Chapter 90. < 36. Special Gift (3) >
Tania clenched her lips shut. Then she turned her head again and focused on her sword.
There was no time for this. If she kept getting distracted by that man any longer, even her position as the 3rd year top student might be in danger.
'Besides, your goal isn't just being top of the grade. It's much bigger. Get a grip, Tania!'
For my ambition, for success, for my dream, I must strive even more fiercely.
So let's forget about Rumian Kalad for now. Even if it's regrettable.
As she was thinking that, a familiar figure caught her eye.
It was Rumian. She was startled when the person she had just been thinking about approached her.
'What? Why is he coming to me first instead of going to Theoro...'
It was bewildering, and also puzzling.
As she was having those thoughts, he cleared his throat with a "ahem" and spoke up.
"Ah, hello? Senior?"
"Uh, um... right."
"Um, I'm sorry about last time. I didn't manage the parrot properly... You must have been really flustered..."
"Ah, no! It's fine! Guys can play pranks like that..."
"Phew, that's a relief. I was worried you might misunderstand."
"I don't misunderstand. Don't worry about it. Hahaha."
"Hahahaha..."
"......."
"......."
Silence flowed between the two.
Tania was in a situation where she didn't know what to do when Rumian approached just as she was about to focus on her sword. While her head told her to keep her distance, her heart didn't agree.
Rumian, for his part, had a complicated mind. He wanted to bring it up sophisticatedly and naturally, but he didn't have that kind of way with words. Because of that, awkward time kept passing.
"...Um, did you have something to say?"
"Yes?"
"Oh, I thought you came over because you had more to say."
In the end, it was Tania who spoke first.
She was too curious about why Rumian had come to see her to keep staying silent. She didn't think he had come just to apologize for what happened a few days ago.
Rumian scratched the back of his head innocently at her question.
The feeling was strange.
When he helped Theoro and Boomer, it definitely didn't feel like this.
'No, forget about them. Let's just say what I need to say.'
Rumian let out a short breath and looked at Tania.
Even though he wasn't making some embarrassing request, his face turned red for no reason.
With an awkward expression, he spoke.
"Um, if you're okay with it, Senior..."
"Yeah?"
"How about training together until the Swordsmanship Festival?"
"......."
"We could spar together, point out each other's weaknesses, and... um, this might sound like bragging, but I'm pretty good at giving guidance... So I thought it might be helpful to you in my own way. Ah! Of course, I'd be getting help too. It would be really great if you could help me. Hahaha..."
Rumian finished speaking with a laugh.
This was exactly the 'gift' he had thought of.
'What would Tania senior want most?'
Rumian, having heard Semu's advice, thought about this seriously.
And he judged that 'improvement in swordsmanship skill' was the answer to that.
Because Rumian also knew. The fact that Tania held great ambition.
Of course, to achieve that dream, she would need far more outstanding skill and excellent results than she had now.
Fortunately, it was an area where he could help.
'I may not know other things, but I'm confident when it comes to swordsmanship.'
That was why Rumian was thinking of giving Tania guidance sparring until the midterm evaluation, or until the Swordsmanship Festival if she agreed.
Rather than giving some trinket or jewelry as a gift, this would be much more helpful to her.
Of course, he couldn't openly use the expression 'guidance sparring.'
If he were the senior that would be one thing, but for a junior to speak that way would seem rude.
Because of that, he was slightly worried whether his meaning had been properly conveyed, but what worried him more was 'what if the senior refuses?'
'No, why am I worrying about that?'
He didn't understand.
If the senior refused, he could just say "Yes, I understand" and leave. There was no problem at all.
Nevertheless, he was anxious. It was embarrassing, as if he were asking someone out on a date, and his heart was pounding.
Rumian, with an unintentionally tense expression, looked at Tania's face, her lips.
What answer would she give?
I don't know, but anyway, I hope she doesn't refuse!
When he was having such thoughts deep in his heart,
"Okay!"
"...Ah, really?"
Rumian replied with a foolish smile. Tania repeated the same words even more foolishly.
"Of course! Of course! Absolutely of course!"
"R-really?"
"Obviously! A junior who's rated even higher than Cal Krone, the Academy's greatest genius, personally offering guidance sparring - who would refuse that?"
"No, not guidance sparring. Just..."
"Come on, it's fine. I know you phrased it that way out of consideration."
Tania said with a smile.
Rumian, who had been hesitating for a moment, made an embarrassed expression.
He should have denied it right away if he was going to, but he had already dragged it out too much. With a sheepish expression, he said,
"Well... haha... um, anyway, I'll have things to learn too..."
Slap!
"Ugh!"
"It's fine. You don't have to be so careful with your words."
Tania gave Rumian's back a sharp slap.
Her hand was quite stinging. Nevertheless, he didn't feel bad. It was perverted, but he thought it would be fine to get hit one more time.
'No, I'm really a pervert?'
Rumian, having awakened to a new taste, was maintaining a stiff expression when Tania brought a sword for him.
She looked quite pleased. And she actually was pleased.
Tania thought to herself while humming inwardly.
'This is the best. Why didn't I think of this before?'
She had been thinking wrongly until now.
She had considered swordsmanship training and spending time with Rumian as incompatible. She had thought that to do one, she had to give up the other.
But that wasn't the case.
If she honed her sword together with Rumian, everything would be resolved!
'It's even better than training alone!'
Whose fault was it that Theoro and Boomer's skills had grown so rapidly?
Certainly their individual efforts would have been tremendous, but Rumian's contribution would by no means be small.
Thinking about this, she was already getting excited.
'And regardless of that...'
Just because it was Rumian. That alone made her feel good.
To the extent that she had to guard against having other thoughts.
Tania said with a face full of smiles,
"Then I'm counting on you, Professor Rumian."
"Hahaha. Then shall we start with a light spar?"
Rumian said with a laugh as he raised his sword. Tania also took her stance and focused her eyes.
The 2nd year top student and the 3rd year top student - their match had begun.
***
"Damn it, that Rumian guy! It hasn't even been that long since he broke up with Leighton Wino, and already..."
Boomer grumbled with an uncomfortable expression. It was because Rumian, laughing and chatting with Tania Eloise, rubbed him the wrong way.
He himself had been single for as long as his age, and recently, he couldn't even talk to anyone except classmates.
Yet that guy, whom he had thought was his peer until last semester, was active like a fish in water, making him feel anxious.
"It's wrong, it's all wrong. Thinking about women even in the training hall..."
"No, you should try doing that too."
"Shut up, you bastard!"
As expected, Cal Krone gave Boomer a sharp rebuke. Boomer retorted with a growling voice.
"What? When they date somewhere else, get all lovey-dovey, and do that. Huh? I'm not saying anything! This is a sacred training hall! Moreover, it's the exclusive training hall where the Academy's best students gather!"
"Hmm."
"......."
"In a place like that, for a man and woman to just, you know, do that - is that okay or not? Theoro, you tell me!"
Boomer, who had been speaking heatedly, looked at Theoro.
Overwhelmed by his intensity, Theoro flinched and asked back.
"What?"
"In the sacred scholarship student training hall, thinking only about hitting on women - is that okay or not?"
"...Um. As long as they don't cause harm to those around them, wouldn't it be fine?"
"That's not the answer I wanted!"
Boomer shouted, and Theoro shook his head.
Lately, that guy looked even more pitiful. His pity had grown so much that even the ill feelings he had built up last year were forgotten.
'Should I just play along?'
He was even thinking that when Cal Krone raised his hand and pointed in one direction. The other two's gazes naturally followed.
The figures of Rumian and Tania, who had taken their stances at some point, came into view. The two, having shouted their battle cries, swung their swords at each other.
Ka-kang!
Chaeng-chaeng!
Attacks laden with Aura!
Even though it was a sparring match, it was fierce enough to feel dangerous. It wasn't inferior at all compared to when Theoro, Boomer, and Cal Krone sparred among themselves.
No, it actually seemed even more intense. Rumian pressed Tania mercilessly without holding back, and Tania grit her teeth and desperately resisted.
Boomer watched with a dazed look.
Cal Krone, who had approached from the side at some point, placed a hand on his shoulder.
"It seems like they're behaving appropriately for the training hall? Of course, it doesn't seem like there's absolutely no ulterior motive."
"......."
"Don't badmouth a friend who works hard at both training and dating. Let's spar one more time. If I win, I'll introduce you to a woman I know. How about that?"
"Really? You mean it!"
Boomer said with a brightened face. Cal Krone nodded.
"Of course. I don't lie."
"Good. Here I go. Kuaaaah!"
Boomer raised his sword with a vigorous shout.
Cal Krone faced him with a relaxed expression.
Theoro, watching the two, shook his head back and forth.
With Boomer's current skill, he couldn't beat Cal Krone. At best, he could only make him breathe heavily.
In other words, Cal Krone had no intention of introducing a woman to Boomer.
'He really is a bad bastard.'
Should I introduce someone?
Theoro thought for a moment.
Then he shook his head even more vigorously.
He couldn't do that. If he did, who knows what the woman might say.
'There's no need to go out of my way to get cursed at.'
Having reached a conclusion, Theoro also began his individual training.
Several hours passed like that.
***
"Let's take a short break."
"Hah, hah, haah! O-okay, hoo."
"I'm sorry. I should have stopped in the middle."
"I-it's fine, hah, haah..."
Tania kept gasping for breath.
She couldn't even respond properly to Rumian's words. Normally, her pride would have been hurt and she would have slightly frowned, but right now she couldn't do that at all.
'Tremendously... strong!'
It was a shock.
Of course, she knew that Rumian Kalad was stronger than her.
Just looking at what she saw at the Swordsmanship Festival, he was above her, and the skill she witnessed at the Subculture Research Club building far exceeded even that.
Tania wasn't a clueless sore loser. She was someone who acknowledged what needed to be acknowledged, and she had absolutely no heart of jealousy just because a junior was superior to her.
However, she honestly hadn't thought the difference would be this severe.
'The gap is so big that it would be an insult to feel hurt by it. How can this be...'
Having caught her breath, Tania made a frustrated expression.
While she had become slightly lax since the start of the second semester, she still prided herself on working much harder than others.
Yet seeing the gap widen, she got angry. She felt so pathetic she couldn't stand it.
'It's fine. Rather, it worked out well.'
Of course, she wasn't someone who would give up at this level.
She had clawed her way up to this position, receiving more doubt than praise. If she was going to be downhearted over something like today, she would have abandoned the path of a knight long ago.
She looked at Rumian with a smiling face.
"You're amazing. It's a total defeat."
"You can't call it a total defeat..."
"No, I acknowledge it. You have to acknowledge it to move to the next step. Ah, I'm really glad. If I hadn't sparred with you, I would have lived like a frog in a well for a long time. Seeing it and actually facing it are completely different."
Rumian gave an awkward smile.
Tania continued speaking.
"By the way, is there anything you can point out?"
"Hmm..."
"There is, isn't there. Then speak comfortably. I won't get sulky over something like this, so don't feel burdened."
She meant it.
He was different from people who were only stubborn about their pride.
If it was advice from someone stronger than herself, she was ready to listen with an open mind. Seriousness could be seen in her eyes.
"Hmm."
But Rumian didn't let his guard down.
Because the advice he was about to give was something difficult for anyone to accept. To the extent that it was burdensome to say.
'But I have to do it.'
If they weren't particularly close, he might not have bothered. If she was someone without talent, he might not have bothered.
Tania didn't fall into either category.
That was why he absolutely had to give this advice. He really wanted to see her break through her current wall and make rapid progress.
Having finished his thoughts, Rumian opened his mouth.
"Tania senior."
"Yeah."
"How about completely changing your swordsmanship style?"
"...What?"
Tania made a bewildered expression.
She thought he would at most mention some parts of her movements, or point out small mistakes.
Telling her to change her style itself?
'What's wrong with my swordsmanship style?'
A sense of rebellion rose up without her realizing.
Her face contained unmistakable dissatisfaction that she couldn't hide.