Chapter 89
A little while later, Steve-sensei entered the training grounds with two other young men.
"We’re starting swordsmanship class now! I’m Steve Aubrey, and I teach swordsmanship. These two are knights who’ve come to help with swordsmanship class. If you fool around or don’t take this seriously, you could get hurt. Listen carefully to everything the three of us say."
So these two were knights. Their outfits really did look like the light armor knights wore. They looked pretty cool...
"For the next several classes, everyone will start with the basics. The basics are important even for those with experience, so participate seriously as a review. Once we’ve finished teaching all the basics, we’ll divide you into teams by level and include practical-style training. Now, first, each of you should take one wooden sword from here."
The large box brought over by the two knights seemed to be filled with wooden swords.
Starting with the students from Class A, everyone selected a wooden sword in order.
"Leon... I’m sorry you got dragged into that because of me."
Ronnie apologized to me as he stood in line to pick up a wooden sword.
"It wasn’t your fault, Ronnie."
"But at first, they singled me out because of my clothes."
"That’s true, but from halfway through, it felt more like it was my fault. Neither of us is to blame, so don’t apologize."
"That’s true... Thank you."
"More importantly, you should probably get a proper outfit soon."
"I thought so too, but... I don’t have any money."
"We talked about the stall earlier, right? I’ll lend you the money as an advance on your wages, so you should go buy them tomorrow."
When I said that, Ronnie looked surprised for a moment, but his expression quickly turned apologetic.
"You don’t have to do that for me. I keep causing you trouble, don’t I...? I’m sorry."
"I don’t think you’re a bother at all. Of course I’d help a friend in trouble, wouldn’t I?"
"Leon... Thank you so much. Please lend me the money."
"Yeah, I’ll give it to you later."
Once we had settled that, Ronnie looked a little relieved. Being this conspicuous because of his clothes must really bother him. We’d just have to put up with it today.
"More importantly, let’s do our best in swordsmanship class too."
"That’s right... So much happened that I forgot about class."
"We’ll probably only be doing the basics today, so it shouldn’t be too hard, right?"
"Do you think so? But even if it is hard, I’ll do my best in swordsmanship class! It would probably be better if I got even a little stronger..."
I knew he felt the same. I wanted to get stronger too, since I could feel that my life was in danger.
"Let’s both do our best. I think it would be good to work out every day too."
"Yeah!"
By then, it was our turn. We selected our wooden swords at random from the few that remained.
There were only some quite old and scratched-up ones left, but it couldn’t be helped.
"Does everyone have a wooden sword? Then I’ll teach you how to hold one. Basically, your right hand goes above your left, and you hold it with both hands. However, left-handed people may hold it the other way around. Use whichever feels easier."
That was the same way Jack-san had taught me.
"All right! Next, we’ll do practice swings. They’re important both for getting used to the sword and for building up your body. Anyone who wants to get stronger should do them every day whenever possible. First, watch me demonstrate."
Wow! Steve-sensei’s practice swings were so cool... They were fast, and his form looked solid too.
Steve-sensei might be pretty strong.
"Did everyone watch carefully? Now everyone do it together. For now, twenty times. Ready? One... two... three... ... twenty!"
Phew... It felt incredibly refreshing, as if all the stress I’d built up at school was being washed away.
At least this much didn’t tire me out anymore.
"Hah... hah... hah..."
"Are you all right, Ronnie?"
"Y-yeah... Somehow..."
Ronnie looked completely exhausted. His arms seemed to be hurting too. Practice swings were really tiring when you weren’t used to them.
"Next, the three of us will walk around and watch you practice your swings. Listen carefully to our advice. All right, let’s go. One... two... three... That red-haired boy over there, you’re tensing your shoulders too much. Ten... eleven... twelve... ... twenty!"
Phew... I was starting to get a little tired too.
"Hah... hah... hah... hah... hah..."
"Are you all right, Ronnie?"
"I-I... I might be done for..."
Ronnie looked as though he might collapse at any moment. You have no stamina at all, Ronnie. Aren’t commoner children generally supposed to be pretty fit?
It seemed that many noble children had practiced at least the minimum amount of swordsmanship, even if they had no plans to become knights, so although they were tired, they weren’t as exhausted as Ronnie.
A few children who were quite overweight, or conversely skinny and weak-looking, seemed just as exhausted as Ronnie. They had probably skipped even the minimum swordsmanship training.
"Anyone who’s already giving up at this level won’t pass the graduation exam! The swordsmanship graduation exam requires you to do each form’s practice swings ten times. You must perform them with proper form and make it all the way to the end without stopping."
So the swordsmanship graduation exam was just practice swings? Did “all forms” mean the five forms Jack-san had taught me? If so, that meant I only needed to do fifty swings.
That was a huge relief. The swordsmanship graduation exam didn’t sound very difficult.
"There’s a swordsmanship graduation exam too...?"
Ronnie, on the other hand, seemed devastated by what he had just heard.
"Ronnie, you only have to do practice swings, so it’s not that difficult. I think you’ll be fine if you build up your stamina."
"Do you think so...? I think building up that stamina will be difficult, though..."
"Hmm, I think you’ll probably be fine just by taking the classes seriously, right? If you’re still worried, you could work out at home or go running whenever you have time."
"I see... I think I can manage that."
"Yeah. Do your best."
"You don’t seem tired at all, Leon."
"I’ve been training, and I’ve done a little swordsmanship before."
By then, Ronnie seemed to have recovered somewhat. He looked less exhausted than before.
From there, we were taught how to move our feet and practiced other forms of swings.
Swordsmanship class was actually pretty fun. I also liked the fact that Steve-sensei didn’t care about social status. A few high-ranking nobles looked displeased, but perhaps because the school had a rule that students had to respect their teachers, no one complained.
Hmm, moving my body really was refreshing!
"All right! That’s all for today. Put the wooden swords away properly in the boxes before you leave."
We’re done! It was still only my first day at school... but it felt like it had been incredibly long...
After making sure the nobles had entered the changing room, Ronnie and I went in last, changed quickly, and left the changing room. It would be awful if some other troublesome noble started bothering us again.
Changing quickly might become one of my special skills.
"Ronnie, we’re pretty tired, huh?"
"I know... I want to go home and rest as soon as possible..."
"There are plenty of tough things ahead, but let’s keep doing our best together from now on."
"Yeah. Let’s keep looking out for each other."
Exhausted, Ronnie and I returned to the classroom, chatting as we went.