Seeing the opponent deploy their Device in its harmless phantom form, Noah smiled disdainfully.
In the end, they were just sheltered students.
They didn't dare to have a real, life-or-death fight in a cafe.
Suddenly, Ikki flashed in front of that person. He landed a swift knife-hand strike on the opponent's wrist, forcing him to drop his Device, and then clamped down on the man's chin with a one-handed tiger-claw grip.
Held in such a strange painful posture, the lackey found he couldn't move an inch and panicked.
Kuraudo's eyes lit up despite the gravity holding him down.
"You have got some real skills, kid. And by the looks of your footwork, you're a swordsman, right?!"
"That's right."
Ikki decisively admitted it.
As a swordsman, to deny the sword itself would mean one wasn't worthy of the title.
He had his own knightly convictions!
"Noah-kun, please release Kuraudo-kun's restraints."
Noah looked at Ikki, who was politely bowing his head on behalf of a hostile enemy, and was somewhat speechless.
He felt like his magic intervention had been completely unnecessary.
Noah guessed that if he hadn't stepped in, Ikki probably would have let himself get a glass bottle smashed over his head and ended up beaten bloody just to protect the shop...
Although he didn't know why, he just had that strong premonition about Ikki's heroic idiocy.
Of course, Shizuku standing beside them definitely wouldn't have let it slide at that point, and the entire dessert shop would likely be frozen in solid ice.
He had specifically drawn their aggro just to prevent the collateral damage from happening.
But this dumbass Ikki didn't seem to understand that logic at all.
Noah sighed and casually snapped his fingers, releasing the gravity. Letting the other party misunderstand his abilities wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
Ikki released the lackey at this time, turned to Kuraudo, and said, "Kuraudo-kun, I apologize for the unpleasantness just now. At the same time, I ask that you please stop harassing Ayase-senpai."
"Harassing?"
Kuraudo stretched his aching body, looking at Noah very warily, and then grinned fiercely at Ikki.
"Harassing? Your name is Kurogane, right? Let me tell you, you have got it backwards. We are the ones being continually harassed."
He reached out and pointed an accusing finger at Ayase, who had her head bowed in the booth.
"This crazy woman used to come looking for us at our school every other day trying to take our things. We were being the bigger people and didn't do anything to her. Instead of wasting your breath on us, why don't you try persuading her to stop?"
"You!"
Ayase raised her head and glared at Kuraudo.
She shouted, "You're the one who used despicable methods to steal our Ayatsuji Ittou-ryu dojo! And you actually have the nerve to be so shameless!"
"That is because your half-dead old man lost the title match to me! Don't act like you have got amnesia!" Kuraudo roared back with an even louder voice.
Hearing this, Ikki said seriously, "Can you tell me exactly what's going on?"
He noticed that both sides had their own conflicting stories, yet neither seemed to be lying about their perspective.
Hearing his question, Ayase immediately spoke excitedly, "This man! He came and beat up the disciples of our dojo, and even took advantage of my father's poor health to challenge him, sending him to the hospital! It was all to steal our family's dojo! He's a thug, a liar, a despicable guy!"
Perhaps seeing that the situation was advantageous to her side with Ikki and Noah there, Ayase's confidence grew a bit, and she straightened her back significantly.
Ikki frowned. "That's going way too far!"
"Hah! What's going too far?! The strong eat the weak—that is the law of the world. You want to take back the dojo, right? Then defeat me for it. But I am not going to let a weak, pathetic woman like you be my opponent."
Hearing this, Ayase clenched her fists in shame.
Looking down on her just because she was a woman—this was simply pure male arrogance.
"If that's the case... then I will be your opponent!" Ikki took a firm step forward.
'Oh?'
Kuraudo's eyes lit up, his posture shifting to that of a hungry hunter who had spotted worthy prey.
He could tell this kid was a formidable swordsman, he just didn't know exactly how good he was.
Hagun Academy was holding some kind of internal selection battle this year, and he had been eager to get involved and test their fighters for a long time.
If this could bring some violent excitement to his boring days, he was a million times willing.
"Kurogane-kun!"
Although Ayase was moved by his defense, right now she was mostly worried.
Because she knew the true strength of this man, Kuraudo Kurashiki, all too well.
Having personally watched him brutally defeat her father, the man known as the Last Samurai, she had to admit that his power far exceeded her own.
Moreover, her opponent was in the national top eight last year.
His true strength was almost unimaginably high.
Based on her understanding of this delinquent, since it was a formal duel, there would definitely have to be high stakes.
Sure enough, Kuraudo gave a sinister smile.
"If you want to challenge me, you have to agree to my conditions. How about this: if I lose, I will return the dojo deed to her. But if you lose... I want you to swear to never hold a sword again for the rest of your life. What do you say?"
Kuraudo attempted to see a conflicted and frustrated expression on Ikki's face over this heavy demand.
But to his surprise, Ikki accepted it immediately without hesitation!
"Alright! I accept your demand! In that case, I can decide the time and place for the duel, right?"
"Hmph. As long as it is not next year."
"Good. Then let's set the time for three days from now!"
Noah shook his head in amusement.
'This guy.'
Because he had an upcoming tournament match for Hagun, he casually postponed Kuraudo's high-stakes duel.
If the other guy knew that was the real reason for the delay, he would definitely be so mad he would want to start the duel right on the spot.
..
"What's with that man?!"
Shizuku was still sulking even after they reached the school gate.
She had mentally noted down everyone who had a bad attitude toward Ikki in her little black book.
If she ever got the chance in the future, she would make those guys regret coming into this world.
"Onii-sama is just too naive! No, I should say he is too gentle, or perhaps just too kind!"
"When the day of the duel arrives, Onii-sama will definitely beat the crap out of that guy!"
"At that time, I will make sure to thoroughly mock him, so he remembers just how amazing my dear brother is."
Shizuku kept muttering these complaints non-stop as they walked.
Noah directly grabbed Stella's hand and slipped away down a side path.
He had to prevent himself from becoming a captive trash can for the younger girl's trash talk!
This left Nagi Arisuin as the only one by Shizuku's side, smilingly keeping her company and listening to her endless chatter.
...
"Alice is really a strange person. He's clearly a boy, yet acting as a female companion," Stella muttered as they walked away.
She wasn't the type to gossip behind someone's back, but some things really weren't suitable to discuss face-to-face.
Nagi Arisuin, an effeminate, handsome guy over six feet tall, had a tone of voice that was entirely that of a girl's, and his behavior and mannerisms were completely feminine.
It wasn't quite the same as a crossdresser.
He was the type... who felt like he was born in the wrong gender.
A woman's heart in a man's body!
Although Noah already knew Alice's true identity, he didn't tell Stella right away.
Logically speaking, he should have warned Stella and told her to be more cautious around their classmate.
But it was precisely because of her personality that he didn't say anything.
Stella simply wasn't the type who could keep a secret.
Her lies would be seen through at a glance, and her acting was incredibly clumsy.
If she knew that Alice was a spy from Rebellion, she might just accidentally blurt it out during a meal one day.
Leaving aside what would violently happen when that time came... all in all, it would definitely be extremely awkward.
Having already deduced that Alice's goal this time was to build a good relationship with the qualifying representatives for the Seven Stars Sword Art Festival, the only thing left to consider was why he would do so.
Building a good relationship equals gaining trust.
If he were an ordinary scammer, gaining trust would be for nothing more than swindling money or taking advantage of someone.
From this perspective, the possibility wasn't high.
Having personally experienced one of Rebellion's bloody fundraising activities at the mall, Noah already knew clearly how crude and violent their methods were.
If it were just for money, it definitely wouldn't be this troublesome.
'Taking advantage...'
'Mhm, let's put that to the back of the mind for now.'
'Then finally, as expected, it must be betrayal.'
'Leaking intelligence to a rival after obtaining it, or simply turning coat at a critical moment to ambush their own competitors.'
Thinking of this, Noah's eyes widened slightly.
He felt as if he had already figured out Alice's true mission.
If he followed this train of thought, did that mean there were political factions secretly colluding with Rebellion mixed right within the Seven Stars Academies?
To sabotage other academies during the Seven Stars Sword Art Festival, the only ones who could profit from this were the other academies that also needed to participate in the tournament.
If this was the grand plan of one of those parties... then didn't that mean, apart from the initiator of the plan itself, spies like Nagi Arisuin were planted in all the other academies?
This matter... it might be better to report it to the Chairwoman first.