In the end.
For creatures that revere strength, words are the palest of tools.
Just as when two male lions meet upon the wilderness, their status is never decided by who roars louder, nor by whose mane gleams more smoothly in the sun.
It is decided by whose fangs are sharper, whose claws can tear open the other's throat.
Amou, as someone obsessed with martial prowess, not only understood this truth, she was a fervent believer in it.
"A wise choice."
"Your desire has been received."
"Though as you are now, you are nothing more than an uncarved stone."
"But if you follow me, then one day, even the gods above will marvel at your edge."
"Rise."
After speaking, Haimer turned his gaze toward the glass window.
His eyes passed through the layered buildings of the academy and settled upon a secluded area deep within the campus.
There,
A presence, faint yet keenly perceptive, was quietly observing what had just transpired.
At the same time, Amou did not linger in ceremony. She stood smoothly to her feet, wiping the blood from the corner of her mouth with casual indifference.
"Next," Haimer said, "come with me to meet the others."
He did not elaborate further. He simply turned and walked.
Amou paused briefly, then followed two steps behind him, her tone laced with undisguised arrogance.
"The others?"
"In this academy…"
"Is there anyone worthy of your attention?"
This was not conceit.
It was a statement grounded in fact.
After all, in the academy she had ruled for so long, the so-called Tenka Five Swords had already fallen to her one by one.
"In matters of worth," Haimer's calm voice drifted back to her, "it is not you who decides."
"It is I."
Amou's doubts vanished at once. She followed without hesitation.
After all,
This was the judgment of a god stronger than she.
…
The corridors of Aichi Coexistence Academy were wide and bright.
Yet now, what should have been filled with noise and commotion lay in unnatural silence.
Though the overwhelming divine pressure from moments ago had receded, its lingering aftershock still drove ordinary students into their classrooms, afraid to show themselves.
At present, only two figures walked the hallway, one before the other.
Their footsteps echoed crisply in the stillness.
"They're here," Haimer said suddenly, halting mid-step.
His gaze shifted toward the corner at the end of the corridor.
Two figures stood blocking the path ahead.
The one on the left had short black hair and wore the academy uniform with its red collar.
Most striking of all was the white hannya mask covering the upper half of her face.
It concealed her features entirely, revealing only a pair of unfathomable eyes and tightly pressed lips.
Her right thumb rested lightly against the guard of the katana at her waist.
The blade had already slipped free by an inch, revealing a cold sliver of steel.
A stance prepared for immediate draw and strike.
In contrast, the girl standing half a step behind her to the right had a noticeably weaker presence.
She had short pink hair and clutched a black baton tightly in her hand.
Though she too wore the uniform that granted weapon privileges, and bore the badge of rank upon her chest, her shifting gaze and trembling legs betrayed the anxiety she could not hide.
Onigawara Rin.
One of the core members of the Tenka Five Swords who ruled Aichi Coexistence Academy through armed authority.
And beside her,
The vice-chair among the Five Swords.
Nono Mozunono.
Haimer recognized the two girls standing before him with a single glance.
…
"Halt!"
"You, an unfamiliar man."
"How did you infiltrate this academy?"
"And…"
Onigawara Rin's gaze shifted past Haimer and landed upon Amou behind him.
Through the hollow eye-slits of the mask, her pupils visibly contracted.
"Amou Kirukiru…"
"You're actually walking behind this man?"
"That doesn't suit you."
For a moment, Rin felt as though the scene before her were absurd.
The Empress, who regarded no one but herself and had defeated each of the Five Swords in turn, was now following half a step behind a man.
Rin had never seen such a posture, not even when Amou stood before the academy director.
"What I do is none of your concern."
"And move aside."
"I don't have time to play children's games with you."
A sharp glint flashed through Amou's narrowed eyes.
She had just discovered a new goal called "god" and was in a state of fervent exhilaration.
To be questioned now by someone she had already defeated once before stirred nothing but irritation within her.
Though she was docile as a cat before Haimer, that did not mean she lacked claws before others.
The violence she had only just restrained began to stir once more.
"Children's games?"
"There was an enormous anomaly just now. The entire academy is at the highest level of alert."
"As one of the Five Swords, it is my duty to eliminate all uncertainties."
"Amou Kirukiru, even you cannot ignore school regulations at a time like this."
Rin's voice rose slightly, clearly stung by the remark.
Her fingers tightened imperceptibly around the tsuba.
"Besides…"
"The aura around this man is dangerous."
"I must investigate his identity."
As she spoke, her gaze locked firmly onto Haimer.
Her keen instinct earned a faint acknowledgment from him.
After all, when animals face a natural predator, they respond in one of two ways: flee, or fight to the death.
Rin had chosen the latter.
"Investigate?" Amou let out a scoff, about to step forward and teach this insolent girl a lesson.
But a hand extended in front of her.
Haimer stopped her.
After all, if he had come to recruit Familia members, then encountering such candidates was hardly an inconvenience.
Rin's sword talent was not inferior; she met the standard.
However,
Her heart, as a swordswoman, was in disorder.
Based on the knowledge Haimer retained from his previous life, the reason she wore the oni mask was tied to her mother's resentment. She bore a resemblance to her father, who had eloped with a lover, and as a result had been forced from childhood to wear the mask. Even after leaving home to attend boarding school, she had never abandoned the habit.
This was problematic.
Because it ran counter to the very school of swordsmanship she studied, Kashima Shinden Jikishinkage-ryū.
That classical school emphasized spiritual cultivation and the refinement of courage. Its teachings, such as the treatise Jūakuhi, explicitly forbade ten flaws of the heart, arrogance, greed, fear, and the like.
Training demanded internal cultivation alongside technique, asserting that progress in swordsmanship must accompany moral and spiritual growth.
During the Edo period, practitioners were expected to grasp the unity of sword and Zen, melding physical training with meditative discipline.
Yet at this moment, Onigawara Rin stood in contradiction to her own tradition.
She hid herself behind a mask, attempting to draw false security from an outward image of ferocity.
That, in itself, was evasion.
And the sword does not smile upon those who evade.
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