"Ittenpagunshiki."
Due to various circumstances, we have changed our original plans and will be holding an irregular team battle instead of a tournament.
Five noble students vs me.
"Why can't we fight?"
"That's right."
My sister Caliba and Miss Moa protested that their chance to fight was taken from them, but I'm sorry, but please bear with me.
I don't want to let those worthless people threaten my sisters, so I'll take care of them myself.
I'll make it up to you in bed tonight, so listen up.
"Well, I guess that can't be helped, so tonight, Moa and I will be the main focus of your defeat rape, okay?"
"Eh? Me too?"
Understood.
Well, in order to enjoy the sweet taste of victory, let's first celebrate the victory.
◆
"I'm dissatisfied... I'm extremely dissatisfied...!"
Five warriors appear and face each other.
They are all aristocrats, with beautiful, well-bred features.
One of the five was Spier-senpai, with a complicated look on his face, unsure of what to do.
He had hoped for a showdown with me, but not like this.
"Why are our wishes not being granted and instead the commoners are getting their way? Five against one is nothing more than a one-sided killing spree. It doesn't show the strength of us nobles at all!"
The one who was constantly complaining with dissatisfaction was a nobleman named Halbert.
His face was pure and without even a trace of earthiness.
"It's a difference in reliability."
The Queen said after hearing Halbert-san's monologue.
"I am convinced that Thao will win by a landslide. This is just to make it more sensational. If by some chance you manage to defeat Thao, then I will change my mind and consider your argument."
"They say that once the words of those in power are spoken, they cannot be taken back. Don't forget your promise."
Then, Nobleman Halbert-san turns to me.
"You said you were Sao-kun, right? I've heard good things about you. It seems you've done quite well."
"I'm honored."
"I acknowledge that you are working tirelessly, but I have to say that you are working hard in the wrong way. You should have used that effort to till the soil and herd livestock. That is the correct way for a commoner to live."
The nobleman's expression showed obvious contempt.
He must really be looking down on me.
"A cat cannot become a tiger, and a dog cannot become a wolf. In the same way, no matter how hard a commoner tries, he cannot become an aristocrat. There is an absolute difference in the quality of one's birth."
"I've never wanted to become a noble."
"That's a good idea. Let me go ahead and personally teach you something even more important. Commoners are lower than nobles, and you can never disobey them."
The four noble fighters behind Halbert-san seem to be confused about the fight even though they are prepared.
Do they feel guilty about ganging up on one person?
The same was true of Spier-senpai, who was among them.
"All right, you guys just stand back and watch. It's impossible for five nobles to attack one commoner at once. I can't stand it when they criticize us for bullying the weak."
"The rules have been established. It's up to you to make the most of this five against one situation..."
If you fail to use it effectively, the responsibility falls on you.
Don't regret it.
Once the introductory remarks are over, the action finally begins.
"The match begins...!!"
"Skill "Wind Ice Prison Barrier"!!"
Huh?
Did you start the attack before I even finished saying 'start'?
The area around me was blocked off by a raging snowstorm.
It felt as if I was trapped in a blizzard, not just in front of me, but in front, behind, and on both sides.
"Is this... a result of a skill...?"
I can't think of any other reason why a blizzard would suddenly hit a school.
It's spring now, you know? You've just started a new school year.
"And it seemed like you started the attack a little too early?"
『Fufufufu, this is also called tactics.』
A voice came from between the snowstorm.
Is that Prince Halbert?
"I have already seen through your abilities. It's a rod that extends with incredible speed. It's certainly the perfect means of surprise attack. The opponents you have defeated up until now were unable to deal with the ferocity of the attack that comes at you as soon as the match begins."
I guess he was scouting my abilities beforehand.
It seems they are taking the bare minimum precautions.
"But on the other hand, if you can avoid the initial surprise attack, your abilities are nothing to be feared!"
"So it was a false start?"
"Please tell me I struck first. My skill, "Wind and Ice Prison Barrier", borrows the power of the water and wind spirits to trap the enemy in a thick turbulent wind and snow current."
"The power of the spirits...?!"
"My 'vocation' is a 'Summoned Swordsman' who harnesses the power of spirits. It's the strongest job, allowing me to control natural phenomena like a magician while also engaging in close combat."
Is it like a magic swordsman?
In fact, he's probably going to get kicked out of the party for being a jack of all trades and master of none.
"No matter how much you extend your rod and try to stab me to death, it's no use if you can't see the target. You're just blindly stretching it, wasting your strength, and the super-low temperature blizzard is taking away even more of your strength! It's only a matter of time before you freeze to death!"
I see, so he's been researching my winning strategy in his own way.
Certainly, attacks using the "Stretch" skill are point attacks.
While focusing your power on one point allows you to use it efficiently, it becomes meaningless if you don't have a clear aim.
The raging snowstorm made it impossible to see or hear anything, making it impossible to shoot.
Even if they just fire randomly... I'm sure they have some kind of countermeasure in place.
"May I explain this to you? This blizzard is not just an extremely cold wind. It is the product of a combination of the water and wind spirits that I summoned."
"...So, you're saying that the blizzard itself is a spirit in disguise?"
"For a commoner, you understand things quickly. As if through the eyes of the spirits, I can see your condition as if it were right in front of my eyes. Even if you can't tell at all. From your stance, it's easy for me to predict the line of fire of the extending rod and avoid it. So no matter how many times you fire off your attacks, they won't hit me."
The blizzard itself is its eyes and ears.
It's unfair, as our senses are completely numb due to the countless snowflakes and the roaring wind.
"Even if you try to run away from the blizzard's realm... it's useless, you know? As I've said many times before, that blizzard is a spirit itself. It will pursue you wherever you go. The blizzard itself moves in unison with you."
"..."
"It's useless to run away, and it's useless to confront. This is the absolute difference between commoners and nobles. If you feel powerless, cry and beg for help. As a nobleman, I too have a sense of noblesse oblige. I will give to the weak without hesitation, you know?"
He's been going on about "Spirits" and "Spirits" for a while now, but...
"It's not a spirit, is it?"
"what?"
"They are the descendants of spirits, and lower-ranking ones at that. They are the ones creating this blizzard."
"That's stupid, what kind of accusation is that?"
"I know a spirit too. I've seen her methods, so I know."
Napalm, a fire spirit whom he had met in the volcanic region some time ago, had many subordinates roaming the land, each of whom had shared his power with the others in order to eliminate weak intruders.
The water and wind spirits (self-proclaimed) that Halbert-san summoned don't have the same divine or intimidating presence as Napalm, and if anything, they feel closer to the family she created.
And it's the weakest one.
"You said you were a [Summoner]. So your skill is to summon and command the spirits' relatives. Are you just calling them spirits for show, or do you honestly believe they are spirits? Either way, this is a nuisance to the spirits themselves."
"Shut up, commoner!"
Wow, the nobleman was angry.
"What's the point in being a relative or a spirit? Either way, you'll be trapped in the blizzard's prison and will freeze to death! Your "vocation" is a direct attack type, so there's no way you have the skill to blow away the insubstantial blizzard!!"
"Certainly, I don't have any skills."
I just remembered something related to spirits.
I had received the gift of Napalm, a spirit I had met before.
- "Pyro Stigma."
Proof that I've earned the favor of the fire spirit, that crest gives me new powers.
"What? What?!"
Spin the stick around like a helicopter rotor.
At the same time, a crimson light emanated from my chest and the crest burst into flames.
The heat travels down his shoulders, arms, and hands, and ends up in his weapon.
Flames shoot out from both ends of the stick, creating large rings in accordance with its rotational orbit.
"Giiiiiiiiiiiii?!"
Was that death throbbing coming from the summoned water and wind spirits?
"Pyro Stigma" is a power of the spirit itself, bestowed by the spirit itself.
That power cannot be compared to the power of a lower-level relative, who is merely a torn-off, divided power of the spirit.
It is the law of nature that the strong win and the weak are crushed and eliminated.
The extreme heat from my flames evaporated the snow in no time at all. Clear vision returned immediately.
"How ridiculous!"
Hey Halbert, it's been a while.
What a face to see after such a long time! He was completely disoriented with shock and agitation, and no longer had the coolness of a gentleman.
Do you have a runny nose?
"Fire?! A commoner like you has obtained the vocation to use magic and direct attacks at the same time?! That's impossible?!"
"The power I gained from 'Pyro Stigma' has nothing to do with 'Career'."
Besides, surely there is no difference between the ``calling'' of a noble or a commoner?
"Well then, my dear noble, is this the end of your trump card? Have you run out of options?"
"A commoner...! A commoner like you!!!"
Halbert-san began to grind his teeth...
"Everyone! What are you staring at? Aren't you ashamed to make me fight alone?!"
He called out to his fellow nobles behind him.
"Surround him! Let's all attack him at once and take him down! If the nobles, who are born with superior abilities, join forces, there's no way they can't defeat a single commoner!!"
"Are we relying on numbers now...?!"
It is proof that he has run out of options, but it's funny, as if someone has forgotten my face and is now desperately yelling at my servants to come out.
"Well then, shall we end the game now?"
I was still spinning the stick like a helicopter rotor, maintaining the ring of fire that was created in its orbit.
Then, swing the stick as if you are shooting a ring of fire!
The ring of fire flew off with the force of a chakram or a frisbee.
....
… Does this technique seem familiar?
Where did you see it?
There's no doubt that it's a fairly simple concept for this technique, so I'm sure I've seen it here and there, perhaps in games in my previous life.
Anyway, just as you would imagine, the ring of fire flies off, hitting the group of nobles huddled together and scattering them like bowling pins!
"Ahhhhhhhhhh!?"
The only one who was hit directly was Halbert, who was standing right in front.
The other nobles who had been standing behind were fanned by the heat of the flames and fled, escaping danger by getting outside the arena.
...And that was good.
Spear-senpai is over there, and if that fine skin gets burned or blistered, I'll cry.
I raised my fist, confident of victory.
"Victory!"
Halbert-san, who was having the most fun, got burned to ashes, and the others fled from the heat and left the arena, so I guess that counts as a win, right?
The Ittenpagunshiki match was supposed to be contested in a tournament format, but it was suddenly changed to an irregular one-on-five team battle, and I still managed to win by myself.