Chivalry of a Failed Knight: Volume 2 E-Book

Riku Misora

• Herausgeber: J-Novel Club
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

A month has passed since Ikki and Stella promised to cross swords again at the Seven Stars Battle Festival. But while they’ve won all of their qualifying matches in that time, their relationship hasn’t progressed one bit. To make matters worse, Ikki finds himself taking on a beautiful upperclassman as a disciple, making Stella lose her mind with jealousy. And to top it all off, he winds up challenging the infamous Sword Eater—a Mage-Knight who reached the quarterfinals of the previous year’s Seven Stars Battle Festival—to a duel! Things are heating up for both Ikki’s love life and his dueling career!

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Cover

Prologue: A Distant Memory

Chapter 1: Apprenticeship

Chapter 2: The Witching Hour

Chapter 3: Ayatsuji Ayase

Chapter 4: Showdown! Worst One vs. Sword Eater

Epilogue: A Frosty Smile

Afterword

Color Illustrations

About J-Novel Club

Copyright

Landmarks

Table of Contents

Color Illustrations

Prologue: A Distant Memory

“Are you sure I should go all out?” the girl hesitantly asked the aged, white-haired man in front of her. The two of them were standing in a dojo that was dyed orange by the light of the setting sun.

The man laughed heartily and replied, “Ha ha ha, looks like someone’s gotten cocky. Even if you don’t hold back, you won’t be able to beat me.”

“But Dad, you’re not as young as you used to be, and...”

“Which is exactly why I need to pass this technique down to you now, before I grow too old to hold a sword.” The young girl’s father hefted his wooden sword and pointed it at her. “I’m not a Blazer, so the only way I can help you grow stronger is by teaching you the sword. I devoted my entire life to developing the technique I’m about to show you. No one else has ever seen it before, and I’m sure it’ll come in handy even in a battle between Blazers. Now, draw your blade, Ayase.”

The old man’s eyes were glimmering with kindness and warmth. There was no way Ayase could refuse. Not when he was looking at her like that. She couldn’t bring herself to reject his love, even if it meant he’d be hurt.

“That’s not fair, Dad...”

Overcoming her trepidation, Ayase armed herself with the power of her soul. Her Device was a striking ruby-red katana that gleamed like blood in the sunset light. She held it with both hands and charged at her father. And just as he’d requested, she swung it down at him with all her might.

That’s all in the past now. I’ve lost everything. I was unable to protect a single thing, and now, nothing remains. Nothing except for that one scene from the distant past, burned into my memory forever.

Chapter 1: Apprenticeship

“It’s time for the seventh match of the day! Coming out of the blue gate, we have Kurogane Ikki, the Rank F Blazer who defeated one of last year’s Seven Stars Battle Festival representatives, Rank C Kirihara Shizuya, in his debut battle! Since then, he’s remained undefeated, racking up an impressive eight-win streak! On top of that, he’s won all but his first match without taking even a single hit! But today, our beloved Worst One will be facing his biggest threat since he took down the Hunter!”

The commentator went on.

“And from the red gate, we have the Rank C second-year Tomaru Renren, also known as Runner’s High! She’s part of Hagun Academy’s student council and is one of the favorites to earn a spot in the Festival! Just like Kurogane, she’s won all eight of her battles so far! Furthermore, she was ranked the third-strongest student in our school last year! Will Tomaru be able to defend that title today, or will Kurogane once again prove to the world that martial might can overcome supernatural powers?! Yanagida-sensei, how do you think this match will play out?!”

“You took so long with your intro that I fell asleep halfway through.”

“Thank you for your input! Now, let the battle begin!”

The buzzer signaling the start of the match rang, and the crowd let out a cheer.

In the ring below, the two knights faced each other down while maintaining their distance. On one side was Kurogane Ikki. He was wearing his usual uniform and holding his Device, Intetsu, comfortably in one hand. On the other was Tomaru Renren. She was wearing a windbreaker over a standard gym uniform, and her Device was a pair of brass knuckles.

Though the match had begun, Renren stayed where she was, hopping lightly from foot to foot. She smiled amicably at Ikki and said, “I saw your battle with the Hunter, Kurogane-kun! That was an exciting match!” Her voice was lively, matching her energetic demeanor perfectly.

Ikki smiled back and replied, “Why, thank you. It’s an honor to be praised by the school’s third-strongest knight.”

“Aw, come on. Don’t be so stiff. We’re the same age, aren’t we? But you know, if you can fight so well, how come you ended up repeating a year?”

“Aha ha, well, some stuff happened.”

“If you say so. Well, whatever the reason, it’s a damn shame. It would have been so much fun to have a strong guy like you in my class, Kurogane-kun.”

“If you’re just looking for strength, isn’t Saijou-san in the same grade as you?”

“He’s not good enough. That knucklehead relies too much on strength. He can’t even touch me. Though I guess you won’t be able to either, Kurogane-kun. If you struggled with someone as weak as the Hunter, you’ve got no chance of beating me.” Tomaru’s smile turned into a feral grin. “I’ll show you what it means to be the third-strongest in the school!”

A second later, she vanished. But this wasn’t the work of a stealth skill like Area Invisible. The sound of her kicking off against the ring’s stone floor rang out loud and clear for Ikki to hear. He could also hear her cutting through the air at blistering speed.

Even when he strained his eyes, all he could see were the afterimages she was leaving behind. Tomaru hadn’t vanished, she was just moving so fast that it looked like she had. This was her unique Noble Art.

“There it is! Tomaru’s Mach Greed! It looks like she’s trying to end this match quickly!” the commentator bellowed.

Tomaru’s Blazer power let her accelerate endlessly. The deceleration that naturally occurred due to air resistance and other physical forces didn’t apply to her when she ran, and unless she came to a stop, she would continue to gain speed.

“I looked into you ahead of time, but I’m still amazed by how fast you can go,” Ikki said, genuinely impressed.

“Seeing it in person’s totally different than seeing it on a screen, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. My eyes can’t keep up. I guess the reason you were talking to me at the start of the match was to build up acceleration with those hops of yours?”

“Bingo! My power’s only weakness is how long it takes to rev up, so I did some warm-up steps to get my starting speed up to five hundred kilometers an hour. And this is just the beginning! My Mach Greed gets even scarier once I pass the speed of sound!”

Tomaru was running laps around the ring, even running along the walls surrounding it, and was getting faster every second. She was truly defying all known laws of physics.

Once she hit twelve hundred kilometers per hour, she broke the sound barrier, becoming literally supersonic. Naturally, she was too fast for the human eye to perceive. Even Ikki, with his enhanced kinetic vision, couldn’t track her anymore.

“As you can see, I don’t just pull a cheap disappearing act like the Hunter! Not only is it impossible to see me, but with how fast I’m going, you won’t be able to catch me either! You struggled so much against someone who was just invisible, so there’s no way you’ll be able to beat me!”

“So if I do manage to catch you, will you admit defeat?”

“Ha ha ha! Sure, why not?! Not like you’ll be able to! Sorry, Kurogane-kun, but your dream of entering the Seven Stars Battle Festival ends here! Take this!” Tomaru gathered mana in her fist and circled behind Ikki, aiming to take him down with a single blow powered by her supersonic acceleration. “Black Bird!”

Tomaru’s fist created a sonic boom as it rocketed toward Ikki’s unguarded back at a speed surpassing Mach 2. Not only had she been moving too fast to follow with the naked eye, but her punch was also too fast to react to, much less dodge or block. Tomaru was certain of her victory.

“What a moron,” Kurogane Shizuku said with a sigh as she watched the battle unfold from her spot in the spectator stands. Ikki’s sister was a Rank B knight who’d recently been awarded the nickname “Lorelei” for her propensity to defeat enemies by drowning them in water. Getting to her feet and looking down at the ring, she muttered, “The reason Onii-sama had so much trouble with the Hunter wasn’t that he couldn’t see him.”

A second later, Tomaru came to realize her mistake.

What?! She watched in disbelief as Ikki turned to look directly at her, making it clear he’d been able to follow her despite the speed she was moving at. N-No way! How did he react in time?!

The next instant, Ikki moved out of the path of her supersonic fist. Her punch sailed through the air, and she passed by Ikki, unable to slow herself down. He grabbed the collar of her windbreaker as she did. Utilizing her own speed against her, he spun her around and slammed her against the ring’s stone floor.

“Gah!” Tomaru gasped in pain as her back smashed into the floor.

“Looks like I win,” Ikki said plainly.

Tomaru said nothing. She couldn’t understand how Ikki had been able to see her or how he’d managed to grab her. But she knew she’d been defeated. Once she stopped, the acceleration provided to her by Mach Greed was reset. It was a skill that required her to constantly be on the move. Building up speed again would take some time, and it was clear that the samurai staring down at her wouldn’t give it to her.

Accepting her defeat, Tomaru nodded meekly and announced her surrender.

“Wh-What an anticlimactic finale!” cried the announcer. “The academy’s third-strongest student, the fearsome Runner’s High, has been defeated by Kurogane Ikki! This marks his ninth win in a row! It looks like, for the first time in history, we might actually have a Rank F knight be one of our school’s representatives in the Seven Stars Battle Festival!”

“No way!”

“Even Tomaru-san couldn’t stop him?”

“What the hell is with that guy?! How come a monster like him is Rank F and repeating a year?!”

“H-He’s so cool...”

The spectators all shared their thoughts.

“Well done, Ikki. That’s another flawless victory under your belt,” Alisuin Nagi said, applauding Ikki as he walked out of the ring. They then turned to Shizuku, who was standing next to them, and said, “He didn’t even need to use Ittou Shura.”

“Why would he, Alice? The only reason Onii-sama struggled against the Hunter was because Area Invisible was a perfect stealth Noble Art and he used a bow to fight from long range. No matter how fast someone is, the moment they enter Onii-sama’s range, their fate is sealed. That’s how good of a swordsman he is.”

At Ikki’s level of skill, he was able to take down anyone who got within his sword’s reach. Regardless of whether they were fast or slow, visible or invisible, his honed sixth sense enabled him to react to anything they might do. Tomaru had lost because she’d underestimated Ikki’s powers of observation.

As Ikki made his way back to the blue gate, a red-haired girl walked out of it and smiled at him. “That was a good fight, Ikki.”

“Seeing as I had to dislocate my right shoulder to earn that victory, I think I could have done better. Anyway, good luck, Stella.”

“I won’t even break a sweat against someone of that caliber,” Stella replied, brimming with confidence, and stepped into the ring.

“All right, everyone, don’t go anywhere! The much-anticipated eighth match of the day is about to begin! First up, we have Hagun Academy’s one and only Rank A knight, the Crimson Princess, Stella Vermilliooon! Much like her roommate, Kurogane Ikki, she’s won every single one of her eight matches! Not only that, but each of her opponents has surrendered after witnessing her blazing flames without even trying to fight her! You can’t get a more perfect record than that! But today’s opponent might just give her a run for her money!”

As Tomaru walked through the red gate, a giant of a man with a buzz cut walked past her and into the ring.

“Vermillion’s opponent is Hagun Academy’s very own raging bull, the Destroyer, Saijou Ikazuchiii! He’s a Rank C knight and a member of the student council, but more importantly, he’s ranked the fourth-strongest student in our school! Just look at that! He doesn’t seem the least bit intimidated as he steps into the ring! He’s glaring at her like an equal instead of cowering nervously like all of Vermillion’s past foes! Apparently, in a recent interview, he told the school newspaper, ‘A true Japanese man never runs from a challenge!’ and it looks like he’s more than ready to back those words up! Will we finally get to see the Crimson Princess fight for real?! Both fighters have manifested their Devices, and...there’s the buzzer!”

“Raaaaaah!”

“Whoa! The battle’s just started and Saijou is already brandishing his Zanbatou! Just lifting it has created a gust of wind so big you can feel it in the spectator stands! That’s one hell of a Device Saijou’s got!”

“I’m curious, do you know what my power is?” Saijou asked Stella as he twirled his Zanbatou above his head.

“I don’t. Unlike Ikki, I don’t investigate my opponents beforehand.”

“Hmph. I guess being Rank C means I’m not worth a famous Rank A’s time.”

“It’s not because I’m overconfident. Both this battle and even the Seven Stars Battle Festival are training to make a stronger Mage Knight. However, for training to be useful, it needs to simulate real-life conditions. When you’re up against terrorists, you won’t know what their powers are ahead of time. I need to be able to fight effectively regardless of what surprises my opponents throw at me. That’s why I don’t investigate them.”

“I see. I must say, I’m impressed by your mettle. Few first-years have such a splendid resolve. However, I’m afraid your noble-minded intentions have backfired on you!”

Saijou stopped spinning his Zanbatou around and pointed it at Stella. It was far bigger than her Lævateinn and was oozing mana, which meant that Saijou had already activated his Blazer ability.

“My ability increases the weight behind my slashes the more I swing my weapon! In other words, the time I just spent spinning my Zanbatou already charged it up enough that each swing is backed by ten tons of weight! It was foolish of you to let me charge my power to its maximum potential!” Saijou charged at Stella and swung his massive blade down on her. “Crescendo Axe!”

With all of the extra weight accumulated in Saijou’s blow, his sword could cut through even boulders.

“It doesn’t matter how powerful your swing is if it doesn’t hit,” Stella replied calmly.

Indeed, that was precisely why Saijou was ranked lower than Tomaru Renren. Though his Crescendo Axe was a much stronger single hit than anything Tomaru could muster, his Zanbatou was a very slow and bulky weapon. In fact, he was a very easy mark for a speed-based fighter like Tomaru. And while Stella couldn’t reach Tomaru’s ludicrous speeds, she was quite fast herself. She could dodge a swing like this with her eyes closed.

“But I’ll block it anyway!” she shouted, and there was a loud metallic clang as her Lævateinn stopped Saijou’s Crescendo Axe in its tracks.

“Wh-What?!” Not only did Stella block Saijou’s Zanbatou, she even forced it back, proving herself utterly superior in a contest of strength. “N-No way!” He stared in shock as he was overpowered.

Unfortunately, he hadn’t been present for Stella’s duel with Ikki, so he didn’t know just how powerful Stella’s blows could be. He’d only ever seen her battle through blurry videos that had been uploaded online, which had made it difficult to properly analyze her capabilities. In truth, Stella was also capable of unleashing blows that could shatter boulders.

“Remember this, Senpai.” Stella grabbed the defenseless Saijou by the collar and drew him close. She grinned viciously and said, “Blasting through all sorts of powers and fancy tricks head-on is what it means to be a Rank A.”

Flames burst from Stella’s hand, burning Saijou’s collar to cinders and blasting him a dozen meters up into the air. He landed on the stone ring with a painful crunch and lay there, unmoving. The point-blank flame blast had knocked him out cold.

“That’s the end of the match! The winner is Stella Vermillion!” the referee shouted, confirming that the battle was over.

“A-Another overwhelming victory for Stella Vermilliooon! Saijou was the first person to brave a proper battle with the Crimson Princess, but he was burned to cinders in an instant! This is the might of a world-class Rank A knight! Our freshmen this year are all crazy strong! This might finally be the year Hagun Academy takes home the Seven Stars Battle Festival crown!”

Ignoring the cheering crowd, Stella casually strode out of the ring.

A month had passed since the start of the selection matches to see who would represent Hagun Academy in the Seven Stars Battle Festival. With summer right around the corner, the student body’s attention was focused on the three freshmen who, so far, boasted undefeated records in their selection matches: Kurogane Ikki, the Worst One; Stella Vermillion, the Crimson Princess; and Kurogane Shizuku, the Lorelei.

◆

“Congratulations, Onii-sama.”

As Ikki left the fifth training field, where his match had taken place, he felt something bump into his waist. Looking down, he saw Shizuku’s jade-green eyes staring up at him. Alisuin was standing a few paces behind her.

“Thanks, Shizuku. But please don’t hug me in public. It’s kind of embarrassing.”

“That’s okay. You’re very cute when you’re embarrassed, Onii-sama.”

“Alice, is it just me, or are my words going over Shizuku’s head more and more lately? Are we just out of sync because we spent four years apart?”

“Heh heh. The four-year gap does have something to do with it, at least.”

“Aaah! Shizuku’s hugging Ikki again!” Stella shouted, running over to Ikki.

Shizuku turned to Stella, her angelic smile immediately turning into a grimace. “God, you’re so noisy. You’re not five anymore, so stop screaming all the time.”

“I’m only screaming because you’re doing weird things to Ikki again!”

“What do you mean, ‘weird’? As you can see, I’m simply enjoying some normal physical intimacy with my brother. There’s nothing weird about that. We’re just very close siblings. Isn’t that right, Onii-sama?”

“Y-Yeah,” Ikki replied. “But you really are a bit too close, so could you please let go?”

“See? Even Onii-sama agrees with me.”

Shizuku ignored the parts of Ikki’s statement that didn’t fit her narrative.

“Did you even listen to the rest of his sentence?! There’s a limit to how much you can twist someone’s words!”

“Whatever could you be referring to? Besides, think about this logically, Stella-san. It’s true that I’m hugging Onii-sama, but I’m not hugging him that tightly. And even if I was, if Onii-sama truly didn’t want my loving embrace, he could easily pull me off. The fact that he hasn’t means he doesn’t dislike it. Isn’t that right, Onii-sama?”

Shizuku looked up at Ikki with puppy-dog eyes. He obviously couldn’t bring himself to shake off such a cute creature.

“Y-Yeah. I would never pull you off me.”

“Ikkiii!”

“I can’t say no when she looks at me like that! It’s not my fault!”

“There you have it. This is consensual, so you have no right to complain, Stella-san.”

“Y-Yes I do!”

“Oh? And why is that?”

“B-Because...”

“Don’t tell me you’re going to say it’s because you’re his servant again. If you really are his servant, you shouldn’t be complaining about what your master’s sister does. Think about it. Even though your parents are the actual leaders of your country, your citizens show respect to you as well, right? So in the same vein, you need to respect your master’s family as well. Or do the members of the Vermillion royal family think they’re special and deserve special treatment?”

“That’s not...” Stella trailed off, unable to truly speak her mind.

Ikki, of course, understood what she wanted to say. After all, on that night one month ago, they’d gone from roommates to lovers. Stella was a princess, however, so there would be complications if she made their relationship public. Ikki knew that as well, which was why, after discussing it with her, the two of them had agreed to keep their relationship a secret for now.

Still, it was clear that Shizuku was also romantically pursuing Ikki, and naturally, Stella couldn’t stand that. Really, no girl would be happy to see another woman flirting with her boyfriend. But the frustrating thing for Stella was that she couldn’t just come out and say that she was Ikki’s girlfriend.

Shizuku gave Stella a disappointed look and said, “Coward.”

“Uh, Shizuku?” Ikki asked, confused.

“Never mind. Come on, Onii-sama. Let’s go.”

“Hrngh...”

Stella could only watch helplessly as Shizuku dragged Ikki away.

“Mrr!”

Her teary expression was honestly kind of cute.

“Grrrr!”

Wait, she’s growling now?!

“Um, Sh-Shizuku? On second thought, it’s too embarrassing to link arms with my sister.”

Fearing for his safety, Ikki gently untangled himself from Shizuku. Shizuku pouted a little, but she let him go.

“Very well. I wouldn’t want you to hate me, after all.”

“I could never hate you, Shizuku,” Ikki replied immediately. Nothing could happen that would make him hate his kind, loving sister.

Shizuku smiled upon hearing that. “Thank you, Onii-sama. But you know...” She glanced around to make sure no one was nearby, then said in a much softer voice, “If you’re too kind to others, you won’t be able to make any progress.” It seemed she had already sleuthed out Ikki and Stella’s relationship.

She does have a point...

It had already been a month since the two of them had started going out, and their relationship hadn’t progressed in the slightest. On the contrary, it had regressed. Now that they were a couple, Ikki was even more self-conscious around Stella, and that made him act overly considerate toward her. He wanted to get closer to her, both physically and emotionally, but he wasn’t sure how to go about it.

What’s even the right time to say something like that? Should I, like, tell her I want to talk and make a big deal out of it? Or should I just bring it up casually in the middle of a normal conversation? I wish I knew what the right answer was.

Ikki had no prior relationship experience and thus had a hard time figuring out when the right moment to make a move was. Unfortunately, Stella had no relationship experience either, so she was struggling with the same problems. The two of them had set off into the stormy sea of love without a compass to guide them; it was only natural that they’d gotten shipwrecked so soon.

Maybe Shizuku’s right, and as the man, I should be taking the lead here.

However, because Ikki was scared Stella would hate him if he came on too strong, he couldn’t work up the courage to be more proactive. As a result, he hadn’t touched Stella at all this whole month.

Haaah... I feel like we should at least be able to kiss by now.

It saddened Ikki that they were further apart now than they’d been before they’d started dating.

◆

“Ah, look over there.”

“It’s the Crimson Princess. Lorelei and the Worst One are with her too.”

“Those three look so...dignified.”

“Stop trying to sound cool. Those two girls might be strong, but I’m pretty sure that Rank F failure just happened to get lucky.”

“Do you seriously still not believe that he’s as strong as everyone says he is?”

“Oh yeah, did you hear? Stella Vermillion and Kurogane Ikki beat the two members of the student council who’re ranked third and fourth strongest in the school!”

“Seriously? So the only people that might stand a chance against them are the student council president and Scharlach Frau?!”

“Those two are way stronger than everyone else, but unless those freshmen get unlucky, they probably won’t even face off against them before the qualifiers are over. I’ve heard even Lorelei has a perfect nine-win streak.”

“We’ve got a lot of crazy new students this year. Do you see that tall guy next to Lorelei? He’s super strong too.”

“Don’t call Nagi-sama ‘that tall guy’! He has a splendid nickname you should be using! Black Sonia!”

“Yeah, don’t be rude to Nagi-sama!”

“O-Okay. My bad.”

“With all these promising freshmen, maybe we actually have a shot at winning the Seven Stars Battle Festival this year?”

Ikki could feel people staring at him from every direction as he walked back to the main school building. After a month, it had become clear who the favorites to be selected as Hagun Academy’s representatives were. Everyone was interested in these four people, who still held undefeated records, and they were especially interested in Ikki. His win streak had shocked all the students at Hagun Academy.

Despite being a Rank F whose Blazer abilities were truly atrocious, he’d been defeating more powerful knights one after another. People had initially doubted their eyes, but now that he’d reached nine wins in a row, everyone had been forced to accept that Ikki really was just that strong. Only a few stubborn people still vehemently denied that he was as strong as his record suggested and believed that it was all some kind of sham.

Admittedly, while most knights had come to recognize Ikki’s strength, they were still bewildered by it. They were mostly interested in seeing just how far he would be able to go. But Stella, for one, was happy that people were finally starting to respect him.

“Heh. Looks like even the most dim-witted students are starting to notice how strong you are, Ikki.”

“Of course they are. Onii-sama is the most wonderful man in the universe. It’s about time the rest of the world started to realize that. But I must say, the change has been quite stark. So many people come to hear your lectures during lunch breaks now.”

“Yeah, I was pretty shocked when even third-years started showing up.”

The lectures Shizuku was referring to were ones that Ikki had started giving to his classmates after they’d begged him to teach them martial arts. He taught swordsmanship, of course, but also how to wield a spear and even a bow. Ikki had practiced every single martial art so that he could better see through his opponents’ moves and read them, which was why he could instruct them on such a wide variety of weapons.

Though Ikki’s specialty is still swordsmanship, most students don’t have enough of a foundation in martial arts to be taught proper techniques anyway, Stella thought. He’s mostly just been teaching the basics.

In the beginning, only a few of Ikki’s classmates had attended his lectures, but as he racked up wins, more and more students came to understand the value of martial arts. By now, however, people from different classes and years were also showing up to his lectures. A month ago, that would have been unthinkable.

“Though recently, something even crazier happened to me,” Ikki said, thinking back to a week ago. He’d been hoping this particular situation would resolve itself if he just ignored it, but unfortunately, it seemed that wasn’t happening. As a matter of fact, it was quickly becoming impossible to ignore.

“What, Onii-sama?” Shizuku asked, worried.

“Well, I think I have a stalker.”

“Whaaat?!”

Stella and Shizuku both gave Ikki an incredulous look.

“S-S-Stalkers are those people that follow you around day and night and sneak into your room and send you envelopes with lasers inside them, right?!”

“I believe you mean razors, Stella-san. I don’t think you can put lasers inside an envelope,” Alisuin corrected gently.

“I guess you could say emails are kind of like laser envelopes,” Ikki mused with a smile.

“Shut up! It was a slip of the tongue, okay?! Anyway, that’s not important right now!”

“Indeed. Could you tell us more about this stalker, Onii-sama?”

“Well, I started noticing that someone was watching me about a week ago. And I’ve noticed the same presence staring at my back an awful lot since then. From the looks of it, you’ve sensed them too, huh, Alice?”

“I have. But since you seemed to be ignoring them, I assumed the best course of action was to not mention it.”

“At first, I figured that if I ignored them, they’d stop eventually, but that doesn’t seem to be working.”

“Did you do something to make someone hate you?” Alisuin asked.

“Hmm. Not that I know of, at least,” Ikki replied.

There wasn’t much hatred in this mysterious stalker’s gaze, so Ikki doubted they had a grudge against him.

“Maybe they’re someone who has a crush on you, then?”

“Oh yeah, I guess that’s possible. I’ve heard most stalkers’ obsessions stem from love and not hate.”

“You have become a rather famous knight, Onii-sama. And you’re especially popular with the ladies. Perhaps you made eye contact with one of them and they thought they were destined to be your lover. Or maybe you said some kind words to a fan and they fell for you immediately.”