Hana was also frequently targeted by shades due to her strong powers, so she had an abundance of experience beyond even Class A students, who had live combat as part of their curriculum. Plus, their “live combat” pitted them against only the weakest of shades, ones the Association deemed safe for students to handle. They were finally made to fight strong shades alongside active practitioners following the Skull of Nirvana’s attack on the school, but that was still a very recent development. They were far from overtaking Hana’s experience.
Still, Nozomu was undoubtedly a top performer among the students, so the applause continued for a while.
Next was Kiriya’s match, a competition on barrier strength. For this category, just like Nozomu’s, each campus had an entrant for each year. They would all set up barriers while a teacher used talismans to continually attack them.
They started with weaker talismans. The first wave was practically a warm-up that everyone successfully blocked, but the next talisman the teachers brought out had far greater firepower, and the audience could hear the cracking of several students’ barriers being broken.
Those moments marked their respective losses in the competition. The students who managed to keep their barriers up appeared relieved, but the ones who couldn’t looked disappointed as they withdrew from the field.
The talismans the teachers used grew stronger, one after another after another, with more and more students unable to keep their barriers standing after each ramp-up, dropping them out of the competition.
It seemed the difference in experience really did come into play, as the dropouts started with the first- and second-years.
Even Kiriya, who hadn’t broken a sweat when the competition began, was starting to show signs of struggle. However, he kept going and really managed to withstand the hits.
“Hmm, he ain’t holding up too bad, but it looks like Kiriya might need some more training.”
Yukizasa, who had walked up to the team at some point, stroked his chin as he appraised the situation on the field.
“Well, yeah, of course he’s not gonna have enough compared to you, Mr. Obsidian Rank. You’re being too harsh on a student. Kiriya’s only eighteen, too.”
Hana rushed to Kiriya’s defense, but Yukizasa was exasperated.
“For someone who’s also a student, you’re one to talk. I did my homework, so I know you. I know that back when the Skull of Nirvana attacked the school, there was some off-the-charts kid who put up a barrier around the school and the countless shades in it. That sorta feat would be tough even for the Association’s practitioners, so you’re really one to talk.”
“Getting harassed by shades all the time just gives me more experience than I know what to do with.”
Yukizasa jabbed back, but Hana just slumped her shoulders.
“You’re probably gonna get scouts knocking on your door soon enough.”
“I regret to inform you that my career plan is to work at an Ichinomiya Group company.”
“The Association’s bigwigs won’t let a catch like you get away that easily.”
“Saku’ll do something about it.”
Hana had told Saku about her goals back when he first brought up their marriage contract. The life Hana dreamed of was the most normal of normal.
“That’s a waste, I tell ya. I dunno what Saku’s thinkin’, letting you go without using all that power you’ve got.”
Yukizasa sighed, looking like he could never understand what went through either of their heads.
Soon enough, the current event met its conclusion. It came down to Kiriya and a Campus Four student who’d hung on with him, but Kiriya proved victorious.
Kiriya smoothly strolled back to his team, leaving the exhausted Campus Four student to kneel in the agony of defeat. While the match had the appearance that this was a straightforward victory, Kiriya did look a bit worn out.
“Wonderfully done, Kiriya! I knew I could count on my brother!”
“Yep. I tried.”
Kikyou was ecstatic as she hugged Kiriya tightly. These twins really were close.
Yet Hana and Hazuki, a fellow pair of twins, weren’t anything like that. The disconnect between them had been cleared up, but it came after they spent far too long apart. On the bright side, they had plenty of time to rebuild those bridges going forward.
Most of the main competition categories were now completed, and the cumulative scores showed that Campus One had achieved quite a record. It appeared Kikyou and Kiriya’s transfer from Campus Two was working to Campus One’s advantage. That came at the cost of Campus Two’s scores being unbearable to look at, so one had to feel a bit sorry for them. Not Kikyou, though; given how joyfully she was celebrating with Nozomu, she didn’t seem to give Campus Two’s placements so much as a passing thought.
“All right! If we keep going, we can win this!”
“Let’s give that phony princess a punt to the posterior!”
Nozomu and Kikyou raised their fists to the skies, and the rest of the students caught their enthusiasm.
“What’s gonna happen if we lose after all that?”
“Hana, please don’t jinx it,” Hazuki chided.
“I’m just saying, we’ve got good scores and all, but the gap’s not so wide that we can’t lose it all to a comeback. Just wondering if Nozomu and Kikyou get how much pressure they’re putting on us.”
“They probably haven’t… Oh dear, what do we do…?”
Hazuki took a deep breath, hinting that she was feeling the pressure, too.
“Well, we’ve got Arashi on our side, so you can take it easy, Hazuki. Though it’s kinda unfair to bring something as busted as an inugami to a student fight, don’t ya think?”
“Yes, you might be right.”
Hazuki’s expression brightened.
Speaking of Arashi, Hana hadn’t seen him for a while now. She’d told him about having him fight in the shikigami match, and while he’d seemed none too pleased about the idea at first, he agreed after Kikyou begged on her hands and knees for his help. He really was a far kinder god than one would expect, given how prideful deities often were.
It probably helped that Hana reassured him that Aoi and Miyabi would be doing most of the work. Those two alone were already overkill enough, so maybe he agreed because he figured his assistance wouldn’t be called for.
“Master.”
Azuha fluttered in while Hana wasn’t looking.
“Azuha, where have you been?”
She’d been gone for a while, just like Arashi. Hana didn’t worry too much, as she figured they were getting some fresh air, but the final event was going to start any minute now. Azuha had been looking forward to joining in, so Hana would’ve gone looking for them if they hadn’t come back.
“Ummm, so Arashi, he found something weird. So he said to call you over, Master.”
“Arashi did?”
A question floated into Hana’s mind, so she told Hazuki that she’d be out for a moment and then followed Azuha’s lead.
She was taken to a spot behind a building with nobody in sight. Not because everyone was gathered at the PE field instead, but because this was a spot nobody passed by in the first place. Hana found Arashi sitting patiently in wait for her.
“Arashi, what is it?”
“Hana, please look at this.”
“Hmm?”
Arashi pointed his snout at a hole dug in the ground, as well as an oblong stone peeking out from it.
“What’s this?”
Hana crouched and reached for the half-uncovered stone. It clearly wasn’t some rock you’d find on the side of the road; it was milk white and had the shimmer and shine of a jewel.
“It’s…not a jewel, I take it.”
Hana’s expression turned serious. The stone looked beautiful, but something about it gave her the creeps.
“I’ve felt a strange presence ever since I entered the school grounds, and I’ve been looking for it all this time. I eventually dug here and found this. I can tell it’s nothing good. I believe it could be a human-made talisman, but since those aren’t matters I’m well versed in, I had Azuha bring you over.”
“So that’s the story, huh? It does feel kinda weird…though it’s way beyond anything I’m able to figure out. But if you’re saying it’s bad, then I’m not gonna ignore the instincts of a god. Azuha, can you call Saku over?”
“Goootcha.”
Azuha heard Hana’s request and fluttered away.
This school festival was being put on by the Ichinomiyas, so Hana wavered a bit on calling Saku away from entertaining the guests, but she could just say she was trusting her instincts.
A practitioner’s instincts were not to be ignored; that was a lesson that anyone living in this world learned quickly. And the stronger the practitioner’s powers, the likelier they were to hit the mark.
It wasn’t long before Saku arrived, a good deal sooner than Hana had expected.
“Sorry to call you away when you’re so busy, Saku.”
“Nah, it’s fine. I was just about to go looking for Tsubaki anyway.”
“Huh?”
“I’ve had a bad feeling ever since I came to the school today, so I had Tsubaki look around to see if she could find anything odd. But so far, nothing. And just as I was wondering why I haven’t been able to get a hold of Kazura, your message came in.”
Hana was surprised to learn that Saku had already taken action. She had only noticed the oddity after coming to the spot where Arashi called her.
“Well, guess that Obsidian rank isn’t just for show.”
“Of course it’s not. I’m an Obsidian-rank practitioner and the Ichinomiya clan lord. I wouldn’t be a barrier master tasked with protecting the pillar if I let this slip under my nose.”
“How reassuring. Anyway, know what this is?”
Hana handed the stone she’d found to Saku. He inspected the milk-white stone closely, his brow furrowing the longer he looked.
“This…is a talisman imbued with a curse.”
“A curse?! Why’s something like that buried in this out-of-the-way corner of a school?”
“How should I know? Either way, this talisman’s got some heavy concealment barriers set up around it, so that must be why not even Tsubaki could pinpoint its location.”
“Well, hey, Arashi could find it. He dug it up out of the ground.”