The High Elf and the Sword Princess (2)

After a quick bit of research, I learned that there are currently three large dojos teaching swordsmanship in the royal capital, and that they are apparently known as the Three Great Schools.

Apparently, there used to be four Great Schools until fairly recently, but one of them fell into decline and no longer accepts disciples.

Of those Three Great Schools, one is the Rudelia Kingdom School of Swordsmanship, the standard swordsmanship practiced by this country's knights.

Befitting a school that bears the kingdom's name, it has the most disciples of the three, including many knights and children of nobles, making it truly a class apart.

As the knights' standard swordsmanship, it is an extremely orthodox art, characterized by a balanced approach to offense and defense using sword and shield.

The dojo also teaches the use of spears and bows, and if you wanted to study martial arts in this royal capital, anyone would probably recommend the Rudelia Kingdom School of Swordsmanship first.

In other words, it was extremely ordinary and uninteresting, so it was out as far as I was concerned.

The second was Lodran Greatswordsmanship, which Clayas, the warrior who had belonged to White Lake, had also learned.

As its name suggests, it is a flamboyant swordsmanship that involves swinging a greatsword held in both hands to smash one's enemies.

Practitioners also learn unarmed combat at the same time, so swordsmen who use Lodran Greatswordsmanship are also skilled at attacks apart from the sword, such as body blows and knee strikes.

As for defense, in addition to footwork for avoiding attacks, they apparently train to take blows on sturdy armor fitted to specific parts of the body, such as shoulder guards and elbow guards.

Finally, the third was Glend Style Swordsmanship.

Like the Rudelia Kingdom School of Swordsmanship, Glend Style Swordsmanship also uses sword and shield in combat.

However, while the Rudelia Kingdom School of Swordsmanship is balanced between offense and defense, Glend Style Swordsmanship is a school that places greater emphasis on defense.

In fact, although it calls itself swordsmanship, apparently what it values most is the use of the shield.

Strike with the shield, knock aside the opponent's weapon with the shield, then stab and finish them off with the sword while they are off balance.

That, they say, is the ideal way to fight in Glend Style Swordsmanship.

This probably would not suit me either, so it was out as far as I was concerned.

In short, of the three, Lodran Greatswordsmanship was my favorite.

There were other swordsmanship dojos in the sprawling royal capital, of course, but since Lodran Greatswordsmanship was also what Clayas had studied, I was sure I could not go wrong with it.

I went to a dojo that taught Lodran Greatswordsmanship to observe a lesson.

...But.

Maybe I was unlucky.

If I had not seen that swordswoman's technique yesterday, I might well have chosen to learn Lodran Greatswordsmanship without a second thought...

But the swordswoman's technique from that moment was burned into my eyes, so although the swordsmanship displayed by the disciples and assistant instructors swinging greatswords at the Lodran Greatswordsmanship dojo was certainly powerful, it did not look very beautiful to me.

No, on the contrary, if I was going to learn Lodran Greatswordsmanship here, I would be better off returning to Vistcoat and learning from Clayas.

After all, neither the disciples nor even the assistant instructors seemed to come close to Clayas's skill.

When I thought about it, perhaps I was lucky after all.

Because I had seen that swordswoman's technique on my first day, I could visit the Lodran Greatswordsmanship dojo without settling for it and telling myself that it would be good enough.

However, this left me in a difficult position.

Right now, the standard I was using was the sword technique that swordswoman had displayed back then.

To be honest, the fact that she had cut a piece of fruit cleanly did not mean all that much.

Before unleashing her technique, that swordswoman had spent a fairly long time concentrating her mind.

That was a huge opening, and there would be no time to concentrate like that in an actual battle.

So although that sword was beautiful, it was not practical.

But I wanted to swing that beautiful sword myself.

Ah, what a predicament.

Then there was only one course of action left to me.

I left the Lodran Greatswordsmanship dojo and headed straight for the main street where that swordswoman had been performing yesterday.

The swordswoman was not there when I reached the spot, but I sat down and waited for her.

In the end, the swordswoman did not appear that day, so I came again the next day.

After slipping some money to another street performer and asking, I learned that she came to this place every few days to demonstrate her technique.

It was an impressive feat, but it was a truly understated act, so apparently she did not receive much in the way of tips; even so, she had been coming regularly for about a year.

And I kept waiting, until at last, she came.

"Excuse me, elf. I see you have been sitting there. Is something the matter? I believe I have seen you here before..."

Apparently, she remembered me.

It was probably because elves stood out no matter what in the world beyond the forest, but I was very grateful for that now.

I rose at the sound of her voice, fixed my gaze on the swordswoman standing before me, and drew a long, deep breath.

All right, the battle was beginning.

"I fell in love with your swordsmanship when I saw it that day. Please make me your disciple. I want to wield that sword too."

With that, I bowed my head.

Of course, by "that sword," I did not mean the rather poor-quality sword she carried, but the swordsmanship itself.

If I were handed that sword, I would simply find a forge to use somewhere, melt it down, and have a new one forged.

"Um, I'm sorry..."

"I'll pay you a teaching fee. I'll do chores, too. Please!"

As she was about to refuse, I talked over her, piling on more words before she could get them out, and bowed my head once again.

When I said I had fallen in love with her swordsmanship, she had unquestionably looked a little pleased.

So if she was still going to refuse to take me on as a disciple, perhaps there was some circumstance behind it.

But those were her circumstances, not mine, so they were none of my concern.

Right now, I wanted to learn that sword technique.

Therefore, if there was some circumstance preventing that, I would kick it aside.

I absolutely would not back down.

Yes, this was a battle: if I retreated even one step, I would lose.

Her attempt to refuse had been cut short, and she opened and closed her mouth a few times, looking somewhat troubled.

In other words, she had taken one step back.

Which meant I was unquestionably going to win this battle.

"I still don't know the name of that sword. But I want to become a swordsman who wields it."

I pressed the point again, stepping forward to fill the space she had yielded.

An expression of uncertainty crossed her face, and she considered it for a while.

"...I understand. I'll hear you out at my dojo. Surely your thoughts will change once you see it."

Then, hesitantly—though the uncertainty still lingered on her face—she said it.

If Azvald, my Shitty Dwarf master, had been there, he surely would have cast a sympathetic glance at her.

Yes, I was having so much fun right now.

Now then, let us head to her dojo—the dojo where I would be training from now on.