Kurogane Ouma.
The eldest son of the current head of the Kurogane Family, and the big brother of Kurogane Ikki and Kurogane Shizuku.
Unlike his talentless younger brother, Kurogane Ouma was born with unparalleled natural talent.
During his elementary school years, he participated in the League-sponsored Elementary School League and effortlessly secured the championship. By that time, he had already become a renowned A-Rank Knight.
He remains the only Blazer Knight in Japanese history to achieve an A-Rank rating while still in elementary school.
Even Shinguuji Kurono and Saikyou Nene only earned their A-Rank ratings in high school.
However, after winning the league championship, he vanished from public view.
Though still nominally enrolled at Bukyoku Academy, barely qualifying as a student of one of the Seven Stars Academies, he seemed to have never attended school or made any public appearances.
Five years had passed since then.
"During these past five years, Big Brother completely disappeared. Even our family doesn't know if he's alive or dead. At one point, some people believed he had already died and wanted to declare Shizuku as the next family head," Kurogane Ikki explained in detail.
He had run away from home four years ago, so he still knew some of what had happened back then. Shizuku often complained to him about it.
Among the three Kurogane siblings, Kurogane Ouma was undoubtedly the strongest, followed by Kurogane Shizuku. As for Kurogane Ikki, he was practically invisible—at least within the Kurogane Family.
In fact, many members of the Kurogane clan considered Ikki's existence a disgrace to the family, seeing him as a thorn in their side and making every effort to exclude him.
The reason Kurogane Ikki couldn't even participate in the school's internal tests last year was that members of the Kurogane clan had bribed the former Director to suppress his Blazer career in every possible way, ultimately causing him to fail a grade.
In their eyes, if Kurogane Ikki were to become a professional knight, it would bring disgrace upon the Kurogane clan.
Thus, Kurogane Ikki's situation last year was extremely precarious. Even when the former Director instructed Kirihara Shizuya to publicly barrage him with magic arrows, he couldn't retaliate in the slightest, nor even show a hint of hostility. Any such intention would have given the former Director grounds to expel him.
Fortunately, Shinguuji Kurono took office this year and decisively purged the former Director's lingering influence, finally giving Kurogane Ikki a chance.
But that's a digression.
"Why has Kurogane Ouma, who vanished five years ago, suddenly resurfaced, and why is he openly colluding with the Puppet Warlock, whose intentions are clearly malicious?"
Ryoji couldn't make sense of it.
The vague memories he retained from the original novel contained none of this information, leaving him completely unable to analyze the underlying motives.
"I don't know," Kurogane Ikki said with a wry smile.
He still deeply respected his Big Brother, so the suggestion of "colluding like wolves" stung him.
Yet Ryoji was right: if it weren't for the Puppet Warlock, they wouldn't have suffered these relentless attacks, and Tomaru Renren wouldn't have ended up in her current state.
No one could fathom what Kurogane Ouma, who was with her, truly intended.
"Ikki, why are you still calling him Big Brother? Has that guy ever even cared about you?" Stella couldn't help but defend him, seeing his pained expression. "That guy never gave you the time of day. He severed ties long ago, claiming you were no longer his brother. How can you still call someone like that 'Big Brother'?"
"What exactly did he say?"
"Well, it went something like this..."
Kurogane Ikki reluctantly began to explain.
Through the speakers of the stone golem controlled by Puppet Warlock, Kurogane Ouma immediately declared his identity upon emerging.
He made no attempt to conceal himself, acting with complete transparency.
Kurogane Ikki was naturally stunned by his elder brother's revelation and couldn't resist rushing forward to greet him.
"I severed all ties with the Kurogane clan long ago," Kurogane Ouma declared. "I have no parents, no siblings."
Puchi!
Ryoji burst into laughter.
"Isn't this just classic Chuuni syndrome?"
Eh.
The others in the room fell silent, Kurogane Ikki included, at a loss for words.
No matter how strained their relationship with the family or how thoroughly they had cut ties, claiming to have "no parents" fundamentally denied their blood ties.
'This is enough to make even the most devoted son die of filial piety!'
"Come to think of it, there's definitely a touch of that," Rich Lady Kanata chimed in from the side.
"Cough cough..."
Kurogane Ikki cleared his throat awkwardly and continued explaining.
Kurogane Ouma completely ignored him.
He didn't consider Ikki a brother at all. His words, sharp as a blade, immediately targeted Stella's body.
"You'd better triple your efforts to get stronger. Don't regret it when you're dead."
His words were as cold as a blade, brimming with relentless killing intent.
Stella, utterly bewildered by Ouma's fixation on her, her naturally competitive spirit flared. She retorted fiercely, vowing to make him pay.
Then the communication abruptly cut off.
They remained clueless about his intentions.
They knew nothing of the vicious Puppet Warlock's true nature, his motives, or his goals.
"The air is thick with the sense of impending storm," Ryoji muttered grimly.
In any case, they just needed to keep getting stronger!
If I become stronger than I am now, I won't need to worry about anything. I can just leave all the problems to my opponents!
Soon after, the Totokubara Consortium's private jet arrived and rushed the unconscious Tomaru Renren to one of their affiliated hospitals, where specialized Blazer doctors could treat him.
The remaining members boarded a bus back to Hagun Academy, where they needed to report the day's events to the Director.
"After a whole day, there wasn't even a hint of the romanticism of tokusatsu, Ma!"
At the entrance to Hagun Academy, Stella stepped off the bus, stretching languidly and complaining with obvious disappointment.
"Isn't being a Blazer a kind of romanticism?" Ryoji countered as he disembarked.
"That's different! Tokusatsu has this feeling like something from TV has come to life, Ma!" Stella rolled her eyes with decidedly unladylike disdain, clearly unimpressed by Ryoji's argument.
Under the golden glow of the setting sun...
The earth and the school were bathed in golden light, as pink cherry blossoms drifted gracefully from the trees lining the slopes, adding a unique beauty to the landscape.
"Excuse me, is Kurogane Ikki, the notorious underachiever from this academy, present?"
An unpleasant voice echoed from near the school gate.
The group stopped in their tracks, turning toward the source of the voice.
A black sedan was parked on the road beside the gate.
After the chauffeur bowed respectfully and opened the rear door, a short, stout middle-aged man emerged.
He was dressed in a crimson suit, topped with a bowler hat, and leaned on a cane. His rotund figure and pompous demeanor made him look utterly pretentious.
"I am Mamoru Akaza of the LeagueJapan branch's Ethics Committee. I have been ordered to bring Kurogane Ikki, Hagun Academy's foremost underachiever, back to the branch for questioning. He would do well not to test my patience!"
(End of Chapter)
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