Who the Hell Are You?

The new week rolled around, and with it, the Bushin Festival Main Tournament kicked off.

Apparently, my sister had headed to the venue early. I, on the other hand, was wandering around with the ticket she’d forced on me in one hand, trying to find my seat.

The ticket was flashy, decorated with enough gold leaf to scream "special seating." Following the seat guide on the back, I eventually found myself in front of a room with a suspiciously gorgeous door. Unlike the regular spectator stands, this area was weirdly secluded from the rest of the world.

There’s no way it’s in here, I thought. But when I checked with the staff member standing guard at the door, it turned out that it was, in fact, in there.

The staffer guided me inside with the kind of over-the-top politeness that makes your skin crawl. The second I stepped through the doorway, I wanted to go home.

This wasn't just a "special seat." It was a Hyper VIP Seat.

The room was packed with high-ranking nobles and their families—people I recognized from various places. Basically, the entire upper-caste "popular kid" crowd of the academy was here as a set. There was the daughter of the current Order of Magic Swordsmen Chief, who’d been in my Royal Capital Bushin Style Class 1, and the handsome second son of some Duke. It was a literal rogue's gallery of familiar faces.

As I was led to my designated spot, I realized the person sitting right next to me was a member of the Royal Family.

"Oh? And you are?"

She was a beauty with hair and eyes that burned like fire. It was Princess Iris Midgar—Alexia’s older sister.

"My name is Cid Kagenou. It appears I have wandered into the wrong room. If you’ll excuse me."

I executed a magnificent about-face and attempted to flee.

"Wait, aren't you Claire-san’s younger brother? That must mean Claire-san gave her ticket to you."

"…You know my sister?"

My escape was a total failure. You can’t exactly ignore royalty when they speak to you—well, unless it’s Alexia.

"Yes, we became quite close following the incident with my sister’s kidnapping. Claire-san is actually scheduled to join the Crimson Order after she graduates. Please, have a seat."

"No, really, I—"

"This is definitely your seat. Please, sit."

"…If you insist."

Princess Iris’s sincere, malice-free smile was the worst. If it had been a smile full of nothing but spite like Alexia’s, I could’ve just flipped her the bird and walked away without a second thought.

"I’ve heard so much about you from Claire-san. You two seem like such close siblings; I’m almost jealous."

"No, I don't think we're quite that close."

"Now that I think about it, you seem to be getting along quite well with Alexia, too."

"I wouldn’t call it 'getting along.' It was more like… a relationship where I fetched gold coins she threw at me."

"Gold coins?"

"You know, like when you throw a stick for a dog to go get?"

"Oh, so you were playing with a doggy together? Thank you for looking after her."

I wasn't playing with a dog; I WAS the dog. "Well, since the gold coins were technically coming from the Royal Family’s coffers, I suppose I’m the one who should be thanking you."

Princess Iris gave me a genuinely happy smile as she listened to my nonsense.

"You and my sister really do seem to be on great terms."

"No, no, not even a little bit."

"Actually, Alexia was supposed to be here today, but she suddenly announced that she didn't want to come…"

"Haha, is that so?"

"I’m sorry about that."

"No, no, no. Seriously, don’t worry about it."

We spent a while chatting like that while sipping on the complimentary drinks.

"Iris-sama, which participants are you keeping an eye on this year?" the daughter of the Order of Magic Swordsmen Chief asked, joining the conversation.

"I’d love to know as well," the Duke’s handsome son added.

It looked like they were acquaintances of the Princess through the Royal Capital Bushin Style.

"I’m interested in everyone competing in the Main Tournament, of course, but if I had to pick one…" Iris placed a hand on her cheek, choosing her words carefully. "It would be Annerose-san, formerly of the Vegalta Seven Swords. The Bushin Festival Main Tournament usually features the same old faces, but she’s making her debut this year. I watched the Preliminaries Final, and she has undeniable talent. If she keeps winning, we’ll face each other in the 2nd Round. I’m quite looking forward to it."

Her smile was radiating confidence.

"I saw her too. Annerose-sama is strong," the Chief’s daughter admitted. "I don’t think I could beat her as I am now…"

"I saw it as well. But Iris-sama will be the one to win," the handsome son insisted. "The public has been quite critical of the Royal Capital Bushin Style since that incident, so if Iris-sama could take the championship here…"

"Hey, don't go pushing all that pressure onto Iris-sama."

"No, I didn't mean it like—"

Iris’s voice cut through their bickering.

"It’s fine. I intend to win the championship from the start. I’m prepared to shoulder it all—the reputation of the Royal Capital Bushin Style and the pride of this country."

"Iris-sama…"

"Truly impressive."

I felt a little bad for interrupting the serious atmosphere, but I really wanted to get in on this topic.

"Um, are there any other players you’re interested in…?" I cut in, completely ignoring the mood.

"By the way, who even are you?" the handsome guy asked.

"Wait, I feel like I've seen him somewhere… Oh, he’s that junior who showed up to Class 1 once."

"Ah, I remember now. He’s Alexia-sama’s…"

"This is Cid Kagenou-san. Claire-san’s younger brother," Iris clarified.

The two of them nodded, their expressions shifting to looks of "understanding."

"You don't have the talent your sister does, do you? Well, make sure you don't give up on your training."

"It was a pretty unimpressive sword style, as I recall. There’s no point in aiming for the top, so just keep plugging away at the basics."

Gee, thanks for the 'encouraging' advice, seniors.

"Right, thanks. So, Iris-sama, anyone else you’ve got your eye on?"

"Let’s see…"

"L-like, for example, Jimina, Annerose-sama’s opponent in the first round? H-h-he’s a first-timer this year too."

I moved the conversation toward Jimina with what I considered to be an extremely natural flow.

"Jimina… I haven't seen his matches yet, so I can't really say."

Princess Iris gave a noncommittal answer.

Okay. So Princess Iris doesn't know about Jimina yet.

"Oh, I saw him," the girl piped up. "His sword was fast, I guess, but that was it. His stance was a total amateur’s. It felt like he just got lucky. Annerose-sama will win that one, no question."

"I saw him too," the guy added. "Honestly, he doesn't belong on a stage as big as the Main Tournament. He’s all momentum and no skill."

Excellent. They’ve officially branded Jimina as small fry.

Everything was going exactly to plan. At this point, I had the narrative surrounding Jimina under total control. All the pieces were in place.

From here, the real show would begin…

"He’s not a competitor, but there is one other person I’m keeping an eye on," Princess Iris said. I was already satisfied and ready to tune out, but she kept going. "It seems that the first-ever winner of the Bushin Festival—the Elf Sword Saint they called the Bushin—has come to the Royal Capital."

"The Elf Sword Saint?! You don't mean…!"

"She hasn't been seen in public for over ten years!"

Wait.

"Every single person in the Main Tournament is watching for the movements of Bushin Beatrix-sama."

Who?

I definitely wasn't watching for her.