The result of teaching Eris 'chanted Waterball' was…
Before the swordsmanship lesson could even begin, everyone was soaked.
It all started about half an hour ago.
When Eris successfully cast her Waterball, the atmosphere of 'group happiness' on the courtyard lawn reached its peak. Eris was overjoyed. This experience of 'playing' with her peers, mixed with the sense of accomplishment from her 'success,' made her feel like she was flying.
And so, lost in the chorus of "You did it!" praises, she completely ignored Rudeus's attempts to continue the lesson, instead endlessly casting Waterballs that fell the moment they were formed! Her chanting speed became faster and faster!
Seeing that Eris had become quite proficient, Rudeus naturally tried to persuade her to move on to the next step of her learning.
As a result, an excited Eris threw a water ball right in his face.
Of course, this was more playful than malicious. Rudeus just froze for a moment, because when the wild dog really hit him, it wasn't with a fist-sized lump of water. The painful memory of what happened at the gate of the Greyrat estate was still vivid; her real punches whistled through the air like the wind from a sword.
He came to his senses, wiped his face, and, recalling the excellent feedback from his newly discovered 'encouragement-based teaching,' patiently continued to persuade the young lady to learn how to set the speed and size of her Waterball.
His original words were: "Yes! Just like that! But it's a shame, it doesn't even hurt when it hits your face. If you want to make it hurt, you need to increase its power, which means adding more mana to set the spee—"
Before he could finish, to Alan's astonished expression, an eyebrow-cocked Eris backhanded another one right in his face.
He had asked for it, and he had received it.
From that point on, the situation spiraled out of control.
Specifically, what happened was this:
Eris decided to hunt down this two-faced Rudeus. Seeing that persuasion was futile, Rudeus started dodging and weaving, fleeing in a panic.
As the two of them ran past Alan, the troublemaker in him surfaced, and he laughed heartily.
In the split second they passed each other, Eris blinked, her eyes darted around, and a smile spread across her lips as she casually tossed the newly formed Waterball in her hand at Alan.
Of course, it was ineffective.
The Waterball was deflected by his extremely refined 'Flow' technique, sent flying towards Rudeus, who was deliberately trying to draw his brother's fire and was now wearing a triumphant smile.
Rudeus got hit squarely. It reminded him of the passionate days and nights of sparring with Alan. He immediately retaliated, flinging a full-speed Waterball at Alan.
Sylphie, beside Alan, used a Gust spell to dissipate its force, blowing it off course. Due to a lack of control, it then gently drifted down and landed on Eris's head.
Eris (pouting) to Sylphie's surprise, threw a Waterball right in her face. Sylphie was about to explain but was caught off guard and took a face full of water.
The water streamed down her white hair and onto her body.
It's worth mentioning that Sylphie was wearing her white dress today.
The dress was very thin.
It got wet very quickly.
The sunlight was also very bright.
In that instant, Sylphie froze. She quickly glanced at Alan, who was right beside her.
Her first reaction was to cover her face?
Alan instantly panicked, his expression one of utter shock! Before anyone else even had a chance to look, he demonstrated the exceptional qualities of the Sword God Style, clumsily yet with incredible speed, taking off his own clothes to cover her.
During this, Eris, also a practitioner of the Sword God Style, seized the opportunity to hurl a Waterball at his face.
Alan wrapped a red-faced Sylphie in his clothes and casually flicked the Waterball away. But because he was in such a hurry and multitasking, it ended up hitting Ghislaine, who was watching the fun from the side.
She didn't resist. A Waterball of this level was harmless to her. She simply let the water stream down from her forehead, smiling faintly as she watched Eris, who hadn't been this happy in a long time.
Rudeus had already been charging up a large Waterball while watching Eris. Seizing the chance, he threw it in a high arc towards her.
Ghislaine casually raised her hand and slapped it out of the air, causing it to explode in a spray.
The weather was clear.
But in the courtyard, it had begun to rain.
Eris tried to cast another Waterball, but her legs gave out and she collapsed to the ground. She stared at her palm, bewildered.
She had run out of mana.
And with that, the brutal 'battle in the rain' finally came to an end.
The result was that everyone was soaked.
With a flurry of footsteps, the beast-women maids arrived just in time with towels for everyone.
Lilia, the cat-eared maid who seemed to be the head maid, handed towels to the young lady and Ghislaine.
The one who approached Alan was the shyest of the four beast-women, a bunny-eared girl. She first wrapped Sylphie entirely in a large towel, then couldn't help but notice Sylphie's trembling long ears, and her cheeks flushed red.
Her bunny ears drooped.
"M-Mr. Alan… would you like to come with me and Miss Sylphie to change clothes?"
Alan paused, glanced at Sylphie, who had suddenly looked up at the bunny girl, and instantly understood the hidden meaning in her words. His expression changed drastically.
"No, thank you! Please, just take Sylphie to change!"
"Huh? You're not coming with us?"
"I'm not going!"
"…It's okay if you come with us."
Alan quickly waved his hands.
"Really, I'm fine!"
At his words, the surrounding beast-women let out sighs of disappointment.
The bunny girl stuck out her tongue, and her ears perked up again. She took the hand of Sylphie, who had been staring at her toes without a word, and led her towards the mansion.
At the same time, Eris's voice came from the side.
"I don't need to change!"
Eris took the towel from the cat-eared maid and wildly wiped down her head and upper body. The material of her clothes and skirt was of high quality, with a very fine, dense weave. The water beaded on the surface, and a simple wipe was enough to remove most of it, leaving only a slight dampness. Even with the afternoon sun shining on these damp spots, they didn't become transparent at all.
As for Rudeus, he didn't need to change either. He used his Searing Hand technique all over his body, and his clothes were dry in moments. He shook the water droplets from his hair and walked over to Alan.
He looked at Alan sideways, a smirk on his lips.
Alan's mouth twitched.
"If you keep smiling like that, I'm going to kick you."
"Why would you kick me, Lord Alan? It's a shame to let such a good opportunity go to waste. Last night, too, I was next door… Ouch!"
"Be serious."
Rudeus rubbed the spot on his backside where Alan had kicked him and shrugged.
"Fine~"
His attention earlier had been entirely focused on how to ambush Eris. And because Alan had reacted so quickly, he hadn't even had a chance to see Sylphie get soaked. It was only when the maids led her away that he realized what had happened.
However, over the past two years, he had noticed that Sylphie had special feelings for Alan. So he couldn't help but tease him a little.
Feeling that he was the most psychologically mature and 'experienced' of the group, he always chuckled to himself whenever he saw Alan get flustered when it came to matters of the heart.
It was such a contrast.
The Alan who killed without blinking an eye and was so mature in every other aspect would only show a flustered expression when dealing with Roxy and Sylphie. It was more fitting for his age.
Unlike me, he thought, I'm a 'master of romance' who has conquered countless gal games and eroge.
Hahaha!
Haha…
Huh?
After laughing to himself twice, Rudeus's expression suddenly froze.
Wait a minute!
He suddenly realized that he, the experienced 'romance master,' was the one who had no luck with the opposite sex.
Alan! Damn it!
Rudeus looked up at Alan.
Speaking of which…
Does Alan himself know about Sylphie's special feelings for him?
At this moment, in Rudeus's brown eyes, Alan was turning his head to watch Sylphie being led away by the bunny girl, his eyes glinting in the sunlight.
He wondered what he was thinking.
After Sylphie left, Rudeus looked at Eris, who was sitting on the ground without a trace of ladylike grace.
He cleared his throat softly and carefully approached her, afraid that another bout of unhappiness would make her stop learning again. He couldn't let the interest in magic that they had worked so hard to rekindle die out on his watch.
"You've used up all your mana… perhaps now is a good time to learn some magic theory? That way, when your mana recovers, you'll be able to master Waterball even faster. What do you think?"
Although Eris had had a lot of fun, her first time running out of mana had left her feeling weak in the legs, and she really didn't want to continue studying magic, which she disliked. Especially not the theory, which sounded incredibly sleep-inducing.
She looked up at the position of the sun.
She turned to Ghislaine and asked, "What time is it, Ghislaine?"
Rudeus's expression turned to one of horror, and he quickly shot Ghislaine a pleading look.
However, Ghislaine was not a good liar and answered Eris's question matter-of-factly.
"It's already afternoon."
"How long have I been learning magic?"
"About the time it takes to do seven hundred full-power sword swings. Around three hours."
"Mmm… I'm tired from studying today! Let's end the magic lesson here! Now let's start with swordsmanship theory!"
Rudeus was shocked. Before he could say anything, Eris quickly glanced at the approaching Alan, then at Rudeus in front of her.
"What's with that expression! I'll… I'll continue to learn magic! It's not that I don't want to learn! It's just that time is up for today! I'll learn more tomorrow!"
Rudeus blinked, and his expression relaxed.
"Alright, then tomorrow we'll study theory."
Eris stared straight at him.
Rudeus saw that familiar 'predator's gaze' and his mouth twitched.
"Half and half, that should be acceptable, right?"
"..."
"You can't skip theory entirely, you know."
Only then did Eris nod.
As they were talking, Alan had already walked up to them. He glanced at Eris's sprawling posture, smiled helplessly, and then sat down cross-legged on the ground as well.
Seeing this, Rudeus and Ghislaine exchanged a look and also sat down.
Alan looked up at the sun.
"Are you tired, Eris?"
Eris blinked, glanced at the sword at Alan's waist, and put on a brave face.
"I'm not tired!"
"If you're tired, you should say so. The lessons can be adjusted. If you have classes all day, it's easy to get tired. Don't you still have etiquette lessons tonight?"
"…I'm tired."
"Then let's just sit like this. Today is the first day of class. As your Water God Style swordsmanship teacher, I'd like to get a baseline, just like Rudeus did."
He then turned to Ghislaine beside him.
"What does Eris usually learn in her swordsmanship lessons? Does she only study the Sword God Style? That rainy night, I saw that you seem to have some knowledge of the North God Style as well. You used the Four-Legged Form when climbing out of the swamp, didn't you? Could you briefly introduce Eris's overall situation in swordsmanship to me?"
Ghislaine nodded, looked at Eris, and her expression instantly became serious.
Eris's expression changed slightly, as if she wanted to say something but held back, just staring nervously at the grass between them.
Ghislaine began to speak.
"Eris's overall talent in swordsmanship is more suited for the Sword God Style. I have tried to teach her some North God Style techniques, but her aptitude for it is much 'slower' compared to the Sword God Style."
"Her actions are often faster than her thoughts, which is very suitable for the Sword God Style, and her progress in the initial stages has been quite effective."
A flash of happiness appeared in Eris's eyes, but she didn't show it, as she was well aware of her own shortcomings. Ghislaine had bluntly 'pointed them out' many times during their usual swordsmanship lessons. Normally, Ghislaine doted on Eris and would tolerate her various whims, but only during swordsmanship lessons would she become extremely serious, transforming into a strict teacher and calling Eris by her name.
Sure enough, Ghislaine's tone shifted.
"However."
"The shortcomings are also very obvious. While Eris's sword strikes already possess the characteristics of the Sword God Style, she still needs further study in evasion, defense, counter-attacking, and judging the situation during a sword fight."
After finishing, Ghislaine's expression was grave.
"Based on these characteristics, Eris may find it difficult to learn the Water God Style."
Hearing this, Rudeus tensed, bracing himself for the young lady's retort.
But he waited for a long time and didn't hear the expected high-pitched voice.
He looked up.
Eris was still staring intently at the grass, but her occasionally darting eyes showed that she was waiting for Alan's response.
He wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but Rudeus thought he saw a hint of nervousness on her face.
"Miss Sylphie, this way."
Inside the mansion, the bunny girl led Sylphie through the corridors.
Sylphie's cheeks were flushed, her mind replaying Alan's reaction after her dress got wet, and the strange invitation from the bunny girl afterward.
Her steps were a bit stiff, allowing herself to be led by the hand.
Her reddish-brown eyes were fixed on her shoes, her eyelashes trembling. The soft carpet beneath her feet seemed to creak with every step.
Perhaps it was because her mind was in turmoil today, or perhaps because that last scene had made her heart pound.
This short walk back to the tutors' quarters seemed unusually long.
One by one, the windows in her peripheral vision flew by.
The wind that met her blew across her flushed skin.
The stairs leading up seemed to have no end…
Stairs…
No end…
?
Stairs?
Sylphie blinked, suddenly snapping back to reality.
The tutors' quarters should be on the first floor. Why are we going upstairs?
She looked up abruptly, about to ask the bunny girl.
But her expression froze.
In her line of sight, the stairs had come to an end. Just one more step and she would be on the second floor.
And directly opposite, by the second-floor window, a long red dress trailed on the floor, burning like a flame in her reddish-brown pupils, spreading upwards…
Spreading…
Ending at an elegant, snow-white neck.
And a head of hair, deliberately put up today, the exact same color as the dress.
It was Hilda's back.
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