Victoria Dahlgrün, the 'Thunder Empress' and Harry's rival, was watching Harry and Rio's match from her waiting room.
The time for her match was approaching, but her face showed no signs of nervousness.
"That delinquent girl's matches are as ungraceful as ever," she said.
"It was a good match, though. She even showed off a new technique. It seems she's improved quite a bit," her butler, Edgar, commented, stroking his chin.
"Her lightning attack countermeasures and the jet cannons from the ground won't work on me from the start. Once I've seen it, I can prepare for it however I like!" Victoria declared.
"Hmm, is it that they 'won't work from the start' or that you 'can prepare for them'? Which is it?" Edgar probed.
"Quiet, Edgar! No nitpicking!" Victoria retorted.
Victoria, for all her strength as the 'Thunder Empress,' was completely helpless in front of the butler she had been with for so many years. He saw right through her bluster and teased her instead.
"Well, I'm grateful to the 'Springlight Fist' girl for drawing out her new techniques. In the main event, I'll beat her for what she's worth!" she declared.
"It's good that you have another reason not to lose, but for now, please focus on the match in front of you, my lady," Edgar said.
A loud "You don't need to tell me!" echoed through the waiting room.
Victoria's match was after Kirin and Yuuki's. Her opponent was Chante Apignon, the representative from the Church of the Holy King.
In the beginning, Chante's magic, which created clones of herself, and her inherent speed, overwhelmed Victoria. Chante even took the lead in life points after rounds one and two.
But ultimately, her power wasn't enough against Victoria's tough defense and raw attack power. In the third round, Chante launched an offensive, but every one of her attacks was blocked. Victoria's counterattack knocked out 90% of Chante's life points with a single blow. Another finishing attack was landed on a reeling Chante, and she was defeated.
―――――― Clang, Clang
---------
The subsequent matches proceeded smoothly, and the winners and losers of all the blocks were decided. As the sun began to set, the crowd started to recede from the stadium like a retreating tide.
In the locker room, the athletes were getting ready to go home, including the members of Team Nakajima.
"Aww, so Team Nakajima's elementary school team is completely wiped out," Vivi said.
"Yeah..."
"It's a shame," Corona and Rio said in light tones, despite having just competed in fierce matches. The energetic children seemed to have forgotten their fatigue. Or rather, they were tired, but they still had energy left.
"So! Our dreams have been entrusted to the two of you!"
"Good luck with your matches tomorrow!"
"Y-yes!"
"Haha... We'll do our best," Einhart and Kirin each replied to the encouragement.
As they walked and talked, they arrived at the meeting point with Nove, Nanoha, and the others. There was no specific meeting, and it was time to go their separate ways.
"Well, everyone's tired today. Of course, Einhart and Kirin are, but Vivi and the others need to rest up too. You three are coming to cheer tomorrow, right?" Nove asked.
"Yes!"
"Of course!"
"We'll cheer as hard as if we were playing ourselves!" Vivi and the others replied enthusiastically.
"Then you should get some solid rest. You've had matches for the past few days. For now, you should rest your bodies for the rest of August," Nove advised.
"That's right. When it's time to rest, you need to rest properly," Nanoha added.
The three girls complained with an "Ehh!? So much?" but Nove was firm with them.
"Haha, 'rest your bodies'... It's so convincing when Nanoha says it," Fate commented.
"Of course. Because I've learned the hard way," Nanoha replied with a laugh. She had been a bit forceful because of her own past mistakes from overexertion. If Nove's persuasion hadn't worked, Nanoha was prepared to 'have a talk' with them.
Now that the three were convinced, there was one more thing they had to do.
"Thank you for everything!"
"We'll come to the church to thank you properly next time!"
"N-no, please don't worry about it!"
"Please rest well!"
It was time to thank the people who had helped them to participate in this tournament. For those people, the best thanks was seeing them have a great match, but expressing it in words was also important.
Rio and Corona bowed their heads to Otto and Died, the two who had trained with them. And then, there was the person who had been with them and helped them the most.
"Coach Nove too!"
"Wha-what!?"
"THANK YOU SO MUCH!" Vivi joined them in bowing her head.
"H-hey, stop it! Not so loud!"
Even though there weren't many people around, they all turned to look. Nove's face turned red, and she looked away, feeling embarrassed by the girls' sincere gratitude.
"Okay, I'll drive Rio and Corona home in my car," Fate said.
"Alright, thank you, Fate. I'll be waiting to make dinner," Nanoha added.
"Einhart, please come this way," Kirin offered.
"Yes. Thank you, Kirin. Well then, everyone, see you at the venue tomorrow," Einhart said.
"Yes! See you tomorrow!"
At Einhart's words, they each got into their respective cars. The children, now in three separate vehicles, headed for their homes.
---------
Kirin was the daughter of the Toudou family, so she had a car to take her home. Einhart and Kirin sat side by side in the back seat. Neither of them was the type to start a conversation, so it was silent, but they were thinking about the same thing: today's matches and tomorrow's.
Einhart's opponent for tomorrow was the former champion, the undefeated strongest athlete, Sieglinde Jeremiah.
(No matter who the opponent is, I won't lose. My wish and the team's feelings... I'll bet it all on this fist... I will win.)
Kirin's opponent was the 'Thunder Empress,' Victoria Dahlgrün. She was ranked second only to Jeremiah in the tournament predictions.
(Her defense... I wonder if my attacks will work on her, in a different way than they did on Yuuki today... Even so, I'll slash through for everyone.)
As the tournament progressed, only the top athletes remained. And among them, these two had drawn the toughest opponents.
"It seems tomorrow's match will be the deciding one for both of us..." Kirin said.
"Yes. Let's do our best," Einhart replied.
The two nodded to each other.
---------
"We're home!" Nanoha and Vivi arrived at their house.
"Welcome home, Vivi. Mom's going to start making dinner, but do you want to take a bath first?" Nanoha asked.
"Yes, I will!"
Although she had taken a shower after the match, a bath was completely different. Soaking in a tub would wash away all the day's fatigue. Vivi nodded and went upstairs to her room to put away her bag and get a change of clothes. Watching her go, Nanoha went into the kitchen.
Nanoha started cooking, humming a tune. She had decided to make Vivi's favorite meal as a reward for her hard work in the match. She finished preparing the ingredients and looked up at the ceiling to double-check the recipe.
(Hasn't Vivi come down from her room yet?)
Nanoha, who thought Vivi would take a bath right away, was puzzled and decided to go check on her.
(She used a lot of magic, so maybe she fell asleep?)
If so, a bath could wait. She was ready to let Vivi sleep until dinner if she was tired. She quickly arrived in front of Vivi's room. And there, she saw...
"Chris?"
In front of the door floated Vivi's device, Chris, with the appearance of a rabbit doll. Its short arms were crossed in an 'X,' indicating that Nanoha should not go any further.
"What's wrong? Is Vivi asleep?" Nanoha asked. Chris shook its head.
"Then... ah."
As Nanoha took a step, she realized. From behind the door, a muffled cry could be heard, as if someone was burying their face in a futon.
"I... I'll go back downstairs then. I'll come back when dinner is ready," Nanoha said. Chris nodded.
And the same thing was happening with Fate, who was driving Corona and Rio home. Fate moved only her eyes to check the rearview mirror and saw Rio and Corona holding each other in the back seat, crying quietly. They were biting their lips to keep Fate from noticing, but they couldn't hold back the muffled sobs.
Fate pretended not to hear and continued to drive.
---------
"You look down, Nove," Mikaya said to Nove in their car on the way home.
"Oh, uh... yeah..." Nove replied.
"Seriously, what's a coach doing looking more dejected than her athletes?" Mikaya teased.
"I'm-I'm not dejected or anything!" Nove denied, but she couldn't deceive the sharp eyes of the Tenshin-ryu swordsman.
"Right now, your head is full of 'I wanted them to win more,' and 'Did I teach them wrong?'"
Nove remained silent.
"You're only half-thinking about tomorrow's matches, and you're only thinking about 'what if they lose.'"
"...Yeah, honestly, I'm full of regrets. I wanted them to win so much more," Nove admitted.
"But everyone gave it their all and had a great match," Mikaya said.
Corona's match was a showdown between two members of the same school, so one of them had to lose. Rio's match was against a top athlete. And Vivi and Miura's match was a true nail-biter. Miura had even defeated Mikaya in the first round. She was an opponent who could be called a top athlete without exaggeration.
"Even so, I wanted them to win. When you see the results like this, you can't help but think about it. What if their coach was someone else, a more proper instructor, instead of me?" Nove confessed.
"Say one more word like that, and I'll end our friendship. I won't comfort you either," Mikaya said sternly.
"I KNOW! I just thought it! I won't show them that side of me!" Nove yelled.
"Then it's fine. Everyone will feel refreshed and try their best again after a good cry," Mikaya said.
There are no athletes who don't lose. With a few, truly rare exceptions, no one is undefeated. Everyone overcomes defeat to become stronger for the next match.
"Yeah! I'll turn this defeat into their strength! First, there's tomorrow's match!" Nove said, her spirits returning. Mikaya smiled at her.
---------
While Vivi and the others were shedding tears of youth, the meeting of the top brass of each country was coming to an end. Each person was escorted by their bodyguards and returned to their respective hotels. With that, today's escort duty was over. Aria, as an employee, was also done for the day.
"Alright, you can go home now," Carisa said, sitting down in her chair and crossing her legs.
"Yes. Well then..."
"Oh, wait."
Just as she was about to leave, Carisa called Aria back, as if she had just remembered something.
"Have you thought about what I said before?" she asked.
The matter she was referring to was the offer for Aria to be employed by the royal family as an 'R' rank detective. If she accepted, she would no longer be able to stay on this island. She would have to drop out of school, and as a royal bodyguard, she would not be able to meet with just anyone.
"I... I'm sorry, not yet..." Aria replied.
"I see. Well, I did say there's no rush. You know the deadline, right?"
"Yes."
The deadline was the time Carisa would be staying on this island. If Aria were to accept, she would have to go to England with Carisa when she returned.
"Well, make up your mind by then," Carisa said.
"Yes, I understand..."
With that, Aria headed for home. On the way, she was still thinking about it.
(If I go with Carisa-sama, I'll definitely get more information about 'I-Wu' than I have now. But... I might get the information but be unable to do anything with it.)
Becoming a royal bodyguard was synonymous with sacrificing one's private life. Carisa said that skill was all that mattered, but that wasn't the case. Without enough patriotism to dedicate oneself to the country, one would quickly retire.
But information about 'I-Wu' was worth that much. Since they had defeated Vlad, the members of 'I-Wu' had completely disappeared. At this rate, they wouldn't be able to get the information in time for her mother's trial.
(Thanks to everyone, we were able to catch Vlad... Though I'm not happy that Riko was the one who beat him up in the end... We couldn't have done it without everyone.)
Aria thought that with this team, they might even be able to fight 'I-Wu.' But it was pointless if they couldn't find them before time ran out.
She hadn't told anyone about this. Everyone seemed busy, and Aria was the type to keep things to herself. It was unavoidable, since she had been 'Aria alone' for so long.
"But... maybe I should at least tell my partner..." she thought.
But Shou was also busy with many things, like escorting a lot of princesses, the Holy Maiden, and the children's tournament.
"Well, whatever..."
If things stayed as they were, she would just have to decline. That's what Aria thought to herself.
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