'Not only is he handsome… but at the same time he's strong.'
The girl that came late to Orientation thought while stroking her chin a bit, her tired eyes tracking Kōya's movements with analytical interest.
'I think he'll do.'
A few other battles had taken place afterward, but they couldn't be compared to Kōya's devastating performance.
The people here had good skills, decent fundamentals, but they were Class 5 students at the end of the day.
There wasn't anyone defeating the other with overwhelming speed or power like Kōya had demonstrated.
After all, Class 5 was for the bottom of the bottom… the lowest of the rung.
She honestly didn't know why Kōya was even here. He was a two-liner and a powerful one at that, judging by how he'd manipulated his mana flow during that attack.
"Kamemori Mio."
Mio stood up and went onto the field, stretching her arms briefly.
She could feel Kōya and Renji watching her from the sidelines.
Renji was pumping his fist up enthusiastically as if he wanted her to win, and she hid a small smile at his earnest support.
'The Trouble Trio… that honestly doesn't sound so bad,' Mio thought as Saki cleared her throat and announced the next person.
"Tachibana Misora."
The class rep walked into the field opposite her with measured, confident steps. Mio felt immediately that it wouldn't be easy to beat her at all.
Not easy was an understatement… it would be nearly impossible.
The class rep had shoulder-length black hair that framed a delicate but calculating face. She belonged to the Tachibana clan, which was one of the low-tier noble clans, which explained why she was in Class 5 despite her obvious talent.
But Misora carried herself like a higher noble, with that particular brand of arrogance that came from knowing you were better than your circumstances suggested.
Both girls got into fighting stances, and it was just as Mio thought. Her fighting stance had a lot of holes in it, openings that practically screamed "attack here."
But they were intentional, baited traps designed to lure opponents into disadvantageous exchanges.
She could never hope to beat Misora in hand-to-hand combat through conventional means.
'I'd rather give up than—'
In the next instant, Misora closed the distance with three quick steps.
It was a well-known movement technique within the Tachibana clan, a signature style that their martial artists were famous for.
Though for Misora, it seemed to be even faster than the standard version, refined through countless hours of practice.
She threw a powerful kick aimed directly at Mio's midsection.
Mio's tired eyes widened as she twisted her body to the right, barely dodging the whole attack by millimeters.
"I conce—"
Before she could finish the word "concede" Misora used her other leg for a spinning kick.
The motion was fluid and relentless, forcing Mio to stop talking mid-word and block the attack with both forearms.
The impact made her stagger backward, her feet sliding across the arena floor.
Misora brought her hand forward and made that beckoning gesture, curling her fingers in a "come here" motion like she was calling Mio back for more.
"You should quit trying to concede and fight me…" Misora said, her voice low enough that only Mio could hear clearly. "Unless you want everyone to find out."
Then she mouthed something after, done in such a way that Saki couldn't read her lips from her position but the realization of what those words were made Mio's eyes widen with genuine shock.
'She knows…'
The thought hit her like ice water.
Mio's entire demeanor changed instantly. She got into an attacking stance with newfound determination and then charged forward with a powerful roundhouse kick.
Misora blocked it with her forearm, staggering backward from the force but she turned the momentum into a backflip that almost made her feet hit Mio's chin in a devastating follow-up.
Mio steadied herself just in time, and both girls collided their knees mid-air with a loud crack.
"Is there something happening that we're not aware of…?" Renji asked, watching the intensity ramp up dramatically.
He saw the two girls fight each other viciously now, with real intent behind every strike.
It seemed that Mio didn't want to fight initially, but Misora had threatened her with something, and suddenly she wanted to fight desperately.
"Most probably," Kōya muttered, his eyes tracking the flow of the battle. 'It's pretty obvious that Hakua is playing with her food…'
If she wanted, she could end this thing in one damn flick of her wrist but she was going for a lengthy battle instead, drawing it out deliberately.
Why?
What was the point of prolonging a fight you'd already won?
Just then, Misora landed a devastating kick on Mio's solar plexus, the impact was perfectly placed.
It caused Mio to fall over to the ground with no power left in her limbs, her breath knocked completely out of her lungs.
"The winner is Tachibana Misora, your class rep!" Saki announced with a few enthusiastic hops, clapping her hands together. "Kyaa~ Misora-chan is so cool!"
It seemed that she was a fangirl or something like that, genuinely excited by the display.
Misora extended a hand to Mio with an expression of polite concern, the perfect image of good sportsmanship.
Mio took it reluctantly, knowing she had no choice.
However, as Mio was being pulled up to her feet, Misora leaned in close and mouthed something that only she could see.
Mio picked it up immediately, her assassin training making lip-reading second nature.
'I want you to get very close to my future Knight and give me information about him… his likes, his dislikes, and everything,' Misora had mouthed out silently. 'And I won't tell anyone that you're the lead assassin from the Order sent to find the guy that texted Shion-sama.'
Mio flinched visibly, her poker face cracking for just a moment.
She had been caught so effortlessly… without even doing anything.
'Kōya Amagi? I already have plans for him,' she mouthed back defiantly as she was pulled to her feet.
Misora gave her the dead eye in response, her expression going completely cold and lifeless.
The message was clear: comply or face consequences then she walked off without another word, leaving Mio standing there.
Mio herself walked back to the girls' line with her poker face restored, showing nothing.
'Well, I'm fucked,' Mio thought grimly as she rejoined the lineup. She had tried using several of her assassin techniques while in that fight… of course, only the ones that wouldn't make her suspicious to Saki-sensei.
But not only had Misora read everything she'd attempted, she had evaded them too with minimal effort.
Like swatting away flies.
'I'll be changing my targets…' Mio decided. 'I must kill Tachibana Misora within a week. Kōya's strength will be mine, and by extension, belong to the Order as well.'
The plan was already forming in her mind and the pieces were moving into place.
…
"And now, wasn't that more fun than a regular class?" Saki practically sang as she placed both of her hands together, seeming very pleased with herself.
Her eyes were sparkling with genuine excitement.
"I got to see all your various fighting styles together… and now we have to work harder so we can crush all the other top classes!"
She pushed her hand into the air with a triumphant grin, her enthusiasm was almost infectious.
Just then, the bell rang throughout the training hall, a melodic chime that signaled the period's end.
Saki blinked in surprise.
"The period is over already…?" She wondered aloud, then suddenly perked up with realization.
She hadn't even done her job as the homeroom teacher properly!
There was still a whole orientation to give… a run-through of how they were to take classes, what the curriculum looked like, school rules, everything.
'Meh, I'll just leave it to the next guy,' she decided with zero guilt whatsoever.
She adjusted her robes and scurried toward the exit like a kid avoiding chores.
"I'll see you later, my lovelies!" She called out before running off completely, waving over her shoulder. "Amagi-kun, you'll see the IP in your account later!"
And then she was gone, disappearing through the doors.
Immediately after she left, a burly man entered from the opposite entrance.
He was wearing a suit and tie that looked expensive but ill-fitting on his large frame.
As he entered, there was a certain smell coming from him that hit everyone's nostrils simultaneously.
It was clear that it was overwhelming perfume, the kind that people used when they bathed in cologne instead of using reasonable amounts.
Everyone looked at him weirdly, their faces scrunching up at the assault on their senses.
He cleared his throat with a sound like grinding stones.
"-500 IP for looking at your professor weirdly," he said flatly as he placed his textbook on the teacher's table with a heavy thud.
Then he adjusted his tie with deliberate slowness.
"-200 IP for smelling… what happened? You Class 5 kids don't take baths?"
The accusation was absurd given that he was the source of the smell.
"We went to the aren—" Mio started to explain.
"-150 IP for talking when I didn't give you permission to," he interrupted without even looking at her.
Then he took the Holo-cane, tapping it on the board and his name appeared in bold characters.
Moriyama Shusuke.
Mio felt the urge to assassinate him come through immediately, a professional reflex honed by years of training but she kept it down, maintaining her neutral expression.
"I'll be your history teacher, and I'll teach you all about the world before the Fall…" Shusuke said, his voice carrying that particular tone of someone who enjoyed having power over others. "How the White King saved us, and everything about crests that you need to know. For that, I'll need your unbridled attention…"
He paused for emphasis.
"Might I remind you that the three students with the lowest scores in Class 5 on the mid-terms… if they don't hit the cut-off mark will be expelled, and the class will lose Class Points as well. So you must study."
That made all of them go on alert immediately, the threat was real and immediate.
Shusuke turned back to the board, beginning to tap on it more.
"I'll be bringing up our first topic, so by the time I turn around, I expect you to have brought out your history textbooks," he said without looking back.
Kōya summoned his from the storage ring with a subtle gesture, the book materializing in his hands.
Upon opening it to the first page, a paper plane flew through the air in a perfect arc. It landed directly on the open textbook with surprising accuracy.
He looked at the person that had thrown it and saw it was Mio.
She was giving him a smile… it was not her usual tired expression, but something more genuine.
She made a gesture for him to unfold it, her fingers mimicking the motion. He unfolded the paper carefully, keeping it hidden behind the textbook.
She had written something in neat handwriting:
[Want to hang out later?]