Chivalry of a Failed Knight Vol. 1

“Whew, check out those titties! Them ain’t high school titties.”

“Hot damn!”

“Bishou, can we take pictures?!”

“Quit your yapping, you premature ejaculators. The real show is about to begin. Heeheehee!”

Forced to listen to their filthy, unbearable voices as they gawked at her body, Stella shuddered. Ikki, watching on in anger, saw something shimmer on her cheek—it was a tear. When he saw that tiny, glistening tear, he heard the snap! of not only his teeth breaking the skin of his lips, but also that of the rope of reason keeping him from jumping into the fray.

Stellaaa! Ikki’s mind urged him forward, but his body didn’t react. It wouldn’t move.

“Stay calm,” came a voice next to him.

“Ngh.” He let out a grunt, but his body still wouldn’t budge. It was as if he’d been bound by something.

Glancing to the side, he saw Alice’s Device, Darkness Hermit, stabbed into his shadow. Alice was using her Noble Art, an ability that prevents the target’s movement: Shadow Bind.

“You have to remain calm,” she told him. “There’s no merit in revealing yourself right now.”

“But if I don’t go now, then Stella—!”

“It’s okay. I have a plan,” she claimed, but Ikki simply looked at her in disbelief. “Shizuku is already acting, so just keep waiting.”

“She is?”

“Yes. She’s concealing her magic, but she’s setting up a water barrier to protect the hostages.”

Ikki looked down into the hall again, searching for signs of magic.

“I don’t see anything like that.”

“Well, of course not. As a Rank B knight, Shizuku’s other abilities may be inferior to Stella’s, but she’s the clear winner in terms of magic control this year. In that field, she’s definitely a Rank A.”

Ikki was shocked to hear that. Magic control was a measure of how skillfully a Blazer could handle their magic output; those with exceptional magic control could perform actions using as little as twenty to thirty percent of the magical power normal Blazers would. They could also use their magic to camouflage themselves and their spells. Shizuku Kurogane happened to be a master of that art.

“Nobody can see through camouflage created by someone as skilled as Shizuku,” Alice stated.

“Then how do you know what she’s doing?!”

She showed Ikki her student handbook, set to silent rather than being turned off, in response. On the screen was an email from Shizuku.

“Makong boumdsry. Qill givw sugmal.”

The message was full of typos. She was probably typing without looking, keeping her eyes on her surroundings instead. It got the message across, at least.

Shizukuuu! Ikki delightedly screamed his sister’s name in his mind.

“Shouha Suiren!” she cried as if responding to his call. The barrier of water divided the captives from the Rebellion soldiers. That was the “sugmal”.

◆◆◆

“What?!”

Only a Blazer could create a wall of water like that; there must have been someone other than Stella present. Working off that hypothesis, Bishou barked, “If you can’t behave, I’ll just have to kill you all! Soldiers, open fire on the hostages!”

On his command, Bishou’s Followers pulled the triggers on their weapons, aiming for the barrier. The hostages, panicking from the sudden wall of water and the sound of gunfire, began to curl up and scream, but the deafening cascade stopped every bullet in its tracks. The hostages were completely unharmed, protected solely by Shizuku’s Noble Art, Shouha Suiren.

If one were to fall from high up, water’s incredibly high resistance to impacts would make it feel more like hitting concrete than water. A high-speed object like a rifle bullet would be crushed the moment it made contact with the water due to the opposite force being exerted on it—and that was true of regular, everyday water. With Shizuku’s magical power reinforcing it, her water became like an iron shield. Lead bullets had no hope of piercing it. But Shizuku wasn’t the only one who began to move.

The moment Shizuku erected Shouha Suiren, Ikki activated Ittou Shura. He leaped from the top of the staircase and carried out his assault on Bishou.

“Tch! You had even more friends waiting up above?!”

Bishou was a terrorist, however; he had plenty of experience treading the line between life and death. He reacted quickly to the surprise attack, reaching his left hand—the same hand he had stopped Lævateinn with—out toward Ikki as he swung Intetsu.

The Judgment Rings’ Crime half was guided by a natural law that could nullify any attack, including Stella’s earthshaking strikes. Ikki’s swordplay was faster than hers, but that was the extent of it. A weaker attack such as his couldn’t hope to break a law of nature. His surprise attack would fail, and his swing would be converted to a punishment to be turned back on him.

Assuming he could stop the attack, that is.

“Huh?!”

Bishou couldn’t believe his eyes. A geyser of blood was erupting from his left arm. He could stop any attack that he caught with his left hand, but it was impossible to stop an attack that he couldn’t see. Ikki used that to his advantage, swinging his sword with a speed that far surpassed the processing abilities of the human brain.

An invisible slash. One of Ikki Kurogane’s seven original sword arts:

“Seventh Secret Sword: Raikou!”

◆◆◆

“I’ll take the cronies. Ikki, you’d better disarm that boss monkey completely.”

Ikki did exactly as Alice commanded. His invisible slash, Raikou, had cut off Bishou’s crime-absorbing left hand, so he followed up by severing the right as well. Even if Bishou’s Device had some other hidden power, it wouldn’t be of any use to him without either of his hands.

“Gaaaah! My haaaands! Damn you!”

“Quit your yapping.”

“Ah…” Bishou’s complaints stuck in his throat when he looked at Ikki.

“I was holding back. Thinking back on what you did to Stella, maybe I should have cut off another limb or two for good measure. After all, an iPS Capsule would be more than enough to completely undo what I’ve done to you so far.”

Ikki shut Bishou up with his cold glare before turning his eyes away from the filth in front of him. No hostages seemed to be injured. Their assault was a success.

“We’ve done it.” Alice patted Ikki on the shoulder.

“Did you wrap up things on your end, Alice?”

“They were already wrapped up, actually. That girl really is amazing.”

What girl? Ikki once again tilted his head in confusion, but then spotted the girl in question out of the corner of his eye.

All of the soldiers had fallen; not one of them remained standing. There was, however, one figure still standing on the battlefield.

“Stella…”

The Crimson Princess, enveloped in a dress of flames. In one hand, she held Lævateinn, still scattering light. Even after the blow she took and the shame she was forced to endure, she was still the first to move when the going got tough. Stella had already taken down every soldier in the room, not even giving Alice the chance to join in.

Cool, calculated decision-making combined with so much excess power that even being seriously injured didn’t hinder her in the least. Alice wasn’t kidding when she said Stella was amazing. There was just one problem.

“You can all leave,” Stella told the hostages. “I’ll report the news to everyone outside.”

“Thanks,” came their collective response.

She’s pushing herself too hard!

“Stella!” Ikki ran over to her, hugging her as she turned to face him.

“Gah! H-Hey, wh-what are you doing?”

Stella was panicked and confused over the sudden embrace, but Ikki didn’t care; he just wanted to hold her, so he hugged her tightly, hiding her bare skin with his own body. He didn’t want such a kind, brave girl to feel any more shame.

“Sorry. If only I’d come to help you sooner, you wouldn’t have had to go through this.”

“Ikki…!”

Stella seemed to understand his feelings, surrendering herself to the embrace as she trembled. Ikki tried not to look at her face, but never loosened his hold on her.

“Big Brother,” Shizuku called out to Ikki.

“Thank you, Shizuku. Your boundary was really helpful. Did you get hurt at all?”

“Of course not. I would never make such a blunder,” Shizuku said, and indignantly thrust the clothes Stella had taken off toward her. “I brought your clothes. How long are you going to stand around half-naked like that?”

“Th-Thanks. I’m surprised you did that for me.”

“How rude. Which one of us is the reason you’re not fully naked, again? Honestly, I can’t believe you just jumped out there without a second thought. Your recklessness will be your downfall one day.”

“Oh…”

Stella uneasily averted her eyes from Shizuku’s reproachful look.

“But I guess you’re not all bad.”

“Huh?”

“I wouldn’t have been able to save that family. It’s good to know there are people out there who are willing to risk their lives for complete strangers.”

“Th-That’s not such a big deal. But I would’ve been in big trouble without your boundary. You’re really amazing.”

Both Stella and Shizuku shifted their eyes uncomfortably, clearly embarrassed by complimenting and being complimented by someone they saw as an enemy. But at the very least, they had found some common ground.

I hope they can be good friends after this.

“Oh, right,” Ikki blurted out. “You can heal, can’t you, Shizuku?”

“Of course I can. Are you hurt at all, Big Brother?”

“Not me. Him.” Ikki pointed at Bishou, who was losing an incredible amount of blood. Healing a human—a being made primarily of water—required magic that could only be used by high-level water mages. “Don’t put his hands back on, though. Just stop the blood loss. We don’t want him getting any big ideas.”

“Very well. I can’t have you being a murderer, Big Brother.”

“He should be down for the count, but be carefu—”

“Don’t moooove!”

“Huh?!”

◆◆◆

A yell, almost like a muffled shriek, had somehow come from within the group of hostages. When Ikki and the others turned to face the source of the commotion, they saw a young man in a red t-shirt holding a gun to a middle-aged woman’s temple.

“H-Heeeelp!”

“Don’t move, you shits! If you do, I’ll blow this hag’s brains out!”

“What?! Was he hidden amongst the hostages?!”

“Heehee. Gahahaha! You idiots weren’t the only ones pretending to be hostages!”

“Bishou…”

The terrorist’s tattooed face erupted into laughter, even as blood continued to spurt from his severed limbs. He was probably thinking about how he would deal with Ikki’s group.

“Hey, little goth runt!”

“‘R-Runt’?!”

“Yeah, you. I hear you can heal people. Get over here and fix my arms! It’s too late to say you can’t do it. Heeheehee.”

The middle-aged woman continued shrieking through his laughter, likely in fear of the gun being pressed against her head.

Dammit!

Ikki clenched his teeth. Ittou Shura was still active, but with the barrel pressed so firmly against her temple, Ikki couldn’t risk an accidental discharge.

“Get your ass over here already!”

“Big Brother…”

“We have no choice. Do as he says and—”

“That won’t be necessary.”

He heard a man’s voice, seeming to speak directly into his mind, followed by the whistle of countless rays of light as they flew past him in a straight, horizontal line. They were magic arrows, reflecting sky blue light.

“Aaargh!”

“Gahhh!”

The magic arrows pierced both Bishou and the “hostage” multiple times, disarming them for good.

“Huh?! What in the world?” Stella was shaken by the sudden occurrence.

That skill… Ikki recognized both the skill and the voice.

“Heheh. Sorry to steal your thunder, but it looked like you really did end up needing some help.”

The air in front of Ikki began to glow, then collapsed as if being peeled away. Amidst that phenomenon appeared a slender boy who looked to be the same age as them. He wielded a Device that took the form of a bow.

“Where did you come from? I didn’t feel your presence until just now.”

Alice had been scanning the area for signs of other Blazers even before the fight with Bishou, but she never sensed so much as a shred of his presence. That was only natural; it was his special ability, after all.

Ikki, however, was already well aware of the boy’s abilities, as he was one of Ikki’s former classmates.

“It’s been a while, Kirihara.”

Shizuya Kirihara was at the top of the class the year prior. He was even one of the representatives at the Seven Stars Battle Festival.

“It certainly has, Ikki Kurogane.” The reunion with his classmate made Kirihara grin, and he tossed Ikki a scornful glance from between his narrowed eyelids. “I thought you’d left Hagun.”

Stella and Shizuku noticed his gaze and looked at him in disgust, but they couldn’t raise their voices at someone who had cleaned up their mess.

“Kirihara! We were sooo scared!”

Seven girls ran out from amongst the hostages, charging past Ikki and toward Kirihara. They were all his girlfriends, who had come with him to hang out at the mall.

“Your worthless underclassmen put you through so much. But don’t worry, you’re all okay now.”

“Yep! We knew you’d save us, Kirihara.”

“Aww, Kirihara~! You’re so cool and collected! Knights like you are just so strong.”

He was surrounded by his adoring girlfriends, who continued to fawn over him.

“I don’t like him,” Stella grumbled.

“This is the first time we’ve ever agreed on something,” Shizuku replied.

After Kirihara cleaned up the situation, Alice contacted the police. Before long, they charged into the food court and began restraining the Rebellion soldiers while escorting the hostages out. Thus, the group’s holiday brawl came to a momentary close.

Ikki Kurogane’s body released all of its tension at once and lurched forward. It was the fatigue from Ittou Shura.

“Big Brother!”

“Ikki! Are you okay?”

“Y-Yeah, I’m fine. Let me rest a bit and I should be able to walk.”

“Let’s all sit down for a while.”

Alice sat Ikki down on a bench in the food court before someone spoke to the group. It was the policeman in charge of the scene.

“Heeey! You must be the student knights who saved everyone, right? I have to write the report for this incident; would you be willing to help out?”

“My, you have bad timing. We’d prefer to let Ikki rest for a bit,” Alice said before turning to Kirihara and his crowd of girlfriends. “You’re the one who cleaned up our mess, so why don’t you deal with all the boring paperwork?”

Kirihara clearly wasn’t interested in doing so. Instead, he rejected the offer outright and started talking with his harem about where they should all go to hang out next.

“Don’t worry about it, Alice. If they let me rest in the police car, that should be good enough.”

“Don’t go pushing yourself, Ikki.”

“I’m fine. Besides, it’s not like I got hurt.” Ikki forced himself to stand despite his obvious fatigue. He turned toward Kirihara and bowed ever so slightly. “Thanks a ton, Kirihara. You really helped us out.”

“I don’t need your thanks. It’s the duty of the strong to protect the weak, after all.”

Stella and Shizuku were livid at his pompous attitude. They decided that letting Ikki rest for a while was more important than snapping at a man like him, however, so Stella just helped Ikki balance on her shoulder and began to walk him to the police car.

“Really though, Kurogane,” Kirihara piped up from behind them, “are you still trying to be a knight with that lame power of yours?”

“Would you just shut up already?!” Stella shouted back, no longer able to ignore the venom in his words.

“It’s okay, Stella.”

“It’s not! How am I supposed to stand here and watch while he says whatever he wants?!” Ignoring Ikki’s attempts to stop her, Stella glared daggers at Kirihara and thrust a finger at him. “You talk a lot of crap, but Ikki is ten times stronger than you’ll ever be! I can attest to his strength myself! Do you really think you can hold a candle to him?!”

At the end of the day, Stella was bluffing. She didn’t know how strong Kirihara really was; she had no idea of the ocean that separated him from Ikki. In Kirihara’s eyes, however, it was the funniest thing he had ever heard.

“Hahah… Ahahaha! Hahahaha!”

“Wh-What’s so funny?!”

“All of this is just hilarious. I don’t know how you expect me not to laugh! You think Worst One here, the Failed Knight, is stronger than me?! Hahahah! Too funny! You’ve really got her head over heels for you, huh, Kurogane? You should be more honest with her. Go on. Tell her about the time you turned tail and ran because you were so afraid of the ass-kicking I was going to give you.”

“Huh?”

Shocked to hear that Ikki had run away from a fight, Stella turned to face him; she couldn’t believe it. Still, Ikki didn’t deny it. He just stood there in silence, staring at Kirihara. She couldn’t tell what he was thinking or feeling, but the idea of him running away from a fight was unthinkable to her.

“You’re lying!” she shouted, glaring at him once more. “Ikki would never do something like that!”

“Heheh. Oh, Vermillion, you really do believe he’s stronger than I am.”

“Of course he is! Ikki is the only one who’s ever beaten me in battle!”

“Then why don’t we have ourselves a little wager?”

“What wager?”

“Are your words truth or lies? Plans to find out are already in motion.” Kirihara shifted his gaze from Stella to Ikki for a moment. “Kurogane, you must have turned off your student handbook. Turn it on.”

Ikki turned on the electronic student handbook as he was told. As soon as it started up, it displayed an email. The sender: the Selection Battle Committee.

“Ikki Kurogane, for your first selection battle, your opponent will be Shizuya Kirihara of class 2-3.”

“Huh?!”

“Yes, your enemy is me. A former representative at the Seven Stars Battle Festival, the Shizuya Kirihara, known to some as ‘The Hunter’. We’ve already been scheduled to do battle, so if I lose, I’ll do as Vermillion suggested and acknowledge your strength. But when I win, she has to become one of my girlfriends.”

“Don’t be stupid, Kirihara!”

Ikki objected to the deal, but Stella had other plans.

“Very well. I accept your wager.”

“Stella?! Cut it out; there’s no point in doing this! I don’t even want him to apologize to me!”

“You might not, but I do. I won’t stand by and watch the knight who beat me be called weak. Do you know how that’ll make me look?!”

Though Ikki tried to stop her, Stella wouldn’t budge. It wasn’t in her nature to budge in such a situation. Thus, the wager was sealed.

“That settles it. Heheh. I expected a boring win out of this, but now I’m feeling a bit competitive. All right, Kurogane, I’ll see you on the day of the big fight. I think you already know this, but if you’re gonna try to fight me with your lame powers, you’d better be ready for what’s coming to you. The selection battles are the real deal, and you’re really gonna die if you aren’t careful out there. Hahaha!”

With an obnoxious laugh that showed assuredness of his victory, Kirihara walked away, taking his harem with him. His haughty attitude certainly didn’t leave a good impression on Stella, Shizuku, or Alice.

“Wow. He has a pretty face, but he’s as ugly as sin on the inside.”

“I don’t like him.”

“Hmph. Ikki can easily beat someone like him. After all, he could beat me. Right, Ikki?”

“I dunno. He’s the worst possible person for me to be matched up against.”

“Ikki?”

Unsurprisingly, the enthusiastic affirmation Stella had hoped for never came. Unlike her, Ikki knew the terror of Kirihara’s Noble Art. He couldn’t make any promises.

The coming battle was going to be difficult; Ikki could be sure of that. It was the beginning of the selection battles for the Seven Stars Battle Festival. Stella’s, Shizuku’s, and Alice’s first battles were all scheduled for Monday—the next day—while Ikki’s battle with Kirihara would be the morning after that. It was to be Ikki’s first official match; unlike all of his previous mock battles, it would be a real battle with real consequences.

His first fight was approaching before his very eyes.