Chapter - 27

"…He'll just be sleeping even if I go."

"He might be sleeping, but in a girl's heart she wants to be nearby at a time like this, right? Stella-chan was running after him. …Maybe you're thinking of leaving the two of them alone?"

He asked the question carefully, but Shizuku's face swelled with the beginning of a sulk anyway. She bared her teeth in a huff.

"Today is… special. It looks like that girl got a victory."

Shizuku seemed exceedingly reluctant, but she was also happy. Nobody knew this, but because Stella had majestically declared in front of the masses a love for the will and feelings of Shizuku's brother who nobody comprehended, Shizuku resisted the desire to run after him immediately and hover nearby. She simply stood here, because at least for today, she didn't want to interfere with them.

"But it's really only for today."

"Hahaha. …Shizuku."

"What? You want to poke fun at me for losing?"

"Not at all. Don't you know? I very much like Shizuku the way she is."

Her pale cheeks turning red, Shizuku sulked more and more.

"Jeez! Please don't play with me like that!"

"Haha, I'm sorry. I won't touch this subject anymore, so won't you cheer up? Well then, what should we do? Since we're here, how about watching the next match?"

"…I'm not very interested."

"In that case, should we travel a little farther than usual and go eat something delicious, just the two of us? With Ikki injured like that, today's victory celebration will certainly be canceled."

Using a capsule would mend wounds immediately, but fatigue couldn't be improved so easily. Ikki would probably be in a coma for the rest of the day. And until he woke up, Stella definitely wouldn't leave his side.

"Since you're giving those two some time alone, you deserve a bit of luxury in return, don't you think?"

"…A place with tasty alcohol would be good. I'm already an adult, so."

"Gotcha. I know a place with good atmosphere you can look forward to."

"Despite what I said just now, I'll absolutely regret leaving that sow alone with my brother in a few hours, which means I'll have an extremely bad temper. Sorry, but you should be prepared for that."

"Hahaha. Don't worry, I'll be ready―♪"

Then while deciding whether they'd return to their room to change clothes, the two headed for the exit behind the flow of people. Watching the backs of the spectators who left first, Shizuku suddenly coughed.

"Those people who insulted Onii-sama some time ago, I wonder if they still refuse to believe that he's strong?"

"Who can say? There are probably some who don't accept reality even when they see it with their own eyes. But everyone who has the strength to try for the summit of the Seven Stars will surely recognize it, and remember the name Ikki Kurogane. So Ikki won't turn back into the ordinary Failed Knight that he seemed to be until now. Definitely not."

Arisuin's words were correct. Today was a turning point, when the Failed Knight took another name in a corner of the Net.

Crownless Sword King.

Such a name demonstrated that Ikki wouldn't remain just a Failed Knight, because Ikki Kurogane had taken down one of the Seven Stars Sword-Art Festival's leading representative candidates.

"Well well, what an amazing sight today. An F-Rank Failed Knight overthrowing a Hunter who uses the strongest anti-personnel Noble Art, and with such an unconventional method? Seeing through the opponent's identity in the middle of the match is beyond human."

In the audience seats of the fourth training arena, a petite red figure ascended the stairway while her shoes made a clip-clopping sound. She was the one who fled after giving some match commentary, Nene Saikyou, and she was uttering a monologue about the match with passionate favor.

"Not even people in the A-class league could do something like that. No, no, he's just Kuu-chan's secret weapon. The selection battles will be enjoyable though~. But next time, I want him to duel with a stronger opponent. For example, yes… like this academy's student council president."

She arrived at the spectator seats' top floor.

"Don't you Hagun Academy student council officers agree?"

She turned a smile with hidden meaning at the four knights there. Those four had magic power of a quality obviously different from the students leaving the arena, and they all held individual nicknames.

The vice president, "Fifty Fifty" Utakata Misogi.

The treasurer, "Scharlach Frau" Kanata Toutokubara.

The secretary, "Destroyer" Ikazuchi Saijou.

The general affairs manager, "Runner's High" Renren Tomaru.

They were Hagun Academy's most influential people.

"It's too bad that To~ka-chan isn't here, right? She wanted to see today's match, you know. My intuition says Kuro-bou will become To~ka-chan's rival in the selection battles."

At Saikyou's words, Utakata Misogi, an elementary student… no, a petite boy who might even be a kindergartener, burst into laughter.

"Ahaha―☆. Saikyou-sensei is being deliberately mean, isn't she?"

Kanata Toutokubara, the tall blonde girl wearing a pure white dress as if she was a French noblewoman and carrying a parasol even though it was indoors, smiled as she stood next to the smaller Utakata.

"Hmm. Yes, entirely. He fought onwards so gallantly after great injury, so it would be pitiable not to set him at an even higher value, wouldn't you say?"

"Heh. Aren't you both quite confident? Is the gap between regular students and the best four of last year's Sword-Art Festival really so wide?"

"Ahaha―☆. Saikyou-sensei really is deliberately mean. Even though she knows it."

"Hmm, surely so. It's true even without looking into things of the past, like records from previous years."

"What are you saying?"

Toutokubara raised her face slightly, and narrowed her blue eyes like she was looking far away.

"It's quite simple. However sharp the claws, however sharp the fangs… why should a mouse win against a lion? She'd take no notice of that boy. Our princess is so far beyond him, he couldn't even see someone so high above."