Chapter 7

“Hey, Yuria. So did you really manage to survive for two years in the Twilight?”

“Yeah… I know you don’t believe me, Ms. Sherry, but it’s true.”

“You can just call me Sherry. You know… I think that you’re just some delusional person who wandered into the Twilight and got hit on the head. Your behaviour, your movements, and your facial expressions all show that you’re incredibly weak. The Special Rank Exorcists that I know, their strength is immediately obvious. You don’t have any of their qualities. And I… trust in my eyes. And, you know, I have more than fifty hours of combat experience in the Twilight.”

We were talking before our match, standing face to face. Night had fallen, so there weren’t many people at the training grounds. Only the Headmaster and a few others were spectating our match.

My circumstances are supposedly top secret… but I guess a few high-ranking individuals are here to see how strong I am. It feels a little uncomfortable… Sherry’s not wrong, though: I fully understand that I’m delusional. The money’s important, yes, but I felt it was important for me to make my strength known here. “Sherry. I’ve survived on the verge of death for the past two years. Every day, I wondered if I was going to die the next day. But I lived, and I came back. I don’t doubt your eyes. But I’m definitely going to beat you.”

“Hmm. So you say.”

This isn’t just arrogance. It’s an absolute fact. I will not lose to her. I don’t feel like losing tonight, and I can’t afford to lose either. Is it a matter of pride? Or am I just concerned about my financial situation? As much as I asked myself those questions, I couldn’t come up with an answer.

And so, we faced off.

“Alright… Start the battle!” the Headmaster said. She was serving as the referee for our match.

In that instant, I quickly closed the gap between us and pointed my knife at her neck. I didn’t even need to use [Invisible Blade]. A simple physical attack was all it took to seal my victory. She probably wasn’t expecting me to move this fast.

“The… the winner is Yuria…”

“Huh… what…?”

She was dumbfounded. Her face seemed to be saying, What? What happened? She gradually came back to her senses, and suddenly shouted, “One more time!!”

“Uh… are we allowed to have a rematch?” I asked the Headmaster.

“…If you’re okay with it.”

“Got it.”

We fought several times after that. I didn’t lose, not even once.

“I’ve got you!”

We were on our last match. Having lost 9 times in a row, she decided that this would be our last match. She had apparently gotten used to the way I handled my knife because she was able to handle it better. But… I still don’t think I need to use [Invisible Blade] here. That blade is impossible to detect. If I use it now, I’ll probably end up killing her by accident.

“I’ve got you!” she shouted, aiming for a slight gap in my defenses… but she was too slow.

Dodging this is a pain, I thought, so I fended off her attack by using [Invisible Blade] with my left hand. The knife in my right hand, meanwhile, just slightly touched her body before her attack made contact.

“Huh??”

“…And the winner is Yuria…” the Headmaster announced for the tenth time.

Sherry was panicking.

Well, yeah, that makes sense. Her attack was suddenly deflected by thin air.

In truth, this was how I did it: my [Invisible Blade] requires a starting point for it to activate. In other words, I can’t create a sword in the middle of the air. There has to be a physical hilt to the sword. A wall would be fine without it, but invisibly reproducing something complex like a sword is difficult. So, I need a starting point. It can be anything, though. As long as it’s cylindrical, I can activate [Invisible Blade]. Sticks, pencils, combs… and even my hands, fingers, and feet can be made into swords.

“I lost… overwhelmingly…” Sherry said, finally admitting her defeat. But, well… the fact that she’s a sore loser is the only thing amazing about her. She has the spirit to face defeat after defeat. That’s something I can’t do. In my opinion, it’s a praiseworthy quality. Even when overwhelmed by her opponent, she has the will to take something away from it and grow. I was genuinely jealous of her. I’ve never had that kind of spirit.

“Yuria… you really are strong, aren’t you…” said Sherry, sticking her hand out to shake mine. Of course, I accepted.

“Well, it’s basically my only good point.”

“Humble, aren’t you. Your strength is something you can truly be proud of. I can’t even hold a candle to you…”

“You’re strong, too, though. Our last battle was pretty good.”

“…Spare me the flattery. I’ve become keenly aware of just how inexperienced I am. I’ll need to start over from scratch…”

“…No, you really are strong.”

“What’s strong, my sarcasm?”

“No, I meant your spirit.”

“Well, I suppose I’m a better sore loser than anyone out there.”

“Haha… you fought me ten times, so it’s pretty safe to say that you’re a sore loser.”

And so, I beat Sherry and decided to enroll in the Academy with a scholarship. Well, I’m just glad that I’m getting all of this for free.

“Alright then, Yuria. I’ll register you as a Rank 1 Exorcist. Is that alright?”

“Huh?”

“You beat a Rank 1 Exorcist, so of course you’re going to be Rank 1 yourself. Making you a Special Rank requires you to meet certain conditions. The best rank I can give you is Rank 1. Can you sign here?”

“O-okay…”

“A young man, having wandered in the Twilight for two years, returned to the Seventh Barriered City. He defeated Sherry, the strongest student at the Academy, and became a Rank 1 Exorcist.” Unbeknownst to me, that news would spread all throughout the Academy the very next day.