Chapter 91. Top Secret and Thousand Blade Festival [8]

I succeeded in warding off the surprise attacks of the seniors, clad in darkness.

「Damn… Are you a monster?」

The senior who was hit with Yatagarasu at the end, quietly lost consciousness.

「Fuu… It was really tough.」

I wiped away my sweat and surveyed the surroundings.

Nearly fifty seniors were lying on the floor.

The rest of the fifty were being handled by everyone else from Class A.

(The seniors are all skilled, but… Ria and Rose are with them. So I’m sure they’ll be fine.)

Those two are incredibly strong.

They probably have won already.

「Well, I’ll take this then.」

I took the gin notes one after another from my seniors’ wallets.

(I’m not stealing cash, nor am I doing something strange by the rules either…)

But going through the wallets of unconscious people didn’t sit right with me.

(However, this is a serious battle called Thousand Blade Shadow Festival. It’s also a challenge which involves the whole class.)

I can’t stand in the way of our class’ success.

I quickly recovered the gins as I convinced myself so.

「This is good… I’ve gathered quite a bit.」

Then I stashed the large amount of gin notes in the pockets of my uniform, and tried to join up with my classmates.

「Fufufu! How do you do, Allen-kun? How is your body holding up after fighting 50 people?」

「I know you’re tired, but we’d like to challenge you, though…」

The voices of Lilim-senpai and Ferris-senpai came down from the corridor.

「Lilim-senpai, Ferris-senpai?!」

The two approached closer with their swords drawn, and laughed as they looked at my body which was riddled with wounds.

「This seems good! You seemed to be weakened!」

「We can’t beat you in a head-on a match, so we’re forced to use a bit of a cowardly method though…」

Apparently they were aiming for the timing when I was exhausted from the fight.

However,

「Sorry to disappoint, but I can still keep going…」

I concentrated darkness on my injuries, and just like that, I was healed.

「Wha?!」」

Lilim-senpai and Ferris-senpai widened their eyes at the sight.

「I-I didn’t know your darkness had the healing ability… Allen-kun is so bad. Were you intentionally hiding it?」

「No, I just recently learned of it.」

The first time I discovered the healing ability of darkness was in the fight with Idol-san.

「Well then, shall we get started?」

After recovering from all the injuries I suffered a while ago, I took a step forward towards them with a smile.

「W-Wait, time out!」

「I-I would like you to wait, though!」

They hurriedly requested for me to wait, and began to consult with each other in whispers.

「What should we do, Ferris? We can never win against an unscathed Allen-kun, right?!」

「Actually, it’s too reckless, but… if we pull back here, Sie will definitely nag us, though…」

「First and foremost, Allen’s darkness is not infinite. Should we avoid close combat and use long range attacks to exhaust his spiritual power?」

「Sorry, but I have bad news. Allen-kun’s spiritual power seems to be more than that of Black Fist Leia Lasnode, though…」

「Oi Oi, is that guy invincible? A superman?」

Lilim-senpai and Ferris-senpai occasionally shot glances at me, as their faces turned pale blue.

(I don’t know what they are talking about, but…)

If they want to go at it, I’d like to get it done faster.

If we keep dawdling in a place like this, I will be caught in the eyes of another senior.

「If you don’t come, I’ll come instead.」

I pulled out my sword and took a step forward.

「Kuh, now that it has come down to this, we just have to do it! I will show you the willpower of a senpai!」

「I’m going to attack too, though… Restrict his movements, Lilim!」

At the same time, they released their soul dress and the curtain was raised on a fierce battle.

■

After that, the battle with Lilim-senpai and Ferris-senpai was fierce.

The two of them never tried to cross swords head-on with me and kept to long-range attacks mainly.

In addition to my weakness in long-range battle, they already knew all of my techniques. So I struggled considerably.

And after a fierce battle,

「Damnit… You were splendid…」

「No, truly… you were too strong, though…」

I managed to defeat Lilim-senpai and Ferris-senpai.

「Haa haa… As expected of Lilim-senpai and Ferris-senpai…」

I know it was a two-on-one, but it was still a narrow victory

They compensated for each other’s gaps by coordinating perfectly, and continue to wage a long-distance battle that I am weak at.

It’s a great strategy.

(Right now… I have to rest my body somewhere.)

A fierce battle with two student council members immediately after cutting down fifty people. As expected, I used a little too much darkness.

I still have a lot of energy, but I don’t know when the next battle will come up.

I’d better rest while I can.

(Thinking of a hiding spot… That place would be the best.)

As soon as I decided on the destination, I pulled out the gin notes from their purses and quietly left the place.

I slipped through a few seniors and went there – to the student council room.

This is a little far from the other classrooms and no one will bother to visit in the middle of the heated Thousand Blade Shadow Festival.

Just in case, I opened the door slowly so as not to make a loud noise, and entered the student council room.

「Fuu… I can finally catch my breath at last.」

And just when I exhaled,

「Welcome, Allen-kun.」

From the very back of the room, student council president, Sie Arcstria showed up.

She slowly walked up to me, illuminated by the moonlight, with a mysterious smile on her face.

「P-President?! Why are you here?!」

「Fufu, are you surprised? After continuous battles with Lilim and Ferris and the grand union of the second and third-years, the exhausted Allen-kun, will surely come to this place where no one else will bother to come.」

「I see… Sending the seniors to face me was all your handiwork…」

「Well, I wonder about that?」

She tilted her head slightly with a soft smile, playing dumb.

(Not denying means she is definitely behind it…)

We’re talking about the crafty president after all.

I’m sure she manipulated the seniors with sweet words, inciting them to attack Year 1 Class A.

(Well, that doesn’t really matter.)

Thousand Blade Shadow Festival is a『real battle』where anything goes. The art of conversation is also an “ability”.

However there was one thing that I was worried about.

「President. Just one thing, okay?」

「Yeah, what is it?」

She nodded and quietly waited for the question.

「Have you… been waiting here all this time?」

Nearly fifty minutes has already passed since the start of the Thousand Blade Shadow Festival.

And we’re in the middle of September now.

(Daytime is still warm due to the effect of lingering summer heat…)

But when it gets around 8pm, just wearing the uniform alone is a little chilly.

Without turning on the lights, and not moving her body – by motionlessly lying in wait here – she will definitely catch a cold.

Right then,

「Y-Yeah that’s right! What about it… A-A-Achoo!」

The president sneezed cutely at the perfect time.

「President, please think things through a little more…」I said, heaving a sigh.

「Y-You’re a hundred years too early to lecture onee-san!」

She flushed red and struck the desk.

(There are some parts of her which are a little wicked, but… the president is always somewhat cute…)

I can’t really bring myself to detest her. She’s like a cute imp.

「Haa… You don’t seem to be in good shape, so can you let me go this one time?」

I said modestly so as not to rub her the wrong way, but…

「Absolutely not!」she rejected me.

「But, your health might get worse if we fight…」

When I gently refused to fight, the president laughed with a smug expression for some reason.

「Fufu, Allen-kun… Haven’t you misunderstood something?」

「Misunderstood?」

「Yes. From now on, you and I will do battle, but… I haven’t said a word about a swordsmanship match, have I?」

「Haa… Is it something other than swordsmanship?」

I have a bad feeling.

It feels like an almost exact same situation occurred a few months ago.

「I don’t think I can win a one-on-one swordsmanship match against Allen-kun in the first place. So, we’ll do battle with this today!」

The president placed a deck of cards on her desk.

(As I expected…)

Apparently this hardcore sore loser, was still hung up on the previous defeat.

I glanced at the deck of cards.

「Is it a ”gimmick card” again?」

「Don’t underestimate me. I won’t use the same hand twice!」

She foolishly handed me the deck.

After checking the deck for a while, I inspected the back of the cards.

「…It certainly seems to be a normal deck.」

There seems to be no gimmick as last time.

It’s definitely an ordinary deck of cards that can be bought anywhere.

「Is poker okay with you?」I asked.

「Yes, of course. And I have one suggestion. Why don’t we change the dealer after every round?」

「Hou.」

It is a declaration of war with each other that this is a『battle of cheats』.

Perhaps the president has been practicing some new tricks since her last defeat.

I could read a strong hint of confidence from her eyes.

「Understood. Let’s start.」

I put on a smile, as fighting spirit burned in my heart.

Until now, I’ve been taught mah-jong, roulette, chinchiro and lots of other games from bamboo geezer.

It ranges from basic rules to applied tactics, as well as the technique of cheats, and how to break them.

And of all the games, my forte is “card games”.

I became so good that bamboo geezer even said, “I have nothing left to teach you.”

Looking at the clock, the time was already 7.50pm.

There’s only ten minutes left till the closing time. Perhaps this will be my last match of the Thousand Blade Shadow Festival.

「Fufu, shall we start?」

「Yes, I accept your challenge.」

This is how the quiet one-on-one battle with the president began in the student council room at night.

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