Chapter 56: I Acknowledge You! You Are Warriors!!!
Having taken on new disciples, Kazuma had the three of them wear protective gear, just like Hayato. They were made to wear full-body protectors to ensure safety, but they would probably have to be prepared for bruises, and in the worst case, broken bones.
Kazuma would also hold back to some extent, but if a blow landed badly, a cracked bone would be unavoidable. In such cases, he made sure to secretly apply Recovery Magic.
“Alright! You’re all ready!”
Before Kazuma stood four fully armored individuals. In contrast, Kazuma wore no protective gear whatsoever. It was pointed out that this was surely dangerous.
“Um, you’re taking on four people, isn’t that a bit too dangerous?”
“Ahahahaha. Say that after you’ve landed a single blow on me.”
Karin was concerned for Kazuma and warned him, but from his perspective, he was utterly confident he wouldn’t be hit by mere amateurs’ attacks, no matter how many there were. There was no doubt that the four before him were outstanding among students. It was only natural, as they were chosen for the Academy Battle Tournament.
However, that didn’t mean the four were combat professionals. They were, at best, at the student level. Therefore, they were far from a match for Kazuma, who had engaged in life-or-death battles in another world.
“Akino-san. What you’re saying is correct, but Kazuma-kun is abnormal, so he’ll be fine.”
“Fine…? Speaking of which, President, you do mock battles using your Gift, right? Is that true?”
“True? Shiori just shot her Elec at Kazuma-kun and he dodged it, didn’t he? That’s all there is to it.”
“No way, is Satsuki-kun really at a level that even the President can’t beat?”
“Yeah. Himuro-san. The reality is that even if I go all out, I can’t land a single scratch on him.”
“I want to say I can’t believe it. But he certainly did dodge that Elec earlier, didn’t he…”
“Alright, alright. Our time is limited, so let’s end the chatter here.”
Kazuma clapped his hands to end the conversation, then walked to the center of the training room and turned back to the four.
“Well then, let’s begin right away. The rules are simple. You senpais will fight seriously using your Gifts. Eye-gouging, groin attacks, anything goes. I’d like to say I’ll only use my bare hands, but I’ll be using this replica sword. Attacks like groin shots and eye-gouging are forbidden for me, so rest assured. However, I will show no mercy otherwise.”
There, Kazuma looked over the four once and asked, “Understood?” In response to Kazuma’s question, the four nodded their heads to show they understood.
“Well then, one last thing, a warning, or rather, um… When I fight, my mouth gets foul. Please forgive me on that point. Now then, shall we begin? I’ll give you the first move. Come at me, whoever wants to start.”
The three, other than Hayato, were bewildered as Kazuma beckoned them over with a flick of his hand. The first one to move was Hayato.
He had been training with Kazuma longer than the other three, so he was already used to it. Hayato, who knew from experience that it was fine to attack Kazuma with all his might, launched an attack using his Threads Gift without holding back in the slightest.
“Haaah!!!”
Threads that would entangle one’s entire body. A normal person would likely be unable to escape and be sliced to pieces. However, his opponent was Kazuma. To him, Hayato’s Threads were like toys. Kazuma swung his replica sword and severed Hayato’s Threads.
Seeing this, Shiori, Yukihime, and Karin’s eyes widened in shock, and they froze.
“Did you think threads that can be cut by such a dull blade would work on me! Increase your precision! Try producing threads that absolutely cannot be cut!”
Kazuma shouted and leaped from his spot. As Kazuma rapidly closed the distance, Hayato skillfully moved his fingers as if playing cat’s cradle, attempting to bind Kazuma’s limbs with threads. But, for Kazuma, who had anticipated such a move, it was meaningless.
Swinging the replica sword, Kazuma cut the threads and, invading Hayato’s personal space, delivered a powerful knee strike to Hayato’s abdomen. Even though he was protected by armor, the impact couldn’t be nullified. Hayato doubled over and dropped to his knees on the floor.
Kazuma then mercilessly slammed a fist into his face, completely sinking Hayato to the floor. The three who had witnessed the series of movements couldn’t comprehend what had just happened, but they understood one thing: Hayato had been defeated by Kazuma.
“Yukihime, Karin! This is no time to be standing around dumbfounded! We need to attack too!”
“”Y-Yes!!””
The three activated their Gifts simultaneously. Elec, ice, and flames—powerful Gifts assaulted Kazuma, but attacks flying straight at him were useless against him.
“You imbeciles!!! All three of you can only attack straight ahead?! You think you can win with something like this?!”
Dodging the three attacks, Kazuma closed in on the three girls who were standing stock-still and mercilessly landed kicks and punches.
“Gah!?”
“Guuh!”
“Aguu!”
An impact several times stronger than they had imagined assaulted their bodies, and the three couldn’t withstand it, collapsing on the spot.
“Ladies, you are free to leave now. As you’ve just experienced, I’m sure you now understand painfully well that I don’t go easy even on women. The exit is over there.”
Kazuma looked down on the three with cold eyes and pointed towards the training room’s entrance. Then, he turned his heel, and as if he had lost interest in them, he turned his back and headed towards Hayato, who was trying to get up.
“Wait… just a minute…”
“It’s not… over yet…”
“Where do you… think you’re going…”
Pained voices came from behind him. When Kazuma turned around, he saw the three girls, whipping their trembling knees, trying to stand up. Their eyes were not dead. A fire still burned within them, saying they could still go on.
“My apologies. I underestimated you, thinking you were all talk. I assumed you’d give up and run away as soon as training began… I apologize for my rudeness. Just like the President, I acknowledge you as individuals worthy of being called warriors.”
Kazuma bowed his head deeply. They hadn’t run away. Even after taking Kazuma’s blow, they still stood up. If so, that meant only one thing. They, like Hayato, were truly determined warriors.
“Um… should I be happy about that?”
“Ahahaha… I wonder. If you want to know what happens when Kazuma-kun acknowledges you, just look at me.”
Hayato, who had recovered at some point, approached the three. He still seemed to be in pain from his stomach, his expression pained.
“Shall we resume?”
Was Kazuma, smiling brightly, a demon or an angel? At this moment, all four of them understood. He was a demon. Though he had a gentle side, the four, who could only see him as a demon, were rigorously trained until dinnertime.
◇◇◇◇
“Let’s eat a lot of food! We sweated a lot today! And moved around a lot!”
Kazuma, beaming with a wide smile, plunked down a tray laden with a large amount of rice and side dishes onto the table. In front of him were Hayato and the others, completely exhausted and zombie-like.
“Kazuma. What happened to the President and the others?”
As Kazuma was eating dinner, Kaede sat down next to him. She tilted her head curiously, looking at the four who were motionless like corpses before Kazuma. Wondering what had happened, she asked Kazuma, who seemed to know the situation.
“They’re exhausted from some intense training.”
“The President trains with you, Kazuma, right? Why are the Vice Presidents and the others tired too?”
“They were curious about what kind of training the President and I do, so they trained with us.”
“Is that so? Can I join you tomorrow too?”
“I don’t mind. But it’s pretty tough, you know? Considering those four ended up like this.”
Kazuma told her she’d end up like the four before them, but Kaede replied that it wasn’t a problem.
“It’s okay. I’ll do my best.”
“I see. If Kaede is going to do her best, I won’t say anything. The President and the others probably won’t say no either, so come to my place tomorrow.”
“Okay, I will.”
“Ah, but, my mouth gets foul during training, so if you don’t like it, you can stop, okay?”
“That sounds interesting.”
Kazuma, who usually just joked around, was saying himself that his mouth would get foul. Kaede smiled, finding it very intriguing. The women watching this lamented the arrival of a new victim.
“(Ah, another victim is about to be added…)”
“(Kaede-chan might start hating Satsuki-kun…)”
“(I hope their relationship doesn’t worsen…)”
The three who knew Kazuma’s training persona were simply worried about Kaede’s well-being.
◇◇◇◇
That evening, Kazuma was in the grand bath instead of the bathtub in his own room. As expected, Kazuma, being Japanese, loved baths. Therefore, the grand bath was the ultimate place for him.
“Phew~~~”
Lightly rinsing his body, Kazuma soaked in the grand bath, stretching his legs as if to heal the day’s fatigue.
“Hmm… Why doesn’t everyone else use the grand bath?”
Looking around, there wasn’t a single student in sight. The hotel Kazuma was staying at was only used by the representative athletes for the Academy Battle Tournament, so all the guests were students.
However, unfortunately, no students were using the large bathhouse.
Of course, that wasn’t to say there were zero.
While Kazuma was relaxing, Souji, a towel draped over his shoulder, appeared from the entrance of the large bathhouse.
“Oh? So there was another fellow in the large bathhouse besides me!”
Kazuma, turning his face in that direction, exclaimed in surprise.
“W-What the…!”
Souji’s crotch boasted a magnificent ‘member’. Perhaps its Combat Power was as much as 530,000.
However, Kazuma, believing his own to be a demonic sword by no means inferior, rose from the bathtub and faced Souji.
“Ooh! Fuffuffu! Not bad at all.”
“You too!”
“Still, Kazuma. You’ve got a great physique! Thoroughly trained. You must have had some sleepless nights to build that body!”
“The same goes for you! Your muscles tell the story!”
“WAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”
The two of them let out hearty laughs. At that time, it’s said that in the women’s bath, there was a woman who got a nosebleed from listening to their conversation… or so the story goes.