CH 116

[The Hated Hero Gives Advice to His Friend]

The next day after I decided to participate in the martial arts tournament. Early morning.

“Phew…”

Amid the lingering morning mist, I focused my consciousness on the Holy Sword in my hands.

I’d felt it when fighting the wyvern… I still hadn’t drawn out the Holy Sword’s full power.

“I must be missing something…”

I had a vague notion of it in my mind, but couldn’t quite grasp it yet.

In search of that answer, I swung the Holy Sword as if to have a conversation with it again today.

At that time,

“Working hard from the morning, are we?”

A voice came from behind me.

I knew the owner without even looking at their face, so I turned around and called out their name.

“Jarvis.”

My prediction hit the mark.

It appeared like she was in the middle of her morning training as well.

Still… she did her hair in a ponytail today, huh…

She must have been running around the dormitory. Her white skin was dripping with sweat. The training clothes she wore revealed even more skin than usual. Her chest was hidden, but her slender legs extending from the shorts weren’t very boylike.

It might give out her true gender, so she should be more careful.

“What’s wrong?”

“Ahh, no, it’s just your legs.”

“My legs?”

“Well, they look too slender to be a boy’s.”

“Huh? A-are they?”

It seemed that Jarvis didn’t realize it.

“Never mind that, this is a rare opportunity—so why don’t we have a spar?”

“Oh, sounds good to me.” I accepted Jarvis’s invitation, and we decided to spar using training swords.

That reminded me, we had sparred once before, hadn’t we?

We had traded blows like this too… but both her speed and power had greatly improved from before.

——But for some reason… I could feel hesitation from her sword.

After the spar.

“It should be about time for breakfast, right?”

“Y-yeah… hey, Jarvis.”

“Mm?”

“Could you… have something on your mind?”

The suspicions I had at the celebration banquet for the wyvern subjugation just a while ago. How were Jarvis’s true feelings about pretending to be a boy? Did she actually hate it? I couldn’t help but wonder if that was what was on her mind.

“…You noticed, huh.”

Jeez, Jarvis let out a deep sigh and shrugged her shoulders.

“So I was right…”

“Swords are honest, aren’t they? No matter how hard you try to conceal your state of mind, your breathing and footwork will give it away to your opponent… Though I was the one to suggest it, I realized sparring wasn’t a very good idea now that we had done it.”

“What are you talking about? If you have any troubles, talk to me.”

We weren’t the strained party in【The Rise of the Weakest Holy Swordsman】. We were the ideal form of the hero party, and we should be helping each other.

“…Right. Can you give me some advice, then?”

“Of course! Fire away!” I said, hitting my chest with a slightly exaggerated motion.

I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to give helpful input, but Jarvis revealed what was on her mind. “I’m… thinking of changing my weapon.”

“…Hm?”

Huh?

It was different from what I’d expected?

“There are three swordsmen in Knights of the Academy. Our composition is overly leaning toward close combat.”

“W-well, true that.”

“I only have a normal weapon, while you have the Holy Sword and Raul the Demon Sword. I’m sure I’ll eventually only become a hindrance.”

“Hmm… I don’t know. You are strong enough as you are now, aren’t you?”

“Thank you. But I’m thinking of changing my main weapon to the bow. That way, we will have more options in battles, too.”

“The bow, hm… certainly, it’ll be reassuring to have someone that can provide support from the rear line, or rather, dish out long-distance attacks in the team.”

Her worry was completely different from what I’d expected, but it was important, still.

“You’re good at handling the bow too, right?”

“Yeah. That said, I still need more training if I want to master it.”

She seemed to be fully motivated.

……Maybe I was overthinking things.

“Oh, yeah. Will you be participating in the martial arts tournament, Jarvis?”

“Of course, I will. If we end up fighting, no holding backs, okay?”

“Precisely what I want.”

We fist-bumped and then went into a heated chat about the tournament.

—And…

“…Barrett.” Jarvis stopped when we were about to go get breakfast. “Can I… ask you for some advice again another time?”

“Of course, you can. Just find me anytime you’d like to.”

“I see. …Then later, I’ll come to you again—though the topic would be a bit more complicated, I think.”

“Huh?”

Jarvis left, leaving that behind.

W-what…?

The complicated topic Jarvis just mentioned—Was it related to her pretending to be a boy?