Chapter 61: The Beautiful Girl Divine Archer
On the morning of the second day, during the team kyudo competition, the contestants stepped onto the field in perfect unison. The three participants stood firmly in their positions. In front of them was the 28-meter target range.
Because this was a team event with only school groups participating, there were fewer competitors than the previous day.
The rules for the team match were as follows: three-person teams, three rounds, ten arrows in total.
The team with the highest number of hits would be declared the winner.
The competitors took their positions, feet shoulder-width apart, raised their bows, and set their arrows.
Next came the powerhouse school from Kyoto, Kazemai High School. The black-haired boy carried himself with an extraordinary air, while the curly-haired boy showed a solid form built through years of training.
In the end, International High School, Shirou's team, hit the target 17 times, placing third. Kazemai High School secured first place with 19 hits.
After the match concluded and the championship team gave their speech…
Shirou stepped down from the field to change out of his kyudo uniform. A few girls came down from the audience seats to meet him.
"Congratulations! That was seriously amazing—you guys were this close to getting second place!" said Asuna, sweet and gentle as always.
"Thanks, I think we did pretty well as a team," Shirou replied with a smile. Just earlier, back in the locker room, the club president and vice-president were celebrating the fact that they'd likely receive a school-issued bonus after this.
"I think when it comes to glory, individual performance is what truly matters. Team matches are just a compromised format so more people can participate," interjected Yukinoshita calmly from the side.
"Shirou! You looked so cool shooting earlier!" Yuigahama said with a cheerful laugh. "So kyudo isn't boring at all, huh? Next time, I'll come watch your practice with Mash!"
"No, that's probably not a good idea," Shirou said plainly. "It'd be troublesome for the other members if you bring a group of girls and cause a distraction. It might bother those who actually want to train seriously."
"Whaaat!" Yuigahama puffed up her cheeks in protest.
"Yuigahama-senpai, I am practicing kyudo too, you know," Mash interjected, somewhat annoyed. If she had started practicing just a few months earlier, the teacher might've even allowed her to compete.
"Yeah, keep at it, Mash. If you run into any problems, I'll guide you. Let's join the next competition together," Shirou said with a warm smile.
"Okay! Shirou-senpai!" Mash nodded enthusiastically. Whether it was work, studies, or club activities, she wanted to do her best in everything.
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"Damn it! Why? Why?! Even though we won, why can't I feel happy at all?!"
The curly-haired boy from Kazemai High School, a top-tier archery school from Kyoto, had just stepped outside when he saw Shirou chatting casually with a group of girls—and immediately began pulling at his hair in frustration.
In the team match, they had been shocked by Shirou's back-to-back bullseyes—but ultimately faced no major setbacks.
The competitors that followed weren't particularly strong, so they still managed to take first place without much trouble.
He had come out feeling proud, ready to call his family and friends and brag a little. After all, he had just beaten the now-famous "Hawkeyed Prodigy" who was the talk of the tournament. Sure, Shirou had hit ten out of ten, but his teammates had dragged him down.
Still, a win was a win, right?
Then he saw Shirou step off the field with an air of nonchalance. He thought Shirou was just acting cool.
But as soon as Shirou left, he was already chatting comfortably with a bunch of beautiful girls.
That's when it hit the curly-haired boy: he had truly lost. He might've won the match, but he had lost in life.
"Don't be like that," said the team ace, the black-haired boy, who held deep respect and passion for kyudo. "For those of us who've dedicated our lives to archery, let's just take victory as a dowry—and marry the bow."
"I don't wanna do that!" the curly-haired boy roared.
His dream was to become a professional archer, and one day, marry a kind and beautiful wife who also loved kyudo.
He spent all his time training so hard that he barely had time to grind FGO (Fate/Grand Order).
But if it's an Archer-class servant, he always rolled for them, alright?! He had already maxed out Atalante Alter, so Tomoe Gozen couldn't be far behind!
"…Why do I feel like your mindset isn't much better than mine?" the black-haired ace said, looking at his friend, bewildered.
"Don't worry about it! Even if it's just a waifu from a mobile game, maybe she'll jump out of the screen someday and find you too. You should totally play FGO—Archers and real-life archers go hand in hand!" the curly-haired boy said enthusiastically.
"Actually, I do play. I got Arjuna on my first 10-pull," the black-haired boy said with a smile.
Now that the kyudo competition was over, the two boys had lots of free time.
They packed up their gear, planned to do a little sightseeing near Tokyo, and would return to Kyoto after the award ceremony the next day.
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Meanwhile, after chatting with the girls for a bit, Shirou had to put down his bamboo bow, pick up his recurve bow, and hurry over to the recurve archery competition grounds—he still had three or four matches to go.
The recurve individual match required contestants to stand in a row and shoot 36 arrows over 6 rounds. The one with the highest total score would be the winner.
The target for the 30-meter range was twice the size of kyudo's small targets. For the 50-meter distance, the target was even larger. At 70 meters, the diameter reached 122 centimeters.
The target was divided into 10 scoring rings, colored white, black, blue, red, and yellow. The very center—the yellow inner ring—was the 10-point bullseye.
Each competitor had their arrows marked with a unique ID. Judges at the target would verify each arrow and tally the final scores.
This was a competition where points determined glory—and as for the result, there's really not much suspense to speak of.
After just a few rounds, the people around Shirou started looking at him like he was some kind of monster.
"Shirou, you got this~!" came a girl's voice cheering from behind.
As soon as the match ended, Shirou rushed out of the venue.
The compound bow competition was starting, and he had to get over to the outdoor green range in time.
"Here, senpai," said Mash, who had run after him. She handed over the bow case she'd been holding for him.
"Thanks," Shirou replied, taking the case and heading into the compound bow staging area, where he began adjusting his equipment.
Unlike the previous competitions, this was more of a friendship match—closer to a performance or promotional event. Anyone could join as long as they used a compound bow. Outside the venue, there were even tents renting out standard competition-grade compound bows.
Of course, if an enthusiast brought their own high-poundage hunting compound bow, that was fine too—as long as they followed basic safety rules and agreed to cover any damage to their arrows.
At that moment, another competitor entered. A hat-wearing "boy" approached with a purple compound bow, stepping into the lane right next to Shirou.
Sensing Shirou's gaze, the person glared sharply at him—like they had just spotted their lifelong rival.
"…?" Shirou tilted his head, confused. He was pretty sure he'd never wronged this person before.
"Erina-chan, you got this~! Oh, and you too, onii-chan, I guess!" The voice of Komachi called out cheerfully from the distance.
Shirou looked back and, sure enough, saw his little sister waving toward him.
He turned to glance at the "boy" next to him again—and realized that under the cap, strands of golden hair peeked out.
The person's sharp eyes and proud demeanor had a distinct ojou-sama (noble lady) vibe. Judging by the hair tucked beneath the cap, it was clearly a girl.
"Hmm?" Shirou suddenly sensed a magical aura coming from the girl—similar to a spirit possession or summoning.
"So you're Komachi's brother, huh? Fight me!" The cap-wearing girl turned to him, her eyes fierce and resolute.