Thousand Blade Academy and the Big Five Holy Festival [7] – part 1

It is around noon, two days after the ups and downs of the Big Five Holy Festival.

An urgent board meeting was held on the top floor of the『Five Academy Tower』towering in the capital of this country – the center of Orest.

Strict traffic regulations were put in place around this building where the Directors of the Five Academy’s gathered together, and the number of Holy Knights who corresponded to the security was enormous, and their quality was of the highest. It is a state of high alert that does not let even a rat pass.

The five people gathered in the VIP room on the top floor were all the faces of this country.

Leia-Lasnode of Thousand Blade Academy.

Ferris-Dorahain of Ice King Academy.

With the three other Directors of the Five Academy’s.

The agenda is the second match of the Big Five Holy Festival – the battle of Allen-Rodore vs. Sid-Euclius. There were two obvious violations of the rules seen there.

It was an old gentleman from the『government』, who had no interest with any of the Five Academy’s, was entrusted with the progress of this conference. He announced the result of the voting with a stern voice.

「-Then, by five votes in favor and zero against, I will suspend Sid-Euclius of Ice King Academy for a month.」

「「「「「No Objection!」」」」」

The opinions of all the directors, including Leia, were completely unanimous. Ignoring the referee’s restraint, and executed a lethal attack on the opponent.

Although the attempt was prevented by Allen, it was a clear violation of the rules, and punishment was inevitable. The debate over Sid’s suspension was settled early, and the meeting finally moved on to today’s subject.

「-Then, I would like to continue to discuss the punishment of Thousand Blade Academy’s Allen-Rodore. First of all, whether or not to sentence the heaviest『expulsion』punishment. Please discuss carefully for thirty minutes.」

The next moment the old gentleman said so, the directors began to express their opinions.

「Obviously it has to be expulsion!」

「I agree. In fact, he should be turned over to the Holy Knights for attempted murder.」

「E-Err, I… think… it can’t be helped but to expel him…」

「Un Un, when I think about what he did to our Sid… I have no choice but to vote for expulsion.」

「Wait! Allen at that time was completely in an unsound state! I don’t think he was responsible!」

1 vs 4.

In terms of numbers, Leia was in a completely unfavorable situation.

「Even if you say unsound state of mind… Isn’t it that he was just immature?」

「I agree. Students of the Five Academy’s must always discipline themselves.」

「E-Err… after all… losing one’s self is not good…」

「Un… As far as I can see in the video, he seemed able to communicate properly with Sid… It’s a little different from being unsound no, Leia-chan?」

「…」

Leia was at a loss for words.

(Guh…)

She bit her lower lip and wondered if there was any good idea to turn this board upside down. But – Leia was rather weak at brain work and not so good with talks. It was impossible to objectively persuade the stubborn directors. Instinctively realizing this, she quickly gave up persuasion by『words』and appealed in the simplest and most primitive way.

「IF – IF you decide to expel Allen」

Tremendous『pressure』 was emitted from Leia, and everyone in this place took a breath.

「You’re going to have to fight me – that’s okay, right?」

Childish and immature – it can’t even be called a plan, but it was the most effective one. There was no one in this place who was ignorant enough to not know the name『Black Fist Leia-Lasnode』 and her valour.

「Guh…」

「Nuu…」

「Hi-Hieee…!?」

「Oh,-scary!」

The brilliant『individual』known as Leia-Lasnode, even if she were to single-handedly take on one of the Five Academy’s entirely – she can put up a fight for more than five minutes.

From a common sense standpoint, this was just a threat – nothing more than a child’s tantrum.

Because, even if it was feasible, it is not possible to turn the Five Academy’s into enemies in order to cover for one student. This is because profit and loss cannot be balanced.

However,「If it is Leia, she might actually do it」- such thought crossed the minds of the other four directors.

In fact, when she was still young. A large criminal organization called『Scarlet Rain』, injured a swordsman who can be said to be Leia’s best friend. When she heard the news, she indignantly ignored the opposition from everyone around her, and stormed the organization’s headquarters alone. As a result, the Scarlet Rain, which the Holy Knights had difficulties with for many years, was destroyed in just one night. It is one of Leia’s most famous acts of valour.

There are many different powers in this world, but at the end of the day, the most effective of them all is fighting prowess after all.

Then, when everyone simply held their tongue, the timer rang. The old gentleman who quietly stopped the sound of the timer, coughed once.

「Now, we will vote in regards to『possibility of expelling Allen-Rodore of Thousand Blade Academy』. I’d like you to declare your opinion of whether you are『in favour』or『against』his expulsion from school, one by one from Leia-sama to the left.」

Thus, the voting which greatly influenced Allen’s fate began.

「I am resolutely against it!」

Leia declared clearly in a loud voice, and the turn passed to the next director.

「E-Err… That is… I-I…」

She, who usually takes the neutral ground, was swaying between「in favour」and「against」.

Leia, who sensed it, deliberately slammed her right finger.

「Hii…!? A-A-A-Against…!」

She, who had belonged to the pro-favour spree, succumbed to Leia’s prowess.

The pro-favours who witnessed it, glared at her simultaneously,「Traitor!」.

The following two people,

「I’m definitely in favour!」

「I agree. I’m also in favour.」

They strongly wanted Allen to be expelled, and immediately agreed to the sentence.

Two against.

Two in favour.

In this state that was completely split in two, the one with the last vote – Ferris-Dorahain. In the victim position of this case, and in addition, had a cat and dog relationship with Leia during their academy days.

(Guh… Is this it…!?)

(Fufu, we won…)

Leia gritted her teeth, and the two people who were in favor, smirked.

And the next moment.

「Un, I’m against.」

Ferris laughed with a smile and voted against Allen’s expulsion. Upon receiving this, the old gentleman immediately declared the result of the vote.

「Two in favour. Three against. – Due to the majority of the opposition, Allen-Rodore’s expulsion from the academy is rejected.」

At that moment, the two, who had been strongly pushing for Allen’s expulsion, were furious and hit the desk.

「R-Ridiculous!?」

「What is this farce!?」

They looked at the two, who had changed their opinions at the last minute.

「What does this mean you bastards!?」

「This isn’t what we agreed!」

Yes. The two had come into contact with all the directors except Leia and had arranged beforehand to expel Allen. In addition, they had given a large amount of money to Ferris, to support Allen’s expulsion.

It was no wonder they were furious.

With their faces dyed red, they glared at the『traitors』with resentment.

「Fue, E-Err…that is… I-I am sorry…!」

The director, who had succumbed to Leia’s prowess just before, lay down on the desk with tears in her eyes. Ferris, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to be scared, and spoke with a nonchalant look.

「Yes, I certainly heard what you had to say. But it was only listening… Nobody said『okay』though.」Ferris said, narrowing her slender fox eyes whilst chuckling.

「B-Bastard… But you accepted the『teacake』…!」

The teacake here is a hidden word for『bribe』which can be understood only between the two people.

Then Ferris,

「Nn? Aa, that was really delicious, thanks a lot.」

It was a simple word of thanks for receiving the original meaning of『teacake』.

「Guh…T-This『Vixen』…! Just what are you thinking!?」

「No〜, I thought of expelling Allen at first, but… you see, Sid…」

Saying that, she began to explain about why she voted against it.

「This morning, I told Sid, who is still in the hospital「I’m going to expel Allen」and he said,「Miss, I’ll kill him at the next tournament, so stop it」… That prideful child, requested by lowering his head, you see.」

Ferris recalled his appearance at that time, and smiled loosely.

「That figure was so cute…! So, I decided to listen to his request!」

Sid was originally an orphan born in a slum, and they met by chance at various occasions, and Ferris protected him since he was five years old at the time. After that, he grew up a little naughty because of giving him too much freedom, but Ferris really loved him. Sid also feels a strong debt of gratitude to Ferris, who brought him up, and calls her「Miss」.

『Request』from Sid, who is akin to her own child, and the『Request』from an old director.

She didn’t even need to weigh them.

「Guh, you fools…!」

「Why can’t you look ahead… This will be a big loss in the future…」

The reason why the both of them wanted to expel Allen was because they were afraid of his power as seen in the recorded video.

It is truly a masterpiece that the soul dress of Sid,〈Vanargand〉was simply trampled down with overwhelming physical ability. And that overwhelming black sword with tremendous power. The wonderful defensive technique〈Ice wall〉developed by Sid, was penetrated through with ease. In the video, the existence of multiple beings has been confirmed.

(Damn… Even though things may appear this way now, Thousand Blade Academy can easily come back to life…)

(Won’t I be driven away from the『director position』that I attained through a lot of hardships…)

They wanted Allen to be expelled for their own sake. The position of『Director of Five Academy』 is like sweet honey, if anything. No one stands against them before their enormous power and social influence. Therefore, many people aim for this position.

If you show even the slightest opening – you can be removed for reasons like poor performance at a tournament, such as the Big Five Holy Festival. In fact, the former director of Thousand Blade Academy was chased away just this year.

Even they, have absolute confidence in the students they have raised. But, they don’t think of being able to win against that Allen. Therefore it’s best to nip them in the bud before they become dangerous.

Permitting the strengthening of Thousand Blade Academy leads to the weakening of themselves. So they wanted to somehow expel Allen, an unknown threat, out of the academy. All of it is to protect the position of『Director of Five Academy』. Then, as the two people in favor were trembling with regret, Leia patted her chest with relief.

(Somehow, it worked out…)

And when she took in a deep breath – the old gentleman spoke.

「Now, I would like you to consider the specific punishment of Allen-Rodore. Please discuss carefully for thirty minutes.」

Allen, who broke the rules of the Big Five Holy Festival, although exempted from expulsion, is subject to some punishment.

Leia tried to lighten Allen’s punishment somehow.

Two in favor of calling for stricter punishment.

A timid neutral party of one person.

And Ferris, who amusingly throws the board into confusion.

The debate of the five directors was fierce.