Chapter 28.1 - Recruitment Period and Strange Group [1] – part 1 (1/2)

28. Recruitment Period and Strange Group [1] – part 1

After that, for a week, I learned soul dress during class periods, and after school, I single-mindedly swung my sword alone – it was such a fulfilling week.

From then on, I confronted that guy many times over and lost every time.

-But it’s not without progress.

That guy, who was so strong to the point of being invincible, has been evading my slashes once in a while for the past few days.

(Is it about once every 100 times…?)

Even I thought to myself「That was a good slash!」.

That guy always evades only during those particular slashes.

At first, I thought「Was it on a whim?」, but apparently not.

That guy who always takes my slashes head on with his robust body… Only when I unleash a good slash does he evade without fail.

(That guy… probably judged that he wouldn’t escape unscathed.)

Thinking about that… makes me happy. My heart beats excitedly.

What I have not been able to cut until now, I will be able to cut. The joy of experiencing growth.

Such feelings overflowed within me.

It’s like the first time I cut the little space in the prison of time.

(If I train as it is, I will surely be able to beat that guy someday. If that happens, I can also attain soul dress…!)

While I was waiting for Ria at the entrance of the room, filling my heart with such hope,

「Sorry for making you wait, Allen! I overslept a little…」

「It’s alright. We still have a lot of time.」

There is still another 30 minutes until the start of the first period. This dormitory is located within the Thousand Blade Academy, so even if we left 5 minutes before the start of the first period, we would still make it in time – thus, there’s still plenty of time to spare.

「…More importantly, are you alright? You don’t seem to be getting good sleep lately?」

Was it from the time since we started taking classes for soul dress?

Ria has been having trouble falling asleep. Even after she fell asleep, she muttered painful voices in her sleep and tossed and turned over and over again.

As I genuinely asked her worriedly,

「……!? U-Umm… don’t look at my sleeping face too much…」she blushed with an embarrassed look.

「Ah, no, S-Sorry…」

It may have been improper to say that to a teenage girl…

As I was troubled about what to say next,

「…Did I make a s-strange face?」Ria timidly asked me.

「T-That was no problem! You have a beautiful sleeping face as usual!」

「B-Beautiful…… T-Thank you.」

「You are w-welcome…?」

「……」

「……」

Ria sank into silence, and I was not sure as to what to say either.

「……」

「……」

An indescribable strange atmosphere loomed over us, and the ticking sound of the second hand of the wall clock resounded loudly.

(I-It feels so heavy… However, I created this atmosphere, I should say something…!)

(W-What to do… It turned weird suddenly…!?)

Then a little… No, quite forcibly, I tried to break through that atmosphere with the brute force of a loud voice.

「…W-Well, let’s go!」

「Y-Yeah…! That’s right!」

Ria caught on well, so we succeeded in getting out of the stalemate safely. After that, Ria and I left the dormitory in a high tension state.

And as we reached the main building of Thousand Blade Academy.

「Swimming Club! Please join the swimming club…!」

「You there, do you want to polish your swordsmanship? How about joining the Swordsmanship Club…?」

「Let’s run faster, the Track Club! First-year students! Join the Track Club and let’s run like the『wind』!」

Swimsuit, martial arts uniform, short pants – Seniors, wearing their respective club’s uniforms, were handing out a large amount of flyers.

「What’s this…?」

「I don’t know either…」

As I and Ria gaze at this bizarre spectacle in mute amazement,

「Oh, you there! You have a good physique! Won’t you join the Judo Club!?」

「Wah, such a pretty girl! Would you join our Cheerleading Club!? We have a lot of cute outfits!」