127 Brats

The Tag Tournament was essentially a Presentation Ceremony—the first real opportunity for us to cross blades with both intermediate-year students and upperclassmen.

That said, being a senior by a year or two in this place was no joke. These were the survivors who had clawed their way through fierce point wars and, more importantly, were the type of people who thrived on the carnage.

From the perspective of a lowerclassman, this was what you’d call an unwinnable event. It was designed to show the freshmen exactly how terrifying their seniors were, supposedly leaving them awestruck and motivated.

Or at least, that was how it was supposed to go.

[Lowerclassman No. 10, Polka Tois: Incapacitated. Points awarded to Belk Friede and Emma Stone.]

[Lowerclassman No. 14, Eribate Fama: Incapacitated. Points awarded to Belk Friede and Emma Stone.]

[Intermediate-year Student No. 07, Line Trinia: Incapacitated. Points awarded to Belk Friede and Emma Stone.]

I stood there, staring into space, wondering if my hearing had finally failed me.

"Ha... is this another plot deviation?"

Belk and Emma—no, Meryl—were the two lowerclassmen brats who had come up to Cynthia and me earlier. In the world of Noblesse Oblige, the protagonist was Allen. In the original story, no underclassmen worth a damn ever showed up. If a new rival appeared, they were either a classmate, a senior, or some obscure character from a side story.

And yet...

[Upperclassman No. 14, Roy Mia: Incapacitated. Points awarded to Belk Friede and Emma Stone.]

[Upperclassman No. 08, Ariel Trinia: Incapacitated. Points awarded to Belk Friede and Emma Stone.]

What was happening right in front of my eyes was currently smashing every bit of my Noblesse common sense to pieces.

"This is getting interesting, isn't it?"

"Yeah. No kidding."

Cynthia, standing beside me, let out a delighted little giggle. Last time, I’d been paired with Carta, but this time she was my partner.

Speaking of partners, Lilith had been on an absolute tear ever since we defeated the Demon Race. Her points were skyrocketing at an absurd rate. In a practice session just the other day, she’d wiped the floor with Duke all by herself. When it came to pure physical combat, I doubted there was a soul left who could hold a candle to her.

Suddenly, two figures burst out from the thicket of the forest.

"!? Weiss-senpai!? Alright! Let's do this! Please, give me a match!"

"It's Cynthia-senpai! Ahhh, she's so cuuuuute! Me too! Please fight me!"

It was the brats.

But as I felt the magical power surging off them, I realized there wasn't anything "cute" about this. They were leagues stronger than we had been as freshmen. In fact, this level of power was just plain wrong.

Who the hell are these kids?

House Friede and House Stone... I felt like I’d heard those names somewhere before.

—Wait, so that's it.

Good grief, this world really never let me get bored, did it? This was the true Noblesse Oblige.

"Bring it on, you brats."

[Lowerclassman No. 01, Belk Friede: Incapacitated. Points awarded to Weiss Fancent.]

[Lowerclassman No. 02, Meryl Stone: Incapacitated. Points awarded to Cynthia Violetta.]

"As I thought... you're... so... strong..."

"Cynthia-senpai... so pretty..."

Their mana flickered out, and the two of them slumped to the ground, unconscious.

The surrounding forest had been reduced to a literal wasteland. I looked through the gaps in the shattered trees and spotted Cynthia. The entire area around her was flash-frozen, and to my shock, she was gripping Glacies in her hand.

"Ha. You too, huh?"

"Yes... it was quite a struggle," she admitted, breathless.

"Debibi!"

Up above, Debi was hovering in the air. Clutched in its talons was a Dual Sword.

Give me a break. Dealing with the "real deals" is way too much work.

But... it was fun. Having things happen that exceeded my wildest imagination—that was the best part of this game.

Weiss, just you wait. I’m going to show you the ultimate unreleased content.

[Three-Year Tag Match Results]

Weiss Fancent: 25 Takedowns (15 Upperclassmen, 8 Intermediate, 2 Lowerclassmen) Cynthia Violetta: 25 Takedowns (15 Upperclassmen, 8 Intermediate, 2 Lowerclassmen)

Allen: 20 Takedowns (7 Upperclassmen, 11 Intermediate, 2 Lowerclassmen) Shari Elias: 20 Takedowns (7 Upperclassmen, 11 Intermediate, 2 Lowerclassmen)

Lilith Scarlet: 15 Takedowns (3 Upperclassmen, 7 Intermediate, 5 Lowerclassmen) Tura Enizi: 15 Takedowns (3 Upperclassmen, 7 Intermediate, 5 Lowerclassmen)

Duke Billian: 14 Takedowns (4 Upperclassmen, 6 Intermediate, 4 Lowerclassmen) Cecil Antwerp: 14 Takedowns (4 Upperclassmen, 6 Intermediate, 4 Lowerclassmen)

Olin Pastel: 13 Takedowns (3 Upperclassmen, 8 Intermediate, 1 Lowerclassman) Carta Wiore: 13 Takedowns (3 Upperclassmen, 8 Intermediate, 1 Lowerclassman)

Eva Avery: 1 Takedown (1 Upperclassman, 0 Intermediate, 0 Lowerclassmen) No Tag Partner

Belk Friede: 23 Takedowns (2 Upperclassmen, 4 Intermediate, 17 Lowerclassmen) Status: No Survival Points Awarded

Meryl Stone: 23 Takedowns (2 Upperclassmen, 4 Intermediate, 17 Lowerclassmen) Status: No Survival Points Awarded

───────────────────

Note: As a side point, Duke was actually paired with Cecil during the first loop as well.