Chapter 693 - Interlude
...
The waiting room was filled with silence.
For ten minutes, six hundred seconds. After a 'match' that had captivated not only the venue but the entire world watching, filling every last second of the time limit with the sound of clashing blades.
After witnessing the 'supreme' ceremony between the 'Strongest' and the 'Supreme.'
Even I, who had been forewarned by both of them and had steeled myself, was feeling this. I didn't even have to guess how overwhelmed the three senpais were, still speechless and lost in the afterglow after one, two, then three minutes had passed.
“—...Haaah, that was insane.”
And so, the one to break the silence with a faint voice was the little white kitten. She sank into the sofa, muttering what sounded more like a mewl than actual words in the softest voice imaginable.
“Yeeeah... that was craaaazy...”
Beside her, Rinne agreed with her kouhai's mumbling, looking completely dazed.
“...Haru-kun. You knew, didn't you?”
Even as she watched her own master's grand moment, Hinayo-san shot me a rare, half-lidded glare, seeing that I was somehow managing to maintain my composure.
Well, I couldn't blame her.
After three years, they had finally witnessed a dance of 'sword' and 'katana' that went beyond serious—a clash between two people giving their all. Their minds must have been completely blown...
No, it wasn't just the three of them. Everyone in the other waiting rooms who had witnessed that spectacle...
“—I guess we can't just say 'let's take it easy' anymore...”
“—This isn't a situation where we can just talk about taking it easy...”
“—We can't just say 'let's be casual' now, can we...”
...had, to a T, had their brains fried, because the stage they were about to step onto had been completely transformed—from the usual 'casual get-together' into something else entirely.
The overall theme hadn't changed. There was no one here so clueless as to disrupt the flow of a major event with their own mood and whims... well, except for a few exceptions who 'deliberately ignore the mood'.
So there was no doubt they would all stick to the main theme of entertaining the audience, just like in previous years, and pursue a 'fun stage' to the very end.
It's just that the 'casual get-together' had turned into a 'serious get-together'.
That was all. And because that was all.
“—Right. Well then, we have a little over ten minutes left. We can focus on watching once the matches start... so for now, let's have a proper meeting.”
If Hinayo-san, likely the most senior among them, hadn't taken the lead with her proposal, someone else surely would have... even Nacchan-senpai would have spoken up without hesitation.
“On a stage where two people captivated everyone with nothing but skills, magic, and stats likely all restricted...—there's no way we can lose in terms of excitement.”
“There's no way.”
“There's no way, indeed.”
“Haha...—Yeah, there's no way, is there?”
And that meant, of course.
For those two who had mesmerized the world with nothing more than a pure clash of blades.
There was no way the other players, who had certainly reached the heights where they now stood and possessed a pride to protect that was far beyond the ordinary, would willingly admit defeat.
With a passion that would surely surpass even that of the audience,
there was not a single reason for their hearts not to be stirred to a boil.