Chapter 311: Luke Discovers a New "Toy"!
After a round of commotion, the newly acquainted Shinomiya Amane joined Luke and the others for dinner.
He even decided to treat them to the meal, saying it was to repay Ikki for saving his life earlier.
Considering that he could still say he would pay after seeing how much Luke and Stella ate, he was clearly another student who was not short on money.
"Speaking of which, Shinomiya-kun said earlier that he's a representative from Kyomon Academy, right?"
Perhaps because Stella was curious about the newcomer, or perhaps because Ikki's earlier judgment of Amane's strength had left them with something to think about, she was the first to ask him a question.
"Hagun is currently holding joint training with Kyomon, but even though you say you're a representative, I haven't seen you at the training grounds even once. Are you not participating in the camp?"
"Everyone can just call me Amane. We're in the same year, after all. Besides, it feels a little strange to have a princess address me so formally."
A smile filled Shinomiya Amane's face as he answered Stella's question while eating.
"I really haven't participated in the training camp. I only arrived here today, so of course you wouldn't have seen me before."
"I only came today to deliver some condolence gifts to the senpai participating in the training camp. Once I deliver them, I'll be heading back."
"I personally have no interest in the Seven Star Sword Art Festival."
"Unlike all of you, I'm not strong, and I've never learned martial arts. I'm hopelessly weak. I was only chosen as a representative because my ability is a little unusual."
Hearing this, Arisuin, who was sitting beside them, followed up with a faintly emotional tone.
"My, isn't that similar to me?"
This kind of thing was not actually strange.
After all, aside from Hagun, which had changed its system this year, and Bukyoku, which had always done things this way, the other schools chose their representatives through non-combat selection methods.
Examples of people being chosen as representatives despite having no interest in the Seven Star Sword Art Festival appeared almost every year.
"So the reason you noticed someone was about to attack before I did was because of that 'unusual ability'?"
Ikki sharply caught the key point in Amane's words and used that topic to bring up everyone's earlier question.
"Judging from your appearance and how you reacted when the criminal fought back, Amane, you really don't seem good at martial arts."
"But the timing of your intervention was too abnormal. Unless you were a powerful fighter, it shouldn't have been possible for you to stop him before me, especially when I had noticed it right away."
"If it wasn't because of your strength, then the only remaining possibility is your Blazer ability."
After hearing Ikki's thoughts, Amane showed a surprised expression.
He truly had not expected Ikki's observation ability to be this outstanding.
With only such small details, Ikki had analyzed the matter so thoroughly.
"Another One's Perfect Vision… it really lives up to its reputation."
After sighing in admiration, Amane put on an innocent expression and explained to Ikki with a trace of apology.
"Sorry. Even if it's you, Ikki, I can't tell you exactly what my ability is. My teacher warned me very seriously that I must never tell people from other schools."
With the Seven Star Sword Art Festival about to begin, having this level of caution as a representative contestant was only common sense.
No matter how one thought about it, revealing one's ability to an opponent would bring nothing but harm.
However, from the moment Amane appeared, Luke already had a rough guess about his ability.
Without any hesitation, Luke immediately planned to give Ikki a few hints.
But right at that moment, something unexpected happened.
A dense sense of danger suddenly enveloped Luke.
An extremely intense warning rose from the depths of his heart in an instant.
Subconsciously, Luke immediately stopped himself from speaking.
Before he could even react to this sudden danger, that sense of crisis vanished completely in the blink of an eye, as though it had never appeared at all.
The enormous contrast left Luke frozen in place.
'Is there something wrong with my senses?'
That thought flashed through his mind, but Luke quickly threw it aside.
It could not have been an illusion. Luke still had that much confidence.
If he could even mistake danger itself, then he never would have survived until now. He would have died in the Dungeon of the previous world long ago.
If it was not an illusion, then…
Luke's heart moved, and he immediately prepared to say something to Ikki again.
!!!
Sure enough, the instant he intended to speak, that intense sense of danger attacked him once more.
Luke withdrew the thought of speaking and felt the warning vanish instantly. At that moment, he understood what was going on.
Kyomon Academy, first-year, causality-interference ability, Touka mysteriously getting lost in Okutama, Ikki's strange separation just now, and that danger with no traceable source.
Many conditions connected together in an instant.
'I see. Just like Arisuin was planted in Hagun, Shinomiya Amane is a pawn Rebellion sent into Kyomon.'
Thinking this, Luke swept his gaze over Shinomiya Amane with an indescribable look.
Unlike before, after confirming that they stood on opposing sides, Luke examined the boy again as a potential enemy.
But very quickly, Luke lost interest in Amane.
There was no other reason.
He was simply "weak."
He was exactly the same as Misogi Utakata.
No, he was even worse than Utakata.
Utakata was unable to become strong entirely because of the side effects of his ability. He himself had once worked hard, but under the side effects of that ability, all of his efforts had led nowhere.
Despite his usual lazy appearance, under Touka's supervision, he had never given up training even now.
Shinomiya Amane was different.
After observing him briefly, Luke was certain of it.
This person also showed no sign of having trained at all. Or rather, he might have trained when he was very young, but he had given up before long.
The current Shinomiya Amane, aside from being able to use mana and possessing an ability, was no different from an ordinary person in everything else.
Combat experience, willpower, heart, spirit, physical ability, technique—everything was either ordinary or even worse than ordinary.
It was not because of the side effects of his ability.
He truly had never trained properly.
Although Luke was very interested in causality-interference abilities, this type of person could never arouse his interest no matter what.
There was nothing wrong with that.
What kind of life someone chose was their own freedom, and Luke had no intention of interfering.
Likewise, someone like that could not interfere with Luke either.
Moreover, Luke's attention was currently focused entirely on something else.
He ignored the conversation around him and, all on his own…
Started playing with Edelweiss's ability.
…
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