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A stack of papers had been divided into seven portions and laid out on the table.
Ryoji went through them one by one. He skimmed over the unimportant figures at a glance, but when he came across those with considerable strength, his eyes lingered a little longer.
For example, last year's Seven Stars Sword King, Moroboshi Yuudai, Ryoji had long been acquainted with him in spirit. After all, both of them were major clients of Yakushi Kiriko, and Yuudai had even defeated his senior sister last year. He was a B-Rank Knight of no small ability.
There were also others like Kurashiki Kuraudo from Donrou Academy and Kaga Renji from Rokuzon Academy, both of whom had reached last year's quarterfinals. They were opponents who deserved careful attention.
Suddenly…
Ryoji spotted a familiar name.
"Sara Bloodlily?"
His gaze sharpened at once, landing on the photo of a girl with messy golden hair. That appearance, along with that "naked apron" impression, there was no mistake. It was the very same Sara he had met at the exhibition hall.
"She's a student of Rokuzon Academy… a first-year?" Ryoji was instantly surprised.
The last time he saw Sara, she had collapsed to the ground with just a light push, her body frail to the extreme. He had never even considered that she might be a Blazer.
And yet, not only was she a Blazer, she had even become Rokuzon Academy's representative contestant.
Wait a second.
Then that time…
Ryoji suddenly recalled the night attack on the long street.
That incident had happened not long after he parted ways with Sara. What had bothered him all along was that the shadowy figures who appeared back then had all intended to capture him alive.
And Sara, for some reason, had shown him unusual enthusiasm.
"Her ability is color manipulation… a conceptual type… not creation?"
Ryoji frowned.
Sara's Spiritual Item (Device) was a paintbrush and a palette. According to the data, her ability was conceptual, color manipulation. It was different from what he had assumed. She didn't create other Blazers through painting.
'Could it be that it wasn't her?'
A Blazer shouldn't be able to possess a second ability. If her power was truly color manipulation, then creating objects should be impossible.
For the time being, Ryoji suppressed his suspicion.
There was no way to confirm whether Sara was behind it. Acting rashly would be unwise.
He continued browsing through the contestants from other academies.
Not long after, he found another familiar name.
"Kazamatsuri Rinna?"
A pink-haired loli, even in the photograph, she exuded a full-blown chuunibyou aura, her expression extremely arrogant.
She was none other than the young lady of the Kazamatsuri Consortium whom he had met at the exhibition hall.
"Rentei Academy… first-year student…"
These two were both Blazers, and both were this year's representative contestants?
What a coincidence.
Ryoji kept going through the files.
Soon after, his expression suddenly darkened.
"Tatara Yui, first-year student of Donrou Academy… ability: reflection!"
That petite figure. Her Spiritual Item (Device) was a chainsaw! There was no doubt, she was absolutely one of the three shadowy figures from that night!
Something was wrong.
Something was definitely off.
Ryoji sped up, flipping through the documents as his gaze swept across them like lightning.
Sara and Kazamatsuri Rinna knew each other. Tatara Yui was one of the three shadows that attacked him that night… No, the Tatara Yui from that night should have been a created shadow, not her real self.
But could there really be such a coincidence?
He felt like he had grasped onto something.
And yet, a thin veil seemed to obscure his sight, preventing him from seeing the whole picture.
If he thought about it carefully, what did these three have in common?
They were all Blazers. All this year's representative contestants. All from different academies.
…All of them were first-year students!
Ryoji suddenly realized the key point. He abruptly stood up, spreading all the documents in front of him, picking out crucial pieces of information from each sheet and gathering them together.
"What's wrong, Ryoji-kun?"
Kusakabe Kagami had been typing on her computer, but seeing him suddenly stand up with such a grim expression, she looked over in surprise.
"Kagami, among the representative contestants of past Seven Stars Sword-Art Festivals, what proportion were first-year students?"
Ryoji stood in front of the table.
Seven sets of documents were spread out before him.
"Let me check… about ten percent." Kusakabe Kagami pulled up data from the past three tournaments and gave her answer after compiling it.
Out of a total of forty-two contestants in previous years, there were at most four or five first-year students.
"What about this year?"
"…Eh? Nearly forty percent!"
Kagami was stunned.
What was going on?
How had she failed to notice such a crucial detail before?
This year's representative contestants included more than a dozen first-year students, it was simply unbelievable!
"Kagami, help me investigate these six people."
Ryoji gathered several documents together and handed them to the reporter girl.
"Especially their backgrounds!"
His expression was somewhat obscure and hard to read.
"Leave it to me!"
Kagami took them eagerly.
She could smell a big scoop!
Going through the documents one by one, Kagami entered their names into a newly created table.
Donrou Academy — Tatara Yui.
Kyomon Academy — Shinomiya Amane.
Rokuzon Academy — Sara Bloodlily.
Bunkyoku Academy — Hiraga Reisen.
Rentei Academy — Kazamatsuri Rinna.
Hagun Academy — Arisuin Nagi.
A total of six people.
All of them were first-year students, evenly distributed among the Seven Stars Academies.
As Kagami grew increasingly busy, Ryoji returned to the stack of documents.
Among Bukyoku Academy's representatives this year, there were no first-year students.
But Ryoji still wanted to pick someone from Bukyoku Academy… of course, from the perspective of an opponent, definitely not because of any obsessive tendencies.
Among Bukyoku Academy's representatives this year, aside from last year's top three competing again, there was almost no one worth paying attention to.
Except for one.
"Kagami, add this one too!"
Ryoji handed over the final document.
Kusakabe Kagami took it and glanced at the name.
"Bukyoku Academy, Kurogane Ouma… isn't he a third-year student?"
"That's right, he is a third-year."
Ryoji said in a low voice, "But he's been missing for five years, and now he suddenly returns and even signs up for this year's Seven Stars Sword-Art Festival. Doesn't that seem strange?"
That's right.
Kurogane Ouma was also participating in this year's Seven Stars Sword-Art Festival.
Combined with what he had said back in Okutama, it almost seemed like he was deliberately opposing Stella.
"Oh, right, also help me investigate this Hiraga Reisen. Find out what his Blazer's special ability actually is!"
Ryoji paused for a moment before adding a final warning:
"Remember, be careful. There's likely another faction interfering behind this year's Seven Stars Sword-Art Festival. We don't yet know who they are, so don't act recklessly."
That's right.
Another force had inserted itself into the situation, placing these first-year students into the Seven Stars Academies. By becoming representative contestants, they were clearly planning to do something during this year's Seven Stars Sword-Art Festival.
At present, this was the most reasonable hypothesis.
In that case, it made much more sense that Sara and Kazamatsuri Rinna knew each other, and that they were connected to Tatara Yui and Arisuin Nagi.
And judging from the Puppet Warlock who had previously acted alongside Kurogane Ouma, the origins of these people were indeed highly suspicious.
(End of Chapter)