Chapter - 12

"Nangou-sensei. Thank you very much for going to the trouble of traveling like this."

At the training grounds of Kyomon Academy, in the unenergetic facility after the students of both academies had gone back, the sword instructor who had been summoned in a hurry, Torajirou Nangou was being sent off by car, and the institution's administrator was giving his thanks to the elderly man.

"I didn't think none of the swordsmanship coaches would turn out to be worthy."

"Hohoho. It's fine, it's fine. I was hoping to have a bout with that boy at least once. It was a good opportunity. …And all things considered, that boy was considerable, wasn't he?"

"Is that so?"

At Nangou's reply, the administrator tilted his head in puzzlement.

"I was also watching the bout between you two closely, but there was only an exchange of glares at range, and you didn't cross blades even once, so I thought Ikki-kun had just been held at bay…."

"Ho ho. Well, it can't be helped that a layman would see it that way."

Certainly, at the training camp, Nangou had three total bouts with Ikki, but neither of them had moved from the beginning of their matches, and they only passed the time until the end of the training. So it was unavoidable for the administrator who had watched them to come to that conclusion.

But Nangou was saying that the truth was different.

Three matches. Sixty minutes. From the start, the Worst One had matched every single approach from the smallest behavior, whether that was gaze or sword spirit.

For a swordsman of Nangou's class, the reach of his sword was the same as a field of certain death. If even a single step was taken carelessly, in that instant, Nangou's sword would've taken the enemy's consciousness. Therefore Ikki discarded any thoughtless approaches, making no move to enter his opponent's range, and stood at the starting line, trying all kinds of ways of testing that reach, challenging Nangou's sword barrier.

But his opponent was Torajirou Nangou, the God of War. He who fought at the highest league, and the only Japanese person who conquered China's famous War God League. Ikki could not step into his range, and eventually backed down without ever having moved from the starting line. But—

But even so, Nangou had a high opinion of Ikki. The reason was—

I didn't believe it, but I couldn't take my eyes off of him either.

Indeed. Ikki certainly could not move from the start of the match. But Nangou was in the same position. The Worst One, in the total of sixty minutes they fought, had not given the God of War a single vulnerability to take. No matter how many times Nangou tried to intimidate or feint with sword spirit, Ikki's heart was not even a bit perturbed, and instead Nangou who was trying to attack could not provoke him into leaving an opening.

From next to them, it seemed like a match without movement. But for Nangou, passing this dark and dense sixty minutes was like waiting through many entire lifetimes.

If we both used abilities, there would be a different conclusion, but….

Nangou's wrinkled face moved in apparent happiness.

"If only in swordsmanship, he's better than Ryouma, huh? What an ominous youngster."

"What a great young man. For Nangou-sensei to judge him that highly."

"Ho ho. Though I don't think I'll lose to him, of course–hmm?"

Nangou suddenly stopped walking.

"Sensei? Is something wrong?"

The administrator walking beside him also stopped, and asked that. Nangou was looking forward at the small shack standing next to the path.

"Over there, what is that?"

"A storehouse. I believe it's where the quicklime for repairing the sports grounds is kept."

"Is that all?"

"Yes, most likely."

At the administrator's answer, Nangou scratched his beard and tilted his head in confusion.

"…If that's the case, it's strange."

"How so?"

"Because there's a person in there."

Nangou's words carried the plain truth. To that, the administrator cried out in astonishment.

"Eh… Eh!? H-How can that be…?"

However, Nangou didn't wait for his reaction. Carrying his walking stick, he strode toward the storehouse, and—with a small effort and a speed faster than the eye, he drew his sword-cane Device, and severed the padlock holding the storehouse's door closed.

That door opened, and—

"Like I thought."

"Mmm! Nnn!"

He discovered a young girl inside, bound hand of foot. The administrator who had entered belatedly also opened his eyes wide in surprise.

And the administrator knew this girl.

"Y-You're from Hagun Academy's newspaper club…!"

Yes, the bound young girl was Kagami Kusakabe.

"NNN—!"

"Don't worry, I'll get you free."

Saying so, Nangou skillfully cut away the bonds tying Kagami down. Kagami, with her limbs now free, pulled away the gag covering her mouth on her own, and took a deep breath.

"Bwah…haa! Haa! Y-You really saved me…!"

"Wh-What happened here?"

A girl was bound and shut in here. At this unusual situation, the administrator showed an uneasy face, and asked for an explanation. In response, Kagami shook her head.

"Haa… I'll tell you later. Please let me make a phone call right now!"

The truth she had grasped. And the reality that had attacked her. She had to deliver these to her friends—to Ikki and the others. With that sense of purpose spurring her own, Kagami took her student datapad from a pocket. But—

There's no connection…!

No matter how many calls she made, neither Ikki nor Stella nor Shizuku, no one was responding. It was a bad premonition.

What came to mind was her friends, fallen at Arisuin's feet. Kagami who had socialized with Arisuin, knew the dreadfulness of his ability. If Arisuin was someone on the enemy side as she feared, the scene in her head was by no means unrealistic.

"Kuh!"

Quicker, if she wasn't a second quicker, if she didn't tell them about Arisuin. Kagami's insides were throbbing with impatience, and—she took an emergency measure. She, with a particular protocol, operated the display of her student datapad. Changing it to an emergency mode for forced transmission of calls to her fellow academy students at maximum speaker volume, Kagami connected to Ikki's terminal, and shrieked—

"SENPAI! ALICE-CHAN IS ANOTHER SCHOOL'S SPY! PLEASE WATCH OUT!!!"

Manifesting multiples of his Device, Darkness Hermit, he arranged them in a fan on his palm.

Arisuin was aiming for that moment. He was here for the sake of that moment.

Arisuin's ability was a conceptual-interference type, manipulating shadow. His Noble Art, Shadow Bind, was an extremely strong ability that allowed him to completely seal his target's movements by stabbing his target's shadow with Darkness Hermit.

Once the shadow was stabbed, no matter how strong one's muscles, one could not break this binding. Even someone as strong as Stella would not be able to do it.

Arisuin's ability, under the circumstances of a surprise attack, was strong than any kind of ability. Since that was the case—he just needed to arrange the circumstances for that surprise attack. If he entered the academy, got close to important people with an air of innocence, insinuated himself into their trust, and with only one blow created an opening that he could exploit, then they had no chance of victory.

This was what Akatsuki Academy had arranged, the plan for dealing with the Hagun Academy opponents on festival eve that they had carried out without a single mistake.

And at this time, Arisuin had carried it out completely. At the defenseless backs of the Hagun camp, Arisuin watched them rush toward their enemy.

None of them suspected Arisuin. That was a fatal mistake. Even though Kagami had screamed out, it was already too late to evade or defend—

"Shadow Bind—"

Without mercy, without compassion, Arisuin threw down countless daggers of Darkness Hermit, and slicing through the air, they sank into the shadows that he had aimed for.

—And every shadow of the Akatsuki members was held still.

This was something that happened ten minutes ago, just as Ikki and the others were confirming the black smoke rising in the distance.

「Akatsuki Academy—that's the name of the people who've attacked Hagun Academy.」

Inside the bus full of slightly panicked people, Arisuin's cold voice resounded. At the same time, Darkness Hermit was thrust into the shadows of everyone inside the bus.

「Eh!? A-Alice!?」

「What is the meaning of this?」

Everyone showed agitation at having their ability to move stolen away.

Looking at all of them in turn, Arisuin spoke.

「I'll tell you step by step, so won't you settle down and listen?」

And he explained. His true colors as an assassin of Rebellion. The plan to be employed by Rebelliion, and create havoc at the Seven Stars Sword-Art Festival. In order to accomplish that, him and other elites of the underworld were sent in. Furthermore, in ten minutes, the menacing strategy to attack Ikki and the others.

「My role, in other words, is to reduce you all to helplessness from behind after we arrive at Hagun. Once that comes to pass, the chances of this plan failing is no more than one in a million―that was why I came to Hagun Academy, and became close to you people.」

「Then you've been deceiving us all this time!?」

「If you're joking, I'd like to to take it back immediately.」

Stella and Ikki made faces that showed their confusion and distress. But Arisuin shook his head at the two of them.

「Alas, it's no joke. Everything I've said just now is true.」

He declared so. At his unwavering tone, the expressions of Stella and Ikki became all the more grave. But one person―

「I don't understand.」

Shizuku, perhaps the one in this place who had associated with Arisuin the most, with an unbrokenly calm expression like clear sunlight upon the surface of water, interrupted with a question from the side.

「Why are you telling us now? If we hear this, it would spoil the entire strategy, wouldn't it?」

Shizuku's question, it was very natural. Because Arisuin, from his own mouth, had admitted his own role to render Ikki and the others helpless from behind after they reached Hagun. If he was going to do so, the timing of the betrayal was currently premature.

Shizuku put forth her doubt on this issue. In response, Arisuin faced Shizuku and whispered an answer.

His answer was—that he had decided in his heart.

「Yes, that's true. In other words, I want to spoil this strategy.」

An unwavering tone. Words that conveyed nothing more than a certain resolution. The words echoed with what was undoubtedly Arisuin's true feelings.

He was already determined. He would make sure the strategy failed.

「Why? You came to the academy and became close with Shizuku for this, didn't you?」

「…Yes, that was certainly how it was supposed to be.」

Ikki asked why Arisuin was making this double-cross, and Arisuin gave a troubled smile.

「But I grew fond of Shizuku despite myself, you know?」

While gazing at the silver-haired girl before him, Arisuin reflected.

A strained family. Broken blood relationships. Many absurdities. In the middle of all of that, wounded and lost, accepting anything and everything... even if she couldn't be the closest at her brother's side, this girl would continue to love the one person who was her brother.

In the eyes of Arisuin who couldn't endure the world's absurdities and abandoned love, Shizuku's way was exceedingly noble and dazzling.

And because of that, Arisuin had found himself thinking carefully for some time.

The strong take, the weak are taken from. The words from Wallenstein back then, even if they were the truth of this hellish world―he didn't want to take something from this high-minded girl.

Because if he did, he'd be no different from the gang who took everything away from him back then.

「If you ask me why, that's the entire reason for my actions. I don't want to ruin Shizuku's wish, or the dream of the person who's precious to her. I don't want to ruin anyone. …So for that reason, I want to cooperate with everyone. In order to protect the stage where all of your dreams take place, the Seven Stars Sword-Art Festival.」

「Cooperate?」

「Yes. Everyone in Akatsuki Academy is powerful in the underworld. If we fight them honestly, they're too strong. Because of that, the best chance to defeat them would be with a surprise attack.」

Treachery from an ally. No matter what kind of fighter, one could not respond to that. It was why a spy had been sent into Hagun, so that Akatsuki would have no chance of being defeated.

―It was the exact scheme that Akatsuki would now fall target to.

So Arisuin had, until this last moment and without showing the slightest sign of dubiousness, acted as a member of Akatsuki would. In order to create the circumstances for the best chance of a one-hundred-percent surprise attack.

「If Hagun completely turns the tables on Akatsuki here, their calculations would be perfectly disrupted. Akatsuki Academy won't be able to appear at the Seven Stars Sword-Art Festival, nor can they flee. ...So please. Cooperate with me, and crush Akatsuki's machinations.」

Concluding his words, Arisuin bowed his head deeply in petition.

It was all for Shizuku and the people she completely loved. Doing one good deed after all this time, he didn't hope to preserve their relationship. He was a murderer, and the fact that he had always been deceiving Shizuku and the others wouldn't change.

Shizuku would probably never call him "big sister" ever again. Just like the little sisters he had before. But that was fine. He didn't mind if Shizuku's everyday life no longer included him if her hopes, and the people important to her, were protected. That was all Arisuin wished for, his true motive that carried no falsehood.

However….

「E-Even if you say that, I can't believe you…! After all, isn't Rebellion a terrorist group full of murderers!?」

「That's right! You admit yourself that you're an assassin, so how can we trust a guy who's still taking our ability to move right now!?」

Alas, people had no way of telling what was in someone else's heart. Especially for the Hagure sisters who knew him the least, it was only natural for them to express that view. The two of them were making expressions of dismay and repugnance at the assassin they were facing, who deviated from the framework of their own common sense. Such a murderer had been living nearby up to now.

Dread. Fright. Revulsion. Such emotions of strong rejection. But such reactions couldn't be helped. If anyone found out that her neighbor was a killer who had personally killed dozens of people, she would probably be terrified. The everyday conversations they had casually shared would all turn nauseatingly repulsive.

Arisuin's assassination targets were underworld criminals like himself, but a murderer was a murderer. The two's reactions were extremely justified. So Arisuin said―

「I think what Hagure-senpai said is quite right. I'm sure you can't trust what a murderer like me tells you, since I've been betraying all of you for all this time. So after this matter ends, I promise I won't appear before you again, and if I somehow come to harm during this plan, I don't mind if you abandon me―but please, I ask that you believe me for one hour.」

Recognizing of course that his own request couldn't be trusted, he still bowed and begged.

Arisuin understood. He could do nothing other than beg. He had no way of making them completely understand his inner heart. So in that case, he could only speak the plain truth, bow his head, and convey his good faith as best he can.

To Arisuin as he bowed this way, Touka asked―

「I have a concern. The organization that hired Rebellion to destroy the Seven Stars Sword-Art Festival, the one who sponsored you… who are they?」

「―I can't answer you right now.」

「Why is that?」

「…It is not an enemy we can manage. To tell you will only distract you uselessly. So I won't say at the moment.」

「H-Hey! Are you keeping it a secret!?」

「We really can't trust this shady guy after all!」

To the jeering Hagure sisters, Touka gave a command of "wait".

「―If we say we don't believe you, what do you intend to do?」

「If it comes to that, I will have the bus make a U-turn, and make us escape as far as possible.」

To Touka's question, Arisuin replied without hesitation, because this was the last measure he had been thinking for quite a long time about.

「Though since holding on to all of you is impossible to begin with, it's really just my own useless resistance. For me, I can only reliably exploit the advantage of unpreparedness at the start.」

「I see. I understand your view well.」

It was probably the dignity of the student council president. In this chaotic place with the erratic conversation, Touka had quickly settled the comments, and arranged the conclusion.

「…What will it be, Kurogane-kun?」

She passed the entire decision down and sought the opinion of one who would make the judgment.

「To flee or to fight, to believe him or to not believe him, right now it's a race against time. This is not a situation where we can exchange opinions leisurely. You are the team leader for the Seven Stars Sword-Art Festival. I believe you are the most qualified to pass judgment on this matter.」

In response, Ikki sank into silence, and considered what they should do.

At the present moment, he could not have complete faith in Arisuin. However, like Shizuku had pointed out, if he considered Arisuin's standpoint, it was true that Arisuin's actions did not benefit the enemy. Ikki thought it over… and for an instant, he peeked at Shizuku's expression―he answered.

「I think we'll try trusting Alice.」