I Became the Academy’s Pink Airhead

In , ‘Combat Festival’ meant PVP content. And here, it meant a two-day fighting tournament.

A tournament hosted alternately by large schools with auditoriums that can accommodate over 10,000 people, and the official stage laid out to compete for the pinnacle of the academy city.

That’s what they called the ‘Combat Festival’.

The students of – Valkyries following weapons of fate and ether, love fighting, big or small.

Even those with talents unrelated to fighting revere the process of winning and achieving something, like eating contests or drawing competitions, as sacred.

The process of fighting deciding something.

Inevitably, fighting ends with ‘who wins?’

Next, we need to decide ‘who’s the strongest?’

But to become the ‘strongest’, ‘everyone’ must fight.

“Let’s all fight to determine the strongest.”

That’s the logic behind the ‘Combat Festival’.

It’s an important indicator used to boast, ‘I’m about this rank in ~’

But from a modern person’s cold perspective…

‘It’s like a dog fight multiplied by 100.’

It was just an unlucky sports day where hundreds gather and compete roughly without rules. Even local sports festivals would be more refined than this, let alone the Olympics.

Determine the school’s strongest among yourselves.

Fight in groups for the area’s strongest.

When you reach the main tournament, a completely random bracket awaits.

But surprisingly, even those sloppy regulations had rational reasons.

The more rules you add, the further you get from the essence of ‘fighting’.

Should we only fight 1-on-1 to be fair? Then kids with skills specialized for one-on-one battles will always have an advantage.

Should we set distance limits because long-range weapons are used? Then from that point, people choose terrain favorable to their weapons.

Is it unfair to pick only one from each school? Anyway, if you can’t become the area’s strongest, you get beaten up.

Will [Unique Ether] ability users always win if mixed in? If you run away without fighting, you’re disqualified as a warrior.

The strongest in …

Must be a fighter who doesn’t get hung up on every little thing.

Such simple-minded logic.

Adding group battles allows for quick progress, so for practical reasons, the Combat Festival advocated dog fights.

That grand dog fight is unfolding here now.

-Waaaaaah—!!!

The cheers I once heard as a participant.

The audience’s cheers that seemed to tear the sky made my ears ring. But it wasn’t painful.

Because this time, I was the one shouting those cheers.

I convey my feelings to the one I’m cheering for by shouting at the top of my lungs. That’s how I was cheering in the stands with Kara and Rota.

“Waaaah—☆”

“Uwaaaah—!!”

“Amaziiing—!!”

Of course, we were cheering for Alvit.

But we weren’t the only ones focusing all our attention there.

Murmur murmur—

“…?”

“Al, vit…?”

In the large auditorium of . Alvit’s figure, who scored a 100:1 unrivaled victory in one corner of the arena divided into several sections, was attracting attention.

It was an overwhelming fight where she swept them away at once with firepower, brandishing huge flame wings. Numerous 1st and 2nd year students of the academy city who saw that sight murmured.

In their conversations, only one name rose up and down… the name of the 1st year [Unique Ether] ability user born again after two years.

It’s like the reaction of a gloomy male student who witnessed a photo of the respected student council president doing a double peace sign side by side with the golden sun while wearing a monokini.

Whisper whisper

“A, a first year… with [Unique Ether]…?”

“This is impossible…”

“The fate of a [Hero]…? Lie…!”

“To be stronger than ‘genius secretary Bell’ or ‘lightning lance’s confidant’ Sieglinde…!”

“I thought [Crimson Trajectory] was the only [Unique Ether] level participant this year!!”

“How can there be a 1st year [Unique Ether] ability user…?!”

“Shouldn’t they have given her a bye to advance like [Crimson Trajectory]?”

“B-But only those who reached the main tournament two years ago can get a bye…”

I chuckled hearing those reactions.

This was a normal reaction considering the world setting balance.

‘The balance of the current 3rd years is ridiculous. Six [Unique Ether] ability users among 1st years… originally [Unique Ether] is something only one or two awaken by 3rd year.’

Weren’t the current 2nd years who came right after us expected?

In the end, except for one who doesn’t do external activities, no one among the current 2nd years has awakened [Unique Ether].

Unlike the simply astounded 1st and 2nd years, the 3rd years had faces like Munch’s The Scream.

“A-Again, it’s …?!”

“That’s a forbidden power… it must be a forbidden power!!”

“Is this for real?! A 1st year [Unique Ether] ability user and even with the fate of a hero—?!”

“Yeah… what were my past 3 years… I’m only at [Vibration Ether] level…”

“Waah, uwehehehe—♪ Mama, gimme milk, I wanna drink milk—☆”

“Kyaah?! Get a hold of yourself! What are you sucking?!!”

Despair.

Denial.

Anger.

Depression.

Resignation.

All of the Five Colors of the academy city except one are not participating. Maybe the promising junior or peer they’re cheering for might enter the top 10.

Moreover, this year is a test for the qualification of the new leader of the . On top of that, [Crimson Trajectory] who is already a 3rd year was about to graduate.

Then…

Then maybe…!

…Such expectations were shattered.

Again by the beggar school .

The cause of all this lies with this pink airhead.

“Tehe—☆”

I winked apologetically at them.

‘Honestly speaking, I’ve done nothing wrong.’

But… I’m pretty, aren’t I!

Everything is forgiven if you’re pretty.

This is a fact even written in Romance of the Three Kingdoms Volume 1.

“…”

Come to think of it.

This Combat Festival was quite a funny occasion.

Only the strongest student has all the power, and the students gathered here think that’s natural.

In some ways soft.

In some ways utterly harsh.

-Waaaaaah—!!!

[Aaah?! With the 2nd arena that just finished—!! The preliminaries of the Combat Festival have all ended—!! Including [Crimson Trajectory] who advanced with a bye, 10 people have advanced to the main tournament—!!]

But the heat and cheers brushing in the wind seemed to shout that all this is just the foundation of memories.

The cause, the result…

The things that will happen in the future…

Only adults care about such things.

A city where only students who cherish memories live.

A paradise where you can live following your heart’s beating for the last time.

Putting aside the headache-inducing things for now—

“Let’s all fight to determine the strongest.”

That was why the Combat Festival especially stirred one’s heart.

* * *

We ended up staying at a special correctional facility near the student council room instead of the guest dormitory of .

‘It’s roughly like a prison facility, but something’s strange.’

Is it for Hilde to come out at night wearing a leather punishment outfit, holding a whip…

-You lewd girl. You seduced me again by shaking your butt while having obscene thoughts? You must be punished as you wish!

…and smack! my butt tied to the bed while I’m handcuffed?

Of course not.

This was Hilde’s own consideration.

Due to the nature of the large-scale Combat Festival event, she assigned us a quieter place than the guest dormitory with a lot of floating population.

That place was none other than— an unused prison☆

With daily clean management and solid security(?) front and back… it was truly the optimal facility. Moreover, they said we could use the executive lounge and convenience facilities too.

Clearly… clearly it was a space full of consideration.

Especially when I thought she might call just me to sleep together, I couldn’t thank Hilde enough for yielding the memories of this last event to the juniors like this.

But…

It’s efficient, but.

This is a bit…

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

And so the group was confined in a 4-person prison cell. The door wasn’t locked and was open, but it felt strange.

Somehow unable to calm down, we were sitting silently on the beds installed at the end of each room. Worried we might mind, other management students were left out too… but that brought a heavier silence.

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

In other dormitories, they would be talking about the preliminaries that happened today. Especially considering the interest in Alvit, she was the protagonist of tonight.

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

What flowed in our room was a heavy silence.

In the end, Kara was the first to lie down. She beat the clean white sheets of the bed and took off all her clothes, enjoying freedom completely in her underwear.

“Well, I’m grateful just to have a roof. It’s not bad to stay in such a comfortable confinement space.”

“I-Is that so…? Right? It’s certainly clean.”

And Alvit nodded, then took out two longswords and started checking them. Even though the holy sword side didn’t need maintenance, she paid careful attention.

Twitch—

Twitch—

Rota twitched her two ears restlessly, and finally opened her mouth as if she had calmed down somewhat.

“By the way, it was amazing…”

“Swoosh flying and kaboom—☆”

“Comrade Alvit’s appearance was truly awe-inspiring. She really looked like a hawk from afar.”

“With two swords swish— kaboom☆”

“I don’t understand what Senior Clara is saying, but it’s annoying that I can somehow understand it accurately.”

“Swoooosh— pukwakakak—☆”

“Oh, certainly that charging from above was a really cool attack. Truly befitting a hawk hero. Though that hawk comrade is stuck guarding the house.”

“Ahaha, what hawk…! Don’t praise me too much.”

While saying that, her cheeks turned red and her mouth was slightly open. Honestly, she seemed to know she was a bit cool.

Visitors who came as the chatter was about to start. They were faces we hadn’t seen in a really long time.

Bell still knocked on the bars with a lively voice. Beside her was Sieglinde, still looking at me with complicated eyes.

“Hey hey—! The cute secretary is here, who are the villains not welcoming me~! Do you want to taste ’s prison as it is~?”

“…You came after all. …Madam.”

“What madam—☆ Just call me Clara—☆”

“But I can’t casually call my master’s woman…! Kuh…!”

Leaving Sieglinde trembling her black wolf ears behind, Bell came beside my bed and poked my side.

“So~? How far did you two go~? Hm? You know everyone knows Senior Hilde’s face has been blooming lately~?”

“Huhuhuhu… [Unique Ether].”

“Hehehehe~? Where’s that~? The cute secretary is too innocent to know? Explain in detail!”

“I’m an innocent girl too so I don’t know~☆”

Poke poke poke poke

We poked each other’s fingers and burst into laughter with strange cheers.

In the end, Hilde was too busy to visit here that day.

* * *

“Haah… I’m giving up.”

Eir shook her head and forfeited when she saw Alvit assigned as her opponent.

“Eh…?”