Chapter 80

Chapter 80

Open Class (3)

With the appearance of Eisel Ludwig, the entire Colosseum went wild.

Excitement lingered among those in the VIP seats as well.

Even Chris, who had no interest unless one was a swordsman, left words such as, “Not bad,” so there was no need to explain further what others felt toward Eisel.

More than anything, the fact that she was a new face was significant.

After all, many had come to see whether there were any decent talents.

Those who had never heard the surname Ludwig roughly caught on. If she was from a weak family on the frontier, then whoever claimed her first might become the owner.

The fact that she happened to be a first-year bothered them, but they thought it would not be bad to stake a claim in advance.

From magic towers to guilds and more, various people shared their own opinions about her.

They declared that whoever gained Eisel’s favor would be the one smiling when this open class ended.

Immediately after Eisel’s battle ended, the open class was suspended, and an official break time was held.

Those involved hurried out of the VIP seats while keeping one another in check.

At this time, students generally ate with families they had not seen in a long while, but they were trying to take this chance to speak to Eisel at least once.

Then the heads of the four elemental families also all rose together.

Chris could not get up from his seat.

“...The killing intent disappeared.”

Because the killing intent he had felt throughout the open class vanished as if timed the moment break time began, he was questioning it.

Just who here held a grudge against the Sword Saint and carried killing intent toward him?

Chris thought about it, but there were far too many people who might hold a grudge against him, so the answer did not come easily.

More importantly, the killing intent had clearly come from empty air.

As Chris lay back in his chair like that, Juliut, rising from his seat, spoke to him.

“Hey, Chris. Would you like to have a meal together?”

“There is someone I must meet first. I will make time in the evening.”

Chris planned to go meet his disciple, Kaen.

“I see, that was so... It must be the first time you have met in a while, so I hope you enjoy yourself.”

Juliut knew that as well, so he immediately left.

Chris sat there a little longer, but his worry was not resolved.

Soon, Chris rose from his seat and hummed, thinking of going to meet Kaen.

The reason he could remain relaxed despite feeling killing intent was simply because he was the “Sword Saint.”

***

It was time for everyone to have meals with family members who had come from afar.

I had no family to come, so I filled my stomach suitably by myself.

The one most similar to me would be Eisel, but just as in the game, perhaps because she was being pestered by people from magic towers and guilds and the like, I could not meet her.

Moreover, unlike in the game, she had shown a performance of defeating a wyvern with a single blow, so it was obvious they would cling to her far more than in the game.

On the way back to the Colosseum after finishing my meal, I briefly entered an alley with few people and was speaking with Sierra.

“...You said the Sword Saint seems to have seen you, Master?”

[ Yes. When I glared a little, he looked fixedly in my direction. He likely detected my killing intent. ]

“That does not seem like good news...”

[ Do not worry too much. I will not reveal killing intent right under his nose. ]

“Truly...?”

[ Yes. Do you not trust me? ]

As Sierra said that, killing intent still lingered in her eyes.

Until right before she died, she had tried to surpass the Sword Saint, and now she had become a dead one who was no longer even given the chance to do so.

She had said the number of times she had lost exceeded seventy... so humiliating memories must have flickered whenever she thought of the Sword Saint.

A situation where she faced such a Sword Saint again after several decades.

I could understand why Sierra was like this.

[ Show him Rebellion Against Heaven. ]

Sierra’s dignified voice rang in my head as she crossed her arms.

[ Etch clearly into his eyes the swordsmanship that will defeat him, the only swordsmanship that will become a threat to him. ]

Sierra said.

I wondered what meaning there was in showing swordsmanship to the Sword Saint, and whether it would actually create a penalty instead... but perhaps Sierra wanted to reveal it.

As if to say, here is the swordsmanship created to defeat you.

My answer, as the one who had promised to defeat the Sword Saint in her place through Rebellion Against Heaven, was decided.

“I understand. In exchange...”

[ What is it? ]

“Could you promise not to give off killing intent while the Sword Saint is nearby? I do not want my neck cut off in an instant.”

[ Hmph, my disciple has many worries. ]

Sierra snorted and tugged at my cheek.

“She is not answering.”

Did even she not think she could guarantee it?

I did not want to be remembered by the Sword Saint as a strange fellow who gave off killing intent at him for no reason.

While I was having such a conversation with Sierra, two women suddenly entered the alley.

[ Hmm...? ]

Sierra reacted to this.

Perhaps because the alley was so dark to begin with, they had not noticed I was there.

“Sister, is that really true?”

“Mm...”

Wondering who it was, I realized it was Lucia and her younger sister, Riqua.

Riqua gripped Lucia’s shoulders and asked that, and Lucia shrank back as she answered.

“Where on earth did you lose it?”

“I do not know either...”

Riqua touched her lips and thought, while Lucia looked as if she were about to cry.

Riqua had a cute face resembling Lucia, but from her expression and tone, one could feel a composure that Lucia did not possess.

Listening to their conversation, I seemed to know what had happened.

I remembered seeing this scene in the game.

A petty thief... no, a “phantom thief” seemed to be wandering around the academy.

Lucia was one of his victims as well.

“How is it possible to lose the pendant hanging around your neck in a single day? Honestly, Sister... Tell me if someone took it from you. I will half-kill them.”

Riqua’s slightly frightening words followed.

“Th-that’s not it...! I really had it around my neck...! It disappeared at some point... I’m not being bullied or anything...! The students in our class are so kind!”

Lucia, feeling wronged, stammered as she refuted.

Riqua was calm, but whenever matters involved her older sister, her emotions came first.

In other words, she was a sister devotee.

She loved and cherished her older sister, but she did not show it in front of others.

There was one backstory regarding this.

To others, the Windless family’s succession structure would look as though the capable and ambitious Riqua had seized the heir’s position with her own hands.

Riqua had no ambition.

The position of heir was heavy for her as well.

Even so, the reason she became heir was that Riqua discovered Lucia sobbing and depressed, saying she could not do anything like be an heir, and stepped forward to take the heir’s position in her place.

Riqua and Lucia kept this fact as a secret between only the two of them, and the two began pretending to have a bad relationship.

“Though calling it the two of them is a bit much... It was more that Riqua unilaterally distanced herself from Lucia.”

Thanks to that, Lucia began being compared to Riqua, her position within the family gradually shrank, and Riqua was able to become heir.

“She really is kind.”

Of course, because it was something from childhood, it was not perfect and was clumsy.

This information could be learned by conversing with their mother and the head of the Windless family, Sicily Windless.

For now, Lucia seemed a little wronged, so I slowly approached them.

“...Who are you?”

A whirlwind wrapped around Riqua’s hand when she noticed my presence.

Soon, Lucia discovered me and shouted.

“Mr. Zeto...!?”

“...Miss Lucia, it seems we meet in a place like this by chance.”

Riqua, looking back and forth between Lucia and me, whispered softly to Lucia. She was asking whether I was someone she knew.

“Mm, he is in the same class! Mr. Zeto was on my team during the mock battle... and thanks to Mr. Zeto, we even got second place...! He is extremely powerful... Do you not remember what I told you in my last letter?”

“Ah, the one... who fires Wind Cutter with a sword...”

Following Lucia, who spoke loudly despite whispering, Riqua looked at me and said that.

It seemed Lucia had described me to Riqua that way, not as a blind swordsman.

“I am Zeto.”

“...I am Riqua Windless.”

I smiled and offered Riqua a handshake, and Riqua accepted it with a somewhat reluctant expression.

It had happened rather suddenly.

“But why are you coming out of there, Mr. Zeto...?”

Soon, Lucia expressed her doubt.

“It was crowded outside, so I was resting here for a moment. When there are too many sounds, I get a little tired.”

I said this while tapping my ear.

“Aha...”

A sound of understanding slipped from Lucia’s mouth.

Riqua, who had been glancing at my eyes, seemed to understand roughly as well.

I immediately continued speaking.

“It is nothing else, but it seems I unintentionally overheard your conversation... and while listening, one rumor came to mind.”

“Wh-what rumor...?”

“During this open class... they say a phantom thief sent a notice to the academy.”

“A ph-phantom thief?! If it is a phantom thief, could it be... Yo-Yorphang!”

Lucia flailed her arms and made a fuss.

“Yes. I wondered if perhaps the one who stole Miss Lucia’s item was the phantom thief’s doing. Well, it is only a passing thought...”

Soon, Lucia’s eyes grew round, as if she had realized something.

“Then I will be going now.”

I thought this should be enough, bowed my head to them, and left the alley.

As I slowly walked out, I listened to the conversation coming from behind me.

“Uh... I did bump into someone earlier...! Could that person have been...!?”

“Sister... What kind of phantom thief pickpockets people? Phantom Thief Yorphang is not an ordinary thief. I heard that whenever he steals anything, without exception, he sends a notice.”

“Right...? But maybe a notice came...!”

Phantom Thief Yorphang.

He always sends a notice before stealing.

Even so, the reason the players who played the game called him not a phantom thief but a petty thief was...

“Huh? What is this...?”

In the alley, Lucia found a letter inside her clothes, and then I heard her read it aloud.

“I quite like your pendant. Therefore, exactly thirty seconds from now... I shall take it for myself... Phantom Thief Yorphang...?!”

...because he was a ridiculous fellow who pickpocketed people and then claimed it counted because he sent a notice.

I did need to catch him, but there was still plenty of time.

Right now, my thoughts about the Sword Saint were enough to overwhelm me.

***

Even though the sun had completely set and the sky had grown dark, the first day of open class had not yet ended.

Bright lights illuminated the Colosseum.

The Colosseum’s atmosphere, reminiscent of a festival, remained as lively as ever, but even this could be considered the final stretch.

However, though Yuri displayed flame magic as brilliant as fireworks against a “troll” with strong recovery, and though Lucia, who cast Calling Tornado, suffered the mishap of being carried away together with the monster...

...my turn simply did not come.

Even Kaen had finished, no less.

She performed her strength smoothly at around the average level of Class C.

It was not that I was impatient to fight, but rather that it felt like an unfinished assignment remained, an uncomfortable feeling.

Just as I was thinking about when my turn would come.

Instructor Kaliman, who had been walking among the students sitting in the audience seats, called my name.

“...Student Zeto of first-year Class A. It is your turn next, so prepare.”

Following Kaliman’s call, an academy staff member approached me and guided me.

In the hall I arrived at by following the staff member, Edward, who was hosting, was there.

Behind Edward, I could see the passage leading to the Colosseum.

As soon as he found me, Edward opened his mouth.

“You have come, Student Zeto. I was waiting. Now, you need to choose the monster you will face...”

“...And?”

Edward’s smile as he trailed off felt far more suspicious than usual.