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With a sharp whistle, a practice-use longsword landed right next to Ciel. Before she could launch a counterattack, the male student holding it let out a sharp yell while forcefully swinging his longsword horizontally. I was looking at Ciel from a bird’s-eye view, and this took me by surprise, so it must have been scarier from Ciel’s perspective, but she didn’t appear to be fazed as she calmly avoided it with a back step.

This was a scene from today’s Combat Training. After several meetings and with many skilled individuals around, we’ve started to shift to sparring matches. However, this only applied to the top students; those with below-average performance have just recently become capable of finishing the running within the class period.

In our party, Belltina is considered an underperformer, while Palra, who has good foundations, is considered on the high end of the class average. While Palra does have an Advanced Job, since she’s training for both the bow and knife in parallel―and due to her natural disposition―she still hasn’t participated in the sparring matches.

Observing the proficiency gap, or rather the difference in progress among the students, you can roughly tell who has what kind of Job. The boy battling Ciel right now, his name is Grimid, I think, likely has a high-tier swordsman-aligned Job―possibly Advanced Swordsman―and the other students who are qualified for sparring likely have at least intermediate-level Jobs.

In contrast, the Jobs of those in the below-average group are harder to infer, since the activities they’re doing might not be aligned to their Jobs. A good example of that are the students who have sorcery-related Jobs.

Now then, it has been a month since the start of the classes, and compared to the first week, we’ve been having more relaxed days. Since the meeting at the temple, Sheleight has started talking to us in the classroom, resulting in Ailneige standing out a bit and gaining some of Mr. Hero’s attention; however, no one has attempted to squabble with us, nor have any nobles abused their status to get close.

While I sometimes wish that Princess Leshimiiya would do something about Sheleight and Juerd, I’m sure there’s a limit to how much she can do, and since there’s a chance that the church could get involved, she probably can’t act carelessly. I could still try asking, but the moment that happens, it could be taken as a *command* to do something about them, so I’m holding back.

With us periodically having teatime together, I do wish to maintain our pleasant relationship with Princess Leshimiiya, so I want to avoid stressing her out.

「You’re done for!」

As the end of the period was approaching, Grimid, who had been on the offensive for most of the match, let out a rousing roar.

His shoulders rose and fell with ragged breaths until that moment. Then, the instant those words left his lips, his breathing halted and the trembling in his body disappeared as he swung his longsword with all his strength. He should have been worn out by now, yet this attack was faster than any before, enough to make me uneasy about Ciel.

Ciel attacks, and I protect. Considering our roles, I don’t think it’s good of me to think about Ciel possibly losing, but it’s alright to lose in this class, and Ciel is a sorcerer. This is a sword fight where Dance Princess is only at half-efficacy and the physical reinforcement used is only at Ailneige’s level. It’s undeniable that Ciel is at a disadvantage.

In fact, Ciel has been on the defensive for the entire match, and whenever they clashed, she was overpowered. At their age, sexual dimorphism shouldn’t have that large of an influence yet, but Ciel is arguably the smallest student in our class. In terms of pure physical difference, Ciel is at a disadvantage. But at the same time, I realized that Ciel has had a composed expression the whole time.

And it seems like her composure was not groundless, as she was able to parry Grimid’s sword. Swung by his own momentum, he lost balance and fell down with both hands to the ground, with Ciel then pointing her rapier at his nape.

「That’s enough!」

As Mr. Ishparht announced the end of the spar, Ciel sheathed her rapier. Even this simple flowing gesture was enough to charm the eyes of the surrounding audience.
While it isn’t the same for everyone, many of the students watching the spar stared at Ciel absentmindedly, while Grimid alone was scowling at her in frustration.

「I still haven’t…」

The words Grimid whispered behind gnashed teeth were awfully vivid to my ears.

Certainly, Grimid had the initiative for most of the match, so it must be hard on his pride to have lost to someone much smaller than him. Or maybe he’s just a sore loser.

While still unable to accept his loss, Mr. Ishparht turned to Grimid and asked, 「What are your thoughts on this match?」
「I was winning except for the last part,」 Grimid responded curtly, but it seems that he does understand that he was outplayed at the end. Still, for people with combat experience, it must have looked like Ciel had it under control the entire match. After all, Mr. Ishparht didn’t seem to be surprised about Ciel’s victory.

「I see. Then how about you?」

Mr. Ishparht lightly nodded to Grimid’s answer before then turning to Ciel. Ciel showed a contemplative expression for a moment before answering, 「The final yell was unnecessary.」 Hearing that, Mr. Ishparht laughed out loud.

「Still, as a hunter, it’s not necessarily bad to yell out. In fact, there are times when it’s important to do so. Do you know why that is?」

『Is it for party battle coordination reasons?』
『I think that’s a good answer.』

We don’t team up with people much―and when we do, it’s more as an experienced mentor rather than an equal collaborator―so we’ve never had proper battle coordination with others.

While Ciel and I are practically in sync all of the time, I can’t really communicate when I start singing, so communicating to coordinate isn’t really possible for us to begin with.

Still, I do have ideas other than what Ciel said. However, it’s just amateur guesswork, so I’m not telling Ciel. If you think about it, we are at a school, so there’s no need to teach her my uncertain ideas.

Instead of learning that, she can learn the correct knowledge from others.