Chivalry of a Failed Knight: Volume 4 E-Book

Riku Misora

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

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

Ikki and his friends are at a joint training camp with Kyomon Academy to prepare for the Seven Stars Battle Festival. But while they’re away, mysterious assailants suddenly attack Hagun. They claim to be part of a group known as Akatsuki, and their strength is overwhelming.

As everyone races back to confront them, something catches them off guard—they’ve been betrayed. To make matters worse, Ikki ends up confronting the world’s strongest Blazer. Will he be able to survive the encounter?

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Cover

Prologue: Snowbound Land

Chapter 1: Training Camp

Chapter 2: Schemes and Plots

Chapter 3: Akatsuki’s Advent

Chapter 4: A Premature Confrontation

Epilogue: The Fixer

Afterword

Color Illustrations

About J-Novel Club

Copyright

Landmarks

Table of Contents

Color Illustrations

Prologue: Snowbound Land

“Listen up, kids. Alcohol is the cool adults’ drink. That means anyone who can drink it is an adult,” a red-haired girl of about ten said. She was standing in front of a storehouse behind a church, a vivid green bottle filled with liquor in her hands.

This was happening in a small village in a snowy country in the northern tip of Eurasia.

“If you guys can drink this, you won’t be kids anymore! You’ll be cool adults just like us! And cool adults never betray their comrades! They never abandon the weak! Drinking this will mean swearing an oath to always stand by your friends and defend the weak! Are you kids ready?!”

Two boys who couldn’t have been older than six straightened their backs and shouted, “Yes, we are!”

“All right, then show me your resolve!”

“Okay!”

The two boys cupped their hands into a bowl shape and held them out, letting the red-haired girl pour a few drops of booze into them. They then brought the alcohol to their mouths and gulped it down.

“Bwaaargh!”

The two of them retched simultaneously.

“Wh-Why does it smell so bad?!”

“It burns in my throat...”

They dropped to their knees, placing their hands on the floor to steady themselves. Seeing that the red-haired girl cackled and said, “Looks like you can’t become cool adults just yet! You can try again next year, but until then, you’re gonna have to let me and Alice protect you!”

“Urgh...”

“I didn’t know becoming an adult would taste so bad, Timur...” one of the boys said, cleaning his mouth out with a handful of snow.

“Ha ha ha, no need to rush. You can take your time becoming cool adults,” a boy about the same age as the red-haired girl said, walking over and giving the two younger boys a gentle smile. He had dark blond hair and his face was smeared with soot and mud, but beneath all the dirt and grime, his features were stunningly beautiful. He was the same person who would eventually enroll in Hagun Academy under the name “Alisuin Nagi.”

Alisuin—or rather, Alice—then turned to the girl and said, “You know, Yuuri, I’d say this is what a bad adult would do, not a cool one. Timur and Kondla are still just six. You should have known that they wouldn’t be able to handle alcohol.”

The girl known as Yuuri smirked and replied, “It’s fine. Trying to grow up as fast as possible will make them stronger.”

Like Alice, Yuuri was a street urchin. She was the leader of the group of kids who made this storehouse behind the church their home. She was quite the tomboy, while in contrast, Alice was gentle and mild mannered. Though they seemed like polar opposites, there was one trait they both shared: they were both committed to protecting these young kids who couldn’t survive on their own.

The two of them were surrogate parents to the orphaned children living on the street. Yuuri was the stern father, while Alice was the kind mother. Though the two of them were still children themselves, they were quite responsible. Incidentally, the ceremony Yuuri had tried to make Timur and Kondla go through was a rite of passage in this particular family. Any child who could drink the strong liquor stored in the green bottle went from being a kid who needed protection to an adult who would instead protect others.

These kids had no parents or other adults they could rely on. That was precisely why they were eager to grow up as quickly as possible. It was also why Yuuri had come up with this ritual for the younger kids. Even so, there was never a good reason to give kids alcohol.

“Yuuri! How many times do I have to tell you not to give the kids alcohol before you’ll learn?!”

“Crap, it’s the old sister! Everybody run!”

The sister who managed the dilapidated church stormed out of the front door, and Yuuri, Timur, and Kondla scattered. The speed the boys reacted with proved how much trust they placed in their leader’s orders.

“Hold it right there, you brats! If you don’t come back this instant, there’ll be no soup for you tonight!”

“Leader forced us to drink it!”

“Yeah, it’s all her fault. We didn’t do anything wrong.”

However, they were still willing to betray their beloved leader for some warm soup.

“H-Hey! You’ll pay for that, you two!”

“Ha ha ha!”

Laughing, Alice started walking toward the main road. The sun was starting to set, which meant it was time for him to get to work. But as he strode past the storehouse, three young girls came out to meet him.

“Um, hey, Big Sis Alice!”

The three of them were aged five, six, and seven, respectively. The seven-year-old, Anastasia, was the oldest member of this family after Yuuri and Alice. She stepped forward, blushing, and timidly handed Alice a handmade scarf.

“L-Look.”

She’d asked Alice to teach her how to knit and made it using the wool the church’s sister had given her. Alice assumed Anastasia just wanted him to judge the quality of her knitting, so he said, “Wow, it’s beautiful. You did a great job.” He then tried to hand it back to her, but she pressed the scarf into his chest.

“I-It’s a present for you, Big Sis!”

“Really?”

Anastasia, who went by the nickname “Natasha,” nodded emphatically.

“You’re always working so hard for us during the cold nights, so...”

“I see...” Alice wrapped the scarf around his neck, and to his surprise, it felt much warmer than the one he’d picked up a while back. “It’s so warm. Thank you, Natasha.”

“Hee hee.” She beamed, and Alice felt himself warmed to the core by that splendid smile.

Their lives were by no means easy. While the sister was willing to lend them this storehouse out of the kindness of her heart, it was still difficult for two ten-year-olds to feed five younger ones as well as themselves. Alice did odd jobs for the local mafia, but they took most of the money he earned, leaving him with barely anything. Most of their meals consisted of the soup the sister sometimes made for them and crusty old bread that they could barely afford. Naturally, all of the kids were perpetually hungry since that wasn’t nearly enough food for them.

Despite their harsh living environment, however, Alice was happy. Sure, he had less to eat than when he’d been alone, and he also had to work way harder than before, but now, he was surrounded by warmth and love every day. It was a far cry from when he’d been on his own, stealing food to survive and always on alert in case someone tried to steal from him. He got to spend every day with people he cared for and who cared for him in turn. What more could he ask for? All he wanted was for these peaceful days to continue forever.

If only they had.

Chapter 1: Training Camp

By the end of July, the rainy season had come to an end, and the dark storm clouds were replaced by wispy white ones that merely dotted the blue sky. The first semester was over, and Hagun Academy’s summer break had officially started. It was decently long, so there were plenty of students who’d opted to go home for the summer. The only people left on campus were those who wanted to enjoy their summer in Tokyo, those who wanted to use the school’s facilities to continue training even through summer break, and those who had troubled family situations and simply couldn’t go home.

Though Kurogane Ikki fit into two of those three categories, he wasn’t on campus. Neither were any of his friends or his sister. That was because the Seven Stars Battle Festival would be held in just a few weeks, in the middle of August. And like with any tournament, the people participating were off at training camps, doing everything they could to prepare for the coming battles.

Hagun Academy held a training camp for its representatives every year as well, of course—a ten-day intensive program in Okutama, where Ikki and Stella had gone before to investigate rumors of a monster. Active members of the King of Knights league had even been invited to serve as instructors during this training camp, so it was a great opportunity to learn and grow.

The reason Ikki, Stella, Alisuin, and Shizuku weren’t on campus was because they were either participating in that training camp or, in Shizuku’s case, assisting those who were. However, this year, Hagun’s training camp wasn’t actually being held in Okutama. While the stone giant had been taken care of, Touka and the others hadn’t managed to pin down the person who’d created it. There hadn’t been any reports of another golem running around, but Director Shinguuji had still deemed it unsafe to go and had instead asked Kyomon Academy if they could do a joint training camp at Kyomon’s lodge in Yamagata. Kyomon had agreed, so Yamagata was where everyone had gone.

◆◇◆◇◆

Stella Vermillion, the famous Crimson Princess, had traveled from her homeland to the faraway samurai nation of Japan solely to find strong opponents who would give her a real challenge. And right now, she was in the middle of exactly the kind of fight she’d been searching for.

“Ngh!”

Crimson flames and golden lightning arced across the training arena, sending sparks flying everywhere when they clashed. Her blade cloaked in fire, Stella charged her opponent once more.

Stella’s fighting style relied on using her power and speed to overwhelm her opponents. Her immense mana pool allowed her to strengthen herself to the point that she was faster and stronger than most of her foes. But while people tended to focus on her offensive might, Stella was an all-rounder with no true weaknesses to speak of. She was just as skilled at defense as she was at offense. It was precisely because she could adapt to whatever the situation called for that she was Rank A.

But the girl she was crossing swords with was strong enough to weather her ferocious onslaught. That her opponent could defend against her blows was already impressive enough considering that Stella could crush most people in a single blow, but rather than just defending, her opponent’s parries were also creating openings for her to counterattack. That was hardly surprising, though, considering she was up against the Thunderbolt, Toudou Touka. Touka and the other student council members had volunteered to come to the training camp as coaches.

“Haaah!”

As their swords clashed once more, Touka twisted her wrist and tilted her blade, using the force of Stella’s own blow to redirect it. Stella pitched forward as Lævateinn slid harmlessly past Touka.

“Ngh!”

Stella was a highly skilled knight herself, though. She didn’t let that parry destroy her balance, using her powerful lower-body muscles to keep herself grounded. That did, however, leave her open for a brief instant, and Touka wasn’t the kind of person to let an opening slip past her, no matter how small. She immediately sheathed her Device, Narukami, then spread her legs wide and started gathering electricity in her black lacquered sheath.

“Ah!”

A shiver ran down Stella’s spine. That was the stance Touka took up when she was about to unleash her Noble Art, Thunderbolt. It was her trump card, and while Ikki had defeated it once before, that didn’t change the fact that it boasted overwhelming power at close range. Not even the Crimson Princess could stand up to Thunderbolt’s might, because while her trump card, Karsalitio Salamandra, technically beat Thunderbolt in both range and power, it was much slower. And since Touka was already in her stance, Stella had no choice but to back away.

But this is the moment I was waiting for!

Stella did indeed backstep away, but this was all part of her plan. The whole reason she’d started fighting Touka at close range was to bait out her Thunderbolt.

Thunderbolt used the principles of electromagnetism to shoot Narukami out of its sheath with the force of a rail gun. But because of the overwhelming power it boasted, Touka couldn’t stop it once she’d started it. Stella’s plan had been to bait it out and then dodge at the last second so she could take advantage of the opening after it missed. However, Touka didn’t draw her blade. She just stood there, still in the ready stance, and carefully observed Stella. Stella couldn’t help but be impressed by the restraint Touka had shown.

I guess it won’t be that easy to bait her, huh?

Trying to bait out Thunderbolt and then dodging was such a simple plan that anyone could come up with it. In fact, it was the go-to plan for anyone who was fighting Touka. She had fought enough foes who’d tried to do this that she was more than ready for it.

In that case, let’s try something only I can pull off!

Stella backstepped even farther away, putting a good ten meters between her and Touka. At this range, neither swords nor spears could reach one’s opponent. The only weapons that could hit someone at this range were bows, guns, and magic, and the latter was something Stella had in spades.

Close range was far from the only range she could fight effectively at—she was equally at home at long range. She possessed the greatest quantity of mana out of all the knights currently registered with the Mage-Knight Federation, and when it came to magic battles at long range, the person with more mana had a huge advantage. Touka had a few long-range techniques she could use, but she’d eventually be worn down by Stella’s superior mana pool if she kept trying to fight from this distance.

“Hah!”

And so, Touka leaped forward, determined to close the distance between the two of them again. Unfortunately, she’d made her decision a second too late.

“Haaaaah!”

Stella poured yet more mana into Lævateinn, which was already enveloped in the fire of her Dragon Breath. It greedily sucked in her mana, the flames growing even brighter and hotter. Then, she pointed her blade at Touka, who was charging straight at her.

“Devour! Dragon Fang!”

She unleashed all the power she’d stored in Lævateinn, and the flames swirling around it formed into the shape of a dragon. The flaming serpent opened its jaws wide and bore down on Touka. Touka sidestepped slightly to avoid the blazing fangs, but the dragon changed course to match her.

Stella’s Dragon Fang was more than just a blast of fire shaped like a dragon. The fiery dragon it created would chase her foe until it finally had them in its red-hot maw. Because she could control the mana that comprised the dragon, it was impossible to shake it off.

There was only one recourse Touka had against this dragon, and that was to destroy it with her own Noble Art. Dragon Fang was powerful enough to destroy anything caught in its mouth, so nothing less than Touka’s Thunderbolt would be enough for her to destroy it. And so, Touka quickly dropped back into her stance.

“Thunderbolt!”

She unleashed her strongest attack against the dragon without hesitation. She had no other choice, after all. And that was exactly what Stella had been waiting for.

I’ve got you now!

The moment Touka used Thunderbolt, Stella leaped forward. As powerful as the technique was, it left Touka vulnerable for a moment right after she used it, and Stella hoped to take advantage of that. This was her opportunity to end the match. She reached her opponent in less than a second thanks to her godlike speed, then swung Lævateinn down with all her might, certain that Touka couldn’t defend against her attack.

“Wha—”

And yet, a second before Stella’s blade made contact, Touka did something completely unexpected.

She’s...spinning?!

Using the propulsion of her swing, Touka indeed spun in a circle and launched a second attack, this one aimed at Stella. She had seen through Stella’s plan and prepared accordingly, purposely unleashing her Thunderbolt to lure Stella into committing to a decisive attack. And Stella had fallen for it. Narukami made contact with Stella’s stomach, cutting through her.

“Ngh.”

As both Stella’s and Touka’s blades were in phantom form, Stella wasn’t physically hurt, but she was drained of all her stamina and dropped to one knee. As she did so, Touka placed Narukami against her neck, indicating that the battle was over.

“I didn’t know you already had ways to deal with feints like that,” Stella said, frowning.

“That’s because it’s the first time I’ve used that technique in an actual battle. You’re not wrong for trying to take advantage of your opponent’s weaknesses, but just remember, when it comes to the national level, most Blazers are capable of using their own weaknesses to lay traps for their foes. You can be certain that last year’s Seven Stars Sovereign, Moroboshi-san, is capable of doing that too. If you want to make it to the top, you’ll need to get better at reading your opponent,” Touka explained. “You’ve still got a long way to go, Stella-san,” she added with a smile.

Stella could only groan in frustration, unable to say anything in return.

◆◇◆◇◆

“Well, it looks like the Crimson Princess lost.”

“Aww, come on.”

Two girls sighed in unison as they watched Stella and Touka’s battle from a distance. Both of them wore yellow armbands that said “Newspaper Club.” They were members of Bunkyoku’s newspaper club who had come here to collect information on Hagun’s and Kyomon’s representatives.

These training camps presented schools with the rare opportunity to have their students learn about rival schools’ strongest Blazers. Every school’s newspaper club sent at least a few members to each training camp. The two girls from Bunkyoku had come all the way from Kyushu to learn more about the knight everyone was talking about: Stella Vermillion.

“Man, what a letdown.”

“It would have made for a good article if she’d been able to beat the Thunderbolt.”

“Yeah, who wants to read an article titled ‘Turns Out the Crimson Princess Was Weak All Along!’?”

They shook their heads in disappointment. They’d wanted to write articles about Stella’s upset victory since an article about her losing wouldn’t be nearly as interesting. Meanwhile, Kusakabe Kagami, who was also wearing a yellow newspaper club armband and watching the battle from a slightly different vantage point, shot the two girls an exasperated look.

“Sheesh, are all of Bunkyoku’s journalists blind or something?” she muttered quietly.

“It certainly seems like it. They’re so concerned with seeing the result they want to see that they’re not paying attention to the things they actually should be. They’re a disgrace to journalists everywhere.”

Alisuin Nagi, who was standing next to Kagami, said with a shake of her head. The two of them had seen Stella fight enough times to know that Stella definitely hadn’t lost because she was weak. Honestly, anyone with even basic observational skills would have been able to figure that much out.

“Man, that was a crazy battle,” someone said as they walked over to Kagami. “We coulda made a killing if we’d charged people to come see it.”

“Hagun’s lineup is quite something this year, Kusakabe,” the person walking with them added.

The pair, one a boy and the other a girl, shook their heads in amazement. Kagami smiled at them.

“I didn’t know you were here too, Yagokoro-san, Komiyama-san.”

“Of course we’re here. No self-respecting journalist would miss out on a match between the Crimson Princess and the Thunderbolt.”

“Exactly.”

As Kagami was talking, she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned to look at Alisuin, who asked, “Who are your friends, Kagamin?”

At that, Kagami remembered this was Alisuin’s first time meeting these two.

“My bad, I forgot to introduce them. The lively girl here is Yagokoro-san from Bukyoku Academy’s newspaper club. And this guy here is Donrou’s newspaper club’s Komiyama-san.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Alisuin-san,” Komiyama said.

“Sup?” Yagokoro said.

“I see, so you’re all journalists.”

“Yep. As you can see, we’re wearing the same yellow armbands.”

Alisuin nodded in understanding as Komiyama held out his arm.

Yagokoro sidled up to Alisuin and said, “Man, I’ve heard the rumors but you’re even hotter in person. You could be an idol if you wanted.”

“Yagokoro, you’re being rude.”

Komiyama elbowed Yagokoro to get her to stop peering at Alisuin’s face. But Alisuin didn’t seem to mind at all. She smiled and said, “Aha ha, it’s fine. Besides, girls love being complimented.”

“‘G-Girls’?” Komiyama sputtered, confused.

“Oh, yeah, that’s Alice-chan for you. It’s nothing to worry about, Komiyama-san,” Kagami said cheerfully.

“I-I’ll try not to.”

“Wait, you didn’t know about Nagi-san, Komi-yan? What kinda journalist doesn’t do their research?”

“Urk. Look, I didn’t think it was important to research her fetishes, okay?”

That’s so like you, Komiyama-san, Kagami thought.

Journalists naturally had preferences about what they liked to look into. Yagokoro and Kagami were more interested in Blazers’ personalities and histories than their abilities. They also exaggerated a fair amount in their articles. Komiyama, on the other hand, reported the truth as he saw it and was much more interested in the fighting prowess of the competing Blazers. Thus, it was only natural that he hadn’t looked into what kind of person Alisuin was.

“But shouldn’t you be out training too, Nagi-san? You’re one of Hagun’s representatives, aren’tcha?” Yagokoro asked.

“I only made it in because I was lucky enough to avoid getting matched up against any strong opponents. To be honest, I’m not that interested in the Seven Stars Battle Festival. My apologies to those who lost to me, but I’m really just here to help my roommate out with anything she might need. That’s why I’m here taking it easy.”

“Just lucky, eh? It takes more than luck to win twenty battles in a row, no matter what you say.”

“I’m afraid that’s really all there is to it.”

“Well, it’s your choice how much you care about the Seven Stars Battle Festival,” Komiyama interjected. “Besides, having all sorts of reps here will make reporting on it more interesting.”

“My, what a thoughtful gentleman.” Alisuin gave Komiyama a suggestive look.

“I-I’m straight, okay?” Komiyama stammered, backing away.

Kagami looked at the two reporters and asked, “By the way, Yagokoro-san, Komiyama-san, what did you make of the match?”

“The one between the Crimson Princess and the Thunderbolt?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, if I had to sum it up, they’re insanely strong.”

“Which one is?”

“Both of them, obviously.”

Upon hearing that, Kagami smiled. I should have known that you two, at least, have functional eyes. Unlike the two girls from Bukyoku, Yagokoro and Komiyama had properly understood how impressive the earlier match had been.

“The Crimson Princess is as strong as the rumors say. Each and every one of her attacks is powerful and precise. She’s the kind of Blazer you only see once in a generation. She didn’t lose because she’s weak. Thunderbolt’s just way too strong,” Komiyama said.

“I know, right? Komi-yan and I are both third-years, and we followed Thunderbolt last year too during the Seven Stars Battle Festival. I can say for sure that she’s way stronger than she was back then.”

“I imagine she trained like never before because she knew this was her last chance to take the title of Seven Stars Sovereign. Which is why I can’t believe she’s here not as a representative but as a volunteer coach. Or that even though she has the strength to beat even Rank A Blazers, it was a Rank F who took her representative seat.”

Komiyama turned to a different corner of the training area. There, the man who’d defeated Touka—Kurogane Ikki, the Rank F known as “Worst One” who’d fought his way through the selection matches—seemed to be training with a pair of girls.

“What’s he doing over there anyway?” Yagokoro asked.

“It’s gotta be a mock battle, right? He’s got Intetsu out,” Kagami replied.

“He’s facing off against the Hagure sisters. They’re two of Hagun’s representatives,” Alisuin added.

“A two-on-one?” Komiyama asked.

“Senpai can probably handle that no sweat,” Kagami said confidently.

Indeed, the third-year twins Hagure Kikyou and Hagure Botan had asked Ikki to spar with them.

“Take thiiis!”

Hagure Kikyou used her Noble Art, which drastically boosted her speed, and charged at Ikki with her spear-shaped Device. Ikki wasn’t the slightest bit fazed by the speed of her rush, though, calmly raising his foot and slamming it down on the tip of the spear, forcing it into the ground.

“That should do it.”

“Whoa?!”

With her spear grounded, Kikyou’s charge turned into an accidental pole vault, and she shot into the air. She flew over Ikki’s head and headed straight for her sister, Hagure Botan, who’d been taking aim at Ikki from behind with her twin pistols.

“Huh?”

“Waaah?!”

“Eek!”

Kikyou landed on her sister, and the two of them rolled across the ground in a tangled heap. Ikki chased after them and asked in a concerned voice, “Are you two okay?”

“Ow... Yeah, I’m fine. How about you, Botan-chan?”

“I think I scraped something.”

“Shizuku.”

“Leave it to me, Onii-sama.”

Shizuku, who’d been waiting off to the side, stepped forward and used healing magic on Botan. The scrape on her knee started to close up immediately. While Shizuku was working, Ikki gave the Hagure sisters some advice.

“Your greatest asset is your speed, Kikyou-senpai, but you should be careful about when you choose to use it. There’s not much point in charging an opponent whose weapon has less reach than yours. You’re basically throwing away one of the advantages a spear has. You’d be better off waiting for your opponent to come to you in those situations. Also, I don’t recommend standing directly across from Botan-senpai when you’re trying to set up a combination attack. If you do that...”

It wasn’t too different from the impromptu lessons he held at school.

As Kagami and the others watched on, Alisuin said, “It’s more like Ikki giving them a training lesson than it is a sparring match.”

The battle had been far too one-sided to have been a proper sparring match. In truth, the Hagure sisters had asked Ikki to spar with them precisely because they wanted him to train them, so Alisuin was correct.

“So he’s training the same people he’ll be going up against in the Seven Stars Battle Festival. Though I gotta say, the Worst One’s quite the fighter. He didn’t even need to swing his sword that fight,” Komiyama said.

“Kagami-chan, are the Hagure sisters weak?” Yagokoro asked, turning to Kagami.

“No way,” Kagami replied, shaking her head. “Sure some people are saying they got lucky getting only weak opponents the same way people said Senpai and Stella-chan got lucky in their selection matches, but that’s a hundred percent false. The two of them beat some of the strongest knights in their school in their selection matches too. They might not have had to go up against opponents as strong as the Thunderbolt or Runner’s High, but they’re by no means weak.”

“And yet the Worst One made beating them look so easy. He must really be something,” Yagokoro said, impressed. “He must have a lot of confidence in his skills if he’s willing to spend what precious time he has at this camp training other people too.”

“Senpai just likes looking after people, so he’s probably doing it to relax for a bit.”

“Besides, Ikki already beat all the coaches Kyomon had prepared by day three,” Alisuin noted.

This was day four of the training camp, and Ikki had already defeated every single coach Kyomon had called over in a sparring match. Even if he wanted to train, there was no one on his level for him to train with. The strongest coach at this training camp was most likely Touka, and Ikki had beaten her in a real match.

“Well, if things stay like this, it’ll hurt Kyomon’s image since they’re the ones who organized this training camp,” Alisuin continued. “That’s why they’ve called in a special coach just for the Worst One.”

“I wonder who they called,” Kagami pondered. “I’m sure Director Shinguuji or Saikyou-sensei would have loved to come, but they’re in Osaka for their official KOK matches and to prepare for the Seven Stars Battle Festival. But all the coaches Senpai beat were high-ranking members of Japan’s national KOK league, so any regular Mage-Knight won’t be able to do much.”

“The fact that they need someone stronger than an active KOK fighter already shows how crazy the Worst One is,” Komiyama said.

“Hagun’s got a really solid lineup this year, huh? Makes me kinda worried if we’ll stand a chance,” Yagokoro, who was from Bukyoku, said playfully.

Kagami grinned and said, “Don’t give me that fake humility. As if you actually think you’ll lose. Besides, doesn’t Bukyoku have a crazy strong member on their team this year too?”

Bukyoku had consistently been winning the Seven Stars Battle Festival for the past few years. The reigning Seven Stars Sovereign, Moroboshi Yuudai, was from there as well. It was famous not just in Japan but across the world as one of the premier Blazer schools.

Furthermore, there was a man who’d forced his way past this famous school’s strongest representatives and secured a slot for himself in the Seven Stars Battle Festival at the very last second—the man known as the Gale Emperor and Japan’s only homegrown Rank A Blazer, Kurogane Ouma.

“For whatever reason, he didn’t bother entering the Seven Stars Battle Festival when he was a first- or second-year, but it looks like he’s finally making his debut. When I saw Bukyoku’s lineup, I was shocked,” Kagami added.

“Me too,” Komiyama replied. “I thought for sure he wouldn’t bother entering this year either. I guess Bukyoku’s serious about winning this if he’s part of their team now.”

Hagun had the Crimson Princess, a Rank A Blazer of their own who’d come from abroad, as well as the Worst One, who’d defeated even the famous Thunderbolt. All of the other schools also had first-years in their roster who’d shown exceptional talent. It was honestly strange just how much new blood was coming to this year’s Seven Stars Battle Festival.

It was clear this year would be a special one, which was likely why Bukyoku had convinced Ouma—who was ranked even higher than the current Seven Stars Sovereign, Moroboshi—to participate as well. At least, that was what Komiyama and Kagami assumed. However, Yagokoro shook her head.

“It’s not what you’re thinking. The Gale Emperor doesn’t give a rat’s ass about what the school wants anyhow. He never shows up to class, and no one can ever get in touch with him. He’s the one who went out of his way to apply. Needless to say, I was just as shocked as you guys.”

“Wait, so the school didn’t ask him to take part?” Kagami asked.

“Nope.”