The Obstacle Race Begins
Ten minutes earlier.
"Teacher Han would be perfect for this!"
A teacher inspecting a vest pointed straight at Lua as he spoke.
"H-hiiik… M-me…?"
"Yeah! You're small, so you'd make a great flag!"
"And you've got a recovery skill, so even if something dangerous happens, no problem!"
The atmosphere closed in on her in an instant. Lua tried to protest, but the barrage of persuasion from every direction left her too dizzy to think straight.
"Teacher Han, just help us out this once!"
"We'll let the infirmary know!"
"This is the highlight of the whole tournament. If it doesn't go as planned, won't the students be disappointed?"
"You're the only one who can do this, Teacher Han!"
"I-I…!"
Caught between the roar of the stands, her fellow teachers' relentless urging, and the desperate eyes of a student from the organizing committee, Lua's pupils spun in circles.
"Ah—all right, I… will?"
"Great!"
The moment the words left her mouth, everything moved at lightning speed. Someone stuffed her into a fluorescent vest, someone else hauled her off somewhere, someone rattled off a list of instructions not to move—
"—Huh?"
When she came back to her senses, Lua was standing at the peak of the obstacle course with countless spectators staring up at her.
"Hiiiiiik!"
Worse still, her own face filled the giant scoreboard broadcasting the arena. The moment she grasped the situation, her stomach was the first thing to react.
"Uurp…."
Nausea surged up; she barely managed to clap a hand over her mouth. She could not afford a repeat of the entrance ceremony.
There are even more people than back then…!
Lua curled into herself atop the platform and squeezed her eyes shut. The height, the weight of every gaze fixed on her—it was more than she could bear. Whoever won, all she wanted was for the race to end as soon as possible—
—No. I can't do that.
She shook her head inwardly.
Lua had a duty to expose Park Haengsin's scheme. She hadn't found anything suspicious so far, which meant he was almost certainly going to pull something during the obstacle race—the tournament's main event.
She had to open her eyes and watch.
"Ugh…."
Still sitting with her knees hugged to her chest, Lua cracked her eyes open a fraction. The stares aimed at her hadn't gone anywhere, but with her lids half-lowered everything looked blurry enough to be almost tolerable.
Okay. I'll just keep watching like this…!
A wave of relief loosened her face into a crooked little smile.
"Himari, Teach's face looks kinda creepy, y'know."
On the scoreboard, Lua was squinting with a dopey grin plastered across her face. She was clearly not in her right mind.
"Perhaps she took a sip of something to calm her nerves?"
"That'd be a disaster…!"
Himari and Juju both flashed back to the sight of a drunk Lua at the same time. They absolutely could not let the entire student body—and outside spectators—witness that spectacle.
"As I thought, retrieving Teacher as quickly as possible is the correct answer."
"You got that right…!"
—Bang!
Juju smashed her gauntlets together with gusto. Thanks to the safety padding, the impact came out sounding more like cushions colliding.
At the announcer's cue, every student dropped into a starting crouch. Himari and Juju were among them.
"However, I will be the one to retrieve Teacher, Juju."
Tension crackled through the arena and the stands alike—
—Bang!
A blank cartridge cracked to signal the start.
"Waaaaaah!"
"Go!"
Under a roar that dwarfed anything that had come before, the students exploded into a run. First-years and third-years sprinted side by side; Special Class and Beginner Class went head-to-head—a true all-school free-for-all.
Himari and Juju had started level, but within a few strides they were already pulling far apart.
"Everybody outta the way!"
Watching Juju tear ahead with rapid footwork, Himari calmly eased off the pace.
Taking the lead is not important.
This was an obstacle race. Charging out front only meant colliding with the obstacles first. Holding a measured gap from the leaders and responding to the situation as it developed—that was Himari's plan.
"Whoaak!"
Juju, who had been flying out in front, went down hard. The oil-slicked ramp was far more treacherous than anyone had imagined.
"Ugh!"
"Oh no!"
As the students ahead tumbled and rolled back down, those behind scrambled clear. Himari sidestepped as well.
"Uwaaah… at this rate…!"
Juju and several others who had been leading the pack ended up coated in oil and knocked clean out of the course.
"Himari! I'm countin' on you with Teach!"
—A nod.
Himari inclined her head toward Juju as her friend met a glorious end.
"Hmph! Is that all you've got?"
A third-year stepped forward. What erupted from his hands was none other than flame—the skill Pyrokinesis.
"If it's oil, you just burn it all off!"
"That lunatic!"
"Has he lost his mind?!"
Several students still slicked with oil bolted for safety and were disqualified for leaving the course. The moment the student's flames touched the ramp, a massive fireball roared to life, the blaze climbing as high as the arena's third tier.
"Stop? No way! Not until I win!"
The student who had unleashed the flames dove straight into the inferno with both arms. He clearly possessed some skill that boosted his fire resistance.
"Let's gooooo!"
He charged across the ash-covered ground, where the friction had only grown stronger. Reaching the end of the ramp at last, he glanced back with a breezy laugh.
"Heh. Looks like first place is mine after all."
Surely no one else would have the guts to push through a blaze that enormous—
"—My thanks. For opening the path."
—Thwack!
A light strike landed on the back of the fire-starter's neck at that exact moment.
"Failing to notice me right behind you was a critical error."
Withdrawing the edge of her hand, Himari spoke coolly. She had stuck to his back the entire way up through the flames.
Applause and cheers rolled down from the stands. The scoreboard flashed Himari beside the student she had knocked out cold with a chop to the neck.
But she was not the only one gunning for first place.
—Whoooosh!
A fierce wind blasted up from below and snuffed the flames out. It was strong enough to make Himari stagger.
"All right—we're going up!"
A third-year boy lowered his shield as he shouted. Judging by the look of it, he had used a skill in midair to whip up that wind.
A considerable powerhouse.
Himari had never seen him before. As several students who appeared to be his teammates climbed up through the path he had opened, a nasty smile spread across his handsome face.
"Done! Light it up again!"
"Got it!"
One of his companions tossed another spark, and flames roared back to life behind them. Students trying to follow were forced to fall back as the path sealed shut once more.
"Hey! You bastards!"
"That's way too dirty!"
"Shut it!"
Sprinting up the slope, Lee Hwiseong barked back.
"That school nurse—I'm not gonna feel better till I grab her and beat the crap out of her myself!"
Teacher…?
Urgency seized Himari's heart. From the sound of it, that team was after Lua more than the win.
It wasn't only Lee Hwiseong—students below who had snuffed the flames a second time were charging up in a frenzy. Himari snapped her gaze to the next stretch of the course.
What filled her vision was a cliff. Roughly twenty meters across to the far side, with levitating logs floating in the open air between—footholds enchanted with a levitation skill. A crossing course that used them as stepping stones.
This much…!
Himari took a small step back, then sprang toward the nearest floating log.
—Tap.
It wobbled once, but she stuck the landing.
At the announcer's words, an uneasy vibration began to rumble from somewhere. High above the open arena sky, a massive crate suspended from a crane came descending.
—Thunk!
The crate burst open, and enormous white spheres came tumbling out—each one nearly as tall as Himari herself.
"Kh!"
The styrofoam balls began pouring down over the gorge where she stood. One of them struck the log beneath her feet and set it rocking hard.
Why is styrofoam this heavy…?!
With the platform pitching wildly, Himari had no choice but to cling on with both hands.
Gritting her teeth, Himari leapt for the next log. The footholds were shaking too violently for her to even cut the balls down.
Teacher prepared us for situations like this with that training…!
Regretting it now would change nothing. Unable even to think about drawing her blade, Himari could only focus on keeping her balance.
"Yes! Comeback window's open!"
Her heart lurched at the shout. Looking back, she saw Lee Hwiseong and his team closing in. They were advancing with ease, batting the balls aside behind a barrier conjured by a mage.
"Hey, block properly! The barrier keeps breaking!"
"That's weird. Why is the styrofoam this heavy?"
Before she knew it, they had reached the log just before hers.
"Oi! You there!"
Lee Hwiseong raised his voice.
"If you're not going, get out of the way! Stop blocking the path!"
"Do not rush me…!"
"Well, I was planning to knock you off one way or another."
Lee Hwiseong lifted his shield. Blue energy was gathering around it—he was clearly activating a skill.
If it's that same fierce wind from before, I will not be able to hold…!
Wind strong enough to snuff out a massive blaze. Taking a hit like that on such an unstable foothold would send her plummeting for certain. Himari rested her right hand on the hilt of the sword at her hip.
I can cut it, of course.
Hoshikawa-ryu Battoujutsu severed anything Himari set her sights on. Wind was no exception.
All she had to do was activate the skill—and that was precisely what she could not do.
"Tch…."
The unstable footing meant she couldn't put power through her lower body. That was the problem.
"I have no choice but to try…!"
"Not moving, huh?"
Wind gathered against Lee Hwiseong's shield. Himari tried to drop into her usual stance, but on a still-swaying log it was impossible.
"Then take it!"
—Whoooosh!
Lee Hwiseong thrust his shield forward, and a massive wall of air pressure came crashing down on Himari.