Standing off against the unwanted visitor, Sigulf and Alba tried to assess the situation.

“Siggy, could he be…?” she whispered.

“Most likely.”

“And he called you a pushover…”

“I know. But that’s not important now.”

“Oi, you two.” He addressed them. “Stop whispering there and try to say it right at my face.”

“…whisper whisper whisper.”

“Whisper whisper whisper whisper.”

“…think you’re funny, huh?” the attacker said, now sounding irritated.

‘Huh, after all that, and he’s easier to rile than I thought.’ Sigulf mentally noted.

The ruckus brought over some onlookers, among them were Siegward and Masaki.

“He…”

“You know him?”

“No, but I can’t let him has the first blood on Hrimgard…!” Siegward answered, before summoning his Arms and ran off towards them.

“Ah, oi, wait, you idiot!”

Rushing as fast as he can, Siegward rapidly approached the intruder.

“Huh?”

“Haaah!”

He unleashed a mighty swing, but it was easily blocked.

“Guh…!”

“…who the hell are you? Get out of my face, you second-rate Duelist!”

“Wha—“

The assailant easily deflected Siegward back with a flick, but before he had any real chance to follow up, Sigulf and Alba are already jumping at him.

“Tch, goddamn…!” he cursed while forced to evade. “Are you guys too much of a chicken to fight me head on!?”

“No such courtesy for trespassers like you.” Sigulf responded. “You should know that, Jack Ashfield.”

“Aah, so you figured my name.” he said, finally stopped moving. “Well, I guess one of my… Teammates told it to you.”

Jack rested his saber on top of his own shoulder, all too confident with himself.

“So you are Hrimgard. Well done on defeating our number 2 and 3!” he continued mockingly. “Too bad that won’t matter much against me! Now, where’s the one you called Amakawa?”

“There’s no need.” Alba interrupted. “If you wanted to lose that bad, then you can try me anytime!”

Jack paused at her declaration.

“You… What’s your name, ponytail?”

“Alba Hunter! The Future Greatest Warrior of the whole North Sea and beyond!”

‘…she said that with such confidence.’ Sigulf thought.

“Alba, huh? You’re cute.”

“…pardon?”

“You heard me. You’re cute. And actually not half bad. Not to mention it seems that you are not a noble, too.”

“…so?”

“Be my girl and transfer to our school. With me, and our system too I guess, you’ll have a much better time.”

Everyone there couldn’t hide their collective shock.

“Did… Did he just hit on her!?” Chelsea expressed her horror.

‘My thoughts exactly…’ Sigulf mentally agreed.

Alba, meanwhile, said nothing and took a deep breath at first.

“…you know, if I have to talk in your language, then my answer would be ‘Hell no, and get the hell outta here’!”

She brandished her claymore, ready to strike out.

“If you’re asking for a duel, then do so properly!”

“Tch… Too bad… Even though I began to get more interested in you than Amakawa or Hrim— Whoa!”

Another sudden strike from Sigulf and Alba forced Jack to jump away at the last moment.

“Seriously, is this how you Euros do things? Ganging up on an opponent? So much for your so called knight’s chivalry!”

“Both of us are warriors.” Sigulf retorted. “And no warm receptions for uninvited guests.”

“Warriors? More like some thugs from the boonies.”

“Nice to hear you’re able to self-reflect. Well done!”

One side keeps their offence, another have to constantly move out of harm’s way. The situation doesn’t seem to be lifting up anytime soon, frustrating Jack a bit.

‘Shit, this ain’t fun. I should’ve been crushing these losers now, not—‘

“Guys, hold it right there!”

“Huh!?”

“…ah, there he is.”

Another boy Jack has been looking for. Minato has arrived, followed by the three groupies as always.

“What’s going on here…?” Eurypha trailed off before noticing Siegward. “Ah, you there! Are you okay!? Did you get hurt somewhere!?”

She hurriedly went to check on him, while Masaki waited by his side.

“I don’t think he got injured, but…” she tried to explain.

“Damn…!” Siegward cursed, clutching his wrist. “Why my hand won’t stop trembling…!?”

‘Heidenreich… He…’

Jack ignored them and shifted his attention back at Minato.

“What took you so long? Enjoying your day off?”

“Eh? Well, yeah. Why do you ask?”

“…”

‘…why did he act cordially with him?’ Sigulf mentally retorted.

“Nevermind. Now that you are here…” Jack continued, raising his saber and points it to Minato. “Draw your blade, son of Sanada.”

“Eh?”

“You hear m— Tch, again?”

Yet another attack from the Gallowglass duo, giving Jack no other choice but to evade.

“…how long are you punks gonna do this?”

“Until you got tired and decided to go home crying.” Sigulf taunted.

“Hah, weak. Are you going to deny my rightful duel?”

“He’s right! Why are you bullying him?”

Minato’s remark almost made Alba faceplant.

“He’s an intruder, for crying out loud!” she retorted. “He attacked Siggy first out of the blue!”

“Eh, really?”

“Let’s trust her here, Minato.” Carmen said. “If that’s the case, then the answer is easy.”

She, along with Eurypha and Ilma, summoned their Arms and took a step closer towards Jack.

“How disappointing…”

“If anything, that goes to you too, you know…”

Another voice coming from behind Jack caught everyone’s attention.

“Oh, he’s…”

“…so you finally caught up.”

“What are you thinking, breaking out like that?” Kouji sighed.

Behind him, Mei and her team, along with few other unknown students were there with their Arms on hand.

“Look, before this became an incident and your punishment got heavier, give up and go home already.” He continued.

“…hmph, looks like playtime’s over. Too bad…” Jack conceded, withdrawing his weapon. The other Pacific students immediately surrounded him.

“What? Do you think I’m gonna run away? Or do you need some assurance? Here, try to handcuff me, then.” He taunted, offering his hands.

“…you do know we don’t do that.” Kouji retorted before shifting his focus to Celina. “Miss Bartram.”

“Morning, Sir Houjou.” She acknowledged in return, still cautious with the situation.

“I apologize for the trouble my foolish junior has caused.” Kouji bowed while holding Jack’s head. “…come on, you too.”

“…why must I apologize to these Euros?” he pushed away Kouji’s hand, though not so roughly for some reason.

“Jack! You…!”

“Not even you can make me do it.”

He forced his way through the students towards the other way. As soon as he broke free, Jack left some parting words.

“Oh, right. Alba, hope we’ll meet again.”

“Eww…”

He ignored Alba’s disgust and kept on walking.

“The hell’s wrong with him?” Mei cursed.

“…let’s go, everyone.” Kouji commanded, which obeyed by the rest of the Pacifics. Mei’s team gave the Atlantics a nod of silent acknowledgement before joining the rest.

“Well, it’s over…” Sigulf exhaled, dematerializing his Fenrir. “Talk about a handful one…”

“Uuugh, that guy gave me the creeps!” Alba grumbled. “Seriously, his head must be all messed up!”

“Alba!” Chelsea hurriedly ran to her side. “Are you alright!? D, did he touch you somewhere strange!?”

“W, what? Of course not!”

“Thank goodness…”

“…y, yeah. And, umm… Thanks for caring, I guess…”

‘Hmm?’

“Thanks for the hard work.” Eurypha and the others came over to them. “Is there— …well, considering it’s you guys, I don’t think anyone got hurt.”

“Fortunately, yeah.”

“Sooo, is that the fabled Jack Ashfield?” Carmen asked. “He did seem to be strong…”

“Very. We only managed to push him back because he got outnumbered, after all…”

“Hmm, interesting. Now if only we can dig some information for future reference…”

“That’s right! Hey, Ape, do you know— Oh, right, he isn’t here…” Eurypha said, realizing that Walter isn’t with them. “Sheesh, just when we needed him…!”

“Now, now, aren’t you being too harsh with him?”

“Why shouldn’t we? I mean, he always tagged along with us, only to do some skirt chasing!”

“Maaaybe he likes someone?” Carmen hinted.

“Uwaaa, that makes it even worse… Gross.”

“…I have to agree with her this time.” Ilma sighed. “Gross.”

“Well, he isn’t Minato, so gross.”

‘And just when they finally agreed upon something, it’s this…’ Sigulf thought. ‘Good thing he’s not around…’

“Enough, you three!” Minato suddenly snapped at them.

“Mi— Amakawa!? What’s gotten into y—“

“Is that how you talk about your friends!?”

The three girls paused, before Eurypha let out a sigh.

“Your friend. Not ours—“

“No! He’s still our classmate, so he’s your friend too! And what did he do to warrant all those words!?”

“What the—!? Of course he’s a perv! And… Uhh, he’s loud… A, and…”

‘This is a bit funny.’ Sigulf noted.

“E, enough! W, why are you defending him!?” she continued.

“Because he’s a great guy!”

“…how is he a great guy!? I bet he told you… D, dirty stories about the girls!”

“He did! That’s why I’ve been telling him to tone it down!”

“…wait, you did?”

‘He actually did?’ Sigulf was as equally surprised.

“Yeah. Well, knowing him, it probably wouldn’t be that easy, but… If you have a problem, then talk about it directly with him! That’s what friends do!”

“Err…”

“Don’t you think so too, Hrimgard-kun?”

‘Eh, why is he looking at me?’

“I guess…?”

‘I don’t hate the guy, but I don’t know him much either…’

The girls now looked kind of remorseful… except maybe for Ilma, predictably.

“Ugh… Well, I’m sorry about that…” Eurypha apologized. “I’ll… Try to rein it in next time.”

“If you understand, then it’s good!”

“As expected from Minato!” Carmen said while suddenly glomping him. “So big hearted!”

“Hey, what are you doing!?”

“R, Rosales-san…! Everyone’s watching…!”

“You horny Spaniard…! Cut it off…!” Ilma growled.

‘And of course it would end like this…’ Sigulf thought while watching the girls fight over Minato as usual. Obviously, the remaining onlookers were quick to express their jealousy.

“Siggy.” Alba called, poking him on the shoulder.

“Hmm?”

“You sure have a bad hobby, enjoying them and their antics like that…”

“…it’s social observation.”

“Uwaa, Sigulf is quite bad-natured…” Chelsea joined.

“U, umm, I’m well aware that studying social interactions is a good thing, but don’t you think there’s a better way?” Celina added.

Sigulf can only groan while covering his face, earning laughter from the rest of them.