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433 p1. Noble Faction and New School Year [6]

 

「Oh yeah, come to think of it, a pre-lottery system has been implemented from this year onwards.」

「I heard that various other systems have been changed in addition to that as well, though…」

The president nodded in response to Lilim-senpai’s and Ferris-senpai’s questions.

「Yes, as you two say. …Hmm, it looks like it will take a little more time before the lottery starts, so let’s take this chance to summarize in regards to the『Sword King Festival Reform』.」

The president said and cleared her throat.

「As you all know, it was decided that this year’s Sword King Festival will be held much earlier than usual. However, at the same time, three system reforms were implemented.」

And she raised her index finger.

「First, the seeding of the Five Academies. The ratio at which the Five Academies make it through the preliminaries at the Sword King Festival is almost 100%. Every year, unfortunately, at the very beginning of the qualifying rounds, some swordsmanship academies had to leave the stage due to colliding with the Five Academies early on, causing a bit of a problem. The Sword King Festival is extremely well-known nationwide, and it’s the perfect stage to gain reputation for yourself and your academy. “Why take away that precious opportunity just because they had bad luck in a raffle?”, “Why don’t we just give special treatment to the Five Academies and exempt them from the preliminaries?”. This kind of discussion has been held for many years, and the seeding of the Five Academies this time is a response to that.」

If I remember correctly, this was explained by Leia-sensei in the homeroom about a week ago.

In fact, the qualifiers for the Sword King Festival ended three days ago, leaving only the finals selection and the finals.

Of course, since the Thousand Blade Academy is one of the Five Academies, this year’s preliminaries were won without a fight.

「And the second is the implementation of protection measures for student swordsmen. The Sword King Festival is famous for having a very tight schedule, isn’t it? I don’t know who came up with it, but the preliminary rounds, the finals selections, and the finals are held back-to-back consecutively in a three day schedule. When dealing with a series of harsh battles, physical and spiritual problems arise, and some swordsmen who can’t fight any longer will inevitably appear. Academies having no choice but to abstain happens frequently, and it is becoming a very big problem. ……Well, we have bitter memories regarding this topic as well.」

「Ugh, the scars from last year…」

「It’s starting to ache again, though…」

Lilim-senpai and Ferris-senpai held their chests with a painful look.

At last year’s Sword King Festival, although we won a historic victory against White Lily Academy… The exhaustion from the previous fight was so intense that we were forced to withdraw.

「In order to protect student swordsmen who have not yet developed their bodies, it has been decided that the schedule will be relaxed and a reserve system will be established. Relaxing the schedule is a very simple change. The finals will be held three days later—this is how we gave ourselves spare time.」

「That’s a good idea.」

「Certainly, this change will be very helpful.」

Ria and Rose both agreed.

「And a new reserve system has also been established. Each swordsmanship academy is now able to register up to two swordsmen as spare. The registered main contestants and the registered spare contestants can be substituted at any time before the match starts. By implementing this, the aim is to eliminate unwilling withdrawals.」

The relaxing of the schedule, the reserve system, and a protection measure for student swordsmen, are all very good systems.

「And finally, the announcement of the tournament match up has been changed from the day of the actual event to a lottery system pre-tournament. Usually, the tournament rounds of the Sword King Festival are announced on the day of the actual event. In order to avoid confusion, the tournament rounds have been arranged in advance. …Oh look, good timing. Looks like it’s about to start.」

The president said and turned her gaze to the LCD monitor.

An excessively spacious auditorium-like place was projected on the screen.

An elderly man and a younger man and a woman stood on either side of him on the stage, and a large audience and people from the media were crowding in front of the stage.

「Now then, the day has finally come! The Sword King Festival Finals Selection Lottery!」

「A combination of the 11 academies that won through the fierce qualifying rounds and the steadfast and prestigious Five Academies! A total of 16 academies! The course of those fierce battles will be decided at this moment today!」

It seems that the man and woman are in charge of the hosting.

「The one who will decide the finals selection of the tournament is this person–」

「–The chairman of the Sword King Festival Executive Committee, the great noble Duke Dufton Money!」

「Hello.」

The old man in the middle, Duke Dufton said so briefly and bowed slightly.

At the same time, a large white box was carried in from the wing of the stage.

「There are 16 balls in this box, and the names of each academy is engraved on them!」

「From now on, we will have Duke Dufton draw the balls from here and fill in the blanks in the tournament table!」

As the host said so, a large banner rolled down from the ceiling of the stage, revealing a tournament table.

「This is kind of exciting.」

「I understand exactly what you mean! My heart is pounding already!」

The president and Ria, who are suckers for events, were looking at the screen like children with gleaming eyes.

「Well then, Duke Dufton, shall we begin with the lottery?」

「Umu.」

Prompted by the host, Duke Dufton nodded with a serious expression, inserted his rough hands into the box, stirred the balls inside, and pulled out one of them.

Surprisingly, a very familiar name was written on it.

「Well! The swordsmanship academy that will be fighting in the first match of the memorable Sword King Festival is here, Thousand Blade Academy!」

「Wow, one of the Five Academies right from the start! Duke Dufton is on fire today!」

「Thousand Blade Academy is a strong contender. Especially this year, with Allen Rodore at the top, they have a wonderful lineup of swordsmen!」

「Surely no swordsmanship academy would want to clash with the Thousand Blade Academy in the opening of the tournament.」

As the two commentators were hosting as such,

「HmmHmm! That’s right, that’s right! They should be afraid of us!」

「I’m suddenly in a good mood, though!」

Lilim-senpai and Ferris-senpai puffed out their chests with proud looks.

「Now then, shall we move on to the next draw?」

「The super unfortunate swordsmanship academy that has to fight Thousand Blade Academy in the first match is–!」

Duke Dufton drew the next ball in response to the live commentary.

The name written on it was – “Imperial”.

「T-They’re here! They’re here already!」

「One of the Five Academies, the Imperial Academy!」

In response to that,

「……No… way……」

「Oi oi, tell me this isn’t real…」

「Last year, we faced the White Lily Academy in the quarterfinals, and this year, we’re facing Imperial Academy at the very beginning…. We don’t seem to have much luck in the lottery, though…」

The president, Lilim-senpai, and Ferris-senpai all collapsed to their knees.

「My, my… Thousand Blade Academy doesn’t seem to have any luck…」

「Yes, the only thing I can say is “my condolences”…」

The two hosts also seemed unable to hide their sympathy.