Chapter 2: The Hero Enrolled
Chapter 2:
The Hero Enrolled
It was April. The cherry trees lining each side of the road—fitting for an island with so many capital city evacuees—were in full bloom on the day of the Jogen Maneuver Academy entrance ceremony.
The sole Cavalleria training school on the islands, Jogen Maneuver Academy contained both middle and high schools, and, if you were denied entrance, there was almost no chance of becoming a Maneuver Cavalleria.
The young Cavalleria candidates who made it through the intense selection process—400 applicants to a single successful entrant—could be proud of their accomplishments, and ready to test themselves against their fellow elite.
This year, only one hundred students had been accepted. Ten were Division 4. Eighty-nine were Division 3.
The remaining one wasn’t even Division 2. Naturally, this was Okegawa Kuon, Division 1, now thirteen years old.
After the gift of a lecture from the headmaster (“We don’t need a Hero who stands above us all. We must all be heroes!”), the new students assembled on the third training ground. Jogen Academy had quite a bit of land. Of the nine training grounds, this was the largest. It was so large that calling it a “ground” seemed like an understatement. It was more of a prairie. Here, they held recreational mock battles between classes. The matches were ten one-on-one fights. If you lost all your matches, you were immediately expelled. Acceptance to the school was no guarantee you could ever become a Cavalleria. The pruning had already
begun.
As the new students stood in formation, wearing the Division Maneuvers the school had provided, people began whispering.
“Why is there a talentless Division 1 here?”
“That’s beyond embarrassing. It’s downright dangerous.”
“But he passed the entrance test?”
“I hear he’s a relative of the headmaster. This is nepotism.”
“Ugh, screw that guy then.”
They were, of course, talking about Okegawa Kuon.
He stood out for all the wrong reasons. The frame he wore, Soukyu (Mod), was his personal frame. The Division Maneuvers provided by the school couldn’t be piloted by anyone his class. That alone made him stand out, but the fact that he had an AI Device with him was only making it worse. He already had no magic worth using, so why waste any of it on a Guide? Was he an idiot? Was he outright insane? Should they be worried? Kuon could feel the mood gathering around him. Some people were even talking loud enough for him to hear.
Meanwhile, Kuon himself was totally confident. While the DM was operational, En was out of sight, merged with Kuon’s Device. Only he could hear her whispering in his ear.
“Heheheh, you’re the talk of the school, Kuon-sama.”
She didn’t sound worried at all—more like she was enjoying it.
“Can’t blame them. Long as they don’t start throwing rocks.”
“Plenty came flying your way when you started primary school. They went real quiet after the first DM class, though. Shrapnel on your left, above.”
“Got it. Also, really?”
“You beat up the entire class, remember?”
“Oh, that. Not really fair. I only went through thirty of them. Activate Armament ‘Ichi.’”
“You were so much stronger people called you a coward.”
“Had that in my last life, too. Not fazed by it now. And I can’t lay a finger on Master even when she’s not in a DM, so you can’t call me strong.”
“Again with the modesty. That makes it worse, you know!”
“I mean it. In my last life, I’d already beaten her once by the time I was in junior high, and she was wearing a DM at the time.”
“Well, that’s fair. You don’t have the talent this time, so you’ll need a little more mettle to become a Cavalleria.”
“Seven years till the Queen returns… No time at all. First step is to get myself on a student squad.”
“You can say that again… On your right.”
“I see it.”
He deployed his Ultra Magic Hardened Blade to protect his right knee. A moment later, Kuon blocked his opponent’s Blade with his own.
“D-damn it!” the Division 3 student yelped, surprised.
“Mm, sorry,” Kuon said, and his Blade slipped right in, taking out the DM’s Core—its weak point. His opponent’s frame ceased all movement, and a fourth star appeared before Kuon’s eyes.
They were in the midst of a mock battle. Kuon had just finished his fourth match, easily overpowering opponents with far more raw talent than him. He had chatted with En the entire time.
His fifth opponent was decided swiftly. The next student was a Division 4 in an All-Rounder DM that leaned toward ranged combat.
Kuon moved to the designated block. DM tech had advanced over the last thirteen years; rather than display information on a visor, it was now linked directly to the Cavalleria’s magic and displayed in their actual vision. In his field of view were several large cubes that were invisible to the naked eye. These large boxes were the individual match locations.
Kuon’s frame, Soukyu (Mod), was a low-spec frame used for practice, and he’d fine-tuned it to his needs. It could only fly for a few minutes, and very slowly at that—it may as well not be able to fly at all. At best, it allowed him to hover just above the ground. It had minimal armaments as well; just a single small, low-powered rifle, and two Ultra Magic Hardened Blades. He’d tuned the thing for combat, combined with his Machine Fencing, but the difference was negligible. It was far worse than the Nichirin, the most common frame used by Division 2s. It was ridiculous to even consider comparing it to the Getsuei (8-Phase) that Suzuka Hachishiki had worn.
But Kuon was winning in his frame.
His opponent was waiting for him. Spiky hair, beady eyes; he seemed like a hot-headed boy. Kuon raised a hand by way of greeting.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Okegawa Kuon. Division 1.”
“So, you’re the Division 1 everyone’s talking about. Wait…four in a row? Are you super lucky or…?”
His opponent clearly couldn’t believe the stats they were viewing. “They’re all so rude,” En whispered in Kuon’s ear. He just shook his head.
The Division 4 continued without giving his own name, his tone filled with contempt. “Well, your luck ends here, you talentless boy. You’ve avoided getting expelled today, but you’ll live to regret that. The longer you stay here, the more pathetic you’ll feel. Enjoy it while you—”
“Sure sure, but can we get started before someone gets mad? The headmaster can be real scary.”
In this school, Headmaster Nanahoshi frequently taught classes herself. Even now, she was personally supervising all the matches. Kuon’s intention was simply to warn his opponent about her temper. The spiky-haired boy, however, viewed this as an interruption by an inferior and flew into a rage.
“You’ll pay for that, asshole!”
Typical.
Spiky slammed the Standby button. Kuon also reached to the console displayed in mid-air, putting up the indication. Once both were in Standby, a countdown appeared before their eyes.
“I’ll crush you,” snarled Kuon’s opponent.
“I’m telling the truth. She really is scary when she’s angry,” Kuon said, Blade at the ready.
The count hit zero, and the Division 4’s frame shot upward. He aimed his rifle at Kuon, who remained stuck to the ground.
“Division 1, and you think you can shoot your mouth off like that?”
Very few humans had enough magic to be in Division 4. Spiky had been unstoppable in primary school, his vast pool of magic powering a high-output, high-function DM. Kuon’s frame was entirely incapable of keeping up with his movements.
So Kuon didn’t go after him.
From above, Spiky rained magic bullets down on him. They scattered like shotgun pellets, so each individual bullet wasn’t that strong. But if even one scored a direct hit on Kuon’s Division 1 frame, it would count as him being unable to continue the match, and he would lose instantly. They were, of course, using mock bullets, but it would still hurt quite a bit if he were hit. Kuon took a deep breath.
Shichisei Kenbu: Tensetsu.
Kuon called upon the Machine Fencing that had made him unbeatable in his past life. Seven years of training with his master had been more than enough for Okegawa Kuon to relearn the Shichisei Kenbu arts.
This was the reason he’d won the Junior Tournament, and how he’d scored four victories in a row at a school for geniuses. Now, the fifth star was right before his eyes.
Tensetsu pushed Kuon’s senses through the dimensional barrier. To him, it was as if time had stopped. He found himself in a world where black was white, staring at bullets that didn’t move.
Through the rain of bullets that would instantly “kill” him, he saw every route he could follow to avoid them; and not just that. Twelve years of training in his past life, seven in this life, nineteen years in all—this had been enough to hone the core art of Tensetsu to even further heights. Now he could not only see where the attacks were, he could predict where his opponent would go based on the shots they’d taken.
Strangely enough, lines for attacks unleashed at peak form led directly to a foe’s weaknesses. Kuon narrowed his opponent’s movement down to three options and elected to unleash attacks at all three with his rifle and Blades.
He released Tensetsu. Kuon’s frame spun across the ground like it was dancing through the rain of bullets, emerging completely unharmed. As it did, Kuon fired two bullets himself. Both missed, but his main UMH Blade used the momentum from his evasion to pierce his opponent’s Core.
“Ungh!” Spiky yelped, feeling a sudden pain in his chest. The direct hit had seemingly come out of nowhere. The Blade was stopped by a barrier right above the Core, and he stared at it in disbelief. As the Blade slowly fell away, his eyes followed it. “What did you just do…?”
Kuon had dodged his shots and thrown a Blade at him. As his opponent stared at nothing, Kuon retrieved his Blade and bowed like a samurai.
“Your aim is swift, but your frame was off balance. I’m off to the next match.”
“Huh…?”
By the time Spiky looked up, Kuon was already gone.
Okegawa Kuon was the only person to win nine in a row. At this point, people were beginning to take notice. Two students, waiting for their own matches, were absently gazing at Kuon’s.
“Uh, that Division 1…”
“Okegawa Kuon, was it? He’s something else.”
“What even is that? Fencing…of some kind?”
“I dunno, man. But doesn’t seem like aerial combat works against him.”
“Yeah, like…wow.”
Kuon had just easily one-shot another Division 4.
Both watchers spoke as one.
“He’s good.”
Around them, several other students had their eyes glued to Kuon’s block. Those who noticed Kuon’s unnatural strength fell into one of two categories, with the first type being too proud and certain of their own elite status to admit his ability was real, so they ignored him.
“Sigh… No way those weird tricks would be useful in a real fight. He can’t even do basic aerial combat. Letting a Division 1 who can’t even fly into a place like this is ridiculous. We’re the best the Empire has. Don’t let some talentless kid get in our way.”
“If you don’t have the talent, why bother even trying to fight? All he’s done is ruin someone better’s chances of getting in here. A waste of the school’s resources. What’s the point of letting Division 1s think they can be Cavalleria, too?”
“A fluke like that won’t last long. No point even watching.”
The second type were beginning to admit that, though Kuon may be a Division 1, he was stronger than any of them. They elected to watch him every chance they had.
“He’s insanely good! Is he seriously Division 1? Holy crap!”
“I’ve never seen anyone like him. I thought I knew all the serious Cavalleria candidates, but… Oh, because he’s Division 1.”
“Whatever the Division, if you’re good, you’re good. I wanna know why he’s so strong. I’ll uncover his secret and make it my own!”
“Man, I can’t believe anyone like him existed. Watch and learn. He’s gonna change how combat’s done!”
Watch or don’t watch. Consciously or unconsciously, one-third of the new students chose the first option. Fascinatingly, most of those had won six or more battles—they were the ones skilled enough to dominate the mock combat.
They quietly canceled their matches, gathering around Okegawa Kuon’s block to watch his final match. What they saw was unbelievable.
For Okegawa Kuon’s final match, the student designated as his opponent was the one Cavalleria widely considered the strongest Jogen Maneuver Academy—an elite school with a 0.25 percent acceptance rate—had ever had.
Jogen Maneuver Academy High School Class 3-A, seat number 12, an Attack Gunner in the Lunatic Order Fuji Squad.
Her name: Suzuka Hanabi.
***
Ten minutes prior to her mock battle, Suzuka Hanabi had been in an entirely different training ground from the one the new students were using.
A beautiful girl—or woman—she was built like a model: tall and slim, narrow waist, an athletic build but rather large bust, long black hair tied in a ponytail in the back…
Her looks were perhaps almost too impeccable for her actual age. You could say she was the sort of beauty who looked out of place in a school uniform. If she put on a suit, she’d look more like a teacher than the actual headmaster ever would.
Hanabi was eighteen, famed for being the best Cavalleria in the school’s history. Thanks to her good looks and straightforward personality, she was quite popular. People called her the Bushi Hime—the Warrior Princess.
“Hmm…”
Hanabi was watching the first-year high school students’ mock battles, scouting them. All of them had survived this school for three years now and had clearly acquired skills beyond simply using their magic to overpower opponents.
None of them are bad, she thought. But neither were they what she was looking for. She’d just watched a Division 3 girl run circles around a Division 4 boy, and in the next block over was a boy whose aerial posture and shot accuracy were quite impressive.
But that wasn’t enough. None of them were so good she could invite them to join the Lunatic Order Fuji Squad without reservations.
Suzuka Hanabi was part of the Air Force, officially titled the Imperial Air Force, Lunar Defense Force, First Mobile Unit, Student Echelon, Fuji Squad.
They were called the Lunar Defense Force because they were in charge of defending the Jogen Islands (Jogen meaning “crescent moon”), and “Mobile Unit” was a term for any unit composed of Division Maneuver fighters. On top of that, Cavalleria Cadets, students given odd jobs for the experience and sense of accomplishment, were labeled the Student Echelon, which itself was composed of several teams. Hanabi’s team was run by a third-year student named Fuji Jindo, and the Fuji Squad was named after him.
That was an extremely long title, so the student squads were usually called Lunatic Order ___ Squad for short.
Not just anyone could join the Lunatic Order. Only a select few students were allowed in. The Fuji Squad currently had three members, including Hanabi. One member had already graduated the previous year. Most squads had four members, so they were looking for another. She was scouting candidates for that position, but not finding any.
The student who’d graduated had been a front-line attacker like Hanabi. He’d graduated at the top of his class and right into the main forces, so it was pointless comparing them to him. Even so…they were still lacking.
She was looking for a partner. Someone who could fight by her side. Student Echelons may be given mostly odd jobs, but there were times when they went on patrol with groups from the main army. Most of the time, they provided rear support and never even saw an enemy, but it was still real combat. Thanks to the DM, there were rarely any disasters, but you could never be sure what would happen.
A student she could trust to guard her back and her life… She was never trying to find someone that good. What she wanted was someone who could at least be counted on to save their own lives. A Cavalleria who could protect themselves. Suzuka Hanabi believed that was what the Lunatic Order needed.
Maybe that girl from earlier…no, it’s rude to pick someone if you aren’t sure. But…
As she thought in circles, she received a call on her Device. The sender’s name displayed on the edge of her magic-linked vision: Motegi Rin, a childhood friend, classmate, and fellow Fuji Squad member. Hanabi looked momentarily relieved, then swiped to accept the call.
“This is—” she began, but was cut off.
“Yo, Hanabi! Not finding anyone good?”
Rin’s joyful face filled the window. She wore glasses and looked rather meek, but Hanabi knew better. Rin was much stronger than she looked.
Hanabi glanced around quickly and said, “Why do you think that?”
“Decisive is your middle name! No way you’d take this long otherwise.”
“I dunno about that.”
“Well, why not go take a look at the new students? Word is one of them’s something else.”
“The new… You mean the junior high kid? Don’t be absurd. We can’t recruit a child.”
“I took a look at him, and…I think he might actually be better than you.”
Hanabi felt the hair on her neck rising.
“Kid gives a new definition to the word genius,” Rin added.
“You mean that?”
Hanabi trusted Rin’s eye for talent. She may spend most of her time goofing off, but she could tell someone’s weaknesses at a glance, and almost never offered up praise for anyone. But now she was. And she was saying he was at Hanabi’s level?
“Whoa, whoa, don’t you start getting heated on me. Keep it cool, okay?”
“I’ll try.”
But when she waved her hand to end the call, it was a wild swing. She was sure Rin had winced at her for it.
“Right.”
Keep it cool. Stay frosty. Just take a look. Just a look.
She turned and headed to see the school’s strongest junior high student, walking very quickly. She found it hard to believe. Even with Rin’s word, he was a brand-new junior high school student, just a thirteen-year-old child.
When Hanabi reached the third training ground, she realized her error. She had forgotten to ask his name or even get any sort of description. Even if there was buzz about him, it would be hard locating him among a hundred-odd other students.
She was about to call Rin back when she saw him.
She’d just happened to look right at him. He was dodging a hail of bullets he should have never been able to avoid. Not a single movement was wasted. He then threw a Blade to take out his opponent. He’d taken two shots as well; a feint? The eyes below his short, scruffy hair were beautiful, as sweet as they were gallant. She didn’t know this boy, but she felt absolutely certain.
This was him.
That was the moment Hanabi would think back on again and again.
The moment she saw him, her heart leapt. It was like an upward wave rushing through her so fast it made her mind go blank, as if another version of herself was whispering, “At last we meet.” For a moment, she felt certain she was born to meet this boy, a sensation so sweet it was almost numbing. She wanted to stand and watch forever, but she also wanted to get closer, to talk to him.
I must face him.
Yes. Closer. Touch him. Blades clashing, bullets firing…
She wanted to fight him with all her power, no holding back, a full-on battle. If she did that, maybe she’d understand something about him.
Like a fever taking hold, her body moved on its own. Before she knew it, she’d opened a direct line to the headmaster, asking her to let her be that boy’s final opponent. Never before had she been so joyed over the perks that came with membership in the Lunatic Order. She went straight to the girls’ changing room, stripped off her uniform, and changed into the tight-fitting DM plugsuit, her heart racing the whole time. She needed to face him. She needed to talk to him. She needed to fight him.
Now, he stood across the match block from her. She pored over the limited information displayed about him over and over, like it was a love letter. Her heartbeat refused to slow down. It was all she could do to keep her excitement from showing on her face. She wanted to begin right away, but… Wait, wait just a moment, I have to read this again.
His name was Okegawa Kuon.
A Division 1 Cavalleria Cadet.
***
Kuon’s first thought was, “Good.”
He wasn’t sure why, but when the school’s strongest Cavalleria suddenly appeared in front of Kuon, he felt relieved. Even though they’d never met before, she seemed familiar.
“Kuon-sama?” Kaede said. “Her name is Suzuka, too. Was she a relative in your former life?”
He frowned. “Could be… I don’t know her, though. Suzuka’s parents died and he was shipped off to the orphanage, so he never had much contact with his family.”
“I see… Then what’s with the way she looks at you?”
“Good question.”
Headmaster Nanahoshi had given him a brief explanation. Suzuka Hanabi had asked to be his final opponent, Kaede allowed it, and he should go all out, which he was planning on doing anyway.
She was a Division 5.
“Nice to meet you, Okegawa Kuon-kun. My name is Suzuka Hanabi. I’m sorry to spring this on you out of the blue, but let’s make it a good fight.”
With an oddly happy smile, she activated her Device.
“Reimei, activate.”
A brilliant light shot out of her Device, and rice-kernel-sized cubes swirled all around Hanabi’s body. Each of them rolled over and, in the blink of an eye, took shape.
There was a reason people “wore” and didn’t “ride” Division Maneuvers. Mechanical armor-like coatings covered Hanabi’s limbs and body. Within 0.00078 seconds of activation, a barrier was deployed, and her body began floating. Armor covered her back as well, and a backpack covered in thruster nozzles like a fighter plane appeared via unseen connectors.
This was the Division Maneuver—an armored magical weapon that covered the body like armor and tapped into the magic within to allow humans to fly. Their invention had immediately rendered all previous weaponry obsolete.
Suzuka Hanabi’s DM had a bright red frame. The backpack was unusually large, and wings extended from the sides of her back, about as wide as she was tall. The gigantic rifle in her right hand was even larger than the one Suzuka Hachishiki had used previously.
Her info appeared on Kuon’s vision. En began reading it aloud.
“Frame name: Reimei (Type-3 Artillery). Division 5 All-rounder, leans ranged. Top spec in mobility, defense, and output. Type-3 Artillery refers to the experimental simultaneous deployment of a high-output rifle and Servants, only made possible by Division 5 magic. Definitely the big shot you’ve been looking for.”
Kuon nodded. This was the fastest route to becoming a Cavalleria. Get picked to be in the Lunatic Order, rack up the accomplishments while at this school, graduate, join the Air Force, and team up with everyone else his master had trained to kill the Jave Queen. This was the first hurdle he had to overcome to get there.
He had to beat this Division 5 as a Division 1. He had to be a giant-killer.
He definitely hadn’t expected to be facing the school’s best already.
“Looking forward to it, Suzuka Hanabi-senpai.”
He pressed Standby and drew his Blade.
“My heart is dancing, Okegawa Kuon-kun,” Hanabi-senpai said with, for some reason, an incredibly joyous smile.
As he listened to the countdown, Kuon finally realized just how beautiful she was.
***
The crowd of new students set up a straw poll.
Suzuka Hanabi: 37 votes.
Okegawa Kuon: 2 votes.
The two voting for Kuon had each lost to him. The spiky-haired kid was one of them, throwing him a vote on a “you beat me, you’d better not lose here” basis, but pretending he wasn’t. The other was a Division 4 who would likely have been the strongest new student, had he not fallen hard to Kuon’s Fencing.
The thirty-seven backing Hanabi were jealous of the fact that a Division 1 had won nine times running; angry at him for being so good despite his Division; panicking (and feeling left behind) because someone their age had been challenged by the school’s best; and realistically assuming he didn’t have a chance against her. All of them were at least partially motivated by a desire to see him lose.
Would the weakest magic win?
Would the school’s best win?
As the crowd waited with breathless silence, one more vote was cast.
Who else would easily hack into an unofficial group chat the new student group had set up, just to cast a vote herself? Their own headmaster, Nanahoshi Kaede. Not just the school’s, but humanity’s best Maneuver Cavalleria had cast her vote…
***
Until the count hit zero, Kuon was pondering his opening gambit.
My frame can’t possibly keep up with a Division 5’s aerial mobility. She’ll probably go for a ranged attack like Spiky did, so if I use that art to get in closer…
The “1” count vanished. As it did, a beautiful face appeared in front of him, smiling.
Huh?
Two Blades swung toward him, one on each side. He only managed to block them out of pure unconscious reflex. The force of them was like being caught in a giant pair of scissors. Her DM’s power was overwhelming. Soukyu’s arms let out a horrible grinding noise.
Hanabi had gone for a close-up fight.
This, with her giant rifle and range-focused wings?!
Kuon’s mind was screaming. Hanabi was so close he could almost feel her breath on him.
“Nicely done, Okegawa Kuon-kun!” she yelled, grinning. “But what’s next? I’m clearly overpowering you. You’d better do something before I cut you in half!”
I know!
Kuon momentarily pushed back, then went limp. A moment later Hanabi’s Blades slammed into the ground, tangled up in Kuon’s. Hanabi’s Core was exposed, so he threw a right roundhouse kick at it, but Hanabi recovered her balance instantly and jumped back, out of range.
With their swords locked, Hanabi noticed Kuon putting his strength into it and increased her own to match. When he pulled back a moment later, she hadn’t reacted in time.
The first three years after he’d resumed his Shichisei Kenbu training had seen Kuon sans DM, entirely focused on learning sword skills from his master. No longer reliant on overpowering his opponent, between his resolve to do better this time around and the ease with which a child’s brain learns, Kuon was now much better at Fencing—and only Fencing—than the Hero Suzuka Hachishiki had ever been.
“Sometimes it’s better to yield, huh? Is that the secret to your strength?!”
Even as she dodged backward, Hanabi was smiling. Kuon followed, not about to let her get away so easily.
But…wait, wasn’t this too easy?
Shichisei Kenbu: Tensetsu.
The world paused, all colors reversing. Kuon squinted, trying to read his opponent’s attack—and right where he would be a second later, he saw a web of enemy attack lines. He didn’t have time to wonder what that meant. He could extend his perception of time, but not indefinitely. Just as Tensetsu’s effect wore off, his reeling mind finally found the answer…and time moved again.
“Unhhh!”
He hit the brakes, hard. He barely stopped in time. Several thin magical beams appeared, burning the air in front of him, just as he’d foreseen.
“Nicely dodged!”
Hanabi was full of praise. Was this a sign of her confidence? Was she just battle crazy? More importantly, this attack was from a weapon that could fire in all directions from his blind spot, not a weapon a brawler like Hachishiki had ever learned to use.
The wing-like backpack on the rear of the Reimei (Type-3 Artillery) frame split apart. Each piece of the wings launched themselves away, moving independently through the air like birds.
Servants!
Of course she was using Servants. This was a Division 5 frame with an edge to ranged attacks. The ability to fly miniature mobile drones around like missiles, using her magic link to make ranged attacks from any distance or angle—why would she not take advantage of that?
Or maybe by stopping her first attack, he’d forced her to use them. If he didn’t make her go all out, there’d be no meaning in victory.
But the exulted confidence rising inside Kuon was quickly dashed.
“You don’t think that’s all I’ve got, do you?”
Barely out of his emergency brake, Kuon’s frame was assaulted by the swarm of Servants. He hastily turned and began zig-zagging, moving at random as fast as he could. He couldn’t see where the attacks were coming from, and with no way to tell where they were aiming, all he could do was rely on hunches and instinct.
Then…
“Dodge this,” she said.
He turned, activating Tensetsu. Hanabi had her giant Scout Nova Rifle at the ready.
The Type-3 Artillery system, an experimental combination of a high-power rifle and the miniature drones. The Servants would pin an opponent down, allowing the rifle to finish them off—an ideal form for a ranged frame.
He felt his right side grow tense, but…
Shichisei Kenbu: Chijin.
As Tensetsu ended, Kuon’s frame vanished. Hanabi’s trigger finger stopped just shy of firing, and she found Kuon in her blind spot to her right.
“Shukuchi,” Kuon heard Hanabi whisper. Exactly, he thought, swinging his Blade at the perfect angle. Just like teleportation.
There was no clash of metal. As he struck her, Hanabi twisted her body, sacrificing half her mobility to avoid a loss. As this was a mock battle, the system “detected” that the Blade had sliced Reimei’s backpack. Kuon didn’t give her a chance to recover. He swung the Blade back the other way, but Hanabi caught that one.
Their Blades locked again, but, where Fencing was concerned, Kuon had already surpassed the Hero.
Their weapons bounced off each other.
“Hahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”
With a yell, Kuon sent his Blades after the school’s best. Hanabi’s reflexes were good enough that she barely managed to deflect his first attack, but to dodge a slice from any well-trained swordfighter was fundamentally impossible. No such miracle would occur again.
All Hanabi had now was her natural talent.
“If you can get in close, you need not fear attacks from around you” was common sense in DM combat, to the point that it was even written in textbooks. But Suzuka Hanabi’s genius defied common sense.
A beam of light shot out from Kuon’s blind spot, blocking his supposedly unblockable second attack.
Wha…?!
Kuon couldn’t believe his eyes.
It was a sword of light.
The Servants had bound several microfilament magical beams together, forming six different swords that danced around Hanabi. Kuon froze. That’s not possible! he thought. Servant control should be no more precise than rolling a ball bearing around a carpet, but this young Cavalleria Cadet was moving them like they were part of her own body. Kuon may have been called a Hero in his past life, but, for the first time, he felt fear. When he froze up, seven swords came hurtling toward him.
Shichisei Kenbu: Ryusui!
Ryusui was a combo art, adding a sword draw to Chijin. Kuon moved so quickly it seemed like he’d teleported again and slashed at his opponent as he passed her. Kuon’s art sent Hanabi’s swords flying and cut off her DM’s left arm.
“Ungh!”
But it was Kuon who grunted in pain. He hadn’t come out unscathed. That last exchange had left him without a right arm; the suit had detected the hit and rendered it unusable. Once that happened, it wouldn’t let him move it at all.
I’ve used Tensetsu and Chijin too many times. I don’t have the concentration left!
The longer this went on, the worse it was for him. She must have known that, too. Before she moved away into ranged combat, he had to get in close again.
Feeling the heat, Kuon turned…and found Hanabi facing him, grinning happily, with new wings deploying Servant Blades. She lunged toward him.
She was still confident enough to fight him up close. That was the only explanation he could think of as it didn’t make any sense to him otherwise. But despite what Kuon thought, and in line with what he’d wanted, the match turned into a Blade-centric slugfest.
***
“Who is that?”
The only one who noticed anything wrong with Hanabi was her friend, Motegi Rin, who’d come to watch in secret. Hanabi had always been a bit of a berserker and was infamously prone to challenging anyone strong to a match. She frequently wound up disappointed, since her magic was so much stronger than almost everyone else’s that she never got to show what she could really do.
But this was different.
“Stay calm and fight.” Rin had been telling Hanabi that ever since they’d joined the Lunatic Order together three years ago. It had worked, and lately Hanabi had kept her cool through every match. She measured her own ability against her opponents’: strengths, weaknesses, skills, flaws, even their preferences, as she fought. For someone who’d once always won by using the power of a Division 5 to overwhelm them, she now used her brain—and the result was that she’d become the best student the school had ever had.
So what was going on now? Who was this?
Who was this girl so excited her face had turned beet red?
Who was this girl grinning through the fight like she was just happy to be there?
Who was this girl doing only close quarters combat in a suit tweaked for ranged combat, just so she could look this boy closely in the face then look embarrassed about it?
“My adorable little Hanabi…” Rin sighed. “You’re making me jealous.”
But Rin looked awfully happy about it, too.
***
Their match was advancing to the next level.
Kuon had known from the start that the difference in their magic put him at a disadvantage in a long fight, so he kicked things up a notch. He used Tensetsu each time their blades clashed, trying to make each slash a match finisher.
Hanabi sent three Servant Blades at Kuon. He stopped time with Tensetsu, found the lines those swords would follow, and read the trajectories from the other Servant Blades. He found an angle which left her open, predicted how she would dodge, and decided the path of his own Blade and movement.
Time Freeze plus Predicted Future.
An incredible amount of hard work had raised Tensetsu to this level, but, even so, Kuon’s Blade couldn’t quite reach her.
Time moved again. Kuon dodged all of Hanabi’s Blades and swung his sword at her, certain it was too late for her to do anything about it. But her reaction was slightly faster than he expected, and as her Blade blocked the strike, her Servant Blades wheeled around for a counterattack. Kuon immediately used Tensetsu again, plotting a new evasion route and a new attack. This repeated ad infinitum.
Both of them were tiring out. Kuon’s Time Freezes grew shorter and shorter. When the match had started he could stop time for ten full seconds; but now, it barely lasted three. Since only his consciousness could move, he didn’t get a chance to catch his breath. All he could do was move his eyes and his mind, looking for a way to keep himself alive and hopefully deal a fatal blow to his opponent.
Meanwhile, Hanabi was no longer confident.
Using her six Servant Blades with this degree of precision was like threading a needle. It required careful attention and steady nerves. At the same time, she was using everything her physical training could put out to stave off Kuon’s intimidating onslaught, and “stave off” was all she could do. She knew for a fact she was attacking from angles he couldn’t see, yet none of her attacks hit him. He wove through her four defensive Blades, always attacking from the single angle that was hardest to defend against.
Slice, thrust, cut, swing forward, backslash, strong hit, parry and strike, trip, quick draw, stab, side strike, rain slash, right, left, overhead blow, reverse…
Each blow was precise, every cut good enough to end this. If her responses were even a fraction too slow, she was done for. But Kuon never once even looked like he was dodging Hanabi’s attacks. They just never hit him.
As efficient as Kuon’s attacks were, he always appeared to just be going from one to the next. It felt like Hanabi’s Blades were missing all on their own.
To Hanabi, it was as if Kuon could see the future, and she was half-right about that.
It was like they were dancing. Almost as if they’d taken each other’s hands, their steps in sync, supporting one another, swinging each other around, spinning round and round, their swordplay alternately furious and elegant. Each were considering their opponent, guessing how the other would think, act, and react.
In that polished sword dance, their minds began resonating.
This sort of thing often happened during combat between two rival powers—not only in combat, perhaps, but any form of competition. Putting everything they had into it, seeing everything their opponent had to offer, each drawn to the other…
She’s enjoying this, Kuon realized. She’s having such a good time she doesn’t want to stop.
He can read my movements, Hanabi thought at the same time. He’s seeing everything I have to offer. Okegawa Kuon… I can’t believe he’s only thirteen. He seems way older than me.
She’s so beautiful. What a lovely, lonely girl.
How can he be so strong? What could have happened to him to motivate him to this level of strength?
They were speaking with their swords. An old cliché, but it described exactly what was happening.
Senpai, I…
Kuon-kun, I…
Have never enjoyed fighting anyone so much, they finished in unison.
***
Eventually, the balance tipped in Kuon’s favor.
He wasn’t sure when he noticed. Their fight was too fast and furious to be certain. Kuon never utilized his winning move because Hanabi had chosen to fight close, despite it putting her at a disadvantage. He could also sense her emotions—he couldn’t ignore her desire to keep fighting him like this.
But upsetting the balance was an option.
When his magic had nearly run dry, and Kuon was certain the match couldn’t continue a moment longer either way, he finally seized the opportunity.
Here I go, senpai.
The color of his aura shifted. When Hanabi sensed it, a flicker of hesitation crossed her face, but she accepted it. She smiled. Okay. Come at me. Thank you for keeping me company.
One of Hanabi’s Servant Blades flew toward Kuon. He made no attempt to avoid it.
Clang!
He simply cut it down. The answer he’d found was to destroy her weapons.
Hanabi had staved off Kuon’s attacks because she had seven Blades. If even one of them was lost, the balance between them would easily crumble.
Kuon’s Blade raced toward Hanabi. Hanabi turned all her Blades into attacking Kuon, as if defending any more was pointless. She was ready for defeat, hoping to take him out in the process, and was satisfied with that outcome.
Then she felt like Kuon had stopped time for a moment. In a soundless world colored like a negative image, Kuon stared back at her. His eyes spoke to her with terrifying intent. I’m going to win this, they said.
A chill ran down her spine.
Kuon stopped attacking her. Instead, he swept all six of Hanabi’s Blades away at once. By the time she registered the loss of her Servants, his roundhouse kick had hit home and sent her flying.
Why, Hanabi wondered. Why break my Blades? Why kick me away? Why put me where I could shift this to a ranged battle, where I’d have the…
Oh. Was that why?
“You shouldn’t have,” she said.
Reimei (Type-3 Artillery) recovered its balance and she reached her right arm behind her, pulling her Scout Nova Rifle to the fore. She aimed as she raised it, Kuon square in her sights.
A Scout Nova Rifle was a weapon that was more powerful the stronger the wielder’s magic was. The “Nova” it fired was magic transformed into an ultra-heated beam of light which traveled at light speed. It vaporized anything it touched.
Returning the favor, since I kept coming in close? You’re going to let me shoot all I want here at the end then win anyway?
They were the same, she thought, smiling through the scope.
She was done for, Hanabi realized. Doomed. She’d worked it out; she knew what these feelings were.
He came right at me. He showed me everything. And I…
The magic in Hanabi’s rifle’s energy pack grew. Kuon stood perfectly still in its sights. Hanabi squeezed every last drop of magic she had left into it. This boy had shown her the essence of his Fencing, so she would show him all she was capable of. This was a shot the headmaster had called the Moonbuster and had forbidden her from using—an unparalleled blast from an unparalleled genius.
“Defend yourself!”
It was a full-power attack from a Division 5.
Hanabi’s right arm was dead.
Kuon held the Blade in his left hand, standing with one foot forward in a form known as Shitotsu. She was a dozen meters away from him, and his thrust would never reach her. It was even too far for a throw.
His visor sounded an alarm. The enemy had locked onto him with a rifle charged with so much magic En said it could probably blow up the moon. She was a genius in a very different way from his former self that was Suzuka Hachishiki, and she was putting everything she had into this one attack against his current less-than-genius self, Okegawa Kuon.
This was overkill, too much for him. He was delighted by that. He would respond in kind.
Even at this distance, he was sure he could see her smiling.
The light hit.
He saw her line, leading toward her weakness.
Shichisei Kenbu: Shimetsu.
The thrust Kuon unleashed struck Hanabi’s magic light bullet.
Something common to all weapons—not just Division Maneuver ones—using magic in place of bullets was the mechanism which reduced human magic to particles. This mechanism wrapped the magic in a force field and converted it to heat energy. This allowed magic—more or less an invisible life force—to be used as a powerful, superheated light beam.
The purpose of Shichisei Kenbu was to allow the ungifted to compensate for the difference in magic levels. Its ultimate arts were all about making magic attacks ineffective.
Shimetsu was an art which used Tensetsu to perceive the core of the light beam’s force field. Once perceived, it allowed the user to shatter and scatter the beam, converting it back into its original magic.
Put simply, Shimetsu negated magic bullets.
The light shattered.
Before the remnants could coalesce, Kuon had already poured the last of his magic into a Chijin. He covered a few dozen meters in an instant, ignoring the dizziness, nausea, headache, and circulation backflow caused by the violent loss of magic, and unleashed his final attack.
Hanabi was right in front of him. She clearly had no idea what had happened. She’d never had her rifle shot negated before. Even then, she was responding, her right hand about to move. Kuon saw this and respected it even as he put the full momentum of his lunge into the swing of his Blade. An instant later, Hanabi’s DM, Reimei, exploded. The match was done.
Or, Kuon thought it was, at least.
He couldn’t even use Tensetsu. He just watched as Hanabi’s DM split and moved away as if in slow motion, and, in minimal gear with her body freed, Hanabi used what she’d learned from all of Kuon’s attacks to counter them.
Division Purge.
He never imagined she had something like that up her sleeve.
Kuon’s respect was elevated to sheer admiration. Hanabi’s hand held a small knife hidden in the grip of her rifle, the trajectory of it matching the sideways slash of Kuon’s Blade perfectly. This was one of the moves Kuon himself had used earlier.
Parry and strike!
Showing off his repertoire, even in this short match, had come back to haunt him. Pulling off something like this after seeing it once was what made fighting a genius so dangerous. He couldn’t dodge it now. He couldn’t even kill the momentum of his own strike.
Kuon had meant to rocket past her, but Hanabi’s body blocked his route, and there was nothing he could do to stop her knife from hitting home.
Kuon’s Blade pierced Hanabi’s heart.
Hanabi’s knife pierced Kuon’s.
The system detected both strikes and displayed a result across their vision, but the impact of their clash sent both Cavalleria into a tailspin and neither of them were able to read it.
***
Okegawa Kuon told nobody he’d been Suzuka Hachishiki in a previous life. When he was five, his master told him to keep that to himself.
“Huh? Nobody’s gonna believe that, nitwit. They’ll think you’re a weirdo or straight-up delusional.”
A devastating blow.
“And imagine if the Hero did show up again. The idiots in the army would just train him again, send him off to fight alone, and he’d die for nothing, again.”
The finisher:
“And the way you are, you won’t get his results. You’re Division 1. You come forward like that, you’ll just raise expectations you can’t ever hope to meet. You’ll be nothing but a big fat liar.”
For all these reasons, Nanahoshi Kaede had forbidden Okegawa Kuon from telling anyone he was Suzuka Hachishiki reborn. If he ever did, not only would she never teach him Shichisei Kenbu again, she’d use every power she had as headmaster to ensure Kuon never became a Cavalleria.
“Indulge that vanity, if you like. Throw your whole second life away. See if I care.”
She clearly meant it. From that point on, Kuon didn’t even tell his parents he’d been the Hero in his previous life. It was for the best. Like his master said, he no longer had Hachishiki’s talent. His experience in his past life had given him some strength, but he couldn’t fight like the Hero did. He had to change. Okegawa Kuon had to become strong despite his weakness.
En had also told Kuon something about Kaede in confidence and was severely punished for it later.
“She was absolutely furious with the world and the army for putting everything on the Hero’s shoulders and driving him to his death,” she’d said, “and with Hachishiki-sama for failing to value his own life. But what she finds hardest to forgive was her own inability to prevent it.”
***
Nanahoshi Kaede had put in the sole vote for “tie” and walked off with the betting pool.
Kuon found himself lying on his back on the ground wearing just his plugsuit, his frame gone. He couldn’t move. Before he could even wonder why he couldn’t move, he took a handful of the strangely soft, warm, nice-smelling marshmallow-like thing pressed against his face, and squeezed.
“Eeep!” The marshmallows squealed.
Wait, were these…?
“Are boobs still new to you…?”
Oh, right.
Hanabi was laying on top of him, clad only in her plugsuit, just as he was.
The watermelon-like marshmallows pulled away from Kuon’s face. He wasn’t sure whether watermelons or marshmallows were a more apt description. His head was spinning. Maybe neither made sense, but the softness had been pleasant. He wanted to savor it a little more…
“Not enough for you?”
“No!” he blurted out before his brain could stop him. Hanabi giggled, still astride him. He had to do something about this reflexive honesty.
“Well done, honest Okegawa Kuon-kun,” Hanabi said, her voice wafting down like a gentle feather. Her plugsuit certainly left nothing to the imagination. Her breasts were insanely huge, her waist impossibly thin, yet her backside more than ample. Having a body like that on display was enough to bewitch anyone.
“Same to you, senpai… Um, sorry I let that slip.”
“I don’t mind. There’s no one else here. Nobody else heard you.”
“Er… Wh-where are we…?” He looked around. Definitely no one else there.
“The edge of the training ground. We got thrown pretty far. Does it hurt anywhere?”
“No. I used up all my magic and won’t be moving anytime soon, but the DM kept me uninjured. So, um, senpai, if you could get…”
He wasn’t able to finish that sentence.
Hanabi’s face was suddenly inches from him. She stared into his eyes, so close he could feel her breath on his face. Those bountiful breasts rested on top of him, their shape yielding to his chest. Hooray for plugsuits.
“Uhhhhhh, y—”
“You’re fascinating.”
“Eeep?!”
Kuon’s reactions were very suspect.
Unfortunately, at no point in the thirty years he’d lived across two lives had he had any experience with love. His entire life had been spent killing Jave. His soul was currently completely under her spell.
“F-fascinating? I-I don’t know how to…heh heh…”
“Where did you learn to use a sword like that? No, I know. That’s Machine Fencing. You learned from the headmaster?”
“W-well, I spent some time learning that, I guess…”
“Don’t be modest. You must have worked quite hard. You’re terrifyingly good. Your skill commands respect.”
“M-man, you sure know how to make a guy blush… I don’t know if we’re talking about the same thing here, though,” Kuon said, even though he knew she was only interested in the Shichisei Kenbu. “You’re right,” he admitted. “My master is Nanahoshi Kaede.”
“I knew it! I’ve been begging her to teach me, but she never would!”
“Really?”
“She said those arts weren’t for outsiders!”
“Umm…she takes students all the time.”
“She does?! Argh… Why?! When?!
“I mean, they all quit in the first couple of months,” Kuon said.
“Oh? Why is that?” Hanabi tilted her head, baffled. It was super cute.
“Master always starts with swinging wooden swords and endurance running. She won’t let you touch a DM. That’s not what those students are looking for, so they all give up.”
“I see!” Hanabi nodded. “So your moves are all extensions of normal Machine Fencing.” She sat up. She was still on top of Kuon, and her backside was pressing into his belly. Naturally, nobody wore underwear under a plugsuit, so Kuon’s abs were getting a very detailed feel of Hanabi’s butt. She definitely had childbearing hips.
“Senpai, um!”
“But why? Why won’t she teach me? Does she not like me?”
She suddenly looked depressed, so Kuon hastily reassured her. “N-no! I think it’s just because you’re already strong. You’re Division 5!”
“Hm? What’s that got to do with it?” Hanabi tilted her head, baffled again. It was even cuter the second time.
“Um…the Hero was one of Master’s pupils, but the way he ended up… She feels responsible, apparently. Shichisei Kenbu was originally designed for people who weren’t gifted, so she thinks teaching it to a Division 5 led to him getting reckless.”
“Reckless…”
“The Hero was kicked out before he learned the ultimate art. But that was because he was always the type to charge in without—”
“Oh, I see. But Kuon-kun, don’t forget,” Hanabi interrupted, slamming her hands to the ground on both sides of his head. There was a burning rage in her eyes. “We’re only alive today because of him. We survive to fight because of the Hero.”
“Um…yes…sorry…” He had no idea what Hanabi was mad about, so he just apologized.
“And you’re learning this Shichisei Kenbu from the headmaster?” Hanabi asked, her anger gone. She sat up again, still on Kuon’s stomach. Quite the posture. When he looked up at her, half his field of vision was filled with jiggling boobs. Mind elsewhere!
“Uh, yes…”
“So, you can teach me?”
“Uh…no, I don’t… She might get mad…”
“Please, Kuon-kun! Shichisei Kenbu! The Hero learned it! His strength! Teach it to me! I’ll do anything!”
She slapped her hands on the ground again. This… This is a full-screen super beauty plea attack! he thought wildly. Think of something else! Anything! Begging any healthy thirteen-year-old boy like that would make all sorts of images float into his—
“What are you looking at?” Hanabi demanded.
“Your boobs,” Kuon answered automatically, unable to lie in the spur of the moment. Hanabi turned bright red and covered her chest with her hands.
“Y-y-you really are! Not once but twice…?”
“Augh, no, no, I wasn’t looking, I wasn’t! I’m sorry!”
Hanabi turned her head, sulking. Her hands stayed where they were. So cute. “Um, so why aren’t you getting off…?”
“Honestly? Thanks to our mock battle, I don’t have the strength to stand,” she said.
“Huh?! Why didn’t you say so?”
“Eeep! No, Kuon-kun, don’t move! My legs are quivering! Augh!”
“No, wait, whaaat?”
“What the hell are you two doing?”
Kuon froze instantly. His master was staring down at him. Apparently she’d come looking for them after they’d been blown away and failed to respond or return.
“Oh my, Headmaster! I do apologize. We’re both out of magic and couldn’t get in touch.”
Hanabi sure recovered quickly.
I wish I could do that…
Kuon was sure it would just get him a lecture later. His gaze shifted past Hanabi to the blue skies above.
“Oh, I forgot to mention, Kuon-kun.”
Kuon and Hanabi’s magic had recovered enough for them to activate their DMs and return to the training ground entrance. A pack of new students surrounded them, desperate to hear about the draw between the school’s best Cavalleria and Kuon (though they all assumed she’d gone easy on him). They spent a few minutes answering questions before Hanabi spoke to Kuon again.
“I’d like to scout you to my squad—the Lunatic Order Fuji Squad.”
…
“Whaaaaaaaaat?!” the crowd erupted.
As the students around them shrieked and yelped, En appeared, looking happy. “Nicely done, Kuon-sama,” she said.
And that was how Okegawa Kuon’s school life had begun.
***
Intermission:
Hanabi’s Diary 2
Imperial Era 356. April 8th. Suzuka Hanabi.
I scouted a promising boy during the new student mock battles. He’s a first year in junior high. Fuji-kun will probably be against it, but I’m sure he’ll come around once he sees what the boy can do.
I’m really looking forward to it. Just thinking about how I can talk to him every day is making my heart race.
Not like that, though!
***
Unofficial Records
Imperial Air Force: Assault Reconnaissance Unit. Today’s MIA Count: 9.