Chapter 467: The Various Factions Arrive to Watch—and Edelweiss Appears!
A full day passed quickly, and the time for the Seven Star Sword Art Festival final was finally decided.
7:00 p.m. sharp!
That was the official time announced by the operating committee.
...
"Guhah! Th-This is… poison?! An assassination?! Damn you, Twilight Crusade, resorting to such underhanded methods…"
"Ojou-sama means, 'What is this stuff?! It's so bitter!!!'"
Because today was the final, the area around the venue was exceptionally crowded.
At the outdoor seats of a café slightly removed from the main flow of people sat three girls and one middle-aged man.
The two who had just spoken were Akatsuki Academy's Kazamatsuri Rinna and her maid, Charlotte Corday.
As for why their conversation sounded so bizarre…
Rinna was, in fact, a full-blown chuunibyou.
As her maid, one of Charlotte's main duties was translating her young lady's words into language normal humans could understand.
After hearing the translation, the only middle-aged man at the table could not resist commenting.
"If you hate bitter things that much, why order coffee in the first place…?"
The man in the suit was Tsukikage Bakuga, Prime Minister of Japan and chairman of Akatsuki Academy.
"Still, Sara's Color Magic really is convenient."
"This many people have passed right beside us, yet nobody has noticed."
"Convenient or not…"
"I still lost."
The final girl at the table was Sara Bloodlily, who had been absent from sight for the past few days.
Judging from her tone, she clearly had not completely gotten over losing to Luke.
Hearing Sara's words, Rinna also stopped what she was doing.
Holding the sugar jar in both hands, she lowered her head and spoke dejectedly to Tsukikage.
"…I'm sorry."
"Why are you apologizing?"
"B-Because all of us lost…"
"Ah. That."
Tsukikage smiled in realization.
Akatsuki Academy had been his project and one of the most important pieces of his plan.
He had pulled countless strings to assemble such a team.
In any previous Seven Star Sword Art Festival, Akatsuki Academy could probably have won with ease.
Unfortunately, this year was unusual.
There was Falling Star Sword Emperor Luke Ashburn.
And Crimson Princess Stella Vermillion.
Those two monsters had eliminated three Akatsuki competitors each, knocking the entire school out before even reaching the semifinals.
Forget whether Tsukikage's plan succeeded.
Akatsuki Academy was practically becoming a laughingstock, and Tsukikage himself had already faced plenty of political criticism.
Even so, he had no intention of blaming Rinna.
For one thing, with Edelweiss now involved, Luke might very well help him anyway.
His original plan was no longer quite as necessary.
More importantly, Tsukikage's relationship with the Kazamatsuri family made it impossible for him to blame Rinna.
The Kazamatsuri family was one of Japan's prestigious houses.
Although its current head was one of Rebellion's Twelve Apostles, certain circumstances had made Rebellion far less important than before.
Tsukikage was an old acquaintance of the family head.
Rinna had entered the Festival this time specifically to help her uncle.
Even if everything had gone wrong, Tsukikage could hardly bring himself to criticize her.
So he reached out, gently patted Rinna's lowered head, and smiled.
"Don't worry about it."
"You all did everything you could. I know that."
Rinna looked up gratefully and was about to respond when Sara suddenly interrupted.
"She's here."
The instant they heard that, everyone at the table followed Sara's gaze.
What appeared before them was a strange sight.
A woman walked calmly through the packed crowd.
She made no effort to push anyone aside.
Nor did she deliberately dodge pedestrians.
Yet she moved through the crowd as effortlessly as if she were walking across an empty plain.
Everyone unconsciously moved out of her path.
Despite the dense crowd, no one seemed to notice the empty space naturally forming around her.
Pure-white hair fluttering in the wind, Edelweiss eventually reached the table and spoke softly.
"I'll have to trouble you again this time, Tsukikage-sensei."
...
"Sorry for the wait. Here's the coffee you ordered."
"Give it to her."
"Thank you."
Edelweiss accepted the cup from the waiter.
Then she casually picked up the sugar jar, scooped out a large spoonful, and poured it into her coffee.
Tsukikage watched the movement with a complicated expression.
He opened his mouth as though he wanted to say something, but eventually shook his head helplessly and changed the subject.
"I noticed you didn't attend the semifinal, Edel."
"I thought you might not be interested in the final either."
"Hmm… It is his final, after all."
"I'm looking forward to it a little."
Edelweiss smiled, then added another large spoonful of sugar.
"Besides, the semifinal was unexpectedly exciting, wasn't it?"
"I doubt the final will disappoint."
Seeing Edelweiss show such interest in a student tournament, Rinna leaned forward curiously.
"Hoho, is it the Sword Emperor who clashed with Brunhild during our Flame Dragon subjugation at Hagun?"
"Could the fall of the Valkyrie truly be real? Perhaps some hidden secret transpired afterward?"
"Flame Dragon… Brun…?"
Edelweiss stared at Charlotte in complete confusion.
Charlotte immediately translated.
"Ojou-sama means, 'Is the person you're watching the Falling Star Sword Emperor who fought you when we attacked Hagun Academy?'"
"And, 'The intelligence reports say you were defeated. Is that true? Is that why you're so interested in him?'"
"Ah, I see…"
"Yes. More or less."
When her history with Luke was brought up, Edelweiss instinctively felt a little embarrassed.
Fortunately, she concealed it perfectly, and no one noticed.
She added yet another heaping spoonful of sugar to her coffee before continuing.
"But there's another reason I asked for your help this time, Tsukikage-sensei."
"The Crimson Princess goes without saying. She already demonstrated it during her battle with Luke."
"And unless something unexpected happens, today's Another One is probably the same."
"They're gradually climbing toward our realm."
"…And I doubt I'm the only one who has realized that."
As Edelweiss spoke, she added another full spoonful of sugar.
At the same time, her gaze shifted toward a distant section of the crowd.
The look in her eyes carried a trace of sword intent—Sharp and dangerous, like an unsheathed blade.
"There's no guarantee the other Desperados attending today won't decide to eliminate a future threat early."
"They might do something they shouldn't."
Edelweiss's words startled everyone at the table.
They immediately followed her gaze.
Tsukikage soon noticed a man wearing goggles, staring back with an equally dangerous expression.
"That's… someone from the U.S!"
"He isn't the only one."
"Almost every major faction has sent someone."
Tsukikage stiffened at Edelweiss's words.
Then he sighed helplessly.
"I'll prepare a seat for you."
"I'm counting on you, Edel."
"Don't worry, Tsukikage-sensei."
"As long as I'm there, no one will dare make a reckless move."
There was no intense confidence in Edelweiss's tone.
Only an unshakable statement of fact.
She withdrew her gaze and lifted the coffee that now contained four enormous spoonfuls of sugar.
Edelweiss brought it to her lips and took a tiny sip…
Then immediately lowered the cup.
And added another large spoonful of sugar.
"…Seriously."
"If you two hate bitter things that much, stop ordering coffee."
…
…
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