Volume 3 - CH 3

(translation)

"Eh~, everyone, I sincerely thank you for accepting this call for an emergency meeting even though we're so busy today~. As for this meeting today, even though Ikki Kurogane-kun here today is an adult who's gone through his coming of age, he has produced as absurd a scandal as having an illicit sexual relationship with a state guest, and voices that call his accountability and ethics as an adult into question have risen in the Japanese branch. He is receiving various privileges that are not bestowed upon student knights or ordinary fifteen-year-old boys. For this reason, we greatly demand a sense of responsibility balancing those privileges. Accordingly, the Ethics Committee is also considering this view, and for this occasion, we have concluded that there is an opportunity to formally and closely examine whether Ikki Kurogane-kun's qualities as a knight is under question. Though we know you are all busy, please favor us with your understanding and cooperation."

The skyscraper of the League of Mage-Knight Nations, Japanese Branch. The ethics directors of student knights, of mage-knights, was on the tenth underground floor there, as was the section controlled by the Ethics Committee that petitioned for things like disciplinary action and expulsion when necessary, or act as military police.

At a room in that section, the chairman of the Ethics Committee, Akaza, bowed his head toward the gathered middle-aged gentlemen, and he made a stiff and smug smile at Ikki Kurogane who stood there with upright honesty.

"―Well, let us open this inquiry meeting. Everyone. Please take your seats."

But there was no chair anywhere near Ikki. Only the gentlemen sat down. It was plainly harassment. Ikki had been forced to remain standing for this meeting that would last how many hours?

Well, it was expected, and he wasn't so poorly trained that he would surrender at that degree of discomfort, so it was no big deal, but….

…At any rate, the air in this place is really stagnant, huh?

Ikki surveyed the indoor room that had practically no illumination. Inside the room, a U-shaped table was set up as if to surround him, and the suited gentlemen were sitting, beginning with Akaza. Three people in front of Ikki. To his left and right, one person each. Five in total. Because everyone there was dressed in red suits, Ikki knew they were all people of the Ethics Committee.

"No need to be so uptight. Despite what I said in the beginning, every one of us here is your ally."

Akaza mocked Ikki who felt like probing the Ethics Committee's combat ability.

"This inquiry meeting is not a place for censuring you. We will not just properly hear the excuse from you who created an unprecendented scandal in carrying out an illicit sexual relationship with a state guest, but also the explanation kindly given by your father the director. In other words, there is no one here but your allies. Isn't that right, everyone?"

"Indeed. Everyone here believes it would be a pity to decide on expulsion whatever your explanation is. Because somehow, you've pushed yourself to appear in the Seven Stars Sword-Art Festival so extremely hard that you'll make it with just another step. We don't want to nullify such tenacity."

"…Thank you very much."

How dare Akaza say such insincere things so unreservedly? It was admirable, in a sense.

"Well then, Ikki-kun, now that you understand that we're your allies, first of all let us review the facts. It's true that Ikki-kun and the second princess of the Vermillion Empire, Miss Stella Vermillion, are in a relationship, correct?"

"Yes, that's true."

"He he he. It's good to be honest. When did that association begin, more or less?"

"It began at the commencement of the Seven Stars Sword-Art Festival selection battles. The night of my first battle."

It wasn't like he was telling a lie. Therefore Ikki answered honestly. However, every person on the committee made a scornful expression.

"Oh, you started the socializing extremely quickly, didn't you."

"Hmph. Youngsters today are indeed like this. Doing terribly rash and blind things."

"In our youth, we spent more time building a mutual relationship first, after all."

"When it comes to young people today, they're all like monkeys, I see. Why do they do these things that end in unintended pregnancy and shotgun weddings?"

"Truly lamentable."

They were talking entirely like Ikki and Stella were having premarital sex. Of course, Ikki had done no such thing. Up to this day, they had been socializing as nothing more than a platonic couple. That was what he and Stella decided for their relationship after serious consideration. They understood that her position, being a princess, was very delicate. Therefore this kind of false accusation was infuriating.

"Sorry to be rude, but we haven't been doing anything like what you and the newspapers―"

"Ikk-kun, Ikki-kun. I know that you have things you want to say, but please speak only when given permission, okay? If you don't, you'll give a bad impression, you know. He he he."

"…Please forgive my rudeness."

His statement was interrupted by Akaza, and Ikki reluctantly bowed his head in apology.

The man with a goatee who was sitting at Ikki's left side and looking at him hatefully asked him a question with a rather curt tone.

"Hmph. Since it looks like you want to say something no matter what, I'll ask a question. You didn't think about how absurd it is to have an illicit sexual relationship with another country's princess, right? It's so extremely dangerous that it's capable of creating an international problem. I understand that you're at the age where you have too much sexual desire, but your sense in choosing a partner to have fun with wasn't working, right?"

"My intentions in associating with Stella was not to play around. We love each other sincerely."

"Hmph. You really are a child."

"He he he. I was like that as well, you know. The girl that's your first love seems like a once-in-a-lifetime partner. It's so good to be young, yes."

"I'll take your word for it, but both Stella and I are already adults who've had our coming of age ceremonies. We even have the right to marry. Wouldn't it be quite normal to think seriously about our mutual relationship?"

"Hair-splitting, are you? Such an extremely rebellious attitude."

"You, that kind of manner isn't good."

"It'll make a bad impression, I said. He he he."

Akaza filled something in upon a sheet of paper close at hand.

That sight, and seeing the middle-aged people surrounding him with the attitude of not listening to his points―

I knew it would be like this, but… what a cruel farce.

Ikki sighed in his heart. While questioning Ikki's accountability as an adult, they were completely refusing to recognize the legal rights Ikki has as an adult. Rather than treating Ikki as an adult, it was only a scene for their own convenience. Those indications from the people of the Ethics Committee made Ikki convinced. This was not a place where his qualities as a knight was being carefully examined. This place, it had already concluded that Ikki Kurogane does not have the nature of a knight, and it was definitely an inquisition to collect material for reinforcing that conclusion.

…Well, I already understand that after seeing the evening paper, but….

In the first place, the things they were saying were weird from the beginning. That he had made a lover from a princess who was studying abroad. Well, it was certainly a scandalous story. One could say it would be natural for there to be a media uproar. But it was strange that this would lead to an inquiry on Ikki's qualities as a knight.

As per Ikki's assertion not long ago, neither he nor Stella were children. They were a man and woman whose right to marry was legally recognized. Their love was permitted under the law, so to speak. More than Ikki and Stella's feelings being settled, if for example Stella's father, the king of the Vermillion Empire, displayed discomfort at the matter, that was entirely something to be discussed with the person himself. Despite that, it hadn't become like that, but instead it became a scandal that third-parties were mistakenly clamoring about, and all of it had been collected on pages so that they can be turned into questions on Ikki's qualities as a knight. It was obviously strange.

Why did something so strange develop like that? The reason was simple. It was none other than the existence of something manipulating arbitrary expectations into turmoil.

He's doing roundabout things as usual.

However, Ikki also knew that they were not being so roundabout because they were fond of it. All student knights were members of the League of Mage-Knight Nations. Besides deterrence against war, by enrolling knights into a nationalistic organization, it simplified the legal process for travel, and allowed them to help each other immediately in the case of emergency. Or in the unlikely event of a war breaking out, it allowed for proxy wars smoothly conducted between the knights of different countries under the supervision of the League and so forth. There were various pretexts, but anyway, it wasn't something relevant to what was going on at the moment.

What was important was that the qualifications of mage-knights who were enrolled as student knights at the League headquarters, those qualifications could not by suspended or revoked by the various national governments around the world and their branches arbitrarily. Even Itsuki Kurogane the Japanese branch director, even Akaza the Ethics Committee chairman who acted as military police, were not entitled to such power. Therefore they had no choice but to use a circuitous means.

Yes, like instigating the Hunter against Ikki Kurogane a year ago.

By persecuting Ikki behind closed doors, they were trying to cause Ikki to speak self-incriminating words from his own mouth. Even if they couldn't get get that, to have him show bad behavior. Bad attitude. Bad expression. Rough tone. Anything was fine. At any rate, they were stocking up on information about Ikki's giving bad impressions, to support an application for expulsion that they would submit to the League's headquarters. That was the aim of Akaza and the others. Ikki could tell.

In that case, more than repeating the same assertion, it was safer not to let things slip from his tongue and be held against him.

Ikki understood that, but he—

"Whether you all have good or bad beliefs, it's fine with me either way. I sincerely love Stella, and she truly loves me. I know that. Therefore I don't believe our actions were a mistake, and we won't tell others that it was a mistake."

He thoroughly refused to back down from his antagonistic posture. Naturally. Ikki knew very well how much he loved that charming girl. When they held each other, when they kissed, he knew what kind of wonderful smiles they showed. That being the case, he would not declare that it was a scandal. He would not say that it was a mistake. If there was anyone who tried to force him to say it was a mistake, sticking to silence in front of that person would not be what a man does. That was why Ikki came to this inquiry.

—I said so to Stella.

No matter who he was in front of, he would say he loved Stella proudly. So he wouldn't retreat. He wouldn't stay silent. If the men before him had no intention of listening to his opinion all along, that was perfectly fine. It wasn't like he was thinking of getting approval from people like them. Simply put, he was not going to stop asserting it.

Because this feeling was the one thing he would never lie about.

Ikki had been taken away by the Ethics Committee, and he had been confined for three days. Stella was like a volcano just about to erupt. Constantly grimacing with eyebrows drawn in displeasure, her hair scattering incandescence in sparks. There were many students who were curious about the scandal, but they were too scared of the pressure to approach, and no one around her could get close. Even in the dining hall that was crowded with people during lunch time, no one sat at the seats near Stella. It was quite natural, the person herself was in no state of mind to deal with such trivial things, but…

"Even though you managed to finally recover from your cold, you're giving out such an extreme killing intent, Stella-chan."

The one who spoke to Stella without hesitation and sat down next to her was a tall and thin beauty, Nagi Arisuin. From a distance, voices cried out things like 「Aah, Nagi-sama is doing such a dangerous thing….」. That was probably his fans.

But however much she was irritated, even Stella would not injure her friends by venting her anger. Simply put, the manner and speech became as rough as usual.

"…Of course I am. Did you think I'd be smiling while they write that nonsense as they please?"

When Stella said "that", she meant the evening paper from that day. That paper which put down tons of lies about Ikki, and wrote herself like some dimwitted girl who was tricked by a villain. Just remembering that page made her guts boil.

"I heard about how harsh it was, but this country's level of mass media is really the lowest, right?"

Stella spat those words out, and….

"Nya ha ha, my ears are burning."

One more person, a female student wearing glasses, sat down on Stella's other side while making an unpleasant face.

"Kagami…."

"Can I join you too?"

"Go ahead. I don't really know why, but this is the only place that's open."

"Nya ha ha, thanks."

Putting down on the table her tray with a lunch sandwich on top, Kagami Kusakabe continued her words with an apologetic expression.

"Well, it's natural for Stella-chan to get mad. For Vermillion's princess to find a lover while studying abroad, it would be a scandal, you know? But for a reporter to disregard a princess's judgment and treat the association between two people as a scandal, it's too rude. This is very much an international problem, you know. …Well, the information would come out understanding that much, probably."

"Oh my? What are you saying?"

"…Well, I have just a biiiiit of a lot of influence with the local newspaper reporters, and was able to use my connections to do some investigation, but as expected the Ethics Committee seems to be exerting some mighty pressure worthy of the organization. It's creating the negative image that the news emphasizing the Vermillion imperial princess's scandal is based on. It's just talk between us here, but it seems the Ethics Committee used their power to bully their way into inserting a special bulletin into the King of Knights formal performance broadcast."

"…Because the KOK is completely bound to the League, they can do such bullying, right? I see."

There was no way to insert a special bulletin into the world's biggest form of entertaniment. Even the occurrence of a shocking death would not give a news event that kind of priority. This kind of move was like thrusting a dagger at their throats. No doubt, it was something inevitable. And that truth given by Kagami, it was evidence of more than just the Ethics Committee, but also a flanking attack from Itsuki Kurogane seriously trying to snatch away Ikki's qualifications as a knight.

"Unbelievable…."

Knowing their seriousness, Stella couldn't stop that word from coming out.

"Ikki isn't just some student! Just to corner him like that, why does Ikki's father, the Japanese branch director, go that far!?"

Moreover, what the heck kind of advantage was there in this? If he denounced Ikki to this extent, wouldn't it also harm the reputation of the Kurogane house? What was the reason for cornering Ikki this far despite that issue?

"Even though Ikki is his son, why?"

"Because he is that kind of father."

The voice that answered came from the opposite side of the school cafeteria table. It came from directly in front of Stella, not unlike the chime of a bell, a small and sweet voice. It was—

"Because he is that kind of man, he did this. And it isn't just what you mentioned."

"Shizuku…."

"Honestly speaking, what Father is thinking, why he has such prejudice against Onii-sama, I can't understand any of it, because that crookedness is beyond my comprehension. But that is why nothing he does seems strange."

While announcing such cold facts dispassionately, Shizuku laid her tray with her Japanese meal set lunch on the table. And she sat down at the table in front of Stella.

While Stella was a little bit hesitant to speak to her when she was like that, Shizuku still spoke as usual. Because Shizuku hadn't shown her face once after the match with Raikiri, Stella hadn't spoken with her since then—

"Umm, Shizuku…. I'm sorry. We haven't talked to you about the relationship."

Stella knew how strongly Shizuku loved her brother. Therefore there was no helping it, whatever kind of attack she'd receive from Shizuku. Stella was content to face it with resignation.

But Shizuku's response was alarmingly light.

"It's not like there's a problem, you know. I mean, I knew about it."

"Eh?"

"I can tell with a glance, you know. That the relationship between you two changed after the night of Onii-sama's debut battle. Isn't that right, Alice?"

"Ha ha, Well, it was delightfully easy to tell."

"Yep, yep. Heck, even I could figure it out."

"Wow…."

Feeling somewhat embarrassed, Stella covered it up. It was probably very easy to tell that they were flirting. In the doom room or the in the forest, they had tried to hide it from casual sight, but….

"Stella-san has her position. Announcing that kind of thing always causes an uproar. It's understandable that you two would think about not bringing such a disturbance during the busy Sword-Art Festival season, and even I would think about the best thing to do. Therefore it's not like we're thinking about blaming you for it. The crucial thing is what you will do after this."

Saying that, Shizuku turned her sight to Kagami who was sitting next to Stella.

"Kusakabe-san. The discussion is moving toward things that people who know my family circumstances to a certain extent would understand, but…."

"Nya ha ha. Clear information is a journalist's life, you know? Well, just as far as the situation goes."

"In that case, I want us to speak our minds without holding anything back, but in this case, it could possibly lead to Onii-sama's expulsion, right?"

Kagami declared without hesitation toward Shizuku's question.

"It is unlikely to, presently."

"Oh my, is that so?"

"After all, Alice-chan. It's not like Senpai and Stella are both doing something bad, right? Even though we just talked about it now, mere news reporters are disregarding the feelings of Stella who is royalty, and rudely calling her relationship a 'scandal', you know. This story was from start to end a 『The Princess of Vermillion found a lover while studying abroad. Eek! What kind of person is he~? Yay yay!』 kind of thing. The company that wanted to forcibly make this a 'scandal' is just instigating a pointless disturbance. With that kind of composition, those people would lack legitimacy after all. At present, they have nothing but huge false accusations. And naturally, those people understanding that much would manipulate this kind of impression, and to do it they'd go trawling for faults by holding an inquiry. Senpai is no fool, so no matter how many times they try to simply find fault in him, they probably won't collect anything, and it's hard to imagine the League headquarters choosing expulsion. Because the League very much considers expulsion a last resort."

"Last resort? Hey, Kagami, what do you mean?"

"The League has never expelled anyone without inquiring about a student knight. To put it in a way Stella-chan can easily understand, look, what about Donrou Academy's Kurashiki-kun?"

"Yes."

"Even with people as notorious as he is, the League's response ends at reprimand."

"…It is extremely light, true."

"I wonder what reason there is for that?"

Kagami nodded, and answered Shizuku's question.

"The knights who receive expulsion, they are generally those who become criminals."

Mage-knights who acquired their license are, of course, Blazers who as student knights considered how to be successful in life using the strength of their superpowers. Those kinds of people, what happens to them if their privileges are permanently revoked? The answer was that they are very likely to become criminals who use their Blazer abilities for unlawful activities. It was a reality that statistics from numerous investigations had already made clear.

"Well, it's natural. Although this is absolutely human nature for those who make such a mess that they are expelled, it's safer to have a chained mad dog than an unchained one, right? That's why the League wanted to lay down the rule that all knights are to be supervised, you know. Receiving that intent from the League, almost every League member nation created laws to proceed that way with all the Blazers in their country. Although Japan has human rights organizations clamoring, and hasn't taken that plunge yet."

In doing that.

"By quickly expelling someone, the League would create criminals with its own hand, and in doing so leave those criminals unregulated. Therefore even the League deals with expulsion decisions very slowly. And in particular, expulsions of student knights who are still in the position of learning and studying are extremely rare cases."

However—

"But this time, it seems that a rare case serious enough for expulsion has arisen. That's why I'm worried, you know. What kind of suffering Senpai is going through right now, and such."

The inquiry is to find fault in how he is responding in attitude and tone; that was the ultimate goal of the Ethics Committee. But if Ikki himself recognized that he had been thoughtless, that would become a truth that everyone accepted. That truth would become strong support for expulsion. Therefore, the Ethics Committee would without a doubt try to get that conclusion no matter the method.

Everyone there sank into silence at Kagami's meek words. The Ethics Committee hearing was going on in deep underground where sunlight didn't reach. That place was Itsuki Kurogane's territory. And the Ethics Committee was a position monopolized by generations after generations of the Kurogane house's bloodline. A sacred ground, so to speak. There was absolutely no one in the vicinity except for people close to the Kurogane house. There was no way that Ikki would receive decent treatment in that kind of place. Though he would probably not receive physical torture like in a true inquisition, they could use methods to run a person down as much as they liked.

The more Stella thought about it, the more her head filled with unpleasant guesses. In truth, she hadn't slept decently for two days. Whenever she closed her eyes, she would imagine what kind of days her beloved was spending deep underground. But that was….

"…Entirely my fault."

If she was just a normal girl. She wouldn't have been used by Ikki's enemies. That kind of unavoidable regret swirled and spread through her mind. She had become Ikki's noose. A restriction on his appearance at the Seven Stars Sword-Art Festival, she was hold him back during this important time. That was painful, painful—

"Should I separate from Ikki…."

From Stella's mouth, a few words spilled out in such complaints.

"After all… isn't it my fault? If I were an ordinary girl, this kind of thing—"

"Stella-chan!"

In an instant, what penetrated Stella's ear was Arisuin's voice in a blade-sharp cry. Her spine shuddered at that voice, and Stella raised her gaze, taken aback.

And she became aware.

That the points of icicles as sharp as lances had approached before her eyes.

Stella had already reflexively donned her Empress Dress, and blocked the strike from icy spears by crossing both her arms. But that strike was fast and heavy, lifting Stella's body off her feet and knocking her body into the dining room wall, smashing through it, and blowing Stella's body completely out of the dining room itself.

「Eeeek!」

「Wh-What are you doing!?」

Panic filled the dining room at the unexpected situation. In the middle of the noise, Stella asserted her personal ability that had received the ice spears, and…

*Crack*

…frowned at the pain reverberating through her bones. It seemed that a bone in her arm had been fractured. Stella's flame would seize and vaporize even a rifle bullet, but the best it could do was melt and blunt that sharp spear-point. Only one person here could use water magic to that degree.

"Wh-What are you doing, Shizuku!?"

Stella protected her injured arm, and at the same time roared at Shizuku who was standing imposingly on the table with Yoishigure in one hand. And Shizuku….

"And I ask the same of you. What are you saying?"

Shizuku's eyes flew through Stella's mind, and sent Stella's spine trembling so much it couldn't compare to what it was like not long ago.

Shizuku's tone was quite calm, and that expression was as composed as always. But Shizuku's eyes had a chilly brilliance that Stella had never seen before, and her whole body seemed to be frozen in wrath.

"You, do you not understand the reason Onii-sama has gone along with this farce? For Onii-sama, the option of sticking to silence and not responding to the hearing exists. At any rate, the inquiry is nothing more than an inquisition in name. It is a farce coming to fruition. Those people will not listen to anything Onii-sama says. Knowing this and facing their request, it is because he can't stomach people exploiting the opportunity to cast vulgar intentions on your relationship with him. It is because he thinks the relationship between you two are just that important. If you betray Onii-sama without understanding that―I won't forgive you for it."

That icy fury, it made Stella very conscious of her own slip of the tongue.

"…I'm sorry. I was being stupid just now."

Stella obediently bowed her head to Shizuku.

How could I say such a miserable thing?

To this day, she had never considered her relationship with Ikki to be a mistake. The fact that Ikki was in the middle of the enemy camp, it was proof that even now he was still still proud of their relationship. The enemy's intention was to sow doubt on Ikki's responsibility, and an adult who is called a knight would be able to stand his ground. Therefore, if negative testimony like "it was reckless" and "it was a mistake" was taken, it would be impossible to make an official announcement of their friendship. Because if words like "I am a meager fool who can't take responsibility" were confessed by Ikki himself, those words would become proof.

「Stella, I love you, and I want to say so proudly in front of everyone.」

Ikki was putting into practice the words he said that day as he always did. His love for her was just that strong. In that case, what should she do? To his strong feelings, how should she answer them?

I can't do anything, not a single thing–

That was—

"Sheesh, you two are destroying the school building without a care, aren't you?"

Suddenly, a voice mixed with a sigh came to Stella and Shizuku. The owner of the somewhat husky voice was Kurono Shinguuji, who had weaved her way toward the two of them through the murmuring students.

"I'd like it if someone could also fix the body over here too."

While grumbling under her breath, Kurono came outside through the hole that Shizuku had opened, and she gently snapped her fingers.

Thereupon, the scattered debris of wall material floated up, and installed themselves into the hole that Stella had broken through. It was as if someone had played a video in reverse. In a few seconds, the large hole had been filled in entirely.

"That should do it."

Nodding her head approvingly at her own work, Kurono turned her gaze from the filled wall to where Stella had fallen. And—

"Vermillion. I have a bit to say about the Kurogane matter. Will you come to the chairman's office?"

She told Stella to come the place where she herself worked.

Kurono invited Stella into the chairman's office that reeked of tobacco and had Stella sit on the sofa for visitors. She herself sat down herself on the sofa across the table between them.

"It's become an extremely troublesome thing, hasn't it?"

She grumbled with a brow etched with wrinkles. The fatigue that could be seen was probably from repercussions arising from having been investigated for being responsible for Ikki and Stella staying in the same room. Well, as far as the system of boys and girls sharing a room went, Stella still had some problems with it even now, so she wasn't very sympathetic, but….

That's right….

Because of the great pains it caused, she would listen to the important matter displayed before them that was on their mind, and Stella preemptively threw out a question.

"…Madam Chairman, what's happening with Ikki's selection battles? They're not being counted as default loss by absence, right?"

"I'm not staking my prestige on that kind of thing. Kurogane is having bouts conducted with opponents during that sham battle with the League's Japanese branch. Of course even one of the school's teachers is accompany him as a referee. Because we know not to leave the judgment to those people."

"Can we go to support him, I wonder?"

"No, that's impossible. Until the inquiry is over, all face-to-face meetings are prohibited."

"He's being completely isolated, then…."

However, Kurono's firm promise that Ikki won't lose by default for absence was reassuring. As expected, having him lose because of his current confinement was too much. One worry was diminished, and Stella took a breath of relief, then pressed Kurono for the next matter.

"Then what did you need me for?"

Regarding that, Kurono replied with a short "Oh", and got to the point.

"About what's happening right now, I want to hear what your parents back in Vermillion think."

Why was Kurono concerned about something like that? That kind of problem existed, but it wasn't like they were hiding it, and after Ikki was spirited away, Stella had contacted her parents by phone and told them the situation honestly.

"Mother understood my judgment. But… Father was completely against it. He was very angry, and shouted 'He laid a hand on our daughter without getting my permission, Kiyo!"

"He loves you, no?"

"He has no ability to let go of his children. Because he was so threatening, it looks like he'll be coming to Japan soon."

"And how long will that be?"

"Three weeks from now, I suppose."

"Right when the selection battles end, huh? …Exactly as we get near our goal."

"Goal?"

Stella tilted her head in confusion at Kurono's coughed words. What did she mean by goal?

Kurono explained her grumbled words to Stella.

"If the King of Vermillion himself visited, as expected it wouldn't be just an inquiry or confinement without visitors. Even those red-suited people would have no choice but to table Kurogane's matter. And with that, if you and your fellows were to hold a discussion, you would definitely reach a conclusion about all of this. The drift of the argument made by those people who developed Kurogane as scandal right now, that wouldn't be part of such a discussion, because they only want to arbitrarily direct it as they please with no more than speculation. If the King of Vermillion himself approved of Kurogane, those people will have the basis of their argument overturned. If that happened, it would be their turn to be investigated."

"A counterattack?"

"Exactly. For entangling my own student on my own territory in their design, I'll have them regret it until they die."

At Kurono's words and her expression, Stella body had goosebumps.

"Scary…."

Just by being close, she felt pressed by Kurono's mood. This intensity that made students weakly fall back, it was expected of the knight who was formerly the world's third strongest.

But that's certainly the goal, yes.

The claim of the red-suited Ethics Committee, it was that Ikki so thoughtless that it could create an international problem. In that case, if her father the sovereign of Vermillion were to approve of Ikki, it would settle everything.

The problem was… would that father obediently approve of his daughter's lover?

"…Ooh. I'm not confident, somehow. Because he probably already decided and won't listen to me."

For example, during a school event once in middle school, she went camping in the mountains, and he dressed up in a bear skin and watched over her from the forest the entire time. He was that kind of father. At the time, she thought he was a real bear and was going to kill him. Well… when she found out it was really her father, she still wanted to kill him. He was that kind of parent, so she couldn't see him welcoming Ikki. Stella was at her wits end, and Kurono spoke while giving her a gentle smile with an unusual sense of motherliness.

"It'll be fine. He's someone who brought up a daughter as honest as you, so there's no way he wouldn't understand Kurogane's caliber."

It was a reason that one couldn't say was based on anything. But Kurono's words removed Stella's anxiety with alarming ease.

Right, he wasn't a bad father. Stella also loved her father from the bottom of her heart. That was why Stella thought so. That he would want to like the boy who loved her.

"It would be… nice if that happened."

"Well, you'll also assist him when they meet. It's advice from a married person, but greeting a girl's parents is a group effort to go forward with before cutting the cake. Don't just leave it to the man. It's suitable for him to see how his own daughter might protect the man."

"I-I'll make the best of it."

"Ha ha, ah, do your best. …But anyway. I think it's best to be honest, but your relief is making you more energetic than I expected.

"A good little sister happened to revitalize me a little while ago."

Touching the crack put into in her right arm, Stella smiled a bit, and made a decision in her heart. That's right, leaving it all to the man was something that a good woman doesn't do. She would fight too.

「Stella, I love you, and I want to say so proudly in front of everyone.」

Right now, Ikki was putting into practice the words he had exchanged with her. In that case—

Me too, I will protect my promise.

The tenth underground level of the Japanese League branch. Ikki Kurogane was being detained there.

"I've left food on the table. There is another hearing tomorrow morning at six, so hurry up and sleep."

Saying that discourteously, a red-suited person with a bad complexion engaged the electronic lock on the room and left.

The room had only a stained bed and a table and chair that looked as if they would break any moment, and nothing else. However, Ikki who had been standing on his feet the entire day for the hearing was still grateful for it.

He heaved a sigh that had all of his fatigue in it, and sat down on that shabby chair. The inquiries went from six in the morning to eleven at night. The Ethics Committee had chairs, and with their four rotations each day, they didn't become tired, but to stand on one's feet from morning to night, it really did make one weary as expected. If it continued for a week, even Ikki who trained on a regular basis would become sluggish without knowing it.

But it probably wasn't just because of the fatigue that he was accumulating.

"I really miss having decent rice, I guess."

In front of Ikki's eyes as he grumbled in disgust, his evening meal was left there. There were two bars of crude portable food. When he looked at the calorie information on the back, there was certainly true that those two bars supplied enough calories and nutrition for one meal, but it couldn't be enough to satisfy the appetite of Ikki who was both a knight and a growing teen. Because these were the meals every day down here, Ikki was tormented by chronic hunger.

And moreover―

"As usual, there's nothing to drink either."

Even consumption of water was restricted. It seemed that for some reason, the drinking water that was part of the rationed meals was missing. And the room that Ikki was imprisoned in was suffering a water outage since some weeks ago, so even the toilets did not have running water.

It was quite simple harassment. Naturally, since he was not given water during the inquiry, he used the toilet during the times he was allowed to take a shower and when he went between the inquiry chamber and his room, and during those times he took as much water as he could.

By getting through the days that way, he wouldn't fall apart from fatigue. He was alone among enemies. Surrounded on all sides, fighting alone.

But it's fine.

He was used to that kind of thing. He had always acted alone. Depending on no one, being taught by no one. It was certainly not the first time he had fought like this. Closing his eyes, he could remember it even now. The scenes of of his youth, him hiding in the mountain behind his parents' home, swinging his sword silently. As far as Ikki was concerned, most of his life felt like that. Therefore, it wasn't a big deal to withstand this at this point. Whether isolation or animosity, he was quite used to them. Therefore whatever method Akaza and the others used to get from Ikki the testimony that "he admitted it was a mistake", stuff like this wouldn't break Ikki's tenacious determination.

If it's like this, I can tolerate it.

If they did it like this, no matter who it was, he'll be going to meet the king of Vermillion soon enough, probably. It was a serious affair with his important daughter. There was no way Stella's father would let the man in question go free. In that case, what he should do was stubbornly stick to his principles against petty third-parties until that day. If he did so, eventually Akaza and the others would lose their right to intervene in the media uproar.

Rather, it's there that my real crisis begins, I guess.

He would get the approval of Stella's father. That was the momentous event that Ikki had never gotten before in his life. Just thinking about it made his heart pound furiously from nervousness. But he couldn't run away from it. Not that. From the moment he fell in love with the girl called Stella Vermillion, it was an inevitable conclusion. That was why from that moment, Ikki had always been thinking about how to greet the king and make a good impression.

For the greeting, he should probably wear a suit, right? His hair… part it on one side? He imagined it a little.

…Whoa, that's terrible.

A strained laugh spilled out at the thought of him looking like a salaryman.

But more than just by how he looked, how would he convey his important sincerity? In the end, it was this that couldn't be done with trickery. Or rather, trickery would backfire instead. There was nothing but to uprightly facing each other with complete sincerity, and appeal with as much earnestness as possible.

Since time is precious, should I practice a little bit?

Trickery was useless, but the idea of performing without practice was making him nervous after all. He needed to rehearse.

Thinking that, Ikki closed his eyes and focused his thoughts. What appeared on the inside of his eyelids was the face Stella's father, the king of Vermillion. Because Stella had showed him a picture once, he could remember it. The same blazing hair as Stella. A lion-like majesty that could be felt from a gigantic stature close to two meters tall, with sideburns linked to a beard.

When he recalled that vision and opened his eyelids―before his eyes, there was no doubt that man was standing there.

Of course, the real thing wasn't there. It was only a virtual image brought forth by Ikki's concentration that had been honed to the utmost. Picturing the image of the supposed other party, and then practicing a paired kata. It was a basic technique for a practitioner of martial arts. This was a practical application. However, if it was an expert like Ikki, the image would have a gaze, heartbeat, and temperature unlike a normal image. It would have an overwhelming realism even to the point of an audible pulse. With that realism, it would even shake the spirit of Ikki who had created it.

The king of Vermillion who had the severe features of a lion didn't speak and didn't move, only staring at Ikki with the same crimson irises of his honest daughter. At that gaze, Ikki felt pressure that seemed to burn the outer surface of his skin. Sweat poured from his whole body, and his throat went dry in exchange.

But if he couldn't handle a virtual image, he couldn't stand in front of the real thing. Ikki took a deep breath, and directly returned the king of Vermillion's gaze. Then and there, he got down on both knees, lowered his head as if pressing it onto the bed, and―

"Please give me your daughter!"

―expelled all of the breath in his lungs in his cry. And at that moment―

"I won't give you my daughter."

A voice shook Ikki's ears with a rejection that was as heavy as lead. Hadn't Ikki been serious enough?

…No, no no no no. Wait. Wait just a second.

No matter what it was, no matter how much pressure the real thing would have, an image was just an image after all. There was no way it could reply.

Then what was that voice? Ikki raised his head, and―

"I would never give Shizuku to you."

―his real father, Itsuki Kurogane, was staring down on Ikki with cold gray eyes.

"F-F-F-F-Father!?"

After that, Ikki brought over the one chair that was in the room confining him. Itsuki sat in that chair, facing Ikki across the table. They faced each other for five minutes. Up to then, the two people did not ask questions or converse.

Th-This is awkward….

Ikki felt a strange sweat appearing on his back.

Well, it was understandable. They had just met with that kind of impression, but moreover, Ikki hadn't met his father Itsuki face to face since he was five years old. Honestly, after meeting him all of a sudden, he had no idea what to talk about. He didn't know what kind of face he should show.

Or for that matter, what does this person want with me to come here after such a long time in the first place?

And as Ikki tried to read Itsuki's thoughts….

"Ikki."

Itsuki broke the silence and spoke the first words.

"Y-Yes."

Ikki responded in a voice with a little bit of excitement in it. The sweat on his back increased. His chest began a strange throbbing. Just… what was this person going to say with his next words?

Because he's the kind of man who goes too far, there's a bit of anticipation―

"You, do you love Shizuku as a woman?"

"Bu!"

"Incest is forbidden. It's immoral, but more than anything else, you've been together since she was born so you shouldn't see her as―"

"W-Wait, wait! That was me doing a simulation of my greetings to Stella's parents! Shizuku is very important to me, but I'll never look at my little sister as someone of the opposite sex!"

"Is that so? Good."

This was bad. Ikki could've just been thought of as a very dangerous person. Itsuki looked like he was about to give a very serious lecture.

No, if he was really in such a situation, that response probably would be reasonable…."

―However, thanks to Ikki yelling out so impatiently, some of the stiffness in the room had been removed. Ikki boldly asked something of his father.

"U-Umm, Father. Why are you here?"

"My son was in a place one elevator trip away. I came to see his face at a whim, I suppose."

"…Is that right?"

Ikki didn't know whether those words were Itsuki's real thoughts. At any rate, Itsuki always had a sour expression, and those gray eyes were as impossible to read as ever. However, even if he couldn't understand Itsuki's real thoughts….

What… is this?"

Ikki felt his heart throbbing. And a tingle was spreading across both his cheeks.

I… could it be that I'm happy?

At this meeting with his father after ten years, Ikki was hesitant to analyze his own reaction. Itsuki, in contrast, wasn't even having much strain, and some words came out.

"It seems that you've had very good progress, haven't you?"

"Wh-What do you mean?"

"The record for the selection battles that were introduced at Hagun this year. I heard you've had sixteen consecutive victories so far."

"Oh, yes…. If you included the result of the match from yesterday, it would be seventeen wins, I think."

"It seems you weren't fighting only weak opponents either. …It was considerable."

"…Yes."

What was that just now? Did he just receive… praise?

What should I do? …I'm really happy.

In that moment, Ikki became more and more sure. He was happy.

He was able to meet his father face to face. He was able to hear his father's voice. Indeed, Ikki Kurogane loved Itsuki Kurogane even now. That was why he answered that he wanted to stay connected to Itsuki, when Stella asked him in that small mountain shack.

As far as he was concerned, Itsuki was his one and only father. However badly he was treated, even if he wasn't accepted, a child couldn't hate his parent. Parents could loathe children, but children could only adore parents. Ikki was not an exception. Ikki knew that this inquiry, being shut up here, all of it was with his father's participation. But even so, even so.

His father was looking at him. His father was speaking to him. Ikki couldn't help but be happy about that.

For that reason, he thought….

If by any chance….

If it was right now, now that he was different from how he was in the past, maybe―couldn't he get this person acceptance?

「You can't do anything, so don't try.」

Wouldn't he receive a response different from the last words they exchanged? Thinking that, Ikki began to speak.

"U-Umm, Father."

"What is it?"

"…Th… I-I'm fighting on… now. My rank is still F, but still, I've won against strong people, and I don't intend to lose after this either. I'm already different from when I couldn't do anything. I'm fighting and training… so that I won't become the Kurogane family shame, and I think I'll become splendidly strong. S-So, so…."

His voice was shaking with nervousness, and he drew a tiny struggling breath.

"Father…

If I can become the champion at the Seven Stars Sword-Art Festival, will you… accept me then?"

"If I can become the champion at the Seven Stars Sword-Art Festival, will you… accept me then?"

Ikki mustered as much of his courage as he could and begged that of his father Itsuki.

In contrast, Itsuki stared back at Ikki wordlessly for a short while―

"…I see."

―and quietly closed his eyes.

"I never understood why you became distant. But now I understand. You thought that I did not accept you because you were weak."

"Yes…."

Ikki nodded. It wasn't like that was the entire reason he left the house, but it was no mistake that he thought so. But if that was the case, now that he had become strong―

"If that is the case, then you've made a big mistake. I have always accepted you as my son."

"Wh…."

At the unexpected words, Ikki's eyes grew wide and hard. What had his father said just now?

―Always… accepted him?

"Th-That's a lie!"

"It's no lie. Otherwise, would I have come to see your face?"

"B-But… haven't you never done anything with me? Management of my Blazer abilities, or training in martial arts that even the branch family children were given, anything at all!"

Indeed. Ikki remembered the oppressiveness of that family even now. Itsuki had locked Ikki out of everything, and the people who saw Ikki being locked out persecuted him as someone the head of the family despised. That pain, bitterness, isolation―even now his heart tightened at the memories.

That was why Ikki had to ask.

"If you accepted me, why didn't you look after me like everyone else!?"

To that question, Itsuki's expression didn't shift even a little bit.

"There was no need to instruct you, so I didn't. That was all. Because even if I taught an incomplete technique to someone who did not have ability, however much I teach and teach, it would be futile."

Giving an answer that was extremely on-the-nose, he continued with a few words of "no".

"If it ended at being futile, that would be fine. The worst case was if it turned out like how you are now, creating an incomplete outcome due to incomplete strength."

"Wh-What do you mean!?"

Ikki asked the question, not being able to understand the words just now.

In response, Itsuki opened his eyes again, and spoke his true meaning with that voice as heavy as lead.

"…The Kurogane house is a family of mage-knights from a lineage of Blazers stretching back to the era when they were called samurais. We have a responsibility to bring knights of the entire country together. However, creating the unity needed for knights to be one organization is difficult. It is because knights are superhumans, each with paranormal powers. Because every one of them holds too much excess power, they cannot exist as normal humans. For such people to be organized, there must be a system of rank. We established the visible form of that hierarchy, and classified every separate ability into an appropriate rating. In doing so, we made everyone aware of his individual role, with organization we maintained harmony. This was necessary. A mechanism has its big and small cogs, but by being aware of every pertinent part and knowing each individual's appropriate behavior, for the first time there was accurate function. Whether above or below, everyone was in his appropriate place. A person above could look down upon a person below and think, 'I surpass her", and in his conceit would not forget his own duties. …That is why, Ikki, the existence of someone like you harms the organization. When someone like you who cannot do anything says 'I'll do something', the people below embrace unproductive conceits. That they must be able to do something. Becoming arrogant, they try to do things and forget their own place. And it brings about unproductive waste to the majority of cogs in the mechanism. If you want to know why rank is absolutely fixed and not corrected every now and then, it's to make overturning it an extremely rare thing. That kind of unproductive effort must be protected against. That was why I told you this. You can't do anything, so don't try."

Itsuki spoke those words with disinterest. The principles behind the conduct of people like Itsuki existing in them. Today, they made Ikki understand people like Itsuki Kurogane for the first time.

The family called Kurogane had fulfilled its inherited duty for generations. For the sake of that duty, it charged itself with an iron law, an order to its life. That was… his father, the mage-knight who carried the nickname Iron Blood.

But….

"Wait… wait…."

But that….

"Then Father, didn't you tell me not to do anything because I became the shame of the family?"

"Obviously. As far as the family is concerned, you're inconsequential. The duty of the Kurogane house is to protect the harmony between the knights of this country. And for the sake of that, people who can't do anything have a duty to not do anything. …Ikki, I've said I accept you as you wanted. So―stop pursuing knighthood at once."

Ikki shook.

"You can't do anything, so don't try. In the past or in the present, I have only desired one thing from you."

Ikki was convinced that those few words carried his father's true feelings.

But it was a truth that he could not possibly accept. Why?

Then … what am I to this person…?

His father did not truly hate him. But rather than that… he'd prefer being hated over not showing the ability he wanted. Because not being hated… it was just a small desire.

However, the truth was not like that. Itsuki had no hopes, no expectations for Ikki.

That kind of thing… it wasn't too much, right…?

Hating him, not hating him, it wasn't about that. It was no different from being a stone on the side of the road. Favor or malice. Ikki felt like an idiot who couldn't get either one.

Ikki was that kind of existence for Itsuki. Realizing that, believing that, an icy grief flowed out from within Ikki.

"Hmm? What's with you? What are you crying about?"

Tears fell, *drip drop*, from Ikki's eyes.

Seeing them, Itsuki frowned as if baffled.

To Itsuki's response, Ikki… realized. Somewhere in Ikki's heart, he wanted a relationship with the one person who was his father. He wished that someday, the moment they would reach mutual understanding would come. But….

…Oh, I see.

Itsuki didn't understand the meaning of these tears, even to that extent….

This person and I are definitely cutting ties….

In that moment―with a *snip*…. Something in Ikki's heart….

Something precious made a sound, then fell silent. And starting from there… the thing called Ikki Kurogane began to fall apart.

After that, Ikki who had abruptly burst into tears, did not respond to any inquiry except with sobs. Because of that, Itsuki left the room saying that there was no helping it.

And as it was, he returned to his top floor office by elevator. There, a red-suited man with a barrel-like physique was waiting.

"Hello, hello, good afternoon Clan Head. Ah, I guess it became good evening a long time ago?"

"Akaza, is it?"

"So how did it go, I wonder? The situation with that boy?"

"The boy is as difficult to understand as ever. Though not as much as his brother Ouma, I suppose."

"Without speaking on personality, hasn't his physical condition been broken?"

"What do you mean?"

"He he he. Well, his food has been just sliiightly adjusted, and some drugs to ruin the health of his body and heart simultaneously has been added."

…Truth serum, inherited from the military police era? You've made your move extremely directly, haven't you?"

"Like how he knows us well, we also know his stubbornness veeery well. We didn't think from the start that something along the lines of this inquiry would break him. The inquiry was purely an excuse to isolate him. The present state of affairs has changed from what we hypothesized entirely. After this, he will meet with the king of Vermillion―"

"You don't have to explain it. I can imagine the main point."

Saying so, Itsuki silenced Akaza who was beginning his presentation.

"I am entrusting this matter to you. I don't care what methods you use. Do as you like."

However―

"I won't forgive failure. Banish Ikki without fail."

"Yes, I understand. He he he. Well, please watch it as it comes along."

Speaking thus, Akaza withdrew.

Becoming alone in the room, not thinking anything, Itsuki casually shifted his gaze to the portraits of successive directors hanging on the wall of his office. More than half of them were people who had the surname Kurogane. Just counting the number of portraits showed how many generations they had inherited the responsibility. Here right now, Itsuki was also one such person. For that reason, he was carrying out the responsibility without exception. Picturing the best for the majority himself….

The way of life within my means that doesn't expand my own territory. It is the way of life that brings happiness to the majority of mankind.

Because people like Ikki, powerless people who were pushed aside, were few. Useless aspirations or self-confidence received as gifts, they only brought loss to both the person himself and to the organization. In that case, such things weren't needed. Naturally, the managing organization would make sure they didn't exist.

Therefore, I will use any method to eliminate them.

For example, even if it was his own son, he would show no mercy.

That is my duty.

Everything was for the sake of the iron law. In the past or in the present, that was "Iron Blood" Itsuki Kurogane's sense of righteousness.

It was the tenth day after Ikki had been taken away by the Ethics Committee. Due to the League's Japanese branch, Ikki's eighteenth selection battle had passed. The opponent had been a nameless E-rank.

Following that was the homeroom teacher, Yuuri Oreki. Before the match, Shizuku, who had heard about it from Kagami, brought Arisuin to wait for Oreki in front of the main gate. At the time that the sun was beginning to slide under the horizon, Oreki came back alone. Shizuku and Arisuin immediately rushed over to her, and asked about the outcome of that day's match.

"Oreki-sensei, Onii-sama… how was he? Did he win?"

To that question,

"Eh? Ah… yes. He got his eighteenth victory safely."

Oreki replied with a somehow vague tone. Of course, Arisuin immediately pressed the questioning.

"Is there something worrying you, I wonder?"

For a brief while, Oreki brooded without speaking, but she was also conversing with Ikki's blood relative Shizuku, so she answered without hiding anything.

"…The truth is, Kurogane-kun's physical condition seemed to be bad."

"Onii-sama… was?"

"Yes. His complexion was bad, and he was constantly coughing in pain…."

Though Oreki also added that, nonetheless, it was amazing that he had taken the win smoothly.

Shizuku and Arisuin exchanged glances.

"I wonder if he got Stella-chan's cold."

"How could that be true?"

Even if it wasn't true, they had heard Ikki had become soaked while in Okutama. And if the inquiry had deepened his fatigue, it wouldn't be strange if his physical condition had been disturbed. Shizuku and Arisuin thought so. However―

"…No, it was probably…."

Oreki who was well-acquainted with illness had noticed it. Ikki's condition was probably not an ordinary poor physical health. However―

"Sensei?"

"No. It's nothing. Well, Sensei is going to Madam Chairman right now."

Oreki withdrew her words and departed. It wasn't something she'd speak to students like them about. In her judgment, making guesses would only agitate Shizuku's anxiety.

However, the two discerning people noticed it.

"…Oreki-sensei was about to say something."

"Sensei is very well-informed about disease, right? Perhaps she sensed something about Ikki's symptoms."

"Something like… it wasn't an ordinary cold, maybe?"

"Probably, I think. It may be that something was done to Ikki."

At those words, Shizuku felt a chill running down her spine. She knew that if it was those people, if it was her father, they were capable of anything.

"Onii-sama… please be safe…."

Everything was happening deep underground, out of her reach. She couldn't do anything about it.

Shizuku, who could do nothing but pray, was awfully vexed.

"Hey! What are you blanking out for!?"

Along with an angry voice and a face red from alcohol, the drinking water for use by inquiry members was thrown on his face, and Ikki opened his eyes.

"Sleeping during the inquiry, it shows lack of sincerity!"

It was a middle-aged man wearing thin round glasses in front of bangs, shouting close to Ikki's ears. His yelling voice was awfully loud, and it resounded in the small chamber. However, even that kind of voice was distant to Ikki now.

That's right. Am I still sleeping?

The inquiry had started two weeks ago. The fatigue of Ikki who had come here was reaching its peak. The confinement had extended over a long period of time. The questions and answers had repeated many tens of times. The assertions hadn't been accepted once. The spirit of any human would have been scraped off thoroughly.

In addition, a few days ago, Ikki had abruptly become feverish and started coughing painfully. His lungs weren't functioning normally. However much he inhaled the air, pain rushed through him, and he couldn't breathe properly. With chronic lack of oxygen, his consciousness had become hazy. It was at least pneumonia. It might be liable to worsen further. It was a symptom that logically would necessitate him being sent to a hospital immediately, but the Ethics Committee would not allow such a thing.

"Hmph. When things become inconvenient, you feign sickness? Something a brat would do."

Driving Ikki whose consciousness was already hazy into a corner. Not letting him rest even a hundredth of a second.

"Now, let's continue the discussion. Concerning the secret arrangement you reached with the board chairman Kurono Shinguuji. We believe that there is an ethical problem in that this secret agreement ignored the fact you were deemed insufficient in aptitude under the system of the previous board chairman such that you were to repeat a year―"

This dialogue had also happened many, many times. The standard created by previous board chairman's system that judged him to repeat the year, and forbade Ikki from participating in classwork, was unreasonable. That sort of thing… the Ethics Committee surely understood this without him saying it. They were the ones who originally induced the previous board chairman to make that standard in the first place.

But Akaza and the others did not heed it. They threw away the issue. They hammered on questions. But they didn't listen to the answers. Without listening to responses, they dwelt at great length on bad impressions and defiance. More than that feeling of wasted effort, Ikki had put up with a considerable lot by now. But despite that, he had given many refutations, and….

"…Ack, *cough cough*"

He crumpled while coughing violently.

"You bastard! Who gave you permission to sit!? Do you have no willpower, you weakling!?"

"Guh…!"

Curling up and ignoring it with all his strength, Ikki smashed his nose on the floor. With a *bam*, a metallic smell spread through his nose, and droplets of red fluid stained the floor.

…How miserable.

Thinking about his current state, Ikki could only laugh bitterly. Even he could slightly tell that his physical condition was unnatural. That perhaps his poor health was due to drugs. However, if Ikki was the way he was usually, even if his physical condition a little bad, he would probably not collapse all the way to this point.

As expected, the decisive blow was his meeting with his father, Itsuki Kurogane. Alas, Ikki believed that no matter how far apart his father was, how cold his father was, in some respect, just slightly, he and his father was connected. Somewhere in his heart, he always believed that. Alas, he believed that. It was something which betrayed him more than anything, and that truth had shattered the stability of his soul.

With his soul that had lost its balance, his body that was attacked by disease could not support him. And once it had collapsed once, the rest was bottomless. Ikki's heart and body had crumbled like he was rolling down a hill. Ikki was now just a shadow of himself.

"My my, please pardon him since he has gone to that extent."

Suddenly, Akaza left his seat, and waved back the men who were ignoring Ikki's face. Then he showed a smile of ill taste in his thin eyes, and came close beside Ikki.

"He he he. It must be extremely painful, no?"

Ikki was silent.

"Well, even if the inquiry is dragged this long, it isn't unreasonable. But I want to understand. We are pushing to verify a knight as splendid as yourself, you know? ...Buuut, after all this time, we haven't made any progress. So I've been thinking. Of a brilliant way to bring over my colleagues who haven't been convinced about the questions on your aptitude. Do you want me to tell you about iiit? You want me to tell you, riiight?"

At any rate, it could not be a decent thing. Because he knew that, he had no interest, but he had a feeling that if he didn't ask, the conversation wouldn't progress.

"…What… is it…*cough cough*!"

Ikki asked while coughing, and Akaza nodded and continued speaking in satisfaction.

"He he he. It's not as if it's anything special. Ikki-kun, you probably know already. To clear the path of one's destiny with his own sword is a knight's customary practice. In that case, why not act in accordance with the ancient tradition?"

"…Tradition?"

"In other words, entrust the matter of the disagreement between you and the people who have doubts about your aptitude to the final selection battle match tomorrow."

Leave the matter to the outcome of battle. With those words, Ikki understood what Akaza was saying.

"A wholehearted duel, against a designated fighter… is it?"

"Exactly. A decision reached by duel is absolute for us knights. It is an unwritten rule that can never be changed. No matter how far outside reason, how nonsensical or impossible, it is the custom of knights to abide by decisions made through dueling. That is equally true for the League. If you make a promise on this duel, and show everyone your strength with victory, then no one would be able to slip a word of doubt in to the matter of your qualities as a knight. For you, it would be an opportunity to turn everything around and recover from a hopeless situation. There's no other solution, don't you think? Am I wrong?"

"In other words, if I win tomorrow… you'll let me go with that, right?"

"Yes, yes. Of course we will. …It's just, the opponents you've had in your current condition were E-rank third year students. …Frankly, by facing such low-level knights, it would be difficult to verify your strength. In that case, not everyone would come to consensus. At this duel, there is a need to prepare a suitable partner."

Well, Ikki thought so too.

"*Cough*… Who, then? …This partner…?"

At the question, Akaza gave a deep smile greater than any before it―

"We, the Ethics Committee, intend to nominate―the student council president, 'Raikiri' Touka Toudou."

―and gave the name of the assassin.

It was an opponent that Ikki at his very best could have no hope of surpassing. The first place in Hagun Academy's internal ranking, who reached the best four of last year's Seven Stars Sword-Art Festival.

To Ikki, who was on his hands and knees at the bottom of the earth, it was an excessively burdensome opponent. This kind of thing, there was no need to accept it. Eventually, he would meet with Stella's father. If he held out until then, he would arrive at the end of all of this. At a place that Akaza and the others could not reach. And in the first place, this talk about fighting was rude to Touka who had impressed him. Ikki had no reason to accept it.

However―

"Ahh, incidental to this topic, the king of Vermillion is already coming directly here. Which is to say… it would only take a little blunder, and the king would find out about your decision on the duel. Nooo, I'd feel completely regretful. Moreover, the king was extremely enthusiastic about seeing it. He wouldn't give his daughter to a man who could not surmount even an ordeal of that level! And, well, it sounded something like that, yes. If you refused here~, hmm, it would give a very poor impression, wouldn't iiit?"

Akaza had obstructed Ikki's escape perfectly.

…I see. From the beginning, this was the development that they intended to get, wasn't it?

And Ikki realized it accordingly. The inquiry was, from the start, just a pretext to separate Ikki from Hagun. Akaza and the others weren't thinking about bullying Ikki mentally in order to have him give up. It was all to have him make this promise, and to force him into this desperate duel. It was a scheme for this.

"Of course, you'll accept this like a man, won't yooou?"

If he had this duel, it would already become nonsense without reason or righteousness or anything else. The outcome of the battle was everything. It was the custom of knights since ancient times. Though there was no fault in Ikki, if he lost, he would become the bad one. In becoming the bad one, he would lose everything.

―It was a cruel offer. The risks were high, and the gains were nil.

If there were any gains at all, it would be Ikki regaining the freedom that by all rights he was already due. Truly, a cruel offer. But―

"…I under...stand. I'll do it."

Ikki answered so with a face full of bitterness. With all of his escape routes severed, he could do nothing else.

"Ha, ha ha, hahahahaha! Wonderful, wonderful! How wonderful! He he he! You are a boy after all! Everyone has heard him, right!? What he just said! At this moment, everything will be left to the duel tomorrow, to the outcome of that battle! Everything about the decision is in accordance with the ancient knight tradition, decided by the sword! And no one will make objections to that proud ruling! Well then―we'll declare the end of the inquiry here!"

In this way, the Worst One who was already under siege threw himself into a still more desperate struggle.

Ikki's opponent was Raikiri, who boasted an invincible sphere of influence over the close range that he was limited to. To face that opponent who he was uncertain of defeating even with perfect physical condition, he would be dragging his badly sickened body. Gambling all of his future―

But, standing before that fight, Ikki remembered the words Utakata had spoken some time before.

「Between the two of you, the weight of responsibility you're carrying is different.」

Indeed. Ikki could imagine the burden of many hopes and wishes that Touka had on those slender shoulders. That wasn't limited to just those of the children of the institution. Because she was burdened with the great admiration toward the best four of the entire country.

That kind of proud person… could he bring her down?

Could he do so with the sword of a worthless person whose own father would not even entrust with a single hope?