Chapter - 10

"Ahaha ☆Iyaa~ What a calamity, what a disaster! To get mixed up with the infamous ace of Donrou Academy, the 'Sword Eater' Kurashiki Kuraudo, a killer hound who bites anyone he lays his eyes on…. But your decision was correct, Worst One."

"Kusukusu… Eeh, absolutely. You were right."

In the next moment, another person appeared, but this one had an aura that couldn't be more obvious. Even though it was inside the shop, she carried a parasol, and wore a hat with a huge rim. The tall woman's eyes couldn't be seen because of the large hat, but her chin line was visible and with the glistering blonde hair, her figure could be made out. She wore a pure white ball-line dress, like a noblewoman, that glimmered in their eyes.

Even though she had a pure white figure, both Ikki and Stella felt a fleeting, incomparable feeling of disgust. What she wore was complete white, yet, her presence, for a moment, felt more like thick fresh blood.

And why would that be? Ikki knew the answer. In her presence, there was a veil of dense blood fragrance that could not be hidden no matter how much perfume she wore. …There was no mistake, this person was the real deal.

"If you guys retaliated, then right here, right now, we would have had no choice but to suppress you people."

The white one with a presence of death and blood replied in an old Japanese lingo as if she were singing. That was too unpleasant to Stella who had already raised her guard. She asked Ikki with a small voice―

"Ikki, who are these people? …What are they?"

"The vice president of Hagun Academy's student council, Misogi Utakata-san, and the treasurer Toutokubara Kanata-san."

"…Toutokubara! You are…?"

It was a name Stella had heard through rumors many times.

Toutokubara Kanata, otherwise known as 'Scharlach Frau'. She placed second in the inner school ranking and was a B rank knight. While being a student, she was summoned under special circumstances and was allowed to fight in real battles. She had a record of destroying many organizations and bases of the Rebellion army. She was indeed a superior student knight with real battle experience.

"It seems like we don't need to introduce ourselves… but still, the way Kurogane-kun handled the situation was truly brilliant. Sword Eater is a person who attacks people from other schools unannounced, and goes around town smashing dojos. In any case, he becomes quite hard to handle if enraged. Thanks to you, we were saved from quite the trouble too. Once again, we thank you. It appears that we have been underestimating you too much."

"It seems like it wasn't a fluke that Renren was defeated. This ability of yours that sees through a person's character in battle, just like Yaksha-hime said. We need to reaffirm our recognition of you."

"Ahaha. Absolutely…. Well then, show me your wound please. I'll treat it."

"No, you don't have to go through the trouble."

"It's okay, it's okay♪. Just leave it to Sempai. Pain, pain fly away~!"

Saying that, Utakata touched Ikki's wound.

"Okay, it's healed."

The ripped skin and the internal bleeding was all healed within a moment.

"Wha―!"

Ikki was greatly surprised.

Certainly, the wound was shallow. He didn't dodge it and there wasn't much damage, but it had still reached the marrow. It could be called a 'violent' wound. Even Shizuku, who had A-Rank magic control, would take a bit of time to heal it.

No, this couldn't be called 'healing'. It was as if the wound itself disappeared. It definitely wasn't just healing magic.

Misogi Utakata, nicknamed 'Fifty Fifty'. Just what was his ability? No doubt it wasn't anything normal but…

"Ahaha, you don't have to observe me with that scary face. I didn't enter in the selection matches."

"Ah, I apologize. Even though you healed me, I was being rude."

"Ahaha. It's okay it's okay. That's what makes you a knight. Well then, we've finished our kouhai's treatment so we'll take our leave now. Let's go, Kanata."

"Yes, Vice President."

"You guys, too, keep your nightlife in check."

And with that, Misogi Utakata and Toutokubara Kanta left.

With their departure, Ikki sighed, feeling a surge of tiredness hitting him upon seeing the dusk from the window.

…Twilight of Disaster… should be appropriate huh.

They met one big shot after another today. However, he couldn't always be swept along by the aura of those who had already left. For Ikki, there was something he was more interested about.

"…Hey, Ayatsuji-san."

"!"

She might had been aware that the conversation would move towards her. She averted her eyes with an unpleasant expression. But Ikki asked anyways.

"What exactly is your relationship with those people."

The other party knew her name. Ayase wasn't someone so famous as to appear on the media. That meant they knew each other personally. But from the looks of it, it wasn't a friendly relationship. That was obvious after seeing Ayase's gaze. So―

"You don't need to answer if you don't have to. But… when they called out to you, Ayatsuji-san wasn't behaving normally. If you've gotten involved into some kind of trouble with those guys, then I can lend you my strength."

As a friend, he was in the position to help her. Hearing Ikki say that, her expression softened a little and she tried to reply.

"…That's…."

At that moment, the student datapad rang out, notifying that a mail had been received. The noise came from both Ikki and Ayase's pocket at the same time. Ikki wondered who could have sent it. It was the Selection Battle Executive Committee.

…He had a really bad feeling about it. His worst fears were confirmed after reading the message.

"Contender Kurogane Ikki's selection match tenth opponent has been decided: third year class one contender Ayatsuji Ayase."

…What timing.