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Strike the Blood - Volume 19 - Chapter 3.4




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4

Unfamiliar people were all over the place inside the Saikai Academy school building. The sights of families with young children and the wounded wrapped with bandages were especially conspicuous. They seemed to be civilians residing in that domain.

“So many refugees…”

Yukina was a little shaken as she walked down a familiar corridor.

All of Itogami Island’s populace was caught up in the war. She’d understood that logically, but seeing refugees with her own eyes made her painfully aware of the gravity of the situation.

Rui Miyazumi was leading the way for Yukina and Asagi. He explained the situation in a soft manner. “There’s a rule in the Electoral War not to cause harm to civilians, but many people feel anxious in spite of that. Maybe there aren’t a lot of trustworthy rulers close by who make people think, I want to be with that one.”

“In other words, all these people gathered together are subjects relying on Kasugaya?” Asagi’s admiration was clear in her raised eyebrows.

Shizuri had enrolled as a student in April, making her a so-called newbie at Saikai Academy. To become the representative of Saikai Academy and gain the trust of so many neighboring residents could be fairly called a brilliant achievement. Even in the emergency situation called the Electoral War, it wasn’t something that could be achieved through any ordinary level of effort.

“Unfortunately, I can claim no credit for this,” Shizuri muttered with a small pout.

“Huh?” Asagi said. “What do you mean?”

Someone approached from the other side of the corridor. Noticing Shizuri, she fondly waved a hand. It was a young woman with her red hair triple braided with dumpling-style hair buns and wearing a Chinese dress.

“Thank you for your hard work, Kasugaya. The meals have arrived. They’re not all gone, so why not sit down and eat right away?”

“…Ms. Sasasaki?”

“Oh, it’s Himeragi and Aiba. When did you come back to Itogami Island?” The woman in the Chinese dress smiled in carefree fashion.

Yukina was so relieved that there was an adult she recognized that it surprised even her.

Misaki Sasasaki was the physical education teacher for the middle school and Yukina’s and Nagisa’s former homeroom teacher. She was a younger classmate of Natsuki Minamiya during their school days, and it appeared that she was a Federal Attack Mage in a similar fashion.

In truth, even Yukina didn’t know Misaki’s true might, but she had no doubt the teacher was very capable. To Yukina, her presence at Saikai Academy was very good news.

“We only returned from abroad a short while ago. I am glad that you are safe and sound, Ms. Sasasaki.”

Misaki smiled cheerfully. “Well, yeah I’m all right. I’ve gotta work hard while Natsuki isn’t here.”

The words Natsuki isn’t here left Yukina with a faint foreboding.

“Could it be it’s actually Ms. Sasasaki managing this domain?” Asagi asked Shizuri quietly.

Shizuri gave a sigh mixed with self-derision. “But of course. I could never have assembled twenty-six thousand subjects on my own.”

“No, no, Kasugaya worked really hard.” Misaki gave Shizuri’s shoulder several pats as if trying to pound her assertion home.

“And those two friends of hers, too. I’m not a pure demon, so I can’t be a ruler candidate, see. It’s really a huge help to have Kasugaya here.”

“Do not be concerned, Ms. Sasasaki. As a Paladin of Gisella, I understand the duty that I must fulfi—Ow, that hurts! You are patting too much! Ow!!”

“Um… I am wondering, what do you mean that Ms. Minamiya is not here?” Yukina asked, interrupting the attention focused on the teary-eyed Shizuri.

Misaki casually shook her head. “That’s what I wanna know. I lost contact with her just before the Electoral War started, and she’s been missing since. Well, she was on holiday, I suppose.”

“She’s missing…?”

Yukina felt a deep stirring inside her chest. Though she had adopted a cheery tone of voice, Misaki had surely noticed for herself that something had happened to Natsuki. If Natsuki had been in full health, she would have never let an idiotic farce like the Electoral War rage unchecked.

Bringing her face close to the unnerved Yukina, Misaki lowered her voice to a whisper as she continued. “Also, there are rumors that the Lion King Agency’s Paper Noise has been killed. Seems like this Order of the End group is pretty dangerous.”

“Lady Shizuka was…?”

All expression vanished from Yukina’s face. It felt like the earth had fallen away from under her feet.

To the Attack Mages of the Lion King Agency, the existence of the Three Saints was absolute. It was not because of the influence they possessed or other abstractions. It was purely because they were so strong. Their power was overwhelming.

Even when told Koyomi had been killed, Yukina could not easily believe it.

But if Misaki’s information was fact, the Order of the End’s power surpassed that of the Lion King Agency.

“Unlike Natsuki, my main job is guarding the school so I don’t have Gigafloat Management Corporation connections. To be honest, the current situation’s filled with things I don’t know anything about,” Misaki said. “So this is purely my intuition, but I’ll give you one word of advice—this whole Electoral War is nothing but a fraud.”

“A fraud…?” Yukina reacted vaguely to the sudden words of warning from her former homeroom teacher.

Misaki paid no heed, proceeding at her own pace. “The Order of the End’s goal is probably something totally different. So I don’t want you to be fooled… At least not you and Aiba. It’s completely fine to leave all the troublesome subject and domain stuff to me, ’kay?”

“Why us, specifically?”

Misaki was confident in her assertion. “You two already decided who your ruler is in your hearts, didn’t you? Long before this war started.”

Yukina was bewildered as she shook her head. “Our ruler…? No, that’s… I am merely senpai’s observer. It is not as if I think of him as a ruler…”

“I don’t remember speaking one word about Akatsuki,” Misaki said, feigning cluelessness.

Yukina’s words caught in her throat.

Misaki turned toward Shizuri. “Right, Kasugaya. Could I have you redeem about ten thousand vouchers? I wanted to distribute food rations and blankets to the people sheltering in the gymnasium.”

“Understood.”

Shizuri took out her smartphone and began operating an unfamiliar application. Asagi peered at the screen from behind her.

“What do you mean…? Vouchers?” Asagi asked.

“Digital tickets issued by the Electoral War Administration Committee.” Shizuri finished operating the application in awkward fashion. The screen was displaying logos for the Electoral War Administration Committee and MAR Inc.

Rui politely explained for Asagi’s benefit. “Of course, the number of tickets you get is determined by your standing in the ruler rankings. Rulers use these vouchers to requisition electricity, water, and food for the subjects within their domains.”

Asagi nodded in understanding. “Ruler rankings… Saikai Academy Domain is grade B, group one, or something like that?”

“Yes. First- to seventh-place rulers are grade A. Grade B, group one is eighth to fifteenth. At the very least, if your domain is at least in grade B, your standard of living is largely unchanged from before the Electoral War.”

“…So put another way, grade B and above means you’re ahead of anything the subjects in grade C domains get?” Asagi knit her brows.

“That’s what it amounts to, yes.”

The ruler rankings weren’t a simple display of the candidates’ combat abilities. The rankings themselves were a trap to instigate conflict between the ruler candidates.

The subjects of smaller, weaker domains demanded victory from their ruler candidates to secure their livelihoods, fearful that they would become impoverished compared to the subjects of powerful domains. These conflicts eventually bred an increase in resentment, becoming the embers for fresh conflicts. This was how the entirety of Itogami Island was being dragged into the vortex of battle. That was the Electoral War mechanism at work. It was a cunning, cruel strategy.

“And that application?” Asagi asked, pointing at Shizuri’s phone.

Unsurprisingly, it was Rui who replied. “That’s an application distributed by the Electoral War Administration Committee. Beyond administering the vouchers, it gives you rapid updates of the ruler rankings and a warning system.”

“Warning system?”

“A warning when subjects of neighboring rulers enter your domain. It works kind of like radar.”

“You mean, this is why you tried to shoot us out of the blue?” Asagi shot Rui a dirty look.

“Well, you should know that I was using a weak paralytic spell to snipe at you…” He raised his hands weakly. “They distributed a number of other apps, too. For example, the free communication app allows you to call not only people in the same domain but also subjects of rulers who have formed an alliance.”

“Alliances… Right, so the Rogues Alliance had to be using this.” Asagi nodded with an odd sense of admiration. Her interest seemed to be purely on a technical level.

“Can we use this application to contact Akatsuki-senpai for instance?”

Yukina interjected as she suddenly remembered something. If she could call another domain’s subjects, then it was possible Kojou was within call range—or so she thought.

However, Rui shook his head, conflicted. “Unfortunately, our team leader has yet to form an alliance with anyone. Forming an alliance requires direct contact between both rulers so that they may exchange codes, making it rather difficult.”

Asagi understood where Rui was coming from. Contact between candidates meant one candidate heading out into the other’s domain. Setting aside cases where you backed the other side into a corner and they had to cooperate, like it or not, the risk was simply too great.

“Incidentally, I wonder if it’s a good thing if we become Kasugaya’s subjects?” Asagi asked. She had only thought of it now.

Saikai Academy was a place Yukina and Asagi were deeply familiar with, and they could trust Shizuri. She thought that was plenty to form a pact between ruler and subject.

However, Shizuri tilted her head as she glared at the screen of her smartphone. “According to this application, the two of you are already registered as subjects of another domain.”


“Another domain…?”

Yukina was a little surprised as she and Asagi glanced at the other’s face.

Asagi grimaced. “Who the hell went off and decided that…?”

“This registration number would put you with the old Ugaki Domain…,” Shizuri said.

“O-oh?” Yukina said.

“Why do we have to be Pork Troll’s subjects?!” Asagi yelled.

Certainly, Ugaki had been the first ruler candidate Yukina and Asagi had come in contact with, but they had no recollection of becoming his subjects. In the first place, he ought to have lost his qualifications as a candidate when Kojou had defeated him with ease.

“Wait. Someone else has inherited this registration number.” Rui pointed out a warning indicator on the app. “There’s no data on this individual, though.”

Naturally, relieved expressions came over Yukina and Asagi.

“You mean he is an unregistered demon?” Yukina asked.

“You don’t mean…Kojou?” Asagi added.

Shizuri read the data aloud.

“Five subjects obtained. Zero ruled domains. This individual has not reached the minimum number of subjects to be assigned a class. Ruler ranking is a tie for one thousand five hundred and fiftieth. The portrait drawn is of a candidate in name only.”

Asagi lightly touched a hand to her forehead. Asagi, Yukina, Yaze, Nagisa, and Kanon—barring Kojou himself and the wounded Ugaki, presumably retired from the contest, the number of subjects was a perfect match.

“Pathetic numbers unworthy of the Fourth Primogenitor,” Asagi mumbled.

“One’s worth is not measured in numbers from foul villains like the Order of the End,” Shizuri retorted coldly.

Shizuri and Asagi were still facing off as Yukina stared intently with a surprised expression.

The ruler ranking positions decided by the Order of the End were meaningless numbers—such an obvious thing had not occurred to Yukina whatsoever until Shizuri had asserted it.

“Wh-what is it?” Shizuri grumbled.

 

 

 

 

“Ahh, sorry, I thought you said something pretty nice there,” Asagi said.

“Yes. I am somewhat moved,” Yukina added.

“This much is to be expected from a Paladin of Gisella.” Shizuri was proud but also bashful as she blushed. She was still blushing when Yuno, who’d been silent up to that point, lightly tugged on the sleeve of Shizuri’s robe.

“Those worthless rankings just changed a bit.” Yuno held her own smartphone in front of Shizuri’s suspicious eyes.

“Changed…you say?”

“The Tensou Academy Domain’s Yume Eguchi added four to her domains ruled, shooting up to eighth place in the rankings all at once. Her number of subjects went up by thirty-three thousand, too. That puts you down to a tie for twelfth place, Shizurin.”

“I do not particularly care about such a trifling thing, but—”

“H-hold on a sec!” Asagi hastily interrupted Shizuri’s composure. “Tensou Academy—you mean that Tensou Academy? The rich, fancy all-girls school?”

“Yume is a…domain ruler?”

The thumbnail photo on the rankings was most definitely the Yume Eguchi who Yukina knew. Certainly, Yume was qualified to be a candidate given that she was the World’s Mightiest Succubus.

“What the hell…?” Asagi was staring at the screen. “Wait, Motoki and Nagisa are on this page, too!”

For some reason, the ruler candidate individual timeline page contained a video that showed Yaze and Nagisa. Apparently, Yume had saved them when remnants of the Rogues Alliance attacked them.

“Um…Asagi Aiba? What are you two so surprised about…?” Shizuri sounded irritated.

In the brief span of time since coming to Itogami Island, Shizuri had never met Yume face-to-face. Of course, she knew neither that Yume was a succubus nor of her relationship to Kojou.

“But this could definitely go south, huh?” Yuno’s words were grave, but her tone was carefree.

Shizuri knitted her brows with a mystified look. “In what manner?”

“If they shot up in the rankings this fast, the others around won’t just let that go, right?”

“I suppose not,” Rui said. “In particular, the rulers beneath grade A will not take this well. They have had the advantage in combat strength until now, but if Tensou keeps growing at this pace, there is no telling when they will be knocked down.”

Asagi was getting irritated as well. “You mean they’ll try to crush the Tensou Academy Domain?”

“I think that is likely.” Out of consideration for Asagi, Rui restrained himself from graver words.

“Oh yeah!” Yuno smiled cutely as an idea came to mind. “So how about we form an alliance?”

“Alliance? You mean us allying with Tensou Academy Domain?” Shizuri narrowed her eyes, her wariness plain. Her expression showed that she was not a fan of the idea.

It was not as if she bore any hatred toward Yume for being a succubus, nor did it feel like she was resisting because she didn’t know the girl. Her appearance and conduct gave the impression of someone on her high horse, but for better or worse, Shizuri was not one for such trivialities of pride.

Shizuri felt hesitant to form an alliance with Tensou Academy because of the risks it posed.

If Tensou Academy was being targeted because of its rapid rise in power, forming an alliance with them meant the odds of Saikai Academy being attacked would be just as high. Shizuri was fearful that if it played out that way, the subjects of the Saikai Academy Domain would be exposed to danger, too.

However, there were of course merits to the plan. To an isolated area without a powerful ally like Saikai Academy Domain, having more allies to count on when the chips were down was something to be genuinely grateful for. Strategically speaking, it would also be a check upon the ruler candidates of adjacent areas.

“It is all right. You can trust Yume,” Yukina insisted to the hesitant Shizuri. “She is our friend.”

“She’s a bit cheeky, but she’s a very polite, very good girl,” Asagi concurred. “She’s really fond of Kojou.”

“…Even an elementary schooler is not too young for that man?” Shizuri was exasperated simply by hearing Kojou’s name in this context.

Both Asagi and Yukina responded oddly.

“Who’s to say…? But I think her talk about marriage has to be a joke…”

“Yume is particularly cute, though.”

“No denying that…”

Yuno made a cackling laugh with a very interested look. Shizuri froze, lost for words.

Rui used Shizuri’s smartphone to indicate a safe route to Tensou Academy. “Our proposing an alliance with them means the team leader has to go meet her in person.”

Tensou Academy was close to the border between Island South and Island West. It was close to the destroyed sub-float. Thanks to the annihilation of the Rogues Alliance that had been holding that turf, the surrounding districts were blank areas in which one ran the danger of facing off against other ruler candidates.

“Um… If you are going to negotiate with Yume, I will go with Kasugaya.” Yukina modestly raised a hand.

“Yeah. If Kasugaya goes into Tensou Academy by herself, it might be mistaken as an act of invasion,” Asagi pointed out.

“Mistaken… How could anyone mistake this face full of benevolence as the face of an invader…?!” Shizuri retorted.

“It certainly would be better if you went with acquaintances of the other ruler,” Rui advised. “She is an elementary school girl after all—”

Yuno was oddly serious. “That’s right. Go talking to a kid out of the blue and people will call the cops or something…”

“Why am I being treated as if I am some kind of criminal suspect?!”

That said, as a ruler candidate, Shizuri required an escort, and it was also necessary to leave behind people who could defend the Saikai Academy Domain. Having Yukina, Yume’s friend, escort Shizuri and leaving Rui, Yuno, and Misaki behind at Saikai Academy was hardly a bad division of labor.

“At any rate, Yukina Himeragi, about the matter earlier…” Shizuri made a small cough as she stepped closer.

Yukina blinked and tilted her head. “Oh… Earlier matter? By which you mean…?”

“Kojou Akatsuki’s relationship with the ruler of Tensou Academy Domain!” Slamming a hand against the wall of the corridor, Shizuri backed Yukina against the wall so that she would have nowhere to run. “How did those two become acquaintances? Please, tell me! In detail!”

“Eh? …Eh?!”

Overwhelmed by the force of Shizuri’s ghastly aura, Yukina turned her face upward.

Forming an alliance between Shizuri and Yume would not be easy.



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