Crazy (2)
The scene rewound to roughly an hour before Kena and Garein’s sparring match. More precisely, it was the exact moment Libra had blocked Zeon’s final strike.
What the hell is this?
Everyone who witnessed the outcome of the duel was utterly overwhelmed by Zeon’s power. Fear. Terror. Envy and longing for someone on an entirely different level. Yet among them, one person in particular displayed an especially strong hostility toward him.
Crack.
It was Kena Freya.
He hadn’t fought directly, yet he felt wounded. His body was fine, but his mind was in tatters. The prestigious Freya family had been cowed by some nobody they’d never even heard of.
Damn it.
It hadn’t been this bad back at the entrance ceremony. A Sand Snake? It would have been tough, but not impossible. That was why, at the time, Zeon had merely been a recruitment target in Kena’s eyes—someone he might bring into the family’s fold.
But that assessment had been completely overturned during the spar with Garein.
Tremble. Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.
Even though he hadn’t faced him personally, Kena’s hands wouldn’t stop shaking. That overwhelming aura that had crushed the very air. The destructive power capable of severing a professor’s arm.
Why… why does it have to be that bastard?
Why did he see the image of his own father—the head of the Freya family—overlapping with him?
Is he really on that level?
Enough to stand shoulder to shoulder with the head of one of the Four Great Families?
It was terrifying. And it filled him with rage.
But more than anything, Kena felt a burning envy and jealousy toward Zeon. The wave of emotion crashed over him even harder than what he felt toward Reglia, who had already mastered her family’s secret arts.
“Why are you here?”
It was lunchtime, right after Zeon and Garein’s duel had ended. Kena spotted a familiar emblem on the person who had suddenly appeared before him.
A blazing flame and a dragon. It was unmistakably the symbol of his own family—Freya.
Why is one of the family’s servants here?
That question was answered the moment the servant politely offered him a piece of paper along with his message.
“The young lady has been waiting for your call, young master.”
“That woman suddenly?”
There was only one person in the family referred to as “the young lady.” Kena’s eyes narrowed instinctively. His expression went beyond simple annoyance—it was closer to disgust and outright hostility.
“Her number is written here.”
Kena snatched the paper the servant offered with both hands, then sent the subordinates who had been watching from behind off to the cafeteria first. There was no need for them to overhear this conversation.
Click.
“Rebecca Freya.”
“You’re still calling your older sister by her name so casually?”
“Why did you call?”
“You’re the one who called first, aren’t you?”
“Shut up and get to the point.”
“Just wanted to hear my little brother’s voice?”
Even at his sharp tone, she answered in a relaxed, composed voice. What? Hear her little brother’s voice?
“I don’t recall ever having a sister like you.”
“We still share the same blood, don’t we?”
“Only half. At least my body doesn’t carry the blood of some drug-addled mercenary.”
It was a blatant insult to the person on the other end of the line. They shared the same father, but had different mothers. Kena was the legitimate son born through the official marriage of the Freya family head. Rebecca was the child born from a one-night fling the head had with a mercenary before his marriage.
“My little brother, your mouth is as filthy as ever.”
“Not as filthy as the blood you carry.”
That was why Kena considered Rebecca the single stain his father had left behind. The daughter of a mercenary his father had spent a single night with before meeting his mother. The woman who had suddenly appeared and shaken the once-peaceful Freya family. From what he had secretly learned, her mother—the mercenary—had died from drug addiction. Like mother, like daughter; Rebecca had been secretly using drugs behind their father’s back.
“So, why did you contact me? Just say it.”
“Hehe, my little brother. I heard you got pretty humiliated at the academy?”
“What?”
He didn’t care what other people said, but hearing it from her made his blood boil. Kena’s face crumpled instantly while Rebecca cackled with amusement on the other side. The sound of papers flipping could be heard through the line.
“My little brother. As expected of the heir to a ruined family, you really lived up to the name—standing around like a useless extra who couldn’t do anything?”
“Who are you calling ruined?”
“Sorry to break it to you, but every single person in our family is completely ruined, without exception?”
How dare she call the Freya family ruined? But at her next words, Kena could only press his lips tightly shut.
“Zeon, who killed the Sand Snake in a single strike. Mir, who showed off her rare light attribute and already has the control to create weapons from it. And Reglia Einstro, who used superb adaptability to once again imprint the name of Einstro into everyone’s minds. Hmm? Why isn’t our proud little brother’s name anywhere on this list?”
Grind.
“Ah, here it is. The idiot who couldn’t even scratch the Sand Snake and only served as a walking heater. Really, I’m terribly worried about how you’re going to lead Freya in the future.”
At those words, Kena’s lips twisted into a sneer. The more he listened, the more she grated on his nerves.
“Well. I’m probably still better than trash like you who can’t even light a proper fire.”
Though she carried the blood of the Freya family head, her flames were so weak that even the branch families could do better. Her fire was so pathetic it posed no threat at all. If not for that worthless spark, she probably wouldn’t even carry the Freya name.
“You’re lucky. To carry the Freya name with such a pathetic flame like that.”
“As expected of my little brother. Your tongue really is vicious. You truly possess the filth that suits the Freya name.”
“No matter how dirty my mouth is, it’s nothing compared to someone whose very nature is bottom-of-the-barrel trash.”
Both of them were glaring, searching for weaknesses to tear into each other, when Rebecca unexpectedly raised both hands in surrender first.
“…Fine. Talking to you just gives me a headache, so I’ll stop.”
“I feel the same. So hurry up and tell me why you called, then disappear.”
It was always like this. A coward who backed off before they even properly clashed.
“If it’s just useless nonsense again—”
“Well. I’m not sure if you’ll consider this useless. Listen carefully. The reason I contacted you is…”
“…What?”
At Rebecca’s words, Kena’s face filled with disbelief and great agitation. Without realizing it, he asked back with a stupid expression.
“…What did you just say?”
“Why are you pretending you didn’t hear?”
“Ha, you expect me to believe that?”
“Of course you should believe it.”
Rebecca’s firm tone sent huge ripples through Kena’s already chaotic mind. Could those words be true? What if it was a lie? But she had never lied about matters concerning the family before.
Kena kept his mouth shut, seemingly deep in thought, while Rebecca waited for him with relaxed composure.
“…Don’t tell Mother.”
“Hmm? Why?”
“You’re not seriously asking that, are you?”
“Of course I know! But just listening to you is a bit boring~.”
Grind.
Kena finally understood why Rebecca had yielded so easily at the beginning. She had known from the start that she held the upper hand.
“What do you want?”
“It’s simple. You’re in the middle of the evaluation duels, right? You haven’t gone yet.”
“…That’s right.”
He wasn’t particularly curious how she knew. What mattered was what she was ordering him to do.
“Get the highest score there. Even if you can’t surpass Zeon, Mir, or Reglia, at least stand on the same line as them.”
Rebecca’s demand was completely unexpected.
“That’s for me to decide.”
“You still don’t get the situation, do you? Stupid little brother. I’m threatening you right now.”
Whoosh.
“How dare you…”
“You must get the highest score, Kena Freya. Don’t let the Freya name fall behind others any longer. If you do well, I’ll take care of this matter somehow. But if by any chance you fail to get a proper score… you know what happens, right?”
Crack.
“The future of the Freya family will be decided by how you change it. So fight properly. Freya must never place anyone above itself except the constellations of the heavens. Don’t forget that.”
Whoosh.
The flames of Freya changed in intensity according to the owner’s emotions. That was why even Garein couldn’t predict just how intense Kena’s current feelings were. The ferocious heat that seemed to swallow everything around it made even breathing slightly uncomfortable.
“Kuaaaaah!!”
Yet the person who had created this inferno moved with a completely calm face, as if none of it affected him.
“Kena Freya. Just what kind of emotions are you burning right now?”
“Kuaaaah!”
“Tsk. You’re no different from a beast now.”
This was exactly why dealing with the Freya family was such a hassle. Their unique fighting style grew stronger the more emotional they became. Their movements developed fatal flaws in exchange, but their overwhelming power more than compensated.
If Reglia had summoned winter and Zeon had unfurled the night sky, then Kena had created the sun.
A sun so hot it could burn even himself.
Whoosh.
“Kuaaaaah!!”
“Hoo… I suppose I should consider it fortunate that you are the family’s legitimate heir.”
Otherwise, your body would have already melted from your own heat.
Thud.
Garein’s strike slammed into Kena’s head, flipping his eyes back as he collapsed on the spot. As the flames vanished, faint burn marks could be seen across Kena’s body. The heat had eventually exceeded what his body could withstand as the fire grew stronger over time.
“If I hadn’t known, you wouldn’t have been able to control your own power and would have died from your emotions.”
Even if he had known, he still wouldn’t have received a very good score. If their standoff had lasted any longer, the boy would have suffered even worse injuries than this.
“I told you to come at me with the intent to kill me, not to fight a battle that would kill yourself.”
With those words, Garein instructed the students who usually followed Kena to take him to the infirmary.
“Ah, hot!”
“His skin… why is it so hot?!”
“Reglia. Use your ice to cool the heat around him.”
“…Yes.”
Reglia looked at the unconscious Kena, who had suffered burns all over his body, with unreadable eyes before creating a thin protective barrier of ice around him.
Garein watched Kena being carried off to the infirmary, then called out the next student.
“Mir. Step forward.”
“…Yes!”
The next in line after Kena was none other than Mir herself.