Eight pairs of eyes, including Nereus’s, turned toward me.

“Huh?”

“Why—why?”

“It wasn’t… a mistake, was it?”

Every single gaze was filled with confusion.

Let’s think. By all circumstances, Nereus had been set up by Trisan.
He wasn’t the kind of person to act out of concern for inter-squad balance.

In other words, Trisan’s best card to block my enlistment right now is Nereus himself.

Even Trisan couldn’t meddle with the exam itself or tamper with the grading.
Nereus was a tricky opponent, yes—but one-on-one, he was manageable.

The bigger problem was that high-ranking classmates like Frey, Angela, and Helios were all flooding into the Border Patrol Corps.
Competing among top students meant that, while one tripped me up, another could easily outpace me entirely.

So for now, I pretend not to notice Trisan’s involvement. Nereus’s target is me anyway. I’ll use him to mow down the other applicants, then take down the exhausted fool myself.

My thoughts accelerated through neural current—high-speed reasoning through Synaptic Acceleration.

Which means right now, I have to help Nereus.

A flash of white electricity cracked above my head.

Crackle.

“Catch it!”

I kicked Nereus’s practice sword up into the air.

“Wh—what? Got it!”

Rumble!

Nereus vaulted upward, stepping on thunder itself.

The grasping hands and swinging iron clubs sliced uselessly through the air as his hand closed around the practice sword.

Crackle!

He Imbued it—orange sparks raced along the blade.

Boom!

He spun mid-air like a top and landed.
An orange whirlpool erupted around him.

“Argh!”

“Gaaah!”

Two of the attacking classmates were struck faster than the eye could follow and sent flying.

“What’s wrong with you?”

“Hey, it’s not even bad for you, is it?”

The senior Blue Knight and the junior trainees glared at me as if I’d betrayed them.

“Bad for me?”

I frowned as though I’d just heard something disgusting.

“You interrupt a fair duel and then call it help? You must’ve sworn to dishonor the Star of Thunder itself!”

I raised my practice sword and shouted,

“You’ve got to be kidding—what kind of bastard is that?”

“Hard-headed idiot! Even lightning won’t bother to strike him!”

“Think you’re something just because the others call you ‘knightly’?”

“You one-eyed bastard son!”

The senior Blue Knight yanked a real sword from the rocks.

“A man who lived by others’ judgment of knighthood—was summoned by the Star of Thunder the moment he died.”

I drew current into my left arm.

“Honor doesn’t dwell in the heart—it lives in the hands and feet!”

White sparks raced from forearm to fingertips, charging to the limit.
My muscles burned, pressure built under my nails.

I thrust out my left hand and unleashed the discharge.

CRACK-CRACK!

Even a slight increase in voltage could be fatal.
And Heavenly Thunder Body raised not just voltage, but power output and discharge volume—all by a hundred and fifty percent.

“AAAAAH!”

The senior Blue Knight took the full brunt of the Electro Discharge.
He convulsed violently, dropped his blade, rolled his eyes back, and fainted.
His legs went slack; a dark stain spread between them.

Didn’t even use the restroom before fighting.

Among Blue Knights, that wasn’t uncommon.

“You idiots never learn!”

Nereus finally cut loose as well.
It took less than a minute before every ambusher fled.

The intrusion ended as chaotically as it had begun.

“Tch.”

Nereus tossed his bent practice sword onto the floor—it had warped from hitting those iron clubs.
Then he looked straight at me, teal eyes flickering with something unreadable.

“What?”

“Am I supposed to thank you right now?”

“Seems like it. Most people thank the one who helped them.”

“Then I won’t. Why’d you help me anyway? You could’ve jumped in on their side. If I were you, that’s what I’d have done. Break a few of my bones and you’d have one less rival for the Border Patrol.”

“I didn’t because I knew I could win.”

Just as expected.

Nereus had a disease that prevented him from accepting kindness as kindness.
Not that I was any better.
Maybe that’s why he was valedictorian and I was salutatorian.

I gave the answer I’d prepared earlier.

“Because I didn’t need those fools’ so-called help. They weren’t helping me—they were trying to steal my victory. A precious victory.”

“A precious victory?”

“Of course. Against a swordsman who beats me four times out of ten and whose electrokinesis is stronger.”

“Hah. Saying it won’t make it true.”

Nereus’s mouth twitched.

“It’s an objective fact.”

“But… you really thought that?”

“No. I didn’t think it. It is.”

He was as simple as he was violent.
Easy to provoke, easy to please.
In a sense, the most knightly of us all.

“Anyway—you admit I showed you some goodwill, right?”

“Sure. But the match wasn’t finished either. You were ahead, but who knows until the end.”

Despite his words, his tone had softened—a subtle shift only someone who’d known him ten years could catch.

“Then let’s finish it during the entrance exam. You’re applying to the Border Patrol too, right? When the stage is set, we’ll settle it properly.”

“So I should just sit around sucking my thumb until then?”

“Not going to train?”

“Train for that lousy entrance exam? Please.”

“Then you’ll find yourself losing before the fight even starts. Haven’t you heard? Frey, Angela, and Helios are all applying too. You’ve lost plenty of fights just like that—focusing only on me and getting ambushed by others.”

I slipped the words in easily.
He’d lost that way more than once—and if Trisan wanted to move against me, doing so during the exam would be ideal.
After all, it would still be “legal competition.”

“See you at the exam.”

I sheathed my practice sword and turned away, pretending to be casual.

009. Elixir of Thunderclouds

“Wait.”

Nereus called out.

He squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them again.
Pride, rivalry, shame, self-loathing, ambition, humiliation—all flickered across his face in turn.

“Here.”

He pulled a glass vial from his bag and held it out.

“Take it.”

Inside was a pale gray liquid, and within it, bright yellow currents flashed and faded.

An elixir? Must be his payment from Trisan.

The Elixir of Thunderclouds.

“You sure you can just hand me something that expensive?”

I asked, half-teasing, half-serious.

“Hmph. Unlike you, I have noble parents. I can buy as many as I want.”

“Says the pampered pseudo-orphan.”

“Just take it! Don’t make me say something sappy to another man just because you helped me once.”

He spun on his heel and strode off.

I laughed as I watched his back.

Nereus wasn’t the scheming type.
He’d just jumped at the chance to fight me, nothing more.
If Trisan had lured Angela or Frey instead, that would’ve been far more dangerous.

He must be getting desperate.

The vial felt pleasantly heavy in my palm.
No wonder—Trisan hadn’t expected me to survive the third stage of Adjustment Punishment.
He probably didn’t want to hand Andromeda another sword to wield against him.

I left the dueling hall with light, almost floating steps.

Before I drink this, a bit more electrokinesis training.

The sky was brilliantly clear.

Nereus was, in the end, a true Blue Knight among Blue Knights.

Before the afternoon training even ended, rumors spread among the trainees.

“Nereus challenged Frey to a duel! Told him to cancel his Border Patrol application.”

“I saw it! Frey got carried to the infirmary—something looked broken.”

Holding copper wires in both hands, I listened.

“He’s crazy. You’d think ten years of beating on Kyrie would be enough, but no—still the same.”

“I was thinking of applying too, but now I’m scared he’ll challenge me next.”

“Shouldn’t someone stop him? That lunatic’s ruining the mood for everyone.”

By evening, no one even mentioned the Border Patrol anymore.

“I was hoping we’d take the exam together,” Angela said.

“Yeah. Too bad,” I answered.

“Well, it can’t be helped. We weren’t all going to pass anyway. But I’ll remember your spirit.”

“There’s no spirit to remember. You do what must be done, that’s all.”

“The thread’s cut, then. I was going to follow you wherever you went. Hee-hee.”

“Never make that sound again.”

Angela and Frey dropped by that evening to say they’d be looking for other units.
Frey limped a bit, but at least his leg wasn’t broken.
I saw them off with a regretful face.

That’s it. That’s the Nereus I know.

Inside, I was dancing.

Raise a rival well enough, and he cleans up your enemies for you. Perfect—absolutely perfect!

Honestly, I ought to be the one buying him an elixir.
The violent, ruthless Blue Knight was just as violent and ruthless toward my competition.

Trisan’s interference was a given anyway.
My rivalry with Nereus had been daily routine for ten years.
Combining the two let me wipe out my other opponents—one third of the competition gone in a single stroke. Art. Pure art.

I stood from the training bench, light as if dancing.

At this rate, Helios will withdraw within two days.

Peeling the copper wires from my palms, I left the training hall.
My body ached with fatigue, but my mind floated on clouds.

On the way back to my quarters, I pulled the vial of Elixir of Thunderclouds from my pocket.

Better to drink it now.
I could wait until after joining the Border Patrol, let the 25% bonus from Heavenly Thunder Body apply—but hold it too long and it’d just go to waste.
There’d probably be an electrokinesis duel with Nereus during the exam anyway. Better to maximize my power now.

Within the swirling gray fluid, yellow currents flashed and sank again.

Bon appétit.

I downed it in one go.

The liquid was effervescent yet oddly viscous, sliding down my throat and absorbing through the mucous membrane before it even reached my stomach.

Ssshh!

A sharp, hot rush surged through my veins, nerves, and muscle fibers before pooling in my heart.

Hotter than I remember.

I’d been awarded one before as valedictory compensation, but with Heavenly Thunder Body active, the influx now felt twice as strong.

Should’ve waited until I was back in my room.

It was almost too much to stay upright.

“…As I was saying,”

“Impressive, sir. Hah-hah.”

“Anyway, I’m leaving unit management to you. To govern the house with a national view, one must delegate the small things.”

That voice from above—Trisan.

He descended the stairs with his faction’s adopted sons and officer-rank Blue Knights.
Not close enough yet to greet.

Better move.

I quickened my pace across the hall, glancing sideways as they came down.

Huh?

He was looking at me.
No—at the glass vial in my hand.

That confident face twisted into puzzled disbelief, as if seeing the impossible.
His waxed mustache twitched like an insect’s antennae.

He’s probably thinking, “No way… impossible.”

I stifled a laugh.

It really was a good day.

A week later.

“Today’s the day, right?”

“Yes.”

“Confident?”

“At the very least, I’ll pass. Whether I take the top spot is all that’s left.”

Exam day had come.
Among the academy’s top thirty, only Nereus and I were applying to the Border Patrol Corps.

Chapter 8

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