150 – Love Front (3)

Naturally, the winner of the Dalian was Alphonse.

It was the most basic difference in experience beyond the difference between men and women that decided the victory or defeat of the two. Alphonse Krause was used to holding a sword, and Lizerote Cromel was not. That’s it.

You may think it’s not a big deal, but as always, the basics are the most important.

Before learning any weaponry, learn how to hold it first. This is to ensure that the weapon in my hand does not injure myself, and at the same time, it is for the most efficient and most powerful use.

If you know how to embody the teachings at once, that person must be a genius.

In that respect, there was no difference between Alphonse and Lizerote. Because both of them are geniuses. He was a genius who knew how to catch the tricks contained in them just by watching others wield them once, and was able to embody them.

However, even if you are a genius, you need more than a certain amount of effort to train your body.

A body that becomes stronger just by breathing is a difficult constitution, at least for humans. Like other humans, Alphonse and Lizerote did not have such a constitution, and the gap between the two eventually boils down to how often they hold the sword.

Alphonse reflexively focused on the brisk but silent footsteps.

If it had been an ambush in the dark, it would have been difficult, but the lights of the mansion were still brightly lit, and above all, what Alphonse was doing was sparring in an open space. Although she hid her voice, Lizerote was not fast enough to hide herself.

However, the girl was originally the daughter of a knight’s family, not raised to be an assassin. Even if it wasn’t a surprise attack, there would be no problem for Lizerote to use her original skills to perform sword techniques.

Alphonse’s eyes followed the girl’s sword while appreciating it slowly.

Actually, the girl’s sword was a knight’s sword.

True to the name Kromel, Lizerote’s swordsmanship was sophisticated and powerful.

There was no awkwardness somewhere, but even taking this into account, it was enough to praise it as excellent. It was only Alphonse’s feeling that initially thought of an ambush, but it was not Lizerote’s intention.

That clean movement made me feel uneasy about something. It wasn’t Alphonse, it was Lizerote who opened it. Alphonse, thinking that it was strange, cut off the swords that were attacking him one by one. Regardless of how you feel, Dalian was Dalian, so winning or losing is at stake, so you can’t just be stabbed with a sword.

When the wooden swords collided more than 10 times, Alphonse was able to find out the identity of the sense of incongruity he felt.

‘Well….’

Every time he received a sword strike, Lizerote seemed to have a harder time than the one who received it.

It soon became clear that it was because the girl was not used to holding a sword. A talent that allows you to practice swordsmanship even awkwardly, even if you haven’t practiced. With that exceptional talent, Lizerote was using the family swordsmanship in front of Alphonse.

Alphonse, who found the identity of the sense of incongruity, thought about it for a while and then cut off Lizerote’s sword at a faster rate than before, which was dryly continuing the sparring. The boy did not feel the need to continue sparring any longer. Sparring is only meaningful when both parties have something to gain from each other, but there is nothing mutually beneficial about an act like this, at least that’s what Alphonse thought.

“oh.”

In response to a stronger counterattack, Lizerote’s arm went up along with the sword.

The girl’s hand let go of the sword due to the repulsive force transmitted from the sword, and the wooden sword fell to the ground, signaling the end of the sparring.

Alphonse threw the wooden sword in his hand to the ground and approached Lizerote and said,

“I won.”

“I will. Unfortunately…”

“Give me your hand.”

“Yes?”

Before Lizerote could say anything, Alphonse grabbed the girl’s hand. As expected, the hand belonged to someone who had never held a sword before, without a single callus.

Alphonse took a handkerchief from his pocket and wrapped it around the girl. Then, Lizerote’s pupils shook and headed for the handkerchief. Perhaps more interested in the handkerchief wrapped around him than the injured palm, Lizerote looked around at the handkerchief wrapped around her palm with her eyes shining.

Alphonse asked her first before Lizerote, who had a face that seemed to like it, spoke of her impressions of the handkerchief.

“Why did you say sparring?”

“…What do you mean by that?”

“This is the first time, grabbing a sword.”

What Alphonse said was true. In fact, Lizerote was holding a sword for the first time today. He was simply copying over his shoulder what Reinhardt and Maximilian were practicing with his overflowing talent.

“Why are you hurting your hands like this…”

Alphonse didn’t understand.

Even if it was the talent he had, why did someone who had never held a sword before ask him to practice sparring? From the second and third sums, the hand must have been strained already. If it had started on a whim, he would have liked to have stopped then, but Lizerote did not.

Knowing that if he had left it as it was, he would have continued to grab the sword and attack, so Alphonse could not calmly watch it.

What was the trigger that made a person who had no interest in swords so far continue to fight with himself so steadfastly? Alphonse couldn’t understand it at all.

Was it because I was taken aback by Alphonse’s question or because Alphonse was holding my hand? Lizerote looked away for no reason and answered with a creeping voice.

“Uh, I guess it was because I wanted to be close to you…?”

“Yes?”

“I want to be friends with Alphonse.”

Seeing that Alphonse still had a puzzled face at Liselotte’s answer, which seemed to have skipped a lot, Liselotte continued to speak, perhaps realizing that my explanation was insufficient.

“Some of you regret that you missed the sparring between your older brother and Prince Krauss… and since you seem to like swords, I thought we would be able to become friends this way. Well, but I guess that wasn’t the case.”

“Ah, no, if it wasn’t like that, I could have just said it without having to do it like this…”

“Hmm? Is that so?! This is my first time making friends, so I didn’t know much about it, but would you like to be my friend?”

“…Ah yes.”

As Lizerote laughed happily at his answer, Alphonse’s hair seemed to go white. It wasn’t that I felt strange, it was just because I was dumbfounded.

As the absurdity passed, Alphonse’s new feeling was sorry. Hailey wasn’t the only person Alphonse should be ashamed of. I felt sorry for the fact that I had hit a wall with her who was innocently sending favors out of useless self-consciousness.

“Next time, let’s play with something other than sparring. Something that one side can enjoy together rather than one-sided fun.”

“Um, chess?”

“That’s fine too.”

At Alphonse’s words, Lizerote nodded in agreement.

***

Liserotte Cromel liked Alphonse Krause.

Lizerote wasn’t a girl with romantic feelings like falling in love at first sight, but her meeting with the boy was definitely fateful.

A girl who was about to be hit by a carriage and a beautiful boy of the same age who rescued her.

If this situation, which seems to come out of a story, is not called fate, then what should I say?

Of course, if the farewell on the street at that time had been the last, Lizerote would have dismissed it as just passing through, but on the same evening she discovered a boy who came to her mansion as a guest, and she was convinced that there was some destiny between her and the boy.

To be precise, it wasn’t love. It would be right to have a crush that can transform into love at any time.

The girl was rational enough for a girl to fall in love just because of coincidences that happened in just one day. However, it is an undeniable fact that it aroused a certain liking for Alphonse Krause.

“Oh, Alphonse. Kingstar crab isn’t what you eat. Wait a minute. I’ll apply it.”

“Yes? Yes. Thank you…”

Even if it means that the boy is ashamed of showing his immaturity to the older sister he likes. Is it because of the direction of one-sided emotions? Lizerote thought it was cute that the boy was shy before feeling jealous.

Alphonse’s affection for Hailey was not something to be concerned about because he knew that a relationship should be established in both directions, not one-way. The degree of being able to see in advance when that thing was headed for her, for a girl, Alphonse’s feelings for Hailey had just that much value.

Of course, knowing that he was no different in the current situation, Lizerote decided to make a relationship so that this would not be one-sided. So what I came up with was to be friends with the boy first.

Lizerote had never had a relationship as a friend, but she knew that it was a relationship in which many emotions were shared.

In order for it to be two-way rather than one-way, you must first share that feeling. The girl intended to fill the boy with the same affection she had, starting with a relationship as a friend. And it seems to have been somewhat successful.