With the seniors having left the Sword Training Hall, it was just me and the Hero alone.
“…You, you caught that sword with your bare hands, didn’t you?”
“Ah, yes. I’m quite confident in my physical strength.”
“That shouldn’t be something you can just catch like that with mere strength. It wasn’t the effect of a skill like Herculean Strength or something?”
“There’s no way. I have a G aptitude, so I’m struggling to learn any Skills at all.”
“…Stop making a fool of me. There’s no way someone with a G aptitude could surpass me in the entrance exam. What are you hiding?”
She asked with a slightly angry tone.
Why doesn’t this girl listen to what people say…?
“I’m telling you, I’m not hiding anything.”
“So, you’re going to play dumb, huh?”
She’s overthinking this way too much…
“Fine, let’s have a duel here. I was planning to do it in class, but I don’t mind doing it now, okay?”
“…Well, I don’t mind.”
“If you can win with only E-rank or lower Skills, I’ll acknowledge you.”
“Just a question, but any Skill is fine as long as it’s E-rank or lower, right?”
“Of course.”
“Then, I want you to promise not to reveal the Skills I used…”
“…Fine, I promise.”
And so, my second duel of the day was about to begin.
“The rules are the same as before, either knock out or surrender. Here I come!”
At the same time as those words, she accelerated.
Fast!… But only a little faster than the teachers…
For me, who had been fighting Kuuga-san every day, it wasn’t a speed I couldn’t handle.
I thought about blocking with my sword, but since I could use it, should I use that Skill…?
Just before the sword hit me, I used ‘Shukuchi’ to retreat backward, and Erna-san, whose sword missed, greatly lost her balance.
Not missing that opportunity, I closed the distance again with ‘Shukuchi’.
Then, I struck with all my might with the practice sword, its blade dulled.
Erna-san went flying far away.
………………………………………………
………………………
…………
“Erna-san… Ah, she’s awake.”
I was woken up by the girl in the seat behind me and slowly sat up.
“Ouch… I…!”
That’s right, I was in the middle of a duel.
No, if I remember correctly, I was blown away by her at the end…
“You! Weren’t you supposed to only use E-rank or lower Skills!”
That’s right, he was fighting me under the condition that he would only use E-rank or lower Skills, but…
“What was that Skill! You teleported without any time lag! That can only be considered a higher-level Skill than ‘Shukuchi’!”
That’s right, with Shukuchi, it would take at least 3 seconds to move that distance.
Even if she had been preparing to activate it from the start, the time it took for me to reach her was just over 2 seconds.
Barely not enough.
If that were the only thing, I could have considered that she had been stiffening up to activate it from the start, but then she approached me in an instant after I lost my balance.
In that case, there’s no doubt that it wasn’t ‘Shukuchi’.
Besides, the final swing with the blunted blade clearly used some kind of Skill.
There shouldn’t be any Skills below E-rank that increase the power of a swing…
“I only fought with E-rank or lower Skills.”
“No way…”
“Do you understand? If you’re trapped by fixed ideas, you’ll only be able to judge things from a narrow perspective. Instead of immediately denying various possibilities, please consider them, Erna-san.”
“…………Erna is fine. And you don’t need to use honorifics.”
“Eh! Really!”
“I said it’s fine, didn’t I?”
“I see. Then, let’s get along from tomorrow too, Erna.”
Three years since coming to this country…
Father, I’ve made my first friend.
I’ve been told by my friends and acquaintances that it’s strange to mention my father’s name at the end, so I’ll explain that the point of view has changed from Kaine to Elena from the middle of this story.