Henry Carter finally understood why both James Walker and Ryan Smith were always so resentful whenever they mentioned Evelyn Smith—this Evelyn Smith was simply not a normal person at all. After they finished filling out the club registration forms, she just told them, “If the student council asks, just say you’re participating in club activities as usual, and you’ll travel with the varsity team for competitions,” and then promptly kicked them out. It was like being used and then tossed aside, treated no better than toilet paper.

　　She was basically the epitome of zero emotional intelligence.

　　Meanwhile, Emily Turner was kept behind by Evelyn Smith; apparently, the kendo club president greatly admired traditional swordsmanship and wanted to have a good exchange with Emily Turner.

　　Ryan Smith felt extremely embarrassed about what had happened. In his view, he had asked his friends Henry Carter and James Walker to help his own sister’s club by posing as members to secure funding, so he owed them his thanks. But then James Walker was deliberately injured by Emily Turner—even though it wasn’t serious, at the very least, someone should have stood up for him, right? And if not, shouldn’t they at least keep some distance from the “culprit”?

　　But in the end, not even a word of comfort was offered?

　　All in all, the more he thought about it, the more upset he felt, his eyes turning red with grievance. Suddenly, he bowed deeply at a ninety-degree angle and said in a low voice, “I’m really sorry to both of you. I promise I’ll give you an explanation for this!”

　　Henry Carter gently tried to help him up, but Ryan Smith insisted on staying bowed, and couldn’t be straightened even with help, so he could only smile and say, “Smith-kun, I don’t blame you.”

　　After all, he was a bit older and knew that taking out your anger on others was pointless. He was also a bit more magnanimous… at least he wouldn’t, like Ryan Smith, be a sixteen-year-old boy with red-rimmed eyes, unable to handle being wronged.

　　James Walker looked utterly dejected. This was one of those classic cases of trying to show off and ending up humiliated—a true tragedy of life. He was extremely downcast, but faced with Ryan Smith’s sincere apology, he still managed to say, “It’s fine, Ryan. It’s not like I don’t know what your sister is like—she has zero emotional intelligence… She didn’t mean to embarrass you, she just doesn’t think about these things. If you want to blame someone, blame that little shorty!”

　　He’d known Ryan Smith since childhood and was very close to him, so for his sake, he didn’t say much about his sister. But when it came to Emily Turner, he was much less polite, not caring that his own behavior was a bit out of line, and just started cursing: “That girl was clearly looking for trouble on purpose, she’s definitely got a screw loose—probably because she’s too short and has an inferiority complex…”

　　Henry Carter helped Ryan Smith up and nodded in agreement. “She really was looking for trouble, but she was targeting me. You just got caught up in it.”

　　“How did you end up provoking that little shorty?” James Walker asked angrily. Judging by his expression, if he could beat Emily Turner, he’d probably already be on his way to skin her alive.

　　Henry Carter was just as baffled and could only shake his head. “I have no idea. I don’t even know her.”

　　James Walker rubbed his throat, recalling the moment he was stabbed—he hadn’t even seen where the tip of the sword was. Still shaken, he said, “I’ll ask around about her tomorrow. But that little shorty really is tough. We should probably steer clear of her from now on, right?”

　　Ryan Smith nodded silently as well. Although he was angry at Emily Turner for deliberately using dangerous moves, he was even more upset that his sister had embarrassed him in front of his friends.

　　Henry Carter glanced at James Walker, this big coward, and didn’t agree. Hiding wouldn’t solve anything! Who knew what kind of person Emily Turner really was? If she found it amusing, she might just keep causing trouble endlessly.

　　Avoiding her would only postpone the problem, not solve it at all. It was not the right approach.

　　A person had to have the ability to protect themselves, even if it was just kids fighting!

　　He turned to Ryan Smith and asked, “Smith-kun, I want to learn kendo. Could you lend me some books about kendo? If possible, a bamboo sword would be even better.”

　　Ryan Smith looked up in surprise, while James Walker couldn’t help but laugh. “Carter, you’re not planning to teach yourself, are you? Kendo is something you can easily go astray with if you try to learn on your own. Once you pick up bad habits, it takes several times the effort to fix them. Self-study just doesn’t work.”

　　Ryan Smith nodded repeatedly in agreement. Kendo was all about form—like adjusting the blade’s trajectory through grip, scientific power techniques, footwork, and body movement. Without someone to guide you, just reading books meant you’d almost certainly go down the wrong path, and he added, “Carter-kun, what kendo needs most is persistent practice—repeating a move countless times until it becomes a reflex… Even if you’re smart, without enough practice time, it’s impossible to beat Turner.”

　　Henry Carter smiled and said, “There’s no harm in trying, right?”

　　James Walker and Ryan Smith exchanged a glance, both thinking his idea was totally unreliable. But after thinking it over, Ryan Smith felt that since he’d asked, it would be hard to refuse, so he agreed, “I’ll bring it for you tomorrow… My sister really loves kendo and has collected some illustrated guides to modern kendo techniques, as well as some old military strategy books. I’ll pick out a basic one for you.”

　　“Military strategy books?”

　　“Oh, in the old days, swordsmanship was called ‘military strategy’ or ‘small military strategy.’ The ‘military strategy instructor’ in the army referred to the swordsmanship coach.”