Chapter 7
Translator: True Detective
Chapter 7: Joining a Club at the Academy is a Serious Matter (1)
There must have been a reason she confidently threw down the gauntlet; her movements certainly had less disparity than last time.
However, it seemed she hadn't completely resolved that gap yet...
With the feeling of just testing the waters, I thrust the spear, and she deflected it with quite familiar movements.
"Oh?"
"You said I lacked experience dealing with enemies wielding spears, right? How about now?!"
Compared to before, she had definitely improved a lot.
I tried thrusting the spear a few more times, but she dodged or blocked it this way and that.
It had only been a few days, but to show this level of growth.
The protagonist buff was no joke.
'Should I attack with a slightly different pattern?'
This time, a slash, not a thrust.
Since the main attack form of a spear is thrusting, this was a method I often used to catch opponents off guard.
I changed the position of my hands while holding the spear horizontally.
Moving the hand that held the center of the spear shaft to the front, I pulled back and swung as she approached.
The spear showed a resilient bending movement and flew like a whip, the blade part accurately aiming for her flank.
"Eut!?"
The Saintess blocked the spear blade by bringing her sword to it.
Although she blocked it, her hand seemed to tingle from the unexpectedly heavy impact.
Looking at it, it seemed she had gone to find a few spearmen and sparred with them, but there was no way she could have gained sufficient experience in just a few days.
She probably faced them focusing on basics.
So, even with just a slightly irregular attack like this, she couldn't help but be busy blocking as if dealing with an unexpected attack.
Although she showed a defensive appearance, she had definitely grown a lot.
But this growth was just the speed that could come from learning for the first time out of ignorance.
In other words, she had only grown a lot compared to the first spar, but she was far from reaching my level.
"....Euk?!"
"It seems you still have a long way to go."
Pretending to aim for her feet, the spear tapped the ground and then sprang up like a snake.
Trying to hurriedly protect her feet, she had no choice but to retreat to avoid the suddenly soaring spear.
"Unlike a sword, a spear can easily aim for the opponent's feet. As a Saintess thinking like a swordsman, wasn't that an unexpected attack?"
Instead of answering, she held up her sword and rushed in again.
However, since I utilized the advantage of range to continuously gnaw at her, she, who was in a position to maintain the offensive, had no choice but to gradually get exhausted.
"Haak... Haaak..."
I asked the Saintess who was calming her rough breath.
"Saintess. Can you see the distance between us?"
She didn't answer but moved her eyes to examine the distance between us.
The Saintess was currently about one or two steps back from the maximum range of the spear.
A distance where my spear would reach if I just took one step forward, but her sword could never reach.
"This is the distance between a spear and a sword. If the Saintess cannot find a way to reduce this gap, you can never beat me."
Saying that, I turned my body and went down from the sparring arena.
"Hak...! Wait...! Where are you goi...."
"Saintess, I ask you once more. Please do not request a spar until you judge that you can beat me yourself."
"Student Ethan. If you leave here, it is a forfeiture."
"It is fine. The person herself knows better who won and who lost."
Hearing my words, the Saintess clenched her teeth while gripping her sword tightly and said.
"It is... my defeat."
"Good work."
After offering her a polite greeting, I came down from the sparring arena.
Perhaps because I had won once in a spar last time, the reaction of the onlookers was weaker than before.
However, was it because I had beaten the Saintess twice?
Rumors began to circulate among the Knight Department freshmen.
There is a spearman who overwhelmed the Sword Saintess.
Unfortunately, since there weren't many who used spears in the academy, being identified happened in an instant.
"Ethan Ibres, please spar with me!"
"Haa... What is it?"
It was only the beginning of the semester, but recently, requests for spars from students who used swords as their main weapon had increased.
If they only did it during lecture times when we spar anyway, I wouldn't mind, but they come to find me every time I train and request spars...
It might just be requesting once for them, but if it becomes ten or twenty people, how much time am I losing?
The first few times, I was curious about my classmates' skills so I accepted the spar requests, but since it crossed the line, it started getting annoying.
I also knew of the existence of the rumors.
Those challenging me probably want to know how strong the spearman who beat the Saintess is, or want to obtain the satisfaction that they are superior to the Saintess by defeating me.
Then there was only one answer.
Pointing at the Saintess who was training with someone else in a corner of the training ground, I said.
"If you want to challenge me, go beat the Saintess first. A swordsman who couldn't even beat the Saintess has no qualification to challenge me."
"....Yes? Wait a moment?"
Leaving those words behind, I left the training ground.
I heard a voice that sounded like the Saintess calling me from behind, but since it was her own karma, I didn't feel any pangs of conscience.
Certainly, the words I said at the training ground had an effect; the number of students requesting spars from me decreased noticeably in the last few days.
Even so, there were a few who challenged me, but I sent them all back saying to go beat the Saintess first.
Finally, I got time to enjoy freely.
'Come to think of it, isn't the club registration deadline approaching? I should hurry.'
In the case of clubs, one must join at least one, but I was so busy with the swordsmen challenging me recently that I couldn't even browse.
Challenging right after lectures ended, and challenging even while I was training, so I had no leisure to think about it.
I tend to like sparring too, so I accepted with a smile, but thinking about it now, there was no nuisance like this.
Anyway, swordsmen are...
Shaking my head, I browsed the club promotion posters on the bulletin board.
Clubs at Franz Academy existed entirely for the students' hobbies and leisure life.
Fitting for the name of the best educational institution, should I say it's a place that allows one to feel a ray of youth amidst a tight and arduous school life?
Accordingly, the clubs were also composed of leisure-oriented ones like reading clubs, baking, cooking, travel, and flower arrangement.
There were two conditions for me choosing a club.
One, it must interest me.
The other, absolutely not entering the same club as the Romance Fantasy protagonist, her, with whom I must never get involved.
"Ethan, did you pick a club?"
While I was looking around the club bulletin board, Jean, a classmate I got close with recently, spoke to me.
He was a martial artist, and I had considerable goodwill toward him just for the fact that he didn't use a sword.
"No, not yet. Did you pick?"
"Yeah, I'm planning to enter the Travel Club."
Travel. Come to think of it, he said he wasn't from the Empire.
Usually, there aren't many occasions to go to other countries, so a travel club that tours famous places within the Empire seemed like a good choice for him.
"By the way, do you know where the Saintess entered?"
Although I have to avoid the club she entered, I had been avoiding approaching her recently, so I was in a situation where I couldn't ask directly.
Then I have no choice but to ask someone who might know.
"Uh... I heard this today, but I heard the Saintess hasn't chosen a club yet either. But since it's the Saintess, wouldn't she enter somewhere related to religion?"
"Probably?"
To think she hadn't chosen a club yet.
What is a club?
Isn't it a place in Romance Fantasy to make the Female Lead get involved with Male Lead Candidates from different departments?
But she still hasn't decided on a club?
Jean's words guessing she would enter a religion-related club had a point, but she is someone who entered the Knight Department instead of the Theology Department.
Not only did I not know in what way she would bounce, but I didn't think the place where Male Lead Candidates would gather would be a place with strong religious color.
I pondered for a few more minutes, but the answer to where she would go didn't come out.
"If you're really worried, want to stop by the Travel Club once?"
"Hmm, shall I?"
Jean guided me to the Travel Club's club room.
"Senior! I brought this friend because he said he wanted to know more about the club."
"Jean, you came? Welcome, junior! Just in time, other freshmen said they wanted to observe too, so I was going to guide them; you can listen together."
"...................."
"...................."
In the place the Travel Club senior pointed to, there were the familiar Pink Head and Yellow Head, along with handsome men who appeared to be Male Lead Candidates.
"Jean, this place seems too hard for an introvert like me. Sorry, but I'll go first."
"Uh? Ethan?"
I immediately turned my body and left that spot.
'If it's like this, the probability of it being the Travel Club is high.'
The protagonist group goes on a trip, an incident occurs, and relationships develop due to that.
How common of a cliché is this?
Like that, after escaping from the Travel Club, I observed the Gourmet Exploration Club and submitted an application there.
A few days later, the club application period ended, and a welcome party was held for the freshmen who had just joined the club.
Fitting the name Gourmet Exploration Club, the welcome party took place at a restaurant in the academy alley.
Just how delicious would the restaurant selected by a club bearing the name Gourmet Exploration in the academy be?
I arrived at the welcome party location harboring expectations.
And opening the restaurant door, I ended up seeing the familiar Pink Head.
"......Haa."
"Wha... What is it!? I didn't do anything, so why are you sighing as soon as you see me!"