The Priest of Complete Dispel ~ Every Time I Save a Cursed Beautiful Girl with My Status Abnormal Cure Skill, For Some Reason Her Dependence on Me Maxes Out ~ - Chapter 76: Practice Match

Chapter 76: Practice Match

“Morning old man…”

I muttered that, and the captain—the guy I’d met that morning—glanced over at Canaan, who was totally glued to Seira standing right next to me, then spoke.

“Looks like you’re getting along well with Canaan. Keep taking care of him for me, yeah?”

“Uh, um… yeah.”

Guess he really is Canaan’s dad.

He looks so youthful you’d swear he’s the same age as Seira, but he’s gotta be well over forty in reality.

That handsome face… Canaan definitely inherited it properly.

“Okay, everyone—quiet down!”

The students had started buzzing the moment they spotted Seira and Berkhart.

The teacher in charge cut through the noise with a calm voice.

“Since the two of them were kind enough to come today, we’re doing actual combat format. As long as time allows, we’ll set it up so you can have practice matches against them. But for everything else, you’ll fight the opponents we assign, so follow instructions.”

In other words, there’s a real chance to fight Seira and Berkhart directly.

For kids who admire those two, this is probably the kind of opportunity they’d kill for.

“But first—basic swings. Grab a wooden sword from over there.”

We each picked up a wooden sword and lined up.

More than fifty people all started swinging at the same time.

—Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.

Looking around, everyone’s form was clean and sharp. Guess the Temple Knights have their own set style.

Even Canaan next to me was doing swings with crazy precision.

Me, though? I was taught a completely different school.

My movements don’t really fit their mold, and I knew I stood out.

“H-hey… I don’t recognize your face. You the rumored transfer student?”

“Yeah… that’s me.”

The teacher must’ve noticed me, because he came right over.

“That sound is insane. I’ve never seen a student make that kind of noise just from swinging.”

“Really…? Honestly the best swings are supposed to be silent, but I just can’t help it.”

“Haha… well, that’s—”

Was that a compliment?

But back in the village the old man always said silent swings are the ultimate goal.

The old man’s swings seriously leave sound behind. You’d almost believe he generates real sword wind without even using Air Slash.

“Hm… your strength is still raw, but the fundamentals look solid.”

“Aaaah!? Th-thank you so much!!”

The one who yelped was Canaan.

At some point Seira had walked over to watch his swings up close.

“Here—grip it properly. Hold the handle lightly, but don’t lose the core. Imagine there’s actually an enemy right in front of you.”

“Ah—ah, Seira-sama’s hand… Seira-sama’s hand…!!”

Seira laid her hand over Canaan’s and adjusted his grip on the sword.

Canaan’s face went bright red; he was completely short-circuiting.

“…………”

Then Seira stopped right in front of me.

She didn’t say a word—just stared straight into my eyes.

“Hey, say something already…”

“Hey? Excuse me? Right now I’m your temporary instructor. You talk to me like that and who knows what the other students will say about you? Or about the captain, for that matter.”

“You…!”

She was straight-up using her position to force me into line.

Her voice sounded serious, but those slightly trembling lips gave away that she was holding back a laugh.

Then Seira stepped beside me and gave a small wave of her hand, signaling me to pause my swings.

“This is the basic Temple Knight form.”

Just like she’d done with Canaan, her pale hand gently settled over mine.

Her long, silky hair brushed my shoulder and I even caught a faint sweet scent.

A beautiful woman and captain-rank in the Temple Knights—no wonder people fall for her.

“You know damn well I don’t need this.”

“Hehe… in public like this, it’s the only way I can touch you. Isn’t that fine?”

We were whispering back and forth.

Seira knew exactly what she was doing. Teasing me, enjoying every flustered reaction.

“—Actually, I’m free tonight. So, Shu… wanna come to my inn?”

“Don’t just openly invite me in a place like this…”

“Hehe. If you don’t have plans… I’ll be waiting.”

With that, Seira slipped a single folded note into the chest of my monk’s robe.

Probably the address of the inn she’s staying at.

After that we kept doing swings for a while longer until finally the practice matches started.

First up were student-versus-student bouts.

“—Okay, first is Gaits-kun. Your opponent is…”

His opponent was the guy from Class A he’d been arguing with earlier.

I felt a little uneasy about how this was gonna go.

While several matches kicked off at once, Canaan and I were on break so we watched Gaits’s fight.

“Fight continues until someone says ‘I give’! —Begin!”

At the teacher’s signal, the sharp clack of wooden swords echoed.

“Heh… come at me, Gaits.”

“Didn’t need you to say it…!!”

The Class A guy stood there looking relaxed, smirking like he was taunting him.

Gaits charged straight in and swung the wooden sword from multiple angles.

But the other guy parried every single one cleanly.

“What’s wrong? That all you got?”

“Not even close—here we go!!”

Gaits dropped low, widened his stance, then lunged forward with a wide horizontal slash.

A high-pitched impact rang out. The other guy’s sword started getting pushed back.

He’s got some real power.

But that’s probably the level gap talking. Even while being pushed, the Class A guy still looked like he had room to spare.

“Oh yeah—your dad caused trouble for the order again, huh?”

“…What’re you getting at?”

“Just saying he’s not fit to be a Temple Knight.”

“You bastard—!!”

Looks like Gaits’s father is a Temple Knight too.

Must’ve screwed up somehow. The second his family got dragged into it, Gaits’s sword form went to hell.

The other guy twisted his wrist to deflect, then fired a sharp counter straight into Gaits’s torso.

“Guh—!”

Gaits got blasted backward and clutched his stomach, unable to stand.

“Hey, you’re not gonna tell me you lost from just that, right?”

“Of… course… not—guhah!!”

Merciless follow-up strikes rained down on the fallen Gaits.

The wooden sword slammed into his torso and face over and over; his body jerked with each hit.

The teacher didn’t stop it.

Because Gaits still hadn’t said “I give.”

“Does it always go like this?”

“Yeah… but even so, Gaits-kun always stays so confident.”

“…………”

The guy who’d instantly picked a fight with me right after I transferred.

But watching him now… I couldn’t really bring myself to hate him.

If someone stomped all over my family like that, I’m not sure I could stay calm either.

“Uooohhh—!!”

“Hah, at least your voice is impressive.”

“Guh…!!”

Finally, as Gaits tried to get up, the wooden sword smashed mercilessly into his face.

With a dull thud, Gaits crumpled and lost consciousness right there.

“Shu-kun?”

The other matches were still going around us, so the teacher hadn’t noticed yet.

I ran over to Gaits without a word and dropped to one knee.

“<Heal>”

His face was swollen and covered in bruises.

But the moment my magic flowed in, the bruises faded fast and his skin tone returned to normal.

Still, Gaits hadn’t woken up.

I lent him my shoulder and slowly carried him over to sit against the wall of the training ground.

When I looked around, I saw his two lackeys—Dad and Morris—were down too.

I carried them over the same way and cast <Heal> on both.

“Sh-Shu-kun…?”

“What’s up?”

“That just now… was <Heal>, right?”

“Yeah—looks like my <Heal> is a little stronger than normal.”

“A little…? That’s not even on the same level…”

The speed and power of the recovery.

People have pointed it out before, but I still don’t know if it’s because of my level or because of my blessing.

“—Next, Shu Mileister. Canaan Altria. Over here.”

Our names got called, so we moved to the assigned spot.

Standing across from us was—once again—a Class A student.

“Huh, never seen your face before. Transferred into the special class or something?”

“Yeah.”

“Heh, joining that joke of a class… guess that shows what level you’re really at.”

Apparently the special class just looks like a gathering of weaklings to them.

In reality it’s just students with different circumstances grouped together, but from Class A’s perspective, that’s how it appears.

Same as with Gaits—way too much trash talk.

Thinking these are the kinds of guys who’ll become Temple Knights someday made something sour stir in my chest.

“Hey, say something, trash-class.”

“…………”

I ignored him.

Right then the teacher’s voice rang out.

“Then—begin—!”

“Uraaaaaah!!”

Before the command even finished, the guy charged while swinging the wooden sword down hard.

But—too slow. Guess this is what level difference looks like.

“—Don’t die on me, okay?”

“Bofuh!?”

I twisted my body just enough to dodge, then swung the wooden sword clean into his wide-open torso.

The impact folded him in half and sent him flying straight back to slam into the training ground wall.

“Ah… ugh…………”

One single hit.

All he could do was groan. After that he went completely quiet.