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Just then, Latifa’s voice echoed through the yard. She ran up to them and threw herself at Rio.
“Onii-chan! Sora!”
“Whoa, there! Good morning.” Rio caught her gently.
“Tee hee. Morning!” Latifa rubbed her face on Rio’s chest happily.
“You’re full of energy today.”
“Of course I am. It’s because you’re here!” Latifa looked up at Rio’s face, moving her head at an angle as though begging to be petted.
“I see,” Rio said with a smile, petting Latifa’s head. It was like they had returned to their past routine.
“H-Hey, Suzune! How long are you going to cling to the Dra...to Master Haruto for?!” Sora snapped, lashing out at Latifa.
“Hopefully forever,” Latifa said with a smitten expression.
“No way! Master Haruto is in the middle of his morning training. Do not get in his way. Shoo!”
Sora puffed up her cheeks angrily and shook Latifa’s body from behind. It should have been easy for Sora to pull Latifa away with her physical strength, so the fact that she wasn’t doing so meant she was either being reserved, or she wasn’t truly upset.
“What a raucous morning.”
Latifa wasn’t the only one who had come to the garden. A group with Sara, Orphia, Alma, Gouki, and Komomo was also approaching, with Satsuki in the lead. They all had wooden training weapons in their hands. The sun had just risen in the sky.
“Good morning, everyone.”
Rio greeted them with a smile, eyes squinting as though he were blinded from the brightness of the sun.
“What a lovely morning it is today.”
“Yes, it’s the perfect weather for training!”
Gouki and Komomo gazed at the morning sun pleasantly.
“Hey! I want to join the morning training too!” Masato shouted from the mansion, belatedly running over to join them.
“You managed to wake up today, Masato,” Alma said with a giggle.
Masato rubbed his nose with an embarrassed grin. “Heh heh! It’s been a while since Haruto’s taught me.”
“We want to spar with Haruto too.”
“Yes. Looks like there’ll be a line today.”
Orphia and Sara were also looking forward to training with Rio.
And so, the garden that had been silent just moments ago was suddenly bursting with activity.
“It really is great to have Haruto here,” Satsuki said cheerfully, watching everyone surround Rio.
“Hmph...”
Sora hid herself behind Rio, her shyness triggered by the sudden crowd.
“And so, please spar with me, Haruto!” Masato restlessly pleaded. He couldn’t help his excitement.
“Sure, let’s do it.”
Rio also seemed to be happy to be sparring with Masato again, agreeing readily.
“Yay! It’s nice that I’ve received a Divine Arms from becoming a hero and all, but I was never taught how to use a two-handed sword. I was hoping you could teach me!”
In the past, Masato had learned how to use a sword and shield from Rio. But his Divine Arms was a two-handed sword that had a long reach even considering his future growth, so it was no surprise he was struggling to settle on a combat style.
“Sure. Then let’s start a mock fight first. I just want to see how you move, so there’s no need to enhance your physical body. I’ll use a one-handed sword and shield.”
“Okay!”
Thus, Rio and Masato were to begin sparring. Rio prepared a training sword and shield, while Masato equipped a two-handed training sword specially made by Alma to match his Divine Arms. They moved a short distance away from everyone else and faced each other.
“Ready to begin? You can move first.”
“Got it.”
Rio was relaxed, while Masato was a little nervous in comparison.
“There’s no need to be nervous. You haven’t learned how to fight yet. Just show me how you fight with an unfamiliar weapon in your current state.”
“Right!”
Masato took a deep breath and started running towards Rio. There was a size difference between the two of them, but Masato had a longer reach on his two-handed sword. Masato accurately ascertained the moment Rio was within his reach and made a large but swift swing of his sword, but Rio saw the path of his blade and avoided the attack by slightly shifting his feet.
“Hah!”
Masato resolutely continued to swing at Rio without giving up. Rio swung his sword and shield in return, dealing with Masato’s blows using the minimum amount of movement.
“Swords swung with two hands tend to result in large movements. Their trajectories are also more limited than one-handed swords because of the way the human body is structured. This makes your movements easier for an opponent to predict, and unless there’s a large difference in ability, your attacks will be evaded like this. Do you get that?”
“That’s the thing! I should have the advantage of reach, yet...!”
Masato agreed with Rio’s advice while swinging his sword.
“Understanding the reach of your opponent compared to yourself is good. But that alone isn’t enough. Two-handed swords are weak when you need to be on the defensive. Of course, your opponent will also try to fight at their ideal range...”
It was at this point that Rio shifted from defending to making a counterattack. He waited for the moment Masato swung his sword horizontally to lower his stance and close the distance between them, deflecting Masato’s sword from below with his shield.
“Ugh...”
Immediately after that, Rio’s sword pointed at Masato’s throat.
“You cannot afford to let people reach your weak point so easily. You have to focus on stopping your opponent from outside their reach.”
Masato nodded happily. “Right.”
“It looks like you’ve learned how to hold a sword, swing a sword, and the general basics already.”
Rio lowered his sword and backed away.
“Princess Lilianna’s knight, Hilda, taught me a little. The experience I got from your one-handed sword lessons helped.”
“I see. Then I’ll give you a thorough lesson on what kind of sword swings leave openings for your opponent. I’ll be attacking you back from here on.”
By doing that, Masato would naturally learn what kind of swings to avoid.
“Heh heh, bring it on!”
Masato laughed happily, and they resumed sparring.