After escaping the impending danger, Elion chose an inconspicuous spot on a different grandstand, far from the students sitting there.
After looking around and realizing that the expected pursuit was not forthcoming, he breathed a sigh of relief and sat down comfortably.
Although the sun did not shine on this side of the stands, Elion did not want to risk returning to a more dangerous place.
Having found relative peace in the dark corner, he began to think about how to pass the time.
"Some questions no longer require consideration, and I don't want to think about the rest. What should I do then?" he thought.
Unable to find anything to occupy his mind, he decided to pay attention to his surroundings. He wasn't interested in the men and women sitting and talking, nor was he particularly concerned with the women sitting nearby.
Without hesitation, he focused his attention on the first arena, where strong men in their twenties were battling with swords.
The sparring wasn't exciting; the men simply exchanged blows, trying to get close to each other. Perhaps sword enthusiasts would find this interesting, but Elion was not one of them.
Finding nothing interesting in the first arena, he turned his gaze to the second.
There, a 19-year-old woman with long, brown hair tied in a braid was preparing for battle. She looked impressive, maintaining her proud image with her straight posture and slightly haughty expression.
Her opponent was...
"Haah..." Elion couldn't hold back his breath.
A girl with reddish-brown hair spun around a little, completely ignoring her opponent, as if practicing before the fight. Her ponytail bounced merrily in time with her movements.
A proud-looking woman holding a long, thin sword said to her in a low voice:
"Aren't you going to take a weapon?"
"Um...no. I wasn't holding anything except a sword. There's no wooden version of that," Noel explained with a smile as she continued spinning.
"As you wish," her opponent replied in the same tone.
When the imaginary report was over, the instructor asked casually, "Sarah Gunther, are you ready?"
"Sarah Gunther, are you ready?"
"Yes."
"Noel Sparta?"
The girl finally finished her dance, deftly turning toward the distant, dark grandstand with a final movement.
Elion's eyes widened slightly as they met the girl's gaze.
Smiling slyly and winking at the guy in the far corner, she said energetically,
"Ready!"
Then her own dance began.
...
Elion watched the sparring match, which caught his eye involuntarily.
As usual, he had a slightly frowning expression.
"... Only occasionally did he unconsciously exhale through his nose, betraying his strange emotions.
The girl in the arena artfully dodged and combined dance with combat against her opponent. Of course, her dance was not as graceful as the one she was trying to copy. She couldn't dodge backward and kept her eyes wide open so as not to miss a blow. Still, her agility had its own style and grace. It attracted attention."
—... The guy didn't care that she was copying him. The situation itself, with the prolonged contact, made him frown.
Noel continued her dance without missing a beat. Her demeanor and facial expression revealed endless joy and happiness that seemed to consume her completely.
Her opponent didn't lose her composure, but the situation hurt her pride a little, so she increased the pressure.
"Haha... Haa," Noel laughed cheerfully. She was clearly out of breath from the long dance, though, so it wasn't long before her legs gave way and she stumbled.
*Thud*
"Ugh..." The girl hit her tailbone on the ground.
Her opponent wasted no time, lunging at her with her sword and swinging it sharply.
"Huh..." Realizing the danger, the bright-eyed girl exhaled slightly, spinning her body sharply toward her opponent while still lying on the ground.
The tip of the sword flew across the ground, but did not hit her.
Noel quickly realized what was happening. Still lying on the ground, she spun around and kicked her opponent hard in the knees.
"Ha!" she cried out brightly.
Her opponent began to lose her balance and fall forward.
Without wasting any time, Noel jumped up and pushed her opponent to the ground with a kick to the back.
Realizing her predicament, her opponent swung her sword behind her back without looking.
The hard wooden blade hit the girl's shoulder with a thud, causing her to wince. However, she continued her attack and pinned her opponent to the ground.
"Hey, that's it! Give up!" the girl shouted, using her last ounce of strength to hold down the struggling girl.
"...
"Come on!" Noel pressed down on her even harder.
"Okay..." the girl on the floor said through clenched teeth. Noel then let her go and sat down on the ground.
"Hah... A little more, and I wouldn't have been able to hold you back. Thanks! But you didn't have to hit me with your sword!" she said cheerfully.
—... Her opponent's face became even more embittered.
"Oh, come on. Don't frown. You're not young anymore. Wrinkles are just around the corner!" she said to the nineteen-year-old girl.
She frowned even more, but Noel didn't notice.
"Right, I forgot to bow to the audience. They must be waiting..." She looked over at the distant stands.
She found no one there.
The girl stood there for a moment, stamping her foot. Then she smiled slyly and whispered,
"Who here decided to play hide-and-seek? One, two, three, four, five. I'm coming to find you..."