“Man! You’re super lucky! He’s your first opponent.”
“Damn, I really am lucky, ain’t I.”
“He might only be the third son in his family, but it’ll be nice to be able to say I defeated one of the Flame family’s knights.”
I stared at the palm of my hand, clearly feeling all the gazes fixed on me.
I was trembling.
Moment by moment, the time was approaching.
I was sitting in a chair in the arena’s waiting room, waiting for it to be my turn.
Breathe out, breathe in.
I took a deep breath.
Still, I have to get rid of this nervousness.
‘It’s nothing. I just go out, win and then repeat. Not hard at all,’ I kept telling myself inside my head, when all of a sudden, the three who had had that conversation earlier walked up to me.
“Nice to meet you, Yuno Astario-kun.”
I looked up at the boy who had called out to me in a joking manner standing between the other two, but didn’t stand up.
I could tell at a glance: he was a noble. The sword hanging at his waist was one thing, but I could clearly feel that aura of arrogance unique to nobles coming off him in droves.
…I guess I should reply properly.
I stood up.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Yuno Astario,” I said, holding out my hand, which caused the three of them to look at each other and then burst out laughing.
My hand was left to wander through the air, of course.
…Ugh, just give me a break.
“Hey, now, I’m gonna be your opponent, y’know,” the boy said with a laugh, running his hand through his brown hair.
“Oh really. I hope we’ll have a fair fight, then,” I said, sitting back down.
Even just talking to him would be a waste of time. It’d only make things worse if I tried to do anything else.
“…You bastard,” the boy who was apparently going to be my opponent in the first round growled, grabbing my collar.
“You’re pretty laid-back, huh!? Do you even know who I am!?”
…No clue. Who are you?
“Erm, well, I know you’re not my classmate, at least?”
I was in class 1, by the way.
I didn’t have many friends, but I could at least remember what all my classmates looked like.
“Are you trying to make fun of me?”
Uhh, not particularly, but…
Then, right when I was about to ask ‘So who are you, then?’, loud cheers made their way into the waiting room from the arena.
“““Yaaaaay!”””
The match was most likely over.
And that meant that it was now my turn.
“Tch, you’re not gonna get let off easy!” the boy said as he let go of my collar and headed out into the arena full of confidence.
“……”
I grabbed the spear I had left stood up against the wall as I watched him leave.
My grip tightened.
…This is it.
My battle begins here.
I won’t go all-out. It would be terrible if I did.
I just need to get only a very little bit serious, and then it’ll end in no time.
I headed down the corridor, my footsteps echoing down it. As I did so, I walked past Lloyd-senpai, who was leaning against the wall, his arms crossed.
Then––
“You’re going…?”
“…”
‘Where are you talking about?’ I thought to myself, but I gave him a small nod and stepped out into the sunlight.
“He’s hereeeeeee!” I heard people cheering.
I looked for Athena up in the crowd as I walked over to the middle of the arena.
“…There she is.”
There, in the seats on the third floor, in the midst of the group from Ferris Girls’, were a pair of heads with beautiful, silvery-white hair.
Luna gave me a wry grin.
Next to her, Athena was looking at me, her eyes filled with worry, so I gave her a reassuring grin.
––Here I go, kami-sama.
The fighting competition, first round.
In this competition where sixty of us, divided into four groups at the start, all confident in our own abilities, would go up against each other, my fate could change greatly.
When I heard that there would be sixty of us competing, I couldn’t help but feel like it was less than I had expected…
Perhaps they feared the word ‘defeat’ more than the possibility of victory?
…Well, not like it matters this late into the game.
I arrived in the arena proper while all that was going through my mind.
I immediately readied my spear as I stood facing the boy who just stood there smirking at me.
“He’s here! The incompetent third!”
“The one who made a contract with a stray god?”
“I heard he was strong during the mock battles though.”
And suchlike was what I heard, their voices carried on the wind.
“He’s pretty brave, showing up even though he knows he’s just going to get laughed at.”
“Oraaa! Do your best, kid! Don’t sully our names!”
“I’ll get rid of it––––”
I’ll get rid of all the ridicule flying about this place.
I gripped my spear even harder, and lowered my center of gravity, albeit not too much.
“Huh!? You say something!?” my opponent smirked as he drew his sword so full of decorations and fancy designs it would have looked more at home on someone’s wall.
“Begin!” said the referee, but my opponent’s smirk didn’t disappear.
Hey, fellow-freshman-whose-name-I-don’t-know, are you sure about that?
“Get ready”
“…Huh? Who do you think you’re talking to?”
Seems like I can’t get through to him.
That’s all the current me – Yuno Astario amounts to.
“Don’t you get it? You’re the first incompetent Astario ever, and you made a contract with that incompetent god. But putting it any plainer would be a waste of time. Although, what with my strength being highlighted with you as my opponent…”
His coarse smile deepened. Then, he sprang forward.
“Don’t take this personally!”
His sword, gleaming as it reflected the sunlight, approached me slowly.
I decided to dodge his attack.
It was rather simple. I took one step backwards.
“Tch!” the boy clicked his tongue.
At the same time, his sword changed directions, swinging upwards.
I dodged that second slash as well, this time by leaning backwards.
Then, I proceeded to dodge the whole ensemble of attacks that followed.
All I did was dodge. That was all it took to create waves throughout the arena.
My body cooling itself down, I decided to listen in on the spectators.
“Look! It’s completely one-sided!”
“Ahaha, all he’s doing is dodging!”
The first-years, in the seats on the third floor, seemed to be having a blast laughing at me.
“Huh? It’s different from what I heard.”
“He’s better than I thought he was?”
The second years, on the second floor, were exchanging opinions.
And as for the third years, sitting on the first floor––
“““……”””
––they were silent.
I couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
Thank goodness. It seems like this academy has taught them something.
“You bastard! Stop, with, the!” my opponent shouted angrily, running his hand through his brown hair again.
“Take this!”
I blocked his downward slash with my spear.
There was a loud clang as our weapons collided. His sword shook slightly, our weapons still interlocked.
“Damn iiiiiiit!”
It was a battle of strength against strength.
My next movement decided the winner of the match.
I suddenly pulled my spear back and stepped to the side.
And then––
“Aaaaaargh!?”
Unable to kill his momentum, he collided with the ground, face first.
The arena was filled with laughter.
He stood up shakily, his nose bleeding, glaring at me with bloodshot eyes.
“…I’ll kill you! Come, o, Wind! Listen to my demand, and cut through my enemy––” he started chanting some magic spell, but I had no duty nor reason to wait for him to finish.
I closed in on him in an instant and hit him in the side with my spear.
It was a solid hit.
“…Huh…….?”
He stepped back, clutching his side, collapsed onto his knees, and then folded over forwards, creating a small cloud of dust.
……
Silence.
The arena, which had been so full of shouts and jeers before, had turned completely silent.
However––
“The winner is: Yuno Astario!”
And with that declaration from the referee, cheers erupted from the stands.
“““Yaaaaaay!?”””
Bathed in the rather surprised cheers, I turned towards Athena, who was jumping up and down with a smile on her face.
“Yuno-san! That was amazing! You’re amazing!” she shouted happily.
I grinned back at her.
And then, making sure that everyone present would see––
––I held my spear up high into the air.
“No way!? Is this for real!?”
“It… must’ve been a fluke… right?”
“He cheated!”
The audience erupted in shouts again.
Cheers and shouts and jeers mixed together.
I accepted them all.
––I was going to change everything.
Now then, let’s get started.
“––This is just the beginning.”
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