December Double Drop!
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"So, first things first—how were you planning to handle that scumbag?"While the academy provided a dedicated training field, Okita Souji wasn't fond of attracting too much attention. Plus, with the selection tournament approaching, many students would be vying for the space. As an F-ranked knight, it was uncertain if Ikki Kurogane would even get a turn there, considering he was the "Worst One" who couldn't participate in actual combat courses.
Thus, Souji and Ikki found themselves in a spacious, secluded woodland, standing a few meters apart.
Since they didn't have permission to use their spirit weapons, both of them wielded only bamboo practice swords.
"Though Kirihara Shizuya's Noble Art, Hunter's Forest, perfectly conceals his presence, aura, and scent, his arrows are still visible."
"So, you'd find his position by tracing his arrow's path and end the fight quickly?" Souji gave her bamboo sword a light tap on her shoulder. "It'll take a lot of focus and observation, but if anyone can manage that, it's you."
The praise was brief, for in the next second, Souji's tone shifted sharply.
"But!"
The bamboo sword cracked through the air, Ikki's reflexes reacting faster than thought, raising his own sword to block in front.
In a flash, their swords collided, the force reverberating down Ikki's arm, making him grit his teeth.
Despite her slim build, Souji's frame now hovered right in front of Ikki, and it was difficult to imagine such strength could come from those seemingly delicate arms.
"Ikki… Why are you so tense?"
I'm… tense?
Ikki hesitated for only a split second before the sound of wind slicing filled his ears.
In that instant, Souji's practice sword held a keener edge than any real blade, narrowly grazing past Ikki's forehead and slicing off a few strands of his hair.
"Too stiff, far too stiff! You're practically riddled with openings!"
The usual laziness in Souji's tone was gone, replaced by an intensity he hadn't seen before.
Ikki hadn't expected such a drastic transformation in her just by holding a sword.
No… stay focused, stay composed.
As Souji's sword strikes rained down with the ferocity of a storm, Ikki felt as though he were a lone boat struggling in a raging sea.
Just like always, I'll look for an opening...
"Thinking of finding my weaknesses, are you?"
"!!!"
Amid the chaotic storm of strikes, a glimmer of steel flashed, moving along a mysterious path as it closed in on Ikki, almost in slow motion, like a snail crawling on a leaf after rain.
Yet, in its apparent slowness, it pierced through Ikki's defenses unimpeded, twisting at the last second before hitting his neck and smacking his wrist instead.
Smack!
Ikki's bamboo sword flew high into the air, fading into the blinding light of the sun above.
"Hah—!"
Pain surged up his arm, but before he could react, Souji's bamboo sword was pointed directly at his neck.
Despite it being a mere bamboo sword, an intimidating sharpness radiated from it, making his neck tingle.
"What's got you so tense?"
Souji's emotionless eyes locked onto Ikki as she held her sword at his throat.
"What are you afraid of?"
It was a direct challenge.
"Just now, you kept defending. Why? Why wouldn't you make a move against me?"
"…I was studying your swordsmanship, looking for patterns and weak points."
Like I always do. Like I've always done.
"And in doing so, you let go of your chance to win and lost your sword."
Lowering her bamboo sword, Souji regarded Ikki with a disappointed frown.
"You're distracted, your movements stiff. You're so focused on what's in front of you that you've neglected what you should have noticed all along. Otherwise, you'd have thought beyond 'tracing his arrows' and planned for 'what if he can conceal even his arrows?'"
Ikki's eyes widened in shock.
The battle footage he had of Kirihara was over a year old. In that time, it was entirely possible Kirihara had honed his technique to hide even the trajectory of his arrows.
Souji had anticipated this, while Ikki had overlooked it entirely.
"That's why I'm asking you—why are you so tense? What are you afraid of? What emotions are you putting into your blade?"
Souji's arm holding the sword dropped naturally as she slowly approached him, her amber eyes holding a chilling, almost penetrating gaze.
"A swordsman need only do three things: hold their sword, advance, and strike. But you? You can't even hold your own sword steady, cowering back instead of moving forward, hesitating instead of striking. Your sword is weeping."
Ikki lowered his head.
He bit his lip hard, clenching his fists tightly.
Suddenly, he felt Souji's hands cover his right fist.
One hand gently lifted his clenched hand while the other rested on top, her voice as soothing as a spring breeze.
"So, tell me. What is it you're nervous about? What is it you fear?"
As Ikki stared at her in silence, Souji lifted her head, the soft breeze catching her shoulder-length cherry-pink hair, sunlight casting a glow around her smile as sweet as a cherry blossom.
"I'm not a good comforter, but I can be a good listener. A good companion."
"So, tell me."
It was strange—watching Souji smile and listening to her voice, his lips moved of their own accord.
What Ikki shared were the struggles he'd endured over the years.
Most of it Souji already knew from her knowledge of the original story, though her memories were stirred by his recounting.
Even so, despite knowing the events already, Souji didn't interrupt Ikki's story.
She meant what she said; she wasn't there to console him. She didn't consider herself a protagonist, nor was she any good with words of comfort. She could only be a listener, a companion.
The person targeting Ikki was none other than his own family, the Kurogane clan.
Despite being his own kin, everyone within the clan, including the servants, despised Ikki for his naturally low magic power, viewing him as nothing more than an embarrassment.
If he had resigned himself to an ordinary life, the Kurogane clan would have simply ignored him. But Ikki wanted to prove himself, to become a Mage Knight, and had even made it into Hagun Academy on his own merit.
Yet if Ikki truly became a Mage Knight, the world would know that the Kurogane clan—a renowned family of Blazers—produced an F-ranked failure. That was something they would never allow.
So they tried everything to stop him from graduating, using every possible means to force him to drop out.
The previous director of Hagun Academy, close to the Kurogane family, imposed new rules specifically to obstruct Ikki, such as the requirement that students with low abilities couldn't participate in practical combat courses. And Kirihara had been directed to provoke Ikki; if Ikki had ever summoned his Device, he would have been expelled on the spot.
This selection tournament was crucial to Ikki because, for the first time, he saw a clear path to his dream.
He couldn't afford to lose. No, he absolutely couldn't lose.
Otherwise, his dream would become even more distant.
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Thanks for reading! Let me know if you spot any mistakes or inconsistencies!
Posture and water check! Remember this is a fan translation!
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