kscans

Chapter 701 - A Bout of Bragging

“—Aaargh, nooo! It’s the situation I was afraid of, or something! I can’t possibly commentate on this, I can’t even follow it with my eyes…!!!”

“Kahahaha!”

“No, this is no time for ‘kahahaha’! You two, please take over the commentary for the combat side of things for me, a mere civilian in that department! I’m begging you!!!”

And so, the sounds of a match colored by such cheerful voices echoed through the waiting room. Compared to the ones assigned to the pairs awaiting their matches, this space was far more spacious—a special room where all the rankers whose roles were finished, either by being eliminated from the tournament or otherwise, could gather.

Thus, the defeated pairs from the first and second rounds—along with the [Sword Queen] and the [Sword Saint] who had performed the surprise ceremony—were gathered to watch the remaining matches.

Currently, aside from [General Commander] Goldow and [Sword Queen] Iris, who were serving as chatterboxes alongside the main commentator, the other four were all focused on the large screen floating in the air.

“Well, well. This is about as flashy as a match can get, isn’t it?”

“Fufu… they look like they’re having fun.”

On the wide stage, two separate duels were unfolding. Amidst a chaotic storm of red and black flames, two dancing shadows continued to stun the audience with every passing second in an extraordinary spectacle.

Four men, then four men, followed by three flowers and one extra. The visual appeal of the contestants was one thing, but this was a matchup of individuals who all possessed abilities that were clearly powerful and flashy.

Presented with such a textbook example of an unreal dance… it was no wonder the cheers were endless and the excitement continued to build, even though the audience likely couldn’t grasp the details of what was happening.

“Nonomi-san has it rough… but honestly, even we can’t possibly commentate on that.”

“Well, we can’t really follow it with our eyes either, so it’s all the same.”

That much was already a given.

It was as clear as day that this would happen when the [Acrobat] got serious on a live stage for a real-world event.

The fact that even the [Sword Queen] looked troubled when asked for commentary was the most telling example.

It might be a different story if one were facing him on the battlefield, able to feel everything that was happening. But when simply watching from the sidelines, even the eyes of a ranker could only catch glimpses of the white rabbit’s form.

There was no one who could possibly explain the movements of a boy who kicked off at the speed of sound—

“……By the way, Ricky-kun, aren’t you going to come over here?”

“Oh, uh, no, I’m fine… right here…”

At the edge of the table where the [Sword Saint], the [Poet], and the [Amorphous] were chatting cheerfully, Yata called out to the fidgeting [Cloud-Hider] who was keeping a slight distance, but the response was a timid voice and words uncharacteristic of him.

The [Poet] tilted his head, as did the [Sword Saint], looking just as puzzled—and seeing the latter’s reaction, the senior cowered even further. With a wry smile,

“……It’s because of that. Ricky-san is a huge fan of the [Sword Saint].”

“Aha, I see…”

Maru II whispered the ‘why’ into his ear. Yata, understanding, laughed cheerfully and decided on a generous course of action—leaving him be.

“……Well now, Sword Saint-sama. Your disciple is one thing, but what are your thoughts? Do you have any impressions or opinions on my cute Natsume-chan, for instance?”

“Yes…? Hmm… let’s see.”

He stopped the tiny titan, who had naturally been about to get up and voice her concern, while also trying to foster a more casual rapport with the venerable figure he himself had only met a handful of times.

Though an adult, she was still young. She was more than a decade his junior, yet he couldn’t bring himself to drop the honorifics. Such was her commanding presence—

“—She is magnificent.”

“Oh… is that so?”

As he found himself captivated by her calm yet flawless profile, the answer he received was a joyous one for a ‘senior’—more than that, it was pure praise that would surely delight her if she heard it.

“Yata-san, are you familiar with Sora-chan?”

“Oh yes, everything that’s publicly known, I know it all.”

“Fufu, I see…. The thing is, when I first met her… when I first met Sora-chan, she reminded me of none other than Natsume-chan.”

And so, her gray eyes were fixed intently on the screen.

On the form of the [Thread-Weaver], freely manipulating countless threads clad in black flame, constantly dominating the space and forcing the [Acrobat] to halt his advance and resort to pure defense.

“As expected of a ‘genius’… She was said to be the one closest to awakening a second ‘Gift,’ wasn’t she? Her spatial control and parallel processing abilities are simply terrifying.”

“Haha. Unfortunately, she’s now aiming for a third, I suppose.”

“The order is a trivial matter.”

I really wish I could record this moment and show it to her. She’d probably explode with embarrassment and have a wonderfully—and adorably—entertaining reaction.

“Yeah, Natsume-chan is insane. The precision of her thread control is on another level… no, it’s more than that. It’s gotten so nasty I seriously wouldn’t want to fight her now.”

“Indeed. I haven’t seen her in action for some time, but… it seems she has improved a great deal in my absence. You must be proud as her senior, are you not?”

And so, showered with praise from members of other factions.

“Well now, really… perhaps, just perhaps.”

It wasn’t his usual jesting, but a bit of bragging about his junior that just slipped out.

“She might even beat your disciple, you know.”

But that playful jab, which was in fact backed by a certain degree of seriousness… ended with Yata, who had misjudged—or rather, simply didn’t know—being left dumbfounded a few seconds later.

Because the [Sword Saint], who had been cheerfully watching her disciple’s match,

“I wonder about that—my beloved disciple is very strong, you know.”

—had returned his boast about her student with an undeniably massive one of her own.