were face-to-face with Claushezade. All of them were equipped with light armor and training swords for the first time in a while.

“Thank you for your hard work in shoveling the snow. From today, we will start our full-scale training.”

Hearing Claushezade’s words, Zechs looked around awkwardly.

“But…. in this condition?”

Even though the snow had been removed, the entire practice area was still muddy. It was going to be a struggle to practice.

Claushezade nodded with a blank expression on his face as if he had already anticipated this kind of situation.

“A simulation training on bad footing would be a good experience, but the purpose of this training is to gauge how much your abilities have improved.”

As he said that, he held his right hand over the ground.

“――Flame.”

As soon as Claushezade cast the spell, a hot, sweltering heat rose from the ground. For a moment, Sheila wondered what was going on, but it appeared to be steam.

“You’re…. vaporizing it?”

While Sheila and the others were amazed, the ground quickly dried up. It was as if time was speeding up here.

A dry training hall appeared in no time, and Zechs fell to his knees in disbelief.

“Seriously… our efforts…”

Sheila understood what he meant.

They had been desperately shoveling snow and now they were witnessing how easily Claushezade did it. The sense of exhaustion was immeasurable. The only one with a twinkle in his eye was Cody.

“Zechs, this level of magic is very difficult! If you evaporate too much water, it will cause cracks in the ground, so it’s difficult to control the amount of evaporation, and most importantly, this is such a large area! Claushezade-sensei did this so easily, he’s really brilliant!”

“…. You just want to praise Claushezade-sensei under the guise of comforting me, don’t you?”

“As expected, do you think I should praise Claushezade-sensei more!?”

“I never said that!”

Ignoring her friends, who were instantly out of the loop when it came to Claushezade, Sheila began to work on her flexibility alone.

She understood the usual procedures, such as running around the perimeter and practicing her swings. If she did these things quickly, she should be the first to receive training.

Zechs, who had been making a fuss, noticed Sheila secretly getting a head start and hurriedly began to warm-up. Claushezade nodded in satisfaction at the students who began to move on their own without any instructions from him.

Sheila, who started running ahead of the others, noticed something.

Her body was very light. She had been able to run this distance without losing her breath, but she felt even better than before.

Even though Sheila was running around the perimeter, she had to go around the inner side of the route because of the piles of snow. Was it simply because the distance was so short that she didn’t feel tired?

‘No. I don’t think that’s the only reason.’

Her footsteps were stronger than usual. She also felt that her speed had increased.

There was a clear difference in her subsequent swings.

Her arms moved as she had envisioned without being swung around by the weight of the sword. Everything felt perfectly under control. Sheila could clearly feel the results of her snow shoveling.

She wondered how the others were doing and saw that Cody and Zechs were swinging their swords indifferently. The serious expressions on their faces showed that they were concentrating on nothing but what they were doing.

As expected, Claushezade walked up to Sheila, who had finished her warm-up first.

“It’s been a while since I’ve had a good fight with you.”

“That’s right. There was a lot of hectic preparation for the competition, and after that, I had a lot of classes about group formation.”

The curriculum of the academy up to the fourth grade ended when the students had completed intensive training in the formation that they had begun to learn before the training program.

The students who were able to use magic had a great time learning how to channel magic power into their weapons, but from Sheila’s point of view, it was a year full of difficult studies.

‘I really wonder how much my individual skills have improved, though.’

Sheila had more or less the same amount of concerns that Zechs had.

‘But I’m still determined to follow this Claushezade-sensei. I’m going to catch up with him and someday stand next to him.’

Claushezade stood in front of her and drew a sword from his waist.

The broad blade shone in a silvery-white color similar to the color of his hair. The handle was also made of the same color metal, giving it an inorganic look as if it were solidified winter air. There were almost no elaborate decorations.

It was his beloved sword, which she admired in the distant past. It was the beauty in its ruggedness that made Sheila’s heart flutter every time she saw it.

“――To be able to practice against that sword is truly a grand gesture.”

The corners of her mouth naturally lifted up at the sight of this work of art, which she rarely saw in his normal classes. Claushezade was good at motivating his students.

There was no opening that could be seen from him. Not only that, but he was so overwhelmingly intimidating that one could only see a future in which they wouldn’t be taken seriously and would be defeated. The difference in ability was so great that it made you want to abandon the match before even starting.

‘Even with this, it was said that he’s suppressing his aura when in training.’

How far away was the goal that they were aiming for?

Because it was a huge goal, Sheila didn’t want to waste this moment, not even for a minute.

She wanted to learn properly Clauschezade, who was far above her.

“――Let’s go.”

Shaking off her fear, Sheila closed the distance quickly.

She didn’t overdo it and aimed for his vital point. Sheila intended to deliver a sharp and fast thrust, but it was easily parried.

She continued to aim mercilessly at the feet and throat, either to finish him off with a single blow or to create an opening.

She herself was aware that speed was the key, but she soon realized that, after a few exchanges of blows, even though the attack didn’t reach him at all, as Clauschezade easily blocked it, but…

‘Every blow is getting heavier…!’

Her excellent hearing had detected a clear difference from her previous blows.

Up until now, each of her blows had inevitably been light. Sheila knew that she couldn’t compete with him in strength, so she thought she could make up for her shortcomings by increasing her number of moves.

It wasn’t difficult for her to attack now.

In the midst of the exchange of blows, Clauschezade smirked slightly. He seemed to clearly recognize Sheila’s growth.

Still unable to even get behind them, Sheila had no choice but to attack monotonously from the front. She thought about how to overcome the situation.

‘It’s still best to create an opening even if you have to force it, but….’

Clauschezade was so strong that no matter what you do, it won’t lead to an opening.

Rather, it was Sheila who had created an opening by thinking about this and that. She missed the slightly dulled tip of his sword.

Geeeeinnn!

The thin sword was flung to the edge of the training hall.

They looked at each other for a while, breathing heavily, but eventually bowed their heads slowly.

“…. Thank you very much.”

Claushezade walked up to Sheila, who picked up the sword.

“How was it, Claushezade-sensei? I’ve gotten a little stronger, right?”

“Don’t boast about it, you idiot.”

While reprimanding Sheila who was getting carried away, Clauschezade also seemed somewhat proud.

“Your muscles in your upper body were thinner than those in your lower body. Because your shoulders were particularly weak, shoveling snow was convenient for you. By working out your whole body, you have achieved a good muscle balance.”

Sheila’s lips twitched at Claushezade who was giving a lecture. He didn’t have to start lecturing so soon.

“I understand, but don’t you think it would be nice to give a little credit to your hard-working apprentice?”

“I don’t remember ever having an apprentice as troublesome as you.”

Despite the curtness of his words, Claushezade places his hand on Sheila’s head. She felt his fingertips combing her hair with unfamiliar hands, and in spite of his force, she ended up being shy.

‘Uh, I really didn’t expect him to pat me….’

Sheila was aware of the heat in her cheeks and turn over to hide it. Claushezade didn’t notice the suspicious behavior.

While Sheila was calming down her heartbeat, he trained her friends who were waiting for him. If she observed closely, she could even tell even that Cody’s strength was getting stronger.

The highlight was Zechs’ growth. He was more poised than before, and his lower body didn’t waver at all when struck. He would no longer doubt the results of his snow shoveling.

Sheila also grabbed her sword again and stood up.

The training had only just begun.