“And there’s one more thing I want to tell you.”
“What?”
When Shion asked back, Alphonse’s expression became slightly more serious.
“You got angry when Lloyd made fun of me, but I feel the same way.”
“…?”
To Shion, who tilted his head slightly, Alphonse continued.
“I thought it might be rude, so I’ve avoided saying it until now… but I really hate it too when people say [why are you with a C-Class] when I’m with you, and it pisses me off.”
“…!”
“So I want you—my hero—to show everyone that you’re actually more amazing than anyone else.”
Saying this, Alphonse thrust his fist toward Shion.
“Win, Shion-kun. —I’m rooting for you.”
Grinning broadly, Alphonse directed a powerful gaze at Shion.
“…Yeah. Leave it to me.”
Saying this, Shion bumped his fist against Alphonse’s extended one.
After bumping fists as if accepting those feelings, when Shion looked away from Alphonse…
“…Shion.”
The last person standing in the corridor, Yufia Queensroad, called out to Shion.
“Don’t get hurt… okay?”
To Yufia, who gripped her uniform skirt tightly with an anxious expression, Shion showed a slightly mischievous smile.
“Don’t worry. I won’t get so much as a scratch.”
“…Yeah, absolutely.”
To Shion’s usual demeanor, Yufia directed a slightly relieved gaze.
As Shion walked down the corridor to the entrance gate while being seen off by the two…
“—Ichinose-kun…!!”
“…!”
The sound of hurried heels echoing in the corridor, a voice calling out to stop him was heard.
“…Sensei.”
When Shion turned around, he saw Restia approaching breathlessly.
Coming to Shion’s side, Restia put her hands on her thighs in a half-crouch and looked at Shion’s face with a worried expression.
“Hah, hah… Ichinose-kun… um, …really—”
“Sensei.”
“!”
Restia was sweating and completely out of breath. To such a her, Shion called out as if interrupting her words.
“It’s okay, Sensei. …Continuing as a teacher, important promises, dreams… you don’t have to give up on any of them. Because the Magic Academy will win.”
“—Because I will make we win.”
“We will now proceed to the captain’s match of the inter-academy competition.”
Simultaneously with the announcement “—Competitors, enter,” the names of the representative competitors were displayed on the large board in the arena.
【Captain’s Match】
【Knight Academy Third Year Class A: Reacher Diablo】
【Magic Academy Second Year Class C: Ichinose Shion】
Immediately after the competitors’ grade levels and class affiliations were displayed, a great commotion ran through the venue.
“—Wh-What!? C-Class!?”
“The Magic Academy’s representative is a C-Class student…!?”
“And a second-year!?”
“What is the Magic Academy thinking…”
Since only names had been announced in the prior announcement, the students in the audience learned for the first time that Shion was a C-Class student.
Except for some students who knew him, every student showed expressions of shock and bewilderment.
Eventually the commotion gradually subsided, and the Knight Academy students began muttering to each other as if gradually realizing something.
“Actually, this basically means that thing, right?”
It was a tone that sounded cold and exasperated.
“The Magic Academy completely threw away the captain’s match, right?”
“Since defeat was already decided anyway, they put out a disposable substitute so no unnecessary damage would be done to an excellent student’s record, right?”
“With ‘Reacher Diablo’ as the opponent, I can understand it, but… when it’s this blatant…”
“Haaah, this is genuinely disappointing…”
The anticipated Captain Match had completely transformed into a “meaningless match,” and an atmosphere of disappointment and disillusionment drifted through the audience seats.
“A match where an S-rank just beats up a C-rank… honestly, I can’t bear to watch it.”
“Reacher too, being forced to bully the weak in front of such a large crowd… it’s pitiful…”
…And so, sympathetic gazes began to be directed toward Reacher.
Moreover, it wasn’t only the Knight Academy students who showed great disappointment.
“Ah, damn. I thought this year the Magic Academy would finally win…”
“At this rate, there’s no point in cheering…”
“To come this far only for the Captain Match to become the most worthless match to watch…”
The Magic Academy students also emanated the same cold atmosphere as those from the Knight Academy side.
As the arena was filled with this completely deflated atmosphere一
“Do your best一-!! Aniki一-!! Fight-deyansu一-!!”
Suddenly, a passionate cheer cut through the cold air of the venue like a blade.
“Go一-!! Aniki一-!!”
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.GITHUB.IO
The only person in the entire venue raising his voice in support was Elliott Freegan.
Elliott was clearly out of place by himself, but he paid no mind to the strange looks directed at him from around and shouted at the top of his lungs from his small body.
Whether the opponent was the Knight Academy’s strongest, whether everyone around naturally assumed Shion would lose, it didn’t matter to Elliott.
To Elliott, Shion was a friend, a benefactor, a hero, and someone he knew to be stronger and kinder than anyone else.
…And then, as if inspired by Elliott’s passion, another student appeared to cheer for Shion.
“That’s right!! Don’t lose, C-rank!!”
It was Dezel Evans, a student from Magic Academy’s second-year Class A.
“Alphonse worked hard to get us one victory!! You absolutely have to win!! Hey! What are you all spacing out for!! Magic Academy’s final representative is about to fight!! We have no choice but to cheer with everything we’ve got!! “
“Y-yeah, that’s right…!”
“D-do your best, C-rank!”
“That’s nowhere near enough!! There are plenty of guys like me who chickened out and refused to go up there, right!? That C-rank is up there in our place!! Put more spirit into your cheering!!”
“…Y-yeah, that’s right. Since I got scared and refused earlier, he’s going out there instead of me… S-sorry! Do your best!!”
“D-do your best!! We’re cheering for you!”
The surrounding students, overwhelmed by Dezel’s passion, began cheering for Shion, albeit awkwardly.
And as the Magic Academy students’ cheering gradually grew more intense…
“Wait a minute… if you look closely, isn’t that C-rank the student who’s often seen with Alphonse Freed and Yufia Queensroad!!”
This voice arose, and other students responded in kind.
“N-now that you mention it, that’s right!! Actually, I’ve been thinking for a while that there might be something special about that C-rank…!!”
“That’s right… thinking about it calmly, no matter what, there’s no way an ordinary C-rank would become the general at this timing…!”
“I thought it was completely hopeless, but we still don’t know for sure!!”
“We’re counting on you! Please win!!”
Eventually, the Magic Academy side’s obligatory cheering transformed into cheers filled with expectation.
一And the attitude of the Knight Academy students began to change as well.
Toward the students who were coldly acting disgruntled, one knight student began to speak as if admonishing them.
“…You lot were saying that Magic Academy had given up on the Captain Match. 一Certainly, perhaps that might be the truth. …However, what about that C-rank competitor? Look at his eyes. He hasn’t given up on victory. Even facing that Reacher Diablo, he hasn’t abandoned hope.”
“…!!”
The Knight Academy students showed startled expressions upon hearing those words.
“No matter how much stronger the opponent is, never give up on victory. Isn’t that exactly the ‘spirit of chivalry’ that we should idealize?”
As the surrounding knight students listened with bated breath, that student raised his voice with even more passion.
“Isn’t that the figure of a warrior who should be praised, even if he is an enemy? For us to look upon the two who are about to fight with cold eyes—isn’t that an insult to noble warriors?”
“…!!”
The knight students raised their voices one after another as if awakening.
“…That’s right, exactly right!!”
“As knights, how can we not praise that brave C-rank competitor!!”
“It’s the inter-academy Captain Match…! We should be the ones to liven it up to the end!!”
“C-rank… no, Ichinose Shion!! Do your best! We’re cheering for you!!”
…And so, not only the Magic Academy side, but also the Knight Academy students began sending cheers to Shion.
“Do your best, C-rank!!”
“You’re fighting that Reacher Diablo! Even if you lose, you can be proud!”
“That’s right!! Show us you’ll fight with everything you’ve got!!”
“Reacher-san, please get us that final victory!!”
“Reacher-san! Show them that our Knight Academy is the strongest!!”
“Both of you, show us a passionate match!!”
Though Magic Academy had 640 students and Knight Academy had 960, meaning the Magic Academy had fewer total students, there were also very many knight students who praised Shion’s bravery, so the ratio of support for Shion and Reacher was truly split fifty-fifty throughout the entire venue.
Before the final match of the day, the venue was showing its greatest excitement一.
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