Ikki stood before Stella, utterly bewildered after being pulled over. Though it was a little awkward, he could only brace himself.
"Um, hello, Stella."
Stella looked at Ikki in front of her, then recalled what had just happened. Her face, which had finally calmed down, quietly flushed red again.
"Just call me Stella..."
Stella averted her eyes and spoke softly.
"Then... Stella."
Seeing the shy expression on Stella's beautiful face, Ikki's heart unexpectedly stirred.
He then lowered his head shyly as well.
Watching the two of them from the side, Luo Mio felt as though he had just witnessed something.
"Being the captain of a ship does feel pretty nice."
"Grr..."
Hearing the sound, Luo Mio looked at Stella.
Ikki awkwardly scratched his head as well.
"Are you hungry?"
Luo Mio coughed lightly. Seeing Stella nearly die of embarrassment, he headed toward the kitchen and said, "Then I'll make something to eat."
Standing before the cooking utensils, Luo Mio thought, Good thing I learned a few dishes from my sister back then.
Stella looked at Luo Mio by the cooking utensils and said to Ikki, "After I woke up today, the chairman came to visit me. Then she told me about you, Ikki."
"...My family matters?"
"Mm..."
"Aunt Kuro..."
Well, it was not something he deliberately needed to hide.
"After hearing what the chairman said, I was actually curious all along."
"Curious?"
"Mm. Why, even though your magic power is pitifully scarce, your ability is terrible, and you have no talent at all..."
"...are you still so persistent, working so hard to become a knight?"
Stella voiced her question.
After hearing Stella's words, Ikki turned his gaze toward Luo Mio, who was cooking, and spoke.
"Since the chairman, Aunt Kuro, told you everything, I'm sure you understand."
"My family, the Kurogane family, held considerable influence throughout the knight world. Yet in such a family..."
"I was born without any talent as a Blazer, treated by my parents and relatives as a burden on the family."
"I couldn't attend any classes. Even children from branch families could participate, but I alone could not. I could only stay in my room during the annual family gatherings."
"Because of that, my parents and the people in my family gradually treated me as though I did not exist. That was my life as Kurogane Ikki of the Kurogane family before I turned six."
"But the following year, my life was saved by my grandfather, Kurogane Ryoma..."
"And Miohua."
Upon hearing Luo Mio's name, Stella looked in shock at Luo Mio, who was chopping vegetables before the cooking utensils.
"Surprising, isn't it?"
"I still remember that day vividly. It was the annual gathering, and members of the main family and branch families had all gathered at the house."
"To me, such gatherings were incredibly painful. Hearing the happy laughter of children my age playing outside my door and window made me feel unbearably lonely."
"I ran away. I escaped from my room."
"After leaving my room, I was seen by people from the family."
"I could clearly feel it. The eyes of those who saw me were filled with disgust and revulsion. It was then that Miohua appeared."
"He had been invited to the Kurogane family gathering. He saw me, ignored the adults' attempts to stop him, came before me, and smiled as he held out his hand."
"He said, 'Want to play together?'"
"But then the adults who came to stop him held him back, and I was driven out of the banquet hall."
"I was heartbroken, in terrible pain. Gritting my teeth, I left the house and ran to the mountain behind it. But then the sun set in the west, the temperature on the mountain gradually dropped, and the light snow slowly turned into a blizzard."
"How could anyone come save someone as insignificant as me? To them, perhaps it made no difference whether I existed or not."
"Just when I thought I would die, when I felt terribly unwilling to accept it, my grandfather, Kurogane Ryoma, appeared."
"He looked at my unwilling tears and laughed. 'Listen, kid. Never forget this unwillingness. It proves that you haven't given up on yourself yet.'"
"That was how he took me back. Halfway there, Miohua appeared!"
"Worried because I had disappeared, he had run out to look for me."
"Seeing me on my grandfather's back, he smiled. Then, just as he had at the banquet, he held out his hand to me."
"'Will you be my friend?' It was different from what he had said at the banquet."
"I was so happy! It was the first time in my life that someone had held out a hand to me and asked to be friends."
"I held out my hand. The two of us clasped hands and smiled, and it was also the first time in my life that I had smiled happily."
"After returning home, Miohua said in front of my father and the rest of the family, 'I want to invite Ikki over to my place.'"
"Though there were quite a few objections, I still went to Miohua's home. There, I met Miohua's older sister, Touka; Miohua's guardian, Senior Saikyo; and Aunt Kuro."
"When Luo Mio trained, he would pull me along to train with him, and he said the most important words to me."
"'Ikki, have you heard of the KOK World Alliance Competition? How about we fight there someday!'"
After hearing that, Stella's expression turned surprised again.
The KOK World Alliance was where true world-class Magic Knights gathered.
"Those words have supported me until now. If I want to compete there, then I have to put in ten thousand, a hundred million times more effort!"
Stella quietly listened to Ikki's story.
She looked at Luo Mio, who was already plating the food, and fell silent.
Ikki's story reminded her of her former self. She had been the same back then.
"Dinner's ready!"
Luo Mio placed the dishes on the table and spoke to Ikki and Stella.
"By the way, what were you two whispering about over there?"
Ikki shook his head and smiled. "Nothing much. We were just talking about some old things."
Luo Mio raised an eyebrow. "Heh... is that so? Then why did I hear you muttering my name just now?"
Watching the two converse like close friends, Stella remembered something.
She asked Ikki a question.
"You said earlier that the Kurogane family has strong influence throughout the knight world."
"That's right."
Luo Mio looked at the conversation between the two without understanding it.
"Then why would they invite him?"
Pointing at Luo Mio, Stella raised her question.
"Huh?" Luo Mio looked at Stella, who was pointing at him, with a baffled expression.
"What are these two talking about?"
Ikki realized what she meant and said, "Ah, though only a small number of people know..."
"Luo Mio is actually an A-Rank Knight too."
"Eh..." Upon hearing Ikki's words, Stella craned her neck and stared at Luo Mio in disbelief.
"An A-Rank Knight..." Stella stared blankly at Luo Mio, then, as if recalling something, pointed at him.
"Ah! I've heard of you! Before me, there was an A-Rank Knight whose name was unknown, but who was around my age and had a total magic power greater than mine!
So it was you!"
Luo Mio hooked a finger against his cheek.
"If you mean the person ranked first in the world for total magic power, then that is indeed me."
"But why...?"
"Ahaha, it's a little complicated."
Stella looked at Luo Mio with a complicated expression, then turned to Ikki.
After being silent for a while, Stella said brightly, "I lost, Ikki!"
"Yes. Against someone who has put in tens of millions of times more effort toward the KOK World Alliance, how could someone with a half-hearted mindset like mine possibly defeat you?"
Ikki listened blankly as Stella acknowledged him.
"I've decided, Ikki! Though I may not have a goal as grand as the one between you and him, I want to make a promise with you too!"
"At the Seven Stars Sword Dance Festival, I'll fight you and make up for today's defeat..."
"By winning it back!"
A radiant smile hung on Stella's face as she held out her fist toward Ikki.
"Stella..."
Ikki smiled.
He held out his fist.
Meanwhile, Luo Mio transformed into the captain of their ship as he watched the two make their vow.
Chapter 7: The Day School Began.
"Eh, so Miohua, you fought Touka too!"
After dinner, Ikki was flipping through the Student Handbook when he found a video and projected it onto the television.
The title of the video read, "Hagun Academy Student Council President's First Battle of the New Term Is Actually?"
Luo Mio took a sip of hot honey water and looked at the title of the video.
Sure enough, no matter what world one was in, eye-catching titles always drew attention.
Luo Mio spoke to Ikki and Stella.
"Well, while you two were fighting, I ran into my sister in the audience. After your battle ended, my sister pulled me into a simulated match."
Stella asked with a puzzled expression, "That Student Council President is Miohua's older sister?"
Ikki, beside her, said, "Toudo Touka, Miohua's older sister. She was also one of last year's Seven Stars Sword Dance Festival final four contenders!"
"Eh... Ikki, Ikki, hurry and play it."
Stella urged Ikki to start the video.
After all, one side was an A-Rank Knight whose magic power had once surpassed hers, while the other was Hagun Academy's strongest student and a Seven Stars Sword Dance Festival semifinalist.
How could she possibly miss a battle like that?
In the video, both sides had already summoned their Devices.
After watching the video, Ikki and Stella fell silent.
Ikki stared solemnly at the end of the video and said, "Touka really is strong."
Before you continue