Chapter 588 - After the Stage
I'd say the ratio was about nine to one.
The former was astonishment, the latter, acceptance. We had crossed blades countless times before, but this was the first time we had ever truly gone all out… and that's why.
From start to finish, the match was a constant barrage of surprise and panic. Irori's "full power" was a weight that far surpassed my wildest expectations; he was a true monster.
Still, that was just one part of it. The complete breakdown of my feelings was more like ninety to ten.
Needless to say, the ninety percent was, from the bottom of my heart, 'I'm so damn frustrated.'
And so—
"You've got five seconds to move your hand before I throw you."
"Your voice is so deep. How scary… By the way, what do you mean by 'throw'?"
"Into the sky."
"You're not throwing it at me, you're throwing me?!"
Right now, I didn't have the composure to play the saint and tolerate her teasing, which was somewhere between consolation and mockery. So when I let out a low-voiced threat, the small hand poking the back of my head—the head of a loser who was basically dead on the Round Table—instantly shot back.
"Hey, what's the big idea? Your cute, kind, and adorable senpai is trying to comfort you!"
"Hah, look who's talking, the resident ball of energy."
"Hey, mister. Don't you think you've been a little too blunt with me lately?"
But if that was enough to make her learn her lesson, I wouldn't be crushing this red-head's face at a rate of twice a week. Her poking turned into a rapid-fire tat-tat-tat-tat-tat of her fingertips against the side of my head. I bared my teeth in a thirty-percent-serious warning, and Mi-na let out an exaggerated shriek as she ran away.
And then,
"…Ri-na-san, that tickles."
On my other side, the one in charge of cuteness (self-proclaimed) was endlessly stroking my head, and I really wished she would stop. While I could feel her simple, honest intent to soothe me, her characteristically mysterious, overly soft touch was just too ticklish to bear.
"You were both amazing."
"Ah, yeah. Thanks."
Unlike a certain red-head, I knew she had no mischievous intentions, which, if anything, made it harder to react or know how to handle it.
Her usual listless eyes stared at me intently, and combined with her unadorned praise, I found myself getting genuinely embarrassed and flopped back down onto the table. It was a strategic retreat.
"…Look, you don't need to worry or be concerned. I'm frustrated, for sure, but I'll win next time. I'm not really down, my avatar is just dead tired and I can't move."
"You'll win next time?"
"Hm? Of course I'll win. Oh yeah, I'll definitely win. I have a pretty good grasp of his skills and his hand now, so next time I'll counter his every move and crush him. No doubt about it."
"You sore loser from outer space. You, you—"
"I'm going to throw you."
"Eek! He's gonna attack me!"
I reached for Mi-na, who had returned without learning a thing, but my movements were so sluggish that even the magic-specialized pipsqueak could dodge me with ease… I suppose it can't be helped that I showed off a bit, almost out of sheer stubbornness, but it's still not at a level I can use in a real fight.
If anything, that's what was getting me down.
It's not an issue that can be solved immediately through technical proficiency, but now that it has a name, I have to refine it as quickly as possible so it looks presentable—it was at that moment.
"Hm."
"Ah."
"Oh?"
A familiar teleportation sound effect. Leaving my heavy body where it was, I turned only my head toward the source of the sound… to see an equally familiar, all-black figure.
"Oh, you're done too? Good work, senpai."
"Hey, Tetra, you too. How'd it go?"
"I got burned."
"Haha, guess it was a bad matchup, huh."
The sixth match of the second half, same as mine and Irori's. The ranker-on-ranker showdown of `[Scorching Gaze] vs. [Undying]` had apparently ended in victory for Hinayo-san—or rather, Hina-san, just as most had predicted.
Well, that was to be expected. No matter how skilled Tetra's stealth techniques were, his opponent could casually incinerate the entire stage, making it an absolutely terrible matchup.
If even his Terror Armament, [Per-Fe Grim, True Theory: Shadow Cloth Looking Up at Black Wings], wasn't fully effective, there was no way he could have turned it around. It couldn't be helped.
"I put up a fight, at least. What about you, senpai? Your revenge match—"
"I LOOOOOST!!!!"
"Whoa, you're loud. And totally desperate… well, that's a shame. Win next time."
A light reaction, and light words. He gave my shoulder a casual pat, this junior-senpai who had somehow ended up sitting so far away, and settled into the eighth seat's chair.
Tetra is also on the smaller side, so with the other pipsqueaks already there, the Round Table's lavish chairs looked especially enormous. The visual calming effect was surprisingly high.
"So that means the first semi-final match this afternoon is Hina-chan and Irorin, huh?"
"We're going to get complaints again that 'we can't see the stage because of all the fire, ice, and steam.'"
"What, that sounds fun. Let's go watch."
"…"
Giving up on swatting away her pestering, I nonchalantly joined Mi-na and Ri-na's conversation from my face-down position on the table. I felt a single gaze on me.
He was probably thinking something like, 'He's not as down as I thought.' I pretended not to notice the stare from the considerate tsundere boy.
"Ooh, good idea. Then we'll all go watch that one together…—"
"…To be honest, I didn't really understand 'what was happening' in you two's match."
"So, to kill some time until then, just for a bit…"
"I'd like an explanation from you, if possible."
Just as I was trying to play it cool, an unexpected request came my way.
Hmm, an explanation. I don't mind that, but…
"……………Weren't the people who aren't in the selection matches supposed to be helping with the committee's admin work?"
"My share is already done."
"Alright, let's go! Tetra-kun, you come too!"
"Hey, you energetic slacker!"
"Huh… I'm fine, really—ah, okay, okay, I get it, stop pulling."
As I was pulled up from my chair by a good kid and a bad kid respectively.
Our eyes met naturally, and the two of us boys probably wore the exact same expression. Namely… 'It's a waste of energy to argue,' so let's just go along with it.
The reason the mid-to-long-range fire support, Hinayo-san, is participating in the vanguard-focused selection matches is half because she, being unskilled in PvP, volunteered to gain experience, and half because general players who wanted some 'glamour' were begging for her to join.
The reason Tetra-kun is being made to participate is because Goldow tossed him in to prevent the battle-averse boy from turning into a 'Yurayura No. 2' who consistently skips the Four Pillar War. Since the tsundere does have a decent sense of responsibility, he isn't participating completely against his will.