82 – Becoming a Second Year – 7
Following the cannon shooting test was the sword skills test.
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Actually, it was a swordsmanship test, but it was similar to a kind of swordsmanship tournament event.
This event, held every year at the Arcadia Academy gymnasium, was an event that the academy’s professors attached great importance to.
Of course, Arcadia Academy is basically a military school. Therefore, whether you become a general, an officer, a strategist, or an engineer in the future, as long as you serve in the military, you need at least the means to protect yourself.
And since ancient times, there has been nothing like a sword for self-defense.
For this reason, at Arcadia Academy, all cadets were required to learn how to use a sword, and to check how proficient they were with the sword, all cadets, regardless of grade, were mixed and took a swordsmanship test.
This was not just a test, but an event that has been maintained since its founding as the tradition and ideology of Arcadia Academy.
And to be honest, Charles wasn’t very confident.
Glacia Ehrenberg, who taught Charles swordsmanship, said clearly. Charles has no sword skills. And Charles himself agreed on that point.
But when the tournament actually started…
“Charles Jean Rochepol, victory!”
Unexpectedly, Charles was doing well, winning three games in a row.
Charles was puzzled. He had never trained separately since learning swordsmanship from Glacia, but surprisingly he got good grades in swordsmanship.
But there was actually a reason for that. Having experienced countless battles so far, Charles has seen countless fights that risked his life, and this has given him a kind of insight into battles and helped him with his swordsmanship.
As such, it was a secret that Charles, who was originally in the lower middle class, was able to promote.
‘Actually, I’m not talented at swordsmanship, am I?’
He was able to do this much without any training, so Charles thought that maybe he could try learning swordsmanship.
But next time. 4Th match.
“Charles Jean Rochepol, Salome de Jiron. From now on!”
The moment he met Salome de Jiron, Charles was filled with thoughts of giving up.
‘This woman, although she has a good head, she is destined to become an all-rounder in the future. ‘Can I win?’
Salome said. She said she learned many skills while traveling to many countries. And that was true. When Salome was young, she traveled around the world and learned the swordsmanship and magic of each country. So she…
‘I think I’m screwed.’
She
She was not confident that she would win.
‘Still, I’ll give it a try.’
Salome is a top-ranking prosecutor not only in the military management department but also in the entire second year class. It was a good opportunity for her to find out how effective her swordsmanship would be against her swordsman.
And when the exam started.
Salomé held her wooden sword at shoulder height with her right hand and aimed it at Charles, and then placed her left hand on her waist, pointing it at Charles in an unusual position. This was a rapier sword technique unique to the Kingdom of Silonia.
Salome de Jirón’s unique combination of thin waist, voluminous body, and black clothes that emphasized her figure caught the attention of many male cadets.
However, Charles maintained his composure as much as possible and began a slow search, striking off Salome’s sword with the tip of his sword.
The advantage of the long sword was that it was a two-handed sword. Holding the sword with both hands naturally requires more strength, so the long sword’s advantage was that it gave it an advantage in a sword-point fight against the one-handed rapier.
Therefore, Charles steadily struck Salome with the tip of her sword and slowly pressured her.
“Oh… “
“Charles are pretty good too, right? Is he also a war hero?”
Bertolf spoke and several cadets agreed. And when Charles began to press in earnest.
-Percussion!
The tip of Charles’ sword pressed against Salome’s sword and Charles struck down. Salome moved to her side and narrowly avoided her downward strike, and the neat fighting between both sides heated up the gym.
“Oh~”
“Both are cool!”
Clap clap clap. The cadets applauded, but Charles felt puzzled.
‘I felt like I was a little wasted. ‘Is it an illusion?’
At first, he thought it was an illusion, but the more he continued to attack, the more Charles realized that his thoughts were not an illusion.
Salome deliberately relaxed her strength and ‘just let go’ of Charles’ attack. She didn’t fight back.
After realizing that fact, Charles relaxed his posture and asked.
“What are you doing?”
When Charles asked in a somewhat angry tone, Salome responded like this.
“Ceylonians consider sparring with swords to be a type of conversation. “I also wanted to talk to you.”
“Conversation? “Do you mean to play with it while taking proper care of it?”
“Your serious expression when swinging the sword, your concentration when pushing and your quick movements when withdrawing. The deep meaning contained in each of your sword strikes. Although it is not a strong sword, if you had physical advantage and mana adaptability, you would definitely have become an excellent swordsman.”
“So?”
“I wanted to capture that image of you as much as possible. “Because this one moment is very precious to me.”
“… “
Charles burst into laughter at that moment. Doesn’t that mean it was right to look at it?
She was still a woman with her own pace. Don’t you think that if you think that you like something, it will be unpleasant for the other person?
‘It’s foolish of me to be happy that my swordsmanship worked until the middle.’
Charles felt ashamed for a moment, so she put down her sword and raised one hand.
“I will abstain.”
“Wait… !”
Salome tried to stop Charles, but Charles had already turned around after her.
And Charles missed all classes that day.
‘Let’s learn more about swords from Glacia…’ Next time, at least I can figure out whether the other person is playing with me or not.’
—–
And after Charles absconded, Salome was looking at the place where Charles had disappeared with her despondent expression.
‘I wanted to become friends, but why…? ‘
At first, she only wanted to become friends with Charles-Jean-Roche-Paul, whom she admired. But why is it that the more I try, the further away I become?
Salome also vaguely knew that her approach was wrong. She was good at laughing halfheartedly and making empty remarks at social gatherings, but she had a tendency to make a fool of herself in front of people she really liked.
Even if she stayed still, there was no way she could get closer to the other person. So she gathered her courage and approached her, but the closer she got, the further away she became.
‘What should I do?’
Salome looked at herself reflected in her window. Some might call her a narcissist, but she was still beautiful in her own way. Ever since she was on the Taspilia peninsula, she has been courted and proposed by numerous men due to her natural good looks and her personality of never neglecting to take care of herself. She had never met a man who didn’t like her, so she didn’t know how to deal with Charles, much less Salome.
And even while Salome was worrying about such things, the swordsmanship test was still going on. Before long, it was Salome’s turn.
“Salome de Hiron. From now on.”
And Salome’s opponent.
“Leonia von Arcadia. From now on.”
At that moment, Salome was embarrassed.
‘Eek.’
If it’s Leonia von Arcadia, isn’t she the third princess of the empire and the greatest genius of the empire? Will she be able to win on her own?
‘I should give it a try.’
She thought about abstaining for a moment, but she has also been recognized by numerous sword masters in many countries. She thought it was worth a fight, so she decided to give it a try.
“Ready.”
As the instructor spoke loudly, Leonia and Salome each aimed their own way.
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“Start!”
The next moment, in the blink of an eye, Leonia lunged forward and pushed Salome away with her shoulder.
-Quaaang!
And the cadets and instructors who were watching it all gaped. That’s because Leonia’s charge was literally like that of her wild beast.
“… “
“… “
A moment of silence passes.
“It’s an injury, it’s an injury!”
“Call the healing wizard!”
“Bring the stretcher!”
With the instructor’s shout, the waiting healing wizards rushed towards Salome, who was pinned against the wall. And before the healing wizards rushed to Salome. Leonia, who approached Salome before the healing wizard, whispered softly.
“You seem too interested in Charles.”
Salome looked up at Leonia with confusion in her eyes.
“It’s okay up to that point, but I’d like you to stop treating Charles like your toy.”
After saying that, Leonia started to walk away with her hands. Leonia did not show up in the next turn and was disqualified, and both Salome and Leonia were eliminated from the swordsmanship test tournament. And of course, Emilia von Kronor took first place in the swordsmanship test tournament.