"Haruki Aizawa."
"You're from the mainland, aren't you?"
"Something like that."
Knowing that Haruki was an international student like herself, Stella felt a flicker of kinship, but her indignation quickly flared up again. "Don't you think you and Ikki Kurogane barging into my room and watching me change is an incredibly perverted move?!"
"Actually, from what I've gathered, the room you were changing in is Ikki Kurogane's room."
"What?" Stella looked at him with utter disbelief. "What are you talking about? I don't understand! I have the key the Chairperson gave me herself! How could I possibly be in the wrong place?!"
"Hmm?"
At Stella's words, even Haruki sensed something was off. He, Stella, and Ikki all turned their gaze toward the Chairperson, Kurono Shinguji.
The Chairperson couldn't hold it back anymore. She burst out laughing. "Pfft... Hahaha! Sorry, sorry. This situation was just too precious; I couldn't resist a little prank. It's quite simple, really. Stella-san was changing in Ikki's room because Hagun Academy's dorms are shared occupancy. To put it bluntly: Ikki and Stella are roommates."
"EEEEEEHHH?!"
Ikki Kurogane and Stella Vermillion both froze, their faces masks of pure shock.
Haruki, on the other hand, looked as if he had expected this. He had already suspected that a princess like Stella wouldn't just "walk into the wrong room." It had Chairperson's meddling written all over it. Now that the air was cleared, it was obvious the whole thing was just Kurono's warped sense of humor.
Kurono Shinguji quickly explained the logic.
Since Stella was the only A-Rank Blazer at Hagun, there were no other students of an equivalent rank to pair her with. This broke the "merit-based" roommate system. After some thought, Kurono decided to pair her with the only F-Rank—Ikki. Her reasoning? One was the "strongest" and the other the "weakest"—both were unprecedented outliers, so they balanced each other out perfectly.
To the Chairperson, this was just efficient problem-solving. By putting the two most "troublesome" students together, she solved several administrative headaches at once.
Stella, however, wasn't having it. "I refuse to live in the same room as this pervert!"
"P-Pervert...?" Ikki looked wounded by the title.
Kurono shrugged. "Well, finding an A-Rank peer for you is impossible. However, I just saw a suitable candidate. Haruki here suppressed your Device at point-blank range; his strength is clearly exceptional. Maybe he should be your roommate instead?"
"No thanks. Count me out," Haruki interjected immediately.
He had zero interest in getting tangled up in some bittersweet adolescent rom-com. He'd rather spend his time perfecting his draw-speed than navigating the temper of a teenage princess.
Stella's face twitched when Haruki rejected the idea so bluntly. She wasn't about to beg him, of course. She turned back to Kurono. "Chairperson, your philosophy is absolute meritocracy, right? In that case, I have one condition: whoever shares a room with me must defeat me in a one-on-one duel. I will not live under the same roof as a weakling!"
"Oh? I like that. That's very much in line with my tastes." Kurono grinned, clearly enjoying the chaos.
"Wait, what?"
Ikki was the only one left confused as the situation spiraled into a formal duel between him and Stella. Before he could protest, Stella and the Chairperson had already finalized the terms.
Ikki turned to Haruki for help, but Haruki simply patted his shoulder with a small, encouraging smirk. "Good luck, Ikki."
Then, Haruki turned and walked out.
He was done with this nonsense. He felt he had already wasted enough precious time on school drama when he could have been training. He needed a quiet place to reflect on the brief clash he'd had with Stella. Even that short exchange had given him new insights into the "Wave" branch of his Ghost Slayer Arts, and he needed to digest them while his blood was still hot.
After leaving the faculty office, Haruki found a secluded training area to break down the earlier fight. Although his clash with Stella had been brief, it had been a vital lesson in the practical application of Resonance.
When he blocked Stella's flames, he had used a variation of the Wave Wheel Slasher. Usually, this Ghost Slayer technique creates a series of ripples to shred an opponent. But Haruki hadn't used the full move; he had adapted the principle to shatter Stella's flames at the source.
The logic was simple: in the "Wave" philosophy, everything in the universe is composed of vibrations. Different materials and elements have different resonant frequencies. If the "Mind's Eye" can perceive the essence of these vibrations, one can manipulate or even distort them.
Stella's flames weren't "natural" fire; they were a manifestation of Mana. High-energy Mana has a distinct, vibrant frequency that is much easier to isolate than the chaotic vibrations of physical matter. Haruki had simply "unsheathed" a counter-resonance to negate her fire with his bare hand.
Of course, he knew he only pulled it off because Stella was holding back. If she had truly unleashed her full power, his current level of "Wave" mastery wouldn't have been enough to erase the heat entirely.
"I still need to get stronger," Haruki muttered.
He spent the rest of the morning in the academy's specialized training grounds. These facilities were designed to handle the high-output combat of Blazers, making them perfect for Haruki to practice both his Wuju Style and his Ghost Slayer Arts without holding back.
By the afternoon, his understanding of the Wave branch had deepened significantly. However, the Bloodlust branch—the third path of the Ghost Slayer—remained a mystery. He had yet to find the "trigger" for that specific power.
As he finished his session and prepared to head back, he overheard groups of students gossiping about the upcoming duel between the "Crimson Princess" and the "Worst One."
While he avoided drama, he was genuinely curious to see how Ikki would handle a top-tier Blazer. He headed to the arena.
Since classes hadn't officially started and Ikki's reputation was non-existent, the stands were mostly empty. Haruki sat in a corner, watching as the two combatants entered the ring.
To the few spectators present, this was a joke. Stella was an A-Rank genius; Ikki was a Rank F failure. It was like a dragon fighting an ant. But Haruki, having seen Ikki's mental discipline during their morning run, knew better. This wouldn't be a one-sided slaughter.
The duel began.
Blazers fought in a simulated "Illusion Form." When their soul-weapons—Devices—were activated in this mode, they wouldn't cause physical injury. Instead, they would "cut" through the opponent's stamina and Mana, with the winner being the one who forced the other into exhaustion or unconsciousness.
The two stood twenty meters apart in the center of the massive dome. Chairperson Kurono stood between them as the referee.
"Manifest, Intetsu!"
"Come to me, Laevateinn!"
The black blade and the flaming gold sword appeared simultaneously.
"Begin!"
The exchange was instantaneous. Stella lunged with the overwhelming speed and power of an A-Rank. As expected, Ikki was immediately put on the defensive.
In this world, Blazers possess a "Mana Shield" that protects them from direct harm until their energy is depleted. Stella's stats were monstrous: Attack A, Defense A, Mana A. Ikki, by contrast, had no way to even scratch her defense through raw power.
Most of the audience members who had come to see Stella's beauty left after a few minutes, bored by what looked like a one-sided thrashing.
However, Haruki didn't look away. He saw the "truth" behind the clash. Stella was unleashing strike after strike, yet she hadn't landed a decisive blow. Ikki was maintaining a delicate, terrifying balance—deflecting her power by the thinnest of margins, refusing to break.
It was as if he were waiting for something.