The first big, and rather abrupt, event for the freshmen has ended. Standing face to face, the duelists exchanged handshakes with each other.

“Congrats, Hrimgard.” Mei said. “You guys earned it.”

“Thank you.”

“Kanzaki-dono.” Reika followed. “Looks like I was mistaken about you…”

“Ehehe… I have to get serious too once in a while.”

“I suppose so…”

Spectators from both sides applauded, before the fighters returned to their respective groups.

“Sir Houjou, we are sorry for our loss!” Mei apologized.

“It’s alright. You did your best.” Kouji reassured, with Misha and Anil joined to console them.

Meanwhile, Sigulf and Yuu’s reception was slightly, comically mixed.

“What’s the matter?” Sigulf asked upon seeing Eurypha, Carmen, and Ilma’s faces.

“I can’t believe you actually went and did that…” Eurypha said. “Think about our school’s image, will you?”

“…wait, what?”

“Now, now, it ended well, so it’s fine, right?” Yuu tried to calm Eurypha while looking at Ilma.

“Well, better than actually losing…” she sighed.

“Hehe… So how do you think?”

“…huh? Oh, right. It wasn’t bad. Cool. But I’d still carve you up in no time.”

“…you could’ve just sincerely be happy, you know?” Yuu lamented.

Sigulf was trying not to snicker, and didn’t notice when Vigdis hugged him out of the blue.

“Siggy my boy! I know you can do it!”

“M, Master! I can’t breathe…!”

“…she’s really hug-happy, huh?” Alba commented.

Along with Celina and Chelsea, she came over to Sigulf when Vigdis finally let go of him.

“Ah…”

“Congratulations.” Celina smiled. “You did well.”

“Thank you…!”

“I’m a raider in wolf’s pelt.” Alba mimicked Sigulf. “Pfft, edgy.”

“Yeah, what was that?” Chelsea agreed, trying to hold back a laughter.

“…it’s not edgy.” Sigulf protested and got a bit red.

———

Not long after, most of the audience has left the field, leaving the Pacific guests and some Council members. The whole group then approached Mei’s team to chat a bit with them.

“Eh? You’re not staying longer?” Minato sounded surprised.

“Yeah, gotta go home soon. You know…”

“Is it battle data report?” Eurypha slightly raised her eyebrow.

“Haha, so you noticed, huh? Sorry about that.”

“Eh, no, we don’t mind. I mean it’s not that unusual.” Sigulf quickly said. “What I found strange is why so soon? Your excursion I mean.”

“Aah, that…” Mei scratched her head. “Yeah, I don’t get it either. What was our Principal thinking? Sending a real early scout with what supposed to be the top 5 or 6 students…”

“Don’t say that now…” Kouji interrupted. “I’m sure she got good reasons. If we won, our names could have made shockwaves around the world and attract more prospects. But now even though we lost, we still could use the data to improve our training, don’t you think?”

“…that’s quite the optimistic way to see it.”

“Well, you have to if you want to grow.”

“Early scouting? So, are you guys coming again later?”

“Eh, maybe?” Mei shrugged before turning to face Kouji.

“Hmm… We could be. But then again, our Principal has her hands full taking care of our problem child…”

“Ah, right, him…”

“Houjou-dono!” Reika called them from nearby the carrier. “We are going to depart soon!”

“We’ll be there.” Kouji answered. “Well, Ms. Principal, I guess we must excuse ourselves here. Thank you for the chance.”

“Likewise, it’s been a well-appreciated learning for our students as well.” Victoria replied. “Give my regards to Stacy.”

“Of course. Well then…”

Kouji bowed with Mei following suit. Before she got far, Mei turned around for one last time.

“I’ll be back. And next time as the number 1. You better prepare yourselves!” she grinned while extending her fist, particularly towards Sigulf.

“Yeah…!”

Leaving with a wave, Mei rejoined her schoolmates inside the carrier. Closing the hatch door, it slowly rose and took off towards the far horizons.

“They left…”

“Great work, everyone.” Victoria congratulated. “Now—“

“It’s time to party!” Vigdis appeared out of nowhere and interrupted, holding few plastic bags with ease.

“Party!” Chelsea echoed.

“Ufufu, well I guess it’s fine. A short break won’t hurt.”

“…why are you the one who got fired up?” Sigulf sighed. “And when did you buy all those?”

———

The night continues. Somewhere in the guesthouse, one larger room is particularly livelier in this hour.

“Cheers!”

Almost everyone toasted with their can of drinks.

“…ah, good. I see you didn’t buy any alcoholic drinks.” Eliot commented.

“Well, duh! I don’t want to be held responsible if I get the kids drunk!” Vigdis retorted.

“Too bad, I wanted to see a wasted Eliot.” Melanie giggled.

“…stop it.”

“Aah, my muscles are a bit sore…” Walter said, relaxing his back.

“Now that I remembered, the boys did all the fighting today.” Eurypha noted. “Sir?”

“Armstrong needed a bit of push.”

“Geh…! That bad?”

“Among Amakawa’s group? Well, you’re bottom.”

“Ugh… I’ll do harder from now on…” Walter slumped his shoulders, earning a sigh from Eurypha.

“So, we’re doing fine?” Carmen asked.

“Yes, but still no reason to slack off.”

“Understood.”

“Huh, you’re surprisingly straight-forward about this.” Ilma commented.

“Oh no, if it’s for Minato, then I too must give my best for him~”

“…ugh, I take it back.”

Meanwhile, Sigulf was the only who didn’t get to toast earlier.

“…why am I busy with this? When do I get to eat?”

“Hey, you promised me, boy!”

“Yeah, but can’t it wait for later? I mean you’re staying longer now…”

“But I missed you! …ah, lower please.” Vigdis directed him on where to massage.

“Seriously, Master…”

“Could you do it harder there?”

“Like this?”

“Nngh…! T, there…! Right, it feels good…!”

The boys instantly went red, getting them a laughter from Melanie and a facepalm from Eliot.

“Y, you perverts!” Eurypha screeched.

“And how is it our faults now?” Sigulf countered.

“Now, now, let’s not get too heated on this happy occasion.” Victoria joined them. “By the way, do you need a hand?”

“Eh?”

“What is she—“

Victoria went behind Sigulf and started massaging him.

“Better?”

“O, oh, thank you, Ma’am…”

“Wait, hold it right there!”

Vigdis suddenly stood up, making Sigulf let go of his hands.

“Don’t you think it’s inappropriate for a Principal to touch her students like that?”

‘T, touch?’

“Oh, do not worry. I believe it is within my duty to support our students in need, and this is nothing more than that.”

“But!”

Vigids hugged Sigulf tightly away from Victoria.

‘!?’

“As his guardian, I can’t let him get into harm’s way, and I feel this is where we should draw the line!”

“Ufufu, I’m well aware with your concerns, it’s only natural. However,”

Victoria grabbed Sigulf’s arm and pulled him back.

“If you keep on pampering him like that, then he won’t grow up to be a… Splendid, fine adult.” She ended her words with a somewhat seductive tone.

“You…!”

‘Oh, for Loki’s sake…’

Unexpectedly, Celina got up and approached them.

“You two, that’s enough. Behave more like adults should be.”

“Ah…”

“Don’t you see you two are bothering him?”

…but whether she did that on purpose or not, Celina pulled Sigulf close to her.

‘…praise Angrboda?’

“She’s right…!”

Alba stood as well and pulled Sigulf to the opposite side.

“Give him a break! Siggy needs to rest too!”

“…why did I even join them?” Chelsea said in a low voice.

“…”

There was an awkward, yet heavy silence dawning on them. Eliot can only sigh in exasperation, while Melanie can’t hold back her wide grin.

Sigulf glanced towards Yuu, hoping for some help, but he, along with Walter, raised a thumbs up and mouthed at him, “Go explode.”

‘Well, thank you for the kind support, I really appreciate it.’ Sigulf sarcastically thought.

Meanwhile, Minato’s girls began talking among themselves in a slight disbelief.

“Is that… How we always looked to the others?” Carmen asked.

“I guess so… Argh…” Eurypha answered.

“Who would’ve thought it took them to remind us…” Ilma sighed.

“It’s kind of embarrassing…” Carmen agreed. “You know what, maybe you two should give up so there’s less shame upon us.”

“Oh, not in a lifetime!” Eurypha promptly screeched.

———

By the Sacred’s intervention, the tension died down, and Sigulf was set free, allowing him to grab some snack and drink.

“Phew…”

He was out enjoying fresh air on the balcony when the door opened, revealing Celina.

“Oh…”

“Hey. Feeling better already?”

“Kind of.”

“You sure you don’t need to rest more?”

“Positive.”

“If you say so…”

A short silence. Then again the wind was particularly comforting today. But then Sigulf remembered he needed to talk about something.

“By the way, for tomorrow…”

“Ah, right. What is it?”

Celina found herself a bit surprised when she skipped a beat, but decided to listen first.

“Can we practice defending, especially for tag battles? Because—“

“…hold on a second there. I thought that wasn’t the part of our promise?”

“…ah.”

‘Fenrir damn it, why did I—‘

Sigulf covered his face out of embarrassment.

“…something’s bothering you?”

“…yeah, we got blindsided during the fight, and I keep thinking on how to fix that…”

“I see, I see…” Celina chuckled, which surprised him a bit. “It’s good that you got even serious about dueling, but… Don’t you remember?”

“Yeah, I should know when to rest as well…”

“Precisely.”

“Sorry about that…”

“As long as you understand…” she giggled again. “So, have you decided on what to do on our… date tomorrow? Have any place in mind?”

Celina went slightly red, but thankfully for her, Sigulf didn’t even notice for being bashful on his own.

“…that’s the problem. I can’t think of any. At least, though, cinemas are a no, I think.”

“Hmm? You don’t like watching films?”

“Not that, but I figured that we don’t get to talk much during the film, and…”

‘Dammit, Sigulf, spit it out already.’

“I want to talk more with you.”

“Ah… I see. Fair point.”

“Yeah… So how about you? Any places you wanted to go?”

“Eh? But I can’t do that. It’s supposed to be your reward, after all.”

“Even if I insist?”

“Even if you insist.”

“…alright then. I want to go… Where you actually wanted to.”

Celina paused for a second.

“That’s not how it goes.” She finally laughed.

‘Ah, even her laughter sounds nice…’

“Okay, I concede. Let’s see… I’ve always been curious with game centers.”

“Oh, you never have been to one?”

“No, I’m never sure on what should I do there, so I always refrain myself from going.”

‘Cute…’

“Well, I only went to game centers a few times before, but I’ll do my best to escort you.”

“Ufufu, please do.”

“…and how about lunch? Lordshire’s good?”

“Lordshire? You don’t have to force yourself like that…”

“Well maybe, but—“

“Alright, I’ve been craving for some Italian food. How does that sounds?”

Sigulf was slightly taken aback, but he chuckled nonetheless.

“You got me there. Okay, it’s decided, then.”

In contrast to the pleasant atmosphere, Sigulf and Celina were oblivious with Chelsea peeking from behind the door worriedly.

———

The small party finally ended, and everyone went back to their own rooms.

“…phew.”

A warm bath after the day was one of the things that Celina enjoyed.

“…”

She went silent and touched her own chest.

‘I did that promise to encourage him. So that he’ll be motivated to do better. There should be no problem. But…’

The color red tinted her cheeks.

‘Now, why am I…?’

———

At almost the same time, Chelsea’s room…

“Haah…”

The brunette sighed, seemingly in no mood to sleep.

‘Even though I am the one who teased her with him, when it actually happens…’

Chelsea turned in her bed.

‘I can’t say I’m impressed with his motivation to join… I’ll make sure he doesn’t do anything to hurt Celina tomorrow.’

———

Midnight, far across the continent. The Pacific’s carrier has finally landed safely in their own home.

“Welcome back.” Their Principal, Stacy Franklin, greeted. “And thank you for the hard work.”

“Ma’am, we’re very sorry for our loss.” Kouji bowed in apology.

“It’s alright. Go get some rest first.”

The 1st-years scrambled back to their dorms, leaving only Kouji with her.

“How’s Ashfield?”

“Resting after full day of heavy exercise…” Stacy rubbed her temples.

“I see. May I see him?”

Stacy said nothing, only motioned Kouji to follow her. They entered a separate concrete building.

Inside, a security personnel watched a well-guarded small room. From outside, a tanned boy with bleached blonde hair could be seen sitting, facing away the visitors.

‘Jack…’

Stacy entered some code on the panel and opened the door for Kouji.

“Be careful.”

“Thank you, Ma’am.”

As Kouji entered, he knew that Jack instantly noticed his presence.

“Yo.”

“Hey…”

“You’re back. Did you have fun crushing those European losers?”

Kouji didn’t immediately answer.

“…don’t tell me…”

“I told you.” Kouji sighed.

He approached Jack and handed him a tablet, containing videos from the duel.

“I’ll let you judge for yourself.”

Jack took the tablet without turning. Kouji stepped back and was going to left the room.

“Don’t forget to get some rest.”

With Kouji outside, the door was locked again, but Jack paid no attention. He was focused on the footage Kouji gave him.

“Sanada’s son… But I can’t judge him from fighting against Smirnov here.”

He was silent for few minutes, until the tag battles came up. His expression then shifted slightly.

“Sigulf… Hrimgard…”

Jack watched the video until the playback ended.

“…”

He set the tablet aside, and going against Kouji’s advice, began exercising again.

———

Chapter 4 “Dawn Before the Restless Tide”, end.

Continued on Chapter 5.