Chapter 1-13 : Coming From Afar Ⅰ (part 3)
「E, Eh? M, Master, hold on!」(Sarasa)
Master pulled my hand and took me outside.
There was plenty of space between my store and Ells-san’s house.
More than enough for moving our body around.
I was supposed to be grateful with this space, but now I wish that my store and Ells-san’s house were closer…
「Sarasa, what weapon can you use?」(Ophelia)
「I can use a sword, but… Oh, that’s right! I don’t have a sword now! Ahh~ too bad~ Looks like we have to cancel this training~」(Sarasa)
I have money, but I don’t think I will use it to buy a sword.
When I was at school, I always borrowed one from the school during training, so I didn’t have to buy a sword back then.
But actually, I bought a dagger for self-defense on my way to this village.
Well, I haven’t encountered a situation where I had to use it, fortunately.
Ah, but you know?
My sword skills were the best in my grade at school.
‘How come’, you ask?
It was because apart from alchemy tests, the school also gave reward money for students who had the highest score on the fighting test.
Since it didn’t affect your grades, many students had no motivation to get the top place in the fighting test.
In such a situation, I couldn’t help but to use it as an opportunity to get the reward money!
The teacher who taught swordsmanship also enthusiastically taught me because I was the most motivated student at that time.
However, it doesn’t mean that I like fighting using a sword, because my purpose was just to get the reward money after all.
「So you don’t have a weapon, huh? Can’t be helped, then.」(Ophelia)
「Right? So let’s stoー」(Sarasa)
「ーI’ll give you this. It’s not that great, but I think it’s good enough for you.」(Ophelia)
Before I could say “let’s stop”, Master pulled out a sword from her waist bag and threw it at me.
「Awawaa!」(Sarasa)
I was surprised, but I managed to catch it.
I looked at its blade that reflected my face clearly.
It was really clean and shiny.
Since this is Master’s, this sword must be really expensive.
「Master, it looks pretty expensive. Are you sure I can use it?」(Sarasa)
「I don’t mind. That’s a well-made sword, but it’s not a big deal.」(Ophelia)
Not a big deal, huh…?
It might look expensive, but since Master said that, I decided not to hesitate to use it.
Master took out another swordー No, it’s not a real sword. It’s a training sword.
「Alright. Now, try to attack me with that.」(Ophelia)
「Ehh? But… I’m using a real sword… Master, you’ll get hurt…」(Sarasa)
「Hooー? Do you think you can hit me?」(Ophelia)
「Guh…!」(Sarasa)
Master grinned as she said such a thing, making me a little pissed off.
Yes, I know I might not be able to hit her!
Besides, it’s scary to swing a real sword at her.
「Don’t worry. Even if you hit me with that sword, as long as I’m alive, I can just use the ‘complete recovery’ potions I have prepared. So Sarasa, you don’t have to worry if you get injured too.」(Ophelia)
「But it’s still painful, rightー!?」(Sarasa)
Being irritated by her, I attacked her suddenly, but she easily defected my sword.
Even though I added more continuous attacks, she easily dodged and blocked them all.
「Ho, Hoo~ Sarasa, did you really only learn how to use a sword in practice sessions at school? You’re better than I expected.」(Ophelia)
「Hahh.. Hahh… But you stopped all of my attacks… hahh… so easily…!」(Sarasa)
I even used body strengthening to continuously attack her at a high speed, but Master didn’t even move her legs when stopping my attacks.
「Hmm… If you’re this good from just practicing in school, you might have a talent for swordsmanship.」(Ophelia)
Master talked normally as I desperately kept attacking her.
Ahhー! Are you kidding me!?
Was my achievement of being the best student on the fighting test just a lie?
It’s true that my purpose was money, but I put a lot of effort into it!
「Sarasa, you’re truly worthy of my teaching.」(Ophelia)
Said Master happily as she deflected my sword.
Why can she do that while speaking as if my attacks were nothing!?
Look at me! I can’t even catch my breath!
I jumped back to make some distance from her and tried to catch my breath.
「Hahh… Master… hahh… are you really an alchemist!?」(Sarasa)
「You’re also pretty good, you know? You’re much better than soldiers who rarely practice.」(Ophelia)
‘Who rarely practice’, huh?
Well, I was plenty confident before she ‘praised’ me.
But now, that confidence was shattered by Master’s overwhelming sword skills.
By the way, even though we had intense combat practice, the sword I used hasn’t lost its brilliance even a little.
It still looked as beautiful as before.
「…..Hahh… Master, are we still going…?」(Sarasa)
「What are you talking about? I just wanted to see how good you are at using a sword. We haven’t even started the lesson yet.」(Ophelia)
「Eehhh…. Are you serious…?」(Sarasa)
Looking at Master smiling happily, I held my sword tightly and took a stance.
「Well, if you keep practicing like this for half a day, I’m sure you can get better, so don’t worry.」(Ophelia)
I’m not sure what she meant by ‘don’t worry’.
However, this is my master we’re talking about, so I don’t have a choice but to believe in her.
First, she taught me how to swing a sword properly.
Practice was dull, but she taught me really enthusiastically.
While swinging my sword, I was wonderingー
Why are there no customers coming?
Hmm…
Noー They ARE coming, but they’re just watching me practicing from a distance.
Looks like they don’t want to disturb me.
Guysー You don’t need to hesitateー Please come andー
Help me!
But of course they can’t hear the shouting of my soul…
In the end, Master trained me until the sun went down…