My Heart Cries Out for You

Having taken the first match, Bohn Zaborg returned to the Spear Arts Department's camp with a faintly sour look on his face.

"Well fought."

Gio Strandal offered the courtesy in a voice without rise or fall.

Bohn shrugged as if it had been nothing at all.

"The likes of the Thief Department are no match for me."

"Hmm. But Yohan would be a different story, wouldn't he?"

Bohn flinched.

The moment Yohan's name left Gio's mouth, he reacted as if someone had jammed a finger into a bruise. Gio watched that twitch with open amusement, a meaningful smile lingering at the corners of his lips.

"I was quite impressed by your spar at the entrance ceremony."

"Ugh...! Th-that spar just... the timing was off, that's all."

Bohn bit down on his lip.

The truth was, he knew it better than anyone. The winner of that spar had been Yohan, and no one else.

When the exchange-match entries had been posted, he had even caught himself breathing a little easier at the discovery that Yohan was not his opponent.

And this Gio Strandal brat, poking at the splinter under his nail like that.

A commoner with some nerve.

"Should you really be that relaxed?"

"Hmm. I doubt my turn will even come around."

"That's true enough."

The Spear Arts Department's next fighter was Saad Vilt. He was not Bohn's equal, but he was an outstanding talent who commanded no small share of public attention. The prevailing judgment was that he was a man worthy of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Vilt name.

Saad Vilt's specialty was overwhelming mana.

Rare among warrior types, he possessed a mana pool as vast as the sea, which had made him famous for his endurance in drawn-out fights. He was also said to have perfectly mastered the Vilt family's spear arts—notorious for how much mana they burned.

Saad and Bohn had a personal history. The Zaborg spearman house and the Vilt family had exchanged visits for generations, and Bohn had sparred with Saad more than a few times.

The man was, without question, a genius. Not on the level of Sara Leoris or Arsha Swordhorn—those so-called geniuses beyond geniuses—or of Bohn himself. But had he not been born into this golden generation, he might well have contended for third place overall.

"Saad losing... I can't even imagine it."

Bohn folded his arms and settled in to watch.

"Fueet...! Sierra, dear... are you ready...?"

Professor Izumi checked that Sierra was prepared.

"Yes! I'm ready!"

Sierra's eyes glittered with fighting spirit. Not a shred of tension showed on her face. The "strategy" Yohan had whispered to her had been a tremendous help.

The man waiting across from her, Saad Vilt, had the presence of a massive golem. His skin was dark all over, though not by birth. He had simply been baked by the sun from training under the open sky.

A prominent nose, thick lips, and a steadfast gaze visible through tousled hair.

Saad, who had his own sort of rugged charm, took a single step forward. With a resolute look, he slowly opened his mouth.

A bomb of a declaration, delivered in a low, grave voice that matched his looks.

Every student within earshot cried out in shock at the sudden confession.

"Wh-what!? Saad, why now of all times!?"

"Well, that Sierra girl is pretty cute, I'll give her that."

"Damn it! I was waiting for the right moment too!"

"Hey, that Elie Janette girl's not bad either, right? If she weren't in the Thief Department, I'd have confessed already..."

"What does your department have to do with love!? Screw it, I'm going to—"

"Hah... hah... Yohan... the truth is, I..."

"You lunatic. You're a guy!"

Sierra blinked, utterly dumbfounded.

This was the first time anyone had confessed to her so directly. In the dangerous back alleys, plenty of people had tried to take her body. No one had ever confessed their love.

"Fueet...! Sierra! You mustn't let it rattle you...! This is clearly an advanced psychological tactic...!"

"This is neither a lie nor a deception. My heart cries out for you. Sierra Grimkeeper. Answer my feelings!"

Without a heartbeat of hesitation, Sierra scratched her cheek and answered.

"I'm sorry."

An instant reply. No deliberation whatsoever.

Saad crumpled as if an arrow had taken him through the chest.

"Kh...! C-could it be you already have someone...?"

"Uh... something like that...?"

At Saad's lament, Sierra's cheeks flushed a ripe peach-pink. Anyone looking could see she was a girl in love.

"So she already has a man..."

"Don't give up, Saad! In love, you keep chopping with the axe until it splits!"

"But who is she seeing? Don't tell me..."

Saad was not the only one disappointed. Other boys in the Spear Arts Department who had quietly carried a torch for her all let out their dismay at once.

"If she has a boyfriend, there's nothing to be done... What I've always lacked is speed. Late again..."

"Um, excuse me..."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"You need not console me. Sierra Grimkeeper. I respect your choice."

"No. Even if I weren't seeing anyone... I don't think I would have gone out with you."

"Hrrk...!"

Under Sierra's consecutive hits, Saad sagged as if he had taken a critical strike. Watching from the sidelines, Yohan gave her a thumbs-up.

"That's it! Sierra! You won the war of nerves going in!"

Elie, apparently having forgotten her own unsightly loss in the previous match, beamed and sent up a cheer of her own.

"Nngh...! In that case, I will win this for certain! Sierra Grimkeeper. Take up your weapon!"

Saad seized his spear and shouted it like a vow. Professors Izumi and Zenia, seeing both sides ready, declared the start of the duel in unison.

Just as Bohn had in the opening round, Saad came out swinging with a powerful skill, crashing down on Sierra from the first breath.

Sea Lance was the secret spear art of the Vilt family.

An advanced technique that hammered out dense, heavy attacks, founded on mana as abundant as the sea.

If Bohn's Spear Soul was a spear art built around the slash, Saad's Sea Lance was a spear art founded on the thrust.

Blue mana gathered at the tip of Saad's spear like a massive water droplet. The densely condensed mana spread wide in time with his charge as he kicked off the ground. Its shape, true to the technique's name, evoked a threatening wave crashing over a beach.

Sierra pulled back as if she had been waiting for it. Saad's assault was destructive, but it was not fast.

Saad Vilt will definitely take the first move. Whatever you do, don't trade blows. Don't block—just dodge. The hallmark of Sea Lance is its terrifying destructive power.

Sierra etched Yohan's advice into her mind and focused.

"She dodged Saad's attack!"

"In terms of raw power, isn't Saad's spear work about even with Bohn's?"

"Come on. Bohn's still stronger, no matter how you slice it."

The first attack slipped past her, and an opening showed itself. A delicious window for a counter.

There's only one timing.

She held back. It was not time yet.

"Fast. Then how about this?"

Saad leaned his upper body so far forward it looked as if he might topple. Fierce wind whipped in every direction from the mana roaring down the length of his spear.

"Hmm. That's rather threatening."

Gio Strandal, watching from the sidelines, murmured it with a pallid smile.

Saad's tilting spear stabbed not Sierra, but the ground. One of the spectating spear students started to say, "A miss?"—and shut his mouth.

The earth groaned.

Blue mana gushed from the ground Saad had pierced, like a hot spring bursting forth. Starting from that point, mana geysers began exploding in sequence at regular intervals. It looked like buried explosives going off on a time delay.

The blasts split into three forks and surged forward. Branching mana geysers crashed toward Sierra from three directions at once—a skill that made up for somewhat lacking speed with an explosive area of effect.

Left and right were cut off. Even backing up would leave her helpless against the geyser in front.

By anyone's measure, it was a moment of mortal crisis. Mana erupted from the ground beneath her feet, and—

"We've won!"

One of the spear students actually shouted it.

The match was not over.

A dull bang cracked across the field.

"Fueet...! That skill..."

What the mana geyser swallowed was not Sierra. It was a huge wooden log.

Counter right after he uses Stormy Sea.

"Shuriken Burst!"

Five shuriken streaked toward Saad.

Reading the counter, he immediately threw up a defensive skill.

"Mana Armor!"

Saad will definitely use Mana Armor.

A shell of mana wrapped his body and knocked the five shuriken aside. It was not a wasted attack. The shuriken and the armor vanished together.

Sierra did not miss that instant. She closed the distance at tremendous speed, as if a hawk that had spotted a rabbit had taken her over.

"To force a close-quarters fight against a spearman! Sierra Grimkeeper! A foolish choice!"

Saad's spear shot out like an arrow, hunting her down.

When you've closed the distance completely.

Stormy Sea was an extremely powerful skill, matching its flashy effects—but it had one drawback. Immediately after using it, physical defense dropped miserably.

That was why Saad covered the weakness with Mana Armor. But now Mana Armor had been punched through by Sierra's Shuriken Burst.

Even so, I have the advantage in close combat!

Saad's spear, tracking her with concentration wound to its peak, suddenly froze.

He had lost her.

"!?"

Finish him with Speed Step. Then ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it's game over.

"I win."

A sharp tak.

Sierra, who had moved behind him in an instant, chopped the back of his neck with a knife-hand strike. Ordinarily his toughness would have tanked it. Weakened by the skill's recoil, his defense took the blow completely.

"Saad's mana... it's gone...?"

Bohn Zaborg, watching the duel, muttered it with a vacant look on his face. Reflected in his eyes was Saad Vilt, collapsed on the ground with his eyes rolled back.