"Brother!"
A memory from the past slightly surfaced.
In the walls of this purely white space, the unnecessarily bright hospital garden came to mind.
In it, there was a child who used to call him 'brother' and follow him around.
"Where are you going, brother!"
Shion Ascal.
Being close to him somehow made me feel uneasy, as if I was going to go mad, so I deliberately avoided him by moving through the trees, but that bald-headed kid always found me. He had an uncanny ability to discover where I was hiding.
"How do you fly around like that? Were you a knight? I dream of becoming a knight too!"
At first, I just brushed him off with any words that came to mind, but after about a week of him following me around, I couldn't take it anymore.
"Hey, hey. Forget about 'brother,' call me 'friend.' It's annoying. You're not my brother. Why do you call me 'brother'?"
Then he said,
"But you're nine years older than me, aren't you?"
"It doesn't matter. Hey, can you climb up here?"
I looked down at him from the top of the tree and asked. He blinked his eyes, then nodded resolutely. Then he clung to the tree trunk like a cicada, struggling to climb.
After a while, he finally gave up and played his trump card.
"I have leukemia. I can't climb."
"What's with the 'friend'? Just use informal language."
"...Then come down."
After that, we got along quite well.
He said he didn't have parents. I replied that I had killed my grandfather myself.
He asked what he needed to do to get into Magic High School. I told him he needed talent.
Every time, he would grumble that I wasn't helpful, and I would poke him with a tree branch and tell him to get better first.
Oh, there was also the day when that kid met my real sister. He happened to glance at Elise walking down the corridor of the ward.
"I've never seen such a pretty girl before~ Hehehehe."
Yael said that and laughed.
It was quite good back then.
It was fun.
That's the only memory for a madman like me.
I recall those days in the ward several times a day.
I live in the past.
"Heh.... It's fun."
Yes, I'm mad.
I'm a lunatic.
As a child of a large family, it was hard to endure confinement and oppression. It was impossible within my framework to accept their hypocrisy and pretense.
If the nobility always has to be perfect, and if that perfect nobility oppresses the common people with power and hierarchy, how can that be called perfection?
It's bullshit.
I killed the nobility because I was disgusted. I cut my grandfather's throat and killed the elders.
That was an unchanging fact.
If I had left them alone, they would have tainted Elise too.
In the family where the old men disappeared, Elise seemed to be adapting well, but even so, as long as her most important father is alive, Elise will only grow into the same monster.
To prevent that...
Suddenly-
The door opened.
Yael looked at the other side.
A large man with a hefty build. A nobleman who was so overwhelmingly tall when I was young that I was even afraid to make eye contact.
Ken Petra looked down at me and spoke.
"...You survived."
"Yes, Father. Just as you wished."
Yael bared his teeth, looking up at him.
"My sister didn't kill me today. Khehehehe───"
His smile was full of defiance and self-assurance.
At least my sister, Elise, won't grow up to be like you.
______________________________________________________________________
The next day, Tuesday. The day of the swordsmanship school evaluation exam.
"Why did they rent a coliseum?"
I was amazed as soon as I saw the evaluation site. Yesterday, it was a noble's fortress, but today, it was a coliseum.
The interior was incredibly spacious. About twenty stages surrounded by magic barriers were placed in the center, and on the right side of the large passage, there was a shield pattern, and on the left side, there was a sword pattern.
There were already many spectators. Most of them were scouts with cameras and laptops at their sides.
"Number 77, Shion Ascal. Please go to the sword waiting room on the left."
"Ah, yes."
A university association person urged me when I was standing blankly.
I moved to the waiting room at the end of the passage. On my chest, I had a badge that said 'Number 77'.
─Hey. Who are you going to choose? Have you decided?
─You get a rough estimate. They say to choose by looking at the tier chart given by the academy.
─Anyone want to exchange tier charts~? Anyone want to exchange tier charts~?
There were already quite a few people in the waiting room. Nearly 200 people were bustling about like a train station waiting room.
The tier chart is, by the way, a student swordsmanship grade chart directly written by the academy or dojo. Of course, I don't have one.
Thump-
But someone poked my shoulder. Not with a finger, but with the corner of a book.
"...What?"
When I turned around, it was Elise.
"...."
Without saying a word, she kept poking my shoulder. With the corner of the book.
"What's this? You want me to take it?"
When I accepted it, she turned around without saying a word. I looked at the cover.
[Selenacio Tier Chart]
"Selen... what?"
Selenacio. A tier chart written by the top academy in Edsilla.
I looked at Elise again. She had already blended into the crowd.
"...Why is she like that?"
Did she eat something wrong? But there's no need to refuse what she gave me. It's not that I haven't decided who to choose yet.
I sat down and opened it.
[S+ : Soliette, Gerkhen Kal Doon]
[S : Asher, Mel, James, Vitel...]
Among the participants who chose the shield, the only ones in the S+ tier were Soliette and Gerkhen Kal Doon. I skimmed from the B grade. It's not fun if they're too weak.
Suddenly, a shadow was cast over the tier chart.
"...Hey. Why do you have a Selenacio tier chart?
When I looked up, it was Kain.
"Did you steal it, by any chance? "
Then, the surrounding eyes were drawn to my tier chart. Kain twisted his face as if he couldn't believe it, and-
"Kain."
Elise called him.
"...Huh?"
"Stop. Don't make such a fuss."
Her voice was full of sternness.
"Uh...."
Kain went towards the call.
I looked over the tier chart again.
Until the announcement echoed from the ceiling speakers.
─Seniors, please note. We will soon start the selection of opponents for the evaluation exam, so please come out.
Then, the people in the waiting room rushed out. I also stuffed the tier chart into my duffle bag and followed them out.
"Line up, please. Swords on the sword side, shields on the shield side. You each have a designated number."
On the stage were the fencing professors, including Jeoly. They pointed to where we were supposed to stand. The numbers were marked on the floor with luminescent paint.
I went and stood at the spot marked 77.
Across from me were the guys who had chosen the shield. The lighting was moderately dim, but their faces were clearly visible.
Soliette, Gerkhen Kal Doon, Asher, Mel were the first to catch my eye. Mel was the guy I had backstabbed at the ghost hotel.
"The selection of opponents will start at 10 a.m. sharp, and five people will be selected at a time, with a time limit of one minute. Please try to decide who you will choose before your turn comes. To add, there are 2,500 scouts, corporate and university officials in attendance, and do you see the names of the remote participants on the scoreboard?"
[Current List of Remote Participants]
-Igiris Arkne
-Celine Petra
-Theia Esil
-Kigen Shisero
-Zia Libra...
There were many impressive names, but the one that caught my eye was undoubtedly [Zia Libra].
"They are observing through remote cameras, even though they are not here. Impressive, isn't it? You'll have to work hard."
Jeoly looked at his wristwatch. It must have been 10 a.m. sharp as he gripped the microphone.
─We will now begin the evaluation exam for the elective fencing course, 'Sword and Shield'. The first five attackers whose numbers are displayed on the scoreboard will come forward to select their opponents.
The scoreboard turned black and then spat out five numbers.
[117. 132. 139. 97. 205.]
"Nice!"
The lucky five clenched their fists and stepped forward.
______________________________________________________________________
In the grand coliseum, 450 aspiring swordsmen gathered to conduct 'opponent selection'. As the selection continued, the atmosphere gradually heightened, and the breathing became increasingly intense.
"Heuk heuk. Heu… Ah, ah, I need medicine. Medicine."
The guy next to me already seemed to be having difficulty breathing.
Of course, fencing is just an elective, but quite a few eyes are watching, including scouts.
It's no wonder Elise chose fencing even though she doesn't aspire to be a knight.
[123. 193. 3. 55. 29.]
Now it's already the 12th opponent selection.
People were disappearing like rats, but Elise and Kain were still there.
\[13. 99....\]
Elise and Kain had just gone out. Kain chose Asher, and Elise chose James.
A few more turns passed.
[…Number 77.]
Number 77. Finally, my number was called.
"Phew."
I barely took a step forward, but the other four had already rushed out as if they had someone in mind.
"Let's do this together."
"Let's."
"I, number 9 Dram Telo, choose number 253 Baldur."
As if they were finding friends, the chosen opponents also let out sighs of relief.
"Hey, let's do this."
"Phew. Let's go."
"Number 108 Kellick chooses number 404 David…"
It seemed that some of them actually knew each other.
The four chose their opponents in 5 seconds and disappeared into the waiting room.
Left alone unexpectedly, I walked slowly, scanning the faces of the swordsmen lined up on the other side.
At first, I was going to choose anyone. Based on Selenacio's tier chart, someone between A~A+ grade.
──But then.
Unexpectedly, someone I hadn't considered caught my eye.
I don't know why.
Just, he was standing there without any expectation.
The atmosphere had been like that so far.
No one had tried to choose him, and it seemed like no one dared to. Even the scouts here seemed to disregard him.
Too strong and perfect, a talent that couldn't be evaluated on this stage.
So, he just stood there.
Bored and dull, like a statue decorating the background.
I quietly lowered my gaze.
I looked at my hand.
The Five Basic Forms and Three Sword Forms. The sensation of swinging them, modified and edited at my discretion, was still vivid in this grip.
─Number 77. Please make your choice. You have 20 seconds left.
Urged by the pressure on my back, my body moved before my head.
Towards someone──in a straight line.
One step.
There was no room for hesitation.
Thinking about it, I always wanted to beat him.
That feeling was always the same.
He always looked down on me from a high place, and he was too different even though we were both commoners.
Two steps.
There were many tempting eyes as I moved forward.
I passed them all.
Three steps, four steps.
Walking, focusing only on one person───
Finally.
The reactions around me when I stopped were quite the spectacle.
Eyes looking at me as if I were a lunatic. There was even someone who cursed, calling me a madman.
I ignored all of it. I just looked up at him. I smiled, a smile that welled up from deep within my heart.
Perhaps, the corners of my mouth were torn too wide.
He looked down at me. His face was as cold as ever, but a slight tremor ran through his dawn-like blue eyes.
"Number 77. Shion Ascal."
Thinking about it, there was nothing to think about.
If there was an opponent I wanted to challenge, an opponent I wanted to test what I had honed.
"Number 450."
It would only be you in this place.
"I choose Gerkhen Kal Doon."
Then, the coliseum slightly trembled. He himself said nothing. He was still bland, and there was no tremor in his gaze looking down at me.
I liked that about him.
He could have dismissed me, he could have been unimpressed, he could have been annoyed, but he simply acknowledged me as an opponent without showing any emotion.
Therefore, he will probably give it his all.
I, too, will pour all my strength into his sword.
Such an opportunity will not be common.
"What are you doing?"
I gestured to Gerkhen Kal Doon.
"Let's go."