From then on, I practically lived in the electrokinesis training hall and the sword-dueling arena.

Even during the academy exams, I didn’t train this much.

Every waking moment went to practice.

I had no idea how many days had passed when—

“Kyrie.”

“Mm?”

“I respect your choice. I wish I had the courage to live like you.”

“What are you talking about all of a sudden—”

“Forever like lightning. Just like our family’s motto. I swore not to live halfway. I joined the academy vowing to rise high and prove myself… and somewhere along the way, I caught myself thinking about settling for an easy unit, a decent salary, and a quiet life. Watching you made me ashamed.”

My classmates had started saying strange things.

“I’m joining the Border Patrol too. Just handed in my application.”

Apparently, they’d all fried their nerves.

Submitted an application? What the hell do you mean, you submitted an application? That’s supposed to be just me!

The real problem was that he wasn’t the only one whose brain had melted.

“Kyrie, Kyrie! Me too.”

“Frey?”

“Where the needle goes, the thread follows. Obviously I’m going too!”

“How are you my thread!”

That was Frey—fresh off a sword duel, small, dark-haired, and deceptively strong. He’d graduated fifth overall.

He wins three out of ten against me.

Even as top graduate, I couldn’t take anyone in the top ten lightly.

“I’ll use this chance to get adopted too. I’ll throw away my middle name and everything!”

“You too? Me too!”

“Let’s go!”

“Let’s do it!”

Frey’s words sparked cheers all across the arena.

This was bad.

Fifth-rank Frey, eighth-rank Helios, even fourth-rank Angela? What the hell is going on?

I tried my best to dissuade them.

“I don’t have any right to tell you what to do about your applications, but I hope you all think carefully. I didn’t give up my eye because I wanted to be a hero. I just—acted on impulse—”

“You don’t have to say that to us. Elder Rakul told you to, didn’t he?”

“Yeah, we all know! You’re sincere more than anyone. The truest of the true Astrios! A Blue Knight among Blue Knights!”

“You reminded me of why I started. Thanks, Kyrie. Because of you, I have the courage to try again. The Border Patrol’s dangerous, sure, but the ceiling’s high. Let’s make it a glorious rivalry!”

But the overheated maniacs wouldn’t stop.

Don’t tell me this really is because of me? That I lit a fire under them? The seniors said the other day I’d become a hero among my peers—was that not just talk?

Half of them probably meant it as fun, but the other half sounded ready to actually submit the forms.

Blue Knights are precious manpower. Dozens of divisions share less than a hundred recruits, so each unit only gets a handful. If this keeps up, the Border Patrol will go over quota. The evaluation will get stricter—and there’s a chance I might fail.

That couldn’t happen.

It felt like the sky was collapsing.

How do I keep my spot?

I started thinking of ways to make them withdraw their applications.

And the opportunity came purely by accident.

After a morning of electrokinesis training and lunch in the mess hall, I headed to the sword-dueling arena.

It was a tall rectangular building with a vaulted ceiling and rows of pillars like a temple.

“Hey, Kyrie.”

“Nereus?”

Outside, my long-time rival waved.

Golden hair like a lion’s mane, teal eyes, a grin that showed fangs—
Nereus of Tonatio Astrios, my rival of ten years and second in our class.

He leaned casually against a stone pillar, radiating presence, but my eyes went past him.

“Urgh…”
“That bastard, that damned bastard.”
“Hey—weren’t the others supposed to come? Why’re they so late?”

Around him, two classmates and a senior Blue Knight lay sprawled in the sand, battered half to death.

Same as ever.

He’d fought six-to-one the other day and got punished for it, and here he was fighting again.

“Don’t go too far. They’ll come for revenge—what if they come at night with blades, or all at once?”

I glanced at the practice sword in his hand—slick with blood.

Nereus was, in another sense, the most Blue-Knight-like of us all: brutal, hot-blooded, and absurdly skilled.

“Let them try. I’m not scared of any of them.”

Predictably, he treated my warning as nonsense.

“Anyway, we haven’t technically graduated yet, have we?”

“Not yet. Term’s over, but graduation isn’t.”

“Then let’s have one last duel before it’s official.”

He threw down a challenge.

“Sure.”

I didn’t hesitate. I’d come here to spar with someone anyway.

“Just one condition.”

“Condition?”

Nereus grinned, baring his teeth.

“I applied for the Border Patrol too.”

That smile was pure bad news.

“But if you and I both apply to the same unit, they’ll cut one of us. Can’t have the top rank, the runner-up, and half the top ten all in one squad—other divisions would riot.”

“So?”

“So we duel now, and whoever loses withdraws. No messy infighting during the exam. OK?”

Inwardly, I unleashed a string of insults that would have cost me a hundred counts of cadet-conduct violation.

You too, huh? You’re going to get in my way too.

But at the same time, I analyzed the situation.

Nereus isn’t the type to follow trends. He’s always favored elite units—guards, heavy cavalry, command corps. He wouldn’t switch to the Border Patrol just because of me, unlike Frey or Helios.

Someone was behind him.

Trisan?

Regardless, his logic wasn’t wrong.

Whatever the reason, I can’t stop him from applying. The Patrol will probably only take one of us. And if we both show up and fight mid-exam, we could both get disqualified and hand someone else the victory.

And if he really was acting under Trisan’s orders, he’d have plenty of chances to sabotage me later.

Can’t allow that. Better to settle it here. He’s tough—but with my right eye, I can win once, no matter what.

Backing down wasn’t an option.

“One round? Or best of three?”

“Single round, obviously.”

“You sure about that?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’ve always lost to me in sword duels.”

“Always? It was six to four! You lose an eye and suddenly can’t count?”

No reason to back down.

We stepped into the circular arena packed with sand.

“Let’s see how great your Physical Sacrifice really is, one-eyed Kyrie.”

Nereus raised his practice sword and jerked his chin arrogantly.

“You’ll end up getting smacked by that one-eyed bastard and running away like an idiot, Orange Blanket Nereus.”

“Anyone can make a mistake. But you’re the one who actually lost an eye.”

“And you’re the one who’ll lose to me. I’m still top graduate, even after this.”

I lifted my blade and drew my chin in.

“…!”

Nereus bared his teeth.

Crackle—!

Lightning flared from both our crowns down our spines—mine pure white, his orange.

The currents raced through nerves and muscle, activating their power.

Nerve acceleration. Physical enhancement. Weapon charge.

My reaction speed spiked, my body strengthened, and arcs of electricity ran along my blade.

Boom—!

In the next instant, we lunged at each other.

“Kyrie!”

“Nereus.”

The secret of Thunder Step unleashed, scattering sand in every direction.

With nerves at full acceleration, I could even see the trajectory of every grain.

I focused every ounce of concentration on Nereus and swung.

Clang!

Steel struck steel, sparks flying in a shower of light.

I twisted my blade and cut downward, then thrust forward.

Nereus spun his sword over his head, aiming for the opposite side of my neck.

Whshk!

I raised my left elbow, deflecting his blade, and he twisted to let my thrust slip past his throat.

Kyrie—Kyrie of Astrios.
Nereus—Nereus of Tonatio Astrios.

We’d been rivals since age eight, when we first joined the Blue Knights’ training camp as pages. Ten years of trading wins and losses.

We knew each other’s strengths by heart.

Clang-clang-clang—!

In the blink of an eye, our swords collided more than eight times.

Nereus took a big step to my right—my blind side, covered by an eyepatch. Easy target.

His battle sense is still sharp.

Instead of turning, I invoked the electrokinesis art Biological Radar—RADAR: electromagnetic detection and range measurement.

Just as expected.

My signature move.

Vmmm—

Invisible waves radiated from me, reaching out seventy-five meters.

I sensed everything—the building’s shape, the classmates lying unconscious from Nereus’s earlier brawl, Nereus’s body now lunging toward me.

Visually, it was like a black world lined in pulsing white outlines.

His sword came up from below, cutting for my flank.

I can see the blade and its plane. I can block it.

I swung my elbow outward, flicking his sword aside.

Tnnng!

What was impossible with the naked eye was now possible through radar.

That was enough.

I drew for his neck.

“Radar!? How the hell can you track that precisely—?”

He tried to recover, turning his sword to realign its path.

Clash!

But I was faster.

Blade met blade, crossguards locked.

“Kh—!”

I kicked back with Thunder Step.

“Guh!?”

Nereus, with incredible reflexes, did the same to absorb the shock, but my body was already airborne.

Boom!

The recoil from underfoot burst like thunder.

Our locked crossguards bent as if about to snap.

Our arms stretched taut.

Thunk!

Both blades flew up into the air at once.

“Ugh!”

We were flung to opposite edges of the arena.

I kept my footing; Nereus didn’t.

Thud.

The two practice swords spun through the air and landed two steps in front of me.

That much I can calculate easily.

Exactly as planned.

The Biological Radar was clearer than ever—it had even been easier than I expected.

It used to reach fifty meters. The range has grown. The resolution’s better too.

Ordinarily, sending out a wave this dense would overheat my nerves.

Must be thanks to surviving when Trisan cranked the machine output. Not that I’ll thank him for it.

I reached down to grab my sword and was about to kick off toward my unarmed opponent when—

“Huh? Dodge!”

Nereus shouted, looking past me.

“I’m not falling for that!”

Thinking it was a feint, I leapt forward.

But then my radar picked up a new movement.

A live blade?

Boom!

A giant charged straight at me, wielding a real sword with a sharpened edge.

“What the—?!”

If Nereus hadn’t called out, I wouldn’t have dodged in time.

I threw myself aside, and Nereus rolled the other way.

The giant swung past where I’d stood, crashing into where Nereus had been.

Crash!

The real sword gouged nearly two hand-widths into the stone wall.

“Get them!”

“Kill them!”

Figures rushed into the arena—six in all, counting the giant.

Every one of them carried a club or a real sword.

Those six.

I recognized them instantly—the same ones who’d been punished alongside Nereus the day I got my adjustment sentence.

“What took you so long?”

“Finally!”

“We’re killing that bastard today!”

From a corner, the three who’d been lying unconscious suddenly scrambled to their feet, brandishing weapons and charging in.

Retaliation.

I understood.

Right after lunch, the arena was empty.

They couldn’t win six-to-one, so they’d brought nearly ten this time to make sure.

“You bastards!”

Nereus wreathed his hands in lightning and slammed it into the nearest attacker’s neck.

“Gyaaah!”

The man foamed at the mouth and dropped, but another swung a club hard into the back of Nereus’s head.

Thwack!

“Ugh!”

He staggered.

Without armor or weapons, even Nereus can’t handle nine-to-one.

One of the attackers turned to me.

“Kyrie! Help us!”

It was one of the classmates who’d been lying on the ground.

“I heard Nereus applied to the Border Patrol too! Who’d want to serve in the same unit as that maniac butcher? Let’s take him down together! Then you and your close friends can go to the Patrol in peace!”

His words snapped me into focus.

Close friends?

I knew exactly what to do.

I raised my practice sword.

“That’s right!”

“Yeah, exactly!”

Thunk!

I brought it down on the top of his head.

Chapter 7

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