Side: Ruthkania
Several months had passed since Ruth first began practicing with a sword. Seeing her beautiful form as she swung one now, it looked like all her training had paid off. Whether it was because of her ancestry, an inherent talent for it, or her meticulous and hardworking personality, her swordsmanship had really taken shape.
“Now why can’t you move like that against a real opponent?”
“But, Master... hitting someone with a sword would hurt.”
“I guess it’s just not in your nature...”
Koutarou flashed a bitter smile. Ruth’s swordsmanship was splendid, but there was indeed something about it that didn’t suit her. She was extremely logical, but she didn’t care for violent solutions. As such, it was naturally difficult for her to raise a sword against someone.
“But if you end up getting hurt, this will have all been for nothing, Ruth-san.”
“I know that in my head, but... it’s still hard...”
If Ruth used 100 percent of her skill against practice dummies, she only used about 50 percent when it came to fighting real people—even in training. And it didn’t matter how exquisite her swordsmanship was if she refused to use it. She wouldn’t even be able to defend herself like this.
“Satomi-kun, why don’t we just limit Vice Captain Ruth-san to nonlethal weapons?”
Maki, who was sitting in on their training, offered up a potential solution. Her idea was simple: if Ruth held back because she didn’t like hurting people, then they should just give her a weapon that made it impossible for her to really hurt anyone.
“Huh, yeah. That’s a good idea. Why don’t we give it a try, Ruth-san? Try it with your light swords.”
“R-Right.”
With a very serious expression on her face, Ruth pulled out her beloved swords of light—the beam sabers that her ancestor Flair had once used. Instead of wielding the full beam blade, however, she set them to shock mode. She then firmly gripped the swords in both hands. Her hesitation seemed to weaken, and she took a bolder stance than before.
“I guess it’s in her blood...”
Seeing Ruth hold her light swords at the ready, Koutarou was taken aback with nostalgia. She looked just like Flair, who had been an ally of Koutarou’s in the past. The resemblance truly was striking. It was almost like she was the one standing in front of him now...
“Master, I’m not sure what to do when you look at me like that...”
All of a sudden Ruth’s face turned red and she looked down. Her posture withered and she shyly pulled back. The gentle eyes Koutarou sometimes looked at her with completely quashed any desire she had to fight him.
“I’m sorry, Ruth-san.”
Koutarou quickly flipped down his helmet’s faceguard. For the sake of practice, he was wearing standard, non-powered plate armor. And with the faceguard down, it was hard to tell it was even him underneath it. With his face hidden, Ruth returned to her emboldened stance.
“All right, Ruth-san. Go for it.”
“Here I come!”
With a warning shout, Ruth quickly leaped forward. Since she wore very little in the way of armor, she was extremely fast. She closed the distance between her and Koutarou in an instant and brought her sword down on him.
“Haaa!”
“Uwah!”
Koutarou hurriedly moved to shield himself. Ruth’s movements were far sharper and more focused than they had been before. And with his heavy armor and large sword, just blocking her attacks took all his concentration. They continued to spar like that for a while.
“You’ve sure gotten stronger, Ruth-san...”
“It’s all thanks to your guidance, Master.”
In the end, the weight of Koutarou’s armor exhausted him and Ruth scored a hit on his torso. He’d lost, but when he saw the big smile on Ruth’s face, he felt like a winner anyway. Inspiring that kind of feeling in others was one of Ruth’s most amazing qualities. Koutarou only wished she could see it for herself.
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