I challenge you to a duel!
What?!
Mio has to duel a knight named Bertille
due to a misunderstanding.
Mio doesn't know anything about jousting,
but she spends her days training, trying to grasp the basics.
You should tense up more.
L-Like this?
That's right.
Keep your arms in tight.
You're an 84C, right?
Noel-chan!
Hey, sit up straight.
Right...
Don't be afraid of your opponent's lance.
Strike her before she can strike you.
Trying to dodge is actually more dangerous.
And then, the fateful day arrived.
The Morning of the Duel
Sakura, take care of Mio tomorrow.
You again.
Hey, wait.
You shouldn't play around out here.
You might get run over by a horse.
It's you again!
Don't get near me with that cat!
You're just acting like you're handing me that cat
so you can look up my skirt instead!
You perverted upperclassman!
That was mean.
The way she holds her lance,
rides her horse,
and moves her body...
She can't do any of it correctly yet.
Isn't it just be a waste of time to have her duel like this?
It's up to her to decide if it's a waste of time.
Besides, Mio isn't interested in winning or losing—
she just doesn't want to run away from the duel.
You mean everyone's a winner if they participate?
People just say that to make themselves feel better.
I don't like it when people joust for fun,
without even trying to win.
I apologize.
I understand how you feel.
Wh-What?
Why are you being nice all of a sudden?
Will you be satisfied with just having her participate?
My pride as a knight wouldn't accept something like that.
Wait, Lisa!
A knight should never fight a battle they don't intend to win.
but right now, Mio just isn't...
I can't believe you can touch that thing.
Wait. That transfer student everyone's talking about...
It couldn't be.
How do I look, Takahiro?
Noel, why are you...
I've wanted to do this for a while.
My family usually doesn't let anyone work a part-time job,
but if I'm helping out a friend, then...
I told her that she could take today off,
but she went on about how her jousting shouldn't affect her job.
She was so energetic.
It's not surprising,
given how much she's trained in such a short period of time.
Thanks for helping out, Noel.
No problem.
The rest is up to Mio.
That's... true.
This looks even better on me than I thought it would.
I should show Mireille.
Mireille?
My adorable little sister.
Noel-chan, table five's up.
Right!
Tomorrow's the day.
Yeah...
It'll all be over tomorrow.
Yeah.
It makes me feel kind of sad.
At first, I just didn't want to quit school, 'cause then I couldn't see you—
I mean, not just you—everyone.
Then everything kept changing.
I can't really say when it happened,
but I realized I was jousting, doing what you love so much.
It's scary sometimes, it hurts sometimes,
and it's really tough sometimes,
but I think to myself that I'm involved in something
that you were doing too.
That makes me really happy.
Mio...
That's why I'm going to do my best tomorrow.
Even if I totally lose...
I still am going to tell everyone
that I love jousting.
I just started,
so maybe I shouldn't be going on like this.
That's not true!
No one has the right to deny the joy you've experienced while jousting.
That's why you should be proud.
I'm happy that you like jousting.
Right!
Ow...
It stings.
I'm the same as Noel-chan and Akane-chan now.
I'm almost like a real knight.
It was hard, and it often hurt...
But it was always so much fun.
Takahiro-kun, good morning.
Hey.
Mio!
D-Did you wait?
What happened to your hair?
It doesn't look good?
No, it looks great.
I see...
I'm glad.
You cut your hair?
Yeah, with scissors.
I see.
That's not what I meant... why?
It'd be fine if I was as good as Noel-chan or Akane-chan,
but at my current skill level,
my hair was just getting in my way, right?
Well, yeah, but...
You're just going to duel this once.
Just this once...
Yeah, that's true.
But I decided
that I'm going to win!
Takahiro-kun?
You're a silly one.
I just got my hair ready, and you're going to mess it up again.
It's fine. I don't mind.
I guess it's fine if you don't mind.
Mio.
Let's win.
Right.
Don't be so nervous...
But I guess that's not possible.
How about I use a little trick to help you calm down?
Trick?
That's right.
What?!
Ayako-san!
What are you doing?!
How about it?
You're not so nervous now, are you?
Huh?
You're right.
Are you ready?
Kisaki Mio-san, you embarrassed me the other day.
I won't forget that humiliation.
Um... maybe I'm just imagining things,
but the armor you're wearing
exposes you about as much as I did by accident.
You're not supposed to comment.
The only one in the entire school who can make this armor work is Bertille-sama!
Not that there's anyone else who wants to wear it.
Are you Kisaki-san's begleiter?
Mizuno Takahiro.
My beloved horse, Weissrozen, is waiting.
How about we get this duel started?
Are you ready, Mio?
Yeah.
All right.
Let's go.
We have a wonderful match for you today,
between Bertille Althusser and Kisaki Mio!
And now it's time for the match to begin.
I've analyzed how Bertille has fought in the past.
She'll try to score a feather's fly against weaker opponents.
Let her lance get close to you, and dodge it at the last second.
The second Bertille makes her move,
close your eyes, and aim for her left shoulder.
Close my eyes?
This is our plan.
I want to win the first round,
and then if possible,
I want Bertille to let her guard down for a while.
So it should look like you just got lucky in the first round.
That's the important part.
I got it.
I'll trust in you, Takahiro-kun.
Bertille's attacks aren't as fast as Noel's.
Remember your training.
Right. Wish me luck!
Bertille-sama, your lance.
I wonder what our enemy's planning.
Whatever the case, I won't be losing here.
That's Bertille-sama for you!
You don't need a reason to be overflowing with self-confidence!
How wonderful.
The match is about to begin.
Competitors, please move to your designated starting position.
Do your best, Mio!
Sakura!
Victory is mine!
Here she comes.
Now!
Bertille-sama!
Bertille is off her horse!
Kisaki takes the round!
Takahiro-kun...
Good job.
You won the first round of your debut match.
That's impressive.
Thanks to your good planning, Takahiro-kun.
This can't be...
Bertille-sama, pull yourself together.
You shouldn't worry about falling off your horse once or twice.
Even if falling off twice means that you lose.
Did you two see her when she thrust her lance?
Her eyes were closed. That's something only a beginner would do.
Just as I thought, she's a complete beginner as a knight.
It looks like our trick worked on her.
Now she'll probably feint, then try to go after your feather.
Bertille is very proud.
I'm sure she'll want to completely destroy you.
So she'll feint an abdomen strike,
then try for your feather.
What should I do?
I want you to get hit by her feint, so Bertille gets the points.
On purpose?!
If you do that, she'll be sure you won the first round by luck,
and she'll let her guard down even more.
I see...
But I'm not sure I can do it.
It'll be fine.
You can do it.
Right!
Huh?
And Bertille lands a strike to the abdomen.
Two points!
So Takahiro let her have the points?
I see. That's Takahiro for you.
Mio's doing pretty well, since she can follow instructions to a T.
I was trying to feint back there...
That was wonderful, Bertille-sama!
It's so like you to score two points instead of just ending the round or getting a feather's fly.
Huh?
Of course!
It was a piece of cake for me to get those points.
The duel...
I mean, the practice match is today, isn't it?
The new girl's doing quite well for herself.
Seems like it.
Bertille will play it safe and attack for points next.
She'll be thinking that she only needs to get one more point,
instead of trying to target your feather or unhorse you.
Right.
Since you closed your eyes when you thrust your lance earlier,
she doesn't think you've got any chance to win.
Mio, this is where we do it.
Don't close your eyes this time.
Get as close to her lance as you can, then dodge.
After that, you counterattack.
Hit her arm as hard as you can with that lance.
But...
It's fine.
You can easily read her attacks, can't you?
Mio, I can tell that your eyes track movement better than most people.
That may be the only weapon you have right now,
but it's the best one you could have.
I don't know...
You said you trust me, right?
I did!
Then trust me until the end!
Takahiro-kun...
Of course!
Competitors, please proceed to your designated positions!
Now, the two will clash once more!
Wait until the last second, and counter...
Wait until the last second, and dodge!
Mio!
And Bertille strikes back!
They've won one round each now!
That makes this the final round!
Looks like you didn't think that through, Takahiro.
I'm sorry. I got hit.
No, I should apologize.
Mio hasn't been jousting for long.
There's no way she could have dodged after drawing so close to a lance.
That should've been obvious.
Takahiro-kun...
Mio's looking at me like that because I'm being weak.
A begleiter should support his knight.
I'm not being a true begleiter.
Mio trusted me...
We're going to try a counterattack again.
You need to watch your opponent's movements very carefully, just like before.
But this time,
I want you to attack at the same time your opponent begins to attack,
while also dodging.
While I dodge...
It'll be fine.
It'll go well this time.
I got it.
Mio!
We're going to win,
and we'll do it together.
Right!
This is it! It's only one more round until
we have our winner, Kisaki or Bertille.
The two are charging down the course!
My next strike will settle this!
I want to win!
Win!
With knight...
...and begleiter...
...working together!
I love jousting!
I've got you now!
Feather's fly!
What?!
You did it, Mio-jouchan.
Kisaki delivers the final blow!
Bertille drops her lance!
Kisaki takes the round!
Kisaki wins!
I did it!
Hmph. So what? It was just a fluke.
There might be more to it than that.
That upperclassman might not just be an ordinary pervert.
Mizuno-kun was able to work well as a begleiter, not just a knight.
That's why I want Mizuno to help me.
I can't believe Bertille-sama could lose to that beginner!
No way.
This must be a bad dream.
An. And you too, Ema.
This was the result of a fair battle between knights.
We must congratulate the winner.
That's what it means to be a noble.
I did it!
Takahiro-kun!
I...
I...!
Well done, Mio.
Takahiro-kun!
I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking!
Mio!
You guys!
Thank you!
Thank you too, Sakura!
This day,
at Winford Academy, beneath a sakura tree, a small knight was born.
Jousting for Dummies!
Today we're going to explain the rules!
Topic The Rules
Jousting is a sport where you thrust a lance at an opponent to get points.
If you hit the arm, it's one point.
If you hit the abdomen, it's two points.
If you get a feather's fly, you win the whole match,
but if you hit the helmet, you lose one round as a penalty.
And if you fall from your horse, or drop your lance,
you also lose the round.
Nobody at home should try this, though!
Everyone has things they don't want to give up on.
Akane will fight the Black Knight,
with her pride as a knight on the line.
Next time: What it Takes to Be a Knight.
Episode 4: What it Takes To Be a Knight
Please watch it.