Chapter 8:
Their Names
THE NOBLES OF Calvin's faction weren't happy.
One of them, face red with rage, pounded his fist on the table in
front of him, drawing the attention of everyone else in the meeting room.
"Over one hundred members of my household died! One hundred sons and
family members!"
"We were the only ones who suffered losses? Damn it!!! If we had
known how skilled that man of Liam's was..."
"Claus, was it? He's completely unknown, but he must be incredibly
talented. And cold as ice too, to eliminate so many of his own forces just
because of a difference between factions."
The war with the United Kingdom had ended all too soon. Though
they assumed it would last for decades, the entire conflict concluded well
within a single year. Thanks to this swift victory, Cleo's reputation was
soaring, even though there had been many losses on the Empire's side.
However, the great majority of those were from Calvin's forces, who
rushed out to meet the fight while Cleo's faction hung back to wait for the
perfect time to strike.
The forces Calvin's faction contributed to the war didn't represent
the entirety of their military strength, so it shouldn't have affected them
much to lose a small number of ships. However, the fact that they had all
been wiped out made it a different story.
A noble seated near Calvin wore a bitter scowl. "Your Highness,
because of the war, Prince Cleo's forces are now almost entirely outfitted
with next-generation weapons. Most of the weapons factories we asked not
to supply them ignored our requests."
"Indeed. It seems my name doesn't amount to much, does it..."
The Empire had given their approval to make updating the
expeditionary army's weaponry the highest priority at any weapons
factories that supplied them. To undermine Cleo, Calvin's faction had
contacted the weapons factories and asked them to give Cleo's faction
only the minimum of support. Unfortunately, the factories that already had
a relationship with Liam ignored that request. Of the factories Calvin's
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faction had contacted, the Third, Sixth, Ninth, and the Seventh—all of
which were intimately involved with Liam—had given Cleo's faction their
full support instead.
As a result, the expeditionary army had placed the majority of their
orders with those four weapons factories and the other factories hadn't
been able to profit from the conflict, so now they were irritated with
Calvin—just like the nobles in his own faction.
"So the factories ignored the crown prince's request and sided with
Cleo's faction. The nerve of them." Calvin said this, but he could imagine
why the weapons factories had ignored his request. "I suppose they
thought they'd get more out of it in the end if Liam stood at the top."
One of the nobles noted, "The Empire has always favored the First
and Second Weapons Factories. I wouldn't be surprised if the others have
been nursing resentment for a long time now, and figured they'd benefit
more from siding with Cleo's faction."
"That's troubling. It's not as if it's my policy."
The reason the Empire favored the First and Second Weapons
Factories was because they tended to be repositories for the highest-quality
military technology. When they were first established, each individual
weapons factory would share whatever technology they developed for
themselves with the First and Second, since their goal was to create the
best-performing weaponry for the Imperial Army. As the years went by,
though, eventually the First and Second Weapons Factories basically just
profited from the technology of the other factories without innovating
much on their own. The Empire left that situation as it was for so long that
the other weapons factories came to hold a grudge. These other factories
doubtlessly gave their assistance to Cleo's faction due to the influence of
Liam, who was their regular patron. The other factories probably hoped
that if Cleo became emperor, he would improve the situation they
currently found themselves in.
Calvin changed the topic of conversation to the weaponry itself. "So
Cleo's faction has armed itself with the latest weaponry, eh? I'd like for us
to do the same. Would that be difficult?"
He looked at the nobles around him, and from their sour expressions
he surmised that the answer was yes.
"It might be possible for some of our forces," one of them replied,
"but with the losses we sustained in the war, our finances are dire at the
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moment. The United Kingdom will be paying the Empire reparations, but I
doubt the prime minister will allow us to make use of them for such
purposes."
The prime minister would likely use the conflict's heavy expenses
as a reason to cut back on military spending, leaving Calvin unable to use
the Empire's money to strengthen his own faction.
This led the other nobles to return to the subject of Liam.
"That boy used Empire money to strengthen his faction though!"
"No, the brat spent a good deal of his own money, as I understand
it."
"So is he out of funds now too?"
Liam had spent quite a lot of his own wealth to fund his war efforts,
but he got a good return on his investment by bolstering the military might
of Cleo's faction. They also improved their ability to work together as a
unit.
I messed up, Calvin thought. Liam didn't stay behind just to party
and play it safe.
Liam remained behind on the Capital Planet so he could focus on
supporting his troops from the rear. Because of him overseeing logistics,
Cleo's army had suffered no setbacks in that area. It could even be said
they succeeded because Liam wasn't with them. He took a slight hit to his
reputation for not going to the frontlines himself, but the benefits far
outweighed the costs.
Now my faction's military strength is in question, by comparison.
Calvin's forces in the expeditionary army had suffered severe losses,
and they wouldn't be able to upgrade the weaponry of their remaining
forces for some time. They were in a bad position, and the prime minister
was sure to reject any attempts to use the Empire's money to fix that now
that the war was over.
The momentum's with Cleo now, but it can't end like this.
If this were enough to get Calvin to give up, then he would already
have dropped out of the race for the throne by now. He would even already
be dead.
"We allowed Liam to walk away with most of the glory, but we
can't let things stand the way they are."
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The gathered nobles added their input.
"Let's do all we can to ruin Liam's reputation."
"I'll admit he's skilled at logistics, but it still doesn't look good that
he didn't fight on the frontlines himself."
"To defeat Cleo, what we really need to do is defeat Liam. But
how?"
Even if they were to go after Liam's associates instead of him
directly, he protected those associates diligently. He also had a very skilled
underground organization working for him that had thwarted all of
Calvin's moves against him while he remained on the Capital Planet.
In Calvin's eyes, Liam was finally a formidable enemy. The other
nobles of his faction didn't underestimate him any longer either. He wasn't
just a boy who got lucky and was full of himself because of his personal
strength as a fighter. No—he was truly an enemy to contend with.
We realized Liam's strengths too late... Was this how it was for you,
Linus?
Had Calvin's brother lost to Liam because he underestimated him in
the same way?
Calvin pulled himself together and gave his faction a new order.
"Let's call those two Swordmasters to the Capital Planet."
The nobles all exchanged nervous glances, but they accepted his
suggestion as unavoidable.
"Will you send them to face Liam directly?"
Calvin shook his head. "No, I want them with me, just in case. I
think things are about to get messy on the Capital Planet, so I want them to
serve as my guards."
If they couldn't deal with Liam on the battlefield, then they'd have
to deal with him right here. Still, Calvin knew it would be a bad move to
just send the Swordmasters to deal with him directly. It would be more
beneficial to show people that the Swordmasters were aligned with him
than to send them to assassinate Liam.
There are other ways to get to the count. Political moves, financial
moves...any number of approaches. Military strength isn't all there is.
After conferring about it, Calvin and his noble allies decided to use
whatever methods they could to deal with Liam.
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He really must have some sort of divine force on his side if he was
able to turn the situation around on the battlefield the way he did.
Unfortunately for him, the real battle's not over yet.
***
The planet where the Ahlen sword style had its headquarters was
ruled by the Swordmaster serving as the style's current head. This fact
showed just how much weight the Ahlen style carried in the Empire. Many
powerful nobles were counted among its students, including Imperial
royalty. As one of the two major fighting styles utilized throughout the
Empire, it was rivaled only by the Kurdan mixed fighting style.
At the headquarters, the Ahlen style's Swordmaster was in the
process of preparing for a trip to the Capital Planet. He was a muscular
man dressed in a suit and a coat. He was also wearing sunglasses and had
his trusty sword in hand.
"We're all ready, sir."
His students stood in a line in front of the car that waited to take him
to the spaceport. They bowed as he approached.
Walking beside him, the Swordmaster's son said, "Who does the
crown prince think he is? Summoning you to protect him just 'cause he's
scared of Liam."
The headquarters of the Ahlen style actually had more power than
many noble houses, so the Swordmaster's son spoke like a noble himself.
Essentially, they were nobles. They earned their position teaching their
sword style across the Empire. Their unique position allowed them to
speak with some authority.
"I've never even heard of the Way of the Flash," the son said. "It's
laughable that the crown prince is so scared of a sham. Well, I guess it's a
good opportunity to give him some more training."
The family had grown arrogant since so many Imperial nobles
practically revered the instructors. They had grown used to being held as
masters of swordsmanship. Their abilities with the blade were real, and the
authority their family commanded rivaled other noble houses. Making an
enemy of the Ahlen sword style essentially meant making enemies of all
the nobles trained in that style. The school was much more powerful than
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many noble houses themselves.
"Count Banfield is full of himself for defeating Swordmaster Gerut,
but all he really did was beat one self-taught swordsman," the son went on.
"Banfield's nothing for the Ahlen style to be worried about."
"True enough," the Ahlen Swordmaster said, nodding. "The Way of
the Flash is just like any other wannabe sword style that will fade away in
an instant."
The Swordmaster was about to get into the car, but suddenly he
froze and leaped away from it. Many of his students did the same, but
those less skilled among them must have been cut by something. Blood
spurted from their bodies as they cried out in surprise.
The Swordmaster's son drew his sword and took a fighting stance
even before his father could. "Who's there?"
Suddenly, the car itself was bisected vertically.
Standing before the Swordmaster and his son was a young woman
holding a sword in each hand. She was dressed in a light kimono-like
garment that showed off her body shape with no sign that she wore any
sort of powered suit beneath it. Her eyes were hidden by the brim of her
straw hat, but her mouth was curved in a smile.
"How did you get here?" the son blurted out.
The Swordmaster knew his son was panicking, but he couldn't
blame him. There were a lot of reckless young people out there, and many
of them infiltrated the Ahlen style's headquarters every year in a show of
bravado. That was why there were strict checks in place if one wished to
come to their planet. The fact that this woman had gotten through those
security measures was proof of her skill.
The woman brought a hand up to her hat, and a group of master
swordsmen with the rank of assistant instructor rushed at her, seeing this
as a moment of vulnerability. The Swordmaster called out to taunt the
woman, assuming she was about to die at their hands.
"For someone infiltrating enemy territory, you were much too
relaxed. If you're going to attack someone, you need to— Wha?!"
One second, the Swordmaster saw his assistant instructors rushing at
the girl, and then the next, he saw them all flying away—each one missing
a limb. They all fell to the ground, their lives spared, but clutching their
injuries. He hadn't even seen the woman move.
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His son stepped in front of the Swordmaster. "Are you an assassin?
But then, why wouldn't you—"
Why isn't she killing her victims? Naturally this question came to
the Swordmaster's mind too, even as he marveled at the woman's skill.
Just now... What did she even do?
He didn't see the woman's sword move at all. Was she using some
sort of magic? A new type of weapon?
As the Swordmaster stared at her in awe, the woman threw her hat
aside and showed him her face. Her wild orange hair was long, tied back
behind her head. It swayed in the wind, billowing out for a second like a
lion's mane. The main reason he was able to instantly identify her as a
woman without seeing her face was because of her large breasts, which her
clothing couldn't disguise. For all her untamed unruliness, she had a
strange sex appeal...but she also seemed very young to him, as if she'd
only just become an adult.
Who is this woman? What is she? And...what school does she
belong to?
The Swordmaster was sweating heavily. At last he drew his own
sword, and when she saw that, the woman finally identified herself.
"I'll give you my name. If I don't, you're liable to say you don't
know who took you down, right? The name's Fuka Shishikami—and my
school is the Way of the Flash."
The Swordmaster leaped back when he heard that. His son,
however, stepped forward instead. "So you and your fake school have
finally shown yourselves! I'll put you in your place!"
The Swordmaster reached out desperately as his young, impetuous
son rushed forward. "You idiot! Get back!"
"Father, there's no need for you to draw your sword against one
measly—"
Before he could finish, something strange happened to his son's
body. The Swordmaster's eyes widened at what he saw take place right in
front of him.
A-again! What happened? What did she do?
The most talented of his children had both of his arms lopped off
like a complete rookie. As his blood sprayed into the air, the young man
cried. "My arms... My aaarms!!!"
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A crimson pool began to spread on the ground around him as blood
gushed from the stumps of both limbs.
"You're in my way. Move." Fuka kicked the son out of her way and
walked up to the Swordmaster. Her swords were back in their scabbards,
and her hands weren't even touching their handles. She spread her arms
wide, as if to show that she had no intention whatsoever of drawing them.
"I've been wanting to meet the Swordmaster of this pathetic little school.
Actually, I wanted to bring your head as a gift when I go to challenge the
senior pupil to a fight."
Seeing this woman who invaded the headquarters of the Ahlen style
and cut down all his strongest fighters without breaking a sweat before
him, the Swordmaster instinctively realized...
I'm no match for her.
He was chosen as a Swordmaster mostly for political reasons, but he
still stood at the top of a renowned school of swordsmanship. He definitely
had the abilities to back up his title. Unfortunately, it was those very
abilities that allowed him to gauge the strength of his opponent and
determine that he couldn't beat her.
The Swordmaster smiled, even though he knew he couldn't defeat
her himself. "It's lucky that we met here, and not elsewhere. Here, it
doesn't really matter how I take you down."
"Huh?"
Fuka gave him a questioning look, but before she could say anything
the Swordmaster shouted, "Do it!"
Armed soldiers charged out of the headquarters building, and
floating tanks appeared in the air above them. The soldiers surrounded the
young woman, pointing their guns at her. Fuka shrugged.
The Swordmaster pointed his sword at her. "Did you think I'd grace
you with a fair fight? No matter how strong the Way of the Flash is, if you
lose here, it's all over. No one will learn the truth. The only thing anyone
will hear of is your defeat. This is the end for your school."
Witnesses here would only spread the tale of an Ahlen Swordmaster
defeating a student of the Way of the Flash, keeping the full details of the
encounter a secret. If they did that, all anyone would ever know was that
the Ahlen style was victorious over the Way of the Flash.
Fuka's eyes went deadly cold. The expression on her face was one
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of disgust, as if she was disappointed to learn the true nature of this
Swordmaster. Even so, her lips wore a smile.
"I only need to win!" the Swordmaster continued to rant
triumphantly. "Winning is all that matters in any kind of fight. Coming up
with a strategy that allows you to win is nothing to be ashamed of. Now
disappear, Way of the Flash!"
Fuka scratched her head. She had lost all interest in the
Swordmaster. "Oh, whatever. I just want to be able to say I beat you. You
need to pay for trash-talking my master though. Your only purpose from
now on is to live a life of shame and to spread the word of how strong the
Way of the Flash is."
Enraged by Fuka's arrogance, the Swordmaster shouted to the
soldiers around him, "Hurry up and shoot her!" At the same instant he did
this, though, the soldiers and their weapons all went flying—each one of
them slashed to pieces.
The Swordmaster couldn't move. After all, Fuka had been thirty
meters away from him a second ago, but now she stood right in front of
him with the tip of her sword pressed to his gut.
"I'm going to take a little time now to show you just how
frightening the Way of the Flash is. Oh, and I'd like to take that title of
yours while I'm at it. It's kind of cool."
Did she really not understand the steps one had to go through before
they could officially call themselves a Swordmaster? She thought she
could assume that title just because she thought it was "kind of cool"? The
Swordmaster felt her words were an insult to his entire life.
Enraged with Fuka, he tried to open his mouth to say something, but
what came out was only a pained "Gah!!!"
"Really, I wanted to just squish you all like bugs, but you need to
suffer longer than that for badmouthing my master."
The Swordmaster trembled when he looked into Fuka's eyes from
up close. Th-this little girl is stronger than me? What is this Way of the
Flash? Why is it only making itself known now? Why?!
"K-kill her!!!" the Swordmaster yelled, and even more soldiers
appeared around them. "Kill her! I don't care if I get caught in the
crossfire! If you don't kill her, the Ahlen style is—"
If she escaped and boasted about this, the Ahlen style's reputation
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would be destroyed. He was so terrified of this prospect that he was
willing to sacrifice himself to erase her.
Surrounded by hundreds of soldiers, Fuka held her two swords up
and smiled again. "My blades will drink from each and every one of you."
That day, it was as though the headquarters of the Ahlen sword style
was hit by a hurricane. Thankfully, somehow, not a single person died in
the attack. Everyone unrelated to the school saw that as good thing...but
everyone associated with the school bemoaned it as the worst possible
outcome.
***
On the planet that was home to the school of the Kurdan mixed
fighting style, a female swordsman sat on the head of a mobile knight she
had just bisected with her longsword. From this perch, she looked down at
the Swordmaster of the Kurdan style and his best students. The Kurdan
Swordmaster was naked, and "The Way of the Flash was here" was burned
into his back. Just for fun, the female swordsman had marked him that way
with a laser gun.
"Well, that turned out nicely, didn't it?" she said. "I guess it's not so
bad using a gun every once in a while. Now I'm in a much better mood."
The students were terrified, but it was understandable. After all, the
female swordsman, Riho Satsuki, had charged into the Kurdan style's
headquarters and defeated the head of the school, a Swordmaster...even
toying with him in the process. The Swordmaster and his instructors had
thought that if they killed her on their own turf they could keep it under
wraps—even if they used a mobile knight to do it—but the young woman
had cut the machine down as easily as anything.
The young woman had long, deep blue hair and pink eyes. She
laughed innocently at the tormented Swordmaster. She was thin and
dainty-looking, with a feminine figure, but there was a childishness to her
as well, as if she had only just reached adulthood. Despite her youth, even
the school's best students hadn't been able to so much as touch her.
On top of the mobile knight, Riho swung her legs back and forth
playfully, losing interest in the Kurdan Swordmaster as he lost
consciousness. "Aw, now what was that you said about the Way of the
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Flash again?"
The students stared up at her, frozen with terror.
Suddenly, one student's arm fell to the floor with a thud, like it
simply dropped off on its own. "Yeeaaaaarrgh!"
It was impossible—no one had seen Riho make a move.
With a sadistic smile on her face, Riho said, "I won't kill you. It's
much better for you to live on, marked with shame. That's what you get
for acting like you were so strong when in reality, you're just weaklings.
Did you really think I'd let you get away with ridiculing my master's Way
of the Flash?"
Finally, the gathered students turned and fled, without giving a
thought to how pathetic they looked.
Riho jumped down from the mobile knight to chase them. "Ah ha ha
ha! You want to play tag? Are you serious? Oh my god, you guys are
hilarious!!!"
As she ran after them, she slashed at their ankles. The students
tumbled down around her. Then, she turned to the terrified rookie students
who were cowering off to the side.
"You guys will remember this, right?" she said. "The Way of the
Flash is the strongest sword style in the universe, and the strongest
swordsman in the universe is my master—Yasushi the Sword God! If you
get too full of yourselves like these guys, then..."
"S-stop! Aaaaaaaaaah!!!"
The lower students trembled as they watched one of the school's top
students scream under Riho's boot.
The smile vanished from Riho's face. "Well, I have a nice present to
give my senior pupil when I go to kill him now... Hmm, I should
broadcast this scene across the Empire—no, across the whole universe, so
Master can see it too! Just gimme a second, all right?"
She took a tablet out of her pocket, so as to make a video of her
surroundings. The tablet floated up and hovered on its own, turning to
include Riho in the shot. Recently she'd taken to livestreaming what she
was up to.
"Hey, guys! It's Riho, your idol swordsman here! Today, I crashed
the HQ of the Kurdan mixed fighting style! Tee hee!"
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She smiled and struck a cute pose despite the sea of blood around
her. The people sprawled on the ground around her were just barely alive.
In her streams, she always called herself "the bloodiest idol swordsman in
the Empire," and she was living up to that today.
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"I beat these guys like this 'cause they were saying mean things
about my sword style. It wasn't very satisfying to leave them breathing,
but I'll just consider it a warmup exercise before I go kill my senior in my
fighting style. He's supposed to be really strong, so I'm looking forward to
it! You guys should get excited for my next stream too! Next time, I'll
even show you Liam's severed head!"
The two powerful swordsmen of the Way of the Flash that Yasushi
had trained were now finally ready to go after Liam himself.
But in just one day, Yasushi became the sworn enemy of both of the
Empire's major sword schools.
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