Training (1)
“Jessica, did I hear that wrong?”
Yeah, I must have misheard. Otherwise, there’s no way she’d turn down a punishment that wasn’t really a punishment—learning the world’s strongest sword art, Battōjutsu.
“I misheard, right?! You didn’t refuse, did you?!”
“I did!! I refused!! No one in their right mind would accept a bet with conditions like that!!”
“What are you talking about!! If it were me, I’d accept in a heartbeat!!”
“That’s because you’re not in your right mind!! Like I said earlier, I’d rather let you defile this body of mine than accept those terms!!”
“So, what does that even…!!”
A situation utterly incomprehensible to my common sense had unfolded, and my brain kicked into overdrive.
Maybe she doesn’t actually hate Battōjutsu—maybe there’s some hidden meaning behind it?
Ugh…! If I’d gone into humanities, I’d have picked up on Jessica’s hidden intent right away…!!
I hated my past self for choosing the science track. Staring intently at Jessica’s flushed face, replaying her words in my mind, I realized one key fact.
‘She said she’d rather let her body be defiled than learn Battōjutsu, right?’
In other words, wasn’t that her roundabout way of saying she wanted Battōjutsu with her body instead of a sword?
It felt like a stretch, but her deeply flushed cheeks lent credence to the hypothesis.
“Jessica… you don’t want sword Battōjutsu. You want body Battōjutsu, don’t you?”
“Huh? Body Battōjutsu…?”
Jessica didn’t get it, so I demonstrated with a hand gesture.
But as the sheltered daughter of a count, she didn’t understand such vulgar motions. Left with no choice, I got more direct.
“Look, look. Let’s say this spot here is the scabbard, and my thing is the katana…!!”
Politely pointing at her lower abdomen to explain, Jessica grasped the meaning before I even finished and swung her hammer at me.
“Whoa, that scared me!! Jessica!! How rude—don’t swing at someone mid-sentence!”
“Shut up, you pervert!! H-How dare you say something so vulgar to me?!”
Outraged, Jessica charged, swinging her hammer wildly.
Her attacks, fueled by pure fury, were so sloppy they resembled a drunkard’s flailing more than a warrior’s strikes—anyone could dodge them, not just me.
“Jessica, letting anger take over in a fight isn’t a good idea.”
“Shut up!! Quit yapping and just die already!!”
I couldn’t fathom why Jessica was so mad when she was the one who’d said something wide open to misinterpretation.
“You said it first!! That you’d rather do body Battōjutsu than sword Battōjutsu!!”
“That’s how much I hate it!! You idiot!!”
Subduing her half-mad frenzy would’ve been easy anytime, but Jessica was so amusing—dropping even her usual formal speech and going wild—that I forgot to do it.
“Stop right there!!!”
“Hehe!! Catch me if you can!!”
A few minutes passed like that, in a delightful Tom-and-Jerry-style chase, when—
“……What’s all this commotion?”
Rain had slipped in through the open door, staring at us in turn with a look of utter disbelief.
“Can’t you see?! I’m trying to smash this rude guy’s head!!”
“Jessica!! Back to formal speech? Anger all gone?”
“You shut up!!”
“I don’t know what’s going on, but both of you, stop it!! What’s with the racket first thing in the morning!!”
Ignoring Rain’s words, our chase continued for a while longer, but it ended soon enough as Jessica’s stamina ran dry.
“Haa… haa…”
Having chased me relentlessly, Jessica collapsed to the floor, panting heavily.
Seeing her so drained she absentmindedly dropped her hammer, I approached and asked,
“Anger cooled off?”
“Haa… sh-shut up…!”
Her speech had reverted to formal, so her rage must’ve simmered down a bit while pursuing me.
“Gonna jump me again once your stamina recovers?”
“O-Of course. I’ll definitely punish your rudeness…!”
“You think you can? Doesn’t look that way to me.”
“……”
Given the current result, even if it happened again, the outcome was obvious.
Jessica had zero chance of beating me, not even one in a million.
Peter—her superior in every way except those roll-bread buns—had already lost to me. How could she win?
Her only shot was learning Battōjutsu from me, but she was rejecting that one absolute path to victory.
“I think if you’re gonna fight, you should only pick ones you can win. Whether you charge again is up to you, Jessica, but think it over. Throwing yourself at a sure loss just looks like you’re acting cute.”
“……”
Unable to retort, Jessica just hung her head in silence.
Leaving the deflated girl behind, I plopped down in an empty seat. Moments later, Marina entered the classroom.
“……”
Me, sitting politely. Jessica, slumped on the floor, face still planted there.
And Rain, watching the scene from afar like it was none of her business.
Marina glanced at each of us, her expression troubled.
“……What happened this morning?”
I had only one response to that.
“……Nothing happened…!!”
*****
Peter, still holed up in his room from the shock of defeat, left Marina to cover classes.
Of course, as a mage, she couldn’t teach us martial arts, so it was just history, liberal arts, and theory.
The lessons, dragging from morning to afternoon, weren’t even enjoyably boring as a polite exaggeration.
Counters to mages didn’t suit me, and I’d started history somewhat seriously, hoping for clues on possessions.
But no hints emerged, so midway I was half-dozing.
Marina glared at me till class ended but didn’t bother scolding.
“Then we’ll end today’s theory lesson here. The rest of the time is free…”
“……”
Before Marina finished, Jessica shot up and headed out.
“……Huh? J-Jessica?”
Ignoring Marina’s flustered call at the unexpected student behavior, Jessica strode out confidently.
Wondering where, I checked— not the exit, but the training grounds.
After scraping her pride raw like that, you’d think she’d hole up for a while…
Unlike Peter, her superior version, who was still reeling from defeat, Jessica was different.
Unyielding to the shock, training herself—that was the unbreakable spirit befitting a future Battōjutsu user.
I moved to follow, cheering her on as she honed herself to smash my skull.
But at the door, an icy wall exuding chill blocked my path.
“Whoa…! Principal! What’s with the sudden prank?”
“Ian, this isn’t a prank. Have you forgotten our deal from yesterday?”
“Deal? I didn’t forget.”
I’d thought her tears meant she’d let it slide quietly, but I’d underestimated her.
“I haven’t forgotten. Sit down!”
“Damn…”
Muttering my admiration under my breath, I obediently sat.
Then came liberal arts even duller than the history lesson.
Analyzing characters’ emotions in chivalric literature—instead of tough philosophy for building social skills—it bored me to tears.
“Then, Ian, continue reading from where I left off.”
“Yes…. ‘The other name is Justiana von Astraea. You scoundrel impersonating His Majesty—die.’”
“Good. Now, what emotion did the betrayer feel at this point…”
“Principal.”
Unable to contain my curiosity mid-lesson, I raised my hand.
“Will taking this class really make me sociable and help me make friends?”
“……Of course. Back in my school days, I read a lot of literature like this during breaks.”
“Then why didn’t you make any friends?”
“……”
Ignoring my jab, Marina pressed on with the lesson, then fled the classroom when it ended.
Imagining her sniffling and cursing me, I couldn’t help a hollow chuckle at the pathetic sight.
Two hours gone already, but heading to the training grounds now, Rain trained on the left, Jessica on the right.
“Hoo…! Hoo…!!”
Jessica swung her hammer at empty air with a fierce glare, radiating an unapproachable aura—but I ignored it and approached.
“……”
Sweat-soaked after two hours straight, she glanced at me, then resumed swinging.
“Jessica, I’ve got a fantastic proposal for you.”
“……If it’s about Battōjutsu or whatever, don’t bother me and just leave.”
“I’d love to make that offer, but you won’t listen anyway, right?”
“……You know it.”
Stopping her swings, Jessica exhaled deeply and turned to me.
“So, what’s the proposal?”
“How about training under me?”
“……Training?”
For the first time that day, amid the constant displeasure clouding her face, a spark of interest flickered.