Who Isn't a Herrscher?

Chairman's Office

"W-What is going on?! Why am I roommates with a pervert like him?! Chairman!"

Stella pointed at Ikki in shock.

"It means exactly what it says. Is there a problem, Stella Vermillion?"

"What if, what if it causes some misunderstanding..."

"Ho ho... What kind of misunderstanding~?"

"It's... it's... that..."

"Aunt Kuro, don't tease her like some drunk old man..."

"Chairman..."

Unable to bear watching any longer, Luo Mio and Ikki spoke helplessly to Shinguji Kuroko.

"Cough, cough, cough... Back to the point."

Shinguji Kuroko also put away her playful expression and spoke to Kurogane Ikki, Stella, and Luo Mio.

"Among the seven academies, Hagun Academy has always been one of the finest. In the annual Seven Stars Sword Dance Festival held by the seven academies, our representatives used to win as a matter of course. But in recent years, we have fallen completely behind the other six Knight Academies.

In order to revive Hagun Academy, the board appointed me as the new chairman. The first step toward that revival is dormitory assignments. To let students challenge and improve each other, students of similar strength will be assigned to the same dormitory, regardless of class number or gender.

With people of similar rank around them, students should naturally develop a sense of competition. These arrangements were deliberately made to stimulate that competitive spirit. Of course, Toudo Miohua is an exception."

"Um, I have a question."

Ikki spoke to Shinguji Kuroko.

"Stella is the outstanding top-ranked student and also an A-Rank Knight. Why is she assigned to the same room as a repeater like me?"

"Eh! You're a repeater?!"

Stella asked in surprise.

"Yes. I'm F-Rank. The only ability I can use is the lowest level of physical enhancement, and my total mana is only one-tenth of the average."

Luo Mio added from the side, "All his other stats are at the bottom too! People call him the 'Failed Knight, Worst One.'"

A complicated expression appeared on Stella's face. "Failed Knight... Worst One..."

"That's right." Shinguji Kuroko spoke with a prankish smile.

"That's exactly the issue! There is no one as outstanding as Stella Vermillion, and likewise, no one as weak as Kurogane. Doesn't that make the two of you perfect roommates?"

"Th-This... But having a boy and girl of the same age live in one room..."

"Ho ho... What's wrong with living in one room?"

"Since you can't settle the dormitory matter like this, how about having a mock battle?"

Luo Mio said to Stella.

"Have a mock battle and settle the dormitory issue between you and Ikki. The winner decides the dormitory!"

"Afterward, you can come find me and settle this matter with me too."

After hearing Luo Mio's words, Stella's eyes flashed. Before long, she gave her answer.

"Fine."

"That said, Ikki, are you confident? She's A-Rank."

"Those mana particles appeared and scattered through the air with her emotions. She didn't even need to consciously control them; they overflowed on their own."

"Without a doubt, her mana reserves are already approaching 'infinity.'"

Luo Mio looked at Kurogane Ikki.

"A knight's path is to carve out his own fate with his sword. I imagine you already heard it from the chairman: 'As long as you win the Seven Stars Sword Dance Festival, no matter how poor your abilities are or how much those people above make things difficult for you, I'll make sure you graduate.'

"She said that herself, and Stella will definitely compete in the Seven Stars Sword Dance Festival. So no matter what, I'll face her sooner or later. This is merely happening a little earlier. Even if her mana reserves are close to infinite, I won't back down."

Luo Mio looked at Kurogane Ikki's resolute eyes.

"I guessed you'd say that. Still, I believe in you. Good luck."

"Thank you, Miohua."

Ikki thanked Luo Mio gratefully. At the same time, he thought to himself.

This is also for the promise between us. Until I fulfill that promise with you, I won't be defeated by anyone!

As one of a nation's key military assets, Magic Knights required considerable combat skill and awareness. Hagun Academy had several egg-shaped arenas scattered throughout the campus.

Inside each was a combat area roughly one hundred meters in diameter, surrounded by tiered spectator stands shaped like a mortar bowl.

The mock battle between Kurogane Ikki and Stella was being held in Training Ground Three. The two stood at the center of the training ground.

They faced each other from twenty meters apart, while Shinguji Kuroko acted as the referee.

Several gazes in the stands were focused on the two below. Their owners were all second- and third-year students. Some had been among the few students who had remained at school to practice freely in this training ground, while others had come after hearing about the match.

Their target was obvious: Stella Vermillion, the top-ranked new student who had shattered all previous entrance records and was recognized as an A-Rank Knight.

"So that's her?"

"She's so beautiful..."

"Her opponent is actually that repeater?"

"That F-Rank exchange student?"

"An A-Rank fighting an F-Rank? Pfft, is this supposed to be a joke?"

Luo Mio walked through the stands, listening to the surrounding discussions, and could not help shaking his head.

Suddenly, his gaze turned toward an overlooked corner of the stands. A girl was seated there. As if sensing his attention, she raised her head and looked toward Luo Mio. Her expression first showed a little surprise, then she smiled and waved at him, signaling for him to come over.

Seeing the girl's "smile," Luo Mio shuddered, cold sweat breaking out across his back. He could practically feel a large red character appearing above his head! He swallowed and walked over.

This girl was none other than Hagun Academy's Student Council President and Luo Mio's sister in this world, Toudo Touka.

Luo Mio sat beside Toudo Touka, placed both hands on his knees, and held his back perfectly straight.

"Now you know how to behave in front of me?"

Toudo Touka glanced at Luo Mio.

"Ahahaha... Sorry..." Luo Mio gave a weak laugh before lowering his head.

Toudo Touka looked at Luo Mio for several seconds before returning her gaze to the arena.

"Later, we'll have a proper little talk about your affairs."

Hearing Toudo Touka's words—especially the heavy emphasis on "talk"—Luo Mio shuddered.

"Yes...!"

Meanwhile, Kurogane Ikki and Stella had both finished preparing.

"The mock battle will now begin. You two, please deploy your Devices!"

Shinguji Kuroko said to them.

"Manifest."

"Come and serve me."

"Then... LET'S GO AHEAD!!!"

The signal to begin sounded, and Stella charged at Ikki...

"Clang... Clang..."

The sound of their Devices colliding rang out across the field.

"Haaahhh!!!"

Stella was the first to raise her sword and slash down at Ikki, flames coiling around the blade.

There was no technique behind it, only a brute-force swing.

As the attack closed in, Ikki had just taken a defensive stance to block it when the warning from his instincts made him change his movement in an instant. At the very moment the flaming slash was about to fall, he shifted his feet with Teleport, dodging the sword as though he had vanished and reappeared, then retreating backward.

"Clang!!!"

As the slash landed, the entirety of Training Ground Three seemed to shake.

"Just as I thought..." After evading it, Ikki stared at the spot where the strike had fallen: boiling flames and shattered ground, heat and brute force.

If he had met that blow head-on, he would probably have already lost.

Stella, the attacker, also noticed something.

"That sword strike... He had clearly only assumed a defensive stance at the instant I swung down. How did he suddenly change his posture and evade?"

In the stands, Toudo Touka watched the first exchange in astonishment.

However, what caught her attention was not Stella's attack, but Ikki's evasive movement.

"That footwork... Was that your Shunpo?"

Toudo Touka looked at Luo Mio in confusion.

"Yes, that's right." Luo Mio continued observing.

It was probably more than just Shunpo. That movement likely also borrowed some principles from Drawing Foot.

On the field, Stella looked at Ikki in slight surprise.

"Your speed isn't bad, but that alone won't let you beat me!"

Stella swung her sword again and rushed forward.

"Imperial Arts," beautiful like a dance, yet as oppressive and swift as fire.

Step by step, Ikki retreated and evaded.

"!"

Stella seemed to sense something strange.

In the stands, Toudo Touka, who had already removed her glasses, noticed something.

"He observes another person's swordsmanship, traces the principles behind it, then absorbs and applies them."

"I see. 'Copying,' or perhaps 'imitation.'"

Luo Mio and Toudo Touka watched the battle from the stands.

"Back when he was in his second year, Ikki came to find me," Toudo Touka suddenly said from beside him.

"'No matter what happens, Touka, don't come help me. That is my request.'"

Seeing the determination in Ikki's eyes at the time, Touka had not understood, but she had still agreed.

Listening to his sister, Luo Mio smiled as he watched Ikki on the field. "That's just the kind of person he is. No matter who it is, no one can stop the path he walks."

"But that path has already left him covered in wounds."

"I believe in him. Even if he is covered in wounds, the path he walks will still draw the eyes of others."

Luo Mio still believed in his close friend without hesitation.

He recalled his conversation with Shinguji Kuroko.

"Since my sister was in the Student Council last year—and was even the Student Council President—and Ikki should have seen her at the entrance ceremony, why didn't he go see her afterward?"

"Pressure. You know the Kurogane family's influence in the knight world. At the time, the Kurogane family directly pressured Hagun Academy as well. In this so-called society where 'rank is everything,' they declared, 'Kurogane Ikki is merely a good-for-nothing who ran away from the main family. Under no circumstances can he be allowed to graduate.'

"As a result, the previous chairman arbitrarily established that unreasonable rule: 'Practical subjects must meet the minimum ability standard required for instruction.' They excluded Kurogane from everything. Even because of your relationship with Kurogane and the people behind you, they did not dare make things too difficult for Kurogane. Still, members of the Kurogane family must have secretly threatened him. And Kurogane likely sought out Toudo in secret and discussed something with her, which resulted in Ikki not participating in a single practical class that year. Although I cleaned out all the scum on the board after taking office, it was already too late."

Toudo Touka listened to Luo Mio while watching Ikki wield Yin Iron on the field.

She recalled how, as a child, Kurogane Ikki had no talent, no one willing to be his friend, and even his family had despised him.

Other than her younger brother, Toudo Miohua. Though he had no talent, he had continued to wield the sword in his hand because of a promise the two had once made. Remembering this, Toudo Touka finally set her mind at ease.