Translator : PolterGlast

Nozomu's POV

"Yo, Nozomu. Can you give me a little of your time?"

He, Feo Rishitza, told me so with ease as if asking a friend for a little errand.

"You……"

I was staring at Feo with eyes full of suspicion. Even though he had a seemingly gentle expression and a well-organized sweet face, I was familiar with his facial expressions and felt uncomfortable.

His pupils were as thin as a thread, but I felt his gaze penetrate me from the depths of his eyes, and I couldn't help but feel suspicious of it.

His gaze was the same as the one I felt at that time. The same gaze I felt after I was called to the back of the school building by my classmates, and the one I felt in front of the main gate earlier.

Perhaps Iris and the others were also surprised by the sudden arrival of a guest, their eyes completely glued to Feo.

"Ah ~. Is he your acquaintance?"

"Yup, Somicchi. He is our classmate. He doesn't belong to a fixed party because he always loitering around, but he's a pretty capable guy... I don't know why he is here tho... "

Somia-chan, who didn't know about Feo, asked, and Mimuru answered her question, but I still couldn't take my eyes off Feo.

"... What do you want?"

I asked Feo why he came here, but what was happening behind the school building and the gaze I felt at that time naturally made my voice became intimidating.

"Why so stiff~."

"..."

Feo spoke to me casually.

It was a voice that slipped right into people's hearts, but that voice further fuels my vigilance.

"...Haa, somehow you're so wary of me, but... why?"

Feo muttered in a quiet voice, it seemed like he genuinely didn't understand why I am so vigilant. His gestures and facial expressions didn't seem like acting.

"What's wrong, Feo-kun?"

"Did you wander and end up in this place?"

Not knowing the reason, Tom and Mimuru openly asked Feo about their questions. Good grief, they weren't cautious at all.

By the way, they were the same second-class students as Feo …….

"I told you. I need something with Nozomu."

While answered the question, Feo started to move towards me. He walk slowly but firmly.

Only the sound of sizzling was heard in my ears, caused by Feo trampling on the soil and grass, and everyone naturally closed their mouths.

"Well, I have a business with him in this place, that is ..."

Eventually, when the distance between Feo and me only a few meters left…….

"!!"

I suddenly felt chills run on my back, so I jumped back with all my might.

The next moment, I could feel a sudden gust of wind. Feo's sling bag swung up overhead, passing through in front of me.

I was surprised at the sudden event, but immediately pulled out my katana and prepared for the pursuit.

"Oh, so you can avoid it"

Feo dexterously returned the sling bag he was swinging and he returned to his original standing position. However, he chased no further and stood there with the same laid-back attitude as before.

"Wait a minute! Feo! What are you going to do!!"

"That's right! What are you doing attacking all of a sudden!!"

Iris and Shīna shouted at Feo who suddenly attacked, but Feo didn't lose his expression.

Instead, He didn't even bother to look at Iris and Shīna, who were shouting at him.

"Hey, Nozomu. Would you like to duel with me?"

"...?"

"You! What did you say after you suddenly attacked him!!"

I couldn't measure Feo's way of thinking because of his sudden proposal, but maybe Mars was enraged by Feo's words, Mars thrust the greatsword in his hand towards Feo.

However, Feo didn't seem to be interested in Mars either. He didn't even look at him and kept his eyes on Nozomu.

"Come, let's do it~. Nozomu~"

"Hey! Cut the crap..."

Mars tried to drew closer as if he had no intention of listening to Feo, but Feo swiped Mars' greatsword with a wrapping he had in his hand and it warps into Mars's bosom with such a flowing motion.

"Hotto~"

"Wha !?"

The next moment, Mars was thrown to the ground. Before I knew it, Feo had a stick… no, a staff in his hand, and it was stuck to Mars' face.

Everyone who was there was at a loss for words and was fascinated.

Feo's sling bag was thrown away, swept away by the wind, and fell to the ground.

"...You, f.."

"Could you be quiet for a second? I'm still talking to Nozomu now."

Mars tried to use abusive language, but Feo told Mars in a compelling manner.

"... Shall we stop him?"

"Yeah. He is a frivolous person on a daily basis and he is hard to grasp, but I can't overlook this anymore."

"...Ehh? I understand if it's the black-haired princess, but why Shīna too?"

Perhaps because the current Feo cannot be overlooked anymore, Iris and Shīna tried to pull out their specialized weapons and stop Feo. The two's voices when calling Feo were different from usual, it had changed to something more intimidating.

However, Feo in question didn't seem to be nervous even if he was intimidated by them.

From the fact that he was able to seize Mars, it was clear that Feo had one of the best abilities in the school, however, I couldn't feel any passion peculiar to such a strong person from the current him.

However, it stimulated my vigilance even more.

His combat ability and lack of passion didn't match. It seemed he had some self-control, and that was enough to hide his own abilities. Clearly, he is a dangerous opponent.

Several demon beasts completely hid their fangs, leaving their opponent unprepared, and attacked at that gap. And most of the time, such fangs were aimed when they could surely kill the opponent.

The current Feo was like a snake hiding and waiting for its prey.

"...That's natural. If a classmate suddenly makes such a violence, he must be stopped!"

"...something is different from the usual Shīna..."

Feo tilted his head, perhaps he had doubts about Shīna's unusual behavior. However, he decided to contain himself and put the question aside for now while saying, "Well, it doesn't matter for now!"

"Hmm~. Apart from Shīna, it seems interesting to have a fight with the black-haired princess~. However, I don't have time to argue, so I beg your pardon."

While saying so, Feo grabbed Mars' neck and waist, suddenly his magic power raged from within his body. He lifted Mars' body without difficulty and threw Mars towards Irisdina and Shīna.

"Uo~o !!"

"Wha !!"

Irisdina and Shīna caught Mars' body that was thrown, but in the meantime, Feo reached for his pocket and took out a piece of paper, and poured his magical power into it. That is a specially processed paper that is usually used in eastern magic, the *Talisman Technique*.

Feo sent his magical power into the talisman and hit it to the ground. A line of light appeared and ran along the earth's surface.

The line of light extended and surrounded Iris, Shīna, and the others in a hexagonal shape, and a wall of light rose like a castle wall along the line of light.

"This is, barrier magic !?"

"Sorry~. But I don't want to be disturbed. Can you guys just stay still in there?"

Iris was surprised.

Everyone other than me was completely isolated by Feo's magic barrier and trapped within it.

However, no matter how he tried to trap them using a magic barrier, Iris, Tima, and the others definitely had the ability as first-class magic casters.

In fact, Tima immediately tried to destroy the magic barrier that trapped them.

"Anyway, let's destroy this barrier ..."

Magical power raged from Tima's body. A torrent-like magical power gathered on her wand, and a storm of magical power blew inside the narrow barrier.

"Uwa~!"

"Hi~yaa!"

"Wait, Tima-san! Think about the place!"

Due to the strong wind caused by the high magical power, everyone squinted their eyes, raised their arms, and hid their faces with it.

Anyway, it's not important, but I didn't see the girls holding down their skirts.

Eventually, the raging magical power gathered at the tip of Tima's wand, and she thrust the wand to the ground. Then, the earth's surface suddenly rose and floated, it changed shape and turned into a huge rock spear.

The size of the huge rock spear was so huge that even if 10 adults gathered and tried to lift it, it couldn't be lifted. The tip of the huge rock spear was aimed at the barrier in front of her.

*Sharp Rock Dance*

Similar to the magic *Icicle Dance* that Iris used when she had a mock battle with me, it is magic that formed a rock like a spear and shoot it towards the opponent.

However, the size of the rock spear created was huger compared to Iris's icicle. Tima's magic is incomparable even to Iris's magic. That alone showed the qualities of her magic.

The moment Tima swung her wand, the huge rock spear accelerated at once and crashed into the barrier Feo had set up. Feo's magic barrier shattered in front of Tima's rock spear...

"What the ..."

The barrier that should have been destroyed was immediately regenerated and restored.

"Wow ~, I was surprised. As expected from the Four-Scale Concerto, your legendary level magical power is not just for show ... Without this, My magic barrier would have been blown away in one shot ..."

Feo took out a magic stone. The magic stone had two talismans attached to it, and the talismans had incomprehensible characters written on it. If I take a closer look, one of them seems to be the same one that Feo used to create the magic barrier earlier.

"That is……"

"Hmm? Oh, this? This is a handmade magic tool I bought in the city, it is made by putting talismans on the magic stone. The talisman attached to it would suck the magical power out of the magic stone. As long as the magical power of the magic stone continues to be sucked in, magic will be generated repeatedly. However, once activated, it will not stop until it runs out of magical power. Besides, for practical use, the magic stones are disposable and they are expensive… Thanks to that, my wallet is  quite empty now…”

Feo dropped his shoulders as if feeling miserable.

The magic stone he brought out continued to emit a faint light, and I could see that the magic barrier was shining in sync with that light, so what Feo said might be true.

It is necessary to continue pouring magical power in order to maintain the magic barrier, and once the magic barrier is destroyed, it will be regenerated. The only way for Irisdina and the others to escape was to destroy Feo's magic tool or to wait for the magical power to run out.

I don't know what Feo was thinking, but he said he wanted to fight me.

I don't know why Feo is so curious about me, but it is a fact that he is interested in me. This might be a good opportunity to find out.

"Well, I have nothing to lose, so let's do it!"

I was wondering what to do, but Feo put the magic tool in his pocket and happily held the staff in his hand without worrying about my opinion.

However, even though I took out my katana, I still didn't take up a fighting stance.

"...Hmm? You don't want to?"

"Why did you do something so strange? It's not normal to suddenly force someone to a duel..."

While tilting his head, Feo asked me because he doubted me never taking a fighting stance.

"Hmm ... alright then"

Although I haven't taken a fighting stance yet, my alarm bell continued to ring. However, in order to confirm Feo's aim, I decided to accept his duel request.

"...To be honest, I also have something to ask you."

"Hee? What is it?"

"You instigated my classmates to call me behind the school building, right?"

"......Why do you think so?"

Feo answered my question with a slight pause.

I felt his gaze that was looking at me shaken slightly.

"... I know what others think of me in the school. Most of them show only negative emotions towards me."

Thus, I am familiar with how I am viewed at the school.

Except for a few people, such as Anri-sensei, Iris, Shīna, and their friends who are usually in contact with me.

"But I can't feel those negative emotions from your gaze."

That's why it's rare to feel someone's gaze other than negative emotions. And most importantly, the gaze I feel from Feo now is the same as I felt at that time.

"...And your gaze is the same gaze I felt behind the school building back then."

At that time, the talisman used for the long-distance vision technique was found at the end of the gaze. And there were only a few Talisman Technique users in this Solminati Academy.

"The person peeking at me at that time is the same Talisman Technique user as you. If so, then..."

Of course, what I said was just circumstantial evidence. As long as it's not solid physical evidence, I have no way of overturning it if he doesn't admit it.

"Hee, I was surprised. So you noticed..."

However, the fox-tailed boy in front of me admitted it with a happy face. He was like a mischievous kid who had been found out.

Feo didn't reveal his smile that often.

His eyes were wide open and his slit pupils were shining brightly, and his mouth was smiling. A feeling of intimidation that I had never felt before rose rapidly, and I unconsciously prepared for my fighting stance and wielded my katana.

"This is more than I expected. I didn't think you were aware of that ... Then, let's do it!"

To be honest, I don't know why he is so curious about me, but Feo's eyes aren't normal right now. It was like a hungry dog that had been abandoned for a long time. Looking at how he challenged me forcefully despite the presence of my friends, even if I avoided today's fight, there was a possibility that he would use other means. So, rejecting him here is definitely not a solution.

Then there is no choice but to fight him and find out the reason.

As far as I can see, he can defeat Mars easily. Even if that is due to Mars underestimated him, it is clear that Feo has the ability of the upper-grade students. He is not someone who I can manage half-heartedly.

I sent Qi throughout my body and held my katana in the "Seigan no Kamae" Stance.

*Ba-dump*

" !! "

My vision was dyed red for a moment.

The nightmare I had just seen this morning and the tragedy I had caused resurfaced in my mind, and a feeling of nausea ran down the back of my throat.

"Then! Let's go Nozomu!"

However, Feo would not wait. With Feo approaching in front of me, I forcefully swallowed the nausea and ran towards him.