83. Darkness and Sword King Festival [14]

As soon as we met, I was called『inhuman』and『monster』. So I decided to introduce myself for the time being.

It’s not too late to clear up the strange misunderstandings.

「Uh… Sebas Chandler-san, right? Nice to meet you, I’m a first-year student.」

When I called out to him,

「Thousand Blade Academy vs. White Lily Academy – It was Thousand Blade Academy that won the fierce match between the two『Five Academy』! Is this finally the year, where the Old King resurrects!!!?」

The commentator declared the victory of Thousand Blade Academy loudly.

Right after that.

「I never thought they’d beat White Lily Academy. This year’s Thousand Blade Academy is different!」

「Allen Rodore, Sie Arcstria, and Sebas Chandler! Their names are worth remembering!」

「That『First-Year of Darkness』was especially terrific! Who would’ve imagined that『Prodigy』would lose!?」

The audience’s cheers and encouragement showered on us.

「Fufufu! We’re amazing, right!」

「No, Lilim… both of us lost though…」

As Lilim-senpai puffed her chest with pride, Ferris-senpai retorted.

Looking at such a normal scene, I chuckled involuntarily.

「-We found you, Sebas Chandler!」

A deep, rough voice echoed, and more than 30 Senior Holy Knights pushed into the venue all at once.

「Don’t move!」

「Sebas Chandler, you are charged with a great number of assaults. We’d like you to come to the Holy Knights Association.」

「If you resist, we’ll have to take you by force!」

All of them have already brought out their soul dress, and they assumed an attack stance so they could rush him immediately if he resisted.

As the venue became noisy by the sudden situation,

「Haa… You guys are really persistent.」

Sebas-san sighed, shrugging his shoulders.

Apparently, he knew why they were here.

And then,

「Mou… Sebas, what the hell did you do this time?」

The president did not look particularly surprised, and asked so exasperatedly.

「No, for some reason, border security was unusually tight, so I broke through in a slightly rough manner. And I couldn’t really explain my situation either…」

The Holy Ronelia Empire is a country that is prohibited from travel.

There is no way the Holy Knights would let him get away easily with a flimsy reason as『To go pick a blood diamond due to a punishment game』.

(Even so… He really isn’t lucky.)

It was only recently that border security had become stricter.

Arcstria House have just recently revised and strengthened their security network due to the invasion of the Black Organization – Zack Bomber and Thor Sammons.

「Haa… Sebas, go to the Holy Knights Association before the problem gets bigger. I’ll pick you up later. Be quiet until then, okay?」

「Understood! Oi, you guys better be thankful to the president. Because of her mercy, you were able to escape from getting hurt.」

Even with this number of Senior Holy Knights, Sebas-san spoke with confidence.

(Wow, he has some nerve…)

Perhaps he has the confidence that he can win against all of them.

However, the president lifted an eyebrow towards Sebas-san’s haughty attitude.

「……Sebas? I said, be quiet, right?」

「Y-Yes!」

Sebas-san, in accordance with the president’s order, was taken away by the Senior Holy Knights.

(Fuu, what kind of relationship do they have?)

I was a little interested, but… let’s ask that another time.

In any case, we won the fierce battle with the excellent White Lily Academy, and returned to the special viewing seat of Thousand Blade Academy.

When I sat down in my seat and finally calmed down,

「…Nee, Allen-kun. Will you be alright in the next fight?」

The president asked hesitantly.

「Well… If my opponent is not at Idol-san’s level, there’s no big problem.」

In the fight with her, I should have consumed all my spiritual power, but…

For some reason, my condition was in a perfect form like never before.

The wound in my chest was completely healed now. Unusual vitality filled my body to the brim from head to toe.

(I wonder what on earth is this?)

It was a strange feeling. Like something other than spiritual power was coursing through my body.

But this is not the first time.

I’ve experienced this feeling once before.

(If I remember correctly, it was around the time when I was fighting against the president in the Club Budget War…)

When I was vacantly thinking back on those old days,

「I-I see… You can still fight even after all that.」

The president smiled bitterly.

「-What about Lilim and Ferris?」

「Ah… I’m sorry. It’ll be a little tough.」

「I’m sorry, but it’s the same for me. My spiritual power is completely empty though…」

The two of them had sad looks and shook their heads quietly.

「I see, it’s the same for me. I overdid it in the Vice General battle a while ago, so I can’t even afford to bring out my soul dress anymore.」

The president, Lilim-senpai, and Ferris-senpai – were totally exhausted.

Sebas-san was taken away by the Senior Holy Knights in the previous incident. So he was absent.

-To be honest, there was no other way out of this situation.

「Fuu… I am afraid we will have to withdraw this time.」

The president heaved a large sigh and made the decision.

「I… see…」

It’s a little unfortunate, but it can no longer be helped.

The match between swordsmen is a serious battle.

If they forcibly fought in a wounded state as they are now, the president and senpais might suffer serious injuries.

In times like this, you should not overdo it, rest the body, and aim for the next opportunity.

「I am sorry, Allen-kun. We senpais are holding you back…」

「I’m sorry, Allen-kun. Today, I was fully made realise that I lack training.」

「……I’m a little sorry too, though.」

The president, Lilim-senpai, and Ferris-senpai apologised.

I bowed my head to the three senpais.

「P-Please don’t worry. Now that I think about it, I’m feeling a little tired, too. So it was just the right decision.」

I told a small lie so as not to hurt the president and senpais’ feelings.

■

After withdrawing from the semi-finals, our final placement was fourth place.

We can’t participate in the finals tomorrow, but…

The audience applauded us for our achievement of defeating White Lily Academy.

(Let’s do our best to advance to the finals next year.)

From tomorrow, classes will start again as usual.

Training of soul dress, improvement of physical strength, manipulation of darkness, and, of course, I can’t miss the daily sword swinging.

(Fufu… There are still a lot of things to be done!)

A lot of things – which means I can become much stronger.

When I thought about it, a smile naturally came to my face.

After that, the long closing ceremony ended – bringing an end to the Sword King Festival of Thousand Blade Academy.

At the same time, the seniors, who were cheering me on in the audience, crowded around me all at once.

「I was watching you, Allen! You played such an active part! If I’m not mistaken, you won all the battles. You never lost, right!?」

「Hey, hey, I’d like to join your Practice-Swing Club too! Actually, please teach me swordsmanship already!」

「Or rather, why are you the only one who is so lively!?」

While being jostled by the seniors, I was asked questions in rapid succession.

I left the National Holy Battlefield, surrounded by a lot of friends

But right after that, my eyes widened in shock.

(W-What… is this!?)

『Extra』was distributed at the exit of the National Holy Battlefield.

Of course, it does not matter that extra is being distributed.

The problem is『my face』which decorated the front page.

『That Prodigy Hydra is defeated!? The nameless swordsman, Allen Rodore!』

『The Real Strongest First-Year, Allen Rodore! The secret behind his strength is!?』

『The Supernova Clad In Jet-Black Darkness – Allen Rodore!!!』

The headlines written in large font could be read from a distance.

(W-What’s going on…?)

When I was petrified like a stone statue before the unexpected situation,

「Wow… Allen-kun, you have become famous…」

「Kuh, I envy you…! Next time, I’ll play an active part instead and make the name of『Lilim Tsuorine』known to the whole country!」

「No, I think this would normally be embarrassing though…」

The president and senpais took an extra each and said so as though it was someone else’s problem.

(T-This is…)

Everywhere I looked – the extras with my face decorating the entire page were being distributed.

The general audience who received it, saw my face on the extra, and repeatedly shot glances at me.

I felt very embarrassed, not knowing what to say.

「Let’s go home early…」

The senpais followed behind me as I quickly walked towards the dorm.

Then I navigated through the streets of Orest, finally returning to my and Ria’s dorm.

「Fuu… I’m tired.」

「Ahaha. It was hard, huh… Allen.」

「Aa, I was astonished by the extra at the end.」

Then I placed my sword at the usual spot, and slouched onto the sofa, exhaling loudly.

「Fuu…」

Strangely, my body was so energetic, but…

Mentally, I was pretty tired.

I’m not sure if that was a good thing or not.

(…In such cases, there’s nothing better than going to bed early.)

Then I ate dinner, took a bath, and went to bed with Ria.

「Good night, Ria.」

「Yes. Good night, Allen.」

When the lights were turned off, I slowly closed my eyes.

And then ten, twenty, thirty minutes passed, but

(Strange, isn’t it? …Yes, there’s something strange after all.)

There’s a thing that has been bothering me for a while, and I couldn’t sleep.

「…Naa, Ria… Are you awake?」

「…Un, what’s wrong?」

「It’s alright if I’m mistaken, but you seem to be a little down, Ria.」

Yes.

Ever since I won against Idol-san, Ria seemed a little down.

She smiles as usual, but I could feel a lack of shine on her face from time to time.

And then,

「…Yeah, a little.」

She nodded.

「If you have any problems, why don’t you talk to me?『Just talking to someone makes you feel better』, you know?」

This line was from the『Hermit of Time』who happened to be a good listener.

「……It’s just that, Allen beat Idol, an amazing swordsman, today. You got a lot of applause from the audience and were praised by the seniors.That in itself, makes me very happy, but… I feel like you’ve gone somewhere far away. When I think about that, my heart aches. I wonder what this feeling is… I don’t understand it.」

Ria whispered so, and fell silent.

「I see.」

「Un.」

「……」

「……」

An indescribable silence loomed upon our bedroom.

(Heart aches, huh… This is quite difficult.)

Unfortunately, I don’t have any knowledge of psychiatry.

It’s hard to identify why Ria is having pains in her chest.

But… this alone I can declare firmly.

「As for me, I don’t really understand what Ria is feeling. However, there’s one thing I can say for certain.」

「……What?」

「I will always be by Ria’s side. I won’t go anywhere. When I go somewhere, we’ll go together.」

「……Really?」

As Ria asked me with a downcast look,

「Aa, it’s a promise.」

I strongly affirmed.

「……T-Thank you.」

She said, burying her face in the bed cover, and we fell silent again.

「H-How do you feel? Do you feel a little calm?」

「Un… I feel very happy.」

「Well, that’s good.」

Then, Ria and I held hands, and went to sleep.

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