Chapter 69: Huh, Seriously?
The battle royale between the old and new student councils ended, and Kazuma stepped out of the VR machine.
Although Kazuma had been rampaging in the Virtual Space, in the real world, he’d only been sitting in the VR machine, so his shoulders were stiff.
As he rotated his shoulders and cracked his neck to loosen his stiff muscles, familiar faces started to gather.
“Yo, good work.”
“Good work, Souji-senpai.”
“I thought I had it this time~”
“You were doing pretty well, you know? I mean, you blew off one of my arms.”
“No, that wasn’t my achievement. It was proof of Saijo’s hard work.”
“Well, that’s true. Saijo-senpai really surprised me.”
“As for me, I have a bone to pick with you, Kazuma-kun, for touching Shiori’s chest, you know?”
“Now, now, Hayato-senpai. I didn’t touch it. I merely pierced through it.”
“Even so, I’m not exactly calm about it, okay?”
As Shiori’s boyfriend, Hayato couldn’t stay silent and was glaring at Kazuma with a reproachful look.
Kazuma also thought it was bad, but since it happened in the middle of a fight, he hadn’t harbored any base emotions and didn’t feel that much guilt.
“Even if you say that, I don’t have the slightest bit of interest in Saijo-senpai.”
“That’s irritating in its own way…”
“That’s enough, Hayato. Look, Saijo also looks like she wants to say something to Kazuma.”
When Souji stepped between them, he pointed out to the two that Shiori seemed to want to say something.
Hayato looked at Shiori’s face, sensed that she indeed had something to say as Souji-senpai mentioned, and took a step back.
Once Hayato stepped back, Shiori came forward and stood before Kazuma.
“It hasn’t been long, Kazuma-kun.”
“Indeed. You surprised me the most this time.”
“Hearing you say that makes my efforts feel worthwhile.”
“My training paid off as well.”
“Oh, right. About that, Kazuma-kun, could you tell me what you meant when you said I was scary?”
“I said it during the fight too, but Saijo-senpai, Hayato-senpai, and Souji-senpai are all scary. Because you’re all still developing.”
“I don’t get that~. I’d think Kirarazaka Hayate and Raika are scarier, given their abilities, no?”
“Those two are complete. They’ve established their own fighting styles, are aware of their own weaknesses, and their strength as individuals is fully realized.”
“If that’s the case, shouldn’t those two be even scarier?”
“No, no, if I learn their patterns and habits during a fight, dealing with them is easy, so they’re not that much of a threat. Rather, people like you, Saijo-senpai, who are incomplete, are scarier to me. In fact, the reason my arm was blown off was because I was hit by an unexpected attack.”
“I see. I understand what you’re trying to say, but… setting that aside, were you analyzing your opponent’s fighting style amidst that super high-speed battle?”
“Yes, I was. Is there a problem with that?”
Shiori was utterly dumbfounded by Kazuma’s reasoning, which was so out of this world it couldn’t even serve as a reference.
Certainly, techniques and weapons known as trump cards, hidden aces, or cherished secrets are terrifying.
However, once their secret is known, they are not much to worry about.
Of course, that’s if one analyzes them after the fight; analyzing and calmly dealing with them during combat is not a feat most can perform.
“Kazuma-kun, you say we’re scary, but you’re far more terrifying, you know.”
“Well, that’s true!”
Being somewhat self-aware, Kazuma just smiled at Shiori’s sarcastic remark.
Just as she said, anyone would find Kazuma terrifying.
Moving at speeds imperceptible to the eye, while also analyzing the opponent’s movements and adapting—this would be nothing but terror for both enemies and ordinary people alike.
In fact, Kazuma’s greatest strength lay there.
When Kazuma was raised as a Hero, the ability he honed the most was adaptability.
He had trained all sorts of abilities evenly so that he could survive tenaciously like a cockroach under any circumstances.
Therefore, Kazuma could be called the strongest overall, but if conditions were set to specific fields like swordsmanship, martial arts, or magic, he could be second or third best.
However, the current Kazuma specialized in discerning the opponent’s abilities and surviving, so he wouldn’t lose even in limited situations.
Frankly, the longer one fought him, the more disadvantageous it became, so settling the match in a short, decisive battle was the best solution.
In other words, to defeat Kazuma, one needed a special move that could kill on the first encounter.
“Satsuki!!!”
Just as Kazuma finished talking with Shiori, Issei burst out, pushing through the crowd.
Having his name shouted so loudly, Kazuma whirled around towards Issei, wondering what was going on.
“What is it? Shouting so loud.”
“Ah, um, sorry. The thing is… I have a favor to ask.”
“A favor? Of me?”
“Yeah…”
Issei, scratching the back of his head awkwardly, kept glancing at Kazuma.
Issei looked like a child hiding a secret.
As Kazuma watched Issei with a sense of unease, Issei took a deep breath as if he had made up his mind.
“Please! Make me your disciple!”
“No. I refuse.”
“Eh!? C-couldn’t you at least think about it a little…?”
“For someone asking a favor, you’re quite impudent.”
Everyone internally retorted to Kazuma’s line with, “You’re one to talk.”
As if he had read their minds, Kazuma glanced at the people surrounding them and glared sharply.
Wondering if he had actually read their minds, the surrounding people panicked and quickly looked away.
From that reaction alone, Kazuma guessed what they had been thinking and grumbled sulkily.
“Let me tell you, I’m actually quite polite, you know.”
Most people were surprised, but the members of the Seventh Esper Academy recalled that, now that it was mentioned, Kazuma did indeed act properly and politely towards his superiors.
“Come to think of it, that’s true…”
“Kazuma-kun is often misunderstood due to his usual words and actions, but he does things properly when he needs to.”
“He has that jock-like vibe, but he uses honorific language too.”
“His personality changes when he’s fighting, though.”
“Now that you mention it, yeah. He’s never spoken to me informally.”
“Thanks to his mother’s upbringing. Kazuma is a good boy.”
“Thanks, everyone! Though I kinda feel like I’m being made fun of!”
Kazuma expressed his gratitude for his comrades’ assessment, though he looked slightly disgruntled.
“Haa… Sorry for getting sidetracked. Like I said earlier, I’m not taking you as a disciple.”
“……Is it because you hate me?”
Issei, seemingly unconvinced, looked down and asked Kazuma, trembling with anger.
“That’s part of it… but mainly, it’s because you’re no good for not thinking things through.”
“Wha-!? It’s not like I haven’t thought about it! I’m trying to get even a little stronger—”
“Ah~, no, no. My wording was bad. I personally like that reckless, headstrong part of you.”
“Then!”
“However, Kisaragi. You, who don’t consider your masters’ feelings at all, are no good.”
“Eh…”
“I haven’t seen you fight, so I can’t say much… but aren’t you being taught by Tsubaki Hinomori and Ayame Fujisaki, whom you summoned with Starry Sky Memory?”
“Ah…”
“I don’t dislike the part of you that bows your head even to me, whom you say you hate, in order to become stronger. But I do hate guys who neglect their masters. Because, isn’t that right? If you found someone stronger than me, you’d abandon me and go to them. I wouldn’t want to take someone like that as a disciple.”
Issei felt a shock as if he’d been punched in the head by Kazuma’s words.
He hadn’t said a single wrong thing.
Issei was striving to become stronger.
His attitude of not resting on his laurels with the exceptional Gift, Starry Sky Memory, which could summon past Heroes, and instead desperately trying to become stronger, was commendable.
Issei, who was desperately working hard under the tutelage of the Heroes summoned by Starry Sky Memory, was even worthy of praise.
However, abandoning the people who had been teaching him if someone stronger than those Heroes appeared was unforgivable.
“…Sorry. I was wrong.”
“I’m not the one you should be apologizing to. Don’t get it wrong. The ones you should apologize to are over there.”
“Yeah. I’ll go apologize. And then I’ll properly ask them if it’s okay for me to become your disciple.”
“Ah, sorry about that.”
“Why!? We were just about to wrap things up nicely!”
“No, even if you get their permission, there’s no merit for me in taking you as a disciple…”
“Ghh~~~! Aaah, geez!”
Issei stomped his feet in frustration.
Kazuma understood his frustration, but as he’d been saying from the start, he disliked Issei, so there was no way he’d take him as a disciple.
Kazuma stared at Issei, wondering why he couldn’t understand that.
“Then, have a one-on-one sparring match with me! If I win, make me your disciple!”
“And if you lose?”
“I-if I lose… I’ll never ask you to make me your disciple again.”
“Are you kidding me? There’s absolutely no merit in that for me! And yet you still dare to pick a fight, you!”
“Ugh…! Th-then… I’ll introduce you to a girl you might like!”
“Now that’s a story I’d like to hear in detail. Let’s go over there for a bit.”
Kazuma didn’t like Issei, not one bit, but if presented with a merit, he would flip his attitude in an instant.