Kenshin no Keishousha

The curtains were raised for the second day of the elimination matches.

What was shocking was things went about as usual as if yesterday’s disturbance within the warehouse never happened. The elimination matches stayed on track and resumed as usual.

Because of the agreement between Kurou and the Sun Cultists, they did not pursue them. In consideration of Lima’s honor, the matter of her being wounded by a human was never disclosed. However, it was quite unimaginable that the incident’s follow up was conducted in a way as if nothing ever occurred.

Lars’s cover up of the incident was quite horrifying. You wouldn’t want this guy as your enemy.

“......However, this is such a pain. The waiting time is so long.”

Kurou heaved a heavy sigh.

At the a.s.sembly place where the elimination matches were held, there was a lounge accessible to the many partic.i.p.ants waiting on their matches. Kurou and Hinako were just staring on as they sat on a couch within a corner of the lounge.

“Kuro is really quite laid-back.”

“I don’t need to hear it from you.”

“However, everyone else seems to be in a nervous wreck.”

The students who were about to take the stage stayed close to the side of the lounge that was towards the arena. As a result, an air of tension clouding over that place was probably to be expected.

“It’s now round three, the compet.i.tion has become more fierce. Everyone has probably forgotten about the a.s.sault incident already.”

“Even those words sound quite carefree. Eh? That said, I haven’t seen Sefi or Lars.”

“I already told you, don’t directly call them by their names. Also, since when did you start directly addressing Sefi-sama by her name as well?”

Hinako was too unsophisticated in these matters. It didn’t matter much for a guy like Lars, but if she were to call Sefi, who was the princess of the four generals and possessed outstanding swordsmanship, by her name directly, then it would cause a huge commotion. Although that was the case, no matter how many times he warned Hinako it was probably a fruitless endeavor.

“Jeez......since Lars always wanders off as he pleases, even I have no clue where that guy is. However, there’s a special lounge for distinguished students so perhaps Sefi-sama should be in there.”

If your grade was good, it would result in better treatment. Since this school was organized by competing for ranks, it wasn’t a bad thing to bestow special treatment to those with superior grades.

“Ah, it’s Sefi’s turn.”

Hinako was watching the large display screen installed in the lounge as she spoke.

The large display screen broadcasted multiple sections of the arena, allowing it to capture many matches occurring at once.

“Can Sefi win?”

“Last time during the tournament she attained third place. As long as she doesn’t fool around she won’t lose.”

As he was saying this, Sefi’s wooden sword heavily struck her opponent’s shoulder and the wooden sword fell out of her opponent’s hands. Just as he was considering whether or not the girl looked a bit shaken up————she toppled over. She hadn’t lost her fighting spirit from the beginning, but her body was unable to withstand Sefi’s attack.

Sefi comforted her opponent and then departed from the tournament stage. She was very gentle towards her own gender. If only she was that gentle towards me as well, Kurou thought along these lines.

“It still isn’t Kuro’s turn yet?”

“No, there’s still around ten minutes left.”

Kurou responded while being fixated on the display screen. It was just as he said, once at round three, those that were present were all the students with excellent swordsmanship. They weren’t fully developed yet but after two or three years, who knows to what extent they would mature to.

Although there were Swordies who blossomed early on, there were also many who developed slowly. Among those kinds of people, they could perhaps become one of the Seven Swords of the future as well.

Kurou suddenly recalled, if the number one ranked student from year one, Migune, was still alive————

“Ahhh————!”

Suddenly, the cry of a girl’s voice sounded from somewhere.

Kurou did not spare a moment of hesitation. He grabbed the hand of Hinako, who blankly stared on, and ran out.

Everyone within the lounge had heard the cry, however Kurou was the fastest one to respond.

Kurou held Hinako’s hand and raced towards the sound of the cry.

Although it was quite a foolish thing for a bodyguard to specifically lead the person he was guarding to peril, Kurou would rather confront the danger than run away.

Based on the circ.u.mstances, in many cases he had to actively eliminate the danger factors to create a safer environment as opposed to running away. Kurou judged based on his own intuition, hence having fallen under this state.

Afterwards, they ran through the intricate paths leading around the arena.

As Kurou and Hinako arrived at the entrance of a room, there were many female students gathered around and chattering away indistinctly.

Kurou instantly noticed the red colored liquid flowing out from the room to where he was standing.

As he made his way through the crowd of female students and caught a gander of what was in the room, he noticed that what was lying there was just as he expected.

It was a girl covered in blood.

Although her face laid downwards, there wasn’t even a need to confirm who it was.

The number two ranked swordswoman, Freya, was dead.

“All of a sudden, a strange person stormed into the room......”

One of Freya’s supporters, with tears in her eyes, stated as such.

In order to inquire more about the situation, Kurou brought one of the girls standing by Freya’s corpse out of the lounge. Right now, gathering information was absolutely essential.

However, she appeared to be inattentive towards Kurou who was asking her questions. She was still in a state of confusion so grasping the main points of her explanation proved quite difficult.

Even so, this was what he understood after organizing what she had said: When Freya was in the lounge, she was ambushed and killed with one strike.

“She appeared to be wearing......black, loose fitting clothing. I couldn’t discern her appearance due to the hood she was wearing......”

“Is that so.”

Basically, it must have been the same arts user that Kurou had encountered a couple days ago or perhaps an accomplice of hers.

The number one ranked student of his grade, Migune, was murdered, the third ranked Sefi was attacked, and now the second ranked Freya was killed. The chances of her targets being the exceptional students were quite high.

What if, the arts user wanted to conveniently finish the task left undone from a couple days ago after she slayed Freya————

“Tch.”

Kurou clicked his tongue and hightailed off once again while pulling Hinako along.

However, he instantly stopped in his tracks and returned to the sobbing girl. Kurou then grabbed her shoulders.

“People are gathering here due to the fervent crowd. Freya probably wouldn’t want herself to be seen like this. Forget about the safety of this crowd for now, just have her body set down properly and cover her with a blanket.”

After the girl confirmed with a nod of the head, Kurou set off once again.

Although it felt like Hinako wished to say something, Kurou remained silent as they continued to dash forward. They only knew Freya from their brief conversation so their silence wasn’t because either of them were in deep sorrow over her loss.

Despite that, Kurou wanted to protect Freya’s honor. That was all the reason he needed considering this was expected from him.

Furthermore, he must put an end to the number of victims. Thus, he had no choice but to immediately head towards his destination.

“......”

However, Hinako wasn’t a fast runner. It was obvious that she didn’t have adequate exercise since she had always been imprisoned in a Sun Cult facility. Nevertheless, there was no way he could just ditch her.

“Kurou-kun.”

“What!?”

Suddenly, from the corner of his vision came a girl wearing a red long coat————it was Manaka.

Kurou stopped and unwaveringly stared at his boss.

“Manaka, what are you doing here?”

“Oh nothing. I received an invitation from the princ.i.p.al asking if I would like to watch the elimination matches. Furthermore, I also had to send two squads over to the academy out of courtesy, and I was told that ‘the students would be quite happy if one of the Seven Swords could come’, so there’s various reasons why I’m here. That said, why are you in such a hurry?”

“I don’t have the leisure to explain right now. However, you came at the perfect time. Please take this child off my hands for now.”

“Ha? You’re asking me? You want me to train her to have your favored tsundere attribute?”

“Why would I request my boss for something like that!? I’m asking if you would take my place as her bodyguard for now. Taking her somewhere where there"s a lot of people would probably be more suitable. Well then, I’ll be taking my leave!”

Kurou did not even wait for Manaka’s response and just handed her Hinako.

Although it was very unexpected that Manaka would come here to watch the compet.i.tion, it could only be said as good fortune for him. There was probably no one more suitable than having her take his place as that child’s bodyguard.

However, there were still matters that needed to be attended to————

“He left.......”

Hinako muttered while gazing at the pathway that Kurou swiftly ran through.

“It all developed into a complete mess rather quickly......”

“Kurou-kun has already trained to his limits as a human————even with his Olden Style, he can never stride past the disparity in terms of physical capabilities against a Swordie. He might even be the strongest among all humans.”

That was probably quite the exaggeration still. Although, Hinako kept this thought to herself. She had absolutely no understanding of his physical capability.

“That said, he has some nerve to be pushing his own work onto his boss! That b.a.s.t.a.r.d is really undaunted.”

“Sefi is really important to him. Kurou highly values her even though it clearly isn’t part of his work.”

“That guy went to Sefi’s place? I’ve noticed that things are a bit rowdy around here, what in the world happened?”

Hinako roughly explained the incident regarding Freya. Hinako guessed that Kurou had probably figured the enemy had their sights set on Sefi, thus he ran towards her location.

“.......Oh, the incident occurred once again? In that case, there’s probably no chance of them being able to conceal themselves within the academy anymore. It may turn into a more catastrophic situation. Guess I’ll be busied with this as well. Alright alright, what should we do next——”

“......?”

Hinako looked at Manaka as she tilted her head.

No matter what, wasn’t the job of the Sabers to find the a.s.sailants and arrest them? Or was this situation handed over to the police to deal with?

“Haha, no need to worry. Compared to this......it is really quite awful of Kurou-kun. No matter how cute Sefi is, for him to have thrown you aside is really......”

“This precisely demonstrates how important Sefi is to him. Is it due to the difference in the amount of time acquainted?”

“Is that so. I don’t quite understand dating and such, especially if it is between a Swordie and a human. It is possible for humans to marry Swordies since they can still bear children, however relationships between Swordies and humans are rarely seen. They’d eventually go through many hardships.”

Manaka seemed to really sympathize for Kurou and Sefi.

It wasn’t just the difference in race between Kurou and Sefi, there were plenty of other obstacles. Even Hinako felt that was the case.

“By the way, Kurou hasn’t made a move on you yet? I"ve even gone through the trouble of giving you nice clothes.”

Manaka overtly gazed at Hinako’s voluptuous chest and her soft legs.

“I’m also quite fascinated at the concept of making love.”

Hinako calmly endured Manaka’s line of sight and faintly mentioned.

“Kurou hasn’t done anything to me. He didn’t seek out my undergarments and never even peeked in as I was bathing.”

“Really? That’s pretty lame. I wasn’t sure if Kurou-kun would be motivated in guarding you. I basically thought if he were to make a move on you, then he’d take his bodyguard a.s.signment more diligently.”

Manaka had her arms folded as she began pondering.

It was quite difficult to imagine Hinako ever being together with someone like Manaka who was one of the Swordie’s strongest Seven Swords. She gave the impression of an older sister improperly dealing with boredom.

“Well, there’s nothing we can do either way. If that side fails then it’d be perfect. That means we can make some progress over here.”

“What side do you mean?”

“About that, just·wait·and·see.”

With Manaka’s statement possessing some sort of implication, Hinako blinked in response.

Hinako was immediately dumbfounded————

“......?”

Suddenly, an overwhelming pressure came at her.

Against this astounding power that was hard to stand up against————Hinako felt as if everything in front of her was violently shaking.

Meanwhile, just as a precaution, he had already checked on the lounge where Sefi was.

During the elimination tournament, Sefi had supporters by her side and as a result, Kurou felt there was no need to be overly concerned about her. However, Freya was pretty much under the same circ.u.mstances when she was killed, thus it showed how naive his thinking was.

Kurou mustered all his effort in running towards the front of Sefi’s lounge. Without a shred of hesitation, he forcefully opened the door.

“Sefi!”

“......Eh?”

A splendid scene awaited Kurou on the other side of the door.

Sefi, who was only wearing an aqua blue bra on top, was drying herself off with a towel. Since the skirt to her uniform was raised, her legs were completely exposed.

Tiny beads of sweat covered her flushed red face. From the valley of those two swells, her slender waistline, and supple legs, it all emitted a peculiar seductive aura.

No, right now was not the time to be getting excited over this stuff.

“Thank goodness Sefi.”

“H-Hold on......!”

Kurou tightly hugged Sefi’s body. Her skin was tender and smooth, her body heat even faintly transferred over.

“I’m so glad you’re ok. For a moment I was thinking what would become of you......”

“W-What are you doing......what made you do something like this, there must be a reason!?”

“It’s fine as long as you’re ok.”

“It’s not fine!”

Once Sefi returned to her senses, she forcefully separated herself from Kurou’s body. Under these circ.u.mstances, it was plain to see that Kurou’s strength could not resist that of a Swordie’s.

“What is this all of a sudden you idiot.”

Sefi swiftly put on the shirt to her uniform and promptly combed her hair. Her face was in a blush and her eyes were br.i.m.m.i.n.g with tears.

“Looks like if I don’t explain first......”

Kurou concisely briefed her of Freya’s situation. He also explained that he thought the attacker might come towards Sefi as well so that was why he hurried over here.

“......Freya’s dead? No way, how could something like this happen in school?”

“Although it’s quite regrettable, it is the truth. Sefi, are you by yourself? Where are your supporters?”

“Since I wanted to concentrate on the match beforehand, I sent my friends off. I had thought that the attacker wouldn’t be stupid enough to come here with all the people gathered in the room......”

“That’s what I thought as well. However, the opposition doesn’t seem to care about how things turn out. For now, let’s leave. Sefi, do you have the Starbreaker on you?”

“Yeah, I had it just in case. Where do you plan on heading?”

Sefi grabbed the Starbreaker that was leaning against the wall in the corner of the room as she asked.

“Perfect, Manaka is here as well. Although she always makes me feel a bit gloomy, there’s no safer place than by her side.”

“That’s true.”

Despite her att.i.tude, Manaka was someone worthy of being one of the Seven Swords. One or two arts users were probably no big deal.

Kurou and Sefi both walked out of the lounge and scurried along the path. They kept a close watch on all sides as Kurou retrieved his cellphone to call Manaka.

“......Hmm?”

Since Manaka was pretty negligent, having forgotten her cellphone elsewhere was very possible. For now, they could only head towards where he last parted from Manaka.

“Hey, Kurou.”

“What is it?”

Kurou put the cellphone back in his pocket as he replied.

“Even if it’s a time like this......please forget about that matter from before.”

“What are you talking about?”

Seeing Sefi’s face, he noticed that she hastily avoided his line of sight and blushed. This girl who was holding that ridiculously gargantuan sword revealed an embarra.s.sed expression. How unusual.

“What I meant was......t-that matter regarding when I attacked you, you should just erase that sort of thing from your memory.”

“Ah. You see, there’s been a lot of things happening recently.”

“Y-You’re right. However, please just forget about it. I must have been in a daze at the time. It’s because it has been a long time since I last witnessed Kurou’s sword so I just got a bit excited is all. It’s got nothing to do with being captivated or anything.”

As Sefi’s face turned red, she rapidly spoke with a barrage of words.

“Please forget all of that. I-I......also......did that thing with you. Just erase the memory of what was pretty much a dog bite!”

“What dog, hey.”

Of course, she was most likely referring to the kiss.

“Even if you tell me to disregard it————that impactful experience is hard to overlook.”

Kurou was an exceedingly aberrant individual, but despite this he was still just a fifteen year-old teenager. After kissing a beauty like Sefi, it was impossible to pretend nothing had happened.

“It was an impactful experience......y-you haven’t......kissed that girl yet?”

“That girl? Haha, oh you mean her. N-No way, I haven’t even laid a finger on her.”

This he could swear to G.o.d. Although they were living under the same roof, for Kurou to even visually take pleasure in Hinako was a bit worrying.

“I-I see. So you haven’t done anything to her, not bad not bad. Nevertheless, it’d be pitiful if the number of victims increased.”

“So you’re saying you want to have all of the s.e.xual hara.s.sment to yourself......”

“I never said such a thing! Jeez————”

Sefi suddenly tensed up.

Practically at the same time, Kurou ceased smiling and narrowed his eyes as he attentively gazed towards the front.

“......There’s a person. I don’t sense anyone except that one individual.”

“Rou......”

Kurou used his finger to gesture Sefi who wanted to head forward.

From around the corner ten or so meters away from them, the sound of footsteps could be heard.

“Is the person coming out?”

With the sound of the footsteps, out came someone in the corner of their vision————it was the black robed suspicious figure from before. Just like back then, she had a hood draped over her head which concealed her appearance.

The robed arts user drew her sword without uttering a word. The slender blade was enveloped in a faint white light.

Kurou also pulled out his katana and set it into its usual upright stance.

“Rou, today I’ll......”

“Stand down. In these narrow pathways, it’d be hard to engage in battle with two people at once. Furthermore, matches against Swordies are pretty much one-on-ones right?”

“Oh......”

After Sefi faintly muttered, she took a few steps back. Even if she wasn’t going to enter battle, backing off a bit was beneficial to Kurou.

Suddenly, the arts user took action. She hopped up like a spring, instantly closing in ten meters, and then she swung her sword.

“......!”

Kurou unwaveringly parried the arts user’s strike and took advantage of this opportunity to slash the opponent’s shoulder. Following that, he felt the sensation of cutting through flesh.

“What......!?”

Although it was a shallow wound he had suddenly inflicted with a slash after easily deflecting her first strike, it made the arts user unmistakably tremble.

However, the arts user’s bewilderment was only for an instant. Immediately after, she hurriedly readjusted her stance. As she moved her body in a dance-like motion————

Instantly, a six slash strike came speeding at him. The attack which involved the white light enshrouded light blade flashed like a shooting star.

Confronted with these continual attacks that would cut him up into pieces, Kurou had deflected all of them.

That kind of masterful technique resulted in the sound of multiple blade clashes that rang one right after another.

“Guh......!”

The arts user uttered indistinctly and staggeringly backed off. The left side of her abdomen was bleeding.

After Kurou blocked the six strikes, with the next strike, he had stabbed the arts user’s flank.

“Tch, it’s still not deep enough. Well, looks like this matter can’t be resolved so easily.”

Although she had been stabbed in the abdomen, it was absolutely not deep enough to reach her internal organs. If it was a Swordie, they should be good enough to continue battling.

“......”

Although the arts user’s expression couldn’t really be seen, her anxiousness was very noticeable. Perhaps to her, that last six strike attack was a must-kill technique. At any rate, having that maneuver be effortlessly blocked by Kurou and having been counterattacked, it must have been completely unexpected to her.

“There’s nothing to be astonished about right? My Olden Style, simply put the principle behind it is just reading your opponent’s attacks while not letting them be able to read yours. This is the second time you’re battling me so I’m already able to read your sword maneuvers. Of course, even after a hundred battles you’ll still never be able to understand my swordsmanship. Since you were unable to deal with me during our first battle, you should have never appeared in front of me again.”

Kurou wryly smiled.

Swordies didn’t put all their strength into wielding a sword, rather it was being able to read their opponent as they battled. However, Kurou turned the tables by having unpredictable movements————in other words, he used an exceedingly rudimentary theory to derive his unpredictable swordsmanship for combat engagement.

From a Swordie’s perspective, from the gesture of Kurou’s sword and its movements, it would deviate from the trajectory that they predicted and come at them in an unantic.i.p.ated speed. If their swordsmanship and opportunities to strike had been thrown into utter disorder, then it would even be hard for a Swordie’s physical capabilities to counter Kurou’s swordsmanship.

An intriguing, indiscernible swordsmanship————that was the truth behind Kurou’s blade.

However, based on the words from the arts user, she must have thought there had to be some trick behind it. Kurou’s sword maneuvers were not limitless.

If they were to reach a hundred battles, those maneuvers should become readable right? If it did reach that extent, Kurou’s sword wielding should appear identical to that of other humans in the face of a Swordie’s capabilities.

Nevertheless, it was impossible to battle someone a hundred times, especially if those combats involved real weapons.

“You have lost, arts user.”

However, under a situation where he held supremacy, this line could become the chains to the opponent’s shackles. Kurou knew this because he had personally experienced this on his own body.

Following that, Kurou had remembered.

He had been chained by these same words in a distant past.

“Thou hast already lost, Kurou.”

Sword Saint Hyouka cheerfully stated towards her disciple who disgracefully had his sword knocked to the ground.

Kurou pressed against his hand as he gazed towards the katana that had been sent flying a couple meters away. He tightly bit his lips. He understood he was clearly defeated, but having this mentioned to him made him feel as if he was slayed.

Almost seven years had pa.s.sed since he became Hyouka’s disciple and embarked on training deep into the mountains with her.

The mountains were solely chosen as a place for training. Except for the small hut he lived in with the Sword Saint, there weren’t any other man-made structures. Nearly every day involved crossing swords with authentic swords by a small stream next to the hut. This sort of thing would repeat itself daily.

When he first started training, the katana was so heavy to him that he couldn’t even lift it up. By the time he was fourteen years of age, he was able to wield the sword as if it was a natural part of his movements.

However, that all amounts to nothing if all he could do was wield it.

“That’s far from adequate Kurou. Just because you can beat Sylphy’s little sister you think you’re something else? My disciple beating that kind of blondie brat is to be expected you idiot.”

Hyouka arrogantly stated. Furthermore, her manner of speaking felt a bit outdated. However, she had always been like this.

Kurou thought she must have been influenced by some sort of contemporary drama as he stared at her.

Hyouka was a young woman in her twenties. Akin to a geisha, she wore a bright cherry colored kimono with the chest region greatly sticking out. Those ma.s.sive supple mounds of hers were practically half exposed.

Her blue hair extended down her back and that neatly done appearance of hers gave the impression of a cat. At times she was amiable, but sometimes it was as if she was a monster fiercely eying her prey’s flesh. Her expressions were constantly alternating.

Her att.i.tude left a deep impression, but it probably contrasted greatly between person to person. However, certainly no one would ever forget about her upon seeing her once. She was this kind of woman who left a lasting impression on others.

“I’m already tired of being your master or whatever, just how long are you going to make me work Kurou?”

Hyouka hoisted her katana which was the same type as Kurou’s over her shoulder as she spoke. She was one of the few Swordies who utilized a katana. Except, this wasn’t her personalized sword, it was merely an expendable piece of equipment to her.

“......With that being said, it’s very easy. You shouldn’t have anymore trouble as long as we properly work on your offense.”

The Olden Style relied on preventing your opponent from being able to predict you while being able to thoroughly read your opponent’s movements. This kind of prediction did not rely on visualizing those movements or physical capabilities, but rather experience and intuition. Of course, this sort of matter wasn’t facilely attainable.

“Do you think you can master the Olden Style? Although Kurou is far from being capable of doing so, your father’s research was incredible. As his son, it would be a disservice to him if you are only able to become some dabbling sword master.”

“Guh......”

Kurou was completely unable to retort.

The technique known as the Olden Style that was left in his dad’s notebook was pretty much systemized from the compilation of past warriors. It was merely theoretical, grasping this technique was not so simple in reality. At the very least, despite his father understanding the theory, he wasn’t able to master it. Kurou would probably be incapable as well if attempting it alone.

Hyouka, who was very knowledgeable in the ways of the sword, got hold of the Olden Style technique book when she took in this teenage disciple. Precisely because it was under her guidance, although he was not well-versed in it, Kurou did pick up the Olden Style.

“However, you have worked fairly hard so I guess I’ll offer you a bit of praise. Also, I might as well give you this while I’m at it.”

After stating as such, Hyouka chucked something towards Kurou.

“Could this be......the Sword Saint’s successor marking?”

The mark of the Sword Saint was carved into the white bracelet. This kind of thing could only be worn if the successor’s qualifications were approved.

To have this be conferred to a human like Kurou————

“The one who chose you as a disciple was me. Whether or not to let you become the successor also rests on me. This is all my own will, this you should know, my dear Kurou.”

“Master......”

Hyouka freely stuck her sword into the ground.

Following that, she unhesitantly approached Kurou and placed her hand on his shoulder.

“You did pretty good today since you properly dealt with my two hundred and sixty-five or so strikes. If I can state my desire, it would be for you to be able to block over three hundred strikes.”

“......Well, then look forward to the me of tomorrow.”

“Very well.”

Hyouka lightly smiled and gently hugged Kurou.

When they had just met, Hyouka was much taller. However, Kurou was already taller than his master by three centimeters after seven years.

Along with being his master, she was also like a parent who raised him after his father pa.s.sed away. While her sweet fragrance enveloped him————

Kurou was also already convinced that their days together were coming to an end.

During that brief period, Kurou recalled some irrelevant matters.

Even within that time frame, Kurou’s body unwittingly began to move.

“Flames, go forth!”

Accompanying that chant-like phrase, a flame snake was launched.

That kind of thing was no longer an issue for Kurou anymore.

The flame snake was immensely powerful. If he had taken a direct hit then perhaps he would be dead.

Nevertheless, presently he was able to respond appropriately. He had wavered in the previous battle against this mystic art technique that he had no knowledge of————

However, dealing with it wasn’t challenging for him anymore as long as he kept focused and prepared himself.

Gathering energy for the mystic art and releasing the flame snake consumed more time than taking action with a sword. Hence, in terms of evading————it wasn’t quite an exacting task.

In one breath, Kurou dodged the flame and took off. In a sweeping motion, he swung the sword at the arts user’s face.

“Guh......!”

The arts user mustered all her effort in backing away and evaded his sword————however, the blade slightly grazed the hood. The hood, which had been obstructing her appearance, was now lifted up over her back.

The face behind the hood was now exposed.

Wearing those gla.s.ses, her face gave off a gentle impression. Her pigtails were also stuffed within the hood.

It was————

“Neena!?”

Sefi exclaimed in shock.

It was understandable for her to be that astonished. As one of the supporters who was constantly by Sefi’s side, although she appeared to be well-behaved, she unexpectedly turned out to be the type to say whatever she wanted. She was somewhat of a peculiar girl. For the arts user to be her, Sefi could never have imagined such a scenario.

On the other hand, Kurou kept his cool. That was because he had already figured that the criminal was of course someone within the academy. In this aspect, Kurou was different from the uncontentious Sefi.

“N-Neena, why are you......!”

“I’m very sorry, but no matter how I apologize it’s going to come off a bit strange. Yes, the person who wants to kill you is me because that is my objective.”

“H-Hold on a sec, what’s with this all of a sudden! Your objective......what do you mean by that!?”

Confronted with Sefi’s interrogation, Neena tightly bit her lips and didn’t respond.

While facing her, she only took off her gla.s.ses. Her eyes that were hidden behind the lens were————

“Huh, red eyes......?”

Sefi opened her eyes in shock.

This time, even Kurou was a bit astounded. Swordies had numerous eye colors, however he had never seen glimmering, shining red eyes before.

“Neena, are you a......”

“So you know about it. Looks like it’s still being circulated around within Sefi-sama’s household. That’s truly great. I was worried what I would do if you had said you had no clue.”

Neena revealed a sinister smile.

“We are the descendants of the people you guys shoved into h.e.l.l. If you had said you were uninformed of this matter......then even cutting you up into eight chunks wouldn’t do justice.”

“Neena......”

“For the sake of my mission, I snuck into the academy. However, I definitely wasn’t appalled by you. Sefi-sama, you truly treated me well. If you weren’t the princess of the four generals......”

Neena removed her robe. Underneath was a tightly fitted black suit.

“The commotion had already expanded and so I thought my opportunity had arrived. However, I did not expect to be exposed. It’s quite regrettable that I wasn’t able to kill Sefi-sama.”

Despite not being asked, Neena still revealed these matters.

Although Kurou was stunned, he still inquired from Neena.

“So your target was Sefi after all. You are also the one who killed Freya and Migune right?”

“Of course it was me, but that was only a matter of convenience.”

Neena did not pause at all.

“Migune-san and Freya-san would head out towards the Outer Human Region every night and engage in tsujigiri. I encountered them by chance so that’s how I know of it. Regarding the details behind this situation, a Sabers member like you should have a greater understanding of it am I right?”

“So the criminals in those incidents were Freya and Migune......? Why would they carry out such a thing?”

“Isn’t it just because they wanted real combat training? However, since their killings only involved gangster-like punks, perhaps they even pretended to be heroes of justice.”

“However, murdering people is never the right course of action.”

Indeed, the victims of the tsujigiri incident were not ordinary people. They were people who were going to be arrested anyways if they weren’t slayed during those tsujigiri incidents.

“Yeah, but I don’t care about the victims to those tsujigiri incidents. I just can’t forgive those who use their sword in such senseless matters.”

“......So that’s why you killed both of them?”

What Freya and Migune did was certainly not to be commended, rather it was illegal. However, what Neena did was basically the same so nothing changed in the end.

“No, wait a sec. Your goal is Sefi right? You just said it was due to ‘convenience’, but what about the a.s.sault incident that arose due to this? That would make it burdensome for you to take action. With this excessive matter, it must have been difficult to reach your target. Isn’t this just putting the cart before the horse?”

“That would be peachy as well wouldn’t it?”

Neena wryly smiled as she elatedly spoke.

“For us, we don’t hesitate to take action for any reason. If slaughtering Sefi-sama becomes harder to do, then it’d be much more exciting overcoming those hardships to reach our goal.”

“You......”

Kurou was dumbstruck as he attentively gazed towards Neena’s face.

“However, since I failed this time, I can’t regard myself as being right. How regrettable, it’s just like Kurou-san said, I can’t win in this case.”

A strange pulsing sound echoed near Neena’s sword.

Kurou instantly ran towards Sefi and carried her body, protecting her in the process.

“Such sound judgment.”

The flame snake wrapped around the sword————and suddenly exploded with flames scattering in all directions.

Following that, Kurou’s vision became clouded in red. His body was also being scorched by the flame’s intense heat.

Kurou couldn’t help but close his eyes, but in the instant he opened his eyes afterwards,

“......Tch, what’s going on.”

Kurou clicked his tongue.

The place where Neena was standing had already violently erupted into a fire. The narrow pathways had been completely blocked by the flames and Neena’s figure was nowhere to be seen.

“We let her escape again. Curses......aren’t we about to be eliminated by Neena?”

Kurou surveyed his surroundings. Not only was he unable to find a fire extinguisher, the sprinkler system was also unresponsive. The flames on the other hand were burning more intensely without any indication of dying out.

“We have no choice, let’s go around that way. Sefi, follow me. As things stand, we no longer know who to trust anymore.”

It was clear from Neena’s words that she was undoubtedly part of a certain organization. Furthermore, the people that the organization dispatched to the academy might not just consist of her. That girl carelessly held affable feelings towards Sefi and could also be considered as a traitor amongst her group————but this was no laughing matter.

“Jeez, what’s wrong with her. In the end, I still don’t even know how she’s able to use mystic arts.”

“Ah, about that......she might be......”

“Hmm?”

Sefi took a glance at the flames, lowering her gaze as she pondered.

After a brief pause, Sefi stated the following.

“Those red eyes......I think Neena is probably......a Blaze.”

Neena seemed to be purposefully taking a meandering route when sprinting through the arena.

Of course, this was in order to shake off Kurou’s pursuit so she was forced to take a more indirect route. Furthermore, since there was a gap between her physical capabilities and that of Kurou’s who was a human, in all likelihood he won’t be able to catch up.

Although she was reluctant, she did accept the truth. Setting aside the fact she couldn’t overcome him with her sword, she was unable to prevail even with the addition of mystic arts.

She had failed her mission, thus it came to an end. Even with her true ident.i.ty being compromised during the course of the mission, as long as the objective was achieved then it’d be fine. However, thinking along those lines was way too naive.

“If I can escape now, then this mission isn’t a complete loss.”

Neena muttered to herself.

The pathways to the arena were in complete disarray. There were plenty of other people scurrying around just like Neena.

Even if it was just a lone person murdered, the conduct of these Swordies who were running around in a frenzy was quite uncalled for. Whatever happened to these people who made a fool out of the humans seventy years ago?

Neena found the flight of stairs that was her destination. There were matters that she had to attend to up there.

At the top was the lowest section of the spectator stands that were organized in a stepwise fashion.

The students or any academy related individuals should have all been here to spectate the tournament. However, currently there were no other people present. It seemed that everyone sought refuge.

“Neena, are you hurt?”

“......Onee-sama!”

A dark figure silently appeared by Neena’s side.

She was also wearing a robe like Neena did. Grasped in her hand was an incredulous longsword and scabbard.

“I’ve made you wait Onee-sama. I’m not hurt at all, but.......”

“You weren’t able to kill Sefi, however I can’t blame you for failing. For now, let’s head back first. Plus, I’m finished with my work over here.”

With that said, the robed girl pointed to the nearby seats. Over there was a girl laying down. Seeing as her voluptuous b.r.e.a.s.t.s were still undulating, it seemed she was only knocked out.

“Although this task doesn’t really matter to us, I guess it doesn’t hurt to show a bit of sympathy for them.”

“Yes Onee-sama. Well then, let me carry that girl. Just in case, it’d probably be better if Onee-sama and I split up————”

Neena stopped speaking at this point.

The robed girl standing in front of Neena ————no wait, something came charging over across from them from the top of the stepwise spectator stands,.

There was clearly killing intent within the sword————

“Onee-sama!”

Neena, who wanted to protect her, was already too late.

That certain individual who charged over swung their sword downwards. That one strike targeted the robed girl’s back————

“O-Onee-sama, Onee-sama......!”

“Darn, I guess I missed.”

The boy’s calm and collected manner of speech distinctly contrasted with the panic-stricken Neena. Wait, Neena had met this boy before.

“I only managed to slice the robe? However, that’s already more than adequate. From the gash in the robe, I caught a glance of a familiar uniform.”

“Y-You are......”

That’s right, Neena recalled, this guy’s name was Lars.

He was the male Swordie that transferred over here with the human. He was also known as the son of one of the four generals.

Although he was a household member of the four generals, they weren’t very attentive of him since he wasn’t one of their targeted individuals.

“I took a peek at Kurou’s battle with that kid. Since she suddenly escaped, I wondered where she was heading to. Following that I just tailed her from behind. Jeez, who would have thought you’d end up in this kind of place to meet someone as prestigious as her. Actually, I was quite flabbergasted myself.”

“Just shrewdly handling the situation like you always do, Lars.”

The robed girl turned around and removed the robe that had a slit running diagonally down its back.

The blue hair going down to her shoulders along with her black suit and skimpy miniskirt, even with this kind of getup it greatly suited her. It was an authentic Sabers uniform.

“Aren’t you a bit simple-minded, or were you not vigilant of your surroundings? Which one is it, Director?”

“Which one is it......”

Manaka————the director of the Sabers, sinisterly smiled.

“Nevertheless, Lars is really quite frightening. Suddenly attacking from behind, it’s to be expected from the guy known to possess a demonic swordsmanship.”

“No no, this demon essence or whatever you call it is probably over exaggerated. It’s merely an attack from behind by a Swordie who is a bit lacking in etiquette.”

Demonic essence————this saying, Neena had also heard about it.

Although there were some male Swordies who rivaled female Swordies when it came to physical capabilities and swordsmanship techniques, it was said that the swords of those men were lodged with a demonic essence. Specifically, this referred to the prohibited use of backside attacks during a one-on-one fight among Swordies, slaughtering the defenseless, and even utilizing long range weapons. Furthermore, the most chilling aspect about it was————

“Being intoxicated with blood, making others suffer, committing murder, favoring these things above all else......is this person really like that Onee-sama?”

“The swords of the powerful Swordie males being infused with a demonic essence————I don’t buy that kind of silly nonsense.”

Manaka stated as she shrugged.

“However, I feel that this boy————Lars’s sword is indeed embedded with a demonic essence.”

“Goodness gracious, no matter who it is they all say approximately the same sort of thing.”

Although Manaka’s words were meant to provoke him, Lars responded in a calm manner.

Lars didn’t affirm it or deny it. Even Manaka looked at him with a dreaded expression.

“Well, anything works for me at the moment. Compared to this, you should probably explain yourself a bit Director. What in the world is going on?”

“If you want to change the topic, then please be a bit more clever. However, there’s actually no real significance behind gossiping over your demonic essence.”

Manaka gripped the hilt of her longsword tightly.

“It’s just as you’ve witnessed and detected Lars. The criminal who carried out the attacks against the students is Neena over here and the person manipulating things behind the scenes would be me.”

“How strange.”

Lars interrupted immediately.

“You are Manaka, one of the Seven Swords. The scope of things is way too small for this incident to involve someone as significant as you. Even if she’s the princess of the four generals, if it’s just killing Sefi, then having you personally come out is a bit unusual isn’t it?”

“That’s because the numbers of my group is insufficient. Everyone has to share the responsibility even if it’s just some diminutive task. Due to this c.u.mbersome yet convenient Seven Swords standing, I’m able to do numerous things. Furthermore, even now I need to begin attending to some trivial matters.”

Manaka wryly smiled as she stated. Following her iai strike, she pulled out her sword in one swift motion. Anyone who were to witness her possessing such an elongated scabbard for a blade as short as that would probably be taken aback by this.

However, whether it was Neena or Lars, neither felt surprised at all.

“Lars, you leisurely came to this place. However, from the moment you saw me, you left me no choice but to kill you!”

“......!”

Lars retrieved his sword and blocked Manaka’s strike after she instantaneously closed in.

The blades of the two clashed. The rippling wave resulting from this shook the air as it dispersed in all directions.

After the wave dissipated, Manaka and Lars both backed off to their respective sides as they separated.

“Very excellent reaction time Lars.”

“As to be expected of the Sword General. If I was able to dispose of you based on that last surprise attack, that’d be too easy.”

Manaka’s sword was shrouded in a white light————and her eyes were flickering with a red glint.

On the other hand, Lars’s sword seemed to be emitting a blackish haze.

“Regardless if it’s red or white, they both seem quite vivid Director.”

“That applies to you as well. I believe it was called the Beast Slayer? It’s been a long time but that sword is still as ominous as always.”

Lars’s personalized sword seemed to be called the Beast Slayer. It was particularly long and although it wasn’t like Sefi’s Starbreaker, it was also pretty thick and heavy. Compared to its sharpness, this type of sword seemed to be focused more on st.u.r.diness.

“The hue of my light blade is a tad different from other Swordies, but it’s not ominous at all. It has nothing to do with any demonic essence or whatever.”

Lars calmly a.s.serted.

Although Neena firmly believed that the color of the Beast Slayer’s blade symbolized Lars’s demonic essence, he didn’t believe that was the case.

Forget about the demonic essence for now, Lars was not in the least inferior to females when it came to strength and agility. If that wasn’t the case, that heavy sword would have had no chance to absorb Manaka’s strike.

“However, red pupils? So Manaka is a Blaze after all.”

Lars attentively gazed at Manaka’s red eyes.

“You know the situation regarding the Blazes? That’s perfect.”

“Rather, it’d be more accurate to say that I just remembered. Although, I had considered this as a possibility after hearing about the mystic arts. The Blazes————were forgotten about over time. So you lamentable traitors have gathered together?”

“You b.a.s.t.a.r.d!”

Neena became unwittingly agitated as she placed her hand on the hilt of her sword————

“Please stop at once Neena!”

“......Y-Yes.”

Due to Manaka’s words, Neena returned to her collected state. Indeed, to waver from being incited to this extent really showed the disgrace the Blaze soldiers held.

“What Lars said isn’t wrong. Our existence had already been forgotten about. Even these red eyes are————”

“I’m not too familiar with the matter regarding the Blazes. However, to be able to change the color of those red pupils is really quite horrifying.”

“Only the younger generation can change their eye color at will. The survivors of the Great War along with my parents, that generation will always have red eyes.”

Manaka’s eyes would normally be close to a halcyon green color and Neena’s color on the other hand was brown. Although they could alter their colors at will, red was their original color.

“Even if we can do this sort of thing, it’s nothing to brag about. Overall I feel like we are forced to conceal this otherwise we’d be mocked over this genetic factor.”

Neena clenched her fists.

“Indeed, us Blazes had no choice but to conceal ourselves among the people————”

Neena slipped into the academy with forged personal records and falsely spoke about past dealings with her friends. Even matters regarding her family had to be stalled off through deceit.

Blazes————even among Swordies, Blazes were an exceptionally battle adept race.

They weren’t just sticklers for swords, they were even proficient in mystic arts. It was said that at the time of the Great War, they were the ones who utilized these mystic arts that could destroy the enemy field guns and tanks.

Seeing those red-eyed Blazes who frequently fought on the frontlines of the Swordies, it must have been a scary scene for the human soldiers.

However, that battle brought about their demise. Moreover, around the time when the Swordie leaders consolidated power within j.a.pan————the Blazes were eliminated.

The Blazes were overly powerful. Faced with the end of the war, the Blazes were a threat to the Swordies who wanted to establish a new peaceful society. And once they heard the proclamation of the four generals————

The Blazes thirsted for battle. They were the traitors who wanted to disrupt the peace among the Swordies.

Although it was a fabricated accusation with no basis supporting it, the cries of the Blazes were easily brushed aside due to the stark inferiority in numbers.

Back when the Swordies all resided within Swordia, the Blazes were a mercenary group that didn’t belong to any particular nation. However, the world didn’t advocate for repeated warring. Although their combat strength was incredible which lead to various nations employing them, the thirst for battle within this mercenary group instilled fear.

Precisely because of this, the four generals’ calling for the removal of the Blazes went without a hitch.

Faced with a pre-emptive strike, practically all of the Blaze leaders were obliterated. Furthermore, the remaining combatants were unable to even stage a resistance with their fragmented numbers. Each time they were routed. It couldn’t even be called a war, it was pretty much just a slaughter.

The number of Blazes became strikingly few. In the end, they gave up resisting.

Despite avoiding the death sentence, the remaining Blazes were kept apart from society since they were latent criminals with their bellicose nature.

With the limitations on the districts they lived in, the relationship between Swordies and Blazes were practically severed. For the sake of molding their att.i.tude to be more obedient, they put together a correctional course in the school primarily used by Blazes. Plus, the Swordies especially wanted to restrict them from using swords.

They weren’t even allowed to enroll in the military or become part of the police force. They were going to prevent giving the Blazes a chance to battle at all costs.

It didn’t matter if it was glory, swords, or battle, the Blazes were deprived from all of it. They were only left with their frustrated lives as a result of the world after the war.

Following that, even their existence itself was forgotten————

“......Well, it’s not like I’m unsympathetic towards the mighty Blazes but they couldn’t possibly be thinking about revenge just recently right?”

Lars refrained from speaking in an arrogant manner, he simply felt this was inconceivable.

“It was probably the four generals who declared the elimination of the Blazes after the war. Basically that’d be mine and Sefi’s grandfathers. Hasn’t it already been sixty years since then? Of course, setting aside the Blazes of that time period for now, but for Manaka, isn’t this an extremely ancient topic?”

“The survivors at that time are no longer with us anymore. After hearing about the whining and hatred towards the four generals and about the obliteration of our race from the grannies who know this matter intimately, we were pretty much brainwashed. The diminishing of our hatred doesn’t necessarily occur with the pa.s.sage of time. Having this matter pa.s.sed down is very possible.”

In response to Manaka’s statement, Neena slowly nodded. Neena’s grandmother was one of the people who ferociously attacked at the frontlines during the Great War. After the war concluded, not only were her contributions unrecognized, she was also freely discarded as if she was trash. When it came to talking about the cleansing of their race, her normally amiable grandmother became all demon-like, sending the young Neena trembling in fear.

“Furthermore, even though the cleansing had already ended, the difference in our treatment still persists. Like Neena over here, if we didn’t give a fake school record, there would be no way she’d be permitted in the Sword Academy. If word got out that a Blaze was holding a sword, she’d be imprisoned for many years.”

“Ah, I see I see.”

Lars enthusiastically nodded and gently waved the Beast Slayer a bit.

“Our goal is in accordance with getting revenge for the past and wiping out of the current state of affairs. With this, we had specially forged these school records to let Blaze members sneak in from all over the place. However, for the students it’s not a big deal, but to actually not engage in a background check for one of the Seven Swords is really quite laughable.”

“The Swordie government has already been around for too long. No matter what kind of government it is, there will always be the day that it becomes corrupted.”

“I’ll advise my parents.”

“That won’t be possible since you’ll die right here......”

An inauspicious smile surfaced on Manaka’s face————following that, she slowly approached Lars.

The air rumbled. The overwhelming light force from Manaka’s entire body was increasing steadily.

This type of force would probably even drive a Swordie unconscious let alone a human.

Confronted with her true power, Neena, who looked up to her as an older sister————was left trembling.

Manaka sighed within herself. Indeed, she could not treat him as just a child anymore.

Up until now, Manaka had been doing her utmost to suppress her light force while she was with the Sabers. However, she was presently unleashing her light entirely.

A Swordie’s light surfaces the moment they are born. Thenceforth, they are able to harness it with training and amplify it through a refining process. Manaka possessed this innate powerful light force and after much bitter training, she was able to control the light regarded as the “strongest among the seven”.

Without needing to mention humans, even Swordies would probably have a strenuous time holding a sword upright in the face of Manaka’s fully emitted light.

Nevertheless, Lars maintained his cool when confronted with Manaka’s light force.

However, up to this it was still what he had come to expect from Manaka. Following that————

Manaka took action without any warning.

With her blinding speed, she swung the sword downwards from over her head. Lars calmly wielded the Beast Slayer and intercepted her attack from the front. A rippling wave that jolted the air once again dispersed across. He was not in the least astonished when confronted with the speed Manaka displayed. Rather, he collectedly used his swordsmanship to deflect away the attack. No wonder he was a curious being.

Manaka did not cease as she continuously attacked.

“Ugh!”

However, Lars’s defending was done with great difficulty. Manaka’s sword traveled as if it was at the speed of light. A stiff staccato could be heard every time their swords met. The white radiance also cut through the black haze of the Beast Slayer.

Known as the Dancer————it was Manaka’s personalized sword. The length was pretty average, but the blade was very thin. It was akin to the thinness of a sheet of paper. With just the augmentation of the light blade, you would think it sounded like gla.s.s breaking when their swords collided.

“Guh......!”

After Lars had forcefully repelled Manaka’s sword, he decided to go for some separation.

“Fufu, you won’t be able to win if you’re just defending Lars.”

Due to the acute angles at which her sword maneuvers struck, Manaka’s Dancer would never break regardless of how their blades crossed. In some ways, it resembled the Olden Style utilized by Kurou.

“As expected of Onee-sama! You’re so strong!”

“Hey, you over there, your att.i.tude seems to have changed.”

Lars still kept his eyes on Manaka as he calmly snarked.

Neena was a child who fervently worshipped Manaka’s sword. Clearly they weren’t siblings, yet she still referred to her as “Onee-sama”. Manaka on the other hand did not reveal any signs of abhorrence and was instead very fond of her.

“However, you’re still as fast as always Director. I’m completely unable to catch up.”

“Putting on an act or messing around wouldn’t result in such fluid wielding of the sword.”

Manaka’s sword was much lighter compared to Lars’s or Sefi’s swords. Being lighter only resulted in increased agility. Although there was a trade off in power, as long as she struck the opponent’s weak points then she would be able to remedy the issue. Of course, that kind of technique was already refined by Manaka ages ago.<>