Abnormal Type-Moon

Under the setting sun, the unobstructed evening glow bathed the entire campus, making it feel as if one had stepped into a dreamlike golden world.

Along the roads, several flat, humanoid dolls scurried back and forth, cleaning the trash from the paths and lawns.

These were called "Gikoutai" — essentially robots created by technology. In Gakusen Toshi, mundane chores were usually assigned to these automatically controlled civilian Gikoutai. It was said there were also military Gikoutai that could be freely controlled, but ordinary people never got to see those.

Roy left the arena and looked around.

Julis had already left the arena ahead of him. No one knew where she had gone by now. Since he had kept her longer by an hour today, Roy felt he at least owed her a word before leaving.

Faintly, Roy heard the sound of an argument.

"…duel me!"

"My answer won't change—I refuse!"

The quarrel seemed to be coming from a nearby pavilion.

Roy headed toward the source of the voices. One of them was clearly Julis's, the other a loud, harsh voice, one that sounded like it belonged to someone with a fiery temper just from hearing it.

Only a few minutes had passed, and Julis was already in trouble again?

No wonder she was a main character.

"Julis, you really are popular!"

Roy arrived at the pavilion and sure enough saw Julis arguing with a man.

The man was nearly two meters tall, far more burly than Roy, exuding an overwhelming pressure just by his presence. Two henchmen trailed behind him.

At this moment, the man was pestering Julis, who was clearly annoyed and trying to drive him off.

"I'd rather not have this kind of popularity!"

Julis glanced at Roy with a grumpy tone, clearly displeased by the man's harassment.

Roy looked at the man more closely.

He seemed somewhat familiar.

In the dossier Yabuki had given him, this man's name appeared.

"Kornephoros, Lester MacPhail, currently ranked ninth... He wants to duel you?"

"Just a bothersome fly. I've told him many times, I'm not interested. Yet he keeps pestering me."

Julis was very strict with herself.

She wouldn't pass up the chance to fight a strong opponent to improve herself.

But she had already fought Lester MacPhail three times. The first was in an official ranking match where she defeated him to claim fifth place. Since then, he had been pestering her nonstop, always demanding duels whenever he could. At first, Julis was patient, but after two more fights, she had figured out his combat style completely. Meanwhile, he never improved at all after each match, yet kept obsessively bothering her. She was thoroughly fed up.

"This has nothing to do with you. I want to find Julis! Duel me, Julis!"

Lester's eyes never left Julis. His obsessive gaze focused solely on her.

"Who you want to duel isn't my business."

Roy shrugged and greeted Julis.

"Julis, sorry to waste your time today. I'm off to the cafeteria for dinner. See you tomorrow."

With that, Roy turned to leave.

"Wait, I'm coming with you!"

But Julis turned and followed.

"I'm too lazy to keep arguing with that guy. Besides, I'm hungry."

Roy nodded, not minding.

Anyone with eyes could tell Julis was just using any excuse to get away from Lester.

"Wait, Julis!"

Lester shouted in frustration from behind.

"Give it up, Lester. If you act forcibly, the Disciplinary Committee will punish you…"

"Yeah, and besides, she's a princess after all…"

"Guh!"

Roy glanced back.

The two henchmen—one fat, one thin, somewhat rational—had stopped Lester, who wanted to strike. Although Lester looked furious, he didn't pursue further.

"Being popular sure is tough."

"You'll have that kind of popularity soon enough."

Julis glanced at him and said with firm certainty.

With his strength, becoming a top-ranked fighter—even surpassing her—is only a matter of time.

"I don't deny that."

Roy smiled brightly.

"You're really not humble."

"I just don't like fake modesty. Unless it's an interesting situation, that is."

Julis's face showed no reaction, but inside she secretly admired him.

Roy was a very goal-oriented and proactive person. When necessary, his face could get quite thick.

Take today's arena incident, for example. He clearly sensed he made a mistake in his sword training and kept pestering Kirin to get guidance from her, using the excuse of sparring to force himself to stay.

"…Are you planning to participate in this Phoenix Festa too?"

Julis hesitated briefly, her face showing some doubt. But biting her lip with resolve, she finally asked the question that had been weighing on her mind.

"That's right."

Roy nodded casually.

"Too bad Kirin isn't joining because of her uncle's restrictions. She was my most promising partner. And honestly, I really don't like her uncle!"

Roy's demands for teammates weren't high—just don't hold him back. Within that condition, the stronger the better.

He valued Kirin most because her swordsmanship was outstanding. When practicing together, Roy learned the natural Rishin-ryu style from her, which helped cover his own technical weaknesses.

"I feel the same way."

Julis nodded in agreement.

"Her uncle doesn't treat her like a niece but as a tool for climbing his career. The last time I fought Kirin was because I saw him hitting her—I couldn't stand it, so I intervened, which led to a duel... I lost, so I can't meddle in their family affairs."

That explained it.

No wonder she had been so restrained in the arena.

But hitting her regularly? Was Kirin's uncle really that abusive?

Roy recalled Kirin's complicated expression when she silently kept her head down and frowned.

"So… uh, you don't have a teammate right now either?"

Julis's voice faltered.

"Actually, I don't. And I'm in a rush to find one too. I'm ranked fifth among the Twelve at Shihayate, so I should barely meet the standard. Of course, I know it sounds opportunistic to say this after seeing your strength, and I don't deny I'm just going with the flow... so, that means—"

"Silence."

Roy stopped walking.

"You're going to refuse me?!"

Julis froze, a dark shadow quickly crossing her face.

"Well, you're much stronger than me. Someone like me—"

"I mean, there's someone here."

Roy pointed to the bushes by the roadside.

The next moment, a golden light arrow shot from the bushes, aiming straight at Julis!

***

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