Chapter 134: The Interview!
Even after leaving the dojo, Ayase remained dazed.
Kuraudo, the man known as the [Sword Eater] who had easily defeated her father, had fallen just like that?
Shiro had not even summoned his Device during the battle, yet the dojo had already been reclaimed?
So was her father simply too weak, or had the times changed?
Ayase could not help questioning her understanding of the world.
"Um... What will happen to Kuraudo now?"
"That depends on what the hospital says, but he probably won't be able to hold a sword again."
Shiro thought about it. Injuries of that degree should not be fatal.
The medical technology of this world was absurdly advanced. As long as something as delicate as the brain was not damaged, most injuries could be treated.
Besides, even if Kuraudo really died, he would only have himself to blame.
Before fighting him, Shiro had imagined himself as an ordinary swordsman and used the power of fate to deduce what Kuraudo would do after defeating him.
He had merely inflicted injuries of the same severity upon Kuraudo.
In other words, if Shiro truly had been weaker, his fate would have been exactly the same as Kuraudo's current condition.
Unfortunately, this technique of killing with his gaze only worked on Blazers beneath the Desperado level.
It was a divine skill for crushing the weak, though Shiro wondered whether it would work on ordinary gods.
After returning to Hagun Academy with Ayase, Shiro noticed many students gathered around a notice board.
He remembered that a student had independently created it as a news section. Anything related to Hagun Academy would recently be posted there.
Curious whether there was anything amusing, Shiro approached the board.
The surrounding students' expressions changed when they saw him, and they hurriedly opened a path.
"Eh? What is this?"
A headline occupied the top of Hagun Academy's news section.
[Donrou Academy's ace severely injured in an off‑campus match against a Hagun first‑year. May miss the Seven Star Sword Art Festival. Has Donrou's hope been destroyed?]
The article thoughtfully included the location of the match and a photograph of Kuraudo being carried onto a stretcher, his body covered in blood.
Judging by the composition and lighting, the photographer had been quite professional.
'I'm the spectacle now.'
"Isn't this spreading a little too quickly...? Is Hagun Academy's news department really this capable...?"
It had not even been a few hours since his fight with Kuraudo.
He had only just finished beating him, yet someone had already completed the article immediately afterward?
"Thank you for the compliment!"
As Shiro silently complained, an energetic female voice suddenly came from behind him.
He turned around and saw a girl with peach-blonde hair and glasses.
"I'm Kusakabe Kagami, the woman determined to establish a student newspaper at Hagun Academy!"
Noticing Shiro's puzzled gaze, the girl called Kagami introduced herself while making a V-sign beside her eye.
"Besides, aren't Shiro-san and I in the same class? Don't you remember me?"
"Uh..."
Among his classmates, Shiro only remembered Ikki and Stella.
Alice and Shizuku were not even in his class.
It was not that he did not want to make friends with the other student knights.
However, ever since Shiro gained the title [Demon King], his classmates had been too afraid to approach him.
A suitable amount of strength inspired admiration, but overwhelming strength only created distance.
Kagami was one of the rare people who did not look at him strangely.
"Shiro-san, you can't even remember a cute beauty like me?!"
"Relax. It isn't personal. I haven't remembered the names of most people in our class."
"Isn't that even worse?!"
Kagami then expertly pulled paper and a pen from her chest before looking at Shiro with tears in her eyes.
"As compensation for injuring my delicate heart, could you answer a few questions?"
For some reason, Shiro felt that this had been Kagami's true purpose in approaching him.
"Go ahead. But I won't answer anything too private."
Blazers attracted a great deal of public attention.
All Blazers, including student knights, received some degree of media coverage.
Even the Seven Star Sword Art Festival, the pinnacle of student competition, was broadcast online worldwide.
Therefore, learning how to deal with reporters was also something Blazers were expected to study.
"Some students say Shiro-san is already the strongest student knight, and that even Hagun Academy's student council president cannot defeat you. What do you think?"
The student council president Kagami mentioned was an acquaintance Shiro had not seen in a long time—Toudou Touka.
During the two years before he enrolled at Hagun, Touka had apparently worked extremely hard to reach that position.
Shiro had previously considered visiting her to say hello.
Unfortunately, due to Kurono's reforms this year, Touka seemed to have been busy ever since the beginning of the semester.
However, the Seven Star Sword Art Festival selections were nearly over.
Her work should also be almost finished.
While considering when it would be appropriate to visit her, Shiro casually answered Kagami's question.
"I haven't fought her in a long time, so I don't know who is stronger now."
"Eh? Shiro-san already knew the student council president?"
Remembering Touka's usual clumsy behavior, Shiro smiled faintly.
"You could say we're fairly close friends."
Kagami then fired one sharp question after another.
Fortunately, Shiro had learned a few tricks from Loki, allowing him to avoid most of them with deliberately vague answers.
The sky gradually turned orange, and Kagami's interview finally approached its end.
"One last question. Some students claim the F-Rank [Worst One] and D-Rank [Black Sonia] have continued winning their selection matches because of your guidance. Is that true?"
"A D-Rank knight?"
Shiro knew [Worst One] referred to Ikki.
But who was [Black Sonia]?
He did not remember knowing any D-Rank student knights.
"That's Arisuin Nagi-san. It's unbelievable, Shiro-san. Not only do you forget your classmates' names, but you don't even know your friend's Blazer rank?"
Kagami teased him before recording this minor flaw in her notebook.
However, Shiro's attention was focused elsewhere.
"You're saying Alice... is a D-Rank knight?"
He frowned and slowly asked the question.
…
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