Yuusha no Yarou to Moto Konyakusha, Aitsura Zenin Buttsubusu Chapter 3

Training

We were now 15 years old.

We grew up, as did our abilities.

If I were to rank ourselves in terms of strength, it would be me, Sere, then Lyrica, but honestly, there isn’t much of a difference. Rather, Sere can dish out more moves than me, while Lyrica can make a sharp thrust.

Our weapon preferences changed as well.

I preferred to use an orthodox long sword, Sere used two swords made for slashing, and Lyrica used a single-edged tachi.

I began to train my body outside of the mock battles, adding muscle training and marathon running to my daily routine, and now my strength and stamina are on a different level compared to others of the same age.

Lyrica and Sere were the same. Though lighter than mine, they also began doing muscle training and marathon running. Thanks to that, they had fit bodies, but the sweet sides they had surprised me many times.

Lyrica tied her long black hair with a ribbon to make a ponytail.

It seems that she wanted to cut it, but I somehow managed to stop her. That hairstyle suited Lyrica, and when I gave her a simple red ribbon to go with it, she was overjoyed to the point of tears.

Her height and figure had changed, certain parts of her body swelled while other parts slimmed.

Since we were going through puberty, it was inevitable that she would become conscious about taking off her shirt or having it drenched with sweat.

Lyrica was also conscious of it, but didn’t seem to stop.

Sere grew her hair out a bit and tied it up.

I couldn’t give a gift to only Lyrica, so I gave Sere a hairband with a bird engraved on it.

After that, she grew her hair out to the point that she could tie it, but not to the point where it would get in the way.

She didn’t grow that much in height, and her figure didn’t change much either.

Her chest was particularly pitiful. I remember seeing her stare at Lyrica a couple of times while sighing.

We were training today, like the usual.

“Let’s begin, Light.”

“Hold on, aren’t you going to inspect your opponent during a match?”

Lyrica held a wooden sword that was the length of a tachi.

I held a wooden long sword. The wooden sword was engraved with the words “Wooden Sword No. 589”.

“……!!”

“Ooooooh!!”

Lyrica’s sword was fast.

Furthermore, her technique was skillful.

I dodged a diagonal slash she made and then had my sword receive the blow of a slice she followed up with.

Like that, I guided my sword towards Lyrica’s bosom, causing her to take a step back.

Naturally, I wouldn’t let that chance slip.

But as soon as I thought about taking action, Lyrica then leaped forward.

“Hah!!”

“?!”

She aimed at…my chest.

She had anticipated my attack and purposely made herself open.

I’ll give her points for that…but she’s too naive.

“Ooh!!”

“Huh?!”

I poked Lyrica’s behind with the hilt of my sword.

I made this risky move, knowing that Lyrica would try to finish things with a thrust to the chest.

Taken by surprise, Lyrica lost her balance.

Not missing that chance, I dove towards Lyrica’s bosom, grabbed ahold of her arm, and then thrust my sword.

“…I surrender. It’s my loss.”

“I won…though I had to take a risk…”

I was able to do it since I correctly guessed what Lyrica’s attack would be.

Perhaps if it wasn’t Lyrica doing it, I wouldn’t have been able to dodge it.

“It’s still your win Light, you know?”

“Well, I suppose it’s the results that matter.”

“Both of you, that’s enough for today.”

Sere appeared while holding cups of juice and placed towels over our heads.

We wiped up our faces with the towels and gulped down the juice.

“What about our teacher?”

“This evening as usual…or rather, he said ‘There’s nothing left to teach you anymore.'”

“He also said that yesterday, Sere.”

“Yeah…it’s become a habit of his.”

My father stopped teaching us about a year ago.

The reason being that there was no need for him to teach anymore.

Despite that, Lyrica, Sere, and I looked up to my father and have been calling him our teacher the whole time.

It had become common to hear these kinds of things from my father.

“sigh…”

“What’s wrong, Sere?”

“Well, to tell the truth…”

“Oh, did they oppose you again?”

“It seems so.”

Sere’s parents were opposed to her joining the chivalric order, just like what I was doing.

I decided to become a knight so that I could have two wives, but Sere told us that she herself wanted to be one as well.

Of course, Lyrica and I approved of it. However, Sere’s parents were against it.

“I wonder why they won’t allow me to be a knight, even when Light accepted me and approved of it…”

“Well, the chivalric order is a place for men. It’s not like there aren’t any female knights, but it’s pretty uncommon.”

“I’d like it if my parents could approve of it though.”

Lyrica also applied for the chivalric order exam.

She decided on it after thinking that it would be weird for Sere and I to take the exam while she didn’t.

I didn’t understand her reasoning, but nevertheless, we applied for the exam.

“Before that…there’s the matter of ‘Gifts.'”

“Right. It’s over for us if we get bad ‘Gifts.'”

“Yep. Though, Sere and Light, you’ll both definitely get good ‘Gifts.'”

“I wonder…”

The “Gift Awakening” was several months away.

It was a ceremony in the kingdom’s cathedral where a god would give a blessing of power to the men and women who become adults of 16 years old.

“Rumors said that during last year’s ceremony, ‘Four Great Sword Blessings’ appeared.”

“Hey hey, you’re talking about the fabled Gifts, right? The four holy swords that sealed the ‘Demon Lord of Blades’… That’s absurd. If those ‘Gifts’ had emerged, then what would that mean for the seal on the ‘Demon Lord of Blades’?”

“C’mon, they’re just rumors. Besides, it’s actually the four holy swords and the ‘Holy Sword of the Hero.'”

“That doesn’t matter. It doesn’t involve us.”

“Well, I guess you have a point.”

Right, this doesn’t concern us.

The “Gift Awakening” a couple of months later would determine our lives.

My thoughts focused on obtaining a battle-oriented “Gift” in order to get into the chivalric order.

However, things seldom go as one wishes.