CHAPTER 4

After having our fill of Vesterian delicacies, we checked out a bunch of spots around town, including an aquarium, a candy shop, a general store, and a boutique. Lia and Rose were both as enthusiastic as you would expect for girls their age. It was very cute.

We were currently in the most famous jewelry store in all of Aurest.

“Wow, that’s so pretty! Look at this, Allen!” Lia gawked, showing me a diamond ring on her hand.

“U-uh, yeah… It looks good on you…,” I responded with an awkward smile.

“Allen, how do I look?” Rose asked, wearing a platinum necklace while balancing a pendant in both hands.

“U-uh, those are pretty! They look great on you, but make sure not to drop them, okay?!” I answered in a panic.

These items were all for sale, and a store employee was enthusiastically encouraging the girls to try them on.

I would have bet that the employees knew Lia was a princess of a neighboring country and that Rose was the famed Bounty Hunter. It was obvious from how fervently they were pushing the two to make a purchase.

I slowly followed behind the two girls, being very mindful of the products on display around us.

Lia and Rose aren’t fazed at all by this place, considering how rich they are…

If I happened to break one of the items in here, that would be the end for me. I would be burdened with debt so massive, there was a chance I would have to withdraw from the academy and probably also have to look for a job immediately.

There’s no way I’d let that happen. I wouldn’t be able to look Mom and Ms. Paula in the face…

Feeling as anxious as I’d been in my entire life, I weaved through the store one step at a time.

What terrified me more than anything was the total lack of price tags on any of the products.

They’re probably expensive enough to make me faint on the spot…

A little while later, I sat down on a bench at the end of the store, overcome by massive mental fatigue.

“Sorry, I’m gonna take a break. I’m a little tired,” I called out to Lia and Rose from a bit of a distance.

“Are you okay?!”

“I had no idea you were getting tired… Are you ill?!”

Still clad in very pricey jewelry, they both rushed over to me.

“I-I’m okay! I just got a little dizzy, I swear! You two just relax and have fun… And please be careful not to break any of those things!” I yelled, putting up both hands to stop them from running.

“Y-you’re really okay?”

“There’s no need to act tough for us.”

“Don’t worry about me, please! I’ll be fine after a little rest!”

It seemed that I finally convinced them.

“If you say so…”

“Tell us right away if you’re feeling sick, okay?”

They turned around and resumed making friendly conversation.

“Hey, Rose, how many months’ salary do you want him to spend? The standard three?”

“Three is ideal, but the thought is most important. I honestly wouldn’t mind if he didn’t give me one, worst-case scenario.”

“Wow…you’d be a surprisingly devoted partner.”

“You think so?”

I had no idea what they were talking about, but it looked like they were having a lot of fun.

I didn’t realize until today what great shape they’re both in…

We’d been standing and walking for hours at this point, but Lia and Rose still had plenty of energy. To be fair to myself, I had just been subjected to a significant mental burden, but I wouldn’t have thought I’d be the first to go down.

I wonder if it’s because I’m not used to shopping.

As I was watching them absentmindedly, the store’s windows suddenly shattered, and a piercing siren began to blare.

“Wh-what the heck?!”

Quickly turning toward the windows, I saw ten sword-wielding men with black masks step into the store.

“Don’t move! Everyone, shut up and put your hands in the air!”

They were obviously burglars.

Did this have to happen now? I have such bad luck…

I decided to comply with their orders for the time being. There were many unarmed civilians here among the customers and employees. Making the wrong move and provoking the crooks could lead to disaster.

After gaining control of the store, the robbers handed a leather bag to a female employee and put a sword to her throat.

“Fill this with all the jewelry you have, woman!”

“P-please don’t kill me…”

She shook her head weakly, unable to stand due to fear.

“…Tch, useless bitch!”

“AAH!”

One of the burglars sliced the woman in the back with his sword.

I shot up immediately.

I was going to overlook the robbery to prioritize the safety of everyone here, but…

If they were going to hurt people, I needed to act.

Rose and I drew our swords at the same time, and Lia produced her Soul Attire.

“Conquer—Dragon King Fafnir!” Lia shouted. She produced a beautiful crimson sword, and black and white flames danced all around her.

“Wh-who the hell are you all?!”

The burglars turned their attention to us.

“Eighth Style—Eight-Span Crow!”

“Cherry Blossom Blade Style—Sakura Flash!”

“Hegemonic Style—Hard Strike!”

We all leaped into action simultaneously and overpowered our foes with a wave of strong attacks.

“Gah…”

“What the…hell…?”

“M-monsters…”

We took out nine people with our first move. That left just one.

“Wh-who are these little…? Dammit!”

The last burglar grabbed a jewel on display and took off as fast as he could.

“St-stop!”

“You’re not getting away!”

Lia and Rose began to take off after him.

“U-urgh…”

However, they came to a halt when the injured female employee groaned.

“Sh-she’s the first priority…”

“…We have to let him go.”

As they both sheathed their swords in regret, I raised mine overhead.

“Don’t worry. He’s still in my range,” I reassured.

There was no way I could let him get away with this.

“First Style—Flying Shadow!”

I sent a slash rippling through the air in a straight line.

“Gah, hah!”

It struck the burglar directly in the back of the head, instantly knocking him unconscious.

It was the next day. An article was printed in the newspaper with the headline Thousand Blade Academy Students Stop Jewelry-Store Burglary! I had no idea when the clear picture that accompanied the article was taken. It was a magnificent shot of Lia and Rose bravely wielding their swords. The image of two girls with unrivaled beauty springing to action in the face of danger was stirring. As for me, though…

“I-I’m so small…”

…I was only visible as a tiny speck behind Lia and Rose. The article neglected to even mention me, saying that “two” Thousand Blade Academy students had saved the day.

I guess it doesn’t matter…

To my relief, the end of the story explained that the injured employee only suffered light wounds and would be released from the hospital the next day.

A few days later, the Elite Five Holy Festival was fast approaching. Lia, Rose, and I had been summoned abruptly to the chairwoman’s office, and we were talking on the way.

“I can’t believe this… She interrupted our lunch!” pouted Lia.

Just as she’d complained, the three of us had been enjoying a meal together when we were suddenly called over the academy’s intercom.

“Hey, calm down. You know anger clouds judgment…and Chairwoman Reia is a busy person,” I chided.

The chairwoman was certainly…unique, but she was one of the most powerful people in the country. On top of being the head of one of the Elite Five Academies, she was inexplicably serving as the homeroom teacher for Class 1-A. Busy probably didn’t begin to describe her schedule.

“I-I’m sure she is, but she didn’t have to call us during our break…,” Lia growled in frustration.

“Ah-ha-ha, well, this is just one of those days,” I responded.

Lia clearly cherished our lunchtime together.

We kept chatting as we headed down a long hallway to the chairwoman’s office.

This is probably about the Holy Festival being held this weekend…

The three of us being summoned together all but confirmed that. The academy matchups had also been announced in today’s paper.

Thousand Blade Academy’s first opponent was going to be Ice King Academy.

Admittedly, the name Ice King Academy doesn’t really mean anything to me…

I didn’t know of any famous students attending the place, what kind of swordcraft academy it was, or what its accomplishments were—I really couldn’t tell you a single thing about it. That wasn’t unique to Ice King Academy—I honestly didn’t know anything about any of the other Elite Five Academies, either.

Before pressing the 100-Million-Year Button, they might as well have existed beyond the clouds above my head. Most people didn’t go out of their way to study up on things that would have no relevance to their lives.

I’d always thought that if I had time to research something trivial, I would be better off spending it getting a few more practice swings in.

Still doesn’t feel real that I’m participating in the Elite Five Holy Festival…

Life is truly unpredictable.

I’ll just do the absolute best that I can!

I wanted to give my all in this competition, to at least ensure I didn’t hold Lia and Rose back and sully the name of Thousand Blade Academy.

The door to the office was black and projected a dignified aura. Chairwoman Reia seemed to be fond of the color. I knocked three times to announce our arrival and heard a quick “enter” in response. It sounded different from her regular voice—more formal and businesslike.

The three of us shared a look, then slowly opened the door.

“Excuse us.”

We walked inside to find the chairwoman sitting behind a luxurious black desk. She was going through some papers, her eyebrows creased in thought. Her office was surprisingly neat, and the stacks of paper on her desk clearly demonstrated how wrapped up in work she was.

“Sorry, I can’t put this down right now. Please wait a moment,” she muttered without even glancing at us. She turned the page.

“Y-yes, ma’am.”

I stood by the wall to wait quietly, and Lia and Rose followed my example.

““““…””””

None of us said a peep. Only the noise of the chairwoman turning pages broke the silence.

Those must be some really important documents…

She was so immersed that she was hardly even blinking. This was the first time I’d seen her look so serious.

I knew she would be really busy.

Reia was the chairwoman of one of the Elite Five Academies, and she was serving as a homeroom teacher at the same time. The mere thought of the amount of work she handled every day would make the average person faint. Despite that, she always kept a cheerful attitude in front of her students in order to make our class enjoyable. I greatly respected her for that.

She’s such a professional…

I found myself thinking she looked cool as we waited.

“Phew…”

The chairwoman put down her papers, exhaled, and stretched widely. She must have reached a stopping point.

The atmosphere in the room immediately lightened. Reia rolled her shoulders to get them loose, and I gave her words of encouragement.

“Good work, Chairwoman.”

“Thanks. That was a really fun issue.”

Flashing a satisfied smile, she drained her teacup.

“That’s good to… Wait, ‘fun’? ‘Issue’?”

I didn’t know what she was talking about, but fun didn’t seem like an appropriate response after getting through work. Finding that odd, I looked at the papers on her desk and saw an issue of Weekly Shonen Blade.

Weekly Shonen Blade was a manga magazine that boasted massive popularity among boys in middle and high school. Reia hadn’t been working; she had just been absorbed in reading comics.

“Man, Blade was really good overall this week! The stand-alone story was especially amazing! Mark my words—that’s going to become a killer series! The illustration’s rough, and the writing needs work, but I felt such passion, such soul radiating from the pages!”

The chairwoman raved like a young boy about the comics she’d just finished, eyes shining and cheeks flushed.

“…Interesting.”

I felt ashamed that I’d allowed myself to think even for a moment that she was “cool.” She made us wait all that time just so she could read for fun… To say I was pissed would be an understatement.

Lia and Rose sighed in unison. They were in disbelief, too.

Will our academy really be okay with her at the reins?

Feeling a little anxious at that thought, I decided to just ask her what was on my mind.

“What are you doing about your work, Chairwoman? I wouldn’t have thought someone serving as both chairwoman and a homeroom teacher would have time for reading manga…”

“Not to worry, I’ve got that covered! I pass all my busy work on to him.” She giggled, boastfully directing her gaze to the corner of the room.

“…”

There, a man was sitting in a small chair, quietly doing paperwork.

“Huh?!”

“Wha?!”

“Wh-who’s that?!”

Lia and Rose leaped back from shock, and I immediately jumped in front of them.

How long has he been there…?!

None of us had even noticed his presence until now. I didn’t know it was possible for a person to stand out so little.

“Ha-ha-ha, you should see your faces!”

The chairwoman laughed at our expense.

“Wh-who is this man?”

“I’ll introduce him. He’s the servant who handles my busy work—his name is Eighteen.”

“E-Eighteen…?”

I scrutinized the strange man working away in the corner of the room.

He looked to be in his midthirties. Despite being indoors, he wore a top hat, and a magnificent handlebar mustache rested on his upper lip. He also had an odd black-and-white walking stick propped against the desk.

Eighteen gave us a slight bow without even looking up. He was flying through the stack of documents in front of him at lightning speed, not letting up for even a second.

I approached him, thinking I should at least introduce myself, but Chairwoman Reia stopped me.

“Careful. He’s a class A criminal sentenced to one hundred years of penal servitude,” said the chairwoman casually.

“““HUH?!””” the three of us exclaimed in unison. We all backed away from him together.

“His prisoner number is 0018—so I call him Eighteen. That’s clever, right?”

The chairwoman heaped praise on herself for her perfect naming sense.

“Reia! What the heck are you doing pulling people out of prison?!” asked Lia accusingly.

“Eighteen is my servant. He carries out a wide range of tasks for me, including document preparation, handling my contacts, adjusting my schedule, and more!” she boasted, as if she had nothing to be ashamed of.

That explained why she had so much free time—she was delegating all her labor to Eighteen.

“One hundred years of work is a heavy punishment… What exactly did this guy do?” asked Rose.

“He peeped,” the chairwoman answered without hesitation.

I certainly didn’t see that answer coming.

“By ‘peeping’…do you mean, like, spying on girls in the locker room or in the bath—that kind of peeping?” I asked for confirmation.

“Yeah, exactly. This fellow has a great fondness for the female form—especially when it comes to young girls in their teens. Before his apprehension, he devoted his life to traveling around the country’s various academies to commit his crimes of indecency. According to testimony, he’s peeped in this academy’s bathhouse on numerous occasions,” Chairwoman Reia explained.

Lia and Rose scowled at Eighteen as if he were a piece of disgusting trash.

“What a scumbag…,” growled Lia.

“An enemy of women,” concurred Rose.

Their eyes were full of contempt. They clearly wanted nothing to do with him.

Nevertheless, there was one thing that didn’t make sense to me.

“Peeping is definitely an intolerable crime, but…does it really deserve one hundred years of penal servitude?”

That much time was basically a death sentence. I’d never heard of anyone receiving such a harsh punishment for voyeurism.

“Hmm, to put it simply…Eighteen is a graduate of this academy. It should be evident how talented a swordsman he is. Though he was occasionally caught in the act, most holy knights were no match for him, so he peeked hundreds of times before he was finally arrested.”

He sounded like a truly elite Peeping Tom.

“Whenever they did actually manage to throw him into a prison cell, he would simply break out. Apparently, he would tear off the iron bars with his bare hands or use the wooden chopsticks he would receive with lunch as swords to slice through the wall.”

The chairwoman shrugged in disbelief.

“Between all the time he spent being a voyeur and busting out of jail, his sentence built up to a hundred years.”

“I—I see…”

Eighteen was both a pervert willing to put his life on the line for a sick thrill and a very talented swordsman.

“Wh-what are you doing letting someone like him go unchecked?!” Lia yelled, voicing a reasonable objection. Rose nodded in agreement.

Being the young women they were, they were obviously very upset at the fact that there was a Peeping Tom present within the academy’s walls.

“Don’t worry. He’s totally harmless now. I gave him a thorough education… Isn’t that right, Eighteen?” the chairwoman leered, patting him on the shoulder.

“O-of course, Mistress Reia!”

He stood up to bow, finally breaking his silence. His entire body was quivering, and his face was deathly pale.

Just what was this education…?

I was really intrigued, but too frightened to ask. Some things were better left unknown.

“Eighteen is quite smart and talented. He has doctorates in three entirely different fields. Long story short, a few things led to me discovering him and summoning him here by using my authority as the chairwoman. I’ve been making him help me with work ever since. I promise you he’s completely harmless. There’s nothing for you all to worry about,” the chairwoman insisted.

“I-if you say so…,” I responded.

I could think of a number of things to worry about, not the least of which included an information leak or him escaping and peeping within the academy…but if Reia insisted he was harmless, I had no choice but to believe her. Lia and Rose didn’t look totally convinced, either, but they didn’t press her any further about it.

“Whoops, we got off track there. Lunch break is almost over, so let’s get down to business.”

The chairwoman cleared her throat and continued speaking.

“I’m sure you’ve guessed this already, but I summoned you here today to discuss the Elite Five Holy Festival. As was announced in this morning’s paper, our first opponent is the accursed Ice King Academy!”

She clenched her fists and twisted her face in undisguised hatred.

“Oh yeah, you three are new here and probably don’t know our history very well yet. We’ll touch on some of this in class, but I’ll give you a short explanation now.”

She took a short pause and continued:

“We once had a spectacular rivalry with Ice King Academy. Both sides placed in the top two in every competition throughout the years, including the Holy Festival, and we would almost always take first. We beat them every year during my three years here as a student, which is now known as the ‘Golden Age’…,” the chairwoman muttered wistfully while seeming to stare off into the distance.

I didn’t know she was a student here…

After sharing this surprising fact, the chairwoman went on in a soft tone.

“But unfortunately, that prosperity didn’t last forever. A number of issues spurred Thousand Blade Academy’s downfall, and Ice King Academy followed us straight to the bottom. The public and the media ate it up and gave us a real flogging. People said we’d have to leave the capital, that this was the beginning of the end for us… The ridicule never ceased.”

She clenched her fists harder, and a crease formed on her brow. This must have been frustrating for her as a graduate.

“To make matters worse, we even started losing to Ice King Academy. As you can see here, we’ve been placing last in every single tournament, and every time, we’re one spot behind Ice King Academy.”

Chairwoman Reia placed a paper on the desk with the results for the Elite Five Holy Festival and all the other tournaments.

…She’s right.

While the order of the top three academies changed every year, the bottom two academies didn’t budge at all. For more than a decade, Thousand Blade Academy had finished last, and Ice King Academy had finished fourth in every tournament.

“Our two prestigious academies dominating first and second place every year is now a thing of the past. Worst of all, once we came to occupy last place in every tournament…”

She paused briefly and then continued without a breath.

“…those jerks at Ice King Academy began to think they’re better than us! They’ve been rubbing it in our face at every turn, surely as a way to vent their pent-up frustration from finishing second for so long. ‘Thousand Toothpick Academy,’ the ‘shame of the Elite Five’—the insults never let up! They showed their true colors as soon as we had a moment of weakness!” she ranted.

“Th-that’s unbelievable!”

“We can’t let them get away with that…!”

I wasn’t surprised to see Lia react that way, but even the levelheaded Rose was showing anger.

After the chairwoman finished her spiel, she took two or three breaths and summarized the situation.

“So what I’m saying is that we can’t lose to Ice King Academy, no matter what. This is the first tournament since I took over as chairwoman. I want an overwhelming victory that will put those bastards in their place!”

Lia and Rose nodded in agreement.

“Last night, I pulled an all-nighter to come up with the best possible lineup for the tournament—take a look at this!”

The chairwoman slapped a paper labeled Participants List down on the desk. It read as followed: First—Allen Rodol; Second—Rose Valencia; Captain—Lia Vesteria.

This is actually pretty reasonable for her.

I feared she might have gotten carried away and put us in some totally nonsensical order, but it appeared that cooler thoughts prevailed.

My role as the first will be to reveal the fighting style, moves, and attack patterns of our opponents.

Of course, my number one priority would be winning. But if that proved difficult, I would switch my strategy to try to stave off defeat as long as I could and lay bare as much information about my opponent as possible. That was the minimum the first needed to accomplish.

Rose was the second. As the sole inheritor of the Cherry Blossom Blade Style, she was the ace of our team. In the case that I lost the first match, she would fight the other team’s first while making use of what we learned from my fight. From there, her goal would be to ride that momentum and take down their second and captain. The outcome of the match would hinge on her performance.

Lia rounded out our team as the captain. As the only one of us who could produce Soul Attire, her strength and adaptability was perfect for the role. She would be unbeatable if not for her tendency to get careless and cocky.

In short, as the first, I need to exhaust the enemy as much as I can. As the second, Rose would enter the match after me, and as the captain, Lia would finish the job. It’s a solid lineup.

I nodded to show my satisfaction with the list, but Lia and Rose reacted differently.

“Reia, why is Allen the first? Wouldn’t he make more sense as the captain?” asked Lia.

“I thought the same thing. The strongest fighter is usually the captain,” added Rose.

No way, Lia should be the captain. Either her or Rose.

Lia was a princess of Vesteria who could produce the Soul Attire Fafnir, while Rose was only person trained in the Cherry Blossom Blade Style of Swordcraft. By contrast, I was the Reject Swordsman from Grand Swordcraft Academy—designating me as captain over them would just feel wrong.

The chairwoman grinned wickedly as if she was expecting that objection.

“Mwa-ha-ha, so you noticed—that’s a key part of my strategy!”

“““Strategy?””” the three of us all muttered together. She continued on, nearly frothing at the mouth.

“Like I said before, we have to defeat them. But I don’t want just any old victory. No, I want to utterly humiliate in an absolute landslide the likes of which no one has ever seen!”

Lia and Rose nodded gravely, while I gave a strained laugh.

Personally, I would rather go for a boring but certain win over a flashy and overpowering one…

Clearly, the other three didn’t feel the same, however. They were out for blood.

“As you all know, the Holy Festival pits teams of three against each other in one-on-one knockout-style matches. In other words, if our first defeats all three of their swordsmen, Ice King Academy will lose without even facing our second or our captain!”

“Oh, I get it!” shouted Lia.

“That makes sense. If beating all three of them without losing a single fighter is the goal, then positioning Allen as the first is the best move,” agreed Rose.

“Ha-ha, right? Ice King Academy will never expect us to position our best fighter as our first! After suffering a humiliating three consecutive losses, they’ll think, If their first is this strong, then what kind of monsters are their second and captain?!”

“That’s perfect, Reia! You really thought this through!”

“Thousand Blade Academy will haunt their worst nightmares… Not bad.”

Lia and Rose both looked delighted with her plan.

Oh, come on, there’s no way I can do that…

They were clearly overestimating me. I wasn’t sure if I could beat even one of them. I shook my head to object, but the chairwoman didn’t notice me at all.

“I can see them now, seething and grinding their teeth in anger from the humiliation of suffering three whoppings in a row! Mwa-ha-ha… Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!” Chairwoman Reia cackled.

The day of the Elite Five Holy Festival arrived. Chairwoman Reia inspected the list displaying the participants for Ice King Academy.

“Whuh…?! What the hell…? Are they mocking us?!”

She seethed and ground her teeth in anger.