It looked like there’d be an extended break until the next match while they extracted him, so Sophie walked back to rejoin her team.
“Keep up the good work, Sophie,” said Blade.
“As you wish.”
Sophie was a wreck. She was staggering around, completely exhausted. Earnest thought she should just drop out so they could send her to the doctor…but instead of offering her sympathy or concern or even basic kindness, he just said, “Keep it up.”
Well, Earnest thought, I’m gonna fight hard, too. If that’s what Blade asks of me, I’ll… Well, what will I do, actually?
Finally, all the ice was melted.
“I’m very sorry!”
That handsome hunk was bowing to Lunaria, nearly kissing his own boots. Earnest wondered how she’d managed to train all these men so well.
“You worked hard,” Lunaria said. “Please rest. I’ll take over.”
It was surprisingly kind of her. Claude, her vice captain, stepped back to the arena’s fence and stood there, unmoving. The medics tried to take him away, but he refused to budge, even with several people working together to move him. He was like some loyal dog from a myth, standing by his master until he became nothing but a skeleton. Earnest wondered how she could bring Leonard up to that level. If she asked Lunaria for some tips, would the girl oblige?
“Round seven! Sophitia Femto…versus Lunaria Steinberg!”
Cheers erupted from the audience. At long last, Sophie had dragged the opposing captain into the arena. But this would be her fourth straight match, and in the last three, she had already revealed almost her entire arsenal.
Lunaria drew her ice sword, holding it gracefully. From Rosewood’s perspective, they were ahead 4–2. One more loss from Chestnut would end the match…but Lunaria’s stance showed no sign of nerves. It was almost like she wasn’t concerned at all—like she had been through far deadlier battlefields than this and lived to tell the tale. Seeing her brush away all the cheers like a passing breeze—Earnest thought it might be the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.
“Begin!”
Sophie made her move. She was relying on her gauntlets at the moment, hoping to make this a close-quarters battle where she could drill her magic into her foe.
However, it didn’t work out that way. Once Sophie made it within a few yards of her opponent, Lunaria released a huge burst of magic. Immediately, Sophie—herself an ice-magic caster—was encased in an icy prison. The fight ended right away—too quickly for most of the audience to realize what had happened.
Sophie had been imprisoned by a skill called “Cocytus,” a sort of freezing hell cast with the support of Brynhildr, much like how Earnest tapped into Asmodeus to summon her giant balls of fire. Unlike regular ice, this cube wouldn’t melt so easily…and so it was hauled atop a large, flat pedestal and removed from the arena.
“Well,” Earnest said, “I’m up.” Everyone else was at (or on their way to) the infirmary, so only she and Blade were left on the bench. There was no one else to hear Earnest speak.
“Yeah. Do your best.”
Do your best? Did he just tell me to “do my best”? Well, I’m gonna! I’m gonna do my very, very best!
“Well…to be honest, I’m starting to lose confidence.”
She was hoping that Blade would give her some more encouragement. She wanted some reassuring words to calm her nerves. She knew it was extremely naive to expect such kindness from this inscrutable super-being, but she was asking for it anyway.
“You know, Blade… Didn’t you say a little while ago that this would be an easy win for me?”
“I sure did, yeah.”
“Looking at her now…I’m not so sure I can beat her.”
“C’mon, that’s not true.”
Oh, so he’s just trying to console me now…? No way.
“Sure it is. I’ve never misjudged my own skills. I’m not conceited.”
“No, I’m saying it’s a coin toss. You’ve got a fifty percent chance. Not fifty-one, not forty-nine—fifty. You’re fine.”
“Why so precise? What’s your basis?”
“Well, because I trained her. I trained her so you’d be exactly matched.”
“Huh?”
“I said I trained her.”
“Huh?”
“Are you gonna make me say it three times? This is kinda getting old.”
“Um, I’m sorry… One more time, please?”
“Again, I said that I trained her. Last night. She was practicing by herself, so I went over and gave her a special training session. I think it’s gonna be a pretty good match, y’know? Go enjoy it.”
“Uh… Blade, I, um… Unless I’m hearing you wrong, you’re saying that you trained Lunaria for a match that I otherwise would’ve won, all so you could make the outcome unpredictable, right? That’s what it sounded like to me, anyway.”
“Uh-huh. That’s not what it sounded like, that’s exactly what I said. Are your ears all right?”
“Wha…?!” Earnest lost her temper. “You idiot! You total idiot! How could you be so stupid? Why would you do something like that? This was my big chance to overwhelm her! I was finally gonna whoop her ass and make her cry like a baby! I was going to take that disgusting smile and wipe it right off her face!”
“She’s your rival, isn’t she?”
“Yes! Yes, she is! I don’t know how she sees it, but yes! That’s what I think, at least!”
“Well, a rival’s not a rival unless you’re evenly matched, right? If you’re guaranteed to win, you can’t be rivals anymore.”
“No, look… Like… I’m trying to show you how insane you are for training my sworn enemy, all right?!”
“Earnest Flaming, to the arena, please!”
“You’re up.”
Earnest gritted her teeth as she stalked off. “You’re gonna pay for this once I get back. I mean it!”
“Well, come back a winner, okay?”
“Of course I will!”
She stomped out into the field with so much force, it was a wonder she didn’t crush the flagstones beneath her feet.