Chapter 296: Something Has Changed!
On the other side, while Luke was looking forward to this battle, Todo Touka was also making her own preparations for it.
Inside the Student Council's private training ground, Touka stood motionless before a target.
Her Device, Narukami, was not sheathed.
Instead, she held it level, its tip aimed straight at the target.
Touka kept her eyes tightly shut as she held her stance, yet she never released the strike.
She quietly felt it out, silently sensing and refining this incomplete sword technique.
Time passed, second by second.
Touka remained completely still in that pose until a voice suddenly interrupted her.
"How about taking a proper break? You're pushing yourself way too hard. If this ends up affecting the selection match, you'll be losing more than you gain."
Misogi Utakata stepped in from the entrance of the training ground, breaking the silence.
At that moment, Touka slowly lowered her stance.
Narukami slid back into its sheath, and she turned to Utakata.
"How is Mama doing?"
The "Mama" she spoke of was the director of the orphanage, Wakaba House.
The woman, who was around forty years old, had been hospitalized last year after suffering a heart attack. That was also the reason Touka had only taken fourth place in the previous Seven Star Sword Art Festival.
Back then, the girl's eyes had been swollen from crying, and she had been in no state of mind to continue fighting.
Otherwise, with Touka's strength, although she might have lost to that year's Seven Star Sword King, taking at least third place should not have been a problem.
"The director is doing really well. Honestly, she feels like she's already made a full recovery."
Clearly, this was wonderful news for both Touka and Utakata.
When he said the director had recovered, both of them looked genuinely happy.
"The director told me to ask you to come back after the selection matches are over. She said the kids miss you."
"And they've already made a banner. Apparently, they want to bring it to the Seven Star Sword Art Festival venue."
"Huh?!"
Touka froze when she heard Utakata's words.
Then she gave a helpless, amused smile.
"Isn't that a little too early?"
"I haven't even won my selection match yet, so I'm not confirmed as a representative… Honestly."
Hearing her say that, Utakata's happy expression faltered. He then sighed and asked,
"Is Luke really that strong?"
"Strong enough to make even you say something so negative…"
"Ever since you received the match notice, you've locked yourself in this training ground and started special training. Is he putting that much pressure on you?"
"…"
Touka glanced at Utakata, then looked down at Narukami in her hand.
"To be honest… I can't win."
She thought back to the battlefield she had seen in Okutama not long ago.
Even after the battle had ended, the traces left behind had been enough to keep everyone from approaching.
She knew it.
She could not win.
"This match will, without a doubt, end in my defeat."
"No matter how much I train… I can't overturn that fact in such a short time."
Touka's words instantly dragged Utakata's mood down.
A heavy silence surrounded the two of them, gradually taking on a faintly sorrowful tone.
But in the next moment, Touka herself swept that atmosphere away.
A firm will shone in the girl's eyes. Even though she clearly knew she had no chance of winning, there was not the slightest hint of giving up in her.
"But I won't give up."
"I'll face him with everything I have."
"As a swordsman, I'll gather everything I have and challenge him head-on."
Seeing Touka so full of fighting spirit, Utakata could only smile helplessly in the end.
"You really are impossible. Even knowing you'll lose, you still want to challenge him?"
"It's like something straight out of a manga… That guy, Luke… is he really that attractive to you?"
"Attractive… huh?"
Touka murmured as she looked at Utakata.
Her thoughts gradually drifted.
She remembered the battlefield she had seen in Okutama, the brief exchange at the training camp center, and the conversation in the Student Council office.
If she really thought about it, the two of them had not met that many times.
They had not spoken much either, and their relationship could hardly be called close.
But as her memories went deeper and further back, Touka finally recalled the very first time they had met.
Perhaps it could not even be called a "meeting."
Their eyes had only met for a single instant.
But perhaps it was precisely that brief meeting of gazes that had destined the two of them to fight one day.
"Yeah. He really does attract me."
"The first time I saw him, I knew. That person carries something I've been chasing all this time."
"If I fight him, my swordsmanship will definitely reach the next stage."
…
Time passed in the blink of an eye, and today was the final day of the Seven Star Sword Art Festival representative selection matches.
Because it was the last and most important day, the number of spectators was clearly far greater than before.
In particular, the First Training Ground, where the duel between the Falling Star Sword Emperor and Raikiri would take place, was packed so tightly with students that not even water could leak through.
The school also knew how much attention this battle was drawing, so they deliberately delayed the start time of this match.
That way, the other students participating in matches, along with the spectators, would have enough time to gather there.
Hagun Academy, whose results in recent years had been far from ideal, naturally would not let such a perfect promotional opportunity slip by.
Whether it was to attract sponsors or boost next year's enrollment rate, Hagun Academy had poured a great deal into heating up the atmosphere around this match.
They had even contacted several media outlets to broadcast the event.
At that moment, a petite woman dressed in a kimono, Saikyo Nene, stood at the highest point of the audience seats, overlooking the stage below.
Standing beside her was the school director, Shinguji Kurono.
"So, what do you think, Nene? Who's going to win?"
"Hmph. Do you even need to ask me that?"
Nene puffed up her cheeks and glared at the smiling Kurono.
"Don't tell me you actually think that monster brat is going to lose."
Faced with Nene's blunt tone, Kurono did not get angry. Instead, she spoke with a faintly teasing smile.
"Todo is your junior disciple, isn't she? Don't you plan on cheering for her at least a little?"
"And judging from your attitude toward the boy, I thought you'd be gritting your teeth and cursing him to hurry up and lose."
"Tch. If curses worked, I would've cursed him ages ago!"
Nene clicked her tongue in extreme dissatisfaction.
Then her expression grew a little more serious as she looked toward Kurono.
"I don't know what he ran into, but ever since he came back from Okutama, something about him has clearly changed."
"It's not his raw strength. It's something else."
"During our recent training, I could clearly feel that some kind of change was happening within him."
"The feeling he gives me is like… he's undergoing some kind of transformation, or maybe even an ascension."
"That state definitely isn't normal. Kuro, you know something, don't you?"
"That newly designated forbidden zone in Okutama was established by your direct order… What exactly is inside that place?"
"Or rather, who exactly did Luke encounter there?"
…
(PS: Vote for more chapters this week. If this fanfic reaches 100+ powerstones, I will upload bonus chapters next. Also, don't forget to write a review!)
---
Read more than 20 chapters in advance, with pictures, to enhance your reading immersion:
patréon.com/tom22
Replace "é" with "e" on your web browser.
---
For Audiobook:
youtube.com/@animefic22