"It's so hot."
Arisuin Nagi walked along the mountain path, gently wiping the sweat from his forehead.
It was noon, the sun hanging directly overhead, its scorching heat nearly unbearable.
"Such a stark contrast to the weather back then..."
The deadline was approaching.
Tomorrow night, the operation would begin.
Yet, Arisuin found himself unable to suppress the flood of memories.
He had been born in Northern Europe, a land of perpetual cold, where warmth was a rare luxury.
Back then, he and several other orphans had been taken in by a kind-hearted nun, living together in a monastery. As a Blazer, he possessed considerable strength and acted as an elder brother figure, protecting everyone and earning their affection.
Though life was frugal and they were all just children, he used his Blazer abilities to work for the local mafia, earning enough to ensure no one went hungry. Once a week, they even had meat stew.
It wasn't a life of abundance, but looking back, those were undoubtedly the happiest days he could remember.
But the peace didn't last.
That country was later chosen to host the Olympics.
A global-scale event, it would draw tourists and dignitaries from around the world, necessitating a "clean-up" of the city.
Thus, the homeless children became eyesores to the upper class.
But the elites couldn't dirty their own hands, so they outsourced the task to the local mafia, ordering them to "remove" the street children—by any means necessary.
One night, when Arisuin returned, he found the bodies of his younger siblings.
The very mafia that had employed him, eager to curry favor with the upper class, had sent assassins to slaughter the children.
Arisuin snapped.
By the time he regained his senses, his entire body was drenched in blood, the ground littered with dismembered limbs and entrails.
Dozens of mafia members had been mercilessly slaughtered by his hand.
"Stay away from us!"
Yet the surviving children, terrified by his blood-soaked appearance and the carnage around him, screamed in fear, begging him to leave.
Arisuin didn't blame them.
Fear of blood was only natural.
After killing so many, it was only right that his siblings would despise him.
And then—
"Oh? You stole all my prey?"
One of the Twelve Apostles of 〈Rebellion〉, the One-Armed Swordsman, happened to pass by.
"Pass by" wasn't entirely accurate.
In truth, he had been hired by the upper class to eliminate the mafia as well.
That's right.
In the eyes of the elites, not only were the street children trash—so were the mafia.
A perfect case of "killing the donkey after it's done grinding the grain."
The One-Armed Swordsman recognized Arisuin's talent, seeing in him the makings of a formidable assassin, and offered to take him away.
"One hundred million."
Amid the freezing snow, Arisuin made his demand.
"Give me one hundred million, and I'll go with you."
The One-Armed Swordsman agreed.
Arisuin left the money with the monastery, entrusting the nun to care for his siblings.
And with that, he stepped into the world of darkness.
***
"Why am I thinking about this now?"
Arisuin snapped out of his reverie with a bitter smile.
Since joining 〈Rebellion〉, his hands had long been stained with blood.
In order to seize benefits for 〈Rebellion〉, the Black Assassin had already killed hundreds of people—some good, some bad—and his name was notorious in the underworld.
By now, there was no washing his hands clean of it.
"Shizuku, I'm home."
Arisuin opened the door and stepped into the dorm room.
"Welcome back, Alice."
Shizuku, dressed in luxurious silk pajamas, greeted her. She had originally planned to take an afternoon nap.
Even during the joint training camp, she and Shizuku remained roommates.
Come to think of it, Hagun Academy's representative candidates this year were all three pairs of roommates to begin with.
"Shizuku, if one day I did something to betray you, what would you do?"
Alice found herself feeling unusually sentimental today.
She looked at Shizuku as if gazing at her younger siblings who were far away.
If they had grown up healthy and safe, they would probably be around Shizuku's age now, wouldn't they?
If not for that incident back then, would they have clung to her the way Shizuku clung to Ikki?
"That's a sudden question."
Kurogane Shizuku touched her smooth chin, pondering for a moment.
"Hmm... If Alice did something like that, it must have been unavoidable, right? I wouldn't say much, but I'd beat Alice up, drag her back, and then go on as usual."
Ah.
How different.
Alice was momentarily dazed.
Shizuku was nothing like her younger siblings—she had an unyielding sense of self.
"Heh, that's so like you, Shizuku."
"I can't say I'm happy about that kind of praise."
Shizuku pouted slightly.
She didn't think too much of it.
Though they had only lived together for three months, she trusted Alice deeply, truly seeing her as an older sister.
"Sorry, I need to take this call."
Just as they were chatting and laughing, a phone rang from Alice's pocket.
She flipped it open, her expression unchanged, though her eyes darkened for a fleeting moment.
After excusing herself to Shizuku, she stepped out of the room and answered the call.
"Giggle... Black Assassin, there's someone to eliminate..."
***
Night fell.
Kagami sat in front of her computer, fingers flying across the keyboard.
On the screen before her, detailed information about the seven individuals Eiji had provided was meticulously listed—far more comprehensive than a few days prior.
Today was the sixth day of the joint training camp.
Though, according to Eiji's reasoning, the enemy's goal was likely the Seven Stars Sword Art Festival, meaning there was no need to rush—they still had at least ten days to spare.
But Kagami, sensing a major scoop, couldn't suppress her journalist instincts. She had worked tirelessly, contacting numerous friends from other schools to compile a wealth of information.
"Reisen Hiraga is a Puppeteer!"
"Rinna Kazamatsuri has a pet lion—suspected to be a special variant!"
"None of these people's backgrounds have any obvious issues, but they're all too perfectly formatted—like they were mass-produced on an assembly line! My reporter's gut tells me there's definitely something fishy about them!"
"And most importantly—this!"
Kagami picked up a document.
After days and nights of investigation, cross-referencing the data, she had finally uncovered an extremely well-hidden piece of intel!
It listed all the sponsors of the Seven Stars Academies.
After compiling all the data, she discovered there was an eighth hidden sponsor among them.
And what a terrifying figure this was!
It was this person who had secretly funded all seven individuals and arranged for them to enter Seven Stars Academy!
"This is absolutely earth-shattering news that will rock Japan—no, the entire world! Ooooh! I'm fired up now!"
Kagami was brimming with motivation.
Even after staying awake for a full day and night, nothing could dampen her excitement.
Until the next moment—
Thunk!
A dark purple dagger came piercing from behind, running straight through her chest.
***
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