Scouted by the Holy Weapons
I got scouted by a secret organization. The Holy Weapons. It didn’t ring any bells, so it probably wasn’t all that famous. A hidden secret society, something like that? Even in the game it was buried so deep that you’d never hear the name unless you dug through every corner of the world. For an organization like that, it made perfect sense that I wouldn’t remember it. Which meant accepting their offer on the spot would be stupid. After all, I had a living, breathing wiki who remembered every single detail of this world.
“Can I think it over?”
“Of course. I can’t give you much time, though. I’d like your answer before the finals begin in two days.”
“That’s plenty.”
I gave a light wave and started to leave when I realized I still had one question. I stopped.
“Oh, right. You said you were the Bow, yeah?”
“That’s correct. Why?”
“Then… your eyesight must be pretty good too?”
“One of my proudest traits.”
“Got it.”
Now I understood how he’d realized Arthur was a girl and why he’d suddenly offered to scout me. Neither Arthur herself nor the person who’d cast the polymorph spell on her would have noticed. Her gait gives her away as a woman. It was an incredibly subtle difference—something you’d only catch if you were looking for it—but to someone who had trained their eyes to perfection, it must have been obvious.
And the same goes for me.
You could hide your Aura and your techniques. But you couldn’t hide a body that had been forged through relentless training, or the perfectly refined physique that came after reaching the level of Master. If someone had sharp enough eyes and had met enough Masters, they’d be able to tell I was one too.
They probably won’t make a fuss about it.
This was outside their expectations, so neither the headmaster nor the duke would say anything. After all, they couldn’t have predicted that a Master-level fighter would be wandering around so casually.
Kayness watched Kyle’s retreating figure for a long moment, then slipped a hand into his coat and pulled out an artifact. It was a communicator capable of real-time, two-way transmission regardless of distance—a relic discovered in ancient ruins. Every member of the Holy Weapons carried one.
“Staff. You there?”
[Why? What’s going on?]
After calling for the current leader of the Holy Weapons, the one known as Staff, Kayness reported everything he had seen. The student who was already using profound techniques despite only being an Aura User. And the one named Kyle. The Staff had shown little interest when Arthur came up, but the moment Kyle’s name was mentioned, their tone shifted.
[…Are you certain?]
“Are you doubting my eyes?”
[No. If you saw it yourself, there’s no need to doubt. If it’s true… that madman is going to lose his mind.]
“He’s a battle-crazed lunatic who charges in the second he finds a worthy opponent.”
Thinking of the man who currently held the title of Sword, Kayness imagined how he would react to the news about Kyle and let out a bitter smile. Given that man’s personality, it was obvious that if the two ever met, one of them would end up dead or suffering injuries just as severe.
“Either way, the survivor will only grow stronger.”
If one could serve as fuel for the other’s growth, that wasn’t such a bad outcome. In the end, it would benefit the organization. Kayness cut the communication and turned his attention to the next match about to begin.
This generation was full of interesting prospects. He couldn’t help but wonder what kind of storms they would stir up once they finished growing and stepped out into the world. Just imagining it sent a thrill through him.
“What? The Holy Weapons?”
“Yep.”
“I… don’t really know them.”
Kyle stared at Sera with an utterly dumbfounded expression. Seeing it, Sera scratched her cheek awkwardly and looked away, at a loss for words. She was the one who had proudly declared there was nothing in this world she didn’t know, yet here she was, fumbling at the most important moment.
When Kyle let out a sigh, Sera protested that it was only because she lacked information.
“Come on, how am I supposed to remember something after hearing just one word?! Give me more details!”
“The guy who came to scout me called himself the ‘Bow.’ His name is Kayness. He’s a Master. Said he wanted to recruit me as the ‘Sword.’”
“…A Master who uses a bow?”
“Probably. I didn’t actually see him use Aura, so I could be wrong. But there’s this thing called a Master’s intuition.”
Those who had reached the pinnacle could sense things about each other. Just as Kayness had identified Kyle as a Master simply by observing the muscles hidden beneath his clothes, Kyle had recognized the same from the man’s unnatural eyesight and powers of observation. Such superhuman skill couldn’t be gained through training alone. It required innate talent paired with grueling effort. And when geniuses like that actually applied themselves, they almost always became Masters.
“Kayness… Kayness…”
“You know him?”
“First time hearing the name. But if it’s a Master who specializes in the bow, then yes.”
Even after identifying him, Sera didn’t smirk arrogantly. Her expression remained deadly serious. Kyle looked at her, wondering if something was wrong. She met his gaze and spoke carefully.
“I didn’t recognize them because of the name ‘Holy Weapons.’ That’s not their official title.”
“Then what is it?”
“The Iron Fanatics. A terrorist organization made up entirely of Masters.”
Kyle’s eyes sparkled with interest.
The Academy Tournament lasted three days in total. The first day was the preliminaries to decide who would advance to the main bracket. The second day was the main competition itself. And on the third day, the final four would fight to determine the champion.
It was arranged this way out of consideration for scouts coming from far away. While it was certainly advantageous to discover talents on the first day, those from well-known territories or organizations didn’t need to scramble like that. They trusted their reputation, arrived fashionably late, and casually plucked the ripest fruit.
On the second day, as the main bracket began, these high-profile scouts started pouring into the Academy.
“Hmm… Is this all there is?”
They watched the matches and let out disappointed murmurs. Even if they saw someone they liked, their attitude wouldn’t change much. Making a big fuss over talented students would only cheapen their own name and inflate the student’s value. Nothing was more attractive than groundless confidence. The scouts knew this well, so no matter how brilliantly the students performed, they maintained cool, indifferent expressions as if none of it impressed them.
—Winner, Arthur!
“Huh? Wha—?”
But they couldn’t keep up the act when they saw Arthur. A commoner with no family name. An Aura User who couldn’t even imbue her weapon with Aura had defeated every heir from promising knight families and every Aura Expert in her path, continuing an unbroken winning streak. That alone would have been surprising, but the real shock was that Arthur used profound techniques in every single match.
Normally, no one revealed their profound techniques in front of so many people. Doing so risked having them stolen. And once stolen, others would develop counters, rendering the techniques useless. While most students avoided using their secret arts, Arthur was throwing hers around without restraint. It was only natural that she caught every scout’s eye.
“If we scout that commoner for our organization…”
“To use profound techniques like that and still maintain steady Aura output… does that mean her Aura reserves are massive?”
“Just judging by the amount, she should have more than enough to coat her weapon and still have plenty left over…?”
While the scouts from every organization dissected and analyzed Arthur from every angle, the victor herself proudly raised her hand and basked in the cheers of the crowd. Leaving the roaring applause behind, she returned to the waiting room, sighed at the swarm of scouts waiting for her, and told them all to leave. Once she had locked herself inside, she collapsed onto the sofa and tried to rest.
Aaah, I’m so tired.
The profound technique that mimicked the power of a Master’s swordsmanship by using Aura. Spamming it repeatedly was no joke on her stamina and Aura reserves. Even the Dragon’s Heart, which generated an absurd amount of Aura every moment, was pounding violently. It felt like she had been sprinting at full speed for several minutes straight without pause.
Arthur gently pressed a hand to her racing heart and took careful, deep breaths. With her eyes closed, lost in her own world, she thought back to the knight who had visited her two days ago. He had introduced himself as a member of the Imperial Knight Order and told her he could arrange for her to join them whenever she wanted. It was proof that she was a talent worth recruiting.
She had been genuinely happy. And at the same time, she found herself wanting to thank the one person responsible for that happiness.
Kyle.
If not for him, she never would have entered the tournament or received this kind of attention. She wanted to express her gratitude. There was only one way she could think of.
Win the whole thing and split the prize with him.
I wonder where he is right now.
She wanted to show him her coolest side, but Kyle was nowhere to be found. She was a little worried he might be causing trouble somewhere again… but then she shook her head.
He’ll be fine.
Kyle was a Master. There was nothing in the Academy that could possibly threaten him.
…Probably.
When I spotted Kayness, I grinned and walked straight toward him. He saw my face, glanced around once, then cautiously approached.
“Well, Kyle? Have you made your decision?”
“Yeah, about that.”
I pulled a magic tool from my pocket. It was a type of speaker that only worked inside the Academy. Kayness tilted his head, clearly wondering what it was. I shrugged like it was no big deal and tapped the device. On the other side, a woman began to sing according to our prearranged signal.
La, lalala~
“Uncle, I hear you’re a terrorist?”
“…What?”
“They say you guys commit all kinds of crimes. Real bad people, apparently.”
Aria’s song began driving away everyone in the vicinity, one by one. As the crowd vanished in the blink of an eye, Kayness sensed something was wrong and glared at me sharply.
“What the hell is this?”
“Nothing much.”
Shing—
The sword was drawn. With no spectators left, I immediately unleashed my Aura Blade.