Upon returning from a long journey, they temporarily disbanded.
An hour later, Curio was supposed to come to pick them up, so they quickly wiped themselves down and changed into clothes suitable for swordsmanship.
While Althea was changing, Regalus was explaining to his parents in another room. After hearing the explanation, both parents left the room together.
An hour later, Curio came to pick them up. Althea and the other three followed Curio to the training ground.
When they arrived at the training ground, there were people they hadn't met before, along with Siegfried, and inexplicably, Thomas was there too. Adrian, Titania, and even Clara were sitting in the spectator stands.
"Why are you here, Father?" Regalus asked, to which Thomas replied with a smile, "I heard we were training, so I thought I'd join in for once."
"Wouldn't it disrupt the training if you joined, Father?"
"It'll be fine. I'll make sure to train properly."
"And, Father, who is this gentleman?" Regalus asked, nodding towards a burly soldier who looked very strong.
"Oh, he's the captain of the Royal First Guard."
"What?! Then..."
Surprised, Regalus looked at the man introduced as the captain of the Royal First Guard, who greeted him with a smile.
"I heard Lord Monclair would participate in training, so I wanted to join as well... Nice to meet you. I'm Graham Hulank, captain of the Royal First Guard. I've always heard about your son from His Highness, so I'm really looking forward to today. Hahaha..."
"Lord Hulank... Could it be the Duke Hulank's...? Thank you very much for your kindness. I am Regalus Von Monclair. Please forgive my inexperience."
As Regalus bowed deeply, a young girl who seemed barely of age stepped forward from behind him.
"Nice to meet you, Lord Hulank. I'm Althea Von Monclair."
Graham was surprised to see a girl who seemed out of place in a training ground and exclaimed loudly, "W-Why is such a lovely young lady... here in a training ground like this??"
Thomas patted Graham's shoulder and said, "She's my daughter... And she's quite strong, you know?"
"Huh?"
Turning to Thomas, Graham fell silent, lost in thought.
As Graham pondered, a voice came from the spectator stands.
"Have you all finished introducing yourselves? Let's get started already, or we'll run out of time."
Adrian shouted cheerfully.
"Yes, indeed... Then..."
In response to the voice, Thomas looked around and said, "Jean, you should spar with Curio. It'll be good training for both of you as guards. Lord Graham, please spar with Althea and Laila. And, Your Highness and Regalus, you'll spar with me."
With that said, Thomas took up his sword.
After nodding with Siegfried, Regalus and Thomas faced each other with their swords raised.
"Please take care of me."
The voices of Siegfried and Regalus overlapped as they both rushed towards Thomas. They were quite fast.
Meanwhile, Curio and Jean also began their sword fight.
Watching them, Graham realized that his opponent was the two girls. He turned to look at Althea and Laila slowly.
In front of his gaze were two beautiful girls smiling gently.
Is this okay? Even if they're said to be "quite strong," they're still girls??
As if sensing his thoughts, Laila said, "Don't worry just because we're girls."
Saying so, she lowered her stance.
It's not a normal sword stance... Could she be using concealed weapons? If so, it'll be troublesome if she gets too close. But still, she's just a girl...
As Graham was lost in thought, preparing for battle, Laila, who had entered a combat stance, said, "Well then... Please take care of us!"
Before she finished speaking, Laila ran towards Graham.
Following behind Laila, Althea also began to run.
"Please take care of us, Lord Hulank!"
With Althea's voice, she swung her sword down.
Just as Graham was parrying Laila's dagger that had come rushing towards him, Althea's sword descended without hesitation. Graham managed to deflect her sword with his own, then drew his own sword for defense.
Althea, who was knocked back, staggered for a moment but quickly regained her balance. Just as she was about to leap again,
"Wait a moment!" Graham exclaimed.
Huffing and puffing to catch their breath, Graham looked at the two and said,
"I apologize. I underestimated the two girls... Indeed, as Lord Monclair mentioned, the young ladies are quite strong. So, I'll take you on seriously... Is that alright?"
At the words "take you on seriously," Althea answered firmly while steeling herself,
"Of course, please do. Otherwise, it wouldn't be training."
Staring into the determined eyes of the two, Graham said,
"Understood. But... please wait a moment."
With that, he left the training ground.
"Eh?... Where did Lord Hulank go? He said he'd take us on 'seriously,' but does that mean he can't handle facing mere girls after all... I wonder what you think, Laila?"
"...Mocking young ladies..."
While Laila trembled with anger, Graham returned.
In his hands were three wooden swords and two wooden daggers made of wood.
"I'll take this seriously, but using real swords would be too difficult for me... So, let's stick with these for today's training."
Saying so, he handed one wooden sword to Althea and two wooden daggers to Laila.
While receiving the wooden sword, Althea asked a question,
"...With these, will you really take us on seriously?"
"Yes. I'll take you on seriously... I'll use two."
With that, Graham took up two swords.
Seeing Graham's stance, Althea and Laila nodded.
"Understood. Once again... 'Please take care of us.'"
Before they finished speaking, they charged at him together this time.
Graham blocked Althea's attack with his right wooden sword and dodged Laila's attack with his left wooden sword, analyzing the girls' fighting style.
They've changed their tactics from before, huh... Their swords are light, but their small stature and agility are troublesome. If it were just one person, their agility wouldn't be a problem, but these two... Their synchronization is unbelievable. Because of that, their combined attack power becomes more than that of two individuals... They're a good team, but they're still just girls. I'll continue to dodge until their stamina runs out...
As Graham calculated the timing of his counterattack,
However, their stamina didn't seem to decrease easily.
He thought it would take about five minutes, but they didn't stop attacking for nearly ten minutes.
They're not getting tired as expected... It's about time to anticipate their attacks and counterattack... Alright, now!
"Ha!!"
It was just a momentary event.
Althea, who had received Graham's full-force blow with her wooden sword, was pushed back about three meters from the impact. The wooden sword she received broke into two and was no longer usable.
Caught off guard by Althea being pushed back, Laila was restrained by Graham in that moment.
As Althea coughed a bit, saying, "I concede," Graham released Laila from his hold.
Once freed, Laila dashed towards Althea.
Regalus and Siegfried, who had already been defeated by Thomas, also ran towards Althea in the same manner.
"Althea, are you alright?!"
"Lady Althea?!"
"Lady Althea, are you safe?!"
Seeing the three of them worriedly inquiring,
"Brother, Laila... I'm fine. And, Your Highness, thank you for your concern. But... hehe, I still have a long way to go."
With a smile that seemed far from having just fought, Althea smiled a bit sadly.
"...Lady Althea, you still have a long way to go? No, you're plenty strong. Being able to instantly defend against my attack, you're more than capable. And your lady-in-waiting as well. Moreover, the coordination between you two was excellent. If you two were to fight together, half of my guards, no, two-thirds wouldn't stand a chance... Truly... what an extraordinary young lady, Lord Monclair?"
As he said that, when Graham looked at Thomas, Thomas seemed to grin.
ShoujoDirector You may share your thoughts by commenting down below. Please click the heart icon to support my writing endeavors.
Upon returning from a long journey, they temporarily disbanded.
An hour later, Curio was supposed to come to pick them up, so they quickly wiped themselves down and changed into clothes suitable for swordsmanship.
While Althea was changing, Regalus was explaining to his parents in another room. After hearing the explanation, both parents left the room together.
An hour later, Curio came to pick them up. Althea and the other three followed Curio to the training ground.
When they arrived at the training ground, there were people they hadn't met before, along with Siegfried, and inexplicably, Thomas was there too. Adrian, Titania, and even Clara were sitting in the spectator stands.
"Why are you here, Father?" Regalus asked, to which Thomas replied with a smile, "I heard we were training, so I thought I'd join in for once."
"Wouldn't it disrupt the training if you joined, Father?"
"It'll be fine. I'll make sure to train properly."
"And, Father, who is this gentleman?" Regalus asked, nodding towards a burly soldier who looked very strong.
"Oh, he's the captain of the Royal First Guard."
"What?! Then..."
Surprised, Regalus looked at the man introduced as the captain of the Royal First Guard, who greeted him with a smile.
"I heard Lord Monclair would participate in training, so I wanted to join as well... Nice to meet you. I'm Graham Hulank, captain of the Royal First Guard. I've always heard about your son from His Highness, so I'm really looking forward to today. Hahaha..."
"Lord Hulank... Could it be the Duke Hulank's...? Thank you very much for your kindness. I am Regalus Von Monclair. Please forgive my inexperience."
As Regalus bowed deeply, a young girl who seemed barely of age stepped forward from behind him.
"Nice to meet you, Lord Hulank. I'm Althea Von Monclair."
Graham was surprised to see a girl who seemed out of place in a training ground and exclaimed loudly, "W-Why is such a lovely young lady... here in a training ground like this??"
Thomas patted Graham's shoulder and said, "She's my daughter... And she's quite strong, you know?"
"Huh?"
Turning to Thomas, Graham fell silent, lost in thought.
As Graham pondered, a voice came from the spectator stands.
"Have you all finished introducing yourselves? Let's get started already, or we'll run out of time."
Adrian shouted cheerfully.
"Yes, indeed... Then..."
In response to the voice, Thomas looked around and said, "Jean, you should spar with Curio. It'll be good training for both of you as guards. Lord Graham, please spar with Althea and Laila. And, Your Highness and Regalus, you'll spar with me."
With that said, Thomas took up his sword.
After nodding with Siegfried, Regalus and Thomas faced each other with their swords raised.
"Please take care of me."
The voices of Siegfried and Regalus overlapped as they both rushed towards Thomas. They were quite fast.
Meanwhile, Curio and Jean also began their sword fight.
Watching them, Graham realized that his opponent was the two girls. He turned to look at Althea and Laila slowly.
In front of his gaze were two beautiful girls smiling gently.
Is this okay? Even if they're said to be "quite strong," they're still girls??
As if sensing his thoughts, Laila said, "Don't worry just because we're girls."
Saying so, she lowered her stance.
It's not a normal sword stance... Could she be using concealed weapons? If so, it'll be troublesome if she gets too close. But still, she's just a girl...
As Graham was lost in thought, preparing for battle, Laila, who had entered a combat stance, said, "Well then... Please take care of us!"
Before she finished speaking, Laila ran towards Graham.
Following behind Laila, Althea also began to run.
"Please take care of us, Lord Hulank!"
With Althea's voice, she swung her sword down.
Just as Graham was parrying Laila's dagger that had come rushing towards him, Althea's sword descended without hesitation. Graham managed to deflect her sword with his own, then drew his own sword for defense.
Althea, who was knocked back, staggered for a moment but quickly regained her balance. Just as she was about to leap again,
"Wait a moment!" Graham exclaimed.
Huffing and puffing to catch their breath, Graham looked at the two and said,
"I apologize. I underestimated the two girls... Indeed, as Lord Monclair mentioned, the young ladies are quite strong. So, I'll take you on seriously... Is that alright?"
At the words "take you on seriously," Althea answered firmly while steeling herself,
"Of course, please do. Otherwise, it wouldn't be training."
Staring into the determined eyes of the two, Graham said,
"Understood. But... please wait a moment."
With that, he left the training ground.
"Eh?... Where did Lord Hulank go? He said he'd take us on 'seriously,' but does that mean he can't handle facing mere girls after all... I wonder what you think, Laila?"
"...Mocking young ladies..."
While Laila trembled with anger, Graham returned.
In his hands were three wooden swords and two wooden daggers made of wood.
"I'll take this seriously, but using real swords would be too difficult for me... So, let's stick with these for today's training."
Saying so, he handed one wooden sword to Althea and two wooden daggers to Laila.
While receiving the wooden sword, Althea asked a question,
"...With these, will you really take us on seriously?"
"Yes. I'll take you on seriously... I'll use two."
With that, Graham took up two swords.
Seeing Graham's stance, Althea and Laila nodded.
"Understood. Once again... 'Please take care of us.'"
Before they finished speaking, they charged at him together this time.
Graham blocked Althea's attack with his right wooden sword and dodged Laila's attack with his left wooden sword, analyzing the girls' fighting style.
They've changed their tactics from before, huh... Their swords are light, but their small stature and agility are troublesome. If it were just one person, their agility wouldn't be a problem, but these two... Their synchronization is unbelievable. Because of that, their combined attack power becomes more than that of two individuals... They're a good team, but they're still just girls. I'll continue to dodge until their stamina runs out...
As Graham calculated the timing of his counterattack,
However, their stamina didn't seem to decrease easily.
He thought it would take about five minutes, but they didn't stop attacking for nearly ten minutes.
They're not getting tired as expected... It's about time to anticipate their attacks and counterattack... Alright, now!
"Ha!!"
It was just a momentary event.
Althea, who had received Graham's full-force blow with her wooden sword, was pushed back about three meters from the impact. The wooden sword she received broke into two and was no longer usable.
Caught off guard by Althea being pushed back, Laila was restrained by Graham in that moment.
As Althea coughed a bit, saying, "I concede," Graham released Laila from his hold.
Once freed, Laila dashed towards Althea.
Regalus and Siegfried, who had already been defeated by Thomas, also ran towards Althea in the same manner.
"Althea, are you alright?!"
"Lady Althea?!"
"Lady Althea, are you safe?!"
Seeing the three of them worriedly inquiring,
"Brother, Laila... I'm fine. And, Your Highness, thank you for your concern. But... hehe, I still have a long way to go."
With a smile that seemed far from having just fought, Althea smiled a bit sadly.
"...Lady Althea, you still have a long way to go? No, you're plenty strong. Being able to instantly defend against my attack, you're more than capable. And your lady-in-waiting as well. Moreover, the coordination between you two was excellent. If you two were to fight together, half of my guards, no, two-thirds wouldn't stand a chance... Truly... what an extraordinary young lady, Lord Monclair?"
As he said that, when Graham looked at Thomas, Thomas seemed to grin.
ShoujoDirector You may share your thoughts by commenting down below. Please click the heart icon to support my writing endeavors.
