77. Darkness and Sword King Festival [8]

After we broke through the qualifying rounds of the Sword King Festival, I went back to the dormitory with Ria after sharing the joy of victory with the president and everyone else from Thousand Blade Academy.

「Fuu… I’m a little tired…」

I took off my shoes at the door, and exhaled loudly.

「Fufu, good job. It was a big success today.」

「Thanks to Ria’s support.」

I put my sword down, and slouched onto the sofa.

(It was a really tense day…)

Today alone, I fought nearly ten swordsmen – against extremely talented swordsmen representing each academy.

I did not confront a single soul-dress user who excelled at long-range attacks, so I managed to win somehow.

(…I’m mentally tired.)

The match between swordsmen is a serious battle.

Just before the start of the match, I steeled myself and was tensed throughout the match.

It is only natural to be tired, because I repeated it nearly ten times.

(Let’s take a break… Just for a little bit…)

I decided to close my eyes on the sofa for a little while.

And then,

「Nee…, Al… Nee Allen, wake up.」

「Nn… Ah, Ri-Ria…?」

When I came to, Ria was shaking my shoulder.

「Mou… If you sleep in a place like this, you’ll catch a cold.」

「A-Aa, sorry…」

It seems that I fell asleep on the sofa.

「Nn…!」

In order to get rid of sleepiness, I stood up and stretched my body,

「Allen, the bath has been heated, but… What do you want to do? Would you like to eat first?」

Ria tilted her head saying so.

It seems that while I was asleep, she has been taking care of various things.

「Thank you, Ria. Let’s see… I’ll take a bath first.」

「I see. But don’t fall asleep in the bath, okay?」

「Aha, I know.」

Then I entered the bath which Ria prepared, ate her homemade Ramzac, and went to bed relatively early at 9pm.

「Fuwaa… Un… Good night, Ria.」

「Fufu… Good night, Allen.」

Feeling Ria next to me as usual, my consciousness slowly faded into slumber.

■

And the next day arrived.

Just like yesterday, I joined with the president and senpais before going to the National Holy Battlefield.

The National Holy Battlefield is an important cultural property designated by the government and is open to the public during the Sword King Festival and some other festivals.

The stone-like building had a similar historic vibe to Vesteria’s Great Arena. It was built with solemnity and presence.

「-I would like to end the greetings here. Thank you for your attention.」

At the end of the speech by the Sword King Festival Executive Committee, applause was sent from the full house venue.

From there, a woman in the commentary was in charge of advancing the festival.

「Today is the main rounds of the Sword King Festival! Grand battles to determine the pinnacle of Swordsmanship Academy is about to begin!」

At that moment,

Thunderous cheers, applause, support, and finger whistles broke out collectively.

(……!?)

I felt the『pressure of sound』for the first time in my life.

It was such a strange feeling, as though an electric shock was running through my skin.

「So let’s move on to the『lottery』to decide the match card!」

The commentator, who held the microphone in the front row of the audience seat, took out two large boxes.

On the surface of each box, the numbers『One』and『Two』were written.

「The lottery method is simple and clear! Boxes『One』and『Two』contain balls with the names of the Academies that broke through the first place and second place respectively! From now on, I’m going to take one ball out of each box. The academies listed on the balls will match against each other!」

She rolled up her right sleeve and put her hand in box『One』after stating the drawing method.

「Now, the first commemorative match! They came out right from the start! One of the Five Academy, Thousand Blade Academy!」

The commentator held up the ball which had『Thousand Blade Academy』written on it high.

「The first match itself, huh…」

「Right away it would seem… Let’s do our best!」

「Yoshaa! Let’s just do it!」

「Uwaa… If possible, the third or fourth match would’ve been better though…」

Tension ran through all four of us.

Then, the commentator put her hand in box『Two』with the same vigour.

「Now, from box『two』- It’s Snow Academy! But, Snow Academy was so exhausted in the qualifying rounds that there was a call this morning, saying that they’re『withdrawing from the main rounds』. Thus, it will be a default win for Thousand Blade Academy! Thousand Blade Academy, luck is with you today!」

「Wi-Withdrawing…?」

When I muttered to myself, the president gently added an explanation from the side.

「They probably exhausted themselves in the qualifying rounds. In the『main rounds』, one or two academies are like this every year.」

「I see… That’s what it was…」

Since every single battle was fought fiercely, they’re unable to recover within a single day.

As I was thinking about that,

「Now, let’s move on and start the draw for the second match!」

The commentator put her hand in box『One』again.

「The only one who contacted us, saying『withdrawing from the main rounds』is Snow Academy. There will be no more default wins after this! Well, the next academy is… Here they come! They’re also one of the Five Academy – Ice King Academy!」

Ice King Academy – A super-famous swordsmanship academy where Sid-san and Cain-san belong to and Ferris-san serves as the director.

「Facing them will be… It is the up-and-coming dark horse, Phantom Academy, who advanced to the scene of Sword King Festival main rounds as early as their third year of establishment!」

Phantom Academy, huh…

That’s a name I’ve never heard of.

「From here on, we will start the『Vanguard battle』! Everyone from Ice King Academy and Phantom Academy, get ready! Everyone else, please move to the special seating!」

We followed the instructions of the commentator and headed to the special seat.

Each of the sixteen academies that participated in the tournament was assigned a special viewing seat in the front row of the audience seats.

When the four of us arrived at the special seat dedicated to Thousand Blade Academy,

「Well then, we’ll introduce the contestants before the start of the battle!」

As usual, the commentator began to introduce the contestants.

「The Vanguard of Ice King Academy – Sid Euclius! Super genius swordsman who manifested his soul dress during his childhood! He won all the qualifying matches with overwhelming ability. His opponents didn’t even stand a chance. He has a great performance record so far! And also a super problem child that caused a violent incident at the Big Five Holy Festival soon after enrolling, and was suspended for a month!」

Sid-san, who received the introduction, slowly climbed up to the stone stage.

(Even so, the『Big Five Holy Festival』, huh …)

It happened only four months ago, but… It feels like a long time ago.

「And the Vanguard of Phantom Academy – Zari Drahl! This is… We don’t have any data at hand! There is only the super-recent data that he won all the matches in the qualifying round of the D Group! Truly a『nameless』contestant, I wonder what kind of fight he’ll show us!」

When the commentator exclaimed, Zari-san, dressed in a scarlet robe that seemed to be the uniform of Phantom Academy, went up to the stage.

I could feel the tense air between the two contestants even from here.

「Are you both ready! Then the Vanguard battle – Begin!」

The commentator signaled the start of the battle.

「Drag in -〈Acid Swamp〉!」

At the same time as the signal to start the battle, Zari-san brought out his soul dress. Sid-san, on the other hand, with his sword hanging sloppily in his right hand, simply stared at his opponent absentmindedly.

「HAAAAAAAAAAAAA!」

Zari-san’s roar echoed throughout the venue, and the match between the Ice King Academy and Phantom Academy began.

And the battle was awfully one-sided.

「Oi Oi… Is it over already? This doesn’t even serve as a warm up…」

「Kuh… Monster…」

Without even using his soul dress, Sid-san, with his overwhelming physical ability, trampled down Zari-san.

「S-Strong…」

He was incomparable to the time we fought before.

Arm strength, Leg strength, Reaction speed, Sword speed – the physical ability that is the basis of swordsmanship, had improved to the extent of『abnormal』.

In reaction to the overwhelming difference in power, the entire venue including the commentator, gasped.

「-HAA!? E-Excuse me! Winner, Sid Euclius! Man… It was an amazing match! Superhuman body movement that left everyone speechless!」

The commentator talked about the battle briefly.

「Now, continuing on, let’s move to the next battle!」

After that, she introduced the contestants of both academies again, and the Second battle began.

■

After that, contrary to popular expectations, Ice King Academy was defeated by Phantom Academy.

「H-How do I say this!? One of the Five Academy, Ice King Academy, was defeated in the best 16 stage!?」

When the commentator said so, a big commotion broke out among the audience.

Everyone was surprised by the unexpected result.

In the Vanguard battle, Sid-san won an overwhelming victory.

And in the successive Second battle, Center battle, and Vice General battle, were all won by Phantom Academy.

And then,

「Haha! The only decent swordsman was the guy at the start, Sid alone!? How pathetic Ice King Academy! The 2nd and 3rd year students were just for show, is it! Oi, Sid! You better quit that bumpkin Ice King Academy, and come to the Phantom Academy!」

He was a contestant of Phantom Academy. The man who just fought in the『Vice General Battle』, Rahm Riot, ridiculed the Ice King Academy.

(This is bad…)

I have learned one thing during the joint summer camp with Ice King Academy.

(Even with the way Sid-san is, he is someone with a strong sense of camaraderie…)

Although he has a rough temperament, at his root, he is kind. There’s no way he’ll take the insult of his friends lying down.

And then,

「A”a!? Bastard scum… What did you just say?」

Sid-san, who seemed clearly displeased, approached Phantom Academy’s Vice General, Rahm-san.

「S-Stop…! Don’t let him get to you, Sid!」

The seniors of Ice King Academy desperately tried to stop him, but…

Sid-san, who was burning with anger, could no longer be stopped.

As though to add fuel to the fire,

「Haha! I’ll say it however many times you want! Ice King Academy is a『gathering of incompetence』!」

Rahm-san provoked him again.

「Ho… If you really want to die that badly… I’ll kill you as you wish! Devour all -〈Vanargand〉!」

At that moment, extreme cold air swept through the venue.

「Haha! Amusing, a first-year brat wants to kill me!? Bore -〈Snake Poison〉!」

Thus, the all-out fight that no one foresaw began.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep