The day after the party—the day before the start of the Seven Stars Battle Festival. Ikki, Shizuku, and Alice were heading to the lobby of the hotel they were staying at, as they had decided to go out for dinner the final night before the event. Their decision was prompted by something from the previous day’s party, an hour before Ikki had finally changed out of his damaged clothes. Just as the party was about to adjourn, Moroboshi had approached him and Shizuku.

“Heya, Kurogane. You know where you’re eating tomorrow night?”

“Not really. I was thinking of just eating at the hotel’s restaurant.”

Upon hearing that Ikki hadn’t thought much about it, Moroboshi frowned.

“Don’t be like that. You’re in Osaka, my man. You gotta try some of the food this place is famous for!”

“Fair enough. But what food is famous here?”

“Stuff made from flour, I’d say. Takoyaki is good, but that’s more of a snack. If you want a real meal, go with okonomiyaki.”

“But Big Brother, didn’t we have okonomiyaki at the Langetsu back in Tokyo?”

“Stupid! That’s the same as saying you know all there is to know about Nagasaki champon after one trip to Linger Hut. There are flavors you can’t experience unless you go to the particular locality that’s known for them. Okay, that’s it; tomorrow, we’re having okonomiyaki for dinner! I’ll take you to the best place for it, too.”

“Oh, um…”

“Let’s meet outside the lobby at five o’clock!”

It felt less like they had agreed to Moroboshi’s plan and more like he’d thrust it upon them before they could get a word in edgewise.

“He sounds awfully pushy,” Alice commented. “Is that just what people from Osaka are like?”

“I hope not.”

“I do appreciate the offer, though. I’ve never eaten okonomiyaki, and now that we’re all the way in Osaka, I was hoping to try it at least once.”

“Really? You should’ve said so sooner.”

“Now, how could I drag you two around when you’ve got matches tomorrow?”

She had a point. Rather than having a league-style setup, the Seven Stars was a single-elimination tournament, and as such, every fight needed to be prepared for with the highest possible level of concentration. Just about all of the competitors were focusing on ensuring they were in top form for the first day, so it was more or less expected for them to decline any invitations to hang out.

“Who would have thought a contestant would be the one to invite us, though?” Alice pondered. “Quite the strong nerve he has, wouldn’t you say? Or do you think maybe he’s simply anxious about tomorrow?”

An invitation from someone expected to bring home a second straight victory—someone likely under more pressure than anyone else present—to the person he would be fighting the next day. It was certainly not something any of them had planned for.

“If it was anxiety, he wouldn’t have invited us, right?” Ikki asked in response.

“I’m not the type to get nervous around people I don’t know, so it doesn’t bother me. But what about you, Big Brother? You’re kind, so if you have trouble turning down any other offers, I’ll be there to do it for you.”

The concern in Shizuku’s voice must have been because of what she’d seen him do in the past. On the first day of selection battles, Ikki’s nerves had caused him to start his battle with The Hunter on the wrong foot. She would have preferred that her brother spend the day before the battle undisturbed and unruffled by anyone or anything, which was why she spoke about Moroboshi in such a prickly way.

“It’s okay. I do feel like he was pretty aggressive, but if I didn’t want to go, I would’ve told him.” Ikki hadn’t been pushed along with the current; he had agreed of his own volition. That was the truth. “Like Moroboshi said, we came here all the way from Tokyo. We might as well eat something good. And besides…”

“Besides what?”

“Sharing a table with the Seven Stars King sounds way more exciting than being alone in my room to focus.”

Ikki was simply interested in eating together with Yuudai Moroboshi. There were plenty of ways to study his power and abilities, but chances to learn about the King himself were few and far between. Ikki wanted to know what thoughts and desires spurred him onward. The Worst One prioritized their meeting over spending time focusing on his own.

“Your nerve might just be stronger than his.”

Alice’s amazement was justified. Clearly, Ikki was so innocent that he was immune to the feeling of awkwardness that would accompany going out to eat with the person he was to fight the next day.

“Hey, over here!”

As the three left the hotel lobby, Moroboshi shouted to them from in front of the fountain. They immediately rushed over to him.

“Sorry. Did you wait long?”

“Nope, you’re right on time. I just got impatient, so don’t worry about it.” He then turned to look at Alice, as if just realizing something. “Hm? Who’s the handsome fella you got there?”

Although she’d dropped out, Alice had initially earned a spot as one of Hagun’s Seven Stars representatives. If Moroboshi didn’t recognize her, it must have been because he didn’t remember her from the pictures that had circulated back around the time the rosters had been announced. They hadn’t met at the party either, so he was confused by the new face. Shizuku took a step forward and introduced her.

“This is Nagi Alisuin. She’s my friend and one of our classmates at Hagun.”

“I wasn’t told about a friend limit, so I decided to join in. Should I not have?”

“Nah, no worries. Food tastes better when there’s more friends around,” he responded with a beaming grin. “Well, you might know me, but I should introduce myself. Moroboshi, of Bukyoku Academy.”

He offered his name to Alice and held out his right hand for a handshake.

“How kind of you. The name’s Alisuin, but call me Alice.” She had no reason to refuse such a kind greeting, so she gave her own name and accepted his handshake. Then, she grinned just slightly, mischief in her eyes. “Heehee. An unrefined tone, but a gentleman at heart. I love men like you.”

“Huh?!” Under the weight of her gaze, Moroboshi’s shoulders trembled. Considering this was the first time they’d met, his shock was unsurprising. He looked completely bewildered. “Sorry, uh… Is this a joke or something?”

“No, I’m serious. I’m a maiden born into a man’s body.”

“O-Oh. Uh… Must be rough.”

“Haha, you really are the Seven Stars King. Your hands are so muscular and manly.”

“Bwahhh!”

As Alice’s slender fingers massaged the back of Moroboshi’s hand, he turned pale and leaped away.

“Ahaha, such an innocent reaction. You’re so cute.”

“Alice, stop teasing him.”

“Heehee, sorry. It’s okay, Moroboshi; I was just playing around.”

“Oh… A-Ahaha. I get it, just playing. I’ve never met someone like you, so it was a real shocker.”

“I don’t go near straight boys.”

“Guess you’re not playing…”

This is just like the day I met Alice. Seeing Moroboshi acting the way he had months before, Ikki felt pretty nostalgic for a moment. I’m used to her by now, but our meeting was a real wake-up call.

That said, Moroboshi showed greater capacity to adapt to the situation. He cleared his throat once.

“W-Well, that’s fine. No matter who you are, you still appreciate a good meal, yeah?” After pulling himself together, he turned to Ikki with a question. “By the way, I haven’t seen the Crimson Princess. Is she still coming?”

“Yeah. She’ll probably show up at the last minute.”

“Really? Darn shame,” Moroboshi sighed, genuinely disappointed.

Ikki understood how he felt. Both of them had gone to the party to see the faces of those they would fight in the coming days. The Rank A knight, the Crimson Princess, was surely someone that the Seven Stars King would have wanted to—

“She seems like she’d eat enough to break the bank. I was kinda excited to see it.”

“Huh? Did you say something, Moroboshi?”

“A-Aha, ahaha, nothing! Just talking to myself.”

“Okay…”

Ikki looked at the suspicious-acting Moroboshi with confusion. It had sounded like he’d whispered something.

“Well, it’s about time we got going. It’s not as busy as Tokyo, but there’s a ton of people in the shopping districts at this time of day. Keep up so you don’t lose me.”

To keep Ikki from thinking too much about what he’d said, he gave the signal for them to leave and began leading them to the restaurant.

◆◇◆◇◆

From the closest station to the hotel, the group of four rode the train for a little over ten minutes. When they hopped off, they carried themselves to the shopping district under Moroboshi’s leadership. Along the way, they began to notice a pattern.

“Hey, it’s Moroboshi!”

“That dummy, he really is here! Hey, what’re you doing?! Don’t you have a fight tomorrow?!”

“You’re the dummies, you silly kids! Like you said, my fight’s tomorrow, not today!”

“Boshi, you’d better win again this year!”

“I couldn’t get a seat, but we’re gonna put a TV here in the shopping district and cheer you on!”

“Hahaha! I got this, kids.”

“Hey, Yuu. I’m off to go play mahjong with Taku. Wanna join?”

“Can’t, sorry. I’m showing some friends from Tokyo around. Maybe next time!”

“Boshi! We’ve got fatty tuna to celebrate your big win!”

“For real?! You know I’m gonna take you up on that, my man!”

“But if you lose, you’re getting a whole tube of wasabi up your nose!”

Men and women, young and old—so many different types of people called out to him. Some supported and encouraged him, and some even teased him. They all had different ways of communicating it, but they all showed deep kindness.

“Moroboshi is very popular,” Shizuku said, astonished by the sight. “Not even Stella would cause this much of a clamor just by walking around town.”

“Well, Stella is popular, but she’s still just a transfer student. I doubt anyone is more popular than the Seven Stars King, especially not in the city he’s from.” As long as events like the Seven Stars Battle Festival were televised, student knights were bound to gather fans, including those from other schools. Naturally, that meant that the conqueror of the Festival, the Seven Stars King, would have an incredible amount. “Not to mention that a two-year streak as King is unprecedented. Hometown heroes always get plenty of buzz, and if he gets this second win, it’ll just add to his already great achievements.”

“Heehee. He really is a big deal, isn’t he? So much riding on his shoulders, but not a sign of discomfort.”

“Yeah, he’s incredible,” Ikki agreed wholeheartedly. “After all that happened to him, and with all the hopes people put on him, he still takes everything in stride.”

“Big Brother, what do you mean by ‘all that happened to him’?”

“Huh? Oh, right. You wouldn’t know.”

Ikki’s expression hardened in response to Shizuku’s question. What Ikki had blurted out was related to something deeply entrenched in Moroboshi’s past. Still, it was a very well-known event, so he saw no need to hide it.

Judging by how Alice had been silent after Shizuku asked, she must have known about it—it was just that famous. However, Shizuku normally showed little to no interest in other people, so it wasn’t unlikely that she would be unaware. Even if she’d heard of it, she wasn’t the type who would have bothered to remember.

Is it okay for me to tell her?

Ikki thought it would be rude to talk about it in front of Moroboshi; it might have been a bitter memory for him. Fortunately, he was busy responding to his fans’ cheers, so Ikki whispered as quietly as he could, telling Shizuku the story of Yuudai Moroboshi.

“You see, Moroboshi was forced to retire back in elementary school.”

It had happened when he was in sixth grade. His extraordinary strength apparent even back then, he was nicknamed the “Star of Naniwa” after the ward of Osaka he lived in. Unfortunately, however, he was involved in a tragic train accident and sustained major injuries just before his final Little League tournament match.

Blazers could easily protect themselves using magic, so normally, they were resistant to accidents like those. That resistance had its limits, though. Large-scale accidents like train derailments easily broke through any magical protection they had.

“His injuries were so bad that they didn’t heal completely even after he was put in a Capsule. Doctors said he would never walk again. Of course, he couldn’t fight in that shape, so the Star of Naniwa was forced to withdraw from both his final Little League battle and the world of fighting as a whole.”

“I never would’ve thought. But now he’s walking normally, and fighting, too, right?”

“Yep.”

As Moroboshi walked ahead of them, he seemed perfectly steady on his feet. But why wouldn’t he? He was a legend, the winner of last year’s Seven Stars.

“In short, even though he was told he would never recover, he overcame his injuries and made a major comeback as an athlete.” Yuudai Moroboshi wasn’t a man who had been born with the silver spoon of glory in his hand. Far from it, in fact—he had once fallen to rock bottom. After four long years, he was once again able to flourish on the field of battle, finally taking the summit last year. His road was one that had been far from level. “It’s just incredible. He did something no normal person could do.”

“Recovering from injuries like that is certainly impressive.”

“Well, it’s not just that, Shizuku.”

“What do you mean?”

Recovering from his injuries was indeed incredible, but that wasn’t all there was to it.

“The most amazing thing of all is what you’re seeing right now,” Ikki said as he made a quick visual sweep of the smiling townspeople before them. “Nobody here is afraid of Moroboshi losing. Nobody asks him about his bodily condition or worries about him in any way; they all have absolute faith in him.”

They had not the slightest doubt in the Star of Naniwa and his full recovery. Even after being told he had no hope of recovery, he’d built enough trust that everybody had stopped worrying.

“If you ask me, that’s more difficult, more incredible than just reaching the summit.”

Ikki had always wanted to ask Moroboshi what had led him to do all that, what the driving force within his heart that had spurred him into action was. The answer must have been closely related to Moroboshi’s strength. Amidst Ikki’s enthusiasm, Shizuku sighed deeply.

“Haah… And you’re up against him in your first match. You have some truly terrible luck, Big Brother. You must have committed a lot of crimes in a past life.”

“He used up all his luck on his lovely sister and beautiful girlfriend, obviously.”

“If that’s where all my luck went, that’s totally understandable. I don’t mind at all.” Just then, Ikki alone abruptly stopped walking. “Hm?”

He sensed that someone’s eyes were fixed on the back of his head, coming from among the foot traffic passing them. It was an intense glare that struck him, enough to make him stop and turn to look for it. By then, though, the eyes had turned elsewhere, signs of their presence washed away by the flow of people.

“Big Brother? What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing,” he replied before speeding up to rejoin the others.

It couldn’t have just been his imagination, but he also couldn’t pursue the source of the gaze, and that bothered him to no end. As he wondered, the party exited the shopping district and reached their destination.

“Here we are, ladies and gentleman! This is Osaka’s best—maybe even Japan’s best—okonomiyaki joint: First Star!”

◆◇◆◇◆

The restaurant that Moroboshi had guided them to was at the very far end of the shopping district. It was a two-story, traditional Japanese building; its entrance was adorned with red curtains bearing the words “First Star”, and its wooden walls, darkened with age, seemed to exude a sort of dignity. The restaurant had probably been standing since long before Ikki or even his parents were born.

“It certainly has a lot of character.”

“Hah! It’s okay, you can say it’s shabby. The thing’s been standing for almost a hundred years, y’know. I hear it was a sukiyaki joint back then, though.”

“I love old Japanese buildings like this. The nostalgia of it is just so lovely.”

“Aren’t you a foreigner, Alice?”

“I-I’ve probably got some Japanese blood in me somewhere! Probably! Say, what’s that?”

Alice fixed her eyes on one part of the building.

“What is it, Alice?” Interested in what had caught her eye like that, Ikki followed her line of sight. There, next to the entrance, were a rusty mailbox and nameplate with “Moroboshi” written on it. “‘Moroboshi’? Is this your home?”

Ikki’s question prompted Moroboshi to make an exaggerated “you got me” face.

“Aww, secret’s out. I wanted to surprise you guys when we got inside. But yeah, just like you sleuthed, this is my place.”

“So you were just advertising to us, eh? My, how shrewd of you.”

“Hahaha. Yeah, I guess. Call me the Businessman of Naniwa.” Moroboshi laughed absentmindedly at Alice, whose eyes were wide with surprise. He was the very picture of an enthusiastic salesman. “You don’t have to worry, though, ’cause my family’s okonomiyaki really is the best. People come here from all over the place, and we’re not letting ’em eat garbage. You love eating good food, and we love money. Bam, we’re both happy. Ain’t it beautiful?”

“That all sounded very suspicious and very overly convenient for him. Are you sure he’s trustworthy? Perhaps we should search for somewhere else to eat instead?” Shizuku asked Ikki, seemingly—understandably—unconvinced.

“We don’t have anywhere else to go. Let’s give it a try.”

“If you’re okay with it, then I don’t mind.”

“Then let’s hop to it and get in there,” Alice said, joining their conversation. “It smells so good out here that my stomach is growling.”

“Sounds like we’re all in agreement!” Moroboshi cheered. With everyone on the same page, he led them through the curtains. After struggling a bit to open the sliding door, they entered the restaurant.

“Ooh.”

“Wow…”

The delicious scent of sauce tickled their noses. The fragrance was several times stronger than the smell from outside, stimulating even greater hunger. Even Shizuku, who normally didn’t fixate heavily on food, couldn’t help but show her desire.

“It smells so delicious.”

“For sure. Business seems to be booming, too.”

Like Alice indicated, the inside of the store was bustling despite it being a little too early for dinner. Almost every table was filled, and the voices of customers placing orders could be heard within all the noise. Whether it was the best in Osaka or not, a place this busy couldn’t possibly have made bad food.

“Heeey, Mama!”

While Ikki and the gang had their hearts stolen by the fresh scents of the restaurant, Moroboshi’s voice pierced through the whirlpool of noise with ease. In response, a middle-aged woman looked up from her work of flipping okonomiyaki. Her sharp eyes, similar to Moroboshi’s, went wide as she did.

“Oh? What are you doing here, dear? Weren’t you staying at that hotel until the tournament is over?”

“I came to see your beautiful face, Mama.”

“Stop that, you little creep! You’re giving me goosebumps.”

“Rude! No point in being a good son to you, I guess.”

“I’ve been working my whole life! I don’t need the kid I popped out from between my legs trying to help me!”

“People are eating, Mama! Don’t gross ’em out with your foul mouth!”

“No other way to talk to little brats like you. Right, everyone?” Customers around the restaurant laughed. The atmosphere was unpretentious, very characteristic of downtown Osaka. “So, really. Why’d you come home?”

“I brought some people from Tokyo that I met at the hotel. Since they’re here in Osaka, I wanted them to try Osaka’s best okonomiyaki.”

Moroboshi jabbed his thumb in the direction of Ikki and the others behind him.

“Oh, I see.” That exchange gave Moroboshi’s mother all the information she needed. She interrupted her work and put a genial smile on her sweaty face. “Welcome. I’m Yuudai’s mama. Rest your legs here.”

“All right. Thank you.”

“I dunno if we’re the best in Osaka, but you can be sure I’ll put all I can into your food.”

“That sounds great. I’m looking forward to it.”

“It seems really busy, though. Are there any open seats?”

“We’ve got one table open now, actually. Let’s get you sat there. Koume, take our customers to their table, please.”

In response to Moroboshi’s mother’s order, a girl in a kimono and an apron trotted over toward Ikki’s group. Middle school-aged with a bob cut, she was too young to be an employee.

“Well, aren’t you cute. Is she your sister?”

“Yep, that’s Koume. She’s not a Blazer, though.”

Moroboshi confirmed Alice’s hypothesis. Unlike their mother, she looked very different from him. She must have taken after her father, instead.

“Koume, take them to the table at the end.”

Ready to follow her mother’s order, Moroboshi’s sister nodded and stepped in front of Ikki’s group.

“…!”

The moment she and Ikki locked eyes, however, hers flew open, and she silently made an expression of shock and bewilderment.

Huh?

Ikki tilted his head, wondering what was so weird about himself. Fortunately, Moroboshi was there to give him his answer.

“She’s just surprised that tomorrow’s opponent is here.”

“Oh, okay.”

Her surprise only lasted a moment before she collected herself and put on a practiced smile. It was obvious that she was the daughter of a businessperson. Following a perfectly neat bow, she retrieved a sketchbook from within the large sleeves of her kimono.

“Welcome♪”

With a warm smile, she flipped through the book and showed Ikki’s group the cutely styled letters that made up the charming greeting written within.

“Uh…?”

Ikki and his two friends behind him raised their eyebrows in confusion. After all, what kind of employee greeted customers through writing instead of just speaking? As if expecting them to react that way, Moroboshi quickly stepped in to explain.

“Don’t worry about it. She’s just a little mute.”

“Ah. And that’s why she’s using the book?”

“Yep. But she’s not sick or anything; it’s just a mental thing.”

Moroboshi’s cheerful tone warded off Ikki’s worries. Then, Koume herself flipped to another page of her sketchbook, revealing some playful words.

“I’m still very ladylike, though.”

“Whatever you say, you little rascal.”

Moroboshi pressed his finger against her forehead, prompting a big smile. At first, Ikki had been unsure how to respond to learning that she was mute, but after seeing her and her brother’s fun little exchange, he couldn’t stop himself from smiling.

“You two get along well.”

“She’s my only little sister. Not to mention that she’s cute.”

Just then, Ikki felt something poking at his back. Turning around to find out what it was, he heard Shizuku say something strange.

“It’s me, your only little sister.”

What exactly are you telling me to do?

Not understanding the point, Ikki followed Moroboshi’s example and poked Shizuku’s forehead.

“Hnnngh!”

Shizuku seemed both uneasy and excited as she broke out into a wide grin. Was she trying to compete with the Moroboshi siblings? It was always hard to figure out what she was thinking.

“Man… I thought we were early, but the place is already packed,” Moroboshi muttered, looking around the restaurant. In response, Koume’s pen went into a flurry.

“They’re all here to watch the Seven Stars. I’ve seen a lot of new faces today!”

Upon seeing her brief summary of the day’s events, Moroboshi made a decision.

“That so? Hmm… Maybe I oughta help out. Sorry for just dragging you all here, but it’s busy, so I’m gonna go help my mama.”

“You’re not going to eat with us?”

“I wanted to, but look at all these people.”

Despite the relatively large size of the restaurant, there were almost no empty seats. Griddles all over were being utilized to the fullest, spewing white smoke. Anyone could tell it was a busy day.

“Okay. Don’t worry about us when your mom’s back there working so hard.”

Ikki felt bad that he wouldn’t be able to talk to Moroboshi, but given the circumstances, he would have felt even worse stopping him from helping. Moroboshi lowered his head slightly in apology.

“Sorry, especially after I invited you here. Let Koume know what you want. It’s all my treat, so get anything you like.”

“But weren’t you advertising?” Shizuku asked wide-eyed, but Moroboshi responded with a grin like that of a boy who had successfully pulled off a prank.

“That was a joke, duh. Don’t trust a Kansai guy if he’s smiling!”

Everything had apparently been a joke, as Moroboshi had meant to treat them all along. However, it would have been too awkward for him to let someone he’d just met yesterday do that. They were essentially strangers.

“I can’t let you do that. Here, I’ll pay.”

“It’s fine! The stuff’s not even expensive.”

“But—”

“I said it’s fine, man. I’m older than you, so you gotta listen to me.” Though Ikki had tried to sidestep the offer, he was overpowered. Moroboshi was a man that was pushy in many situations, it seemed. “So, Koume, I’ll leave them to you.”

Handing off Ikki’s group to his nodding little sister, Moroboshi tightened his bandana and headed to the cooking area. After seeing him off, Koume turned back to her customers and flipped through her sketchbook, in which she had clearly pre-written many of her commonly used sentences.

“I’ll take you to your seats!”

After showing them that message, she then guided the party of three to their table.

“Here’s your table♪”

“Thank you.”

After thanking her, Ikki’s group took their seats and ordered their food. Koume wrote the orders in her sketchbook and confirmed their accuracy before returning to the kitchen. Waiting for their orders gave the three of them time to relax, but that was when they overheard the conversation between the two people sitting at the table behind them.

“For real? You and Moroboshi aren’t a thing?”

“That’s what I keep saying. He’s not even close to my type, anyway.”

Both of the voices were women’s, one of which Ikki felt like he had heard just recently. Everyone at his table turned their eyes toward those voices. Likewise, the two women noticed his group’s presence and turned to look at them.

“Hm?”

“Ah—”

“Well, well.”

“Yakushi!”

Five gazes intersected one another. As Ikki had suspected, the woman whose voice he’d recognized was Kiriko Yakushi, the Medico Knight. With her was Yagokoro, the Bukyoku Academy newspaper club member who had been present at Hagun and Kyomon’s joint training camp.

◆◇◆◇◆

An unexpected meeting in an unexpected place. Hotels or restaurants near the Festival arena would have been more or less expected, but in the heart of Osaka, where flour-dish restaurants were a dime a dozen, it was an incredible coincidence to meet another Seven Stars representative. At least, Ikki had thought that it was a coincidence.

“What?! You were the one who treated Moroboshi’s injuries?!”

“Yep. Fate’s weird, isn’t it?”

Once he began speaking to her, it became clear that she had come to see Moroboshi, not to eat okonomiyaki.

“I guess, but aren’t you both in the same school year? Was it okay to treat his injuries without a medical license?”

“He’s better now. Does it matter?”

I think the law would say it does, Ikki thought, but he felt like probing further would be needlessly poking the bear.

“So, Yakushi, you came to see your patient from a long time ago?”

Choosing not to probe, Ikki instead asked why Kiriko was present here today. Kiriko gave an ambiguous, half-yes-half-no hand wave in response.

“It’s not so much just coming to see him; it’s more like a house call.”

“Huh?” Those words sent uncomfortable reverberations through Ikki’s heart. “Is Moroboshi not fully healed?”

His heart was beating faster with the apprehension that Moroboshi was still hurt. However, Kiriko quickly denied his fear.

“No, he’s one hundred percent healed. But the treatment was reeeally extreme, so you could call this ‘individual aftercare’. I don’t want the worst happening to my patient, after all.”

“Oh, so this is just your way of being kind.”

“Sure.”

“That’s… good.”

Ikki gave a deep sigh of relief. He would have been immensely disappointed if his chance to fight the Seven Stars King were tarnished by past wounds.

“So I decided to do this anti-worst-case aftercare, but he wasn’t in his hotel room. I asked Jougasaki about it, and he said he’d gone home, so here I am. I took a taxi because I was in a hurry, but unfortunately, moving so quickly was a blunder. Paparazzi girl here started wrongly suspecting me of being a certain something to him.”

Kiriko shot a resentful glance at Yagokoro. Judging by context, it seemed that she had been accused of and questioned about an impure sexual relationship with Moroboshi.

“Haha… Well, that sounds awful.”

“Yeah, it was.”

“Oh, gimme a break! Why would a doctor be rushing to a long-recovered patient’s house like that? It’s the perfect picture of doctor-patient love. It reeks of intrigue like it’s surströmming! Who wouldn’t be suspicious?”

“I’m not kidding. That boy’s got the look of a wild animal in his eyes; he’s definitely not my type. I prefer younger boys like little Kurogane here, what with his handsome face.”

“Excuse me?!”

The sudden, bizarre comparison had Ikki yelping in surprise. But his innocent reaction spurred her on further.

“Teehee♡ Hey there. What do you say I give you a quick pre-battle physical later? I might even throw in a little bonus.”

Kiriko gave Ikki a lascivious look as she bent in such a way that her cleavage was clearly exposed from beneath her white coat. It was an intense assault. In terms of size, she was no match for Stella, but the voluptuous charm only found in older women was now being thrust at Ikki.

What kind of “bonus” comes with a physical?!

He had a feeling he would be diagnosed with high blood pressure. But in the midst of Ikki’s confoundment, Shizuku left Alice’s side.

“Pardon me.” Moving between the two to protect Ikki, she glared at Kiriko, who was still giving him a seductive look. “Stella is more than enough obscenity for him, I would think.”

“You could’ve worded that a little nicer.”

Ikki breathed a sigh of heartfelt relief that Stella wasn’t with them. Beside him, Yagokoro abruptly asked Alice a question.

“Let me guess, Moroboshi brought all of you here?”

“My, you’ve got good intuition.”

“Thought as much.”

Given no good reason to hide the truth, Alice confirmed her suspicion outright. But what was with Yagokoro’s tone of voice?

“Does this happen often, perhaps?”

“Yeah. Well, maybe not often, but he does it whenever they have stuff like exhibition matches that bring strong kids from other schools. Guess it must be Moroboshi’s own little welcome to strong foes who come to Osaka. I’m here because I expected him to do it, actually. Never know when you might hear some juicy news. That said, I didn’t think he’d bring his opponent for tomorrow’s match. He’s one brazen guy.”

“That’s certainly not a normal thing to do.”

“You’re not much different, considering you accepted his invitation.”

“Haha. I’m well aware of my own brazenness.”

If he wasn’t a little brazen, the Rank F knight wouldn’t have been shooting for the title of Seven Stars King.

So, Moroboshi welcomes his opponents.

That sounded just like something he, a boy who was practically a full-fledged hero, would do. While Ikki was busy thinking about those sorts of things, Kiriko, still separated from him by Shizuku, whispered to him.

“Teehee. But Moroboshi isn’t as purely brazen as you all might think.”

“What’s that mean?”

“It means what I said. Yes, his invitation was partially meant as a welcome, but he has other motives as well.”

“Like what?”

Her disquieting tone caused her fellow Bukyoku student, Yagokoro, to furrow her brow.

“Don’t tell me Moroboshi’s treating him to some good food and hoping he’ll appreciate it so much that he doesn’t want to fight… No, I doubt he’s that crafty.”

“Haha. You’re right, he’s not. In fact, it’s the other way around.”

“The other way around”?

What would that be if it were the other way around? Ikki began pondering the true meaning of Kiriko’s claim, but his thoughts were quickly interrupted.

“Whoa, talk about a surprise! Looks like something big’s going on here,” Moroboshi said, shocked, as he carried over the meals they’d ordered.

◆◇◆◇◆

Moroboshi marveled at the group, larger than when he’d left it, with five people’s worth of food on two trays.

“Koume told me Doc was coming, but I didn’t know you were here, Yagokoro.”

“How rude. You don’t look at a maiden’s face and scream ‘Whoa’.”

“You paparazzi gotta learn to behave yourselves. You’re annoying Doc and Kurogane’s friends.”

“I’m not annoying them at all.”

“No?” Yagokoro’s outright lie had Kiriko dumbfounded. For having called Moroboshi brazen, she had gone far past that—she was well into the realm of shamelessness.

“You’re one to talk. What kind of guy drags his opponent to his house the day before their fight?”

“He agreed to come, so it’s cool.”

“I mean, you look like a bad guy. He probably didn’t refuse because he was scared.”

“Don’t be silly,” Moroboshi snickered at the insult. “Anyone who’d be afraid of my face wouldn’t come to the Seven Stars at all. Ain’t that right?”

“Well, I can at least confirm that you didn’t make us come.”

Moroboshi smirked triumphantly, as if saying, “see?”, but his face quickly clouded over.

“Man, we’ve got one heck of a gang here. I wanted to sit with you guys, but I’m stuck working instead. Darn shame,” Moroboshi muttered regretfully, setting the food on the two tables with expert precision. He laid Ikki’s pork okonomiyaki in front of him. It was a substantial meal, the size of a small pizza. “Anyway, here you go. Three pork, two seafood deluxe.”

“Wow, it smells great. And it’s really true that steam makes the bonito flakes dance!”

Alice, who had been born in a foreign country, was very excited about seeing real okonomiyaki for the first time. The others, urged on by the steamy, bonito flake dance-inducing goodness, readied their chopsticks. Ikki was still somewhat curious about the motives Kiriko had mentioned, but it was no longer the time or place to continue that conversation.

I’m definitely not gonna just up and ask why he’s doing this.

For the time being, his best option was to eat up. Changing gears mentally, Ikki took his own chopsticks and turned his attention to his food. That was when he realized that something was amiss. There was something that made Moroboshi’s family’s okonomiyaki different from the okonomiyaki in Tokyo.

Oh, so that’s it.

“The tables here don’t have griddles.”

“Nope. Those cost a fortune in gas, and stuff always ends up getting burned on one side. It might be more atmospheric to have ’em, but we aren’t about that. We try to cook our food to absolute perfection, ’cause that’s how we want it when it goes in your mouth.”

The restaurant, priding itself on being Osaka’s best, had thought everything through. In order to keep the staff’s efforts from going to waste, Ikki decided to make sure he ate it while it was still nice and hot.

“Time to eat, then.”

He tore off a piece of his pork okonomiyaki with his chopsticks and said his thanks before bringing it to his mouth. The moment the food touched his tongue, his eyes opened wide with shock and joy.

Ooh!

It was far different from anything he’d eaten in Tokyo. It was delicious—beyond delicious, even. The main flavor was, incredibly, not from the pork or the sauce, but the dough. The cabbage inside the dough, too, was incredibly fresh and sweet. The whole thing had a richness that lingered in the mouth.

“Man, this is so good! Don’t you think, Shizuku?”

“Yes. It’s unlike anything in Tokyo. The okonomiyaki there only tasted like the sauce, which made it salty, but this is sweet. It’s like the saltiness from the sauce is accenting the dough’s sweetness. But I think there’s too much here for me to eat.”

Both she and Alice had both fallen in love with the food, and she was much more talkative than usual as a result. Though a light eater, she was a gourmet. It was rare for her to praise food the way she was.

The other two women were also delightedly stuffing their cheeks. Moroboshi grinned with joy at the sight of them all.

“Hahaha! Whaddaya think? It’s great, right? Looks like our secret ingredient is working like a charm. Figure it out yet, Kurogane?”

“A secret ingredient?”

Ikki focused his senses on his tongue and thought about it as he chewed. The most emphasized flavors were the cabbage’s strong, fresh sweetness and the dough’s gentle sweetness. That pairing, combined with and accentuated by the saltiness of the sauce, was what made the dish truly unique. But there was something more to it as well; a sweetness that remained on the tongue even after swallowing. It couldn’t have come from the cabbage, whose sweetness was the refreshing kind that disappeared with every swallow, and it was too different from the flavor of the dough to have come from there.

The aftertaste must be coming from that secret ingredient.

Ikki carefully examined the full spectrum of flavors coming from the dish. After thinking for a moment, he came to the conclusion that the aftertaste was similar to that of cheesecake.

“Hmm… Could it be cheese?” he guessed, prompting Moroboshi to sigh in amazement.

“Wow, you’ve got some taste buds. You’re spot-on, our okonomiyaki has cheese in it.”

It was only a tiny amount. There was so little, in fact, that it wasn’t even enough to let the taste of cheese come through on its own. Even so, Moroboshi claimed that it was more than enough to magnify the flavor of the dish.

“It really is like a secret ingredient.”

“I was a little worried after all that talk of pulling customers in, but this is so satisfying. I’m glad I came.”

Alice was absolutely right; the okonomiyaki Moroboshi had served them was incomparable to its Tokyo counterpart. Not a word of how good it was had been exaggerated. It made Ikki happy he’d come—though that emotion in itself prompted a question.

“Excuse me, Moroboshi. Are you sure it’s okay for you to treat us to something this good?”

“It’s fine, my man. Mama would kill me if I dragged you here just to shake cash out of you. For real, don’t sweat it. Think of it as my way of greeting a rival that came all the way out to Osaka.”

“But it feels wrong to take so much.”

They didn’t have much of a point of comparison to call First Star’s okonomiyaki the best in Osaka, but they could hardly complain about the taste. Ikki was already grateful enough to Moroboshi for taking time out of his day on the eve of the Festival, of all days. With the addition of him having treated them to a meal, Ikki was starting to feel bad.

“Return the favor during tomorrow’s match, then,” Moroboshi replied, flashing his usual amicable smile.

“‘During tomorrow’s match’?”

Ikki parroted Moroboshi’s words, to which he nodded.

“That’s what I said. See, good food’s a good motivator. I want you to use that motivation to build up your energy and get yourself in perfect condition for tomorrow’s match. That’ll be plenty enough to pay me back for treating you here, ’cause beating an opponent who’s at their best is the only way I can prove my strength.”

That was when Ikki noticed something that lay deeper within Moroboshi’s eyes, behind the amicable smile. In them, fighting spirit bubbled and boiled, potent enough to almost be equivalent to killing intent. And as he took note of this veiled will to fight, Ikki also came to understand something.

This must be what Yakushi meant by “the other way around”.

The other motive of Moroboshi’s that she’d mentioned was not to be kind in hopes of making his opponent less willing to fight, but the exact opposite. By giving his opponent the grandest welcome he could muster, he would fill them with vigor in an attempt to ensure they were in top form and would fight their absolute best the next day.

Picking up an easy victory because of his opponent’s carelessness or poor condition was out of the question for Moroboshi; what he wanted was an honorable duel that involved the utmost effort from both parties. Then and only then would the victory be meaningful and worthwhile. That was the Seven Star King Yuudai Moroboshi’s own brand of chivalry.

“We’re gonna have a serious match on the biggest stage we’ve ever been on. I don’t want either of us to have any regrets, so tomorrow, let’s both go wild and fight at our best. What do you say, Another One?”

“Our”. That one word meant that the Seven Stars King, the one who stood above all other student knights, recognized him as someone worth fighting with all his strength. It wouldn’t have been unusual for someone as strong as Moroboshi to brush aside a mere Rank F upstart like Ikki, but instead, the boy who stood at the very summit was eager to fight him in earnest. He was grateful for that, for he, too, understood the value of a victory earned through desperate struggle.

I’m glad I came here today, Ikki thought, his feelings deepened by the knowledge of Moroboshi’s true motive. For a knight—a warrior—there was no greater honor than to be acknowledged by a powerful foe as being a powerful foe themselves, and to be challenged to a battle at full strength. Therefore, he had not a single reason to refuse.

“If that’s how it is, I’ll gladly accept the meal. In return, tomorrow, I’ll be the greatest opponent you could have ever asked for.”

“That’s just what I was hoping you’d say.”

◆◇◆◇◆

Ikki and the gang spent another hour at First Star before the five of them finally took their leave. Moroboshi had asked them to wait until he was free, but even after they’d finished their meals, the place seemed to get busier rather than slowing down. It didn’t seem as though he was going to be free any time soon, and they didn’t want to disrupt operations any further.

“Phew. It’s been so long since I’ve gotten to eat until my stomach cried for mercy.”

“Same here. I’ve actually got a stomachache.”

“Jeez. Alice, Big Brother, you both ate too much. Don’t be like Stella.”

“Oh, sweetie. Stella wouldn’t have stopped at two servings.”

If Stella were here to hear this, they’d probably be rolling on the floor fighting by now. Ikki missed the clamor. Though it was only a short time ago that she’d left to train under the Demon Princess, the way they were always attached at the hip at school made their time apart incredibly lonely for him. Actually, if she were here, the whole trip to Moroboshi’s restaurant would’ve been a lot livelier. I should take her there once the Seven Stars is over.

She would definitely be overjoyed about that, so Ikki, stirred by the wind of sorrow that visited his heart, resolved himself to do so. Then, he turned to look at Kiriko, who was walking next to him.

“By the way, Yakushi.”

“Mm? Yeees?”

“Why’d you leave with us? Didn’t Moroboshi need a physical?”

It was a question that had been on Ikki’s mind for a while. Kiriko had eaten her food and left with them, not performing the checkup that she had initially gone there for. Ikki figured that maybe she had forgotten, but Kiriko didn’t seem perturbed by the revelation.

“I already did it, though,” she replied as if stating the obvious.

“You did? When?”

“Teehee♡ A water mage like me can recognize the flow of blood and lymph in a person’s body, even through their clothes. If I wanted to, I could actually use it to read their mind, or even interfere with it and control them.”

“No way! Is that how you kept Tatara from moving yesterday?”

“Correct. I usually use it to help with rehabilitation, but it’s perfect for disciplining sillies like her, too. Besides…”

“Hm?”

“It just feels so nice to bend others to my will,” she said, a wonderfully broad smile accompanying the wonderfully awful thing she’d revealed. Ikki prayed that he would never be placed in her care.

“So, how did he look?” he asked. Seeing as Moroboshi would be his opponent the next day, it only made sense that he was interested.

“He’s almost annoyingly healthy, which is a relief. Then again, what else would you expect from one of my patients?” she responded rather proudly.

“Would you say he’s in perfect condition, then?”

“Yep. You’ve got your work cut out for you in the first round.”

Kiriko spoke as if she felt sorry for him, but Ikki didn’t feel that way at all. The only reason he would have felt that way was if Moroboshi weren’t in perfect form, for there would have been no worth in repaying the favor they’d talked about back at the restaurant.

During their conversation, the group of five exited the shopping district and arrived at the station.

“Well, I’ll take my leave here. I’m not staying at your hotel, after all.”

“Want us to walk you back?” Alice thoughtfully offered to Yagokoro, who was going home alone, but she refused graciously.

“I’m fine; it’s not far. And y’know, I’m a student knight too.” She took a few steps away from the gang, but then turned back toward them as if she’d remembered something. “Oh, Worst One. There’s something I wanna ask you.”

“What is it?”

Yagokoro made a complex expression—not quite one of annoyance but not quite a smirk.

“I usually don’t care about dumb rumors, but this one’s just too crazy to not look into.”

For someone like Yagokoro to call a rumor “crazy”, it must have truly been disturbing. Feeling a strange sweat on his brow, Ikki fearfully urged her to speak.

“What’s the rumor?”

“Well, uh… They say you fought Twin Wings and won. Is it true?”

“Ah—” Ikki gasped in surprise at Yagokoro’s question.

Twin Wings. The world’s strongest sword fighter, Edelweiss. Ikki’s fight with her was carried out in an empty schoolyard. Nobody should have seen it, so the media should not have picked up on it. He had never expected anyone to ask him about their fight. Watching him, Yagokoro quickly became impatient.

“Ooh! Why are you reacting like that?! Is it actually true?! Did you seriously win?!”

“No, no, no! Calm down for a sec! I did cross swords with Edelweiss, yes, but—”

“F-For real?!”

“Come on, I said calm down!” As Yagokoro approached, ready to sink her teeth into the story, Ikki put his hands on her shoulders and attempted to soothe her before correcting the rumor. “Yes, it’s true that we fought, but that’s the only part that’s true. I was nowhere near winning. During the fight, I blacked out… and when I woke up, I was in a hospital bed. She took pity on me and let me live. That’s all there is to it.”

He couldn’t let people believe that he’d beaten her. Seeming to have assumed the rumor was false from the start, Yagokoro was quickly convinced by his statement.

“O-Oh, okay. I thought that sounded weird, yeah. But the fact that you fought her and lived to tell the tale is big news in itself! H-Hey, sorry to do this when you’re on your way to the hotel, but could you give me the deets on the battle itself?”

Yagokoro’s face was quickly lit up by this big scoop she’d struck. Ikki, however, could only apologize.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t.”

“Wh-Why not?! I’m not gonna use the article to make fun of you for losing!”

“It’s not because of anything like that. I just don’t remember the fight all that well.”

“You don’t?”

“No. I remember being beaten to a pulp, but I was so preoccupied with defending myself that the last half is a bit of a blur.”

That was no lie. Ikki remembered his full-body Dokuga no Tachi being repelled with ease and Intetsu being shattered, but his memories after that—of how he’d maneuvered around Twin Wings and of the moment he’d taken his final swing at the world’s strongest sword fighter—were lost. He’d heard a little bit about it from Kurono, his rescuer, but his inability to remember made it feel as though she were talking about someone completely unrelated.

“Anyway,” he said, “the only thing I can say for sure is that I lost.”

“I-I see.” Yagokoro knew well enough from their short time together that Ikki wasn’t the kind of person to lie, so she just slumped disappointedly in her chair, not pursuing the matter any further. “This isn’t enough to make for an exciting article. Maybe I could enhance it a little by using my imagination?”

“No.”

“I can make you say something cool when you lose!”

“No.”

“Ugh. Wuss.” Yagokoro shot him a dirty look, but Ikki would not budge. He had no idea what would happen if she, of all people, decided to dramatize him to her heart’s content. Unfortunately for her, he was so obstinate that even she had to fold. “Whatever. I’ll just give up on writing an article about it.”

“I’d really appreciate that.”

“Y’know, Worst One, we just keep getting more and more excited about you. I can’t wait to see your fight with Moroboshi tomorrow! See you then!” she yelled to Ikki as she made her way to the bus stop by herself. As she left, Shizuku spoke.

“Shall we head back together, then? We’re staying at the same hotel.”

“Nah. I’m going to walk instead of taking the train.”

“Why? It’s rather far, you know.”

“Two helpings was way too much. I gotta do some exercise and digest all this,” he explained, but he also had one other reason that outweighed even that. “Moroboshi lit a fire in me, too. I just can’t calm down. Better to keep my body moving for a while.”

“I understand. Just don’t push yourself so much that it affects your battle tomorrow,” Shizuku replied. She knew that ten minutes by train wasn’t altogether too far for him in the first place, but she still made sure to leave him with a word of advice.

“Of course. I’ll save up plenty of energy.”

“Want me to come with you, Ikki?”

“Thanks, Alice, but no. Go with Shizuku for me.”

“All right. I’ll do that.”

“See you tomorrow, then,” Ikki said, jogging along a different path than the one Yagokoro had taken. “At the tournament!”

“He seems so happy,” Shizuku whispered with a delighted tone. Alice nodded in agreement.

“Yeah. Looks like he’s been flooded with the Seven Stars King’s fighting spirit. Not that I can blame him, since the boy’s ‘motive’ was just the desire for them to fight in top condition.”

“Still, I’m very surprised by how provocative Big Brother was.”

“Heehee. He just couldn’t hold back his raging energy. Despite being made fun of for his rank and being ignored by everyone else, Ikki continues to believe in his own potential. Thanks to that, he has a chance to test himself against the Seven Stars King. That alone would be motivation enough for a battle maniac like him, but his opponent is yearning for this battle too. He must be so happy and so proud of himself that he just can’t stay still. What a cutie.”

Ikki would head out to the next day’s fight with both his body and mind in top condition. Shizuku and Alice were able to guess as much from his cheerful expression.

“Too bad he won’t be able to win like that,” Kiriko interjected bluntly.

“Huh?” Shizuku gulped. “You really don’t think he’ll be able to win?”

“Not one bit.”

“Wh-What makes you so certain of that?!”

Annoyed that the Medico Knight had so confidently assumed her brother would lose, Shizuku doggedly questioned her.

“Call it a problem of mental fortitude,” Kiriko answered, narrowing her eyes. “I’m sure Kurogane is an incredible knight—he clawed his way up to Seven Stars despite being a Rank F, so I’m sure he’s got plenty of ability and grit. And he never flinched in front of Moroboshi, even challenging him head-on. ‘Amazing’ is nowhere near enough to describe his drive for self-improvement. But his mental fortitude just isn’t enough.”

“I’m sorry? It ‘isn’t enough’?”

Shizuku was clearly so angry that she was ready to kill, presumably because she’d taken those words as an insult to her brother. Alice attempted to soothe her, though, and argued with Kiriko in her place.

“You say he doesn’t have enough fortitude, but how can that be when he and Moroboshi both felt the same way?”

Alice believed that if it weren’t enough, Ikki wouldn’t have agreed when Moroboshi had talked about fighting at top condition. However, Kiriko only shook her head in refusal.

“It’s because you’re mistaken in your very view of Yuudai Moroboshi as a person. That which lies in his motives, his true nature, is not the same as Kurogane’s fighting spirit and desire to improve himself. Such tepid emotions would never have allowed him to overcome his injury; something else entirely supports him. His desire to find stronger foes and win honest victories comes from a different reason altogether—an almost pitiful sense of duty. Kurogane has the desire to win with pride against powerful enemies and the drive to always aim higher… but such simple ideals are nowhere near enough to let him claim victory.”

◆◇◆◇◆

After splitting off from Shizuku and the others, Ikki did not head straight for the hotel on his way back. Instead, he took a detour to a small park separated from the busy streets. There, in a place far from the commotion of the night, where only the sound of bugs could be heard, he stood and yelled.

“Nobody is going to come here even if we get a little loud, so just give it up and show yourself.”

The person he was speaking to was the one who had shot him the killing glare he’d felt while he was walking to First Star. Moreover, that same feeling had been following him around for some time. The entire reason had he chosen to go home alone was so he could speak with the one who was staring at him so fixedly.

The gaze had continuously pierced through him without alerting anyone else, including the Seven Stars King. That alone was enough to make him assume that whoever was following him was exceptionally skilled, and his assumption was quickly proven correct. Ikki gasped when he saw his pursuer’s true identity as they emerged from the darkness.

“I never would’ve guessed it was you…” The sleeves of his kimono fluttered in the wind. His slitted eyes were like the tips of blades, and his facial features, though disrupted by a cross-shaped wound, were much like Ikki’s. “…Ouma.”

The person who had been trailing him was none other than the sole Rank A student knight from Japan: Ikki’s older brother Ouma Kurogane, the Gale Sword Emperor.

“…”

After showing himself, Ouma said nothing, instead merely glaring at his brother. It certainly wasn’t a calm look; some sort of malice or hatred seemed to be housed within. Whichever it might have been, his glare alone put immense pressure on Ikki.

Seeing his brother one-on-one made Ikki realize just how overpowering his presence was. Though they were about the same height, Ouma seemed one or two sizes larger than him. Even so, he steeled his resolve, not folding under the pressure as he faced Ouma’s glare and posed him a question.

“So, what do you want? Considering what happened at Hagun, there’s no way you’re here because you want us to bond as brothers.”

That was the first thing Ikki needed to know. No matter what, there would be no progress until he knew Ouma’s business with him—someone like him wouldn’t have come without some sort of demand. It was then that Ouma finally opened his mouth to answer.

“Of course not. There is only one reason I’m here: because I have something to tell you.”

“You do?”

Ouma nodded at Ikki’s perplexed response. Then, with his peculiar voice that boomed within the body rather than reverberating in the ears, he spoke once more.

“Withdraw from your spot in the Festival, Ikki,” he declared with a powerful tone that would not take no for an answer.

“What?!” The sudden, bizarre demand shocked Ikki. Why did he have to forfeit his spot? “Think you could give me a reason to do that?”

“Must you be told to understand? How simple you are.” Ouma frowned in obvious frustration. With that sour look still on his face, he gave his explanation. “It’s because your very existence is dragging the Crimson Princess down.”

“What did you say?” The reason Ouma gave caused Ikki’s face to harden. “When do you think I’ve ever dragged her down? We don’t need to throw baseless insults around.”

“It’s the truth. How many months has the Crimson Princess wasted competing with a Rank F worm like you just because of a single blunder? All of this is because of your deception.”

“‘Deception’?”

“Your skills, your strategies—everything you do is for the purpose of taking your enemy by surprise. The way you fight reeks of deception, and using trickery instead of power to secure victories is an obscene tactic. That isn’t strength, and one can never become stronger by following in the footsteps of a man who follows that ideal. Honestly, I lost hope during our attack. She and I share a Rank A designation, but her strength is nowhere near the level it should be at.”

Her weakness was the result of her having been taken in by Ikki, someone who only pretended to be strong. Ouma was certain of that, and continued to speak as he began approaching Ikki.

“It’s time for you to disappear, fool. The Crimson Princess far surpasses you.”

“I see. So that’s how it is,” Ikki sighed, accepting Ouma’s claim. After such a lengthy explanation, he finally understood what about him Ouma thought was dragging Stella down.

At the heart of it, Ouma was using his own value system as his basis for attacking Ikki. To him, strength was not the skills to win, but was the raw power held within one’s existence. He believed that those with greater power would continue to grow, while those who defied that belief were nothing more than frauds.

You could be a little less rude about it, though.

It really was rude. Ouma’s very assertion could only be taken as a refutation of the Worst One, for he still aimed for the top despite being a Rank F. Ikki found it very like Ouma to have such a pure view of strength. Naturally, though, he wouldn’t accept such an assertion.

“I see why you think I’m dragging Stella down, but I have no reason to live up to your value system. Besides, even if you’re right and I’m nothing but an imposter, Stella still loves me. Stella still wants to fight me again. And that’s all that matters to me. Compared to our promise, your insults are nothing but dust in the wind, Ouma. You can’t sway me that easily.”

Ikki refuted Ouma’s demands, leaving no room for discussion. Even so, Ouma hadn’t expected that he would readily comply, so he didn’t seem especially discouraged by it.

“You’re a dull-witted boy. If you think I was making a request, you’re mistaken—I was giving you an order. But since words won’t be enough to make you obey my command, I will simply use my strength to force you to obey.”

Clearly annoyed, Ouma sluggishly materialized his Device. In taking up Ryuuzume, a nodachi larger than the average Japanese katana, the atmosphere tensed around them, sending the birds in the park trees flying away in fear. It was almost as if they knew that when Ouma held Ryuuzume, the entire park was within range of the ensuing destruction. Ikki wasn’t ignorant of that fact either, yet he remained unfazed.

“Good. I’m more than happy to get straight to the point.”

With a smirk on his face and a fearless look in his eyes, Ikki materialized his own Device, Intetsu. He was already well-prepared to fight. The moment Ouma appeared before him, Ikki was assured that this encounter wouldn’t end peacefully.

More than that, though, Ouma had claimed that the time he’d spent with Stella was a waste. Making that claim wasn’t something he could simply laugh off, because to him, the days since their meeting were a treasure. For his own sake and for that of Stella, whom he loved so deeply, he needed to show Ouma exactly how he felt.

“You act like I’m some sort of pebble for Stella to stumble over, but let me show you just how wrong you are.”

“Don’t bare your fangs so readily, failure!”

Ouma’s warning marked the start of the unofficial battle between the two Kurogane brothers.

◆◇◆◇◆

Worst One versus Gale Sword Emperor. Their battle began abruptly in a city park. The first to take the initiative was Ouma Kurogane, who lowered his Ryuuzume, its blade emitting a faint glow like that of a firefly.

“Rah!”

He swung his sword at Ikki, who was charging at him, tracing a horizontal arc. The distance between them was still about thirty-five feet, which was too far away even for the nodachi, a weapon with incredible reach. At least, it should have been.

“Ngh!”

Ikki, already sunk down to sprint, hurried to push his body even lower until he was crawling on the ground. A cold wind blew just above him as rows of trees behind him were felled. Though the sword of steel would not reach him, a sword of wind was a different story.

It tore through the air, creating a narrow blade formed from a vacuum. The attack, aptly known as Vacuum Blade, was the most popular Noble Art among wind mages. Ouma, of course, had mastered its use.

“Haah!”

From far away, Ouma again swung Ryuuzume, firing off another Vacuum Blade. The slash that tore through the air as it approached was powerless compared to the Crimson Princess’ Dragon Fang and other long-range flame abilities, but made up for what it lacked with its incredible speed and invisibility. As it was a difficult attack to avoid, it had a high propensity for dealing critical blows—but that didn’t mean such a common skill would be enough to tame the Worst One.

“Hup!”

Evading each wind sword by the skin of his teeth, Ikki continued his advance. He closed the space between himself and Ouma, not hesitating for so much as a fraction of a second as he weaved between the colorless blades. His actions proved that he could clearly perceive the invisible Vacuum Blades, but how was he able to do so?

The mechanism lay within Ikki’s line of sight. His eyes weren’t locked on the blades flying through the air, but on the one in Ouma’s hands. Though Vacuum Blade boasted supersonic speed, it flew forward in a straight line, following the arc traced by Ryuuzume. In much the same way as one could dodge a bullet by watching the timing of the trigger pull and the direction of the barrel, as long as Ikki’s kinetic vision could keep track of the direction in which Ouma swung his sword, his reflexes would make it easy for him to evade the unseeable attacks.

“Hmph.”

Ikki was charging directly at Ouma, slipping through the gaps in his attacks. Ouma must have decided that Vacuum Blade wouldn’t be enough to win the fight, as he too began charging forward, planning to collide with Ikki. Foregoing the wind to attack instead with steel, he swung for Ikki’s head.

“Haaaah!”

“Gh…!”

He’s so fast!

Despite wielding a nodachi, a weapon with weight rivaling that of a spear, the speed and power behind Ouma’s swing were far greater than those behind Ikki’s. It wasn’t the result of a difference in skill—both sides were about equal in terms of pure swordsmanship—but of Ouma’s magic ability.

Ouma controlled the air, eliminating wind resistance, and a blade that moved uninterrupted would swing faster than one hindered by friction. Against speed like that, Ikki would be entirely unable to counter without using Ittou Shura. Concluding as much in an instant, he took a defensive stance.

“Kh?!”

In the next moment, Ikki’s blood seemed to freeze as a chill overtook him—his natural response to the quiet sound that knocked at his eardrums.

“Ooooouuugh!”

He abandoned defense and focused all of his strength on leaping backward, evading Ouma’s slash. As a result, Ouma’s descending blade slammed against the sandy soil of the park. It didn’t stop there, immediately carving into the earth, leaving an incision the bottom of which was too far away to see.

“Whoa!”

The crack that split the ocher ground sent a cold sweat down Ikki’s back. Stella’s strikes shook the earth, which was impressive on its own, but Ouma took it a step yet further. The tremors Stella created were proof that she and her concentration were imperfect, as they were the result of the dispersion of her strength. A perfectly concentrated swing like Ouma’s would not shake anything, instead deeply, quietly rending everything in its path as though slicing through gelatin.

How much mass had he needed to accumulate around his sword to have made that happen? Hundreds of kilograms? Thousands? Ikki had no idea, but he did know one thing: much like Stella’s blows, Ouma’s were far too dangerous to take head-on.

I can understand that incredible strength, considering his physique.

“You’ve changed a lot in these past few years, Ouma. Maybe a little too much. What’s the secret behind your body?”

“Hmph. So you’ve noticed the anomaly within me before our blades have even crossed. Though it was through deception, it’s clear that you wounding Twin Wings was no fluke.” Ouma smirked in such a way that one of his canine teeth poked out. “But whether you know or not, there’s nothing that you can do. You are a fraud, whereas my anomaly is pure power.”

His claim wasn’t an empty one. Though it wasn’t the first time Ikki had been faced with attacks he couldn’t take head-on, Ouma’s swings would certainly be tough to handle. In the past, he had been able to use defensive tactics to nullify Stella’s monstrous, ground-breaking strength, but that was only possible thanks to Stella’s inexperience. In much the same way that a falling leaf would never be cut through by a wildly swinging sword, deflecting unfocused force was easy. In Ouma’s case, however, there was no such weakness. His swordplay was perfect, showing not a shred of deviation or hesitation. A falling leaf would be cleanly sliced in two by his sword.

That means Ten’i Muhou isn’t a safe bet.

If Ikki wanted to overcome his opponent’s titanic slashes, he would have to come up with a different plan. Ittou Shura would allow him to simply parry the blows, but it was too early in the fight to start the one-minute timer that came with it. Before that, he had to ascertain the enemy’s range of knowledge. In order to decide what his first move would be, he looked back on his previous battle experience.

“That’s the face of a man who’s wasting his time thinking.”

Ikki’s train of thought was stopped by Ouma’s ridicule.

“I told you, there’s nothing you can do,” he declared amidst the night, and began taking action while remaining at a distance. However, rather than swinging his sword—which meant it wasn’t another Vacuum Blade—he pointed its tip to the sky as if to pierce the moon. “I’ve no intention of wasting undue time on someone like you. Chasing you around will quickly bore me, so I propose we set a time limit. Cut him off, Mukuu Kekkai.”

As he spoke that incantation, Ouma’s magic took form. The green glow that enveloped Ryuuzume suddenly intensified, and violent winds began rampaging across the battlefield.

“Kh!”

The gales, which kicked up so much sand that Ikki couldn’t even open his eyes, spiraled as they rose into the night air. Ikki, trying not to be pulled up along with them, dug all ten of his digits into the earth.

Ngh, a smokescreen?!

The sandstorm created by Ouma’s Noble Art had robbed him of his sight and ability to act. He was impressed by how effective the technique was, but immediately realized that such a way of thinking was horribly naïve. As someone who sought power and power alone, Ouma would never use a technique to hinder his foe; Mukuu Kekkai was sure to have some sort of terrifying direct effect.

“Wha— Hrk?!”

I-I can’t breathe!

That terrifying direct effect was that it deprived Ikki of oxygen. Thanks to the upward air current the attack created, all the oxygen on the battlefield was being carried up and away. Ouma had done this to remove the luxury of time that Ikki previously had.

“Ten minutes is all you have left. If you continue to fight, it goes down to just one. You have no time to begrudge your lack of strength—so face me with your full power.”

The Worst One was made to steel his resolve by the Gale Sword Emperor’s order. As Ouma had said, he had no time to hold back. Worse yet, Ikki had no idea what had happened in the many years after Ouma’s disappearance, but he had become many times stronger than Ikki remembered him being.

He’s not someone I can hold back against in the first place.

Ikki’s own strength was already meager. If he held back against a foe like Ouma, he wouldn’t be able to win. Accepting that, he ended his task of ascertaining Ouma’s strength and set fire to all the magic that ran through him.

“Ittou Shura.”

A blue, flame-like light erupted from Ikki, as did his fighting spirit. That spirit, as sharp as a biting wind, caused the trees in the park to tremble as they scattered still-young leaves. It had grown so strong that it held physical power—a result of the experience he’d gained from fighting so many powerful enemies—yet even that power was far from able to shake Ouma’s spirit in the slightest.

“By focusing all of your power into a short time period, you aim to defeat otherwise insurmountable opponents with explosive strength. Truly the culmination of an impostor’s skills. Just looking at you makes my skin crawl.” Even against the spirit that emanated from Ikki during Ittou Shura, Ouma was unperturbed, going so far as to show displeasure at how bored he was by the display. “Come, pebble. It’s time I kicked you off the path.”

With leisurely movements, he readied Ryuuzume to meet Ikki’s charge. His presence was absolute, like that of a massive boulder settled deep within the earth, unmoving. Ikki himself was almost shaken by the immense pressure he gave off, but he had already pulled his trump card. One minute was all the time he had left, and against an opponent like Ouma, he couldn’t waste even a single second.

“Haaaah!”

The black knight was ready to decide the battle with his charge. He kept his body bent low as he ran, as if he were a shadow creeping along the ground.

“Graaaaah!”

The Gale Sword Emperor moved as well. His wind-cloaked sword descended toward the neck of the shadow with speed beyond recognition by the naked eye. However, with the power of Ittou Shura, Ikki was even faster.

I can do this!

Ikki’s aim was to end the fight with a single counter. Making use of his speed advantage, he would parry Ouma’s blade, then follow up with an attack to the torso. To that end, he stared directly at the gale that aimed to lop his head off.

Don’t be afraid!

Not long earlier, Ouma’s blade had carved a large gash into the earth. If he failed to block it, his head could very well end up being sent flying.

Focus!

Surviving the Reaper’s guillotine required extreme focus. If he was to evade the falling sword, he would need absolute precision. Still, he knew he could do it; that was just how much he had trained.

Nooow!

He fearlessly encouraged himself, using his extreme focus to step within range of the falling blade.

…Huh?

At that exact moment, his legs stopped moving.

◆◇◆◇◆

What’s going on?

Ikki’s eyes opened wide at the sudden irregularity that had occurred within him just as he was to clash with the Gale Sword Emperor. His surprise was to be expected, as it had happened at the very moment he’d planned to use his extreme focus to ward off Ouma’s strike and leap in to attack. However, that crucial moment had been abruptly cut off, as if the link between body and mind had suddenly been severed. Despite him still being conscious, his body simply refused to move.

What in the world?!

He had no time to spend agape with shock, however, as he was the only one who had stopped moving. Ouma’s strike was still heading directly toward him.

This is bad!

Ikki just barely defended himself from the incoming blade. Even so, he took a direct blow from power that had carved through the earth.

“Ngaaah!”

As if hit by a large truck, he was launched dozens of yards, stopped only by the stone wall he slammed into.

“Gahaaaah!”

The impact on his internal organs sent a mist of blood flying from his mouth; at least one had undoubtedly been damaged. Further, the bones in his arms were smashed all the way to the shoulder, as they’d taken the brunt of the impact. However, that was the only option that had been available to him.

What the hell was that?!

Ikki’s question was directed at the strange stiffening of his muscles during the deciding moment of the battle. Why had his body frozen beyond his control in that moment? Never in his life as a Blazer had such a bizarre thing happened to him, and it was driving him crazy.

“Hmph. Why are you so surprised?” Ouma asked with irritation in his voice. “You fought the strongest swordsman in the world and thought nothing about you would change because of it? Even if you remain physically sound, that doesn’t mean your heart made it out unscathed.”

“Huh?!”

“Strange that you would come barking at me when you have yet to overcome her parting gift. You clearly don’t know your place.”

Not caring to hide his displeasure, Ouma hurled invectives at Ikki, then slowly moved into an attacking stance. He raised his arms such that his sword was horizontal. In the next moment, Ryuuzume unleashed its harshest glow yet and became surrounded with wind.

The wind seemed to suck in the very space around it, rolling and raging as it devoured the air. It was then shaped into an ethereal blade, forged by gales folded countless times over. A tornado sword that could sever all of creation, Ouma was using the Noble Art that had felled both the Crimson Princess and Raikiri.

“Kusanagi, the blade that severs the full moon. This ability is wasted on a fraud such as yourself, but I’m displeased with my poor aim from earlier. As such, I offer this to you as a special gift. Accept it, and die graciously.”

Spitting those last words like venom, the Gale Sword Emperor finally exerted his full power. His most powerful blow, an attack that he prided himself on, was now trained on the injured Failed Knight.

I can’t let him hit me with that!

Ikki had to escape at all costs. He was curious about the so-called “parting gift” that Edelweiss had supposedly left, but chased the thought out of his mind. He gave a desperate order to his failing body, still shaken from the previous impact, to use every last ounce of its strength to flee from the impending threat. However, he once again stiffened. His brain continued to beg his muscles to move, but they remained frozen and unresponsive.

Why?!

The first possibility that came to mind was that his muscles were failing to function because of the damage he’d sustained, but after confirming the severity of his wounds, he discarded the idea. He was markedly injured, but not to the point that he couldn’t move. Why, then? He hadn’t a clue.

Hrgh!

If nothing changed, he would take the brunt of the blow. He had to do something, so he racked his brain—his one working muscle—but failed to find a breakthrough. In the end, his consciousness was swallowed whole by the thousand gales of Ouma’s blade.

“Take a bite, Tiger Kiiing!”

◆◇◆◇◆

Just as the compressed spiral of wind, bound to shred anything it touched beyond recognition, swallowed the Worst One, a boy with a yellow spear jumped between them. The boy, with a muscular form and the sharp eyes of a carnivore, was the Seven Stars King, Yuudai Moroboshi.

“Take a bite, Tiger Kiiing!”

His booming voice shook the air as he stabbed his spear at the descending tornado blade. In an instant, the golden light of magic ran through Tiger King, shooting out of its head. The beam it created then took on a familiar form: the head of a great tiger, its maw opened wide to expose its fangs.

The golden tiger chomped down on the approaching tornado sword. In doing so, it quite literally took a bite of Kusanagi, the very ability that had toppled first-rate knights like the Crimson Princess and Raikiri all on its own. The half-eaten sword then dissipated until it was gone entirely. Moroboshi, still standing in front of Ikki to protect him, looked at the injured knight.

“You all right, Kurogane?!”

“M-Moroboshi?! Why are you—”

“Just bringing back something you forgot,” he said, tossing Ikki his student handbook. “I called Doc about it, and she told me you were walking home alone. Figured I’d just head to your hotel, and what do I find along the way but a flashy brothers’ quarrel?”

Moroboshi then turned his attention to the Gale Sword Emperor.

“Been a while. I think the last time we saw each other face-to-face was elementary school?”

“The Star of Naniwa. Or I suppose you’re the Seven Stars King now, aren’t you, Moroboshi?”

“Hah. I don’t want you calling me ‘King’. A title won in a tournament without you is a worthless one. But hey, none of that matters now.” The two were former rivals who had once fought each other in the Little League. As the two spoke, Moroboshi frowned and surveyed the sorry state of the park. Fissures and crevices that littered the area, trees uprooted by the fierce winds, and one cracked stone wall. “This went a little far for a brothers’ quarrel, though. One of you’d be dead if I hadn’t stepped in.”

“Tiger’s Bite, a Noble Art-nullifying skill that can bite away any technique. You even tore away Mukuu Kekkai when you stopped my Kusanagi, I see.”

“Yep. That means your storm’s got no effect on me. Now that we’ve made that clear, I wanna ask you: are you gonna keep up this pointless carnage? If you wanna keep making a mess of my home, I’ll gladly take up fighting you.”

Moroboshi gave his threat with a menacing tone. He then pointed his magic-enveloped spear, Tiger King, at Ouma, intimidating him with its ability to nullify any and all Noble Arts. In response to his threats, Ouma closed his eyes and allowed the glow of his Ryuuzume to fade.

“No, I’ve lost my appetite for battle.”

Even his trump card, the strongest of all his techniques, was easily defeated by Moroboshi’s Tiger’s Bite. With reinforcements having arrived, perhaps he’d realized his odds of winning were poor.

No. He wasn’t such a noble man. Rather, he had simply, honestly lost any reason to continue his fight. As if losing the last of his already-weak interest, he glared daggers at the fallen Ikki, still on the ground behind Moroboshi.

“If you’ve not accepted the last piece of Twin Wings’ parting gift, then you will fail tomorrow regardless of whether I finish you right here. I have no need to deal the final blow myself. When she sees your pathetic defeat, perhaps the Crimson Princess will open her eyes at last.” Leaving them with that last bit of vitriol, he turned away and stepped into the darkness from whence he came. As he did, he left them with one last comment. “Saved by a forgotten handbook? Hmph. What a lucky man.”

“He looks a lot different than he did back in elementary school, but he’s just as unfriendly as ever,” Moroboshi sighed annoyedly as he watched Ouma leave. Once the boy had disappeared, Moroboshi turned back to Ikki, who was leaning against the stone wall. “So, what was that all about? I heard him say something about Stella; you guys better not have some sorta love triangle thing going on. I mean, two bros who’re in love with the same chick? That’s, like, straight outta Lurren Gagann.”

“Ugh, stop. I just about died back there,” Ikki chuckled at Moroboshi’s casual tone and slowly stood up. “Anyway, thank you. You really saved me. And my handbook, too.”

“No prob, man. But more importantly…” Moroboshi suddenly narrowed his eyes. “What was that, Kurogane? Even watching from afar, you were acting plain weird. That couldn’t’ve been ’cause of your injuries, right?”

The one thing that bothered him was Ikki’s apparent inaction just as he was about to be killed by Kusanagi. But little did he know that Ikki was the one most confused by it.

“I don’t know either, honestly. I can’t make heads or tails of it.”

There was no foreshadowing of the event. Up until it happened, Ikki had believed he was in perfect condition for the tournament. All he could do was to shake his head.

“Really? To me, you looked like a deer in headlights.” Moroboshi calmly explained things as he saw them. “Then again, you’re stronger than that.”

That much was obvious. A knight who would take the stage at the Seven Stars wouldn’t be so afraid of an enemy’s technique that he would freeze up, and that was especially true of Ikki. The Worst One had faced the Crimson Princess’ Katharterio Salamandra and had the guts to smirk at it.

“…Ah!”

It may not have been possible that he’d been afraid, but Moroboshi’s thoughtless statement led to a flash of inspiration within Ikki.

“You fought the strongest swordsman in the world and thought nothing about you would change because of it? Even if you remain physically sound, that doesn’t mean your heart made it out unscathed.”

The words Ouma had spat at him during their battle actually seemed to ring true. Ikki had fought the world’s strongest sword fighter and lost, yet he seemed to be in perfect health. Could that really have ended so anticlimactically, so conveniently? Could one truly have toed the line between life and death, only to return without being changed in any way? Wasn’t that idea too naïve?

Those thoughts gave Ikki a bad feeling, accompanied by a cold sweat that rolled down his back. What had happened to him was a common occurrence within the various realms of fighting. If a boxer suffered an awful loss, they would start to be afraid of their opponent’s punches. In an average fight, where multiple punches get exchanged in the space of a second, their body would stiffen and freeze up, almost like a form of PTSD. As long as one suffered from such a disorder, they would be unable to fight—a problem which some fighters considered to mean they were “broken”.

Could Ikki perhaps have subconsciously become “broken”? The physical he’d undergone after his fight with Edelweiss showed no abnormalities, and he was able to train as normal, but neither of those situations involved any danger to his life. What if, then, he had just never noticed it until Ouma’s raw desire to murder him exposed that mortal fear?

Such a supposition, while unimaginably terrible, was not terribly unimaginable. In fact, as Ouma had claimed, it would have been much more abnormal for him to have played a game of life and death with the world’s strongest sword fighter and not have come out scarred in some way. After a battle such as theirs, it should have been expected for either his body or his mind—if not both—to have been irreparably damaged.

“Why the scary face? Something come to mind, maybe?” Moroboshi asked. He must have noticed that Ikki got paler the more he thought.

“…No, not especially.”

Ikki couldn’t explain why. He couldn’t show weakness to his future opponent. At least, that was one reason he kept quiet.

“I want you to use that motivation to build up your energy and get yourself in perfect condition for tomorrow’s match.”

He swallowed the lump in his throat. There was simply no way he could breathe a word of his weakness to someone who was so excited to fight him.

“Huh. Well, I better call you a doctor. You should sit down for a while.”

Moroboshi spoke once more after looking at him for a short time, but he didn’t pursue the matter any further. Instead, he merely procured an ambulance using his student handbook.

“Thanks. Sorry.”

A mixture of gratitude and apology filled his words as he put a broken hand up to his chest. Ittou Shura had finally worn off, filling him with its usual heavy fatigue. The fatigue dulled the full-body pain brought on by the injuries he’d sustained, but the fear in his heart that he might be a broken knight was not relieved in the slightest.

What’s happening to me? And my body?

Even after he had received treatment and returned to the hotel, Ikki continued to ask himself the same questions. He pushed his consciousness deeper and deeper within himself, searching for an unobstructed view of his body and mind. No matter how deep he went, though, he could find no traces or wounds; he could only think of himself as sound in both body and mind.

Was he really broken? If not, how could he explain the moment his body had seized up? He didn’t know, and without knowing, he couldn’t hope to overcome the problem.

Things were looking grim. There was a time bomb ticking inside of him, which would make it foolhardy to challenge the Seven Stars King. After freezing at the climax of battle, how could he hope to win against such a foe? It was something he had no choice but to overcome, but as if laughing at Ikki’s fretting mind, the light of day finally broke, heralding the morning when everything would truly begin.

◆◇◆◇◆

“Many say that war is evil, for it breeds hatred! Many say that peace is magnificent, for it nurtures kindness! Many say that violence is a sin, for it harms others! Many say that cooperation is a virtue, for it fosters love! All those with common sense know this, of course, yet we humans still strive for strength!

“To be the strongest and most heroic of them all! To have absolute, unrivaled power that enables you to make your desires a reality! Who can say that they don’t wish for that?! Who can say that they have never longed for as much?! Everyone desires it at some point, and everyone gives up on it at some point, as it is unattainable! But for those still chasing that dream, we arrive at the Festival at which these young men and women put their lives on the line in search of victory!

“Hokkaido’s Rokuzon Academy! Tohoku’s Kyomon Academy! North Kanto’s Donrou Academy! South Kanto’s Hagun Academy! Kinki and Chubu’s Bukyoku Academy! Chugoku and Shikoku’s Rentei Academy! Kyushu and Okinawa’s Bunkyoku Academy! And finally, the newly established National Akatsuki Academy! A total of thirty-two students have been chosen from Japan’s eight schools, every last one of them an awe-inspiring knight, but only one can claim the title of Japan’s Seven Stars King!

“Fortunately for them, it is a custom among us knights to use our weapons to decide whom shall bear such a title! And to our thirty-two virtuous knights who have come here to take up those weapons, the time has come! Only here will none disapprove as you fight to your hearts’ content and the full extent of your power!

“And now, without further ado, I proudly announce the start of the sixty-second Seven Stars Battle Festival!”