If I had been stronger, this would have never happened.
“I don’t need your apology.”
“Then what do you want me to do?”
“I could become the Headmaster, you know. I’m the leader of the Nagisaki House, and Rank #3 within the academy. In terms of social status, I’m more fit for the post than you are. But...” Nagisaki began, as he stared at me with tears in his eyes. “I want you to do it. I don’t care if you don’t think you’re cut out for it. You don’t need to apologize to me. Just make sure you finish everything that Yukigane wasn’t able to.”
I’m sure he wasn’t lying about how he was taking his anger out me. But that wasn’t all there was to this... Nagisaki was trying to encourage me as well. He really did care for Yukihime. He understood why she was such an amazing person. He was a man who had loved the same woman I did – How could I refuse him?
“Okay... Thanks, Nagisaki.”
“No need to thank me. I was only speaking my mind.”
...Yet another person who needs to be more honest with himself.
I followed Nagisaki to the meeting room where the Council of Seven Houses met. There, I was instated as the new Headmaster. After the meeting, Nagisaki handed me a long attaché case.
“What’s this?” I asked.
“Just open it,” he said.
Inside was a metallic blue twinblade.
“It’s your star armament,” Nagisaki said. “I had the star sorcerer smith division repair it as quickly as possible. They used parts of Yukigane’s star armament to finish it off. Apparently, its new name is Chronoslayer: Glacies.”
“Parts from Snowbloom...” I murmured.
I gripped the metallic blue blade. It melted into light and dissolved. Just like the original Chronoslayer, I could store it and bring it out whenever I wanted to.
Now we’ll always be together.
For a moment, I almost thought I heard Yukihime’s voice. It felt so strange – like exactly the right cogs had fit together inside me. I hadn’t experienced this with the man who Redge called Zol, who happened to be the last person I killed. Yukihime’s power must have made some special link with me. It was an exception to the norm.
Now, I had a metallic blue twinblade, and the power Yukihime had given to me. Suddenly, a star sorcery spell flashed in the back of my mind. How much star power did I need to devote to it? How much did I need to emit? What sort of preparation did it take, and what sort of effect did it have? Immediately, I understood everything.
This is what Yukihime gave to me. This is what I inherited from her.
The spell’s name was Absolute Zero – the ultimate star sorcery spell, which had the power to stop time. This is the key to defeating Redge. I unconsciously clenched my right hand.
“You’d better win this, Kurono.”
“Leave it to me.”
I thrust out my fist. Nagisaki did the same, and our fists bumped together.
Afterwards, Towa and I went back to our house and made preparations. We decided to spend the night at the academy so that we’d be able to react immediately whenever Redge returned.
“I told Nagisaki to leave it to me, but... How am I going to fight this guy? How can I beat him?” Even though I had gained Yukihime’s power, I couldn’t just run in there without a plan.
“Actually, big brother... I’ve been keeping a secret from you.”
It turned out that Azur Étoile’s Ruinmaker – Towa – had one special feature that other Ruinmakers didn’t. It was something that supplemented her ability to transform into anything, as long as her user possessed enough star power and wished hard enough.
Towa’s unique power allowed her to instantly regenerate any part of her that got destroyed. Normally, star armaments rarely got damaged that badly, but in order to regenerate a broken one, a star sorcerer would have to first release it, then wait for it to recover. With Towa, there was no need to wait at all. “Why didn’t you tell me about it until now?”
“...Because you’re so overprotective. If there was a chance of me getting destroyed, I figured you’d just get mad and tell me to stop and rest instead of regenerating.”
“Yeah, I guess I would. You’re right. I wouldn’t say it now, though, because I’d need you to keep fighting while I rest...”
In order to activate the regeneration, the Ruinmaker needed to first be deactivated and then transformed back into a weapon – which could be done in a split second. If this goes well, it’ll be the perfect way to corner that guy.
I also had access to Absolute Zero, the time freeze star sorcery I inherited from Yukihime. To use it, I first needed to break my twinblade. It was an integral movement, since breaking the blades representing clock hands was like forcing time itself to stop flowing. Since I had just two blades, I could only do this twice. And once I did it, I would no longer be able to speed up or slow down anything for the remainder of the battle.
Instant regeneration and the ability to stop time... With both of those on my side, maybe I really can defeat someone who seems invincible. As I tried to suppress my excitement, I saw Towa walk out of Yukihime’s room carrying a present.
“I’m not sure it’s okay for me to give this to you, but I know it was meant for you.”
Inside the wrapping was a crimson scarf. There was also a message card inside.
Become a man who looks good in this, it read.
“...” My eyes shot to the calendar.
Oh yeah... Today’s Christmas, isn’t it? Geez... You got me a scarf, too?
“Towa, you knew about this?”
“Yeah, she asked me for advice...”
So that’s why Towa kept suggesting I buy a scarf when we went shopping together.
“I thought it’d look really nice if you had matching ones,” she said.
“Yeah, I bet it would have...”
Yukihime had said she liked the color red, since it was the color that heroes always wore. She didn’t have her own red scarf, though. She said that red didn’t look good on her... I disagreed.
I understood what this present meant. Yukihime wanted me to become a hero.
Oh, I will. Just you watch.