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By nature, we were magician cadets, so holding swords wasn’t part of our occupation. Even so, swords were things that tugged at the heartstrings of boys, so all of them happily took part in the training… Or rather, the sword play.

Although the girls weren’t as enthusiastic as the boys, finding a sword that didn’t hurt on hit was rare, so they also timidly took part in the training. But they only acted that way at the beginning, and before long, they went about it as passionately and loudly as the boys.

Letina didn’t seem to be an exception; she was holding the same sword and bonking me on the head with it. Kabby who had made my head its home hurriedly evacuated towards my back to dodge it.

“Hmm?”
“Nya! Mya! Letina, that hurts!”
“You are letting out some toy-like noises..”

It seemed that she found my reactions amusing, her swings gradually increased in speed. But I wasn’t planning to just accept it all. I made a defensive movement, dodged her attack and dealt a hard blow at her knees.

The sword bent harder than I expected and gave out quite a pathetic sound on a hit. Letina remained in place as if nothing happened.

“It really does not hurt. I can see why teacher Cortina was attracted to them.”
“Right.”

On a closer inspection, what I initially thought to be bamboo was actually some kind of animal’s fur. It was extremely elastic but also had decent toughness.

“Is this thing filled with the hair of some kind…?”

My mutter reached the ears of a knight standing nearby. He put a hand on my shoulder as he approached me and explained.

“You have a good eye, young miss. It uses the whiskers of Keratos that are bred nearby the city.”
“Keratos? You mean those bipedal lizard-like monsters?”

Keratos are a species of monsters that live all over this continent. They looked like lizards standing on two legs, and had a ferocious nature. They tended to move in groups and were considered extremely dangerous for the average people.

But for the Adventurers, they were attractive prey. Their hides could be used as materials for leather armors, and their hard bones as arrowheads. Even their meat had a light, fowl-like taste. Just about every part of their bodies was valuable.

Adventurers that graduated from beginners could hunt one of them with several people, so whenever a group of them was spotted, several parties would be formed to hunt them.

They commonly appeared in the outskirts of Raum too, and were the source of luxurious life for the Adventurers.

For better or worse, our party hasn’t encountered their group as of yet. Letina and Cloud might’ve had a bit of a tough time with them, but Michelle and I were strong enough to handle them easily.

I kind of felt like making us fight them to test our ability.

“But their whiskers aren’t supposed to be this thick, is it?”
“You really do know your stuff, huh. Indeed, one by one they are too thin and useless, but if you lay a rope with them, they become plenty thick and firm.”
“Oh wow…”

So they could be used like this. If it was like that, couldn’t we make these swords even in Raum? It seems like Maxwell ended up wasting money on them.

“The knight over there. What business do you have with my daughter?”

As we were gazing up at the knight and talking to him with interest, I heard an anger-tinged voice.

“Oh, dad.”
“Dad? Then you are his…”
“Hey you… You seem to be talking quite intimately with my daughter, hmm? She doesn’t even talk with me like that.”
“N-No, this… This is a misunderstanding. I was merely explaining the structure of the sword!”
“If that’s all, I’ll explain it myself. Go away now, shoo! Or do you have any ulterior motives towards my daughter…?”

Lyell looked suspiciously at the knight. His accusation held no basis no matter how you looked at it. Even the knight raised his hands and tried to resolve the misunderstanding.

“I had no such intention, that’s discourteous!”
“Huh? Are you saying my daughter isn’t worthy of your attention? Despite being this cute!”
“I admit that she is, but…”
“So you had ulterior motives!”
“How do you want me to answer!?”

I sighed listening to Lyell going off with his false accusations like some drunkard. I got that he loved me, but this was being far too overprotective. In the first place, I wanted to complain to him for deciding to rush all the way here.

As the knight started to panic, I slipped next to Lyell and slapped his a̲s̲s̲ with the fake sword. Along with the loud sound, his preaching momentarily interrupted.

But that aside, it gave off quite a nice sound earlier, didn’t it?

“Ohh, as expected of Lord Lyell’s daughter. It seems you have already mastered the use of the fake sword.”
“Huh? I did?”

The knight said in admiration as if to move on from the topic.

“That sword is made to be very bendy to avoid injuries, but because of that, it is harder to actually hit with as it behaves more like a whip.”
“Ah, I see.”

I was convinced after listening to his explanation. The familiar feeling I felt while holding it was closer to the threads that I used like whips, rather than a sword. For me, it was more compatible than a sword.

In that case… This might actually be a chance. They say there’s no time like the present, so I decided to attempt it right away.

“Right, Dad. You haven’t given me any sword practices lately. Can you do it now?”

Yes, if it’s this sword, maybe I could win against him who’s been my rival since my previous life. This was a once in a lifetime chance to win in a sword—albeit fake one—fight against someone I had never won before.

At first, he looked confused at my sudden request, but his expression brightened the moment he realized he would get to play with his daughter, and readily accepted it.