“Ah!”

Seeing Roy suddenly slam Shizuya Kirihara face first into the pavement, the two girls who had been fawning turned deathly pale and let out screams of terror.

The surrounding pedestrians, noticing the commotion, immediately scattered. They recognized the Hagun Academy uniforms. In this world, ordinary citizens knew better than to get involved in the affairs of Blazers.

A clash between Mage Knights could easily result in collateral damage, and for an ordinary human, even a minor shockwave could be fatal.

“Cough! You bastard… how dare you…”

Kirihara had been thrown so hard that his senses were completely scrambled. It felt as though every bone in his body had been momentarily disassembled.

After a few agonizing seconds, he finally caught his breath and glared up at Roy with venomous hatred.

However, the only response he received was the sole of Roy’s shoe pressing firmly down on him, forcing him to swallow the rest of his curse.

Kirihara tried to push himself up from the ground, but Roy simply shifted his weight onto Kirihara’s shoulder.

“I suddenly feel like what you said earlier was completely right,” Roy said with a mocking smile on his face. He glanced at the two girls trembling nearby.

“It really is bad luck to be in the company of trash. Look, those two girls are terrified out of their minds just because you’re so useless.”

Kirihara’s face contorted into a hideous, terrifying scowl. Intense hatred burst from his eyes. He looked as though he wanted to carve Roy into pieces.

“Hunting time…”

Kirihara gritted his teeth and began the incantation to manifest his Device, Oborozuki.

“Shizuya Kirihara, we are not on school grounds,” Ikki intervened timely, his voice calm but firm. “If you summon your Device in a public area without authorization, you will be severely punished.”

“As last year’s top freshman, I doubt you want a criminal stain on your record,” Ikki continued.

“After all, our Chairwoman has changed. The academy is now run by Kurono Shinguuji, the former World No. 3. She isn’t the previous Chairman who would turn a blind eye and let you do whatever you want.”

That single sentence made Kirihara’s face stiffen. His clenched fists shook.

In the end, he could only stare at Roy with impotent rage, as if trying to murder him with his gaze alone.

Roy knew exactly who Shizuya Kirihara was.

In the anime, this guy was an early stage antagonist. Because the Kurogane family had pressured Hagun Academy to prevent Ikki from graduating, the former Chairman had employed numerous underhanded methods to force Ikki to drop out. Kirihara was one of those tools.

As the Rookie King of the previous year, Kirihara had relied on the old administration’s protection to ruthlessly bully Ikki.

Anyone who dared get close to the Worst One was driven away by Kirihara’s harassment. Ikki had endured it all for a full year without retaliating, knowing that fighting back would give them the excuse they needed to expel him.

“Why so quiet? Run out of things to say?” Roy asked, pressing down harder on Kirihara’s shoulder, causing the boy to cry out in genuine pain.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have said those things, please forgive me!”

The pain broke through his ego. Kirihara turned pale, instantly abandoning his pride to beg for mercy at the top of his lungs.

Roy blinked. He hadn’t expected the arrogant guy to fold so pathetically.

“I’m sorry, Kurogane!” Seeing that Roy wasn’t letting go, a thoroughly humiliated Kirihara directed his apologies to Ikki.

Ikki wasn’t a cruel person. Hearing the apology, he simply nodded expressionlessly.

“Get lost.”

If they had been in a secluded alley, with Roy’s temperament, he might have done permanent damage to a scum like Kirihara.

But they were on a busy street. Furthermore, Roy had just enrolled in Hagun Academy and planned to participate in the Seven Star Sword Art Festival.

Catching a murder charge over a weakling wasn’t on his itinerary.

Feeling the crushing weight leave his body, Kirihara scrambled to his feet, stumbling as he desperately put distance between himself and Roy.

“Just you wait!”

Once he was a safe ten meters away, Kirihara threw out a cliché threat before bolting faster than a frightened rabbit.

The two girls, seeing their ‘boss’ flee in terror, hastily chased after him, terrified of being left behind with the monster who had effortlessly crushed him.

“That… I’m sorry to have troubled you,” Ikki said apologetically. Kirihara had specifically targeted him, but Roy had been dragged into the mess.

“I’m perfectly fine,” Roy smiled, brushing off the dust. “Besides, it’s not your fault.”

“My, what an interesting twist of fate, Roy.”

A slightly elegant, graceful voice suddenly drew the attention of both young men.

Walking slowly toward them was a beautiful girl dressed in a pristine, elegant white dress.

She held a parasol over her head, shielding her from the afternoon sun, a wide brimmed hat resting gracefully on her hair.

“Student Council Treasurer… Kanata Totokubara,” Ikki murmured, his posture stiffening.

As a student of Hagun Academy, he recognized the upper echelon of the Student Council.

Seeing the girl approach, Ikki’s nerves involuntarily tensed to their limit. As a master swordsman, his honed instincts could feel the terrifying, faint scent of blood and danger radiating from her delicate frame. She was known as the Scharlach Frau.

“What a coincidence,” Roy greeted her, his tone completely lacking in sincerity.

“A coincidence indeed. It seems every time I see you, Roy, I catch you in the middle of a conflict with someone,” Kanata said unhurriedly. A faint, elegant smile curved the corners of her lips beneath the shadow of her parasol.

“However, as a member of the Student Council, I suppose it is my duty to handle the aftermath of this little… incident.”

—

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