"What's on your mind, Junior Brother?" Toudou Touka asked Ryoji as they walked along the nighttime road.
He looked down at his hands, a thoughtful expression on his face.
Seeing his absent-minded demeanor, Toudou Touka didn't get angry. Instead, she asked with genuine concern, "Is everything alright?"
"I noticed something when I shook hands with Shinomiya Amane earlier," Ryoji said, lost in thought. "He has several calluses on his hands."
"Isn't that normal?" Toudou Touka asked, puzzled.
"Everyone gets calluses on their hands, swordsmen, laborers, even students who write a lot!"
Indeed, as a swordsman herself, Toudou Touka inevitably had calluses on her hands, a testament to a decade of daily sword practice.
"But Shinomiya Amane's calluses weren't on his fingertips or first joints."
Ryoji spread his fingers, demonstrating for Senior Sister.
"Typically, calluses from writing form on the fingertips of the index, middle, and other fingers, or on the first joints. But Shinomiya Amane's calluses were on the third joints of all four fingers except the thumb, while his fingertips were entirely without calluses."
If he were a swordsman, calluses would have formed on all finger joints, even at the base of his fingers.
"What does that mean?" Toudou Touka asked, her expression puzzled.
Only the third joints of his four fingers showed calluses.
"Thrown weapons," Ryoji explained, clenching his four fingers into a fist, leaving a gap between them.
"He must be using a weapon like a rapier, gripping it between the third joints of his four fingers, and then throwing it. That's likely how he uses it."
In other words, his Spiritual Item (Device) was a plurality of rapiers.
To draw an analogy, it was similar to the Black Keys used by the Executors in the TYPE-MOON World.
Years of wielding such weapons had left marks only on the third joints of his four fingers.
"Amazing, Junior Brother! You can observe things to this extent?" Toudou Touka exclaimed, utterly astonished by her junior brother's observational skills.
"Wait a moment... then why did he...?" she suddenly realized, her face paling.
"That's my question too," Ryoji said with a calm nod.
"He clearly had the ability to subdue that criminal single-handedly, yet he was terrified into retreating repeatedly... Or rather, he pretended to be terrified into retreating repeatedly. There's no doubt it was a ruse!"
A man with calluses on his hands from martial arts training couldn't possibly struggle against an ordinary random killer, let alone someone like Blazer!
Yet he had deliberately portrayed himself as a helpless weakling, screaming in terror at the mere sight of a murderer.
What could his true motive be?
"Is he trying to appear weak to his enemies?" Toudou Touka speculated.
It was a perfectly reasonable guess.
Ryoji's reputation had soared. Most students in the academy likely knew he possessed Seven Stars Sword King-level strength, making him a strong contender for this year's Seven Stars Sword-Art Festival championship. It was only natural for him to conceal his true abilities.
"But he couldn't have known we were there at the time," Ryoji pointed out. "Why would he need to appear weak in that situation?"
"Good point."
Toudou Touka frowned deeply.
They were completely at a loss as to his true purpose.
Without a single clue, even Sherlock Holmes would be stumped.
"For now, let's just stay on our guard against him," Ryoji said.
He pondered for a while, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't come up with an answer. Eventually, he gave up and turned to warn Senior Sister Touka.
"Judging by what we've seen so far, his motives are definitely not straightforward. Our encounter might have even been planned by him. If we run into him at the Seven Stars Sword-Art Festival, we need to be extremely cautious!"
They should be especially wary of his special ability.
Currently, the only thing they didn't know was his special ability. If they let their guard down, this could easily become a hidden weakness that leads to their defeat.
After all, Blazers' abilities come in all shapes and sizes. No matter how bizarre or seemingly impossible they might be, they can't be completely ruled out. You never know what kind of monster might suddenly spring out from some hidden corner, so they needed to remain vigilant at all times.
"I understand," Toudou Touka said with a solemn nod.
"Enough about that! Let's go to karaoke first!"
"Junior Brother, you're really..."
...
Their night of karaoke remained unspoken.
On the morning of the fourth day of intensive training, the pair returned to the training grounds together.
Toudou Touka went back to class, while Ryoji sought out Kusakabe Kagami.
"Kagami, give me a copy of the roster."
"Here you go!"
The journalist handed Ryoji a copy of the Seven Stars Sword-Art Festival roster, listing the representative contestants from each academy.
Ryoji took the roster and began to examine it carefully.
He skipped Hagun Academy's list, immediately flipping to Kyomon Academy's roster.
Among the six candidates, Tsuruya Mikoto was Kyomon Academy's undisputed top expert. Currently in her final year of high school, she had also reached the quarterfinals in the previous Seven Stars Sword-Art Festival, demonstrating considerable strength.
The other four names were unremarkable, but the last one stood out: Shinomiya Amane.
"Just as I suspected," Ryoji muttered, nodding inwardly.
It seemed the Kyomon Academy representative contestant had been telling the truth about this part.
But when Ryoji flipped to the next page, he found Shinomiya Amane's profile shockingly sparse.
No Level listed.
Special ability unknown.
Even his usual tactics were a complete mystery.
The only information recorded was basic: name, age, and similar details. As for anything Blazer-related, there was absolutely nothing.
"Kagami, is this all the information you have on this guy?" Ryoji asked.
"Kyomon Academy's Shinomiya Amane?" Kusakabe Kagami tapped her chin thoughtfully.
"There's really very little information about him. Even his fellow contestants from Kyomon Academy know nothing about him. I guess only the Sensei who selected him knows his true strength."
"Oh, but there's one thing..."
Kagami suddenly shifted, her expression turning serious.
"Shinomiya Amane's battle record is extremely peculiar."
Although he hadn't participated in any actual combat, every academy conducts simulated battles internally, about five or six times per semester, like midterms and finals.
"In Shinomiya Amane's six simulated battles, he won every single one without fighting!"
Whether it was a sudden ankle sprain, food poisoning, or an emergency at home... in each instance, his opponent withdrew for some reason, allowing Shinomiya Amane to effortlessly secure consecutive victories in the simulations.
'How very strange!'
"Is this due to Blazer's special ability?" Ryoji wondered, furrowing his brow in deep thought.
To be honest, this pattern reminded him of someone.
Misogi Utakata.
The Vice-president of Hagun Academy, a childhood friend of Senior Sister Touka and Rich Lady Kanata. Although only a D-Rank Knight, his Noble Art, "Absolute Uncertainty," possessed a terrifying ability to interfere with fate.
If he so chose, he could force opponents to withdraw for any reason before a battle, securing victory without lifting a finger.
Shinomiya Amane's performance bore an uncanny resemblance to Misogi Utakata's ability!
Ryoji continued browsing through the other academies' rosters. He had initially intended to familiarize himself with this year's opponents anyway.
But as he scanned the lists, he stumbled upon a colossal secret.
(End of Chapter)
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