Hearing that, Shana quietly opened the private room's door and pulled Musketeer X inside. After entering and confirming the door was closed, Musketeer X tilted her head and asked the two:
"Why is Ai-chan here?"
By the way, since Musketeer X had visited the Forest of Slumber several times with Hachiman, she was definitely acquainted with Ai.
"..." "..."
At Musketeer X's observation, the two fell silent.
"...Hey." "Yes, Shana-sama." "How do you know this is Ai?" "I was certainly surprised when I saw Hachiman-sama's face, but looking at the way she walks, I knew this was Achiman-sama." "What even is 'Achiman'..." "Ai plus Hachiman makes Achiman." "She explained that with a completely straight face…" "Looking at how she used Acht Left, I knew the inside was Ai-chan, Shana-sama."
Receiving that explanation, Shana and Achiman sighed.
"So you even knew that what Ai was holding was Acht Left." "Kurus-san, you're amazing…" "Her name here is X. But yeah, you're right, she's amazing…" "It's common sense."
Musketeer X answered with a composed expression.
"So, why are you doing this?" "It's a distraction against the enemy. If there were two of me, what would you do?"
To Shana's question, Musketeer X immediately answered:
"Of course, I would make contact like this to confirm—ah." "Right. That's the goal." "I see…" "However, since Ai can't use daggers, there's a chance people have already realized it's a different person." "Indeed. Since even I was able to figure it out." "No, you're definitely an exception…"
Shana said with an exasperated look.
"No, but Kirito-sama seemed to have noticed as well." "...Did you know Kirito?" "No, but of course I can tell. I know his real-life face too."
At those words, Shana gasped.
"Come to think of it, there was a time when you were staking out our school, wasn't there?" "Yes." "So you know about Kirito too?" "I could tell just by looking at the way he walks."
At those words, Shana and Achiman exchanged glances once more.
"I don't know who Kirito is, but I can tell X-san is amazing." "Kirito is my best friend. Consider him stronger than me." "Stronger than Shana?"
Achiman asked with a blank look.
"Yeah, it's a fact." "I see…"
Then Achiman grinned and said to Shana:
"But there's no problem if I beat him, right?" "You just wanted to try saying that line once, didn't you…"
Even while saying so, Shana didn't deny her words.
"Well, it's a tournament anyway, do as you like." "Got it. I'll be the one to take down Kirito!" "Well, do your best."
Then Shana spoke to Musketeer X.
"So, me and this girl will stay hidden here until things cool down. If anything strange happens over there, let me know." "Understood." "Ah, don't hold back during the main tournament. Come at me with everything you've got." "No, well, there's no way I could beat Shana-sama…"
To the timid Musketeer X, Shana said:
"If you manage to beat me, I'll take you on a date next time." "I will definitely win!" "Yeah, that's the spirit."
Of course, Shana only said this because he had zero intention of losing, but Musketeer X, while vaguely understanding that, was fired up by the condition.
"See you later then." "Yeah."
"Musketeer X-chan, where did you go?" "Scouting, Shana-sama." "Ah, so that's it! And? How did it go? Did you find anything?" "Negative. Missing in action." "I see…"
At those words, the others showed disappointed expressions as well.
"The mystery only deepens." "I wonder what's really going on." "Well, for now let's switch gears. The goal is for everyone to qualify for the main tournament." """""""Yeah!"""""""
And so, their companions smoothly cleared the first round.
(That isn't Hachiman-kun.)
Having watched Hachiman's fight, Asuna saw through it at a single glance.
(But I don't know who it is. What's the objective here? Provocation? Confusion?)
As expected, Asuna was well-accustomed to tracing Hachiman's thought process.
(It's true that if there are two Hachimans, the enemy might get confused and try to make contact. Hachiman-kun, be careful…)
The people around Asuna called out to her.
"The character was definitely Hachiman, but the person inside is definitely someone else, right, Asuna?" "Yeah, no matter how you look at it, those are the movements of a katana user."
Asuna agreed with those words while revealing another fact.
"Well, that's certainly very likely. But actually, I think Hachiman-kun can use a Japanese sword too."
Everyone was surprised by those words.
"Wait, seriously? Since when…" "Ah! Come to think of it, back in the day, Hachiman-san asked me to teach him how to use a shinai!"
Leafa said as if suddenly remembering. Then Asuna began to explain.
"A while ago, he spent an entire day happily swinging around a Japanese sword that was at Haru-nee's house. By evening, even to an amateur like me, his movements looked surprisingly legitimate." "I see…" "All day? How did he have the stamina for that…? Isn't that pretty heavy?" "Yeah, well, Hachiman-kun still works out quite a bit even now." "Ah, true, that guy's in great shape. Right, Asuna?"
At that question, Asuna agreed while blushing.
"Y-Yeah…" "Hey, Klein, that's sexual harassment." "Huh? ...Ah."
Realizing what that meant after being told, Klein immediately apologized to Asuna.
"My bad, Asuna, I didn't mean it in a weird way." "No, well, it's true anyway. Now then, setting Hachiman-kun aside for a moment, isn't it about time for Kirito-kun's match?" "Yeah, we'll probably get an explanation about Hachiman eventually. Oh, looks like he's next."
Just as he said, the text Kirito vs. Garamaru appeared on the screen as the next matchup, and everyone watched the battle unfold with bated breath.
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