The Promise Kept
The strategy of Class B was built around Violet.
Under the assumption that she could hold back anyone who charged, every student in Class B charged toward the enemy lines.
It was a simple, reckless tactic, yet thanks to Violet’s irregular nature its efficiency was staggering.
Actually stopping the tactic was simple in theory: either take Violet out or overwhelm the charging Class B students numerically.
But Cesset knew it was not that straightforward.
Even if you crushed them numerically, it was only by one person. Without another Violet-level student on your side, you’d still have trouble capturing them.
Their skills might even cause a reversal, and the biggest problem was that the battle was taking place in the home camp.
If you tried to crush them by just one person and someone slipped away to claim the flag, it was game over.
And if the situation turned unfavorable, Violet would simply be sent out.
Looking at the formation, Class B charged directly attached to the right flank.
It was impossible to move to block the charge while also watching Violet’s movements in the center amid the chaos.
Even her riding skills were weak, straight-line galloping was easy.
Her pony-like horse was too heavy to block, and with Violet swinging her sword on top, anyone who took one hit would be finished.
If you assigned even one person to watch Violet, the number of charging students from Class B would match yours exactly.
No matter how you arranged the personnel, the disadvantage was forced upon them. Cesset chewed her pipe fiercely, expressing her discomfort.
Class B’s responsible instructor was Leila.
She was known for using efficient personnel distribution and textbook tactics that perfectly matched the situation.
But this bold distribution smelled strongly of Rai’s extreme strategy.
*It’s all Rai’s fault.*
In the team battle he was thinking of killing everyone off completely. Even the team members were incredible.
Though Violet’s name overshadowed them, the other students were also skilled.
If lined up by skill, after Violet came Aria, then nine more—all of Class B. The gap was immense.
Thinking that this was all because of Leila’s competitive nature aimed at sniping Rai, Cesset clicked her tongue and looked at the students gathered in front of her.
“Classmates. Light and Shadow Team Two.”
“Wait, wasn’t it Light and Shadow?”
“Darkness or shadow, whatever. Shadows are important.”
Zeroa stared blankly at the words “shadows are important,” but Cesset paid no mind.
“If you’re that confident, I’ll have to bend you over. Just staring at Rai made me want to trip over an incredibly sexy, cute little bump. The cards this sexy, cute bump has are better than you think.”
“What?”
“Just guess.”
The students muttered among themselves. Cesset silenced them and explained the strategy.
Time passed. After the students of Class A had memorized the strategy, they entered the arena to face Class B.
Class B was using the exact same tactic as before.
“What… you’re trying to deal with Violet?”
“Interesting formation.”
The Class B students clustered on the right side lit up at the sight of Class A’s formation.
This was the left-flank breakthrough designed to counter their right-flank breakthrough, with a few numbers pulled out to the center.
It was a clear intent to break through and strike Violet while blocking the charge, exactly like what Class E had done.
But what caught the eyes of the Class B students was the center.
Aria and Zeroa.
The two of them had enormous confidence to break through Violet, but the configuration was even stranger.
“Zeroa, right?”
Zeroa had made impressive progress under Rai’s personal instruction. That was acknowledged.
He had climbed higher than expected in the martial arts tournament and his strength had only improved since then.
If there was a skill-development award, he should have received it.
But by graduation, maybe he would be ready. Right now, he was not the kind of person who should be chosen for such a critical mission.
“The goddess acknowledges him, but Zeroa. Hey, are you serious?”
“No, I don’t acknowledge it.”
At Cuthbert’s question, the student with his eyes wide open answered.
“The goddess’s partner! How dare you! Look at me with my two eyes! Kyaa!”
Meiri, who had punched Cuthbert in the side for his nonsense, closed his mouth and answered in his stead.
“Zeroa is not to be underestimated. He’ll get a big nose for it.”
“I’m not underestimating him. He’s growing the fastest of anyone, so he’s the one who needs watching, not the other way around.”
“Watching him is the same as underestimating him.”
The students of Class B fell silent and looked at Zeroa.
He was tense from the attention, but there was no sign of trembling or discomfort.
Even though he had to fight Violet, he looked just like usual.
Meiri’s eyes narrowed into a smile as she watched his clear gaze.
“I’ll bet you. When the goddess is beside you—no, when Zeroa fights together with someone—he’s ten times stronger than you expect.”
“… … Even so, you won’t be able to break through Violet.”
“That’s… I think the same. But you can still expect something.”
Cesset, who looked pure and innocent at first glance, was actually cold and strict in her evaluations. She had never expected Meiri to praise Zeroa. She looked at him once more, then lost interest.
What mattered now was not Zeroa.
The two of them would handle Violet. Here, they had to do what they were supposed to do.
At the start, Class B charged. Class A, instead of fighting from their own camp, rushed forward with all their strength.
As the students crashed together in a great roar, Aria and Zeroa urged their horses toward the center.
Violet stood on her pony-like horse exactly as she had in every previous match, staring blankly.
Her half-lidded eyes and relaxed body seemed to be enjoying the cool breeze.
Looking at her shimmering silver hair fluttering in the wind, one might think of a fresh-faced girl, but the closer Zeroa got, the heavier the overwhelming aura felt, as if his body was being crushed.
He had grown far more than when they had faced each other in the tournament.
Back then he had been terrifyingly strong. Now it felt like two or three times stronger.
When Violet slowly turned her head, her dazed eyes met Zeroa’s. He flinched and raised his sword and shield.
Even though he knew the distance was too great and Violet could not dismount, the instinctive reaction was to prepare.
Aria, who had received the gaze, moved first and performed a mounted charge.
A thin rapier was not ideal for mounted charges, but Aria drew on her strength and thrust.
Violet, who had been staring blankly at the strength that did not suit a sword, slowly raised her own blade.
Watching her slow movements, it looked like she had no intention of blocking.
— *Kaang!*
Aria, who had charged with full power, was blocked by Violet’s motionless sword. She widened her eyes in surprise.
Without any stance, she had simply raised her sword and blocked the thrust with the tip. Not a single step back, and no shock at all.
The surprise lasted only a moment. Aria quickly twisted her wrist, spinning her blade. The rapier wrapped around Violet’s and plunged inside.
Annoyed, Violet flicked her hand. Aria’s blade flew off, and Violet swung hers toward her open chest.
— *Kwaang!*
“Khuhuuhuu…”
Zeroa, who had slipped between them, blocked Violet’s sword with his shield and was pushed back together with the horse.
Even though he had blocked perfectly, he made an odd noise, as if the shock had not been absorbed. He stroked his frightened horse to calm it, then charged again toward Violet.
A spark of interest lit in Violet’s eyes, where she had been looking annoyed.
Behind her, Aria charged. Violet moved quickly and parried the sword.
This time she had taken proper stance and moved her blade, but Aria refused to back down and collided with her.
Zeroa did not launch any active attacks, but whenever Aria was attacked he stepped forward with his shield to take the blow in her place.
Trusting his support, Aria pressed Violet with moves that sometimes came close to mutual destruction.
Clearly Violet’s sword had reached her belly faster, but Zeroa reached out from behind and blocked with his shield. Aria ignored it and slashed without hesitation.
Violet dodged to the side with a waist-twisting motion. Aria’s blade passed over her, she twisted her body, changed her stance, and swung her sword hard against Zeroa’s shield.
The power that came from her tiny body was unbelievable. Zeroa and Aria were both swept back.
“Ya, you bastard! What are you touching!”
The voice of Duke Andres, who had grabbed Aria’s waist and was acting as a cushion, sounded, but the two of them had no time to care.
It was not just the two of them who had been pushed.
They had not even been swept away by two people and two horses; they had been pushed while their swords were still pressed against hers.
Naturally they were startled by the monstrous strength.
Violet smiled faintly, as if enjoying herself, and took a step toward the two of them, then stopped.
Only now did she seem to realize she was on the horse. She looked at the flag and the horse with a mixed expression of complaint.
“Goddess, and… um… brown hair.”
“Zeroa.”
“Yeah, Zenoa.”
Zeroa wanted to correct her that it was Zeroa, not Zenoa, but right now that was not important.
“Goddess, Zenoa. You two are fun.”
“Zenoa, not Zenoa. It’s Zeroa-kun.”
“Yeah, Zeroa-kun.”
Aria corrected Violet on the name she had misspoken.
“Let’s have more fun.”
Violet raised her sword sideways from the horse and poured out mana.
Even the previous aura had been strong, but now a much stronger pressure bound the two of them.
Not only the two of them were startled by Violet’s intent to use all her power.
Here were the families of the students, and among them many were military personnel.
Those who had realized the power of the Millennial Genius stared at her with wide eyes.
They had heard rumors, but seeing it in person made them unable to believe.
Zeroa gritted his teeth and slowly breathed as he felt the electric aura coming from her skin.
*I wasn’t expecting to win.*
He looked down at his left arm, which was trembling.
Violet was not terrified. He had simply reached his limit while blocking her attacks.
Around him lay half-broken shields.
They were all the shields Zeroa had prepared. Thinking Violet’s attacks would not be light, he had brought them from Clay.
The prepared shields had all been broken. Now the only thing he had left was the one on his arm.
Clay had said this would be enough, but it was not.
Rai always teased him, so Clay’s blacksmith skills were terrible.
*No… it’s not Clay’s fault. It’s mine.*
He did not know the details of the past, but Clay was one of the strong people Rai acknowledged.
If it had been Clay, he would have predicted every possible development of the battle and prepared the shields.
He trusted Clay’s opinion on battle matters even though he did not trust his blacksmith skills.
Even though he had worked hard, he still felt ashamed that he was not enough.
But he could not stop.
Zeroa took a deep breath, exhaled, and lifted his head with resolved eyes.
“Are we going?”
“Eh? Y-you’re waiting for me?”
“Yeah, we have to fight together.”
Smiling faintly at Zeroa, who looked utterly dazed despite his resolve, Aria prepared her stance and charged toward Violet.
Violet’s sword, which had been still, moved. A blind, indiscriminate barrage fell.
Before, Zeroa had blocked her by attacking occasionally and disrupting her rhythm. Now he had to defend desperately.
Aria still attacked in the middle, but her reach was the same.
Attacks came from nowhere, wildly.
Clearly she had been attacking from the left, yet attacks came from the right as if she had two swords.
The shield Zeroa was holding had already been completely destroyed. He barely blocked Violet’s attacks with his sheathed sword and his blade.
If they had moved even one step further they could have reached the flag, but Violet’s sword storm blocked them completely. They could not move a single step.
Amid the absurd situation where they were defending with attack, while the two struggled, the referee shouted loudly.
“Class B wins!”
The sword storm stopped with the referee’s voice, but Zeroa swung his sword wildly at empty space with a dazed look, then stopped a little late.
His mind had been too blank, so he had been too late to recognize.
Exhaling roughly, Zeroa turned around with a dazed look and saw a student from Class A holding the flag.
Not many had been eliminated, but Class B had broken Class A’s defense and claimed the flag.
“It was fun. Let’s do it again next time. Goddess. And Zeroa-kun.”
Violet looked a little regretful, but she easily shook it off and galloped toward Class B.
Her horse, however, moved in the wrong direction. Only another Class B student managed to catch it.
They had lost, but Zeroa felt no regret despite pouring everything into the battle.
The damp armor and sweat on his forehead felt good.
Zeroa, who only remembered Aria later, turned his gaze toward her. She had a bitter expression.
It was not anger from losing, but regret that she had not done enough.
Aria looked at the distant Class A students, then met Zeroa’s eyes.
“You kept your promise.”
“Eh?”
At the word “promise,” Zeroa tilted his head, but the promise they had made together immediately came to mind.
The promise to stand beside each other and fight.
“Ah, that over there, this is… still weak… and…”
Zeroa’s face flushed as he panicked, but Aria shook her head.
“No. Zeroa-kun is strong enough. And you kept your promise to fight with me. Thank you.”
A smile appeared on Aria’s lips.
Duke Andres’s shout came from behind, but Zeroa, lost in Aria’s smile, heard nothing else.