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To be more exact, part of the students groaned with disappointment, while the others were mad and asked why.

「And once you’re done, you can proceed to weapons handling, so decide on your weapon before then.」
「Teacher!」
「What is it?」
「If we can’t finish 15 laps within the class period, are we just going to run for the entirety of this course?」

Hearing Ishparht’s words, a sorcerer-ish student posed a question.
Most enrolled in this course to learn combat, so they’re probably concerned that it’ll only end in stamina training.

「We’ll gradually decrease the running time and distance, so no need to worry about that.」
「…Understood. Thank you very much.」

I can understand being dissatisfied by Ishparht’s answer, but this is probably arranged so that they can instruct each student based on their progression.
Only those with a good physical foundation－with sufficient stamina－can proceed to the next step, because swinging around a weapon you can’t properly handle is dangerous.

Several other students still weren’t convinced, but Ishparht paid no heed and simply cut off their questions.
That seems a bit forceful, but if he answers each and every one of them, this period might end with only that, so no complaints from me.

「Now then, begin.」

With Ishparht’s signal, the students started running.
This time, everyone went all at once, and Palra didn’t have a late start like before.

「U-umm… Ailneige…」
「I’ll be running at full speed today, so I believe it’ll be best you don’t try to keep up.」
「O-okay. Do your best.」
「You too. And Belltina, please don’t overextend yourself.」
「The truth is, Bell is thinking that this might already be too much for Bell…」

As Belltina shared her thoughts, Ciel upped her pace, not staying to listen.

『I can use physical reinforcement today, right?』
『We didn’t enroll on this course to run, after all, and you already have enough in terms of stamina.
But we are acting the part of an E-rank hunter, so it’ll be best to hold back a bit…』
『Yup, I’m taking that into consideration. But we’ll end up standing out, right?』
『An active E-rank hunter standing out in a basic-level course isn’t strange at all, so it should be fine.』

We’re basically one step away from being able to graduate anyway, and it’s not like Ailneige is concealing the fact that she’s E-rank. The only problem is that we don’t know how fast an average E-rank hunter is, but we can make up excuses for that problem.
And so we finished the 15 laps, but there’s still around half of the period remaining. No one was able to keep up with Ciel, but I believe Rynaetra could do so if she wanted to.
Among the fast ones are Princess Leshimiiya (with Rynaetra) and Palra. There should be others who can keep up with them, but many wore themselves out trying to match Ciel’s pace.

As for Belltina, she appears to have retired early on, as she’s curled up by the oval’s edge right now.

「I’m finished.」
「Again, you’re pretty fast.」
「Despite appearances, I am an E-rank hunter.」

As Ciel informed Ishparht that she’s done with the laps, he didn’t show any surprise at all.
Since he knows that Ailneige is a hunter, this was probably within his estimations. From his respose, it seems like Ciel ran at a speed adequate for an E-rank hunter. In that case, we could try going a bit faster next time. Though by we, I mean Ciel.

「So, you want to learn how to use a rapier, was it?」
「Yes. Since I have no proper knowledge of the basics.」
「Ever wielded one before?」
「I’ve brandished one a few times in the past.」
「Then let’s assess your current level for now.」

Saying so, he picked out one sword from the pile of weapons and handed it to us.
What Ciel received was a simple, unadorned rapier. It’s light enough for Ciel to swing with one hand with the aid of physical reinforcement and doesn’t seem to have a sharp edge.

Ciel swung the sword in an ∞ pattern to test it out, creating a pleasant whistling sound.

「I’ll stay on defensive, so could you trying hitting me for a bit?」
『What should I do?』

In other words, she’s asking if we can use Sword Dancer-esque—Dance Princess’ capabilities.
We are currently in the center part of the oval. The students running on the outer edge won’t be disrupted by us, but it’s a conspicuous position. Moreover, since Ailneige finished first, we’ve already attracted considerable attention.

『It should be fine not to worry too much. After all, you’ve never swung a sword without Job assistance.』
『Understood.』
『But just to be sure, it might be better to inform him that you’ll be doing it your own way.』
「I’ll be utilizing my Job’s capabilities.」
「Have you normally used a sword before?」
「Never.」
「I see. Then try attacking me the best you can.」

Ishparht pulled out a one-handed sword and took on a battle stance.
Ciel also took a battle stance, but their stances are completely different. With her body leaning forward onto one leg and her arms lowered, I’m not even sure it qualifies as a proper stance.

「Here I go.」

And since this is training, Ciel called out before making her move.

◇◇◇

「Okay, I’ve got a clearer gist of it now.」
「I’m glad to hear that.」
「Your sword-handling’s pretty lacking compared to your movements.」
「Figures, I was completely reliant on my Job.」
「But in my opinion, your movements itself wasn’t bad at all.」

As the striking test finished, Ishparht gave his assessment of Ciel’s Job-reliant sword swings.
The Dance Princess is considered worse than a low-tier Job on its own, so it wasn’t surprising. The praise about Ciel’s movements probably speaks more about her dance proficiency than her sword skill.

「For now, I guess we’ll start from the basic slashes.」
「I’m in your care.」
「Now, I’m going to show how it’s done, so try mimicking me.」

Ishparht changed his weapon to a rapier and took on a fighting stance.
He put his left hand behind his back, stepped forward with one foot, and swung the sword downwards.
For me, it only looked like a normal slow swing downwards, but Ciel seemed to have gleaned something from it, as she asked with a serious expression, 「Could you do it one more time?」

After seeing Ishparht’s exemplar swing several more times, Ciel’s following practice swing immediately received passing marks.

And that ends this chapter! Running ahead, our girls were the first to be properly taught out of the pack! While our first shy girl Palra was running at a good pace, our second shy girl Belltina was quick to retire. Poor Bell, as expected of the resident shut-in/probably squishy artificier-type.

This time around, Ciel didn’t waste any time running and blitzed the course with physical reinforcement. It’s really interesting how far Ciel’s natural interest in dancing helps her in terms of bodily coordination and pure athleticism. Meanwhile, Ain being the indoorsy singer, lacks so much coordination compared to Ciel that she falls behind so much in terms of athleticism, lol. Anyhow, our girl Ciel was able to safely learn how to use a sword normally! Yay!

Now then, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please feel free to comment. Stay healthy, stay safe, and have a nice day~!

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