“I’ve heard the benefits are out of this world…,” said Tirith.
Something had clicked in the back of my mind during the conversation.
If he’s the Holy Blade in Liengard, then that must mean…
I looked at Shii, and she nodded. It seemed like this “Shin” was the Holy Blade in the noble faction’s employ.
“I want you to look at these next,” Shii said, dropping four massive stacks of paper onto her desk.
“What are they?” I asked.
“Scouting reports. They contain exhaustive information about Divine Emperor’s participants. You’ll find basic facts like their height, weight, and school of swordcraft, as well as analyses of their Soul Attire abilities, fighting style, habits during combat, and even idiosyncrasies they’re likely unaware of themselves.”
“Wow, that’s amazing,” said Lia.
“How did you make these?” asked Rose.
They both looked seriously impressed.
“Tee-hee, I marshaled the full efforts of House Arkstoria to investigate each of the fighters from Divine Emperor,” Shii said, looking proud.
“You must be really serious about winning this time,” I said.
Shii had seemed to give up hope the other day when we’d found out who our first-round opponent was going to be. What had changed?
“This is the last Sword Master Festival for us Third-Years. We’ll regret it forever if we don’t go all out.”
“Oh, right…”
I hadn’t really thought about it, but Shii, Lilim, and Tirith were graduating this year. Our fun days in the Student Council with the current roster were numbered.
…That’s kinda sad to think about. Shii had forced me into the Student Council, but I’d ended up making a ton of happy memories here. Thinking about how that would all end once this year was over made me feel melancholic.
“H-hey… There’s no reason to get all gloomy! Let’s read up on our opponents!” Shii said, clapping and pointing at the scouting reports. “Oh, I almost forgot! We have one major problem, and it concerns their captain, Shin Rex. We couldn’t find out a single thing about him. We don’t know anything about his Soul Attire or even his fighting style.”
“Wow, so he’s a total mystery…,” mused Lilim.
“That’s kind of cool,” said Tirith.
For some reason, they both clearly found that exciting.
“I have a recording of one of his duels. It’s honestly an unpleasant watch…but do you all want to see it?” Shii asked, uncertainly taking out a videotape.
“Ooo, there’s video? Heck yeah, I want to watch it!” Lia said eagerly.
“It would be fascinating to watch one of the Seven Holy Blades fight,” Rose agreed.
“Okay, then.” Shii put the videotape in the VCR player and turned on the LCD screen. “This video is of last year’s Elite Five Holy Festival championship match.”
“That’s the tournament where Allen went berserk and almost killed a guy!” exclaimed Lilim.
“I was cheering you on from the stands. Your inhuman cruelty kind of freaked me out, though…,” admitted Tirith.
“Urgh…”
Their words tore open old wounds. I wasn’t prepared to hear them talk about what had happened at last year’s Holy Festival. I could practically hear the life draining from my soul.
I seriously regret what happened. It was due to my own inexperience that Thousand Blade was disqualified from the Elite Five Holy Festival. And a year later, I’m still a good-for-nothing who can’t control his Spirit Core…
I descended into a spiral of self-loathing.
“Hey, stop making him feel bad!” chastised Lia.
“That was an accident. If Shido from Ice King hadn’t broken the rules first, Allen never would have lost control,” Rose said, defending me.
“Lia, Rose…” Touched by their kindness and warmth, I felt myself tear up.
“All right, that’s enough joking around,” said Shii. “Let’s watch the video. This is the captain’s match between Divine Emperor Academy and Flame Emperor Academy.”
“Oh yeah, Flame Emperor was really good last year,” commented Lilim.
“I think they got lucky with the lottery, too,” said Tirith.
Shii nodded. “That’s right. Flame Emperor had a lot of outstanding new students last year, and they complemented one another very well. They had a very impressive run to the championship.”
A thought suddenly crossed my mind.
Once I watch this video, I’ll have seen matches involving all the Elite Five Academies. These were the five most famous swordcraft schools in Liengard, consisting of Thousand Blade Academy, Ice King Academy, White Lily Girls Academy, Flame Emperor Academy, and Divine Emperor Academy.
Divine Emperor was the undisputed leader. White Lily was forever the runner-up. Flame Emperor held steady in the middle of the pack. Ice King wanted badly to unseat the three above it. And Thousand Blade was perpetually at the bottom. That was the hierarchy based on the last ten Sword Master Festivals.
“Ready? I’m hitting play,” Shii said.
She pressed a button on the remote control, and a static-filled video began to play.
“The video quality is kind of bad, as you can see. The person on the left is Shin Rex from Divine Emperor, and on the right is Colesta Bowen from Flame Emperor.”
The video showed two swordsmen facing each other on a stone stage, keeping plenty of distance between themselves.
“The match between Shin Rex of Divine Emperor Academy and Colesta Bowen of Flame Emperor Academy is about to start!” announced an official. “Are you both ready? On my mark… Begin!”
Colesta immediately summoned his Soul Attire.
“Sway with the Rising Flames—Flaming Wheel Dance!”
His Soul Attire burned with blue fire that looked so hot I could almost feel it through the screen.
Shin responded by slowly lying down on the stage.
“…What the hell do you think you’re doing?” yelled Colesta.
“Isn’t it obvious…? I’m taking a nap,” replied Shin.
“I can see that! I’m asking why you’re taking a nap! You’re besmirching our holy duel!”
Colesta was livid, yet Shin looked totally unconcerned.
“Can you keep your voice down…? Last I checked, there’s no rule against sleeping.”
“You think this is a joke…?! Official! He’s down, isn’t he? Start the count!”
“Well…according to the rules, a fighter isn’t considered down unless their abdomen or back are completely on the ground,” responded the official.
“Yeah, what he said. So I’m perfectly free to take a nap if I want!” Shin said, cackling. “I’m lying on my side, so this is perfectly legal!”
“That’s a ridiculous technicality! Duels between swordfighters are serious business! Stand up and face me with honor!”
“God, you sound like a stuffy old man… Cut the chit-chat and come at me,” Shin said, clearly not taking Colesta seriously.
“You bastard… You only have yourself to blame for what happens next,” Colesta cried, his patience spent. He held his blazing sword aloft and charged at Shin. “Take this! Flaming Demon Style Secret Technique—Scorching Hellblade!”
But the next second…
“Wh-what…?” Colesta gasped.