Kays Translations

Chapter 14 – The Representative Steps In

Although the sudden greeting surprised him slightly, Ren answered without showing it.

“Leonaal-senpai?”

“Yeah! I spotted you, so I called out! What are you doing standing around here?”

“I just finished enjoying lunch, so I was sunbathing and gathering energy for my afternoon classes.”

At Ren’s relaxed answer, Kaito came to stand beside him and looked out the window as well.

Tempted by the pleasant warmth, he let out a wide yawn.

“The representative selection trials will begin soon.”

Remembering what the students in the corridor had been discussing, Ren looked at Kaito’s profile and spoke.

Kaito, however, did not seem as excited as Ren had expected.

Instead, his answer looked beyond the academy trials.

“Yeah… but neither Ashton nor the saint is entering. I’ll just have to look forward to fighting students from other schools—or Vayne and the others—in the main tournament.”

“You are not looking forward to the selection trials here at the academy?”

“…I am still the heir of a Hero House, for what that is worth.”

Kaito said it with some difficulty and offered an apologetic smile.

He did not want to speak as though he were belittling the academy’s other students, but as a member of a Hero House, he was conscious of both his strength and his responsibilities.

That was likely why the words were difficult for him to say.

“So you do not expect to find an enjoyable fight within the academy?”

“Whatever the circumstances, I was raised as the heir of House Leonaal. I cannot afford to lose.”

“Well… that is true.”

It was also the pride and resolve of someone born into House Leonaal, one of the Seven Hero Houses.

Losing to boys and girls of his own generation would never be considered acceptable.

“Changing the subject, do you know there is another member of a Hero House in my class?”

Assuming he meant the second-year Special Class, Ren nodded.

“A young woman, right? I heard she is very fond of Vayne.”

“Yeah. Leaving Vayne and Riohard aside, she is extremely strong too. Give her the bow she specializes in, and even I would struggle to get close.”

Ren listened without interrupting.

“Still, what I really want is to clash with sword and shield…”

Every event selected its representatives through several stages.

The criteria differed by event, but the final stage generally used a round-robin points competition, with the highest-ranked students chosen as representatives.

It was easy to imagine Vayne, Sera, and Kaito ultimately earning places, and Ren was certain that they would.

“You will be able to fight them in both the selection trials and the main tournament, so is that not enough?”

“Do not be so cold…”

“E-Er…”

Kaito left Ren’s side with a sigh.

His voice sounded somewhat dispirited for a reason unrelated to being unable to fight Ren.

“I just remembered I have to prepare for my next class. I am barely avoiding a failing grade, so I had better go. See you later!”

After Kaito departed, the voices of the surrounding students reached Ren again.

They all predicted that the representatives would be Kaito, Vayne, Sera, and the second-year daughter of a Hero House.

(——Ah.)

Outside the window, he spotted two of his classmates.

Vayne and Sera were heading enthusiastically toward the training grounds. They appeared to be attending the swordsmanship lesson Ren and Licia were exempt from.

The two were undoubtedly throwing themselves into the class with the representative selection trials in mind.

“I should get going too.”

Ren lifted his elbows from the window frame, stretched lightly, and walked away.

Licia had said she would join them later, so Ren headed toward the library alone.

“Ren-kun!”

It was Fiona, coming down from the upper floor.

They met on the staircase landing.

“Are you going to the library now?”

“That was my plan. Judging by your direction, Fiona-sama, you are going there too.”

“Yes! And, if you do not mind… may I walk with you?”

“Of course. But are you sure? If the two of us walk around together, people may start strange rumors about our factions.”

“No, it is fine! If anything, the rumors would——no, never mind!”

Fiona spoke with slightly more force than usual.

“Have you noticed, Ren-kun? Because of recent events, many people at this academy have been setting factional differences aside and deepening their friendships. So there is nothing wrong with us doing the same!”

“I-I understand.”

Overwhelmed by her enthusiasm, Ren nodded and began walking beside her. From time to time, students turned to look at them.

With the Lion King Grand Festival’s representative selection trials approaching, they were drawing even more attention than usual.

“I just visited the staff room, and the teachers happened to speak to me about the organizing committee.”

“Did they mention that there are only five members?”

“Hee hee, it is all right. They said this year’s committee is far more dependable than its size suggests.”

None of the five could be compared with ordinary students when it came to administrative work and related abilities.

Radius and Mirei in particular surpassed even first-rate civil officials, while Fiona had been personally trained by Ulysses.

Ren and Licia were not so far behind the other three either.

It was only natural that the teachers felt reassured rather than worried. Considering both position and ability, Radius served as committee chair, while Mirei served as vice chair.

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

“These are for everyone. They are from the academy.”

After school, Radius addressed the members gathered in the room they had finished cleaning a few days earlier.

He instructed each of them to take one item from the small wooden box on the table.

“Proof that we belong to the organizing committee?”

“Correct. Beginning today, you will wear them while working.”

The five armbands did not display the words ORGANIZING COMMITTEE in enormous letters, but each bore an embroidered emblem that clearly identified its wearer as a committee member.

The other four began fastening the armbands to their uniforms as they listened to Radius.

“The rules require us to wear these armbands during committee activities. They were unnecessary until today, but now that the selection trials are beginning, consider them mandatory.”

“I see,” Ren murmured as he finished attaching his.

Even his reflection in the window looked different from before.

“Oh. This alone makes me look like a proper committee member.”

“I agree. The four of you have helped with preparations before, but today marks the true beginning. Let us divide the work.”

Radius had already assigned everyone’s tasks for the day.

“I will tour the selection sites and work with the teachers on paperwork and tracking each trial’s progress. I would like the three of you to organize the information needed for upcoming trials and check the documents you will hand us when we return.”

“Understood. What about the room the academy prepared for the committee?”

“I have decided to leave the work there to Mirei. Ren, could you move between this room and hers from time to time and check how things are progressing?”

“Sure. Understood.”

“I am counting on you. Now——does anyone else have a question?”

Licia and Fiona apparently had none and left the response to Ren.

Once he confirmed there were no problems, Radius left the room with Mirei.

The three who remained began working according to his instructions.

Documents were piled high on the large table in the center of the room.

Soon after they divided the work, the voices of students reached them through the window. The growing excitement alone made it obvious that the selection trials had begun.

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

Several days passed after they began wearing the armbands.

Their days remained hectic, and on one of them Ren and Radius conducted a patrol together.

Students occasionally became overexcited and caused trouble, so committee members sometimes had to patrol the academy just as the teachers did.

“Ren.”

Radius spoke without warning.

They were walking through a corridor, listening to selection trials taking place outside the windows and in classrooms elsewhere in the building.

“Whenever I leave the Imperial Capital on official business, a practitioner of the Mighty Sword Style is always at my side. What do you think of having one beside you even now, when you are here merely as a student?”

“I do not know what answer you expect. I am the Mighty Sword Style practitioner standing beside you.”

“In any case, I am relying on you. If any student becomes too carried away, you will have to stop them.”

“How exactly am I supposed to stop them?”

“If necessary, you may silence them with force. I asked several teachers, and they agreed.”

Fights often broke out among students competing to represent the academy in martial events. If words failed and the conflict showed no sign of ending, the committee was permitted to stop it somewhat forcibly.

(So force really is acceptable.)

Ren gave a wry laugh.

“Did you expect something less physical?”

Radius read Ren’s thoughts and laughed.

“Obviously.”

“I agree. But if students go too far, we have little choice.”

“I hope we never get the opportunity to test that rule.”

“As do I.”

As they continued their patrol, the two eventually left the school building.

“Oh.”

Ren had noticed something in one corner of the school grounds.

The academy was holding part of the martial arts representative selection there, and the area had attracted an especially large crowd.

The watching students raised heated cheers.

“Shall we go take a closer look?”

“No need. We can see well enough from here.”

From a distance, Ren watched Vayne defeat an upperclassman with his sword. Sera and Kaito were also observing, smiling and applauding his victory.

Ren sat on a nearby bench while watching them.

Radius followed his example and sat beside him.

(Where will Vayne awaken now, in the end?)

The question arose because Ren had already changed and accomplished so much.

With Fiona alive, the possibility of Marquis Ignat losing control was virtually nonexistent. The only remnant of Asval was now the pair of horns Ren had brought back.

Therefore, the opportunity for Vayne to awaken in the Baldor Mountains would clearly never arrive.

(The Lion King Grand Festival is another opportunity of that sort, though. It will be fine. He will awaken somewhere.)

Ren had never intended to deprive Vayne of an opportunity to awaken, so there was nothing in particular he could do about it now.

As he watched the selection trial with many thoughts running through his mind,

“…Apparently, you are not watching because you wish to participate yourself.”

“Hm? What brought that on?”

“Do you not realize it? You look as though you are having tremendous fun, yet strangely, you do not look eager to join the competition. I found that curious.”

“Oh.”

Ren rested one elbow on the back of the bench and spoke in a somewhat slouched posture.

“Is this not enjoyable?”

“What do you mean by this?”

“Patrolling behind the scenes of the festival. I like watching everyone else work hard while thinking that we will have to work hard on the paperwork afterward too.”

Unlike Ren, Radius crossed his arms with a troubled expression.

He occasionally studied Ren’s face while trying to organize his own thoughts.

In the end, however, no fitting words came to him.

“Look. We can watch everyone bustling beneath the madder-red sky, and if you look toward the building, the teachers are watching through the windows too.”

“Y-Yes… that is true, but we are not participating directly in the festival.”

“That is what makes it enjoyable. We are the only ones in a position to experience things we normally cannot, like staying at the academy later than the other students to work.”

Radius looked around once more.

Students bustled beneath the madder-red sky in a way rarely seen during ordinary days. The activity visible through the school windows was the same. It was impossible not to notice how much more cheerfully the students interacted with one another.

“…This is my first time doing behind-the-scenes work like this.”

“So what do you think?”

Radius relaxed his posture and, unusually for him, allowed himself to lounge.

Even then, his refinement could not be concealed. Combined with his exceptional appearance, it gave him a distinct masculine charm.

“It is not bad.”

Seeing Radius smile with the boyishness appropriate to his age, Ren smiled as well.

As the two took a short rest,

“E-Excuse me!”

A female student rushed toward them in obvious distress. Ren and Radius immediately asked what had happened.

She answered before she had fully caught her breath.

“There are people arguing at the training grounds! I was going to call the teachers, but I found you two on the way…!”

“The training grounds are being used as the preparation area for students entering the martial arts selection trial.”

As the two rose from the bench, Mirei approached from the place where she should have been working.

She appeared to have business of her own.

“Your Highness, I came looking for you because I wanted to ask something——nya? Has something happened?”

Deciding there was no time for a lengthy explanation, Ren told Radius, “I will go over there. You handle Mirei.”

“Will you be all right?”

“Probably. If I cannot manage it, I will call for help, and the teachers should arrive along the way.”

Ren ran toward the training grounds alone.

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