Chapter 72: The Stealth of a Hero

“Hmm… This doesn’t seem right…”

Early in the morning, I carefully left the room so as not to wake up my friends.

The place I headed to was the training ground.

Although I practiced swordsmanship and training with my friends every day, the reason I came alone this early in the morning was simple.

With Celian becoming a Sword Master, I felt that I couldn’t just stand still, so I wanted to be more diligent in my own training.

I entered the individual training ground, where no one else could see me, and swung my sword.

The trajectory of my sword felt smoother than usual, but since I had already seen the end I was striving for, it wasn’t a satisfying path.

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

With each step, there was no sound, but once again, my movements weren’t as subtle as those of an intermediate-level demon avoiding detection.

To compare, I first put my sword away and took out the holy sword I had brought on the other side.

Just holding the holy sword filled my body with an overwhelming power.

However, the true strength of the holy sword was not as simple as this.

Without much preparation, I swung the sword once more.

The only difference from before was the sword I was holding, yet the trajectory of the sword was distinctly different from the previous one.

Although I couldn’t feel the exact same sensation as when I first held the holy sword, my swordsmanship was now closer to that level.

Still, I could clearly feel myself improving as time passed.

Unlike the training I did before becoming a hero, my abilities now, enhanced by the power of the holy sword, were improving by leaps and bounds.

Even when I swung the sword just once, it felt like I had swung it dozens or even hundreds of times.

In fact, with my rapid progress, it didn’t feel like I was growing, but rather like I was regaining the power I had when I first awakened.

This time, I decided to practice stealth and moved outside the training ground to hide.

If there were people around, I would test how well my stealth worked, but since it was early in the morning, there didn’t seem to be anyone around.

Just as I was about to put the holy sword away, I noticed someone entering the training ground, so I quickly hid my presence again.

However, the person who entered was someone I knew well.

Normally, I would hide my stealth, assuming that someone might suspect I was an assassin, but Celian, who had been wild and reckless when she was chosen as a hero, was standing next to me and watching everything.

Celian had already seen through my stealth. Thankfully, she didn’t seem suspicious about my true identity; she simply regarded my stealth as part of my training.

Celian, entering the training ground, glanced around for a moment before walking straight towards me.

…Did she really catch me this easily?

Still, Celian’s gaze and footsteps were directed straight at me. When I glanced behind me, there was nothing.

I even moved to another spot and tried hiding in the shadow, but Celian immediately turned her body towards me again.

And then, Celian took a step forward, coming closer to me.

Sitting in the shadow, I looked up at Celian, hoping against hope, but as expected, she had found me.

“If you were coming to train, you could have just woken me up,” she said.

“Haha…” I let out an awkward laugh as I stood up and dusted off the dirt from my rear.

Although Celian had been staring at me the whole time, she didn’t ask what I had been doing.

Since Celian didn’t suspect anything, I figured it would be better to get her help with practicing stealth, which had its limitations when training alone.

“…You’re training with the holy sword again, aren’t you?”

Rather than the fact that I was trying to hide, Celian seemed more interested in the holy sword in my hand.

“Well, it’s definitely helpful for training. Plus, it’s the weapon I’ll need to use in the future.”

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

As before, Celian seemed to have a lot of complaints about how I was handling the holy sword.

“Do you know something about the holy sword?”

I thought that Celian, who had seen and heard a lot about heroes from a young age, would know more about it than I did, especially since I had only become a hero a few days ago, so I decided to ask.

Celian hesitated for a moment before opening her mouth.

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

“Alright. I’ll be mindful whenever I use the holy sword. But it’s a holy sword, so there’s no way it would be harmful to me, right?”

“Of course, but…”

Still, Celian’s instincts, as a sword expert, couldn’t be easily ignored. So, I promised her, in a way that wasn’t really a promise, to be cautious.

Of course, it made no sense to give up the holy sword now that I had become a hero, but it seemed that Celian was somewhat satisfied with my response, as she didn’t say anything more.

“By now, Yuri must be awake and looking for El, so we should head back quickly.”

Instead, Celian glanced at the clock and spoke. Indeed, quite a bit of time had passed, and Yuri would definitely be awake by now.

Of course, Anne was still likely lost in dreamland.

“Our class won first place in the competition again. Applause!”

It wasn’t as if we were dealing with little kids.

Still, it was worth congratulating, so the class clapped their hands in response to Ferrent’s words.

How it had come to this, I didn’t know, but our class had many excellent students.

Though it was a bit embarrassing to praise ourselves, I too was one of those excellent students.

Of course, the best among us was Celian.

Thanks to her, as Ferrent had said, our class had won first place in every competition so far.

“Well, it’s a monthly event, but it’s always the same people participating, so the rest of you probably found it boring, right?”

Whether it was implicit agreement, indifference, or just a reluctance to respond, the other students in the class remained silent at Ferrent’s question.

However, Ferrent continued to speak without seeming to mind.

“Even though you came to the academy, there haven’t been any major events, so it must have been boring for you. But the day for you all is fast approaching.”

Although everyone already knew about it, the students’ eyes visibly lit up with anticipation.

It wasn’t that they didn’t know the date, but hearing it from Ferrent meant the preparations were about to begin in earnest.

“Yes. Exactly next month, it’s the Celestial Festival.”

“Wow!”

Ferrent briefly glanced at me before continuing.

“This year, since both heroes and saintesses will participate, it will be more spectacular than before. Also, there will be the annual school-wide competition, so for those of you who were disappointed about not participating in the class competition, you should consider it. It will be a good opportunity.”

Since it was a competition for all students, regardless of year, there would be no distinction between swordsmanship and magic. Generally speaking, first-year students are weaker compared to upperclassmen.

However, despite that, the participation rate among first-year students in swordsmanship was quite high.

As I mentioned earlier, the class competition was something that only the same students usually participated in, so there weren’t many opportunities to face each other in an official setting.

That’s why, while students from the Department of Magic, who are holed up in the laboratory, might not participate as much, the students from the Department of Swordsmanship, full of youthful energy, are sure to take part in large numbers.

In fact, last year, half of all the students from the Department of Swordsmanship across all years participated, so you can imagine how much excitement there was.

This year, it seems that the scale has grown even bigger, and I have no idea how many rounds it will take to finish.

The organizing committee and judges are probably going to be incredibly busy, but they’ll manage just fine. For me, as a participant, it’s not something I need to worry about.

Once Ferrent left, the other students started gathering in small groups, chatting excitedly about the Celestial Festival.

Anne, who was sitting at the front, quickly came over to join us.

“Celian, you’re going to participate, right?”

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

Although the Celestial Festival was a big deal, the competition was also an attractive topic, so I brought it up.

Celian’s answer was unexpected, but considering her personality and the fact that she was hiding the fact that she was a Sword Master, her lack of interest was probably genuine.

This time, I turned my head toward Anne and Yuri.

“I’m just going to watch too. After all, if I don’t get knocked out in the first round, I’ll consider it a win…”

Yuri gave a wry smile as she spoke,

“What? Then am I the only one participating? El! You’re going to participate, right? Huh? Huh?”

Anne, in her usual loud voice, pressed me for an answer.

I would, of course, participate in the competition. There aren’t many opportunities to spar with so many people without a huge risk.

This could also be a chance to check on how much my skills have improved.

“Well… I don’t know. I’m not really drawn to it…”

But despite my true feelings, I lied with my words.

Anne then slammed her hands down on my desk with a half-panicked expression and shouted,

“Why not!?”

The other students around us glanced over but, seeing that the source of the noise was Anne, quickly went back to what they were doing, understanding the situation.

But, Anne. Why? Why do you think? I lied just so I could see your confused, shocked face.

“Well, if you’re that lonely, I might join in after all.”

Anne’s face lit up immediately at my words.

“Ah… but El is a hero…”

Celian started to say something, but Anne’s loud voice and actions completely drowned out her words.

“No backing out! No, wait, let’s go sign up right now!”

Anne then grabbed my hand and dragged me straight to Ferrent’s office. Several other students from our class were already there to sign up.

When our turn came, Anne signed up first, and I was about to do the same, but…

“Ah, I almost forgot to mention. Elisia. Since you’re a hero, it would be difficult for you to participate in the competition for several reasons. I’m sorry for making you come all the way here for nothing.”

In the end, I had to spend quite a while calming down Anne, who was on the verge of pouting again.