A storm-like wind blew across the arena, carrying with it cheers heated like flames; voices of agitation and excitement.
One boy stood in the spotlight.
The Astario family’s incompetent third son. Someone –– who hadn’t lost a duel yet.
His name, was Yuno Astario.
He walked into the middle of the arena with calm footsteps, a spear held in one hand.
“Whoa! No way, is he going to try and fight that!?” rang out the surprised voice of a boy in the spectator seats, cries of surprise and excitement rising up a few moments after from the others who had understood what was going on.
Anybody would have found it unusual.
Out of nowhere, a black monster had appeared, accompanied by a storm-like wind.
While they were in awe of its summoner’s, Maro Burn’s prowess, they had also seen the monster fly at the girl who had been his opponent as soon as it appeared.
However, she had been saved by a boy.
The cheers when that happened had been the most heated ones to be heard the whole day so far.
And yet, shouts and cheers almost as loud as back then filled the arena.
Everyone was watching expectantly.
Waiting for the battle between Maro Burn, who had summoned that unimaginable monster, and Yuno Astario, who had won with overwhelming strength so far––
“I am the student council vice president, Lloyd März. We will now be holding the final, as planned.”
With that magically loudened statement from Lloyd März, the unease gripping not a small number of students disappeared.
And in its stead––
““““Uoooooooo!!”””” cheers befitting a final filled the arena.
The rays of the setting Sun dyed the sky a deep red.
Listening to the cheers, Lloyd März let out a small sigh, then looked at the elf girl –– Vier, over his shoulder.
“Where’s Zwei?”
Vier made a slightly uneasy expression.
“She’ll probably come, but… I wouldn’t know where she is…” she said, trailing off into silence and shaking her head with a sigh, making Lloyd smile.
“…Well, as long as she’s here.”
Lloyd März’s objective was to use the final to show the members of Shadow Moon Yuno Astario’s strength.
He himself had no doubts as to Yuno Astario’s strength, but he also knew that getting Yuno to join Shadow Moon just because he, Lloyd, alone, wanted it, was not the best course of action.
In normal organisations, what the person in command said went, but it was a different story when it came to Shadow Moon, which was based completely on individual strength.
As such, were Lloyd alone to get Yuno to join Shadow Moon, it would only invite discord in the future operations of the organisation –– was how Lloyd’s line of reasoning went.
The ten leaders of Shadow Moon, each possessing unmatched strength –– they were the Numbers.
Lloyd had called three of those elites he felt were suitable for the situation to the arena.
Rank number four –– quick to switch mental gears, and the most loyal of all Shadow Moon members, the elf girl, Vier.
Rank number six –– publicly an S-Rank adventurer, someone with an abundance of battle experience, Sechs.
And rank number two –– the biggest obstacle in Yuno Astario’s entrance into Shadow Moon as far as Lloyd was concerned, a half-elf girl, Zwei.
By showing Vier and Sechs, the two most open-minded and accommodating members of the organisation, as well as Zwei, its problem child, Yuno Astario’s strength, Lloyd was planning on making Yuno’s joining of Shadow Moon go as smoothly as possible.
“Who’ll be the referee?” came Selena’s audibly unhappy voice.
“Me,” answered Lloyd, turning towards the arena.
At the same time, Vier and Sechs disappeared, off to fulfil their respective orders.
Having made sure the two of them had left for their missions, Lloyd walked off toward the arena, up the stone steps, halfway up which he stopped.
“…? What is it?” Selena asked as Lloyd looked over his shoulder at her with a slightly apologetic look on his face.
“President Selena, could you please do me a favour––”
◆
The girl’s short, brown ponytail swung happily in sync with her steps.
“La-la-laa♪”
She was wearing the girls’ version of the Ferris Magic Knight Academy’s black-coloured uniform.
The sight of the pretty girl walking past with light steps and a sunny smile on her face made the male students stop in place and watch as she walked past.
“What class is she in? She’s super cute.”
“Idiot! I’m curious as well, but damn…!”
The boys’ gazes were fixed on her black skirt.
A pair of pale thighs peeked out from under the miniskirt the girl seemed to prefer.
The boys’ gazes were nailed to her legs as if trying to burn that suggestive sight into their eyes.
“…Fufu.”
The girl seemed to have noticed the greedy stares.
Perhaps out of that reason, she turned towards the two boys––
“Heyyooo,” she said, making a small peace sign with her fingers next to her face while flashing a mischievous smile that showed her white teeth at the boys.
It was a knockout smile.
The boys’ faces turned red and they hurriedly looked away.
“Fufu… dang, she’s cute…”
The girl watched all that happen with satisfaction, then made to go on her way.
However, a pair of leering boys had blocked her path.
“Hellooo~ are you here to watch the fight?”
“We’re third years, so we have front-row seats, y’know?”
The girl’s smile didn’t change, even when faced with those two.
There were two reasons they had called out to her.
One, that as they had said, they were third years, and thus had some sway in the school, and two, they were confident in their looks –– was the conclusion the girl had come to in a split second.
“Reallyy? But, I’m sorry! I’ve already decided where I’ll be watching from~” she said with a laugh, walking past them.
However, unhappy with that answer, one of them placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Oh come on now, I have an idea! Why don’t you come wi––”
“…Let go.”
“Eh?”
The boy shivered at the two words the girl had said in a cold tone of voice.
The next moment, she looked at him over her shoulder.
“Can you let go?” she said, the same cute smile she had been making before on her face.
Seeing her expression, the boy, sweat on his brow, breathed a small sigh of relief.
However––
“…Three,” the girl said quietly.
Unable to understand the meaning of that, the boy gave his friend a puzzled grin.
“Twooo”
“Eh? What? A countdown?”
The boy had hit the nail on the head, so to speak.
“One”
“Oh all right then! It’s not like we were going to do anyt––”
That moment –– the girl’s smile was dyed with evil.
“You’re dirty… just die already.”
“Eh––”
The girl shook off the boy’s hand from her shoulder, her right hand flying at him with terrifying speed.
The tip of the dagger the girl was suddenly holding in her hand –– flew at the boy’s throat –– and stopped right in front of it.
The boy’s golden hair was ruffled by the airflow a moment later.
The edge of the dagger had made a small cut on his neck, from which blood slowly began to drip.
“…I see… you really are dangerous,” Selena said, having grabbed the girl’s right hand.
“Whooo’re youuuu?” the girl asked, her gaze stabbing Selena as she shook her hand loose, a cold smile appearing on her face.
“I’m the student council president, Selena Barrett. Although I suppose you’d understand better if I said I’m Lloyd’s friend.”
“Heeee? Youuu?” she said, narrowing her ice-cold eyes at Selena.
While she found that appraising look rather unpleasant, Selena continued speaking.
“I have a mountain of things I want to say to you, but let’s go somewhere else first, shall we.”
“Fufu… okaaay~”
The two girls walked away, side-by-side.
The boys watched the swinging red and brown hair recede away as they stood rooted to the ground, unable to comprehend what had just happened.
However, the next moment, the brown ponytail swung around.
The girl’s eyes, brown like her hair, looked at the boy over her shoulder.
A shiver ran down the boy’s spine, accompanied by the pressure of a knife being held to his throat.
That, however, was just his misunderstanding.
The girl gave him a small wave and a pretty smile, and went on her way.
◆
“Do you even understand what you were about to do…!?” Selena’s angry voice echoed down the dimly-lit corridor.
“What do you mean… I tried to kill him, didn’t I?” the girl said with a smile as she narrowed her eyes in confusion, Selena’s hand resting on the wall behind her.
Selena’s red eyes peered into the girl’s brown ones, their foreheads nearly touching.
“Tell me, do you know what would happen if you had killed someone back there?”
“…What would have happened? Please tell me,” the girl said with a voice like honey, her pale hands running up the thighs peeking out from under Selena’s skirt.
“…You…”
It happened the moment Selena tried to brush the girl’s hands away.
The girl grabbed both of Selena’s hands and pulled her towards herself, pressing her mouth against Selena’s lips.
At the same time, she spun the two of them round, so that now it was Selena who had her back to the wall.
“Nnnn…!?”
On the contrary to Selena’s confusion at the sudden turn of events, the girl’s face had turned ecstatic, as well as bright red.
It was a long, long kiss.
The sounds of Selena’s clothes rustling as she tried to resist echoed quietly down the corridor.
“Nn… nn…”
Tears started to well up in Selena’s eyes.
Watching those teary eyes from close up, the girl let go of her, as if satisfied.
Then –– Selena collapsed to her knees.
Her breathing was rough as she gasped for oxygen.
“Haa… haa… haa… hic…!”
Wiping the saliva from her mouth, Selena sent a sharp look at the girl.
“Big sister… you’re sweet,” the girl said ecstatically, her pink tongue peeking out from her mouth.
Suddenly, cheers a step louder than before made their way into the corridor.
“Oh, whoopsie… It’s starting. I missed the start because of you…” the girl said, beaming.
She turned towards the singular window letting light into the shadowy corridor to check what was going on outside, then turned back towards Selena.
“Big sisteeer, is Yuno Astario strong?”
Selena wondered how she should answer that question.
She certainly could say that he was strong.
However, she was also unsure as to whether she should.
And that unsureness was precisely because she understood just how abnormal the girl in front of her –– Zwei, was.
“What if he was strong?” she asked, standing up and looking at the girl –– Zwei with a sharp look in her eyes.
“It’d be nice if he were strong… my family would grow. And since I’m smaller, I suppose I’ll call him big brother?” Zwei said happily with an innocent smile on her face in contrast to Selena’s tense expression.
Magical power was flowing out of Zwei filling the gloomy corridor.
“You see, I like strong people,” Zwei said almost as if to herself with a bewitching expression on her face.
“Lloyd-sama himself has never recommended someone before… So I’m really, really expectant of what Yuno-kun can do. It’d be nice if he were strong,” she said, putting her hands to her cheeks, blushing.
“…And what would you do… if Yuno-kun was weak?” Selena asked her, not missing the momentary, terrible collapse of Zwei’s pretty smile.
“If he’s weak? Ahaha, why bother asking something so obvious?”
The corners of Zwei’s mouth arched up –– and Selena was covered in a killing intent that made her whole body feel frozen.
“Weak people aren’t qualified to be family. If he himself refuses, that’s fine… but if he still joins us…”
The light in Zwei’s eyes disappeared.
“––I’ll kill him to pieces.”
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