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“Hmm… I don’t think this was it…”

Early in the morning, I quietly left the room, careful not to wake the others.

I was headed to the training hall.

Despite daily sparring and training with my friends, the reason I came alone so early this time was simple.

With Selian becoming a Sword Master, I felt I couldn’t just stand idly by and wanted to push myself to be more diligent.

I entered a private training area where no one else could see me and swung my sword.

The trajectory was smoother than usual, but having seen the endpoint I was aiming for, it wasn’t quite satisfying.

This time, instead of swinging the sword, I tried to move my feet.

Each step made no sound, but avoiding the gaze and senses of mid-tier demons was still not within my capabilities.

For comparison, I first sheathed the sword I was holding and took out the Holy Sword I had fastened to the other side.

Just gripping the sword filled my body with strength.

But the true power of the Holy Sword was far from that simple.

Without any special preparation, I swung the sword again.

The only difference from before was the sword in my hand, yet the trajectory it traced was noticeably different.

While I no longer felt the initial sensation from when I first held the Holy Sword, my swordsmanship was somewhat approaching that level.

Even so, I could clearly feel that I was improving gradually with each passing day.

Unlike the training I had done before becoming a hero, my skill was rapidly advancing, aided by the power of the Holy Sword.

Even when swinging the sword just once, holding the Holy Sword felt like I had swung it dozens, if not hundreds, of times.

Instead of feeling like I was growing, it felt more like I was regaining the power I had when I awakened.

This time, I decided to practice my stealth skills and hid my body, sneaking out of the training hall.

If there were any people around, I would have tested how effective my stealth technique truly was, but in the early dawn, there were no notable students around, all presumably in their individual training rooms.

Just as I was about to put the Holy Sword away, I noticed someone entering the training hall and hastily concealed my presence again.

However, the person who came in was a face I recognized well.

Normally, I’d be suspected as an assassin for hiding my stealth skills, but Selian had watched everything during the frenzy of being chosen as a hero.

Having been caught by Selian was a given at this point. Fortunately, she merely considered my stealth as a game and showed no doubts about my identity.

Selian stepped into the training hall, glanced around briefly, and then walked straight towards me.

…What? Did I get caught this easily?

Still, Selian’s gaze and footsteps were firmly directed at me. Even when I sneaked a glance behind me, there was nothing there.

I tried shifting to another spot to hide in the shadow, but Selian’s body simply turned back towards me.

And she took a step closer.

I crouched down in the shade, looking up at Selian, wondering, could it be…?

“If you’re coming to train, why not wake me?”

“Hehe…”

I awkwardly chuckled, getting up and brushing off the dirt from my behind.

Even though Selian was staring intently at me, she didn’t ask what I was doing.

Since Selian didn’t seem to harbor any particular suspicion, it would be better to ask for her help while practicing the stealth skills that had limitations when training alone.

“…You’re training with the Holy Sword again, huh?”

Rather, Selian seemed more interested in the Holy Sword in my hand than in what I was trying to conceal.

“It really helps with my training. Plus, it’s a weapon I’ll need in the future.”

“That’s true, but please don’t rely on it too much.”

Just like last time, Selian looked dissatisfied with how I handled the Holy Sword.

“Do you know something about the Holy Sword?”

I thought Selian, who had seen and heard much related to heroes since she was young, would know more than me, who had only been a hero for a few days, so I broached the topic.

Selian hesitated, then opened her mouth.

“…No. I might have been too sensitive. Don’t worry about it too much.”

“Got it. I’ll keep in mind to always be cautious when using the Holy Sword. But come on, it’s the Holy Sword; surely it wouldn’t harm me?”

“Of course, but still…”

However, with Selian’s expertise as a master of swords, I couldn’t simply disregard her intuition. Thus, I felt the need to soothe her, at least to some extent, and made an unspoken promise to her.

Of course, it would be nonsensical to abandon the Holy Sword now that I’d become a hero, but it seemed like she was satisfied with that response as she didn’t speak any further.

“By now, Yuli should have gotten up and is probably looking for El, so let’s get back soon.”

Selian glanced at the clock and spoke. Sure enough, quite some time had passed, and it was already late enough for Yuli to be up.

Of course, Anne was still snoozing away in dreamland.

*

“This time, our class won first place again! Applause!”

It wasn’t like we were dealing with little kids.

Still, it was worth celebrating, and the kids in the class clapped in response to Ferrent’s words.

I had no idea how it came to this, but our class had many excellent students.

It was a little embarrassing to boast about it, but I too was one of those outstanding students.

Of course, the top spot was still Selian.

Thanks to her, as Ferrent mentioned, our class consistently ranked first in the competitions.

“Well, it’s a monthly event, but it’s usually only the same participants, so the rest of the kids must have found it boring. Don’t you think?”

Whether it was an implicit agreement, a different opinion, or just a matter of being too lazy to respond, the kids in the class simply remained quiet in response to Ferrent’s question.

However, Ferrent, seemingly unfazed, continued speaking.

“You’ve come to the academy but with no exciting events, making it dull. Don’t worry; a day just for you is approaching.”

Although everyone already knew, it was clear from the students’ brightening eyes that they were excited.

They were aware of the date, but the mere mention from Ferrent indicated serious preparations were about to begin.

“Right. The Celestial Festival is next month.”

“Wow!”

Ferrent briefly glanced at me before continuing.

“This year, both the Hero and the Saint are participating, so it’s going to be more extravagant than ever. There’s also the competition that includes all students, so for those who were disappointed they couldn’t participate in the class competitions, consider it. It’ll be a great opportunity.”

As it was a competition involving all departments and grades, there would be no distinction between swordsmanship and magic. Generally speaking, it’s true that first-year students are weaker than upperclassmen.

Yet, despite that, the participation rate of the first-year Swordsmanship Department students is quite high.

As previously mentioned, class competitions tend to involve only the usual participants, leaving little opportunity for formal confrontations.

Thus, while that might not be so much for the magic department students holed up in their labs, active Swordsmanship Department students generally participated in great numbers.

In fact, last year half of the Swordsmanship Department students participated, which speaks to the excitement surrounding it.

This year, it was said that the scale has even increased, so from which tier the competition would start, I had no idea.

Perhaps the organizing committee and judges would be overwhelmed, but they would manage just fine. After all, it wasn’t something for me, as a participant, to worry about.

Ferrent went on, and the class kids seemed to have a lot to chatter about regarding the Celestial Festival, grouping together in clusters.

Anne in the front quickly came over to us.

“Selian, you’re participating too, right?”

“Well… I’m not particularly interested, so I think I’ll just watch.”

While the Celestial Festival had its charms, I brought up the competition, knowing it would be a great topic of interest.

Selian’s answer was unexpected, but considering her personality, which kept the fact that she was a Sword Master hidden, her disinterest was probably genuine.

This time, I turned my head towards Anne and Yuli.

“I’m planning on just watching too. Honestly, if I end up participating, it’d be a miracle if I didn’t get knocked out in the first round…”

Yuli said with a bitter smile.

“What? So it’s just me then? El! You’re going to participate, right? Huh? Huh?”

Anne, with her already boisterous voice, urged me for an answer.

Of course, I would definitely participate in the competition. Opportunities to spar with various people without significant risk were hard to come by.

This would be a chance to evaluate my skills and see how much I had improved.

“Um… Well, I’m not sure. I’m not really feeling it…”

But contrary to my true feelings, I let out a lie.

At that, Anne slammed her hands onto my desk as though she was about to have a fit.

“Why not!?”

Other students around us glanced over, but once they realized the source of the noise was Anne, they returned to what they were doing with understanding looks.

But Anne, really. Why not? I lied just to see the confused look on her shocked face.

“Looks like you’ll be super busy preparing for the festival. But I’ll be cheering for you, so don’t worry too much.”

Naïve Anne didn’t seem to catch onto my lie, looking at me with a serious face instead.

“Ugh… You’re leaving me all alone…”

She really was a cute friend who was fun to tease. But if I kept it up, she might really start crying, so I decided to stop.

Oh, just to clarify, I meant that she might be the one to cry. I had been teasing Anne the other day when I got a light smack to the back that made me tear up a bit.

“Well, if Anne’s feeling that lonely, maybe I’ll participate too?”

Just one word brightened face so much.

“Ah… But El is a Hero…”

Selian seemed like she wanted to say something, but Anne’s loud voice and actions drowned her out.

“Absolutely not! No way. How about we go sign up right now?”

She pulled my hand, heading straight to Ferrent’s professor’s office. There were already a few classmates there to sign up too.

When it was our turn, Anne filled out her participation form, and I prepared to follow…

“Oh, speaking of which, I forgot to mention. Elysia. As a Hero, it might be difficult for you to participate in the competition for several reasons. I’m sorry for making you come all this way just to turn back.”

In the end, I had to sweat profusely to calm Anne, who was on the verge of pouting again.