Chapter 158: Preparing to Leave, and Akatsuki Appears!
The short ten-day training camp passed in the blink of an eye.
Once it ended, the students from Hagun Academy parted ways with those from Kyomon Academy, left the training grounds in Okutama, and boarded buses heading back to their respective schools.
However, only Shiro, Stella, and the others were riding the bus returning to Hagun.
Hagure Kikyou, another of Hagun's Seven Star Sword Art Festival representatives, was not traveling with them.
The reason was simple.
She could not trust Alice, an assassin.
If Alice had lied and Akatsuki Academy's true goal was actually to slaughter Hagun's representatives, then this journey would amount to lining up and walking straight toward death.
Under those circumstances, Kikyou, her younger sister, Kagami, and the others with little combat ability were arranged to take a later bus.
They could wait until Shiro's group sent word before departing.
Everyone traveling with Shiro now had chosen to believe that Alice sincerely regretted his actions and was willing to pay a price for his decision.
Unlike the noisy atmosphere on their trip here, the bus was now unusually quiet.
Anyone would feel nervous knowing they were about to face a group of powerful enemies.
Crunch, crunch—
Within the silence, the sound of Stella chewing was especially noticeable.
"How can you still eat at a time like this...?"
Shizuku stared speechlessly at Stella, who sat to her left with a huge bag of snacks and continuously stuffed food into her mouth.
"I can't help it. I don't want to eat this much either, but we're probably going to fight soon."
"I won't have time to replenish my energy once that starts..."
Stella complained quietly.
She did not want to possess such an enormous appetite either.
It was terrible for her image.
However, with battle approaching, she needed to replenish as much energy as possible while she still had time.
'I just hope Shiro doesn't think I eat too much...'
While silently praying, Stella secretly glanced toward Shiro, who sat on her left staring blankly into space.
Only after realizing his attention was elsewhere did she release a breath of relief.
If Shiro knew what Stella was thinking, he would certainly agree that he did not care about her appetite.
As someone's physical abilities increased, the energy required to maintain their body also became enormous.
Eating was merely one method of replenishing that energy.
After receiving Falna, Shiro had also gone through a period when he ate far more than normal.
That lasted until he spent a year atop the sword peak.
After that year, he learned to control his body completely.
The ability was far more exaggerated than one might imagine.
During everyday life, he could reduce his energy consumption to the absolute minimum, making his appetite no different from an ordinary person's.
If he wished, he could even stop his own heart from beating through sheer control.
Furthermore, Edelweiss's cooking during that year had been so delicious that ordinary food rarely interested him much anymore.
These days, how much Shiro ate depended entirely upon his mood.
If he and Stella entered an eating contest together, the final winner might actually be Shiro rather than Stella.
In short, Shiro's current condition could be summarized in one sentence.
He could eat a lot.
He simply had no need to.
Unfortunately, Shiro could not read minds, and Stella would never voice what she was thinking.
So they were destined never to witness that jaw-dropping scene.
The bus continued moving slowly.
The glow of the setting sun streamed through the window and illuminated Shiro's face.
He rested one arm against the window and watched the scenery rapidly pass by while thinking about what Nangou Torajirou had told him before they separated.
"You no longer need further training in technique."
"What you should search for now is the true nature concealed within your Device."
After explaining the problem with Shiro's Device during the training camp, Nangou Torajirou had left him with those words.
Looking back, this was probably the important matter Nene had mentioned before the camp.
And Nangou Torajirou was right.
At Shiro's current level, unless he uncovered the secret hidden within his Device, achieving another qualitative leap would be extremely difficult.
He could develop his ability anywhere.
However, in this world, neither Edelweiss, known as the world's strongest swordswoman, nor Nangou Torajirou, the [God of War], could currently solve the problem with his Device.
Shiro did not want to waste too much time on it either.
Finding the answer was one thing.
Mastering it was another.
If simply discovering the truth already took an enormous amount of time, learning how to use it could take years.
He needed a faster method of understanding the core of his Device.
'Once the Akatsuki Academy incident is settled, it looks like I should leave this world again for a while.'
Shiro silently made his decision.
Screech—
The piercing friction of the bus tires against the road interrupted his thoughts.
At some point, the scenery outside had changed into the familiar forest and roads surrounding Hagun Academy.
The students, who already knew what awaited them ahead, immediately became tense.
One after another, they gathered near the windows and looked outside.
Beneath the blood-red evening sky, Hagun Academy looked completely different from the place they remembered.
Thin columns of black smoke rose from the school buildings.
The ground was covered in pits and scars, with traces of deliberate destruction everywhere.
"This is horrible..."
Even though she had mentally prepared herself, the sight of severed limbs and wreckage still made Touka, as student council president, mutter in disbelief.
At the end of the road, as though deliberately displaying their handiwork, seven differently dressed figures stood waiting.
At their center was someone wearing a clown mask that completely concealed their face.
Beside them stood a long-haired man in a kimono whose features closely resembled Ikki's.
There was also a petite woman with a cold expression, wearing a wide hat and a scarf that concealed her chin.
Another girl sat astride a pitch-black lion alongside an eyepatch-wearing woman dressed as a maid.
There was also a beautiful young woman whose upper body was otherwise bare, covered only by an apron across her ample chest.
And among them stood someone they had already met before—Shionomiya Amane, the self-proclaimed "biggest fan of Kurogane Ikki."
"Yo! Ladies—and—gentlemen!"
The person at the front greeted everyone stepping off the bus in a bizarrely theatrical voice.
"Representatives of Hagun Academy, you must be exhausted after such a long journey!"
"We have been eagerly awaiting your return!"
Before the main entrance of Hagun Academy—Every member of Akatsuki Academy had assembled.
…
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