Chapter 118: A Permanent Spot in the Ban Slot!
"Sigh..."
Clang—
A sigh rang out together with the sound of blades clashing in Hagun Academy's forest.
Ikki gripped [Intetsu], his eyes locked tightly onto Stella, who held [Laevateinn].
"Haa!"
Stella shouted and raised [Laevateinn], then swung it down toward Ikki.
"Sigh..."
Ding—
A crisp collision rang out.
Ikki caught Stella's attack path with his eyes and focused all his strength into one point. The moment she pulled back, he took the initiative and chased after her.
Through their training these past few days, Stella had already learned how refined Ikki's swordsmanship was. She had long since prepared for it.
A fiery robe wrapped around her skin, and her body twisted through the air in a strange three-hundred-and-sixty-degree spin. Borrowing the momentum, [Laevateinn] slammed fiercely into Ikki's [Intetsu].
Bang—!
The two separated after one clash.
Neither side gained an advantage from that exchange.
Just as Stella raised [Laevateinn] again and prepared to attack—
"Sigh..."
The sigh rang out once more.
"Aaaaaah! You're so noisy! You've been sitting there going 'sigh, sigh, sigh' this whole time! How am I supposed to focus on training?!"
Stella finally ran out of patience. She angrily pointed [Laevateinn] at Shiro, who was sitting on a rock and sighing nonstop.
"Calm down, Stella. He's already been banned from fighting by the director. It's only natural that he'd complain a little."
Seeing that Stella's sword was about to fall onto Shiro's head, Ikki hurriedly stepped in to smooth things over.
After the battle between Shiro and Nene, Kurono had ruthlessly placed him on Hagun Academy's blacklist.
Before the Seven Star Sword Art Festival selection matches began, Shiro was forbidden from drawing his Device inside the school or using his Blazer ability in battle.
He had also complained to Kurono, asking why Stella and Shizuku only got suspended for damaging the academy, while his punishment was so much harsher. What he received in return was Kurono's cold gaze and a flat, emotionless reply.
"Those two only destroyed one classroom at most. You and that bastard Nene almost demolished my entire school. Honestly, if I hadn't known that bastard for so long, I would have thought you two were spies sent by another academy to destroy Hagun."
Since she had already put it that way, Shiro could only accept the punishment.
Incidentally, according to Kurono herself, after that day, the number of students withdrawing from the Seven Star Sword Art Festival selection matches suddenly surged. The students even gave Shiro, the main culprit, the title [Demon King].
"But just watching you two fight is really boring. There's nothing interesting in this academy either."
Shiro casually picked up a pebble and threw it toward a distant tree. With a thud, a fist-sized hole appeared in the trunk.
These past few days, he had nothing to do. Hagun Academy's history classes made him sleepy just by looking at them. Now, the only things Shiro could do every day were stare into space or watch Ikki and Stella train.
He had never missed Nene this much before.
Unfortunately, even Nene had been dragged off by Kurono to do hard labor as punishment.
"Then how about we go out this weekend? I haven't really had a chance to look around this country yet."
Stella suddenly thought of something, and her eyes lit up as she made the suggestion.
"But I spent all my time training in deep mountains and forests before this, so I don't know much about entertainment in this country. Even if we go out, I won't know what's fun."
If it were about the Dungeon or Orario, Shiro could list plenty of interesting places. But in the years he had spent in this country, he had really never done much for entertainment.
Just Torajirou Nangou's daily training back then had been enough to leave him collapsed from exhaustion.
And so, Shiro and Stella both looked toward Ikki, who had spent the longest time at Hagun Academy.
Now, the pressure was on Ikki.
Under the pressure of their gazes, Ikki hurriedly waved his hands.
"Actually... I don't really know any fun places either."
Over the years, the Kurogane family had spread rumors everywhere to stop Ikki from becoming a magic knight. Because of that, Ikki could not even find friends to go out with.
On top of that, he had to train desperately to become a magic knight. How would he have any spare time to look for fun places? At most, he watched TV during his free time and paid attention to the world situation.
"How about I ask Shizuku? We can invite her along too."
He took out his student handbook and pointed at the contact marked "Little Sister."
"Are you sure things will be fine on your end...?"
Everyone present knew about Shizuku's twisted feelings for Ikki. After that day, Ikki had been troubled for quite a while over how to get along with this sister of his.
When they were alone, Ikki had even gone to Shiro and asked what he should do. Shiro's reply at the time had been, "Why don't you just get a girlfriend?"
But Ikki also knew that with his social circle, where was he supposed to find someone who could pretend to be his girlfriend?
The only girls he knew were Stella and a few teachers.
Stella's identity ruled out pretending to be his girlfriend, while those teachers were completely impossible.
That meant the only candidate left was Arisuin Nagi, who claimed to be a girl.
The scene of Alice intimately hugging his arm appeared in Ikki's mind, making him shudder.
Besides, in Ikki's memory, Shizuku should have been a shy girl who was afraid of strangers. Just what had happened to turn her into this bad-woman type who seemed like she would spend all day tempting boys?
"If you two are there, Shizuku should restrain herself a little... Anyway, I'll try asking."
With a sigh, Ikki eventually called Shizuku.
"Hello, Brother?"
Less than two seconds after the call went out, it was answered. Shizuku's voice on the other end carried obvious joy.
"Hey... Shizuku, do you have time this weekend?"
"Is it a date for just the two of us?! As long as Brother wants it, Shizuku always has time!"
"It's Shiro and Stella. They said staying at school was too boring, so they wanted to go out and walk around. Also, none of us are very familiar with the entertainment around here..."
Ikki gave a dry smile and explained into the phone.
"I understand. When the time comes, Shizuku will be responsible for driving away the people interrupting our sibling date."
The other end of the phone fell silent for a while before Shizuku's faint voice drifted over.
…
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