With that, the incident involving Hagun Academy's attack finally began to settle down.
However, the series of problems that emerged from this event threw the entire country into a chaotic atmosphere.
Everyone started focusing their attention on the upcoming Seven Stars Sword Art Festival.
Not for anything else, but to see the outcome of this Seven Stars Sword Art Festival and the changes it would bring.
Even though many representatives, like Arisuin Nagi, chose to forfeit, many others chose to face the challenge head-on.
They would clash with the students of Akatsuki Academy on the stage of the Seven Stars Sword Art Festival.
They would compete for the peak.
And those who continued to participate were undoubtedly the elites among elites from each academy.
Therefore, this year's Seven Stars Sword Art Festival was gradually gaining a reputation not just for being talent-filled but elite-gathered, recognized as the most unique and powerful one yet.
Naturally, the many representatives from Hagun Academy were also preparing extensively to face these opponents as the festival approached.
For instance, Todo Touka planned to visit her mentor for final adjustments and advice.
Similarly, Stella Vermillion returned to the Vermillion Empire to meet with her family and citizens to bolster her fighting spirit before the competition.
Totokubara Kanata also returned to the Totokubara family.
At the academy, only Kurogane Ikki and Shizuku remained.
It's worth noting that after this, Arisuin Nagi was constantly seen around Shizuku.
Although Shizuku's behavior remained the same, extremely supportive of Ikki while indifferent and rejecting others, Rozen could tell that Arisuin Nagi's expression and demeanor were much brighter than before.
Seeing this, Rozen understood.
"It seems he's explained everything to Shizuku."
Rozen smiled slightly, putting the matter to rest.
Even though he didn't know what had transpired between Shizuku and Arisuin Nagi, it was clear that Shizuku had accepted everything about Arisuin Nagi, who had completely abandoned his past and finally emerged from the darkness into the light.
It was said that recently, Arisuin Nagi had been getting close to the news club's Kusakabe Kagami. The two seemed to be quite friendly, with Arisuin Nagi running around as her assistant while she gathered news. It looked like he might soon join the news club.
Therefore, although the attack on Hagun Academy by Akatsuki Academy and the power struggles were not yet fully resolved, seeing these scenes, Rozen had a premonition.
"No matter how great the difficulties, they will overcome them."
Rozen thought.
If that's the case...
"It's about time for me to leave too."
But before leaving, Rozen still had something to do.
That was...
"Pfft..."
Outside an open-air café, Edelweiss suddenly coughed, nearly spitting out the coffee she had just drunk.
There was no helping it.
Just a second ago, Rozen had said something to Edelweiss.
"Elope...!?"
Edelweiss was completely stunned and turned red, raising her voice.
And so...
"What? What elopement?"
"Is that woman planning to elope with that young man?"
"She... she looks quite beautiful..."
"And that young man is quite handsome too."
"Are they planning to elope?"
"No way, right?"
"They look so good. Why elope?"
"Are their families dissatisfied with each other?"
"Exactly."
Around the café, customers were drawn by Edelweiss' voice, starting to discuss and gossip, creating a buzz.
"~~~~~~~~~~~"
Edelweiss came to her senses, but it was too late. She could only lower her head, adding sugar to her coffee vigorously, her ears turning red.
Watching Edelweiss, Rozen found her both amusing and adorable, with a subtle sense of irony.
After all...
"Stop adding sugar, any more and it'll be sugar water."
Rozen said helplessly.
"If you can't drink bitter things, why not order milk tea or black tea instead of coffee?"
This was something Rozen had long wanted to point out.
Despite Edelweiss' demeanor, this Valkyrie who had a great fondness for sweets couldn't tolerate anything bitter.
Rozen still remembered the time he made a bitter gourd pie for Edelweiss. She ate it with a nearly tearful expression, her eyes watering, and afterward swore never to eat bitter gourd again. It was a memorable experience.
Yet, she insisted on ordering coffee in cafés.
"Coming to a café without ordering coffee, then why come at all?"
This was Edelweiss' reasoning, a rather baffling viewpoint.
But...
"Do you have the right to talk? You always do inexplicable things!"
Edelweiss glared at Rozen, voicing her complaint.
"Who talks about elopement out of the blue? Who does that?"
Edelweiss expressed her protest.
If it weren't for Rozen asking her out and then suddenly mentioning such a thing, how would she lose her composure so publicly?
This showed that Rozen's words were quite impactful.
However, Rozen wasn't joking.
"In essence, it's not much different from eloping."
Rozen said playfully.
Fortunately, Edelweiss had calmed down.
No matter what, she could see that although Rozen's attitude was somewhat flippant, there was a seriousness that others couldn't perceive.
Clearly, Rozen had something serious to discuss with Edelweiss.
And Edelweiss wasn't a fool. Having been with Rozen for years, she had become quite sharp.
Because of this, Edelweiss made a guess.
"You want to leave?"
Edelweiss' summation, though not entirely correct, hit the mark.
Rozen didn't answer immediately, instead, he sipped his coffee.
Although he wasn't fond of bitter tastes, as someone who often trained and researched, he appreciated coffee's invigorating effect. At cafés, he often ordered black coffee first and gradually came to like it.
Under these circumstances, Rozen pondered his words carefully.
Then...
"Do you believe in the existence of other worlds?"
Rozen finally mentioned his secret to someone else for the first time.
"Other worlds?"
Edelweiss was stunned.