The Hero's Blade
Liu narrowed her eyes at the blond boy pointing his sword at her. It had taken every ounce of willpower to calm down.
"Legion. Was this your doing?"
"…………."
Of course he wouldn't answer.
The boy who had once been so full of life had ended up like this. Liu's gaze softened with a flicker of sorrow as she remembered the Abel Legion from his childhood. Ever since the Gate incident destroyed America and killed his grandfather, Abel Legion had changed completely. The transformation was so severe that even someone as paranoid as Liu felt a twinge of pity.
Anyway, the important one is Namgung Min.
She had let sentimentality creep in, but rationally speaking, she and Abel were little more than acquaintances. More than ten years had passed since that day, and bringing it up now would only be awkward. Liu pushed the thought aside and glanced back and forth between the bisected orb and Abel.
From the circumstances, it looks like Legion got to him…
But hadn't the rules said that anyone eliminated had to wait at their own base? There was no sign of Namgung Min anywhere.
No. Focus on Legion first.
Liu gripped the ceremonial dagger tightly and raised her hand.
The Hero class is definitely a combat job, right?
Hero Abel Legion. His class, Hero, was a unique Special Class possessed by only one person in the entire world. Yet its true nature remained completely unknown. In the past, the United States had tightly controlled all information about it, and even after the American mainland collapsed, the remnants that had relocated to South America continued to suppress any leaks. Even someone with the Great Wealthy class couldn't extract information the nation itself treated as top priority.
All Liu knew was that he had placed fourth in the entrance exam, right behind the Imperial Prince, Namgung Min, and the Imperial Princess.
Let's test the waters first.
Bare-handed, Liu would have been at the bottom of the academy's rankings. But with artifacts in her possession, the story changed completely. Honestly, she was confident she wouldn't lose even against that vicious psychic bitch right now. She could definitely hold her own—
CLANG!!
"……Huh?"
What the hell was that?
Did he just swing his sword?
I didn't see it at all…
CLANG! CLANG! CLAAAAANG!!
"Ugh—?!"
Flashes of light that her senses couldn't even register sparkled before Liu's eyes. The moment she realized they were the result of the Hero's sword clashing against the barrier created by her artifact, she immediately spun and sprinted away.
Protection in the Dark has already triggered four times…!
One of the three artifacts she'd brought along—an earring on her left ear called Protection in the Dark. It was a one-time use artifact that could block up to five surprise attacks the user hadn't perceived. Each one was worth billions, yet they had been consumed almost instantly. Liu's mind was flooded with pure shock.
All of those were registered as surprise attacks?!
The Hero had swung his sword right in front of her eyes. For Protection in the Dark to activate anyway…
…It meant she couldn't win. Frontal assault or otherwise.
Having understood that, Liu brought the ring on her right ring finger to her lips.
The artifact Chastity's Breath. When a virgin blew into it, it dramatically enhanced the user's physical abilities for the next ten minutes. It couldn't be used again for an hour afterward, but right now, survival was the only thing that mattered!
She kicked off the ground.
"Huff… huff…"
Powered by the artifact, Liu ran faster than most cars, gasping for breath. It felt like she'd been sprinting for over thirty seconds. She glanced back urgently, but fortunately the Hero wasn't pursuing her.
"Haa… haa… damn it."
She was alive for now, but what came next? Even after hiding in an alley and checking her watch, it wasn't even 1 AM yet. Chastity's Breath was still active, so she should be safe for the next ten minutes no matter what happened. The problem would come after that.
"I don't have anyone to cooperate with…"
If the Great Wealthy wanted partners, plenty of students would line up. But Liu didn't trust any of them. She only suspected them. The only useful idiot she'd had, Wang Pei, had been sent away by her own hand, and Namgung Min had already been eliminated. That left only one option…
"Lucas, I guess."
Regardless of how long they'd known each other, she didn't particularly like those siblings. Still, it was true that they had some connection.
A scream echoed from somewhere. Over there!
What kind of exam starts at midnight anyway?!
Now's the time!
The area was in chaos. Sharp-eyed students had already formed groups to ambush loners, each using their own classes and skills to steal one another's orbs. In the middle of that fierce battlefield, Liu hid herself in an alley.
"……Let's go."
She cast one last lingering glance toward the direction of Namgung Min's base, then steeled herself and hurried forward. She knew exactly where the Arthur siblings' base was. If she ran across the rooftops while avoiding other students, the ostentatiously decorated mansion would come into view.
Several students had already gathered in the front yard.
"Hm? Liu!"
"……Lucas."
The students who had been warily watching Liu land gracefully from the roof relaxed when Lucas, standing at their center, spotted her and smiled. The Arthur family's signature silver hair fluttered behind him as he approached with Lane, who wore her usual sullen expression.
"You're safe. I knew you would be."
"You two seem to be doing fine too."
"Hah, Miss Liu. I never imagined someone as prideful as you would come crawling to the Arthurs for protection."
"Will you shut your damn mouth already?"
Lucas greeted her warmly while Lane remained as prickly as ever, stabbing with every word. Since this was a reaction Liu had experienced many times before, she brushed it off and looked up at Lucas, who wore a slightly puzzled expression.
"What?"
"Hm? Oh, nothing. I just assumed you'd be with the fortune teller, that's all."
"……Miss Liu, don't tell me you abandoned Sir Namgung Min…?"
"………."
It was true that she'd been spending a lot of time with Namgung Min lately… but to think she'd be treated like a set menu. She knew that after acknowledging her own desire to uncover his secrets, she'd kept trying to stay by his side. She just hadn't realized how it looked to others. Well, the fact that they assumed she'd naturally be with him even during an exam pretty much told her everything.
Wait a second. I really was planning to go to him.
So maybe they weren't wrong after all?
Honestly, compared to those other idiots… or being alone, staying next to Namgung Min is better.
He has a sharp tongue, so conversations are entertaining, and it satisfies my desire to dig into his secrets.
…Not bad at all, actually.
"I did go to meet Namgung Min."
"Hm? Then why didn't you come together…"
"He's already been eliminated."
"………Tsk."
Lucas frowned. He'd probably reached the same conclusion she had. She could more or less guess why the Hero had targeted Namgung Min first.
"Do you know who did it?"
"Legion."
"The Hero… that bastard made his move."
Even as he grumbled, Lucas looked somewhat convinced.
Of course he would.
Even taking into account the trait Namgung Min had revealed in front of the instructors—that every failed reading increased the success rate of the next one—his readings were both incredibly attractive and dangerously threatening. That was why the academy had implemented penalties and permitted the fortune teller shop, but public perception hadn't changed. After all, thanks to the reading Namgung Min had given them at the end of yesterday's class, both Liu and the Arthur siblings had been able to start the exam the moment midnight struck.
In a survival game where everyone was an enemy, if you couldn't recruit the fortune teller named Namgung Min as an ally…
You'd have to eliminate him first.
It might be called fortune-telling, but if the accuracy rate was 100%, wasn't that basically prophecy? The Hero had been acting separately until now, so Liu hadn't paid him much attention, but it seemed he'd been conscious of Namgung Min's readings after all.
"Can't be helped. We'll scrap the original plan and move quickly. Wait just a moment, Liu."
After thinking for a bit, Lucas walked over to the students gathered in the yard—most of whom had magic-related classes. Meanwhile, Lane, who had been wearing a sour expression the entire time, glared at Liu.
"Just a moment, Miss Liu."
"Hm?"
"Don't tell me you simply ran away? Even after learning that the Hero eliminated Sir Namgung Min…?"
"Are you mocking me right now?"
She hadn't known until yesterday, but she could say it with certainty now. The Hero was strong. Perhaps even stronger than that violent Imperial Princess. The fact that she'd managed to escape safely was practically a miracle. And yet what? She ran away?
Of course she ran. What else was she supposed to do?
"Then what should I have done instead?"
"You should have taken him down with you."
"……What?"
Did I hear that wrong?
"Isn't that the natural duty of the weak?"
"The weak? I told you to stop spouting bullshit."
"It's not bullshit. I'm simply stating an obvious fact."
Lane's cold gaze was as icy as her tone.
"Miss Liu, I've always told you, haven't I? The world is divided between the strong and the weak."
"Hah, yeah. That's what you've been obnoxiously repeating since you were a kid."
And it's also why I ended up hating you.
"And the weak must always obey the strong, submit to the strong, and devote themselves to the strong."
"………."
"If you want to escape that fate, the only way is to become stronger than the strong and turn them into the weak instead."
Is that why you're so obedient to Lucas and merciless to the students who follow you?
Liu had been watching Lane Arthur for a long time and had heard this speech multiple times already. So even though Lane's words were horribly twisted, Liu's expression remained utterly uninterested.
"So? Are you saying Namgung Min is one of the strong?"
"Stronger than you, at least."
"That's hilarious. You're saying that fortune teller would beat me in a fight?"
"Yes."
"Bullshit. Know your limits."
Of course, Liu held Namgung Min in very high regard. But that was about his readings and smooth talking, not his combat ability.
"Miss Liu, I'm saying this for your own good."
"………."
Yet no matter what insults Liu hurled, Lane remained the same. Cold. Emotionless. As if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"You shouldn't have run away from there."
"………Ha."
The same words, over and over. So Liu's response was the same as always.
"Every time you spout that crap, my answer stays the same too, doesn't it?"
"………."
"Don't force your mental illness onto other people, you crazy bitch."
"……I see. You've always been like that. Someone who dares to stand against the strong…"
That's why I hate you.
Lane muttered those words and walked away. Left alone, Liu turned once more to look in the direction of Namgung Min's base.
Her eyes held a strange, unreadable light.
*
"Well then, Sir Hero. You've done an excellent job, so it's time for me to fulfill my promise, isn't it?"
"…………."
"As promised, I will make sure you win the championship."
"………Yeah."
"Excellent. Shall we start with some tea? Or would you prefer coffee? I only have instant, but is mix coffee alright?"
"…………Anything's fine."
"Then Maxim coffee it is! Everything else got smashed anyway, so this is all that's left."
"………Sorry."
"No need to apologize. I was the one who asked you to do it. Oh, if you're bored, would you like a reading? From your facial features, Sir Hero, you seem to have quite good fortune with—"
"…………."