"Shattered, shattered into pieces!"
"What's going on?! After several minutes of exciting duel, the final desperate blow! At this moment, Touka-senpai's Narukami, her Raimei, was shattered!"
"Touka-senpai has fallen in the arena, unmoving! Now the referee is rushing forward! Can she still fight?! Or perhaps..." All the spectators held their breath, waiting for the referee's judgment as he approached the fallen Touka. The referee squatted down and observed Touka Toudou for a while, finally standing up and crossing his arms to make an X gesture.
"The referee rules her unable to continue the fight!! The match is over!"
"This match actually ended like this! This result is truly astonishing!! In this final moment, Touka-senpai's Raimei was broken head-on! Hagun's strongest knight has thus been defeated!"
"The winner standing in the arena is the first-year failed knight, Ikki!" When the announcer loudly called out the name of the victor, the venue instantly erupted in cheers.
The entire audience exclaimed in astonishment.
"N-no way!"
"He, he really won! He defeated that Raimei!"
"Unbelievable! The Student Council President was actually defeated in close quarters!"
"This is the first time I've seen a Noble Art shatter. Is the President still alive?"
"Yayyyy!! Long live Ikki!" Excitement turned the arena into a boiling pot.
Looking at the center of the arena, at Ikki, bathed in
blood, with his chest cut open by Raimei, Shirou smiled and asked Edelweiss beside him, "What do you think of him?"
"He's a talented swordsman. His swordsmanship has surpassed all his peers! But what's truly admirable is his will." Even Edelweiss was surprised by Ikki's will. Despite his weak magic power, Ikki stubbornly forged his own path. What kind of perseverance and talent was that!
"In the future, he might be able to catch up to you!"
Looking at Ikki, who was raising his right hand in the arena, receiving the cheers of the crowd, Shirou said firmly. In this world, if anyone was most likely to catch up to Edelweiss, who was the pinnacle of swordsmanship, it would definitely be Ikki. Only he had that qualification.
"Let's go, let's leave first!" Glancing at Shizuku, who was already rushing onto the stage, Shirou smiled and led Edelweiss out of the training ground.
"What, Master, aren't you going to celebrate with them?"
"Celebrations will definitely wait until evening. For now, I'll accompany you. I can't just let a guest leave like that!"
"Besides, now is their sibling bonding time!" Saying that, Shirou led Edelweiss out of the training ground and towards outside the school.
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"Cheers!" With the joyous chorus of Stella and the other four. The five clinked their juice glasses together, then excitedly poured them into their mouths. Since all five were minors, they had no intention of drinking alcohol and instead used Shirou's homemade juice.
"Mmm! As expected of Shirou's juice, it's so delicious!"
"Drink more if you like it; after all, I made plenty of juice!"
"That's wonderful!" Before Shirou and Nagi Arisu could say much more, they heard Stella's complaint beside them. "Seriously, why do they have to do the medal ceremony individually?! Couldn't they just wait until all the representatives are chosen and award them together?"
"Because of the time they wasted, I missed Ikki's match with Touka-senpai!" Shirou empathized with Stella's complaint.
"Indeed, if I hadn't been fast, I probably wouldn't have seen anything either! But I did see the most exciting moment, so it's not a complete loss!" Because there was no interference from Akaza, the match between Ikki and Touka Toudou proceeded normally. Therefore, without any delay, it would be strange if Stella could have made it! Even at Shirou's speed, he only saw the final ultimate attack clash. But that moment only lasted a few seconds in total. This meant that Stella, who was a bit slower, saw nothing.
"Could you please stop gloating, Brother! You at least saw something, but I saw nothing at all, a complete waste of a trip!" A dejected Stella took another gulp of juice, then stared unhappily at Ikki and said meanly, "It's all Ikki's fault for being useless!"
"Hey, hey, hey, I was just kidding, you didn't really take it seriously, did you?!"
"What? Just kidding?!"
"..."
"Are you an idiot, Stella?" Noticing the smiling gazes of the four around her, Stella's face instantly turned crimson. She actually took their joke seriously? How embarrassing!
Glancing at Stella, who was now extremely shy and just wanted to crawl into a hole, Shirou sighed helplessly and changed the subject for her. "Speaking of which, among the five of us, four were selected as representatives.
Does this count as birds of a feather flock together?"
"That's right, that's right! All of us except Shizuku were selected, that's great!" Seeing Shirou change the subject for her, a delighted Stella quickly interjected. But as soon as she spoke, the four around her fell silent again.
"Stella, if you can't speak properly, then can you just shut up?" After a moment of silence, Shizuku's resentful voice sounded in her ear. "You got selected, fine, but why exclude me? Do I not deserve to be your friend?"
"No, no, no, Shizuku, I was wrong!" Under Shizuku's dangerous gaze, Stella quickly stepped forward to explain. Her careless words ultimately came at a price.
Shirou and the other two couldn't help but laugh at the sight.
"Alright, stop arguing and let's eat first. The food won't be good if it gets cold!" The dishes here were all bought by Shirou and Edelweiss after they left school. To repay Edelweiss's company, Shirou had fed Edelweiss well at the patisserie before returning. Therefore, Shirou had put a lot of effort into this meal.
"Mmm, then we won't be shy!"
"Woohoo, let's eat, let's eat!"
"Delicious!"
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After eating and drinking their fill, the five of Shirou sat at the dining table and chatted.
"Speaking of which, we seem to be going to Oku-tama for training soon, right?"
"It might not be Oku-tama anymore, as that place seems to be targeted by suspicious individuals!"
"They'll probably train with other schools instead!
Otherwise, it'd be hard to find a place."
"No matter where we go, as long as it can improve my strength!" Listening to the conversation of the four in front of him, Shirou suddenly said, "As for the pre-tournament training, I probably won't be able to go."
"Huh? Why is that?"
"Because I have things to be busy with!" The golden pocket watch's countdown was almost complete, but his Grace's basic ability values hadn't reached their limit yet. Now, he had to fully utilize his practice with Edelweiss to hone himself. This was to achieve the goal of training and quickly make up for his ability values.
So, Shirou didn't intend to go to this pre-tournament training.
"However, if things finish early, I might come to see you at the last moment, you never know!"
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--------More Bonus Chapters!!!!
Every 300 power stones = 1 Bonus Chapter