Chapter - 11

「It is said,

Conflict is evil, for from it is born hatred;

Peace is good, for from it is born kindness;

Violence is a sin, for by it we harm our fellow man;

Conciliation is a virtue, for by we care for them;

「If mankind were sensible, we would surely think this way.

「But, despite this, humankind nonetheless yearns for strength!

To be stronger than all others! To be bolder than all others! Overwhelming power, before which none can stand! Absolute power, with which you shall do as you please!

「Let them speak, who have never longed for this. Let them open their mouths, who have never desired it.

All who were born into this world have dreamed—and gave some up when they lost their way.

Now, those who dream of staking their lives to challenge themselves and their peers have gathered here, at this festival!

「For Hokkaido—Rokuzon Academy.

For Tohoku—Kyomon Academy.

For North Kanto—Donrou Academy.

For South Kanto—Hagun Academy.

For Kinki—Bukyoku Academy.

For Chugoku-Shikoku—Rentei Academy.

For Kyushu-Okinawa—Bunkyoku Academy.

And last but not least—our debutant, Akatsuki Academy.

「Thirty-two have been chosen from among the eight schools, each one a magnificent knight.

Even so, only one may claim the title of 'Seven Stars Sword King'—the name of Japan's number one student knight!

Therefore, we shall decide the better man with sword in hand, for is that not the chivalric tradition?

「…Our thirty-two young, noble champions.

The time is now! If only at this time, none shall reproach you!

Fight as you wish, as you will—fight with everything you have!

With this, I declare that the sixty-second Seven Stars Sword-Art Festival… has begun!」

Elsewhere, in Tokyo's Hagun Academy, a knight woke up in an infirmary.

"…Nnn…."

Heavy-lidded eyes opened to reflect an unfamiliar white ceiling.

Where… am I?

The young woman was slightly confused by that sight. It was partly because she had indeed nearly never been in a hospital—but it was mostly the grogginess that came from waking from a long slumber. Though once she understood what was going on, she sat upright reflexively—and doing so alerted the blonde, emerald-eyed Kanata Toutakubara to the sound of moving sheets.

Kanata turned her eyes from the television mounted in the room and heaved a sigh of relief.

"Ah! Touka-chan, you're awake… thank goodness!"

"Kana-cha-ack!"

Seeing Kanata by her bedside, Touka attempted to call out to her, but wound up biting her tongue hard.

"Ahm ahl tongue tieedd…."

"I guess it's no surprise that your body is a little dull. You've been napping for quite a while, after all."

"I was asleep…?"

Well then, how had she come to sleep for so long that her body felt this heavy? As Touka tried to marshall her fragmented memories—

「Now then! The turning point in the first round of the Seven Stars Sword-Art Festival is presently drawing near. On the cards is the much-anticipated final matchup of Block B, Hagun Academy's Crimson Princess—Stella Vermillion! Her opponent, Kyomon Academy's Icy Laughter—Mikoto Tsuruya! Our analyst, Muroto-pro, is here with us. Muroto-pro, what do you think of this match—」

The words coming from the television screen brought the memories flowing back.

During Akatsuki's attack, she had led the student council against the Sword Emperor of Wind Ouma Kurogane in order to protect Stella Vermillion, and had been defeated by the former. What happened after that? She didn't know, and with an ashen face she turned to Kanata.

"Kana-chan, what happened!? What about Stella-san!? Are Kurogane-kun and the others alright!?"

"They're fine. The Hagure sisters managed to protect Vermillion-san. Kurogane-kun sustained some injuries, but he has since recovered and is currently on-site at the event. As for us, we were all wounded by illusionary form, so there is nothing particularly wrong with us—except for you and the vice president. The two of you took too much damage, and thus lapsed into a comatose state."

"Uta-kun as well?"

"Yes."

Kanata's gaze moved behind Touka. Following suit, she noticed Utakata lying in a deep sleep on the bed next to hers.

"…Uta-kun…."

"Similar to you, his recovery has only been slowed because of extreme exhaustion, and thus the vice president's life is not in danger. I think he will likely awaken later today, or else tomorrow."

"Is that…so…haaa…."

Having heard the details of that which had transpired after she had lost consciousness, Touka sighed heavily.

For now, I guess I did execute the bare minimum of my duties as Student Council President….

At the very least, she had managed to prevent that attack from completely destroying Hagun Academy, and that was enough. Still, all this was thanks also to her friends who had chosen to remain on the frontline with her.

"Thank you, Kana-chan."

"…Haha. Please do give the others your thanks too. They'll definitely be happy."

"Yes, I'll do that."

「Oh, no, it appears that we have a problem!」

A cry, almost one of anguish, could be heard from the television.

"Oh my, it seems like quite the uproar there. I wonder what the trouble is?"

"I don't know. What could it be?"

Naturally, their eyes shifted to the TV screen. In it, they could see a bespectacled man almost raining sweat.

「Oh dear, it seems that representative Stella Vermillion has neither arrived at the venue nor responded to the signal for the match to begin!」

Now that was unexpected.

"Eeeeehhh!?"

hard, and thus sought out Saikyou-sensei to train her one-on-one afterward. I think this may be why they did not travel together as a result."

"So that's how it is. But then, if she was travelling with Saikyou-sensei, why would she be—"

Why would she still not be at the venue by the time that the festival began? Kanata and Touka were puzzled. In the meantime, they continued to receive information from the TV broadcast.

「Ah, we have just received a message from the judges. Representative Stella Vermillion has contacted them to inform them that due to a train fault that has delayed her ride, she will arrive at the venue late.」

「That's quite the problem. But isn't the party for the representatives supposed to be held two days before the event, to discourage these things from happening?」

「That's true. She was supposed to have arrived in Osaka together with the other participants from Hagun…. Oh dear, what's this? Representative Mikoto Tsuruya has requested that the judges grant her a victory by forfeiture!」

"Might Stella-san wind up losing by forfeit at this rate?"

Kanata asked, watching the screen with a concerned expression. Touka shook her head.

"No, I'm sure she'll be fine."

Having participated in the previous Seven Stars Sword-Art Festival as the team captain, she had at that time by and large gotten a good grasp of the festival's rules.

"It is not a rule that participants have to arrive two days before. In the event that someone is indeed late, that match can be postponed."

「Well, the judges have presently sent us their ruling. They declare that "in accordance with the rules, the fourth match of Block B shall be postponed—therefore, we will not recognize a victory by forfeit."」

「Then there's nothing to it then. Those are the rules, after all.」

「Are there any penalties for being late?」

「There will be none in this case, since the delay in the train schedule has also been confirmed by the judges. Nonetheless, it would be good if we could formalize arriving two days early as a rule—it would prevent such things from happening.」

All decisions concerning the running of the Seven Stars Sword-Art Festival were made via consensus of the judges. Like in many other fighting competitions, this decision could not be reversed once passed. In other words, thanks to this decision, Stella was no longer in any danger of forfeiting. Kanata sighed in relief.

"Haa. That really had me in suspense."

"But if she cannot make it before the time that the match was shifted back to, she is out."

It would be good if she could, though….

Incidentally, Stella's match would have been the last of Block B's first round matches. At that moment, an announcement came from the venue.

「Everyone, your attention please: there will be a ten minute intermission while we prepare the ring, following which we will promptly begin Block C's first round matches.」

"So we're already at the halfway-mark of the first round. It's shocking that I missed such a good deal of it. Say, Kana-chan, is Kurogane-kun's match already over?"

"No. His is the fourth match of Block C, which is after this."

"That's great…."

If nothing else, Ikki was the one who became a representative by defeating her. As Raikiri, his was one match she could not miss.

"By the way, who's his opponent?"

"Ah, right, you didn't see the tournament brackets since you were unconscious at that time…."

"Yes. So, Kana-chan, who is Kurogane-kun's opponent?"

"This matchup would be of great interest to you, President."

Kanata made a complicated expression, as though trying to suppress a wry smile. Touka suddenly had a horrible premonition—

"The Worst One's opponent in the first round is… Yuudai Moroboshi, the Seven Stars Sword King'."

—that hit the mark almost immediately.

"Kurogane-kun drew the short straw in the first round once again, didn't he?"

"Yes, he did. It was like this too during the selection tournament…. I think he just doesn't have any luck in general."

"But I suppose one could think of it as the necessary trials that a hero must go through, no?"

Still, what bad luck, to have been paired against the Seven Stars Sword King right from the get-go. Adjustments had been made to the tournament style to adapt to the sharp decrease in the number of competitors this year, resulting in the seeding being discarded. It seemed that Ikki had lost out as a result.

It's as if he's some kind of trouble magnet….

"As Raikiri, who has fought them both, what do you think of this match between the Worst One and the Seven Stars Sword King?"

Kanata asked suddenly, looking to Touka for a prediction. She was probably bored now that the broadcast had been temporarily replaced by commercials due to the break.

"Well, let's see…."

Touka closed her eyes, thinking.

"Sixty to forty in favour of Moroboshi-kun, I'd say."

"Sixty-forty. That's quite a narrow margin, considering that it's the Seven Stars Sword King."

"This conjecture seems like an exercise in improbability if we consider their respective places in society, but I have my reasons."

"And what sorts of reasons are those?"

"Kurogane-kun has a good affinity for opponents like Moroboshi-kun. Do you know of Moroboshi-kun's Noble Art, Tiger Bite?"

"It's the ability to dispel other Noble Arts, isn't it?"

"Yes. Blazers are capable of performing superhuman feats known as Noble Arts. In other words, we can use magic. Therefore the ability to devour and negate magical abilities grants its user an overwhelming advantage over all sorts of Blazers. The water of Lorelei, the fire of the Crimson Princess, the wind of the Sword Emperor of Wind—none of these are of any use against Moroboshi-kun. His Tora-Ou will simply tear them all to pieces."

"True. You were forced out of close range by it as well, President."

Touka nodded. A year ago, she had been stalemated in long-range combat due to Tiger Bite dispelling all of Raikiri's lightning bolts. Without any other options she had attempted to use Raikiri's extreme swiftness to end the battle without giving Moroboshi the chance to counterattack, but his skilled spearmanship ensured that she never got in range to use Raikiri, resulting in her defeat. To her, those were the memories of a bitter defeat.

"Now that you put it like that, it really is a rather overpowered skill."

"It is. It's only useful against Blazers, but as far as that goes, its ability to one-up any Blazer is unbelievable… however, Kurogane-kun isn't someone who relies on magic in battle in the first place. He relies on martial arts to an extent that is rare amongst Blazers, only using magic at the most opportune moments. On the other hand, Tiger Bite is a Noble Art that exists purely to negate other Noble Arts. It does not itself have any offensive power. As such, Moroboshi-kun's offensive options would all be limited to his spearmanship—his own martial arts."

Therefore the outcome of the match between the two was predicated on a contest of martial skill. This was a contest in which a sword was at a disadvantage in terms of reach compared to a spear.

"That said, I don't think that a reach advantage alone is sufficient to bring the Crownless Sword King to heel."

Her Raikiri had been sealed by that reach advantage last year. But Ikki's mobility, judgement and the sheer number of tricks he had up his sleeve at mid-range had long surpassed the level of a student knight. It would be a tall order to keep a swordsman of that level pinned within one's attack range, even for the Seven Stars Sword King.

"So the Seven Stars Sword King being upset in the first round…."

"…Is a distinct possibility."

At the very least, it wouldn't become a one-sided match. Of this Touka—having fought both Sword Kings—could be sure. Ikki's skill in close-range combat was undoubtedly national-class. He could even contest for the crown of the Seven Stars Sword King.

Even so, drawing the Seven Stars Sword King in the first round isn't something you can even call bad luck.

But if he was at his peak, he could cause a huge upset.

"Do your best, Kurogane-kun!"

So she hoped, and sent Ikki her support from afar—from Tokyo to Osaka.