Fritz and Sven exchanged a look.
"Lu. You want to go two against one?"
"That's right. Will you indulge me?"
Fritz agreed right away. "You said there's something new you want to try, right? Okay, I'm in."
"D-don't just agree without me, Fritz!" Sven protested. "We can't fight Lucius at the same time! That's not fair!"
"Sven, we won't be able to beat Lucius just by ganging up on him."
Sven hesitated, but with the other boy already on board, he eventually held up his weapon too.
Rishe pointed one of her blades at Sven. "I'm ready when you are."
"Let's go!" Sven charged forward first with a wide, strong swing. He slashed out with all his might.
"Don't rely on brute strength." Rishe took one step back and dodged the blow. Sven immediately swung again, aiming for her shoulder. She swatted his sword away, and just that was enough to knock him off balance.
"Ugh…" Sven adjusted his grip. He was being hasty, but it was impressive that he hadn't dropped his weapon in the scuffle.
"You don't want to put all your weight into the strike. If you hit, it'll be hard to maintain your position. If you miss, it'll be even worse."
"Yaaah!"
"Every time you attack, always be thinking ahead to your next move." As Rishe explained, she blocked Sven's blow with the sword in her left hand. Amid the loud clash of blades, she felt another one flying toward her. Rishe raised her right sword and blocked the attack from above.
"Whoa, you're awesome, Lu!"
Grinning at Fritz's enthusiasm, Rishe pushed the two of them back. She flipped her swords around and got in close to Sven. When she moved to jam a hilt into his gut, Sven blocked her.
"Nice moves! So close!"
Rishe spun around, swinging at Fritz this time. Fritz managed to block, but her attacks continued. If she couldn't get a hit in on him, she switched to the other sword. Pushing Fritz back with her left, she swung at Sven with her right.
"Sven! Don't block it, dodge it!"
"Augh!"
"Just like that! Sven, watch how Fritz moves—and Fritz, match your breathing to Sven's!"
The two of them briefly looked at each other, then attacked Rishe as one. It still wasn't enough.
"Almost there. If you were in the other person's position, where would you aim for?"
"Ah…"
Sven shouted first. "Right, I get it! Fritz, get down!"
"Got it!"
At those words, Fritz dropped his hips without a moment's delay. He went down so low that he almost scraped the ground as he tried to sweep Rishe's legs from under her. The moment she jumped to dodge, Sven lunged. She brought up both hands, blocking his attack with her blades, twisting her upper body as soon as she landed. Caught up in her motion, Sven fell in front of Fritz.
Fritz reached out to protect him, grabbing his arm and yanking him upright again, and the two of them immediately launched into another attack. Rishe blocked them with both swords.
Feeling the impact of the blows, Rishe couldn't suppress her excitement.
Amazing! They're already way better!
They'd been attacking separately before, but the moment they focused on working together, their movements completely transformed. She had to wonder if they realized it. Even as she caught their swords, their eyes were still full of life. They were having the time of their lives, and it was clear as day on their faces.
"Fritz, we'll push through on our next attack!"
"Yeah, let's do it!"
"Good choice. But too bad!" Rishe took a short breath and then swiftly drew back.
"Huh?!"
Without Rishe's swords to push against, the boys lost their balance. She took advantage of the moment to strike at Fritz's sword, spinning the tip of her blade.
Unable to withstand the coiling motion, Fritz let go of his weapon, which went flying into the distance. Rishe moved into Sven's range next.
"Ugh!"
She brought her left blade down, and Sven blocked her with a horizontal guard. With his sword tensed for an impact from above, it was weak to a strike from below. Rishe batted her right sword upward, loosening Sven's grip as well. His weapon spun in the air and hit the ground.
"Haah, haah, hah…"
Their match at an end, the two boys were in a daze.
Rishe whipped her swords through the air and beamed at them. "It's just like I figured during our matches yesterday. You two have good combat compatibility."
"M-me and Fritz…?"
"That's right. I wanted to see how you'd work together. I'm glad I got an opportunity so soon."
Both of them had talent, and it seemed they had a similar approach to swordsmanship. Otherwise, they wouldn't work so well together with just a few words of advice. If they both became knights, she was sure they'd progress incredibly quickly. Rishe grinned, imagining that future for them—but Fritz and Sven were still slack-jawed.
"So the thing you wanted to try wasn't a skill or a strategy…but us?"
"That's right. It was really fun too. I'd love to do it again tomorrow!"
Sven's expression hardened. "I can't believe you…"
"Aha ha ha!" As for Fritz, he seemed to find the whole thing hilarious.
"We'll have to meet up for morning practice again tomorrow, Sven! Let's have a strategy meeting so we can beat Lu!"
"Fine! I'll be here, dammit! In fact, I'll get here before you do, Lucius. I dunno when you come and start stretching, but you won't beat me next time!"
I actually clean before I stretch, but that's just a personal habit. I won't mention it.
Then Sven squeezed out, "Sorry. For everything."
"I told you it didn't bother me, didn't I?"
At that, Sven looked to be on the verge of tears. "…I'll beat you one of these days."
"Yeah. I don't plan on going easy on you, though."
"Damn it!"
Rishe smiled, then felt eyes on her. When she turned, she found Fritz staring at her hard. "What's up, Fritz?"
"Huh?! Oh, no, it's nothing! I guess I was just thinking you smile a lot, Lu!"
"You think so? Thanks. But to me, you're the one who always seems so cheerful, Fritz."
Deep down, she wished she could smile more, but when she let her mind wander, it tended to latch on to her worries. She fought to keep them off her face as she focused on the entrance to the training grounds. There was no one else around yet, but it was still early.
Lord Lawvine will be here soon… I have to gather as much information as I can during today's training. I need to be prepared for tonight!
Thus, Rishe covertly hyped herself up for the coming party.
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