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"Why?" Ryoji was completely confused.
"You don't know?" Misogi Awa shrugged helplessly, bubbles floating around him. "I've already become one of your recorded achievements, you know!"
"That happened?" Ryoji looked at Totokubara Kanata in surprise.
"Seems like it did." Kanata pretended to think for a moment, putting on an expression as if she couldn't quite remember.
Then, acting as though she wasn't familiar with him at all, she silently turned her head away, fetched a teacup and some tea leaves, and naturally began brewing tea.
Oh, right.
The setting is that Kanata, the rich lady, and I aren't close at all.
"Senior Sister, is that true?" Ryoji finally reacted, turning to Senior Sister with a puzzled look.
"That's right. I remember Taka-chan once got matched up against Junior Brother." Toudou Touka glanced at her best friend; a trace of confusion appeared in her eyes.
Why did Junior Brother look toward Kanata first?
It felt a little strange, but Kanata was the operating president, so Junior Brother probably thought she knew more than anyone else.
Touka didn't dwell on it and continued explaining to Ryoji.
"Back then, Taka-chan declared a forfeit right away. He didn't even step onto the field."
So he really was one of the twelve people who forfeited. No wonder he said he became part of Ryoji's battle record.
"But honestly, even with Taka-chan's strength, there's no way he could've beaten Junior Brother!"
Toudou Touka covered her mouth and chuckled softly.
"That's... pretty blunt." Misogi Awa smiled wryly.
"By the way, what is the Vice President's ability again?" Ryoji suddenly realized that he didn't actually know.
"Just call me Taka-chan. You're already so close with Touka, after all."
Misogi Awa swept an ambiguous gaze over the two of them, making Touka blush bright red in embarrassment.
"My ability is the same type as Junior Brother-kun's: Causation Manipulation. Though, to be precise, it's more accurate to call it interference with fate." Misogi Awa carefully explained his ability.
He possessed a Noble Art called 〈Absolute Uncertainty〉.
In short, as long as something fell within the range of his ability, he could adjust the probability of events occurring and interfere with an established fate.
In other words, he could forcefully change something with only a one percent chance of happening into a one hundred percent certainty.
"That's an amazing ability!" Ryoji exclaimed.
"Being able to interfere with predetermined fate—doesn't that make you unbeatable?"
"Haha, it's not that powerful!"
Misogi Awa waved his hand and burst out laughing.
"I can only increase a one-percent probability to one hundred percent. If the probability is zero to begin with, then I can't interfere at all."
In other words, he couldn't make the impossible possible.
For example, if someone was impossible to defeat from the start, no amount of interference with fate could result in a comeback victory.
That was exactly the case when facing Ryoji.
He knew that with his weak strength, he had absolutely no chance against Ryoji, so he chose to forfeit.
"Here you go."
The rich lady, Kanata, placed the freshly brewed black tea in front of Ryoji.
Ryoji cast her a subtle, unreadable glance.
If he remembered correctly, Toudou Touka, Totokubara Kanata, and Misogi Awa had been friends since childhood.
Yet Kanata secretly stole her best friend's man and tossed her childhood friend in front of him as part of his battle record. What kind of "childhood friend" are you, exactly?
Kanata shifted her gaze away somewhat guiltily.
In any case, it was absolutely impossible for Taka-chan to become one of the six selected candidates, so she might as well let him serve as her man's battle record.
"But if you used your ability before the battle started and made your opponent forfeit, that should be doable, right?"
Ryoji considered this possibility and asked Misogi Awa.
"It is doable, but that would be cheating."
Misogi Awa waved his hand, looking completely innocent.
"The selection tournament forbids under-the-table tricks. Besides, Kanata already knows my ability. If my opponent suddenly forfeited, Kanata would definitely kick me out."
In other words, even if he didn't intend to do so, it would be easy to be misunderstood.
Those who can interfere with fate are also subject to fate's mockery.
Of course, aside from being unable to turn the impossible into the possible, his ability was practically omnipotent in every other respect.
If he wanted to have a fateful encounter with a female celebrity, even if he stayed home playing games all day, that celebrity might end up falling into his house one day.
If I had that ability, I'd be ridiculously overpowered.
"But...cheating, huh..." Ryoji's expression darkened slightly.
From the start of the selection tournament, he had been cheating.
First, he did it to avoid being matched against Senior Sister. Later, he crossed over into other worlds so he wouldn't be eliminated from the tournament. No matter how you looked at it, his motives were far from pure.
From the perspective of those chosen to face him, his methods were extremely unfair, his victories were hardly honorable.
"Oh, right, Junior Brother-kun! Are you free this weekend?"
Tomaru Renren shook off Kanata's lecture and cheerfully ran over to sit down beside Ryoji.
She was about to cling to Junior Brother-kun's arm and shake it when she suddenly caught sight of Toudou Touka's piercing gaze. Startled, she pulled her arm back awkwardly, looking embarrassed.
"I should be free. What's up?"
"Well, you know how Hagun Academy holds a training camp for contestants every year, right?"
"Actually, I didn't know."
"Eh...well, it's like this."
The Seven Stars Sword-Art Festival starts in August, and the Seven Stars Academies usually begin their summer break in July.
While ordinary students naturally choose to return to their hometowns, those selected as contestants need to undergo a special training session beforehand. They strengthen themselves, make up for their weaknesses, observe their opponents' characteristics, and research counter-strategies.
That is the purpose of the contestant training camp.
In the past, Hagun Academy held a training camp for contestants every year, and this year was no exception.
After the selection tournament ended in mid-July, the academy planned to hold the training camp in the Okutama mountains to strengthen the contestants.
"However, there seems to be some kind of anomaly at the training site. The school wants our student council to investigate, but as you know, there are only five of us—there's just not enough manpower."
With such a large mountain area, traveling back and forth alone would take several hours. Trying to investigate everything in one day with only four or five people is unrealistic.
"So we thought of asking for outside help!"
Tomaru Renren stuck out her tongue and let out a playful "ehehe."
"Junior Brother-kun, you're Touka's acquaintance, and you're pretty strong, too—of course, you were our first choice!"
In short, he'd been drafted as extra manpower.
"Junior Brother Renren was attacked just a few days ago. The director even said he should stay on campus during this time."
Toudou Touka scolded Tomaru Renren with an unhappy expression.
"I'm completely fine."
Ryoji raised his hand indifferently.
(End of Chapter)