90. Top Secret and Thousand Blade Academy [7] – part 2

When I got off the stage with that question in mind,

「Allen, that was amazing!」

「I’d like to exchange swords with you again someday too.」

Ria and Rose said, laughing proudly.

After that, I chose the big stuffed hippo from among the luxury prizes and gave it to Ria.

「Ria, it’s the stuffed hippo you wanted.」

I handed it to her with more emotion than I expected.

「T-Thank you, Allen! I’m so happy!」

「Fufu, I see. That’s good.」

「Un, I’ll take care of it!」

Ria hugged the stuffed animal with a child-like smile.

「Yoshi, I’ve decided! Your name is Kabazou!」 1

She immediately gave a unique name to the hippo.

There was something off about her naming sense. But since she seemed happy about receiving the stuffed animal, I decided not to hamper it and held my tongue.

After that, we went around the academy and enjoyed various activities. By the time we noticed, it was already 5pm, which was the closing time of the Thousand Blade Festival.

The public visitors were already returning home, and the rest of the students were starting to clean up. I took down the decorations in the classroom while chatting with my classmates.

「The hot dog at Year 3 was really good… Damn, I should have eaten another one after all.」

「Did you try the choco banana at Year 2? That was exquisite!」

「The haunted house was super scary, wasn’t it? I thought I wouldn’t be able to stand anymore…」

Cleaning up while talking about all the memories we made today was quite fun.

I even felt a little lonely at the thought of the festival ending so soon.

After about an hour passed, the in-house broadcast rang when we were all gathered in Year 1 Class A as usual.

「This is Director Leia Lasnode. Students, you’ve all worked really hard today! I also had the time to visit the various activities, and all of them were wonderful! The evaluations from the visitor’s questionnaire was quite high, so this year’s Thousand Blade Festival can be considered a great success! With this, I close the curtain on the Thousand Blade Festival! Now then, it’s the opening of the long awaited “Thousand Blade Shadow Festival”! The night is still young!」

The moment Leia-sensei announced that,

「「「UOOOOOOHHHHHH!」」」

The screams of the second and third-year seniors could be heard from the upper floors

「Thousand Blade Shadow Festival?」

「What the hell is that? I didn’t hear about that…」

As the class buzzed, I remembered something that was said to me a while ago.

(I see…『The Real Thousand Blade Festival』that Jean-san mentioned was about this…)

It seems that the festival is not over yet.

No, the real festival seems to start from now on.

■

After that, the outline of the Thousand Blade Shadow Festival was explained through the in-house broadcast.

Thousand Blade Shadow Festival is a scramble for “gin“, a currency used only during the Thousand Blade Festival.

Students in each class must have at least one thousand gins earned from their activity.

Participation is not individually, but as a class unit.

Victory belongs to the class that collects the most “gin” by the time the festival ends.

Due to the absence of public visitors, the use of the soul dress was permitted.

(In other words, this is a real battle with the entire academy being the battlefield…)

A serious battle where anything goes; attacking under the cover of darkness, surprise strikes, one-vs-many.

A large prize money and the title of “Thousand Blade Academy Strongest“ will be presented to the class which wins the Thousand Blade Shadow Festival.

「Well, that’s all there is to it! The starting time of the Thousand Blade Shadow Festival is 7pm! The end time is one hour later, 8pm! The start and end signal is the usual chime! I wish you all good luck!」

And the in-house broadcast was cut.

After listening to the broadcast, everyone in my class had fighting spirit burning in their eyes.

「Hehehe! As expected, Thousand Blade Academy is the best!」

「Aa, I didn’t think there would be such a hot event at the end of the festival!」

「I definitely want the prize money too, but our real aim is the title of “Thousand Blade Academy Strongest”!」

Everyone was filled to the brim with fighting spirit.

「Allen, we’re definitely going to win!」

「I don’t want to lose to the seniors!」

Ria and Rose seemed quite eager too.

「Aa, let’s do our best together!」

Then we divided the money we got from the Cosplay Cafe – “gin” – and quietly waited for the chime signaling the start of the festival.

「Fuu…」

As I exhaled loudly and controlled my breathing, Tessa tapped on my shoulder.

「Oi, Allen. Shall we compete and see who gets the most gin?」

「Sure, that sounds interesting.」

「Hehehe, I’m gonna make you cry!」

At that moment, the chime rang.

It’s the start of the Thousand Blade Shadow Festival.

「Yoshaa! Let’s rampage!」

The moment Tessa opened the classroom door, an ice lance pierced his abdomen.

「Ga, ha!」

「「「Te, Tessa!? 」」」

He was struck by a powerful surprise attack and collapsed with his eyes turned to the back of his head.

Unfortunately, it will be difficult for him to continue the battle.

「Damnit… Who’s there?!」

When I rushed out of the classroom,

「T-This is…!」

A large number of seniors had surrounded Year 1 Class A.

It was not ten or twenty either.

More than a hundred – a great coalition that amounted to more than four classes.

「We have to take out “The Strongest” first, after all!」

「That’s right. We have no chance of winning unless we crush Allen-kun.」

「It might be immature to gang up on first-year students, but… This is a serious battle!」

And they brought out each of their soul dress.

(This number is crazy… I didn’t think they’d band together to crush me…)

As I was feeling flustered,

「Conquer – 〈Fafnir〉!」

「Dye -〈Winter Sakura〉!」

Black and white flames danced together with a vivid sakura blossom blizzard.

「Wha!? Guaaa!」

The flames and sakura petals swallowed the seniors in front of me.

「Fufu. You made the right decision to crush Class A from the beginning, but I wonder if one hundred people are going to be enough?」

「Of course, it’s not enough. Come, I’ll cut all of you down with Sakura Blossom One-Sword Style!」

Ria and Rose had a fearless smile with their soul dress in hand.

And then,

「Rampage -〈Storm King〉!」

「Suck up -〈Undead Worm〉!」

「Dissect -〈Pleasure Doctor〉!」

Everyone from Class A followed their lead, and released their soul dress one after another.

(That’s right… I’m not fighting by myself!)

Not alone, but with everyone.

How reassuring!

「Allen, let’s go!」

「Let’s go, Allen!」

I received reassuring glances from Ria and Rose.

「Aa, let’s get started!」

Jet-black darkness gushed out, cladding my whole body, and I rushed at the seniors who numbered more than a hundred.

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