Now I'm standing at the door of the lion gang.

Okay, let's go.

　I tried to tell myself to get up and get into it.

　I was able to get up properly this morning without being woken up by Mia-san.
　However, thanks to the alarm clock, I didn't oversleep, but Mia-san was absent, so it was a somewhat lonely morning compared to yesterday's morning (by the way, I set my alarm for the time the headmaster explained to me).

　When I changed into my uniform and went downstairs, some of the dishes left over from last night were on the table along with Mia-san's note.
　The note stated.

'I've left some things that you can keep. If you'd like, you can have it for breakfast.

　Thank you, I thanked him in my heart, and after a quick breakfast, I rushed to school.

　And now I'm in front of the lionesses.
　The reason for coming to school a little early.
　It's.

Are you here already, Miss Cecily?

　Yep.
　After school yesterday, I ran out of the classroom in a way that swept her off her feet.
　I came to school early today in order to apologize for that.

''........What's so urgent, you....

　A voice comes from behind me and I turn around.

'Ah.'

　It was Currier-san.
　

Good morning.
...hmmm, ah, good morning.

　.................
　Once again, I feel that we have become closer.
　Just being able to greet each other normally like this is a great progress.
　However, Currier-san looks somewhat awkward.........
　Her complexion is not very good either.
　Is it that he has a weak morning?

Did you have to come early today, Mr. Currier?
What?

　When I asked, Currier-san gave a slightly annoyed reaction.

"Well, we still have quite a bit of time before morning homeroom,
Room Room?
There's still a lot of time left until the time of arrival. I wondered if I had something to do in the morning.

　In this school, the "report at the beginning of the day" is equivalent to the "morning homeroom" in the former world.
　By the way, when you leave, it's called 'Report at the Bottom'.

I just wanted to come early today. And I have no right to be told what to do about the time of the school day,
And, you know...
But you...

　Currier-san looks at me with interest.

'You haven't lost a single breath after all that running.
What?

　...........
　Indeed, if you ask me.
　Yesterday, I was complaining about my inexperienced body.
　Come to think of it, I haven't sweated much even though I've run up here, and I haven't breathed much.
　Even when I was running, I felt kind of light.
　I thought I'd be more tired from yesterday's fatigue level, but....
　.........It must have been Mia-san's cooking and the quality of her sleep.

'Hm, well, that's fine. Here, if you want to come in, come in.

　Currier-san opened the door first, prompting me to follow her into the classroom.

　I first looked for Cecily-san.
　And I see her in the middle row of the classroom, the second seat from the back of it.
　Ms. Sieg and Mr. Hyrgis are sitting on either side of me.
　And the students who are staring at Ms. Cecily in the distance, came!　He looks at me.



　Currier-san looks at me and Cecily-san in turn.

''Well you're a disciplined guy.

　Apparently, he guessed what he was going to do.
　Mr. Currier just took his seat.
　And I was like.

I'm sorry I ran out of the classroom like that yesterday.

　He walked to the side of Miss Cecily's seat and bowed to her.
　And then Zeke gets up from his seat and gives way, and Cecily comes out into the aisle.
　Her expression is a composed look but it's hard to read her emotions.

　Cecily-san loosely crossed her arms and smiled a self-mocking smile.

''........This might be the first time in my life that a man other than my relatives has rejected my advances.
Um...
'No, you have nothing to apologize for. Just one thing I would like to ask you to do.

　Gulp.
　What is it?
　Don't tell me, 'Please don't speak to me again,' or something like that...?
　

　Cecily smiled with a huff.

"Will you have lunch with me today?
...What?
Therefore, I would like you to have lunch today alone with me. ...No?

　With such a lonely look on his face, 'No, sir?' What would you say........I can't say no to this.......
　It's the kind of look that would make me feel like an incredibly bad person if I said no here.
　Besides I shouldn't say no, even if it means I'm sorry for what I did yesterday.

''I understand. Cecily-san, if that's what you want.
Thank you, Kurohiko.

　With a smile that almost makes me happy, Cecily-san takes my hand naturally.
　The smoothness of her skin, which doesn't seem to belong to a human being, once again makes me shiver.

''Se-Cecily-san........''
At best, you'll have to be careful of the color scheme, Kurohiko.

　The one who said that in a flat but sure passing voice - Currier-san.
　

'Coloration' now... is that a word for me?

　When I let go of my hand, Cecily-san walks over to Currier-san, who is sitting in her seat.
　Currier-san's face, which had been turned forward, turned to Cecily-san.

''If you thought that, then you must have an idea, miss?
-Oh!

　Cecily's shoulders responded with a twitch, and then began to tremble in small increments.

''Oh, you are........''
Huh. What, you'll get it?

　But soon Miss Cecily let out a breath to calm herself down.

No well that's fine.

　He regained his composure and changed the subject.

'You were the one that Kurohiko went after when he wanted to form an attack team, weren't you?
It seems.
So you worked with him?
Yeah.

　Oh," the classroom groaned.
　Currier-san looks up at Cecily-san sarcastically.
　

So what's it about?
I'm not going to give up on Black Friday.

　More groans spread.
　After a few moments of silence, Currier-san opened his mouth.

''I don't think there's any point in telling me that.
I think we should at least make a statement.
Yeah, right. Yeah, and by the way, if this is about the Sixth House, he's already agreed to it. He's willing to take the risk.
But that's because you--
You know what?

　Forcibly, Mr. Currier interrupted.

''If he doesn't want to team up with me, I'm going to terminate my relationship with him in a heartbeat. So it's up to him what to do - no?

　And there, Cecily-san let out a smile.

'I see........so it's up to Kurohiko, right?
"?　Well, yeah.
So I'm free to keep inviting him to join my attack team?

　Currier-san gagged for a moment, and then clicked her tongue.

'It is, well it is ... freedom, I guess.

　'Hmmm,' smiled Cecily.

'I needed to hear those words from you. Now.........excuse me.

　She spun around and did a cute half-turn, and then Cecily came back in some kind of good mood.
　Then she touched my shoulder and gently patted me on the elbow.

''Wha-wha-what, Miss Cecily?''
So we're looking forward to lunch today, aren't we, Kurohiko?
Huh, huh...

　Thus, Cecily returned to her seat with a satisfied look on her face.
　Buzzingly, my classmates begin to exchange some words in a whisper.
　With a sense of bewilderment, I also take my seat.

"Um, Currier-san?
What?

　He's in a bit of a bad mood.

So, about today.
I'm glad to hear it. I'm so glad you had lunch with the lovely Miss Cecily.
No, that's not what I'm talking about.

　I wanted to talk to you about what we're going to do after class today.

Maybe we'll get rid of our attack group sooner than I thought.
Oh, I want Currier-san. It's not going to happen unless you get rid of it from Currier-san.

　However, Currier-san sniffs, humph, and turns away.

''You ... idiot.''

　Ugh, Currier-san.
　Have I put you in an even worse mood........
　And.

Oh, here she is!　We're in the lion's den, and all we've got is a bunch of pussies.

　Asaro walked into the classroom.
　.........You're in good spirits since this morning.

Oh, I don't feel so good!　Huh?　What's with this spooky classroom?　You're making me feel bad for myself, too!　God, I've been in a shitty mood all morning!

　You're on a roll.

Hey, mister. You know, you're kind of disturbing me standing here.
Oh!

　It was Ira-san who appeared from behind Asaro.

''You!　I don't want to be the one...

　And as soon as he confirmed the owner of the voice, Asaro swallowed the words that came out of his mouth.

''d*mn it, you're a dick... oh, my bad!　It's too chick-lit for me to go into the classroom!
'....Oh, yeah. So how much do you think you're going to agree with your opinion of this pair?

　Asaro looks around the classroom.
　Then, after swearing in frustration, d*mn it, Asaro goes for his seat.

''Gah........!

　Ah.
　Asaro tripped and fell on the steps.

"You've got to be kidding me!　Do your job, a**h*le!

　Gansu, and Asaro kicks at the steps.
　...........
　It's perfect, it's taking it out on you.
　The step, poor thing........

　A short while later, the report on the climb began.

　　　　　　　　　　*.

　During the debriefing, we were informed by Instructor Joseph that a murder took place in a corner of the capital.
　The murderer has not yet been caught.
　We were advised to be careful at night because the murderer may not come towards the school.

　So, after the battle with the sleeper, we finished the general education class, and now the battle class is next.

　Me and Currier-san each changed into our sports clothes and met up at the first training ground.
　The training ground is basically a newly added training ground, which is used by higher-ranked groups.
　In other words, the lower the number, the older the training ground is and the lower-ranked pairs will use it.
　So, the first training ground is--.

'Oh, what a wonderful training ground with a view of the blue sky!　What a liberating feeling!

　In other words, it is the oldest training ground.
　It is almost square in shape.
　It is surrounded by stone walls and the ground is bare.
　However, the soil is much harder, so there doesn't seem to be any particular concern about getting knocked off your feet.

''Well it looks like the rainy days will be hard.

　Currier-san, who was dressed in athletic clothes, looked at me with cold eyes as I rejoiced in the sense of openness that I had twisted out of my muffled body, and mentioned the demerits.
　The first training ground here is from the days when the training ground was still built outdoors.

''Being a two-person group, this was the only place we were allowed to use... sorry.

　Chuckling apologetically is Instructor Isabella, who exudes the s*x appeal of a mature woman.
　I'm sure she must be very popular with the men.
　She's also the one who took me on during the mock match.
　She was the one who volunteered to be in charge of our special group, according to the explanation I received earlier.
　She explained the reason for this.

"Sagara Kurohiko," right?　I want to find out about the true nature of the strange sensations I felt in you... well, it was partly because it looked so easy, you know?

　He said.
　........History will judge the merits of that last subtle wink later on.
　Well, since Instructor Josef had said that Isabella-san was a terrific person, he must be grateful that she had been put in charge of the special exception group.

''So, what do we do now?　Since there's no specific lesson plans for the special groups I can teach you the basics?　Although, I don't think you'll need it.

　Instructor Isabella looked at Miss Currier and said.

'If Sagara Kurohiko wants to start with the basics, I will follow. But--'

　This time, Currier-san's gaze went to me.

'As for me, I'd like to train him personally - that is, in my way. Of course, I think we should let him do some basics.
'Well, if you're going to do it with other students, it's fine with me because it makes things easier for me.

　...You volunteered to find out what it was that you felt for me, didn't you?　

So is it up to him?
Well, you will.

　They look at me as they wait for an answer.

'It's up to me, is it?'

　I'm...

''I'm thinking that if I can get Currier-san to train me........ She's also my partner in the attack on the Holy Ruins, and I think it would be better for us to work together in the future and so on, but.......

　I look at them.

"So it's settled then.
All right. Then I'll train you.

　Ho.

　So, Currier-san and I lightly crossed swords.　
　First of all, he wants to know my exact strength, he said.

　In the training area, there was a box with swords for matches, familiar from mock matches.
　We selected a sword from there and picked it up.

　It is the same sword that we both use.
　It's a bastard sword that can be handled with both hands and one hand.

　They face each other and hold their swords against each other.
　However, Currier-san has a relaxed stance.
　On the contrary, I'm holding it with both hands, a firm stance.

It's a good idea to try to strike at your own timing. Don't get too worked up about it.
Yes, sir.

　Sigh, I take a breath.
　What I remember is the feeling of the mock game.
　A lot of people complimented me on that blow.

　Sharpen your senses.
　Concentrate further and catch your opponent with your eyes.

　And then in one foot - I run.

　It's not just a matter of time before you'll be able to get your hands on a new one.

It's a good idea to be able to have a good time.
Yes!

　I was swinging my sword.

　Boom.

　--Boom.

　And then, the next thing you know...

　Boom.

　My sword accelerated rapidly.