Chapter 35

Sharl had changed into her PE uniform and we began the special training as soon as she returned.

There was no time left to work on fundamentals, nor would teaching her any techniques be effective at this late stage—Toko isn’t so lenient that such last-minute efforts would make any difference.

So, I decided we’d only do mock battles.

This had two purposes: to give Sharl more combat experience, and to familiarize her with Toko’s movements and frequently used techniques.

We practiced like this every day after school, continuing until late at night.

When our parents asked what we were doing, we insisted it was something very important.

For some reason, Dad gave me 1000 yen, and Mom seemed oddly pleased, though I couldn’t understand why.

“I can’t win…”

As we continued with the mock battles, Sharl knelt down, her hands on her knees, her head hanging low.

“There’s no helping that. The amount of training you’ve had so far is completely different. You yourself admitted it, didn’t you?”

“Yes… It takes a genius to master enough in this short of time to be able to win. And I’m not a genius. In fact, I can confidently say I have no talent at all for unarmed combat.”

I couldn’t argue with that.

Sharl isn’t muscular, she’s slow, and her reflexes aren’t sharp.

“Listen up. Don’t try to beat your opponent. Focus on landing at least one good hit. Above all, don’t ever make the first move.”

“I get it. If I move, I’ll just end up botching everything.”

“Are you ready to keep going?”

“Let’s do it.”

We continued the training.

Starting on Monday, and continuing through Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, we finally reached Friday, the day before the duel.

“Sharl, maybe it’s time to stop. It’s already 10 PM.”

The surroundings were dark, and we were training under the park’s streetlights alone.

“10 PM…”

Sharl looked at the park clock with her hands on her knees.

“There’s a three-hour time difference, so that makes it 1 AM. Let’s take a short break and then head home.”

“You’re right…”

We moved from the grass to a nearby bench and sat down.

“Here.”

“Thanks.”

Sharl handed me a potion, and we both drank it. The fatigue slowly dissipated.

“Hey, what do you think? Do you think I can beat Toko?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know the extent of your or La Folle’s magical abilities.”

“That’s true… Also, thank you for sticking with me like this.”

Sharl thanked me.

“Don’t mention it. I’m nowhere near as grateful to you as you should be to me.”

“School?”

“Yeah. I’m stupid as hell. If it weren’t for you, I’d be in deep trouble.”

I’d be in far worse shape with exams than anything else before them.

“Um… about Mathias…”

“What about him?”

“Uh… do you want to know what kind of magician he is?”

“Nah, it’s fine. You’d likely feel awkward given your position, and besides, I’ve already heard about him from Frank and Cedric.”

It would be problematic if Sharl revealed any information about Mathias.

And my choice to side with Sharl rather than Mathias is a completely different matter entirely.

“I’m sorry…”

“It’s alright. I have nothing to lose, even if I do lose. In fact, I’ve already gotten over my anger towards Mathias after these five days.”

In truth, I’d completely forgotten about it.

I’d been so absorbed in focusing on Sharl.

“Hey… I’m really thankful. Even though you must’ve had your own problems with handling Mathias, you’ve stuck with me.”

“Sharl is more important than Mathias. Plus, I don’t have any means to retaliate against him anyway—I can’t use magic, so it doesn’t really change anything.”

Brawn over brains, baby!

“Right…”

“Sharl, I may not have much to say, but I think you should talk to La Folle.”

“About what?”

“Anything. You two never really talk to each other, do you?”

We both seemed to be avoiding conversation, each preoccupied with our own family issues.

“Hmm…”

“Why don’t you two strike up a conversation since you’re in neighboring rooms? Either way, it depends on tomorrow’s outcome.”

“Maybe…”

“Well, let’s head home. Tomorrow we’ll be fighting each other, but good luck to you. I’ll be rooting for you on the inside.”

Toko?

She doesn’t matter much to me either way.

“I’ll root for you on the inside too, Tsukasa.”

Sharl said it clearly.

“Are you sure? What about your position?”

“There’s no one else around here but us. And honestly, I’ve come to really dislike that guy. I’m rooting for him to lose badly, all thanks to what he said on Monday. It made bloodline elitism feel disgusting.”

Sharl said it with a laugh.

“Don’t worry. I’m sure everyone who was there probably thinks the same.”

“That’s likely… Goodnight!”

“Yeah. See you tomorrow.”

We parted ways and returned to our respective homes.

I ate a late dinner at home, then had a bath.

Once I got out, I headed over to Toko’s room.

“Toko!”

I called out as I entered her room.

She was lying on her bed in her pajamas, scrolling through her phone.

“What is it? By the way, what are you always up to this late at night? More training for tomorrow?”

Right.

Not against Mathias, but against you.

“Never mind. Get up anyway.”

I went over to Toko, lifting her off the bed.

“Eh? What’s the matter? I was about to sleep because of tomorrow.”

“Come on, let’s talk.”

“Please don’t say creepy things.”

I even felt creepy just saying it.

“Anyway, Toko, want to take a cold bath?”

“What?! You’ll catch a cold!”

“Exactly. Please fall down with a high fever.”

“Let’s have some pizza?”

“Why?! Eating this late is bad for the stomach! And you’ll gain weight!”

“Perfect. You’ll be bloated.”

“Do you have a boyfriend, Toko?”

“Huh? Of course not!”

“Alright…”

Topic… Topic…

“Big Brother, what do you really want? Let’s sleep.”

“Come on, let’s do some more special training for tomorrow?”

“Just injure her.”

“Umm, doing that just tires you out, and practicing the day before makes no difference anyway.”

She’s good; tough to handle…

“Do you want to go out of town, Toko?”

“I’d love to! But though Dad might approve, Mom would definitely say no.”

“Let’s think of some way to convince her.”

“Hmm… Well, even if we did… Mom just doesn’t like fighting. She hasn’t even said anything about the duel.”

Mom’s good at healing magic and such, but not combat.

“We need to find a way around this.”

“Yeah…”

We discussed things and held a meeting late into the night.

I’m glad Toko’s a bit foolish sometimes.

Thank you for reading!

If you found this story ‘interesting!’ or ‘can’t wait for the continuation!’ and consider bookmarking it or changing the rating from ☆☆☆☆☆ to ★★★★★, it would inspire me to keep writing.

I sincerely thank you!

Thank you very much!