The man turned his head and, seeing that it was three freshmen, immediately broke into a big smile and said enthusiastically, “You’re here for a tour, right? Welcome, welcome… I’m William Bennett, pleased to meet you. The club president isn’t here right now—he went to attend the student council’s club recruitment meeting. I’ll show you around, okay? I’m not exaggerating, our kendo club has really great facilities! Look, this huge dojo is available for us to use freely, there’s shared protective gear, and the changing room even has showers—hot water in winter, warm water in summer…”

He went on and on, doing his best to praise his own club, which made Ryan Smith both amused and helpless, but it wasn’t convenient to interrupt him. This was an upperclassman, and the senior-junior relationship in high school was a strict line not to be crossed—in Japanese high schools, student self-governance is common, so many things in school can’t be done without the upperclassmen. If you cross the line and incur the collective hostility of the seniors, it’s all too easy for them to make life difficult for you, and you’d have no way to complain.

Ryan Smith patiently waited for a moment, and finally, when William Bennett paused to catch his breath, he quickly interjected, “We’ve already decided to join the club, so there’s no need to trouble you, Bennett senpai. Um, since the president isn’t here, we’ll just wait here for a bit… Is there practice going on right now?”

He changed the subject, afraid the man would go on endlessly, and William Bennett, hearing that they had already decided to join, was even more delighted and cooperatively pointed into the hall, saying, “A first-year freshman just arrived, and Preston senpai is testing her skills! The quality of the new students this year is pretty good—she’s managed to hold out this long… huh?”

He hadn’t finished speaking when something changed in the hall. That petite figure had already broken through her opponent’s defense with a series of rapid strikes, stepped in close with a powerful shout of “men!” and landed a heavy blow on her opponent’s face mask. The force was so great that it knocked her opponent flat to the ground.

William Bennett was dumbfounded, stammering, “A-amazing!”

The club member acting as temporary referee was also stunned, and after a moment’s pause, shouted, “Men is valid, red side wins!”

The petite figure stepped back a few paces after sheathing her sword, then bowed her head and saluted, saying loudly, “Thank you for your guidance, senpai!”

She was small, but her presence was overwhelming, and for a moment everyone in the dojo turned to look at her.

The person lying on the ground waved a hand in return, still seemingly dazed from the storm-like attack. The petite figure didn’t mind, simply retreated to the edge of the court, knelt down, carefully placed her bamboo sword on her right side with the guard level with her knee, then removed her face mask, revealing a small, serious face.

Henry Carter looked closely and, sure enough, it was the soup thief Emily Turner. Emily Turner pulled off her white headscarf, wiped the sweat from her forehead, and began adjusting her protective gear and hakama—her whole outfit was clearly borrowed. The protective gear was adjustable, which was fine, but the hakama was so big and wide that she wore it like a floor-length skirt.

William Bennett called out to the person who had just gotten up, “Vice president, we have new students joining!”

That person took off their face mask, glanced over, and staggered over, greeting them while holding their forehead, “Oh, it’s Jack. Your sister told me about you, you’ve really worked hard.”

Ryan Smith bowed slightly, then introduced, “These are my two friends, Henry Carter and James Walker. This is Preston Hill senpai, a third-year student, currently the vice president of the kendo club, highly skilled, and a key member of the club, serving as the captain of the boys’ team in group competitions.”

Preston Hill gave a slight bow to Carter and Walker, “Welcome to the kendo club.”

That was all he said—he didn’t care much about people who joined just for the numbers. He wasn’t as invested in club affairs as the president, and just glanced over at Emily Turner with lingering apprehension, then asked, “Ryan, are you familiar with Turner?”

“Not really, we’re not in the same class.” Ryan Smith asked, “Is there a problem, Preston senpai?”

“It’s nothing, it’s just that this new student is really strong, I’m a bit curious… She doesn’t seem to have been trained in the school dojo. By the way, did you ever hear the name Emily Turner when you competed in junior high tournaments?”

Ryan Smith shook his head directly, but then asked curiously, “Didn’t you go easy on her just now, Preston senpai?” He had come in late and thought Preston Hill had only defended to test the newcomer’s ability and lost in the end—which was normal, since kendo is a sport that values aggressive offense, and defending is much harder than attacking.

Preston Hill gave a wry smile, “That was my plan at first, but later I couldn’t even if I wanted to—there was no chance to counterattack at all.” But then he quickly became cheerful again, thinking that having strong newcomers was good for the club, and said with satisfaction, “With you and Turner joining this year, maybe we’ll have a shot at the national tournament… Sigh, this is our last year, I hope we can get a good result.”

Ryan Smith comforted him gently, “We’ll definitely do well, please don’t worry, Preston senpai.”

Preston Hill patted him on the shoulder and smiled, “Thanks!” But then he added with a strange look, “If only your personality could be swapped with your sister’s.”

Ryan Smith immediately frowned, while James Walker muttered quietly behind them, “Please, anything but that!”