In that moment, that spark called the unknown.
To gods steeped in eternal loneliness, it was the sweetest wine in the world, the most dazzling light.
This was more than the gods watching the lower world for their own twisted amusement.
It was a resonance between both sides in their search for the essence of life.
Gods envied the potential of mortals.
Mortals craved the power of gods.
That was the most fundamental covenant of that world.
An epic game both sides delighted in, with their lives and honor on the line.
"So..."
"That's where I'm going to take you."
"A world with no ceiling, only endless challenges."
"A world where even if you die, you can go out in a blaze of glory instead of rotting away in the tedium of one day after another."
As Haimo's words faded.
The gymnasium fell deathly silent.
Only the occasional wind outside the windows and everyone's slightly quickened breathing mingled in the air.
Yet this was not fear.
It was a stirring unlike anything they had ever felt.
Like an eagle imprisoned for years, glimpsing the blue sky called freedom through the gaps in its cage for the first time.
That shiver from the depths of their souls left even their fingertips tingling.
"Heh..."
Sasamori Aya raised a hand and casually brushed back a strand of black hair hanging beside her ear.
Her black eyes, usually filled with arrogance, now burned like dry grass set alight, with a flame bordering on obsession.
She looked at Haimo, her gaze blazing.
As though she were looking at the salvation that had finally arrived after her long wait.
For this empress who already stood at the academy's pinnacle.
The world Haimo described.
Was nothing short of a paradise made just for her.
"A place like that... is where I've always dreamed of belonging."
Sasamori Aya made no attempt to conceal her desire.
If such a world truly existed, even dying the very next second would be ten thousand times better than rotting and stinking here.
Haimo gave a slight nod and turned his gaze to the others.
Mozunoya had already drawn back, instinctively ducking behind Onigawara Rin, clearly frightened.
But Onigawara Rin and Tsukuyo Inaba fell silent.
Though they did not state their intentions outright as Sasamori Aya had, the light in their eyes could not lie.
After all.
Those thoughts...
Who had never had them?
As martial artists, as people who held sharp blades.
Who did not long for a stage where the swords in their hands could truly prove their worth?
Who would settle for staying in this tiny campus until graduation, only to fade into the crowd afterward?
Just as the atmosphere reached its height.
Thud!
A sudden crash rang out from the ventilation window high above the gymnasium, utterly ruining the mood.
Everyone turned toward the sound.
There, at the ventilation window high on the gymnasium wall.
Next came the clang of something heavy striking a metal duct, along with the low growl of a startled beast.
"Aieee! That hurt!"
"Are you an idiot?! Slipping at a time like this!"
Amid a cloud of flying dust.
Everyone left the gymnasium to look outside.
And there they saw.
Two figures-or more precisely, two people and two bears-sprawled in a sorry heap beneath the high ventilation window.
At the forefront.
Was a girl with brilliant blond hair, its ends curled into waves resembling baguettes.
She wore a modified school uniform and still clutched a thick dictionary tightly in her hand.
-Kikakujō Mary.
A member of the Five Heavenly Swords, and a renowned wielder of a Rapier at this academy.
"This is so inelegant!"
"This is entirely that stupid bear's fault!"
Kikakujō Mary brushed dust off her uniform while holding a thick dictionary in her uninjured hand, her face full of irritation.
The culprit behind this commotion clearly was not her.
As for the person beside her.
It was a petite blond girl who looked as though she were still in elementary school.
Hanabishi Warabi.
Another member of the Five Swords.
Though she looked young, she was actually the oldest of the Five Swords.
However, her appearance, almost that of a little girl, hardly lent that claim any credibility.
"Honestly! This is all your fault!"
"You let me down at the worst possible moment! You've completely embarrassed me!"
As she spoke, Hanabishi Warabi clutched the top of her foot, swollen from the fall, and glared at the enormous bear lying on the ground in exasperation.
Yes.
An enormous bear!
A genuine black bear wearing a collar!
This black bear appeared to be Hanabishi Warabi's pet.
After hearing Haimo's remarks about gods, its legs had gone weak with fear at the faint divine presence, causing it to stumble and fall, completely ruining what had seemed like a perfect stealth operation.
"Honestly... I always tell you to practice your balance, but you never listen!"
Hanabishi Warabi furiously scolded the enormous bear, which was trembling with its paws over its head.
Then.
She seemed to realize something.
She turned around, meeting several pairs of eyes that held barely suppressed smiles.
"Uh..."
Hanabishi Warabi froze on the spot.
With Hanabishi Warabi's expression instantly stiffening and Kikakujō Mary trying to hide her face behind her dictionary in a futile attempt at concealment.
The atmosphere immediately grew rather awkward.
"Eavesdropping, of all things..."
A quiet murmur finally broke the awkward silence.
The speaker was Onigawara Rin, who had only just managed to calm down a little.
They saw.
Her eyes narrow slightly, the gaze that had been evasive with embarrassment instantly turning sharp.
For Onigawara Rin.
Everything that had just happened-her mask shattering, her true face being exposed, and that psychological dissection that had practically amounted to a public execution-was the most humiliating episode of her life, one she never wanted outsiders to know about.
Sasamori Aya, her sworn rival who already knew her inside out, was one thing.
Tsukuyo Inaba overhearing it had also been unavoidable.
But if Kikakujō Mary and Hanabishi Warabi, two people she rarely got along with, had watched the whole thing...
"As members of the Five Heavenly Swords, you actually skulk in the shadows and spy on people like rats."
"Aren't you ashamed?"
Onigawara Rin abruptly stepped forward. Though her face was still red, her katana was already half an inch out of its sheath, its edge gleaming coldly.
"Huh?!"
Called out by Onigawara Rin, Kikakujō Mary instantly bristled, her golden curls bouncing with her movements.
She snapped her thick dictionary shut, her delicate, distinctly mixed-heritage face flushing crimson as she loudly retorted:
"Wh-who was eavesdropping?!"
"This is called strategic reconnaissance! Strategic reconnaissance, understand?!"
"An intruder capable of causing that terrifying phenomenon suddenly appeared at the academy. As the Five Swords responsible for maintaining order, of course we had to come and assess the situation immediately!"
"Exactly, exactly!"
Beside her, Hanabishi Warabi forgot all about her aching foot and hastily waved the wooden club in her hand, chiming in like a bristling kitten:
"I came all this way specifically to provide support!"
"If things hadn't gone wrong at the crucial moment, we would've made a magnificent entrance already!"
The two played off each other, trying to cover their lack of confidence with sheer volume.
However.
The knowing, shifty glances they exchanged.
Still betrayed the fact that they had arrived long ago and had spent quite some time up above, thoroughly enjoying the show.
Chapter 11: One of the Five Swords, Satori Nemuneme
"Do you think I'd believe that?"
Onigawara Rin did not relax in the slightest at their clowning.
On the contrary.
After enduring the public execution of having her mask forcibly removed, her nerves were now like a string stretched to its breaking point, ready to overreact to the slightest disturbance.
This was more than mere sensitivity.