Black Iron Magician

「Haruna Katsuragi, come forward!」

「Akira Toue, come forward!」

The first players are Haruna and Akira. Akira seemed like he didn’t expect it, but Haruna went to the center of the mock battlefield in her usual state.

「Hee, I didn’t think you would be the first player. I thought you would play last, you know?」

「Is that so? I always play first in kendo, so I don’t think it’s strange.」

Haruna is smiling as usual. Her expression is not like someone who’s going to fight, so Akira shrugs his shoulders while saying ‘Good grief’. After all, his sarcasm doesn’t work on her.

「Katsuragi, do you know the saying that a lion will do its best even when hunting a rabbit?」

「I know. That’s my favorite saying!」

「I-I see… Then, I’ll show you the meaning of your favorite saying. I know you’ve been training for the past month, but if you ask me, you’re like a frog in a well. To be honest, it’s not my hobby to torment a girl… Still, I have my pride. It’s too late to apologize no. If you want to blame someone, just blame your master.」

「……? Yep, I’m looking forward to it!」

「…… Yeah.」

Akira couldn’t get through the sarcasm no matter how hard he tried, so he stopped trying. Apparently, he doesn’t realize that if he wants to get it through, he has to say it directly.

「I will say the rules once again. Skills, magic, or whatever, they are not prohibited. Rather, use them to the fullest. The stage for the mock battle is within the drawn square lines with the center here. The original plan was that you lose if you are out of the field… but since give-up is prohibited, let’s not use this rule. Our knight will put up a barrier to prevent you from getting out, so be careful not to break it. You won’t lose even if you break it, but I’ll get angry instead, so keep that in mind.」

「Y-Yes!」

「………?」

Akira was a little surprised by Haruna’s vigorous reply since she wasn’t nervous until a while ago. Haruna is so tense right now. Then, Akira thinks of the reason.

(… Ah, I see. Did she finally start to understand how serious this matter is? I’ve thought about it before, but she’s stupid after all.)

That’s probably not the case.

「Next is, there’s nothing I guess. As per the agreement, you are not allowed to give up just because you can’t win. Joseph and I will be the judges, so keep fighting until we stop you. Don’t give up and don’t lose hope until the end. That’s all. Do you have any questions?」

「Just to confirm. I can do anything I want as long as I don’t kill her, right?」

「Of course. It’s a very lenient rule because your lives are guaranteed. Anything can happen on the battlefield, and the enemy will never show you any mercy.」

「Hmph, I’m relieved to hear that.」

「Is that so.」

Nell bluntly turned away and looked at the papers again.

「Let’s see, Akira will be using a sword, and Haruna… ara, are you sure with just bare hands?」

「Yes. Shishō told me not to use my staff. Is that okay?」

「Yes, if Haruna is fine with it, then there’s no problem.」

「Hmph…」

Akira is carrying a custom-made longsword like a hero, while Haruna is empty-handed and has nothing. It’s annoying for Akira that it’s like he’s being underestimated. But for Deris, he’s used the last fragment of his conscience to ban the use of Doggan Staff. Of course, there’s no way they could understand each other after this exchange.

「Lastly, we’ll read the order of each team. The first player is Haruna Katsuragi, the second is Therese Batten, the third is Noct Norland, and the fourth is Nevel Faji.」

「On this side, the first player is Toue, the second is Murakoshi, the third is Enari, and the fourth is Ooizumi. Is there any mistake?」

Joseph alternately looks at the members of both groups. The rest of Akira’s team is made up of all the boys of his followers. All of them are level 4, which is generally a high level. Yes, in general.

「… It seems that there’s no problem.」

「Then, let’s get started. Both of you, get ready.」

Nell and Joseph went out of the line and are about to start the signal. Akira is holding his longsword in the middle stance, and Haruna is jumping on the spot in her natural stance.

(I let my guard down when I fought against Touko, so I won’t make the same mistake twice. That’s the duty of the chosen one. Since you are foolish, I’m sure you will come at me head-on like what Touko did. Then, I just need to avoid it sideways.)

Learning (?) from his past defeat, Akira devised a clever plan. He was going to make use of the superior athletic ability that his body possessed to counter Haruna’s failed first move.

「「Then―― begin!」」

The moment Nell and Joseph signaled the start of the mock battle and Haruna’s legs touched the ground, Haruna’s figure disappeared from the perception of Akira’s classmates who were watching behind him.

(I knew it!)

On the other hand, Akira, who had slid sideways along with the signal, saw that Haruna was indeed moving forward with a low posture. Since he’s closer and somehow superior to the other classmates, he can barely see Haruna. … However, that also led to seeing those eyes of Haruna of when the match started.

「………」

「……!?」

Without moving her face, Haruna’s eyes are looking at Akira. The friendly smile on her face is already gone. The madness gaze that pierced Akira is as if she’s chasing her prey. Akira feels that as if his heart is grabbed and as if his breathing would stop. Still, his misfortune hasn’t started yet.

As a tactic, it is not a bad idea to attack from the side against a rushing opponent. In fact, Akira’s already moved to a position where he’s out of the trajectory of Haruna who’s approaching at a tremendous speed. With how fast she is, there’s no way she can change the direction and turn suddenly. Akira judged that from a common sense point of view. However, can that thinking be useful when dealing with someone who’s out of common sense?

(C-calm down…! Those eyes are irrelevant since I’ve outsmarted her――!?)

He didn’t have the time to think about it. Haruna kicked the air and turned toward Akira almost at a right angle. And now, those eyes are looking straight at him. Being in a semi-mad state, Akira miraculously swung his sword as he had originally planned. He thought that there’s not much difference between slashing from the side and slashing from the front. And that’s correct. Because for Haruna, no matter what direction the sword is swung from, it doesn’t make much of a difference.

―――― Snap.

There was a light sound. To Akira, it seemed like Haruna’s both arms became like snakes and wrapped around his sword. He couldn’t understand what she actually did and the theory behind it. After all, unlike the speed when she was running, the instantaneous speed when she did it was out of the ordinary. But as it turned out, Akira’s excellent sword is broken from the base, and its blade is already moved to his foot before he realized it.