Chapter 157: Screw This, I'm Eating!
Under everyone's gaze, Alice slowly began explaining the true reason he had infiltrated Hagun Academy.
"My real identity is an assassin affiliated with Rebellion."
"Japan National Akatsuki Academy was created by an underground organization. They hired some members of Rebellion and recruited others from outside to serve as its combat force."
"My mission was to wait until Hagun's representatives returned from training camp, then hide behind you and look for an opportunity to disable all of you."
"In other words, I infiltrated Hagun and approached those most likely to become representatives so Akatsuki could guarantee victory when they attacked."
"Wait. Why are you attacking us?"
Stella frowned.
"Or is whoever stands behind Akatsuki planning to stop this year's Seven Star Sword Art Festival entirely?"
"I don't know the exact details."
"Akatsuki Academy's goal is to provoke each academy and use that to gain the right to participate in the Festival."
"Then they intend to win the championship and use that victory to damage the League's reputation among the people of this country."
The Seven Star Sword Art Festival was not merely a celebration for students.
It was also a stage where the League displayed the results of its knight education system to all of Japan.
If Akatsuki Academy truly crushed every other academy during the Festival, public trust in the League would undoubtedly be shaken.
"I see... So the true objective of Akatsuki Academy's founder is to undermine the League..."
Shiro dismissed his Device and rested his right hand beneath his chin in thought.
He had assumed this was merely infighting between schools.
Unexpectedly, the matter had suddenly involved two of the world's three major organizations.
Shiro absolutely refused to believe there was no involvement from someone high within this country's government.
If handled poorly, this could deal a major blow to the League's reputation.
Wait.
'Hm?'
'No, hold on.'
'What does the League's reputation have to do with me?'
Besides, after all this scheming, the final method of settling everything still seemed to be fighting in an arena.
In that case, there was no problem.
With his worries mostly gone, Shiro took advantage of everyone else's conversation and transformed into an eating machine.
Crunch, munch, gulp—
He began rapidly clearing the dishes on the table.
'Akatsuki Academy, League, whatever.'
'As long as none of this harms the people around me, it has nothing to do with me.'
'More importantly, I need to eat.'
'Ever since Ikki got lost, one annoying thing after another has happened.'
'I came out here for dinner, yet I still haven't eaten a single proper bite!'
'All this plotting and scheming can get lost.'
'Screw this. I'm eating, eating, eating, eating, eating, eating, eating!'
"Are the people in Akatsuki Academy really that strong?"
"Very strong..."
Before Alice could answer Stella, Ikki spoke first.
"I don't know much about the others, but Ouma..."
"He gives me the feeling that his entire reason for living is to become stronger."
"If I was abandoned by the Kurogane Family, then Ouma was the one who abandoned the Kurogane Family."
"When the family could no longer make him stronger, he lost interest in them and left on his own to pursue strength."
"At the very least, with my current ability, I'm nowhere near as strong as Ouma was when he left home."
"Ouma isn't even the strongest person in Akatsuki Academy."
Alice immediately added to Ikki's explanation.
"And even those weaker than Ouma aren't much weaker."
"If you ask who the weakest person there is, it's probably me..."
Their words caused Stella to hold her breath.
Ikki was not someone who deliberately exaggerated or downplayed an opponent's strength.
And among their current group, aside from Shiro and Stella after releasing the [Power of the Dragon], no one could confidently claim they would definitely defeat Ikki.
In other words, Kurogane Ouma alone could defeat the vast majority of Hagun Academy's representatives.
They still had Shiro, whose full strength none of them had ever witnessed.
But according to Alice, Akatsuki Academy contained five more monsters of a similar level.
There was even someone stronger than Kurogane Ouma.
What should they do?
Ikki and the others might consider themselves mature, but at their core, they were still students.
Facing an incident of this scale for the first time inevitably left them somewhat lost.
They now knew about Akatsuki Academy's plan in advance.
Of course, they could leave early or inform Kurono.
However, they also understood that someone extremely powerful was supporting Akatsuki from behind the scenes.
Even if they asked others to solve the immediate problem, would that truly stop them from meeting Akatsuki during the Seven Star Sword Art Festival?
Slightly uncertain, everyone turned toward the strongest fighter among them.
Then they noticed something.
Their strongest fighter was displaying equally terrifying combat power at the dining table.
At some point, Shiro had completely transformed into a human food disposal unit, sweeping through the dishes like a typhoon.
'When the hell did this bastard start eating...?'
The serious atmosphere shattered instantly.
The exact same question appeared in everyone's mind.
"Hmm? Why are all of you staring at me?"
Noticing that everyone had suddenly focused on him, Shiro blinked innocently.
"Did you forget...?"
"You're the captain of our representative team. Shouldn't you be the one deciding what we do about something this important?"
Shizuku spoke with visible exasperation.
Still, seeing Shiro continue eating as though nothing had happened made her feel strangely reassured.
She did not say it aloud, but some of the tension in her heart disappeared.
'Is this what those novels mean by a sense of security?'
The moment she relaxed, Shizuku's thoughts somehow wandered hundreds of kilometers away.
However, Shiro's answer had seemingly nothing to do with her question.
"Stella, if I remember correctly, you've been afraid to use that move during training because you might destroy Kyomon Academy's training grounds, right?"
"You mean...?"
"If the other side wants to use us to gain entry into the Seven Star Sword Art Festival, why don't we use them for training instead?"
"Either way, we'll probably have to fight them during the Festival eventually."
Akatsuki Academy's true objective was to participate in the Seven Star Sword Art Festival.
As long as that goal remained unfinished, they probably would not kill Hagun Academy's students during their provocation.
If they accidentally killed even one student, Akatsuki Academy would instantly be classified internationally as a terrorist organization.
At that point, forget participating in the Festival.
The League they had provoked would happily come knocking on their door immediately.
For Stella and the others, this was instead a rare opportunity.
They could fight powerful enemies at full strength while barely needing to worry about losing their lives.
As long as neither side suffered casualties, it would be difficult to say who actually benefited more.
The terrorists received money.
Akatsuki Academy gained fame.
Hagun Academy's students gained an opportunity to challenge powerful opponents.
As for the League...
Even if Hagun defeated Akatsuki, people would probably only praise the students who won.
No one would suddenly jump out and proclaim how wonderful the League's education system was.
And so—A world where only the League suffered had been completed.
…
(Don't forget to vote, review, and leave a comment below! :D The more you vote, the more chapters I upload.)
...
Read more chapters(25+):
patréon.com/U22
(Note: Replace "é" with "e" on your web browser.)