Chapter - 3

Once the struggle for supremacy was broken, in the situation afterward, Touka pressed forward just like that. Shizuku started a one-sided defensive battle, and ran around the ring single-mindedly. However, the pace of the pursuing Raikiri was swift, and her own reaction was slowed by the burden generated from her evasive movements. She was gradually becoming tired, and now if she was pressed she'd be driven to exhaustion repeatedly to the degree of collapsing.

「What's going on? Lorelei and Raikiri seemed to be even matched in the beginning, but now Lorelei is running around, and it seems that's the best she can do. Why in the world has the balance up to now become so different!?」

The bewildered live broadcaster hadn't grasped that Shizuku had lost sight of Touka. Because of that, she couldn't comprehend why the match up to now had progressed so one-sidedly. However, there was one truth everyone at this battlefield could understand together. That was―who would be the winner of this fight.

「Even though it's fine for her to surrender already….」

「Guess this was a heavy opponent for a first-year after all.」

「Even though I thought there was a possibility she'd be able to compete….」

「Well what? Gonna leave?」

「Yeah, I figure the match is already decided. She's really strong, that Prez is.」

The venue whose atmosphere was cooling; the enthusiasm from the start was nowhere to be found. That was how it was. If one thought about it, no matter how exceptional she was, she was still a first-year. Was there a reason for Hagun's best knight to lose to that kind of opponent? There had been an off-the-mark enthusiasm, but that kind of apathetic atmosphere now drifted through the venue.

In the middle of that, Stella asked Ikki in a moaning voice.

"…Hey Ikki. How is Shizuku doing?"

"How, meaning?"

"I can tell by looking. It's obvious that her response to her opponent's movements worsened all of a sudden."

"It's just as Stella-chan says. Even though the President is moving normally, it looks as if she can't see it."

Arisuin also felt that there was a problem with Shizuku's movements. And of course, Ikki did too. But Ikki could already see a few more things than the other two.

"…It's exactly like that, probably."

"Eh?"

"Shizuku really can't see her. I've also seen something like this once before."

It was that time before his debut battle, when he met the Yaksha Princess Nene Saikyou at the reception desk.

"That time, Saikyou-sensei got right in front of me in an instant. Even though I didn't let her out of my line of sight for even a moment, she got to my chest before I knew it. Right now, Raikiri is probably using the same body technique, I think."

"Ahaha. As expected of Kuro-bou. You noticed it after all, huh?"

A voice descended from an angle above. Ikki turned his eyes in that direction, where a bewitching petite woman dressed in a kimono and an imposing woman clad in a suit were descending the bowl-shaped stadium's stairway.

"Hey there~. It's been a while ♪."

"Saikyou-sensei, and Madam Director. The two of you together, I wonder if something's going on?"

"What, she just called out because she saw you guys, not because there's a reason."

The board chairman, Kurono Shinguuji, answered Arisuin's question. These two only came to see the duel between fellow B-Ranks in an ordinary Selection Battle. They only greeted them because Ikki's group was having an interesting conversation.

"…Hey, Nene-sensei. The thing that Ikki noticed, is what he's saying correct?"

Saikyou-sensei confirmed Stella's question with a nod.

"Yep. That is an ancient Japanese martial arts technique called Trackless Step that merges breath control and footwork. Or something like that―"

"…Eh?"

In an instant. Saikyou who had to be at least five meters away from Stella reappeared very close, and―raised Stella's plump breasts from below while rubbing them.

"Eek!?"

"Oh, this kind of feeling? Well, no milk's coming out. Yet it's super soft~♪"

"Kyaaaaa! Wh-Wh-What are you doing!?"

"I was wondering if rubbing yours would make mine grow."

"If you want to grow then go rub your own!"

"I don't have anything to rub, IDIOT!"

"You're getting angry at the victim!?"

Ignoring the two noisy people, Kurono asked something of Ikki.

"Kurogane. Someone like you has already seen through how Trackless Step works, right?"

To that inquiry, he nodded.

"Somewhat. If you tell me to do the same thing, I could probably do it."

"Hey Ikki, what is this Trackless Step?"

"Let's see, humans are nothing more than animals, and like a machine they can't process all the tiny details that they see and hear, and the brain certainly can't consciously recognize all of those sights and sounds. After all, if they processed and analyzed everything they see and hear, the brain will burn out. Therefore, the human brain will toss low-priority information into the unconscious, and abdicate recognizing them in order to ease the load on itself. This thing called Trackless Step is a martial arts technique that applies peculiar breath control and footwork to slip its user's existence into the opponent's unconsciousness. As a result, even though Shizuku can still see Toudou-san, she has become unable to recognize that fact. Even though the brain and the eye can capture Toudou-san's movements, they can't be processed because the consciousness is classifying them as unnecessary information, to the degree that a life-threatening danger can approach to little more than a blink away.

"Spot on. You understood it well."

Kurono praised him as if in admiration, because there were no faults in Ikki's answer that divulged the mysterious mechanism that was assaulting Shizuku.

Right. There was only unconsciousness within.

The opponent was making everything about herself imperceptible by shifting her breath and body a half-step, and by sliding into that interval, she had dodged the awareness locking onto her. That was the mechanism behind the old-style footwork Trackless Step.

"Because I've already seen that body technique once."

Moreover, Touka's Trackless Step had great flaws compared to Saikyou's. Because of that, Ikki was able to see through the mechanism.

"But I didn't think that there was a student who could do the same thing as the Yaksha Princess."

"Well, it's natural to be able to do the same thing, since Nene and Toudou both study under the same knight. Trackless Step was originally the technique that was that knight's strong point."

"Is that how it is? By the way, who was that teacher?"

"Torajirou Nangou."

"Nangou, the 'God of War'…!?"

To the revealed name, Ikki showed a shocked expression.

God of War―Torajirou Nangou. The great hero Ryouma Kurogane's lifelong rival, the elder knight who was on active service while being over ninety years old. He is a living legend who people talked about without end.

"It's like you saw him at a senior's lodge one time, and begged him for training thereafter."

"Mu. Hold on a second, Kuu-chan! I've never thought of that geezer as master even once!"

"What are you being shy about? Those clogs are probably also something copied from that person."

"Y-Y-You're wrong! I bought these from mail order to help ease my constipation!"

"Sandals for changing how you walk, huh…."

While patting Saikyou's long-sleeved kimono noisily, Kurono leaked out her honest opinion that "that person is as unfrank about her feelings as ever" about Saikyou who for some reason was becoming irritated, then once again turned her gaze toward Ikki.

"Well even so, if you can see the mechanism so clearly to that extent, it should be understandable to you. Trackless Step can't be broken by your little sister."

"Eh―!"

The declaration of those words, they were the truth of Shizuku's hopeless defeat. It was Stella and Arisuin who raised surprised voices upon hearing them.

But Ikki, though he had a bitter expression, didn't show surprise. Why? Because he had reached that conclusion a long time ago.

"…Really, Ikki? There's no way for her to break Trackless Step!?"

"No, there's a way to break Trackless Step with your own body. It's enough to just voluntarily shift your attention to the unconscious. However, that's easier said than done."

For example, imagine that there was a man thrusting a gun in front of one's eyes. And that man is obviously showing hostility, and pulling the trigger with his finger. In that kind of situation, just about anyone would have his eyes glued to the muzzle. It would be natural, because it was one's life being threatened. Under that kind of situation, would anyone take heed of the man's earring? Would anyone care who the earring's maker was? There was no way anyone would care. No one would consciously recognize inconsequential information, probably. However, in order to break this Trackless Step, one has to take his eyes from the muzzle and focus on the earring beneath that serious situation. That was the task of shifting one's attention onto the unconscious.

"Shizuku is right now exactly in an exchange for her life. In this situation where her opponent is intentionally slipping from her consciousness, it's training in its own way, and if she can't gain free control over/of her own body and consciousness, she won't be able to do it."

For example, if this was someone like Ikki or Stella, even that was probably possible. Because these two people, from the process of learning martial arts, had established almost complete control of their bodies. However, Shizuku was different. She was the best when it came to magic control, but as for controlling her physical body, she was a novice. Therefore, rather than thinking it was an oversight, she would try and concentrate. As a consequence, her field of vision would narrow, and the darkness of her unconscious would deepen. It would give birth to a perfect vicious circle.

"Honestly… it's very severe for Shizuku, I think."

"That can't be…!"

Of course even Ikki didn't want to imagine Shizuku's defeat. But it was sad that Shizuku and Touka, these two B-Rank knights, had too much of a difference. Whatever additional effort Shizuku tried to start making, she simply couldn't ever make an effective attack on Touka.

And that was with her forte of long range. In a fight without the evenness that comes from distance, the match would become complicated. It would probably be impossible to have a victory in a situation where she's completely pinned down.. Without a doubt, she was being maneuvered into a fatal distance. And that was Raikiri's range.

"…Maybe, there's a possibility that Shizuku has a trump card she can use to deal with Raikiri in close range. But if not…."

To that, Ikki didn't say so daringly. However even if he didn't say it, Stella could understand the words that might follow.

It was mysterious. As far as Stella was concerned, Shizuku was a rival in love. A person who could be nothing more than an obstacle, but still―she understood Shizuku. That right now, what kind of feelings Shizuku had in this fight. How strong the thoughts that Shizuku was dealing with in her chest during this fight. Because she loved the same man, she understood how those feelings hurt.

Because of that―

"Shizuku―! Do your best―!"

It wasn't something she could put into a single word. Despite knowing that, Stella couldn't contain that shout.