Tilura was told her mistakes

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“Next is Tilura. First, it was impressive how you avoided the orc’s arm swing. As I said before, you may not be able to do it once you grow taller. But I commend your flexibility of thought.”
“Yes! I managed to dodge it!”

Had I tried to do it, I wouldn’t have been able to duck low enough, and would have hit the orc’s arm. Or I would have gone too low and fallen to the ground.
That would mean I could not attack afterwards, and the orcs would be able to hit me.

“…However, the last part. There is a problem with that.”

He had avoided saying this earlier, as Tilura was celebrating. But since we were now talking about how to improve, Mr. Ekenhart was going to tell her.

“…I thought it was fine, because it had stopped… Was that wrong?”
“As the orc had stopped due to pain and surprise, it was fine to continue attacking. However, if you are going to deal the finishing blow, you should do it when you are certain. Like Mr. Takumi, who stabbed it in the back while it was on the ground.”
“Hmm…”

Tilura seemed like she didn’t quite understand what he was saying.
As Mr. Ekenhart and I had been watching from far away, we understood the situation. The orc had been making a last attempt to attack, while the sword was stuck into it.
But since Tilura was close to it, and the sword was deep into the orc, she might not have seen its raised arm.

“Tilura, you might not have seen it, but… The orc was moving its left arm as if it was about to do something. Had it had just a few more seconds of life…you might have been hit. And even if it would likely be a weak attack, it is best to avoid any such injuries.”
“…Yes.”

Tilrura now realized her mistake and nodded.
As fighting was serious, he had to be strict regarding the small things too. But I thought it was impressive that Tilura was able to do so much at this age.
None of the children I knew would have been able to fight with a sword like she did.
Well, this was a world of monsters… So it was different.

“Also, there are things to consider about what happened after as well.”
“After…? Uh, do you mean how I tumbled down with the orc?”
“Mmm. Well, since you were facing just one enemy, I don’t really mind. But that would have left you open if there were other enemies.”
“But… As I had pushed the blade in so deep, I couldn’t pull it out again…”
“If you cannot pull out the sword, why didn’t you just let go of it?”
“But…then the weapon…”
“Yes, you wouldn’t be able to fight without it. But it is just a tool. It is not important if you are in danger. You need to think about yourself first. There may even be times when you will have to throw your weapon at an enemy and run. Well, that is an extreme case.”
“Yes…”

I nodded in agreement at this.
It was similar to what Sebastian had told me when teaching me magic.
You had to prioritize protecting your own life, think of the right actions, and act on them.
Throwing your weapon and running was kind of like using magic to stun an enemy so you could escape.

Even though Tilura had trained, she was still a child.
And so she could not match the power of a monster or adult.
Perhaps knowing that she could not fight well without a weapon, she was more hesitant to let it go.
Still, Mr. Ekenhart wanted her to think about protecting herself, and not just winning.
While Tilura had been happy about defeating the orc, there were more reflection points than she was expecting, and she nodded despondently.

“…Still, while there were some mistakes, you did good for your first time… Very well. Some people get so nervous that they cannot do anything. Well done, Tilura.”

Indeed. While Tilura had been nervous for most of the day, after talking to her and letting her play with Leo…she was fine. But then she got nervous again.
But in spite of that, she was able to move fine as soon as the battle began.
Perhaps she was good when it counted… It might mean that she had the qualities of a good leader. Or was I overthinking it?

Next Chapter

My Beloved Dog is the Strongest in Another World