Regret and Frustration! - Anime: Infinite Swordsman! (Danmachi+Asterisk War+Rakudai)

Chapter 481: Regret and Frustration!

"Thirty-two elite students were selected from eight knight academies across the Far East."

"They fought all this way for a single place at the summit."

"And yesterday, every match finally reached its conclusion."

"Twenty-six fierce battles. Every single one remains vividly etched in my memory…"

The voice of Seven Star Sword Art Festival operating committee chairman Kaieda Yuzou echoed throughout the venue.

However, almost no one was looking at him.

Everyone's attention was fixed on the award podium standing at the center of the stage.

Hardly anyone had the patience to listen to Kaieda's speech.

They were all eagerly awaiting the appearance of the three competitors who would soon step onto the podium—The three protagonists of this Festival.

Luke Ashburn.

Kurogane Ikki.

And Stella Vermillion.

At that moment, all three were already waiting inside the lounge for the speech to end so they could go receive their awards.

However, despite always getting along quite well—The atmosphere between them was strangely awkward.

"…"

"T-The weather's pretty nice today… Ahahaha… uh…"

Ikki was the first to speak.

Apparently, he wanted to break the uncomfortable silence.

Unfortunately—Luke looked up at the completely enclosed ceiling of the lounge.

Then he gave Ikki a look normally reserved for someone lacking basic intelligence.

Beside him, Stella covered her forehead, equally speechless.

Still, Ikki had at least managed to weaken the awkward atmosphere somewhat.

Luke looked between Ikki and Stella.

After confirming that neither seemed particularly different from usual, he quietly relaxed.

Unfortunately, he did not bother hiding that tiny reaction.

Both Ikki and Stella immediately noticed.

Ikki had just been silently mocked, so he was too embarrassed to say anything.

Stella, however, seized the opportunity and teased Luke.

"You didn't seriously think we'd be bothered by losing or our rankings, did you?"

Luke disdainfully curled his lips at her words.

Then—He silently looked away.

Stella had originally only been joking.

She had merely wanted to completely erase the lingering awkwardness between the three of them.

So Luke's reaction made her freeze.

She stared blankly for a full three seconds before recovering.

Then she glared at him irritably.

"Seriously?!"

"What kind of people do you think we are?!"

"We're not that petty! Honestly!"

But after saying that, Stella paused.

Her entire presence suddenly seemed to shrink a little.

Only then did Luke answer.

"You're still a little regretful and frustrated, though, aren't you?"

That was precisely the main reason the atmosphere had felt strange.

Neither Stella nor Ikki was angry.

But things were inevitably a little unnatural.

After all, both of them had lost to Luke.

Now that they were about to stand together on the podium, memories of their defeats naturally came back to mind.

Of course—That was all.

None of the three would seriously dwell on such meaningless awkwardness.

There was certainly regret and frustration.

But those emotions were fuel for further growth.

For Ikki and Stella, the two would work even harder over the next year.

And next year, they intended to repay every bit of today's regret and frustration directly to Luke.

Luke had no intention of relaxing either.

The superhuman growth potential displayed by Ikki and Stella placed considerable pressure on him.

He certainly did not want to return next time only to be surpassed by the two of them shortly afterward.

Losing was not a pleasant feeling.

Luke had no intention of dwelling on the subject and letting the atmosphere turn awkward again.

So he changed topics immediately.

Turning from Stella toward Ikki, Luke asked,

"Your father came to see you?"

"Yeah…"

"When I woke up last night, he was already there."

Whenever the subject involved the Kurogane family, his relatives, or especially his father—Ikki's expression had never been pleasant.

Sometimes it was sadness.

Sometimes pain.

At best, it would be deeply complicated.

But this time was different.

There was a faint smile on his face.

Then Ikki stood.

Facing Luke directly, he bowed deeply with complete sincerity.

"Truly…"

"Thank you."

Naturally, Kurogane Itsuki had explained everything when he visited.

Ikki understood perfectly well that without Luke's intervention, what he received from his father would not have been recognition from the Kurogane family.

It would have been formal notice severing their relationship.

Before the match, no one could have imagined that a Blazer with supposedly worthless talent like Ikki would actually enter the Desperado realm.

Without someone influential enough to speak on his behalf—Without Luke personally vouching for him—Ikki would have received that severance notice before the Festival even ended.

And once that happened, even becoming a Desperado would never allow him to be truly accepted back into the Kurogane family.

At most—The two sides might reconcile.

For an ancient prestigious family like the Kurogane house, reputation mattered more than almost anything.

If they formally severed ties with Ikki, only to retract the decision after he became a Desperado—It would amount to publicly slapping themselves in the face.

Families like these would often rather lose tangible benefits than suffer such humiliation.

To ordinary people, that might seem foolish or incomprehensible.

But it was actually common among powerful families throughout many nations.

The greater their status and authority—The more seriously they valued face.

Whether that mindset ultimately brought more benefit or harm was probably something only they themselves could judge.

But for Ikki—None of that mattered anymore.

The Kurogane family had never formally broken with him.

And now Ikki was an extremely powerful Desperado who was surprisingly easy to negotiate with.

As long as he chose not to pursue the family for everything they had done to him in the past—The Kurogane house would practically worship him from now on.

There had only ever been four Desperados in the Far East.

And with the Great Hero Kurogane Ryouma already deceased, even counting Ikki, only three remained alive today.

As long as they had any choice at all, the current Kurogane family would never willingly turn Ikki into an enemy.

In fact—Akaza, the fat man who had carried out many of the family's previous measures against Ikki, had already been dealt with.

If Ikki wished, the Kurogane family would hand the man over to him as compensation.

And it did not stop there.

Every Kurogane family member who had directly acted against Ikki had also been punished.

Main family or branch family.

Internal member or outside affiliate.

It made no difference.

Almost everyone involved had received punishment of varying severity.

That was simply how reality worked.

There was often no need to personally deal with disgusting little people.

Once you became powerful enough—Once you became someone no one dared offend—Others would naturally take care of such people for you.

As for Kurogane Itsuki himself—Ikki ultimately chose to forgive his father.

No matter what had happened, the man was still his biological father.

And with Ikki's personality—He simply could not bring himself to truly hate Kurogane Itsuki.

"For you…"

"This might be the best possible ending."

Luke looked at Ikki and sighed with some emotion.

…

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Chapter 481 - Regret and Frustration!