Chapter 80: Holy Grail?
To be honest, yesterday Eikou hadn't been in the mindset to think about this at all.
"Hey, what's with you? Didn't we agree to discuss a plan together?"
"Last night I went through a whole bunch of things, I didn't have any time to think."
Eikou sighed,
"The monthly exam is about to start. At this point, we'll just have to figure things out as we go. I won't betray our class, but under that condition, I'll do my best to help you."
"You really are…"
Black Jeanne sighed helplessly and turned her head away.
Eikou thought she would say something sarcastic, but instead he heard her say:
"Stop always thinking about helping others. Taking on other people's responsibilities will just wear you out. Even if I give up here, it's fine."
"But what can I do? I don't want you to get expelled, Alter-san."
"You're insane."
At that moment, the homeroom teacher—Finn—entered in an overly dramatic fashion, a confident smile on his face.
"Elite students of Class Britain, in a moment will be our Class Competition against Class France United. I believe that under my guidance, you will surely achieve a glorious victory! Now, let's defeat Class France and bring a true end to the Hundred Years' War between England and France!"
"Yeahhhh!"
Everyone couldn't help but raise their hands and shout, brimming with confidence about beating Class France.
Feeling the morale in the class soar, Black Jeanne—hiding inside Lancelot's armor—couldn't help but feel complicated emotions,
"I hope my life as an undercover ends soon. Being in this class is like sitting on a bed of thorns…"
"Don't be afraid, just dump everything on Lancelot. If he's not embarrassed, why should you be?"
Eikou pretended to comfort her, patting her shoulder.
"I'll kill you right now." Black Jeanne glared at him.
[The monthly exam begins.]
[Your Class Britain, along with Class France United, under the guidance of your homeroom teachers, have entered the Battle Simulation Room.]
[Your class's homeroom teacher is Finn, while Class France's homeroom teacher is Napoleon. This academy battle competition will be jointly presided over by both of them.]
[You can clearly feel the burning excitement on both sides; the strong aura of Servants from various countries blending together sweeps you along, making it hard to suppress the urge to fight.]
[…If you win this match, you will definitely receive a generous reward. However, for someone without a Noble Phantasm like you, this might not be an easy challenge.]
[You also haven't forgotten your promise to Jeanne Alter, and you're thinking about how to maneuver within your mind.]
In the Battle Simulation Room.
The students of the two classes faced off, brimming with killing intent.
"Tristan, why do you look so down?" Eikou couldn't help but ask.
"You just transferred here, so you might not know," Tristan explained with a heavy expression.
"Every year, the Class Competition is an extremely brutal battle. The Servants of the upper grades fight to the death, and at the most intense moments, there have even been students who were directly sent back to the Throne of Heroes. I'm afraid this year will also see incidents like that."
"Is that so?"
"Sir Kay of our Round Table was beaten so badly in last year's final exam that it was too tragic to look at. In the end, the rescue failed, and he was turned into a cube… We placed that cube in the Round Table clubroom, visiting it from time to time and praying for him to return soon from the Throne of Heroes."
"So the Monthly Exam is that terrifying…"
Eikou felt a chill down his spine. With his flashy but useless skills, could he even stand a chance?
"Ahem…"
Homeroom teacher Finn held the microphone and spoke to the students below:
"Students of the Britain and France classes, let me briefly introduce myself. I am Fionn mac Cumhaill, leader of the Fianna Knights, the one who defeated Nuada, the protector of Éire, and also—"
Eikou thought to himself, Please, spare us this long-winded, smelly introduction. Those who needed to hear it already have, and those who haven't will never want to. Just get to the point already.
Finn took a full two minutes to finish his introduction, then handed the microphone to Napoleon standing beside him.
Napoleon simply shoved the mic aside, stood tall and proud on the podium, and loudly introduced himself:
"My name is Napoleon, a man brimming with potential, nicknamed by the world as the 'Moriarty of warfare'! I look forward to your support!"
Eikou and the students below couldn't help but groan in unison.
He thought to himself, These two homeroom teachers don't seem normal at all. Can they actually organize the Class Competition properly, or are they just going to make things even more chaotic?
"I know that you, like me, are all looking forward to a bloody battle between classes, a great Servant war with NPs blasting enemies into dust. In the past, we would use the Battle Simulation Room's features to bring you to a battlefield safe for slaughter. But this year's Class Competition… will be a little different."
As soon as Napoleon finished, it was Finn's turn to speak:
"As you all know, due to the negative influence caused by Sesshouin Kiara, the number of teachers and students has been steadily decreasing. Considering safety concerns, this time we will not be holding battles as intense and brutal as before."
Eikou nodded slightly in thought.
The school had once said they would thoroughly investigate and capture Sesshouin, but now it seemed the academy's capabilities were quite limited.
Or maybe Sesshouin was simply too strong, to the point that even a group of Servants couldn't do anything to her?
"Therefore, this time we will slightly adjust the content of the Class Competition and change it to…"
Both homeroom teachers spoke in unison:
"Britain–France Friendship Holy Grail Racing!!"
"???"
Whether it was Eikou or the students below, everyone's face was filled with question marks.
What the hell was this?
"Today's Academy Competition will be a race testing speed and endurance. You will ride special bicycles designated by the school, passing through three racing zones with a total length of one hundred kilometers. You can use any means to take first place—using your Noble Phantasm is fine, using your skills is fine—just as long as you take the championship!"
Eikou thought, Oho, so this is the second phase of the Summer Event, racing edition, huh? Not bad—these teachers actually managed to think of something like this.
But from the way they said it, it didn't sound very safe—more like a no-rules race.
"And the final victor, along with their entire class, will receive…"
Here, homeroom teacher Finn deliberately paused, flashing a mysterious smile.
Immediately afterward, he took out an object.
It emitted a brilliant, divine golden light, so dazzling it was almost impossible to make out its shape. Just one look was enough to know how precious and rare it was.
Could it be… the Holy Grail?!