Goal Points Achieved
We didn’t do team battles in the martial training classes at the academy, but fighting on unstable footing was a huge hit with the kids.
The three sheep sisters had originally only participated in course creation, so they just watched these matches too.
We didn’t form teams, but each time we drew lots to decide both our opponent and the battlefield.
For the first round, my opponent ended up being Nachi, and people were really worried about it.
“Vio, I’ve seen that you’ve been building up your stamina, but isn’t actual combat still too much?
I’m not aiming to be an adventurer, but guild staff need to be able to fight to some extent, so I train… I’m worried I might end up hurting you.”
“Ahh, Nachi, no need to worry.
The weapons here are too big for Vio to use, so she ain’t using them, but she’s got her own personal weapon, and she’s training every day with Kathe’s family. She’s at that level already.”
The one who answered Nachi’s concern was Teacher Edel. Since I’d been doing special training at this training ground, he often observed, and sometimes even sparred with me himself, so he knew what I was capable of.
“Huh? Vio trains with Silver-rank adventurers?”
“Eh~ Vio, you’ve been doing that? I wanna join too!”
“Huh? Wait, training? I thought it was just building stamina?”
“Not just Kathe, but her whole family? What do you mean?”
By the way, it wasn’t Gars, it was Thea and Taddy who sparred with me.
Leaving the loudly shocked group behind, Nachi and I had our match in the puddle log zone.
Nachi used a one-handed sword, so he had a wooden sword. A whip would’ve been dangerous for me, and a dagger has a blade, so I fought unarmed.
Even if the teacher said it was fine, I look like a five-year-old girl, after all. Kind Nachi came at me cautiously, testing the waters, so I slipped inside his guard while dodging his blade, used his shoulder as a foothold to vault over him, got behind him, and lightly struck the back of his knee with the palm of my hand.
The classic knee-buckling move.
“Huh? Wah! Whoa…!”
Splash!!
The footing was just a small log zone. He couldn’t brace himself, and Nachi fell straight into the puddle face-first.
“No way…”
“Huh? Seriously?”
“My, Vio’s amazing.”
“Oh my, she’s so quick.”
“Oh dear, Nachi, is he alright?”
Voices rose from the groups who hadn’t started their matches yet, and from those watching.
He fell face-first into the puddle, was Nachi okay? Worried that he didn’t get up right away, I peeked in, but then he pushed himself up.
“That surprised me! Seriously? Vio, you’re amazing. I thought I’d test the waters a bit, but that wasn’t necessary at all.”
Water dripping off him, droplets falling from his black hair, he gave me a ridiculously bright smile as he praised me. I’m just glad he wasn’t seriously hurt.
Seeing that got Hachi super fired up, and Ren was jumping around in excitement too.
After everyone realized in the first class that I could handle it, they all started coming at me seriously. As expected of beastkin, their physical abilities were high, but they weren’t as strong as Taddy or as fast as Gars, so I could handle them just fine.
The students other than the three sisters started watching the afternoon training sometimes after seeing that. They occasionally joined in when sparring with Kathe, but when it came to Gars, Taddy, or Thea, it seemed way too much for them, so they stuck to observing.
At the end of that intense, muscle-brained kind of month, just as the weekend was approaching, my adventurer gear was completed, and I delivered two sets of karuta on Holy Day, letting me finally reach the goal of 100 points.
“Vio, congratulations on becoming the youngest to reach Bronze rank!”
Taki, who handled the inspection, congratulated me.
People who register at an older age can efficiently complete delivery requests, so apparently it’s possible to rank up in one or two months.
But I was told that ranking up in just three months at the age of five was a first.
Well, most kids don’t even register until after their blessing at age seven.
Under seven, it’s usually only wandering adventurer families who register their kids for residency purposes, and the kids themselves don’t actually work, so yeah… I get that I’m a pretty unusual case.
“Hachi’s probably going to be sad he won’t see you at the academy anymore, but thanks to you, he’s learned magic, arithmetic, and reading and writing. Are you going to keep up your special training at the training grounds?”
Right… once you hit Bronze rank, you graduate from the academy. That means tomorrow, at the start of the week, is my last class.
What about training? I think I was supposed to start going on subjugation trips outside from next month, and Kathe’s family said our training together would only last until the end of this month.
“Dad?”
"Mm-hmm, that's right. Kathe has racked up a fair bit of subjugation points, so they said they're gonna start challengin' a dungeon come next month."
“I see… that’s a shame, but it can’t be helped. Still, it’s not like they’ll be gone all the time, right? It’d be a big help if they could spar with the kids whenever they’re around.
Vio, you’re starting subjugation next week, right? Fighting monsters will probably feel unfamiliar at first, so don’t push yourself, be careful, alright?”
“Yeah, thank you, Mr. Taki!”
Since he helped me when I registered, Taki is the one I rely on most among the reception staff.
Kathe and the others said they planned to train at the guild when they returned from the dungeon, so it looks like I’ll still be able to continue my special training at the training grounds for a while longer.
What do you think about this chapter?
