Ryuu Kusari no Ori

Volume 4 Chapter 3.2

Rampage at the Martial Arts Garden Part 2

Translator : PolterGlast

Having lost track of Lisa, Nozomu had no choice but to head toward the school.

Passing through the civic district and around the central park, he arrived at the main gate of the academy on the south side. At the gate, Mars had arrived and was waiting for him.

"Yo Nozomu, you're late."

"Morning Mars, just a little something to do in the morning......"

When Nozomu shrugged his shoulders, Mars replied with a curt, "I see", and the two headed for the classroom.

He must have guessed a lot from their conversation at the Ox-head Pavilion the other day. So Nozomu was grateful for his silence.

The majority of the students had already arrived at school, and the number of students walking down the hallway was sparse. However, when all the students saw Nozomu, they all frowned and began whispering behind his back.

The content of the few conversations that circulated was not very pleasant.

However, when Mars glared at them, they stopped talking and quickly hid themselves away.

Stunned yet grateful for his best friend's actions, Nozomu made his way to their classrooms.

When he arrived at the hallway lined with third-grade classrooms, he was once again met with countless stares.

Nozomu thought it was another rumor involving Lisa, but he noticed that the intensity of the stares was different.

"...... Say, Nozomu. Is there something wrong with the atmosphere at the school?"

"Yeah, the whole school, or rather the whole area where the classrooms of the third grade are located, has a strange atmosphere. I wonder why?"

The two arrived at their classroom and opened the door, while tilting their heads at the unexplained atmosphere.

Inside the classroom, their classmates were studying on their own, talking with friends, and doing whatever they wanted.

However, the moment Nozomu entered the classroom, the eyes of the students in the class suddenly focused on him.

They looked at him with doubt, confusion, disbelief, and curiosity. Nozomu was slightly flinched by the pressure.

But when Nozomu glanced back at each of his classmates, the ones whose eyes met his, for some reason, looked flustered and averted their gazes. Then, as if to make up for it, they resumed their self-study or started talking with their friends again.

"W-What in the world is this ......?"

"Who knows? I don't know either......"

"Ah, this is because of the last Special Comprehensive Exercise."

"Jin. And Deck and the others, good morning."

There were five classmates, Jin, Hamuria, Deck, Tommy, and Cami. They had previously formed a party together in the last Special Comprehensive Exercise. Since that exercise, they had become one of the few classmates who talked to Nozomu normally.

"By the way, Jin, there's something strange going on in the classroom, what do you mean by this being caused by the Special Comprehensive Exercise?"

"Well, it would be faster if you take a look at it. This way."

Urged by Jin, Nozomu and Mars went to the back of the classroom. There was a small blackboard with a variety of notices posted on it. Jin pointed to a corner of the board.

"Here, look......."

"Is this the result of the Special Comprehensive Exercise?"

"Yes, look at our party's ranking."

There, the scores and rankings of each party were posted. Nozomu's eyes widened involuntarily when he saw their scores written there.

"Sixth place overall in the grade......"

"Yep, sixth place! What an amazing result, beating out all the other top parties!"

"...... I see, so that's why the atmosphere at the school was so strange since this morning."

Mars muttered in an understanding manner.

It was unprecedented in this Soluminati Academy for the lowest 10th class to be ranked in the top 10.

Moreover, the party was led by two well-known inferior students in the school.

One was a regular attendee of the supplementary examinations, known as the bottom of the barrel. The other was a problem child who was treated as a hazardous material that could explode at any moment.

Considering their reputations up to now, it was not surprising to see the surrounding people's reaction to this result.

"Nevertheless, of course, there are people who don't seem to believe it. ......"

"Oi, bottom feeder. What the hell did you do in the Special Comprehensive Exercise?"

Amidst all this, there was one person who spoke to Nozomu in a questioning tone, raising his voice. He walked toward Nozomu, his shoulders shaking with anger, as if he couldn't take it anymore.

"O-Oi, Simnal. Calm down."

His friend tried to stop him, but the strong suspicion in the eyes of his classmate, called Simnal, remained.

"There is no way you could achieve such a result! What kind of dirty tricks did you use!?"

"I didn't though......"

"That's right. I was with Nozomu-kun throughout the exercise, and afterward, he was injured and couldn't move for more than a week due to his injuries. How can he possibly do any cheating?"

In response to Nozomu's voice, Jin and the others concurred. Surprisingly, Jin and the others refuted him in a stronger tone.

"Then how did you win!? The opponents you defeated were not only the 8th class and 9th class, but also the 4th class! And on top of that, to even beat a special target, that's just plain abnormal!"

"We've told you many times, Nozomu-kun, you did not cheat. The reason why we can win is because he fully understands the terrain, has a solid strategy, and also has prepared a backup plan. And he was the one who came up with it all."

"Besides we've seen Nozomu in class many times fighting against Mars. He is much stronger than we thought."

Nozomu felt embarrassed by the trusting glances he was receiving from Jin and the others and couldn't help but scratch his cheeks.

In fact, Nozomu and Mars have often teamed up in practical classes since they entered the third grade. He refrained from using Qi-jutsu because it would be overkill, but he still had many opportunities to showcase his swordsmanship.

"Do you think you can get away with it......?"

However, even their words couldn't reach Simnal.

Instead, he became more stubborn, and the intensity of his anger rose drastically.

Nozomu, on the other hand, was quietly staring at Simnal, despite the growing tension in his surroundings.

The anger directed at him. Even though he understood that it was one-sided and unreasonable anger, yet Nozomu felt some sympathy for him.

Perhaps it was because Nozomu and Simnal had something in common.

They turn their dissatisfaction toward reality into anger and rant about it, seeking to blame it on somewhere else, or blocking their eyes so as not to see the fact that things have changed. It was the same behavior as that of Nozomu until recently.

However, Nozomu's calm stance only added to Simnal's impatience and anger.

"~, Damn you!"

"O-Oi, Simnal!"

As if to shake off reality, Simnal tried to grab hold of Nozomu.

Simnal's actions caused his friends, who were watching behind him, to change color. It was not a good idea to resort to violence, no matter how much it might cost. But as if inspired by this hostility, Nozomu moved.

In an instant, he kneaded his Qi and slid to the side, brushing away Simnal's outstretched hands.

He then twisted the outstretched hands to restrain them.

"Ugh......."

Simnal's eyes widened in surprise as a sharp sword-Qi struck him from close range. His body suddenly lost its strength, and he fell to the ground on his butt.

"......Ah~! S-Sorry."

There, Nozomu finally realized his reflexive action and removed his hand, while expressing his apology.

The air in the classroom, which had been tense, relaxed at the unexpected action of someone who normally did not need to apologize.

"Nozomu, sorry. He and I were both a little impatient because our results from the Special Exercise were not good."

Simnal's friend, who had been standing behind him, stepped forward while nudging him in the head.

Upon hearing the story, it seemed that their party was caught up in a fierce battle right after the exercise started, and they were defeated without being able to do anything. Although it was inevitable due to the school's system, Simnal himself had not performed well enough to ensure his continued enrollment at the school, and he was very determined to do well in the Special Comprehensive Exercise, but this was the result.

"Come on, apologize, Simnal."

"S-Sorry......"

Simnal looked away awkwardly and bowed his head. Thanks to the pressure and the fact that he was being defended by his friend, he seemed to have cooled down at once. Nozomu didn't mind as long as he apologized.

"Umm, forgive us for bothering you, but would you mind telling us how you survived the Special Exercise?"

"Nozomu, why don't you just tell them? They don't seem to want to rant about it anymore."

"Alright. I understand."

Nozomu nodded at Mars, who had been watching the situation from behind Nozomu. There was nothing to hide.

Finding a simple base, then split the party into two to gain points. In the process, they were attacked by a special target, Anri-sensei. Although overwhelmed, Hamuria, who was a rear guard mage, rushed in while being protected by a magic barrier, taking Anri-sensei by surprise that a rear guard should not be charging into the front line. While Anri-sensei being restrained, Nozomu destroyed her pendant, which was proof of participation in the exercise, thus defeating her.

"What a walk on a tightrope strategy, huh......"

"We had no other choice. It was difficult for us to win a head-to-head battle, not to mention alone, even if we combined our numbers together. Then, in order to win, we must catch our opponent by surprise."

However, it is also true that one cannot win by surprise alone. What is important is how to bring them into a situation where they can take advantage of their strengths.

"Indeed...... so, how did you do that?"

"We blocked her vision with a cloud of dust a few times, and then Deck and I repeatedly charged at her, making her think it was only the two vanguards that were going to rush forward."

"Hey, I have one more question......."

Nozomu answered each question one by one carefully. Before one knew it, a crowd had gathered around Nozomu and the others, making it look like a small lecture.

They, too, had been called failures by students of other classes until now.

Therefore, the story of Nozomu and his team, who are also from the lowest class, defeating a higher class is a very touching story for them, and at the same time, it is a source of hope.

And although they were from the 10th class, they were originally talented young individuals who had come from across the continent.

Once the fetters on their minds were removed, they would be able to work hard with greed and a positive attitude.

However, their enthusiasm was even greater than one had expected, perhaps as a repercussion of the considerable suppression they had been subjected to up until now.

In the blink of an eye, their initially sparse questions turned into a raging storm, and they pounced on Nozomu.

"H-Hold on! I don't know which one to answer first!"

Nozomu's processing capacity was finally overwhelmed by the sheer number of questions being thrown at him.

He was so overwhelmed that he asked for help, but Jin, Deck, and Hamuria, who were teaming up with him, were also getting bombarded with questions from their classmates.

"Mars, lend me a hand!"

"Don't be unreasonable. I was away from the party at that time. So I don't know all the details of the battle."

Mars' face broke into a grin as Nozomu asked for his help. Apparently, he was amused by Nozomu's bewilderment.

Nozomu returned a resentful glance to Mars, but even in the midst of this, the storm of questions showed no sign of abating.

But it wasn't unpleasant. It was certainly irritating to be teased by Mars, but there was no malice in his classmates' eyes that were gathered around him.

It might be temporary. It might be gone later. In fact, the rest of his classmates who have not come to listen to him are still looking at him with suspicion.

Still, for now, he felt happy that his hard work in the Special Comprehensive Exercise had been acknowledged.

"Everyone~, good morning~~. Let's do our best today as well~~!"

At that moment, the classroom door was opened energetically. Anri-sensei entered the classroom.

"Anri-sensei, just in time!"

"Fue~?"

"Everyone, it was Anri-sensei whom we were fighting against. She's a teacher after all, so she can explain everything that happened to you in great detail!"

The classmates who had been crowded around Nozomu turned their gazes on Anri.

The greedy eyes of those who had been rotting as failures until now were directed at the young teacher.

"U-Umm~~. Everyone~, what's the matter~~? Fuwa-wa-wa-wa!"

Immediately afterward, half of the classmates who had been crowded around Nozomu rushed toward Anri. She was left struggling, completely unable to comprehend the situation. As a result, questions did not cease even after the bell rang for the start of the first period, and Anri's classes were delayed considerably.

†

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