“The ground is in a different state this morning than it was when I saw it after training.”

She had acclimated herself when she swept the area with a broom, and he had probably sparred with someone else. The traces on the ground and the bruises on Sven’s wrists gave it away.

“We have a limited amount of time to use the training grounds, and it would be more efficient if we all trained together. So why don’t you join us?”

“… I didn’t come here to work out with you.”

Sven clenched his fists tightly and took a deep breath before speaking.

“Fight with me again, Lucius.”

“Err, Sven…”

Fritz blurted out, dumbfounded.

“Lu won yesterday on merit, not on a fluke. You might be reluctant to admit it, but …”

“I know!”

“!”

It was a strangled voice.

“There’s a difference in ability between me and Lucius. The truth is, I knew that much the moment I lost to this guy yesterday!… So, I considered it seriously. I went around asking the other guys what I was lacking! I’m just trying to figure out how I can be strong enough to beat Lucius….”

“Sven…”

Sven took another deep breath and then turned to Rishe and told her.

“You’re better at this than I am! Knowing that, I want to sign up for a rematch. To find out how hard I need to work enough to surpass you!”

“―― ……”

Sven’s shoulders were trembling. Even his face was red and he looked on the verge of tears. You could see the mixture of emotions on his face such as frustration, nervousness and embarrassment.

It must have taken a lot of courage to ask Rishe. Nevertheless, he turned to her and pleaded.

“Please, Lucius. Give me another chance.”

“Lu….”

“…”

Fritz looked back at her. Rishe nodded at him, smiled and replied.

“Alright. Let’s do it.”

“Huh?”

When put that way, she earned a look of disbelief.

“Uhm, it’s that simple? I made a fool of you yesterday!”

“I just didn’t want to get Fritz in trouble, and I didn’t dwell on the ins and outs of it.”

“More than that, it would disrupt your morning training time…”

“It’s fine. Besides, I’ve got a few things I want to try…”

While listening to Sven’s hurried words, she went to pick a wooden sword that was propped up against the wall of the training ground.

In addition to the normal wooden sword that she used yesterday, there was also a wooden dagger that was only half of it.

“By the way, may I ask what strategy you’ve come up with?”

“… You’re powerful, but you’re weak in strength. So I’m going to have to put pressure on my arms and prevent you from attacking me…”

“There certainly will be something painful in executing those tactics.”

Rishe chuckled. She chose two wooden swords of normal length and two shorter ones, and held them in both hands.

“Fritz, if you don’t mind, would you like to spar with us?”

“Yes, of course! I would have asked for a match with Lu myself.”

“Fufu, good. I’m glad to hear that.”

“Oh, oh~…”

When she smiled in relief, Fritz looked troubled for some reason. Wondering, she handed him one of the wooden swords and offered the other to Sven as well.

“You, are you really going to spar with me …?”

“Of course. But I just have one request.”

“Request?”

“Yeah.”

Rishe nodded and clutched two short wooden swords, one in each hand.

Then she smiled.

“I want you two to work together and fight me, not a one-on-one sparring.”

“Nah ――…”

“The two of us?!”

Fritz and Sven screamed and then looked at each other.

“Lu, you mean, two against one?”

“Yeah. Will you do it?”

She asked Fritz, and he nodded immediately.

“It’s something you wanted to ‘try’, right? Okay, sure thing.”

“Ha, don’t get me started, Fritz! The two of us against one Lucius, we can’t be that cowardly!”

“Know what, Sven. It’s wrong of you to think that you could beat Lu if you challenge him with numbers and strength.”

Sven was puzzled, but when he realized that Fritz was on board, he readied his wooden swords as if he had made up his mind.

With two wooden swords in hand, Rishe pointed the tip of her right sword to Sven and said, “Whenever you’re ready, please.”

“— Come on!”

T/N: I think Sven’s gonna cry if he finds out he’s a she hahahaha…