"What?"
Scáthach, who had not yet fully recovered from the shock of hearing the name "Ian Pendragon," was once again astonished by his words.
He wanted to land a blow on her?
Scáthach estimated the time.
Less than a fifth of the agreed-upon five minutes remained.
Before this, Ian had shown no desire to attack whatsoever.
And now he was saying he would hit her at this moment?
How could that be possible?!
But—
Scáthach sized up the man before her with her eyes, realizing he was not joking.
He had genuinely thought of a way, which was why he had said such a thing.
But what could that method possibly be?
Scáthach found herself growing curious.
Unconsciously, she discovered that the Ian before her was beginning to overlap with the image she had been hoping for.
Actually, the situation you face is even worse than Misaya Reiroukan had anticipated.
By the time you declared you would defeat her, less than thirty seconds remained on the clock.
Under normal circumstances, it would be impossible for you, who had been constantly on the defensive, to reverse the tide of battle in such a short time.
However—
You know that these are not normal circumstances.
Misaya Reiroukan's test contains a shortcut that can be exploited by the courageous.
What were the conditions Misaya Reiroukan had set for joining the club?
One, land a single blow on her.
Two, last for five minutes.
To propose such restrictions meant that she was supremely confident in two things: that she could not be hit, and that her offensive was absolute enough to defeat any opponent.
But—
Within this, there were many unmentioned possibilities.
And the most important, the most critical point of all...
...was that Misaya Reiroukan was completely unconcerned about being hit by her opponent.
That's right.
In the mind of this Spearmanship Club instructor, who had not been bested once in ten years, hitting an opponent was a matter of course, and naturally not worth mentioning.
This also led to her being entirely careless about anything related to it.
This—
This was the key to his reversal.
"Interesting," Scáthach uttered, looking at Ian before her, her tone a world apart from before.
"Then let me see just how you're going to hit me!" she exclaimed.
Saying this, Scáthach once again brandished the wooden practice spear.
Although the weapon in her hands was not her Noble Phantasm, Gáe Bolg Alternative.
Even so, with her consummate martial prowess, she could make it perform far beyond its own limits.
The concrete manifestation of this was a style of spear thrusts completely different from the flashy set she had used before!
The members of the Spearmanship Club had all fallen silent.
This was the first time any of them had seen the old hag use a different set of spear techniques.
This perhaps meant one thing—that the man who had been stubbornly defending did indeed possess a certain level of skill, enough to make their instructor take him seriously.
Could it be that the ten-year undefeated legend of Homurahara Academy was finally about to be broken today?!
"Hah—!" Scáthach roared.
Holding her wooden spear, Scáthach thrust it towards Ian.
If she had used seventy percent of her strength earlier in response to his courage...
...then now, she was truly displaying her powerful side to him.
Although Gáe Bolg Alternative was not in her hand, the method of attack was no different!
Come on—! she thought.
Let me see what else you've got!
However, the turn of events defied everyone's expectations.
Faced with Scáthach's sudden assault, Ian no longer defended as he had before.
He made a decision that his opponent had not anticipated at all!
The man, gripping the unfamiliar weapon, charged directly at Scáthach to meet her attack!
No!
It couldn't be called meeting her attack!
Rather, he chose to face all of Scáthach's spear strikes with his own body!
Scáthach watched the scene in disbelief.
This was the first time she had ever encountered someone who, when facing her spear strikes, chose not to dodge at all and instead actively charged forward.
If she were actually holding Gáe Bolg Alternative, he would have been pierced with a dozen or two dozen holes by now!
Wait—!
Scáthach suddenly had an epiphany.
That's right.
I'm not holding Gáe Bolg Alternative, just an ordinary wooden practice spear from the Spearmanship Club!
Furthermore, with so many people watching, there was no way she could use deadly force against him.
The end result could only be inflicting mere physical pain upon him.
As long as he could endure it, it was an opportunity to counterattack!
Scáthach looked at Ian in disbelief—all of his actions now formed a complete logical chain.
Because he was thinking of an offensive strategy inherent to the rules themselves, he could only choose to defend temporarily.
Because he had figured out the feasibility of an attack, he chose to counterattack.
Although the method at first glance seemed to be exploiting a loophole in the rules...
...a little thought revealed that it was a strategy that required considerable courage and boldness to execute.
All that endurance was for this very moment.
This guy is no simpleton! she realized.
But this realization came too late.
In her eagerness to defeat him, Scáthach had unconsciously gotten extremely close to Ian.
At this distance, even using Shunpo might not be fast enough to evade.
Moreover, she couldn't use it—not with so many people watching!
The man raised the wooden spear in his hands.
He was not holding it in a conventional manner.
Instead, he was mimicking the way one would use a sword, wielding the long-handled weapon as if it were a short sword.
"Hah—!"
The practice spear rushed towards Scáthach's head.
This was an absolutely unavoidable attack.
The legend of Homurahara Academy was about to be shattered today in front of everyone!
However—
The turn of events once again defied all expectations.
The wooden spear did not crash down as everyone imagined. Instead, it stopped just above Scáthach's head.
The man sighed and spoke.
"The five minutes are up," he announced.
"I didn't hit you—I lose."
Having said this, Ian threw the long spear to the ground, gave Scáthach a bow of apology, and turned to walk towards the worried Tohsaka sisters.
"..."
The atmosphere instantly fell silent.
The members of the Spearmanship Club looked at each other, not daring to cheer, nor daring to gasp in amazement.
They didn't know whether this counted as a victory or a defeat for their teacher.
But unlike her students, Scáthach herself had a very clear understanding.
She picked up the wooden spear the man had thrown on the ground, and stored it away along with the one in her own hand.
After that, Scáthach roared at her bewildered club members.
"Continue training! No slacking off!"
"Yes, ma'am!" they shouted in unison.
Everything returned to normal, as if the duel just now had never happened.
But Scáthach knew she absolutely could not think that way.
After a moment of contemplation, she walked over to Ian and the Tohsaka sisters and asked in a completely different tone than before, "Would you... be interested in chatting with me for a while?"
This was an olive branch extended by Misaya Reiroukan.
You knew there was no reason to refuse such an invitation.
And Rin and Sakura Tohsaka felt the same—they had no intention of causing you trouble.
And so, under Misaya's guidance, the three of you came to the Spearmanship Club's exclusive lounge.
Inside the lounge.
Scáthach locked the door, drew the curtains, and sat down in front of the three of them.
"My apologies, I was rude earlier," she said.
"..."
"..."
"..."
Ian and the sisters looked at each other, momentarily unsure of what to make of Scáthach's completely changed demeanor.
However, Scáthach herself didn't seem to mind.
After all, she knew that such a sudden change in attitude would confuse anyone.
"Don't be nervous, I mean no harm," she assured them.
Scáthach's gaze fell upon Ian, a clear interest in her eyes.
"I just wanted to confirm your name one more time."
"..."
Ian fell silent for a moment, thinking that this was not a topic that couldn't be repeated.
He had intended to tell the sisters about it anyway, and now was a good opportunity.
And so, the man once again stated the name he had received in his dream.
"Ian Pendragon."
At these words, it was not Scáthach who was shocked, but the two Tohsaka sisters.
Rin Tohsaka was shocked because of the surname Pendragon.
It was a noble symbol, the same as the legendary King Arthur.
This meant that the Servant her sister had summoned was very likely one of the Knights of the Round Table!
This realization made Rin feel even worse.
After all—
If she could have a Knight of the Round Table as her Servant, her chances of winning would surely increase significantly!
On the other side, Sakura Tohsaka was also stunned by the surname Pendragon.
Her shock, however, stemmed from the Legend of King Arthur that her mother, Aoi Zenjou, had told her about when she was a child.
But unlike her sister, Sakura felt that the man before her was not one of the Knights of the Round Table, but someone unrecorded in the stories.
However, more than speculating about the man's origins, Sakura was currently overjoyed.
Because—
Ian was able to state his own surname.
This meant he might have regained more of his memories than before.
This was an excellent development.
You are unaware of the internal reactions of those present.
Out of courtesy, you introduce Rin and Sakura Tohsaka as well.
"This is Rin Tohsaka," Ian introduced.
"And this is Sakura Tohsaka."
His voice was clear and loud, leaving no possibility of being misheard.
However, the knight was unaware that Scáthach was completely uninterested in the two girls beside him.
From beginning to end, her focus was solely on the man before her named "Ian Pendragon."
"I see," Scáthach nodded, indicating she had heard their names.
Then, the Spearmanship Club instructor quickly brought the topic back to what she cared about.
"About the duel earlier..." she began.
"Do you think you lost?"
Scáthach's question was sharp.
After all, Ian had actively chosen not to deliver the final blow.
But in reality, no one had noticed that the agreed time was up—even Scáthach herself had miscalculated.
Yet the man still chose to admit his defeat.
In a sense, it was Ian who had voluntarily given up the chance to join the club, not Scáthach who had rejected him.
Having figured this out, Sakura Tohsaka had already prepared herself.
If Scáthach still refused to let Ian into the Spearmanship Club, she would cast aside her pride and beg the teacher before her to give him a chance.
This was the resolve the young girl had made as his Master.
"I did indeed lose," Ian answered Scáthach's question without hesitation.
"Misaya-sensei, the five-minute limit wasn't just a restriction for you, but for me as well," he explained.
"I failed to fulfill my promise to hit you within that time, so naturally, it is my loss."
"..."
A hint of admiration entered Scáthach's eyes as she looked at Ian.
This method of using the rules themselves to attack was certainly somewhat unsportsmanlike.
But—
It was not a choice an ordinary person could make.
After all, not everyone had the courage to take her spear strikes head-on with their body and then counterattack.
From this perspective, Ian possessed a courage and boldness that ordinary people could not compare to.
Heh.
How very interesting.
A small smile played on the corners of Scáthach's lips.
She had already confirmed one thing—she was extremely interested in the Ian before her.
No.
To describe it as mere interest was probably not enough.
A more fitting word would be "anticipation."
Realizing this, Scáthach already knew what she had to do—keep him here, and observe him slowly!
"In any case," Scáthach said, looking at Ian, "you did last five minutes against me."
"Therefore—"
"As promised, I will allow you to enter the Spearmanship Club."
With those words, Scáthach extended her hand, a gesture of goodwill.
Without much hesitation, Ian took her hand.
"In that case—"
"Thank you very much, Misaya-sensei," he said.
"You're welcome," Scáthach replied.
Scáthach withdrew her hand and stood up.
She looked at the three people before her and continued.
"Since you've decided to help out in the Spearmanship Club, it's best I clarify some rules beforehand."
"I will absolutely not tolerate students slacking—so you must do the same."
"That is a matter of course," Ian replied with a smile.
"Very good."
Scáthach went to a nearby cabinet and rummaged through it, finally placing a document in front of Ian.
"Sign this," she instructed.
"What is this?" Ian couldn't help but ask.
"A residency permit, and school access permission," Scáthach replied calmly, looking at the man before her.
"If you are to become a teacher for the Spearmanship Club—" she stated.
"Then you will have to move in and live with me."