“…Mn.”
Far from the Festival, at Hagun Academy, a knight finally awoke in a hospital ward. She opened her heavy eyelids to find an unfamiliar white ceiling.
Where am I…?
She was taken aback somewhat by the sight. Not only was it exceedingly rare for her to be sent to a hospital, but her mind hadn’t caught up after she’d been asleep for so long. The first thing she did, as she still didn’t know what was happening, was to reflexively sit up. When she did, the creaking of the bed prompted the girl next to her, the blonde-haired, blue-eyed Kanata Toutokubara, to tear her attention away from the television.
“Touka! You’re finally awake! Thank goodness…”
She put a hand to her chest and breathed a sigh of relief.
“Kana— Ngh! Mah pung…” Upon seeing her, Touka immediately bit her tongue.
“Don’t expect too much from your body right now. You’ve been asleep for a very long time.”
“‘Asleep’?”
She didn’t understand. What could have caused her to sleep for so long that her motions were so heavy and languid? Touka tried to remember, reeling in the snapped line of her memories.
“The first round of the Seven Stars Battle Festival is already halfway over, and this match, the final match of block B, has drawn the most interest of them all! First up is a first-year student from Hagun Academy: the Crimson Princess, Stella Vermillion! Her opponent is a third-year student from Kyomon Academy: the Icy Sneer, Mikoto Tsuruya! On analysis, we have Coach Muroto. What do you think—”
“Ah!” The analyst’s voice coming through the television sparked her memory. During the attack by Akatsuki, she had led the student council in an attempt to stop them and protect Stella, but was defeated by the Gale Sword Emperor, Ouma Kurogane. Completely in the dark on what all had happened in the time since then, her face turned pale. “Kana, wh-what happened? Are Stella and Kurogane okay?!”
“Yes, they’re fine. Ms. Vermillion was protected by the Hagure sisters, and though he sustained some injuries, Kurogane recovered and went to Osaka for the Festival. We were taken down by Phantom Form weapons, so there were no major injuries. You and the vice president took the most damage, however, so you’ve been asleep for some time.”
“Uta has, too?”
“Yes.”
Kanata’s gaze moved behind Touka. Following her line of sight, Touka realized that Utakata was still in a deep sleep in the bed next to hers.
“Uta…”
“Like you, the immense fatigue has delayed the recovery of his consciousness. But that’s all; there’s no danger to his life. I’m sure he’ll wake up today or tomorrow.”
“I see. That’s a relief.”
After hearing the summary of what happened after she fell, Touka sighed deeply.
I guess I should be glad I at least managed to carry out my duty as the student council president.
If nothing else, they had avoided the complete destruction of Hagun. That was enough, in her opinion. It was all thanks to her friends who had stayed on the front line with her.
“Thank you, Kana.”
“Heehee. You should say that to everyone else, too. They’ll appreciate it.”
“Yeah. I’ll do that.”
As soon as those words left her lips, something happened.
“Uh-oh! We’ve got a major problem here, folks!”
The play-by-play announcer’s voice had risen to almost a scream.
“My, they’re in an uproar. What sort of trouble do you think they’re in?”
“I’m not sure. What could it be?”
Kanata’s and Touka’s eyes naturally fixed on the television. Onscreen, the person giving the play-by-play was sweating buckets behind his glasses as he described an unbelievable event.
“Incredibly, Stella Vermillion has yet to come to the arena! She’s not responding to the signal to start the match!”
“Whaaat?!”