110. Senior Holy Knight and Sunny Land [1] – part 2

As I was feeling downhearted,

「Aa, you don’t have to worry about that. I’ll talk to the top brass of the Holy Knight Association.」 sensei asserted.

「R-Really!?」

「Fufu, the position of『Director of Five Academy』is not just for show. I am sending out Allen Rodore, after all. A chance to absorb the『best talent of the current generation』- I’m sure they’ll be happy to accept unconditionally.」sensei said and laughed gently, but… I didn’t hear what she said halfway through.

Because… A whirlpool of joy was swirling in my head.

(I did it! I did it, mother!)

If I become a Senior Holy Knight, I will receive a stable salary every month.

If so… I can finally let my mother, who has raised me up to this point by herself, and is still working hard in Goza Village every day – to finally live an easy life.

As I thought that, something hot surged through my body.

「Hmm, Allen seems to be eager, but… what about Ria and Rose?」

「If Allen goes, of course I’ll go too!」

「Same for me.」

It seems that Ria and Rose will also participate together.

「All right! Then, I’ll keep in touch with you. You should go to the Orest Branch Holy Knights Association with the resume I distributed at 9am tomorrow.」

「Yes!」

「I got it.」

「Understood.」

And we left the director’s office.

■

Next day.

We knocked at the gates of the Orest Branch Holy Knights Association.

Then we entered a huge single story building and submitted our resume at the reception desk. After that, we were taken to the training hall of the Senior Holy Knights.

The training hall was vast as our gymnasium. Swordsmen dressed in white padded undershirt, stood in a line.

(Wow… what a number.)

Just with a quick scan, I count more than a hundred swordsmen.

According to the woman at the reception desk, all of the people here are the『eggs』of Senior Holy Knights – that is, Junior Holy Knights who have attained their soul dress.

If they pass the practice test held today, they will be promoted to Senior Holy Knight.

「I’m kind of nervous…」

「Yeah, this is a strange atmosphere…」

Ria and Rose gulped at the peculiar atmosphere in the hall right before the test.

「For the time being… Let’s line up too.」

「Y-Yes…」

「Aa, that’s right.」

We waited for thirty minutes after that.

The scheduled start time of 9am has already passed long ago.

「…No one’s coming.」

「That’s right. I wonder what’s going on?」

「Did they fall sick?」

When the training hall suddenly became noisy, the door at the back of the dojo opened vigorously.

「I am your instructor, Don Gorg. Hmm… Each and everyone of you have a stupid look on your face!」

Don Gorg.

A stern face, with wrinkles on the forehead.

He seems to be in the middle of his fifties.

About 180 centimeters tall.

A body as huge as a rock.

Black stubble and gray streaked hair.

He was wearing a white padded undershirt, the same as the Junior Holy Knights.

Somehow… I felt that he was giving off the same air as the teachers of Gran Swordsmanship Academy.

He showed up way past the scheduled time, and suddenly cursed at us.

「First of all… I have to look over you bastards’ boring resume. In the meantime, go do some damn practice-swings!」he spat and went back to the back room.

「「「YES! 」」」

The Junior Holy Knights gave a sharp reply, but…

「What kind of attitude is that? Should I burn the hell out of him?」

「Feeding him as nourishment to〈Winter Sakura〉doesn’t sound bad either.」

Ria and Rose, who were more proud than others, had veins popping on their foreheads.

「Well, well, calm down both of you… Today is still the first day, so why don’t we do as he says for now?」

We can’t evade responsibilities right off the first day itself, let alone cause a problem.

I managed to suppress their temper and persuaded them to do practice-swings.

For about three hours after that, we just swung our swords single-mindedly.

「「「SEI! HA! YA!」」」

Raise the sword, swing it down, assume Seigan no Kamae.

A repetition of the same movement.

Two hours passed. One by one, people stopped swinging.

Perhaps they’re not feeling well today.

(Even so… fufu, swinging while raising a cry is also… fun.)

Practice-swing, in a manner of speaking, is the same as having『meals』.

Having meals together with everyone is more fun than having it alone.

Similarly, it is more fun to swing with everyone than to swing the sword alone.

And as I was swinging my sword in a good mood,

「Enough!」

Suddenly, the back door opened vigorously, and the instructor appeared, clutching a sake bottle in one hand.

「Well, it’s only been three hours and yet, there are already those who have thrown in the towel!」he said, kicking one of the Junior Holy Knights, who was resting in the corner of the training hall, in the stomach.

「Ga, ha…!」

「Go home! A weakling like you will not become a Senor Holy Knight even if it takes a lifetime!」

「Y-Yes… I’m sorry…」

The Junior Holy Knights, who stopped swinging halfway through, left the training hall with a mortified look.

(It’s not very pleasant to watch.)

When I was thinking about that,

「An『Unusual』is mixed within one of you!」the instructor suddenly raised a loud voice.

「Allen Rodore! Get in front of me right now!」

「Eh, ah, yes…!」

I was suddenly called by my name.

「Kisama… Do you know what you’ve done?」

「I-I think… practice-swings?」

Speaking of what I’ve done since I came here, that’s all I can think of.

「Fool! There is a limit to jesting!」

The instructor yelled and thrust a piece of paper in front of my face.

「This is… my resume?」

「Aa, yes. Full Name: Allen Rodore. Final Education Background: still enrolled in Thousand Blade Academy. And – soul dress『unmanifested』. Bastard… What the hell is this all about?」

Apparently, he seems to be angry about the fact that someone who hasn’t manifested soul dress was standing in this place.

But, he should have already known about it.

「No, Leia-sensei has already talked about this matter-」

「Noisy! Don’t make petty excuses! A third-rate swordsman who can’t use soul dress! Who do you think you’re talking back to?」

The instructor didn’t listen to my words, and continued yelling at me.

(This is… a waste of time.)

It would be better to step back for now and consult with sensei.

「…Haa, I understand.」

When I stepped back, Ria opened her mouth as she had reached the limit of her patience.

「Hey, aren’t you a little too tyrannical?! Try to listen to Allen–」

The moment she stood in front of the instructor,

「Who allowed you to speak?!」

「Kyaa!」

Of all things, he hit Ria!

At that moment, dense murky darkness enveloped the entire training hall.

「Hi-Hii!」

「W-What the hell is this…!?」

「This power and the name『Allen Rodore』…Is he possibly…!?」

Without paying attention to the voices of those around me, I broke in between Ria and the instructor in one step, thrusting the『pseudo-black sword』in front of him.

「Bastard, what are you doing?」

The instructors face dyed red in anger. He pulled out the sword fastened at his waist.

I desperately suppressed the anger that boiled up, and put forth a certain proposal with a smile on my face.

「Instructor Don, why don’t we have a match?」

「A match, you say…」

「Yes, a one-on-one serious match. If I lose, I won’t knock on the gates of the Holy Knights Association for the rest of my life. And leave this place right away.」

「Hou…」

「But, if you lose, you will apologize to Ria right away.」

When I proposed the duel,

「Hmm… The moment you turned your sword towards me, the chance of becoming a Holy Knight was gone. But… how interesting, I accept!」

Taking off his padded undershirt, he exposed his muscular figure.

And then,

「KAAAAAAA!」

He released a dense bloodlust with a terrible roar.

It seems that he is not all talk and no action.

「Fuhaha, I’ll let you know what gives me the greatest pleasure! It is punishing guys like you who don’t realise your place, and making you cry and beg for forgiveness!」

「Sorry, but… I’m not going to lose to a『Fallen Holy Knight』who would raise his hand against a girl.」

In this way, I was to duel Instructor Don Gorg of the Holy Knights Association.

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