Volume 4 Chapter 3.2
Rampage at the Martial Arts Garden Part 2
Translator : PolterGlast
Having lost track of
Lisa, Nozomu had no choice but to head toward the school.
Passing through the
civic district and around the central park, he arrived at the main gate of the
academy on the south side. At the gate, Mars had arrived and was waiting for
him.
"Yo Nozomu,
you're late."
"Morning Mars,
just a little something to do in the morning......"
When Nozomu shrugged
his shoulders, Mars replied with a curt, "I see", and the two headed for
the classroom.
He must have guessed a
lot from their conversation at the Ox-head Pavilion the other day. So Nozomu
was grateful for his silence.
The majority of the
students had already arrived at school, and the number of students walking down
the hallway was sparse. However, when all the students saw Nozomu, they all
frowned and began whispering behind his back.
The content of the few
conversations that circulated was not very pleasant.
However, when Mars
glared at them, they stopped talking and quickly hid themselves away.
Stunned yet grateful
for his best friend's actions, Nozomu made his way to their classrooms.
When he arrived at the
hallway lined with third-grade classrooms, he was once again met with countless
stares.
Nozomu thought it was
another rumor involving Lisa, but he noticed that the intensity of the stares
was different.
"...... Say,
Nozomu. Is there something wrong with the atmosphere at the school?"
"Yeah, the whole
school, or rather the whole area where the classrooms of the third grade are
located, has a strange atmosphere. I wonder why?"
The two arrived at
their classroom and opened the door, while tilting their heads at the
unexplained atmosphere.
Inside the classroom,
their classmates were studying on their own, talking with friends, and doing
whatever they wanted.
However, the moment
Nozomu entered the classroom, the eyes of the students in the class suddenly
focused on him.
They looked at him
with doubt, confusion, disbelief, and curiosity. Nozomu was slightly flinched
by the pressure.
But when Nozomu
glanced back at each of his classmates, the ones whose eyes met his, for some
reason, looked flustered and averted their gazes. Then, as if to make up for
it, they resumed their self-study or started talking with their friends again.
"W-What in the
world is this ......?"
"Who knows? I
don't know either......"
"Ah, this is
because of the last Special Comprehensive Exercise."
"Jin. And Deck
and the others, good morning."
There were five
classmates, Jin, Hamuria, Deck, Tommy, and Cami. They had previously formed a
party together in the last Special Comprehensive Exercise. Since that exercise,
they had become one of the few classmates who talked to Nozomu normally.
"By the way, Jin,
there's something strange going on in the classroom, what do you mean by this
being caused by the Special Comprehensive Exercise?"
"Well, it would
be faster if you take a look at it. This way."
Urged by Jin, Nozomu
and Mars went to the back of the classroom. There was a small blackboard with a
variety of notices posted on it. Jin pointed to a corner of the board.
"Here,
look......."
"Is this the
result of the Special Comprehensive Exercise?"
"Yes, look at our
party's ranking."
There, the scores and
rankings of each party were posted. Nozomu's eyes widened involuntarily when he
saw their scores written there.
"Sixth place
overall in the grade......"
"Yep, sixth
place! What an amazing result, beating out all the other top parties!"
"...... I see, so
that's why the atmosphere at the school was so strange since this
morning."
Mars muttered in an
understanding manner.
It was unprecedented
in this Soluminati Academy for the lowest 10th class to be ranked in the top
10.
Moreover, the party
was led by two well-known inferior students in the school.
One was a regular
attendee of the supplementary examinations, known as the bottom of the barrel.
The other was a problem child who was treated as a hazardous material that
could explode at any moment.
Considering their
reputations up to now, it was not surprising to see the surrounding people's
reaction to this result.
"Nevertheless, of
course, there are people who don't seem to believe it. ......"
"Oi, bottom
feeder. What the hell did you do in the Special Comprehensive Exercise?"
Amidst all this, there
was one person who spoke to Nozomu in a questioning tone, raising his voice. He
walked toward Nozomu, his shoulders shaking with anger, as if he couldn't take
it anymore.
"O-Oi, Simnal.
Calm down."
His friend tried to
stop him, but the strong suspicion in the eyes of his classmate, called Simnal,
remained.
"There is no way
you could achieve such a result! What kind of dirty tricks did you use!?"
"I didn't
though......"
"That's right. I
was with Nozomu-kun throughout the exercise, and afterward, he was injured and
couldn't move for more than a week due to his injuries. How can he possibly do
any cheating?"
In response to
Nozomu's voice, Jin and the others concurred. Surprisingly, Jin and the others
refuted him in a stronger tone.
"Then how did you
win!? The opponents you defeated were not only the 8th class and 9th class, but
also the 4th class! And on top of that, to even beat a special target, that's
just plain abnormal!"
"We've told you
many times, Nozomu-kun, you did not cheat. The reason why we can win is because
he fully understands the terrain, has a solid strategy, and also has prepared a
backup plan. And he was the one who came up with it all."
"Besides we've
seen Nozomu in class many times fighting against Mars. He is much stronger than
we thought."
Nozomu felt
embarrassed by the trusting glances he was receiving from Jin and the others
and couldn't help but scratch his cheeks.
In fact, Nozomu and
Mars have often teamed up in practical classes since they entered the third
grade. He refrained from using Qi-jutsu because it would be overkill, but he
still had many opportunities to showcase his swordsmanship.
"Do you think you
can get away with it......?"
However, even their
words couldn't reach Simnal.
Instead, he became
more stubborn, and the intensity of his anger rose drastically.
Nozomu, on the other
hand, was quietly staring at Simnal, despite the growing tension in his
surroundings.
The anger directed at
him. Even though he understood that it was one-sided and unreasonable anger,
yet Nozomu felt some sympathy for him.
Perhaps it was because
Nozomu and Simnal had something in common.
They turn their
dissatisfaction toward reality into anger and rant about it, seeking to blame
it on somewhere else, or blocking their eyes so as not to see the fact that
things have changed. It was the same behavior as that of Nozomu until recently.
However, Nozomu's calm
stance only added to Simnal's impatience and anger.
"~, Damn
you!"
"O-Oi,
Simnal!"
As if to shake off
reality, Simnal tried to grab hold of Nozomu.
Simnal's actions
caused his friends, who were watching behind him, to change color. It was not a
good idea to resort to violence, no matter how much it might cost. But as if
inspired by this hostility, Nozomu moved.
In an instant, he
kneaded his Qi and slid to the side, brushing away Simnal's outstretched hands.
He then twisted the
outstretched hands to restrain them.
"Ugh......."
Simnal's eyes widened
in surprise as a sharp sword-Qi struck him from close range. His body suddenly
lost its strength, and he fell to the ground on his butt.
"......Ah~!
S-Sorry."
There, Nozomu finally
realized his reflexive action and removed his hand, while expressing his
apology.
The air in the
classroom, which had been tense, relaxed at the unexpected action of someone
who normally did not need to apologize.
"Nozomu, sorry.
He and I were both a little impatient because our results from the Special
Exercise were not good."
Simnal's friend, who
had been standing behind him, stepped forward while nudging him in the head.
Upon hearing the
story, it seemed that their party was caught up in a fierce battle right after
the exercise started, and they were defeated without being able to do anything.
Although it was inevitable due to the school's system, Simnal himself had not
performed well enough to ensure his continued enrollment at the school, and he
was very determined to do well in the Special Comprehensive Exercise, but this
was the result.
"Come on,
apologize, Simnal."
"S-Sorry......"
Simnal looked away
awkwardly and bowed his head. Thanks to the pressure and the fact that he was
being defended by his friend, he seemed to have cooled down at once. Nozomu
didn't mind as long as he apologized.
"Umm, forgive us
for bothering you, but would you mind telling us how you survived the Special
Exercise?"
"Nozomu, why
don't you just tell them? They don't seem to want to rant about it
anymore."
"Alright. I
understand."
Nozomu nodded at Mars,
who had been watching the situation from behind Nozomu. There was nothing to
hide.
Finding a simple base,
then split the party into two to gain points. In the process, they were
attacked by a special target, Anri-sensei. Although overwhelmed, Hamuria, who
was a rear guard mage, rushed in while being protected by a magic barrier,
taking Anri-sensei by surprise that a rear guard should not be charging into
the front line. While Anri-sensei being restrained, Nozomu destroyed her
pendant, which was proof of participation in the exercise, thus defeating her.
"What a walk on a
tightrope strategy, huh......"
"We had no other
choice. It was difficult for us to win a head-to-head battle, not to mention
alone, even if we combined our numbers together. Then, in order to win, we must
catch our opponent by surprise."
However, it is also
true that one cannot win by surprise alone. What is important is how to bring
them into a situation where they can take advantage of their strengths.
"Indeed...... so,
how did you do that?"
"We blocked her
vision with a cloud of dust a few times, and then Deck and I repeatedly charged
at her, making her think it was only the two vanguards that were going to rush
forward."
"Hey, I have one
more question......."
Nozomu answered each
question one by one carefully. Before one knew it, a crowd had gathered around
Nozomu and the others, making it look like a small lecture.
They, too, had been
called failures by students of other classes until now.
Therefore, the story
of Nozomu and his team, who are also from the lowest class, defeating a higher
class is a very touching story for them, and at the same time, it is a source
of hope.
And although they were
from the 10th class, they were originally talented young individuals who had
come from across the continent.
Once the fetters on
their minds were removed, they would be able to work hard with greed and a
positive attitude.
However, their
enthusiasm was even greater than one had expected, perhaps as a repercussion of
the considerable suppression they had been subjected to up until now.
In the blink of an
eye, their initially sparse questions turned into a raging storm, and they
pounced on Nozomu.
"H-Hold on! I
don't know which one to answer first!"
Nozomu's processing
capacity was finally overwhelmed by the sheer number of questions being thrown
at him.
He was so overwhelmed
that he asked for help, but Jin, Deck, and Hamuria, who were teaming up with
him, were also getting bombarded with questions from their classmates.
"Mars, lend me a
hand!"
"Don't be
unreasonable. I was away from the party at that time. So I don't know all the
details of the battle."
Mars' face broke into
a grin as Nozomu asked for his help. Apparently, he was amused by Nozomu's
bewilderment.
Nozomu returned a
resentful glance to Mars, but even in the midst of this, the storm of questions
showed no sign of abating.
But it wasn't
unpleasant. It was certainly irritating to be teased by Mars, but there was no
malice in his classmates' eyes that were gathered around him.
It might be temporary.
It might be gone later. In fact, the rest of his classmates who have not come
to listen to him are still looking at him with suspicion.
Still, for now, he
felt happy that his hard work in the Special Comprehensive Exercise had been
acknowledged.
"Everyone~, good
morning~~. Let's do our best today as well~~!"
At that moment, the
classroom door was opened energetically. Anri-sensei entered the classroom.
"Anri-sensei,
just in time!"
"Fue~?"
"Everyone, it was
Anri-sensei whom we were fighting against. She's a teacher after all, so she
can explain everything that happened to you in great detail!"
The classmates who had
been crowded around Nozomu turned their gazes on Anri.
The greedy eyes of
those who had been rotting as failures until now were directed at the young
teacher.
"U-Umm~~.
Everyone~, what's the matter~~? Fuwa-wa-wa-wa!"
Immediately afterward,
half of the classmates who had been crowded around Nozomu rushed toward Anri.
She was left struggling, completely unable to comprehend the situation. As a
result, questions did not cease even after the bell rang for the start of the
first period, and Anri's classes were delayed considerably.
†
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