February 8, Monday
Koutarou and Ruth's morning started early. By five in the morning, they had already woken up and had headed out for their daily run. On their running course, they ran towards the river from Corona House, and then they continued along the flow of the river on the promenade that had recently been maintained.
The physical training Ruth had started with during the later half of last year had shown very promising results as they entered February, and her fitness had completely changed since she began. Her daily exercise that she never skipped out on had let her understand the trick in how to move her body. As a result, Ruth didn't end in the same sorrow state as Yurika.
As expected from Flairhan's descendant, I guess... Ruth-san really does have the talent for this...
Her improvement was enough to earn admiration from Koutarou. At first she had been completely out of breath after running, but that was no longer the case. She lightly wiped some sweat away and smiled at Koutarou.
“Satomi-sama, will we be doing some muscle training today as well?”
After running several kilometers down the promenade, they would start with some muscle training in a more open space by the riverbed. That had been their morning training menu for these past few months. They had just now finished running and normally they were supposed to start their muscle training.
By the way, at first, Sanae and Yurika had joined in as well, but they quickly dropped out giving reasons such as it being too cold and that they were too sleepy. As a result, the only ones doing this training menu were Koutarou and Ruth.
“No, I think it's about time we start with the main training”
However, Koutarou shook his head. That unexpected answer made Ruth opened her eyes wide and tilt her head.
“Main training?”
“Yes. Ruth-san, you've gotten enough physical strength, so I think it's time we start practicing techniques”
Ruth's original intention was to learn how to fight from Koutarou. The running and physical training was just preparation for that. And seeing Ruth's growth, Koutarou decided that the time to start teaching her how to fight had come.
“Then, you're finally going to teach me martial arts!?”
Ruth revealed a happy expression and made two fists and began throwing out jabs. Though since she wasn't used to hurting others, her fists didn't look like they would hurt very much. Koutarou revealed a slight smile when he saw that and shook his head.
“No, I think this would be better for you than martial arts”
“This?”
Ruth lowered her fists and gave Koutarou a suspicious glance. Koutarou left Ruth be and approached the luggage he had left nearby. The luggage consisted of two sport bags and a leather case for carrying baseball bats. Koutarou picked up the the leather bat case.
“Will... we be using a bat?”
Koutarou's heavy wooden bat was always in that case. And while helping with Ruth's muscle training, Koutarou would swing that bat from time to time. Ruth was convinced that Koutarou would teach her how to fight using a bat.
“Ahaha, that's not it”
Koutarou laughed as he loosened the fasteners and the contents of the case was revealed. Inside was not a bat, but two swords. One was a traditional Fortorthe knight sword, and the other was much thinner and was for thrusting. They were practice weapons without blades.
“Then, it's sword fighting?”
“Yes. I felt like this would suit you better, Ruth-san”
As Koutarou said that, he handed the thin sword over to Ruth.
Ruth lightly swung the sword in her hand. Since she was from a family of knights, she had received training in how to use swords, though that was a long time ago, she had no difficulties in using it.
As I thought, this is better...
There were, in total, three reasons for why Koutarou was going to teach Ruth sword fighting instead of martial arts.
The first reason was that Ruth's body was small. It was far more realistic for her to use a weapon to reach the level of combat capability she desired than going in unarmed. Since Ruth was a knight, the weapon of choice naturally became a sword. And if she was going to use a sword, a thin one was best. The traditional Forthorthe knight sword was too large to use with her small body and would throw her off balance.
The second reason was that Koutarou was better with a sword than with his fists. His experiences in the past Forthorthe had raised his skills considerably. As a result, he was more skilled using the disciplined methods that Theia had taught him rather than his self-developed fighting techniques.
The final reason was that Koutarou remembered Flair, who was a master at using a thin sword. He had spent almost every day practicing with her while he had been in Forthorthe. As a result, he was very used with that type of sword handling. So all he had to do was teach Ruth that.
With those three reasons, Koutarou had decided to teach Ruth sword fighting, rather than martial arts. Teaching Flair's techniques to Ruth was something that made Koutarou's heart leap with joy.
Part 2[edit]
Ruth's sword cut through the early morning's cold air. Her movements were still faltering, but it didn't look like she was being thrown around by the sword’s weight. This was a result of the physical training Ruth had gone through up until today.
“Does, this look, good?”
“Yeah, keep at it like that. But make sure your elbow doesn't fall too far when you thrust”
“Yes, Satomi-sama!”
Koutarou observed Ruth from the front and made slight alterations to her form to make it more similar to the memory he had of Flair.
She really does look like her...
Ruth looked very similar to Flair, not just in appearance, but in the way she handled the sword. Ruth was in no way near the same level as Flair, but their appearances would sometimes overlap. As a result, Koutarou's expression naturally turned more mild.
“Ah...”
Noticing the change in Koutarou's expression, Ruth instinctively stopped moving her sword.
The expression he had on his face was something she had never seen before. It was gentle, calm but somewhat lonely. She felt like staring at that smile forever, but at the same time she wanted to do something about it. It was a mysterious smile that greatly shook Ruth's feelings.
“What's wrong, Ruth-san?”
Confused that Ruth had stopped moving, Koutarou called out to her.
“Ah, s-sorry, Satomi-sama!”
Koutarou's expression changed and Ruth returned to herself.
“It's just, t-that, this is a somehow strange feeling...”
That said, she couldn't just admit to looking at Koutarou admiringly, so she quickly covered it up.
“I know how you feel”
Koutarou failed to notice Ruth's intentions and just nodded his head. He agreed with what Ruth had desperately spat out and he didn't notice Ruth's face turning red.
“I learned how to use a sword from you, and now I'm the one teaching. It really is a strange feeling”
Up until now, Ruth had used a large sword in her fights. However, that sword was a creation of the advanced technology of Forthorthe, and didn't make much use of her own skills. And when Theia had taught Koutarou how to use a sword for the play, Ruth had been his sparring partner. One could say that Ruth was his teacher, and this reversal of roles felt very strange.
“...That's just because the sword is strong”
“I'm sure you'll get stronger too, Ruth-san”
“I hope so...”
After exchanging a few words, Ruth readied her sword again. Seeing that, Koutarou confronted Ruth with his own sword.
“Satomi-sama?”
“Try attacking me a little. That should give you a way to measure your own capabilities”
As Koutarou said that he focused on his eyes. When he did, he could see a faint white light enveloping her body. That light was the spiritual energy running through her body. Koutarou was planning on more accurately understanding the difference between Flair and Ruth by examining the flow of her spiritual energy.