I Will Choose to Confess Directly

The sudden seriousness left California Spangle and Frostfall's jokes stuck in their throats. Both looked at Adayar in surprise, while even Kitasan Black cast her a startled glance.

Under the puzzled gazes of the three, Adayar furrowed her brow slightly and pondered for a moment, as though choosing her words.

Then she raised her eyes and looked sharply at Kitasan Black.

"Little Kita, I want to confirm something. Have you been thinking about this over and over lately, to the point that it's affected your regular training?"

"Eh...?" Kitasan Black had not expected Adayar to guess so accurately. Her eyes widened. "How did you know—?"

"So it was true."

Still watching Kitasan Black's expression, Adayar nodded. "Like Spangle and the others, I've also been staying at Central Treisen Academy for the past few days. While I was there, I took a look at your training situation.

"I won't hide it from you. Of course, I did that to prepare for our next showdown."

Having stated her purpose without reservation, she continued.

"That's why I vaguely felt that your training lately hasn't been as good as I expected.

"This has nothing to do with recovery training. Even in restorative training, you've been making... far too many mistakes.

"At the very least, far more than you did before the Japan Cup.

"The you training now is practically a different person from the you on the day of the Japan Cup. If you're like this now, you definitely won't be my opponent."

Those words landed like a series of precise straight punches. Kitasan Black opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Her face held only the stunned look of someone who had been completely called out.

Her fingers tightened unconsciously. She suddenly realized that her absentmindedness and declining condition had been so