Chapter - 17

Kurono invited Stella into the chairman's office that reeked of tobacco and had Stella sit on the sofa for visitors. She herself sat down herself on the sofa across the table between them.

"It's become an extremely troublesome thing, hasn't it?"

She grumbled with a brow etched with wrinkles. The fatigue that could be seen was probably from repercussions arising from having been investigated for being responsible for Ikki and Stella staying in the same room. Well, as far as the system of boys and girls sharing a room went, Stella still had some problems with it even now, so she wasn't very sympathetic, but….

That's right….

Because of the great pains it caused, she would listen to the important matter displayed before them that was on their mind, and Stella preemptively threw out a question.

"…Madam Chairman, what's happening with Ikki's selection battles? They're not being counted as default loss by absence, right?"

"I'm not staking my prestige on that kind of thing. Kurogane is having bouts conducted with opponents during that sham battle with the League's Japanese branch. Of course even one of the school's teachers is accompany him as a referee. Because we know not to leave the judgment to those people."

"Can we go to support him, I wonder?"

"No, that's impossible. Until the inquiry is over, all face-to-face meetings are prohibited."

"He's being completely isolated, then…."

However, Kurono's firm promise that Ikki won't lose by default for absence was reassuring. As expected, having him lose because of his current confinement was too much. One worry was diminished, and Stella took a breath of relief, then pressed Kurono for the next matter.

"Then what did you need me for?"

Regarding that, Kurono replied with a short "Oh", and got to the point.

"About what's happening right now, I want to hear what your parents back in Vermillion think."

Why was Kurono concerned about something like that? That kind of problem existed, but it wasn't like they were hiding it, and after Ikki was spirited away, Stella had contacted her parents by phone and told them the situation honestly.

"Mother understood my judgment. But… Father was completely against it. He was very angry, and shouted 'He laid a hand on our daughter without getting my permission, Kiyo!"

"He loves you, no?"

"He has no ability to let go of his children. Because he was so threatening, it looks like he'll be coming to Japan soon."

"And how long will that be?"

"Three weeks from now, I suppose."

"Right when the selection battles end, huh? …Exactly as we get near our goal."

"Goal?"

Stella tilted her head in confusion at Kurono's coughed words. What did she mean by goal?

Kurono explained her grumbled words to Stella.

"If the King of Vermillion himself visited, as expected it wouldn't be just an inquiry or confinement without visitors. Even those red-suited people would have no choice but to table Kurogane's matter. And with that, if you and your fellows were to hold a discussion, you would definitely reach a conclusion about all of this. The drift of the argument made by those people who developed Kurogane as scandal right now, that wouldn't be part of such a discussion, because they only want to arbitrarily direct it as they please with no more than speculation. If the King of Vermillion himself approved of Kurogane, those people will have the basis of their argument overturned. If that happened, it would be their turn to be investigated."

"A counterattack?"

"Exactly. For entangling my own student on my own territory in their design, I'll have them regret it until they die."

At Kurono's words and her expression, Stella body had goosebumps.

"Scary…."

Just by being close, she felt pressed by Kurono's mood. This intensity that made students weakly fall back, it was expected of the knight who was formerly the world's third strongest.

But that's certainly the goal, yes.

The claim of the red-suited Ethics Committee, it was that Ikki so thoughtless that it could create an international problem. In that case, if her father the sovereign of Vermillion were to approve of Ikki, it would settle everything.

The problem was… would that father obediently approve of his daughter's lover?

"…Ooh. I'm not confident, somehow. Because he probably already decided and won't listen to me."

For example, during a school event once in middle school, she went camping in the mountains, and he dressed up in a bear skin and watched over her from the forest the entire time. He was that kind of father. At the time, she thought he was a real bear and was going to kill him. Well… when she found out it was really her father, she still wanted to kill him. He was that kind of parent, so she couldn't see him welcoming Ikki. Stella was at her wits end, and Kurono spoke while giving her a gentle smile with an unusual sense of motherliness.

"It'll be fine. He's someone who brought up a daughter as honest as you, so there's no way he wouldn't understand Kurogane's caliber."

It was a reason that one couldn't say was based on anything. But Kurono's words removed Stella's anxiety with alarming ease.

Right, he wasn't a bad father. Stella also loved her father from the bottom of her heart. That was why Stella thought so. That he would want to like the boy who loved her.

"It would be… nice if that happened."

"Well, you'll also assist him when they meet. It's advice from a married person, but greeting a girl's parents is a group effort to go forward with before cutting the cake. Don't just leave it to the man. It's suitable for him to see how his own daughter might protect the man."

"I-I'll make the best of it."

"Ha ha, ah, do your best. …But anyway. I think it's best to be honest, but your relief is making you more energetic than I expected.

"A good little sister happened to revitalize me a little while ago."

Touching the crack put into in her right arm, Stella smiled a bit, and made a decision in her heart. That's right, leaving it all to the man was something that a good woman doesn't do. She would fight too.

「Stella, I love you, and I want to say so proudly in front of everyone.」

Right now, Ikki was putting into practice the words he had exchanged with her. In that case—

Me too, I will protect my promise.

The tenth underground level of the Japanese League branch. Ikki Kurogane was being detained there.

"I've left food on the table. There is another hearing tomorrow morning at six, so hurry up and sleep."

Saying that discourteously, a red-suited person with a bad complexion engaged the electronic lock on the room and left.

The room had only a stained bed and a table and chair that looked as if they would break any moment, and nothing else. However, Ikki who had been standing on his feet the entire day for the hearing was still grateful for it.

He heaved a sigh that had all of his fatigue in it, and sat down on that shabby chair. The inquiries went from six in the morning to eleven at night. The Ethics Committee had chairs, and with their four rotations each day, they didn't become tired, but to stand on one's feet from morning to night, it really did make one weary as expected. If it continued for a week, even Ikki who trained on a regular basis would become sluggish without knowing it.

But it probably wasn't just because of the fatigue that he was accumulating.

"I really miss having decent rice, I guess."

In front of Ikki's eyes as he grumbled in disgust, his evening meal was left there. There were two bars of crude portable food. When he looked at the calorie information on the back, there was certainly true that those two bars supplied enough calories and nutrition for one meal, but it couldn't be enough to satisfy the appetite of Ikki who was both a knight and a growing teen. Because these were the meals every day down here, Ikki was tormented by chronic hunger.

And moreover―

"As usual, there's nothing to drink either."

Even consumption of water was restricted. It seemed that for some reason, the drinking water that was part of the rationed meals was missing. And the room that Ikki was imprisoned in was suffering a water outage since some weeks ago, so even the toilets did not have running water.

It was quite simple harassment. Naturally, since he was not given water during the inquiry, he used the toilet during the times he was allowed to take a shower and when he went between the inquiry chamber and his room, and during those times he took as much water as he could.

By getting through the days that way, he wouldn't fall apart from fatigue. He was alone among enemies. Surrounded on all sides, fighting alone.

But it's fine.

He was used to that kind of thing. He had always acted alone. Depending on no one, being taught by no one. It was certainly not the first time he had fought like this. Closing his eyes, he could remember it even now. The scenes of of his youth, him hiding in the mountain behind his parents' home, swinging his sword silently. As far as Ikki was concerned, most of his life felt like that. Therefore, it wasn't a big deal to withstand this at this point. Whether isolation or animosity, he was quite used to them. Therefore whatever method Akaza and the others used to get from Ikki the testimony that "he admitted it was a mistake", stuff like this wouldn't break Ikki's tenacious determination.

If it's like this, I can tolerate it.

If they did it like this, no matter who it was, he'll be going to meet the king of Vermillion soon enough, probably. It was a serious affair with his important daughter. There was no way Stella's father would let the man in question go free. In that case, what he should do was stubbornly stick to his principles against petty third-parties until that day. If he did so, eventually Akaza and the others would lose their right to intervene in the media uproar.

Rather, it's there that my real crisis begins, I guess.

He would get the approval of Stella's father. That was the momentous event that Ikki had never gotten before in his life. Just thinking about it made his heart pound furiously from nervousness. But he couldn't run away from it. Not that. From the moment he fell in love with the girl called Stella Vermillion, it was an inevitable conclusion. That was why from that moment, Ikki had always been thinking about how to greet the king and make a good impression.

For the greeting, he should probably wear a suit, right? His hair… part it on one side? He imagined it a little.

…Whoa, that's terrible.

A strained laugh spilled out at the thought of him looking like a salaryman.

But more than just by how he looked, how would he convey his important sincerity? In the end, it was this that couldn't be done with trickery. Or rather, trickery would backfire instead. There was nothing but to uprightly facing each other with complete sincerity, and appeal with as much earnestness as possible.

Since time is precious, should I practice a little bit?

Trickery was useless, but the idea of performing without practice was making him nervous after all. He needed to rehearse.

Thinking that, Ikki closed his eyes and focused his thoughts. What appeared on the inside of his eyelids was the face Stella's father, the king of Vermillion. Because Stella had showed him a picture once, he could remember it. The same blazing hair as Stella. A lion-like majesty that could be felt from a gigantic stature close to two meters tall, with sideburns linked to a beard.

When he recalled that vision and opened his eyelids―before his eyes, there was no doubt that man was standing there.

Of course, the real thing wasn't there. It was only a virtual image brought forth by Ikki's concentration that had been honed to the utmost. Picturing the image of the supposed other party, and then practicing a paired kata. It was a basic technique for a practitioner of martial arts. This was a practical application. However, if it was an expert like Ikki, the image would have a gaze, heartbeat, and temperature unlike a normal image. It would have an overwhelming realism even to the point of an audible pulse. With that realism, it would even shake the spirit of Ikki who had created it.

The king of Vermillion who had the severe features of a lion didn't speak and didn't move, only staring at Ikki with the same crimson irises of his honest daughter. At that gaze, Ikki felt pressure that seemed to burn the outer surface of his skin. Sweat poured from his whole body, and his throat went dry in exchange.

But if he couldn't handle a virtual image, he couldn't stand in front of the real thing. Ikki took a deep breath, and directly returned the king of Vermillion's gaze. Then and there, he got down on both knees, lowered his head as if pressing it onto the bed, and―

"Please give me your daughter!"

―expelled all of the breath in his lungs in his cry. And at that moment―

"I won't give you my daughter."

A voice shook Ikki's ears with a rejection that was as heavy as lead. Hadn't Ikki been serious enough?

…No, no no no no. Wait. Wait just a second.

No matter what it was, no matter how much pressure the real thing would have, an image was just an image after all. There was no way it could reply.

Then what was that voice? Ikki raised his head, and―

"I would never give Shizuku to you."

―his real father, Itsuki Kurogane, was staring down on Ikki with cold gray eyes.

"F-F-F-F-Father!?"