“—Sewing!?  You don’t mean to say it was for making fake flags!?

Jill, having looked through the binoculars, gripped the rooftop railing and groaned.  The flag could be carried around this time.  Their plan took advantage of that fact, however…

“Isn’t something like that against the rules!?”
“No, well… I guess, but there’s no rule stating you can’t make fake flags… and cloth doesn’t count as a weapon, so it can be brought in… and even if they decide it is a weapon, participants are still allowed to bring in two weapons…”

That may have been the case, but it was completely unexpected.  The problem wasn’t just the flag.  If she was reading the formation of the Gold Dragon Class correctly, then their strategy was a suicide run built on sacrifice.  The vice-class leader’s team undertook the initial assault for the sake of confirming the position of the Blue Dragon Class and then wearing them down.  They weren’t even decoys, just sacrificial pawns.  Even now, the vice-class leader’s team was moving toward the left-side unit.

That group had them hopelessly out numbered, but their goal was to chip away at the unit’s mana after having determined its location.  That Noin and his class, such elite and pure minded students, would accept such a strategy was difficult to believe.

Was their previous defeat so humiliating that it pushed them into maturing?  Or were they just unable to resist Hades’ scheme?

No, that’s not it—

Jill knew, she had seen it before.  Whether driven by fear or devotion, soldiers charged forward shouting, “For the Dragon Emperor!”  It was as though they had been bewitched by his silver magical power— and this was a fragment of the same thing.

Those who can inspire near-religious devotion such as, “I’d die for this person,” were often the ones who stood above others. Hades was no exception— No, he’s probably worse.  This was a cruel form of faith, one that made the sacrifice feel like nothing, one that gave them joy at offering up their lives.  Seizing the hearts of children who had lost their instructor and their direction must have been effortless for Hades.  Trust takes time to build, but faith is instantaneous.

That… man…!!

This was a dangerous flavor, one that would never be forgotten once tasted.  If those children someday became soldiers of the Rave Empire, this would have possibly happened, but right now was too soon.  They were still short-sighted children.  Does he have no sense of restraint or ethics?  Isn’t he supposed to be the guardian of reason?

Her eyes met Hades’ in the distant front row seat upon lifting her gaze.  He waved at her.  A creaking sound leaked from the binoculars in her grip.

■

Noin wasn’t the only one holding a flag.  A student who noticed them early on waved around another as if showing it off.

“No way, does every single student in the Gold Dragon Class have a flag!?”
“Which is the real one !?”
“—A message!  The enemy has fake flags!  Change of plans, don’t try searching for the real one!  Don’t be misled!”

The right unit, drawn forward by the flags held by the students, had pushed too far and were being split apart.  Noin along with around twenty elite fighters hunted those isolated students without mercy.  They didn’t even spare a glance at the vice-class leader and her partner who made for the left unit.

They never intended to save the vice-class leader’s unit from the start…!

They were being treated like sacrificial pawns.  Even more unbelievable was that the proud, stuck-up vice-class leader of the Gold Dragon Class had actually agreed to take on such a role.

“Cowards!  Making flags like that!”

Someone leaned out from the clock tower to shout.  Stopping the student didn’t cross Lutiya’s mind.  At any rate, their position had already been discovered in the earlier skirmish.  I want the enemy slowed, even if just a little, so I can think of our next move.

“Cowards?”

Noin turned at the shout, having nearly eliminated everyone around him.  His eyes met Lutiya’s.

“Sewing is hard.  Maybe, that why I don’t agree in the slightest.”
“—Our flag is right here!”

The vice-class leader called out, “Lutiya,” in reproach, but he ignored it.  He couldn’t allow the situation to develop as it was.

“Come and get it!  This one isn’t fake!”

A refreshing breeze caught Noin in the middle of the battlefield as he gave a faint smile.

“I’ll come for it later.  –After removing everyone except you.”

Noin vanished from sight with that smile on his face.  That was his answer.  He had no intention of fighting him one on one or rising to his taunt.

With a thud, Lutiya punched the wall of the clock tower.

---

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