As the island nation's landmass grew larger outside the plane window, Charles turned to the man in the black suit beside him and asked, "So what's my identity for this trip to the island nation?"
The black suit, an agent dispatched by the relevant authorities to accompany him, imdiately responded, "This ti, you'll be enrolling in the island nation's Hagun Academy as an exchange student. Also, you're not allowed to reveal the true purpose of your visit."
Charles understood. Even though Fu Xiaoli had escaped from Shenlong Temple, the presence of a Desperado sneaking into another country could very well trigger an international incident—especially considering the tense relations between the two nations.
"An exchange student, huh... was that arranged by the Grand Elder or you guys?" Charles asked.
The black suit replied, "It was the Grand Elder. He wrote a letter to Mr. Tōjirō Nanjō of the island nation. The exchange student status was arranged by Mr. Nanjō."
Charles nodded. He was familiar with that na. Tōjirō Nanjō was the only island national to have ever won the Battle God title at the Doushin Cup—a competition hosted by Shenlong Temple itself.
Still, Charles hadn't expected Nanjō to arrange for him to enroll at Hagun Academy.
After the world war, the island nation had been forced to join the International Magic Knights Alliance. In exchange for national security, they had surrendered many rights—
chief among them, the right to cultivate and manage Magic Knights.
Even though Sword Bearers were rare, each one wielding magic or supernatural power represented a significant force.
But in the island nation, in order to gain Magic Knight status, Sword Bearers were required to graduate from one of the seven academies operated by the Alliance.
The governnt had no control over the education of Magic Knights, and couldn't even revoke a criminal Sword Bearer's status as a Magic Knight.
These seven academies were nad after the Big Dipper stars from Chinese astrology. Charles's assigned school was "Hagun" Academy.
Charles had done so research before. Every year, these seven academies jointly held a tournant called the Seven Stars Sword-Art Festival, where each school sent their top student Knights. The winner earned the title of Seven Stars Sword King.
Hagun Academy had once dominated the field, winning nurous championships. But in recent years, its performance had plumted.
Not that it mattered—Charles hadn't co to the island nation to study. Whether the school was good or bad didn't concern him.
What puzzled Charles was how he was expected to track down Senior Sister Fu Xiaoli if he was restricted to a student's role at Hagun Academy.
To this, the black suit answered, "This year's Seven Stars Sword-Art Festival is about to begin. According to intel, sothing significant is likely to happen.
That individual known as 'Winged Twin' is appearing for that very reason. So the Immortal you're looking for is also very likely to appear at the festival."
Charles rubbed his forehead and asked, "So I have to participate in the Seven Stars Sword-Art Festival too?"
The black suit replied, "This year, Hagun Academy has changed chairpersons. I heard they're selecting participants through open trials. With your strength, it won't be a problem at all."
As he spoke, the man recalled the discussions held with Shenlong Temple.
They had known about the Temple's strict rules—Martial Monks were forbidden from participating in any competitions outside of the Doushin Cup—so they had specifically sought the Grand Elder's approval for this mission plan.
Unexpectedly, the Grand Elder declared that Charles was not formally a Martial Monk of Shenlong Temple and therefore wasn't bound by the rules. Yet Charles had clearly received the Temple's true teachings—lacking only the title.
In other words, the Grand Elder had never inducted Charles as an official disciple precisely to avoid the commandnts becoming shackles.
If he hadn't known the Grand Elder personally, the black suit would have doubted Charles's background.
Charles, for his part, had long noticed this near-favoritism. It was also why he couldn't refuse the mission.
Having trained at Shenlong Temple, Charles genuinely had no interest in so school-level tournant. But it had co to this—there was nothing left to complain about. He just had to complete the task.
The plane landed smoothly after taxiing along the runway. Thanks to the Sword Bearer's ability, Charles hadn't suffered the usual overwhelming sickness, but it wasn't until his feet touched solid ground that he truly felt at ease.
After retrieving their luggage, Charles and the black suit were unable to leave the airport easily—they saw a large crowd gathered near the exit.
People held caras and various recording equipnt. It was obvious they were reporters.
Charles turned and asked, "I'm guessing they're not here for ? Is soone else special arriving in Japan today?"
The black suit checked his phone and replied, "The second princess of the Vermillion Kingdom is also arriving in Japan today. Coincidentally, she'll be enrolling at Hagun Academy, just like you."
The Vermillion Kingdom was a small European nation with middling power. Until a few years ago, barely anyone had even heard of it.
But in recent years, it had rapidly gained fa—thanks to its second princess, Stella Vermillion.
After two years of studying this world, Charles had a good grasp of how magic worked here.
In this world, magic power was seen as being tightly linked to the fate borne by a Sword Bearer. The amount of magic soone possessed at birth was the amount of fate they carried.
This immutable fate dictated a person's lifeti magic power—it would never change.
Unless one broke free of fate and awakened as a Desperado. Only Desperados could increase their magic through training.
The girl nad Stella Vermillion possessed the highest level of innate magic power in human history. Though officially rated as A-rank, her magic was over ten tis greater than a normal A-rank Sword Bearer.
In other words, Stella stood atop the Sword Bearer hierarchy from birth—destined to be a powerhouse.
This was a world where everything revolved around Sword Bearers, and Stella's talent had propelled her country into the international spotlight.
Charles still rembered reading about her in the newspaper when he first arrived in this world—he hadn't expected they'd arrive in Japan on the sa day.
Since Charles's arrival as an exchange student wasn't public knowledge, the reporters had no interest in him, and he and the black suit left the airport unnoticed.
After making a few calls, the black suit led Charles to a sleek black stretch limo.
And Charles imdiately spotted the woman in a tailored female suit leaning casually against the car.
Shingūji Kurono. Not many people paid attention to that na now, but ntion her old na—Takizawa Kurono—and many would rember.
Charles had once studied the top fighters in this world. Most of the famous ones had risen through high-profile competitions.
Two of the most notable were the Doushin Cup, hosted by Shenlong Temple, and the KOK League, hosted by the International Magic Knights Alliance.
Thanks to superior managent, the KOK League was hugely popular worldwide.
Although the KOK League was inevitably influenced by politics, anyone ranked in its A-rank division was undeniably world-class.
Takizawa Kurono had once ranked third globally in the A-rank League. Her title: WorldClock. Unfortunately, she retired after marriage and childbirth, reappearing in the public eye as Shingūji Kurono.
No one knew why soone who should've been at ho raising a family had suddenly erged this year to take charge of Hagun Academy.
Kurono looked Charles up and down as he approached and remarked, "So you're the exchange student from Shenlong Temple? That's a rare sight—didn't think that place would ever send out a student."
She was genuinely surprised. Shenlong Temple was incredibly secretive, even within its ancient holand. Outside of the Doushin Cup, the outside world knew almost nothing about it.
And now they were sending an exchange student? Though she had many questions, with soone like Tōjirō Nanjō vouching for him, she certainly wouldn't reject a talented student.
A student from Shenlong Temple… just how strong would he be?
And with the Crimson Princess also in the mix, this year's Seven Stars Sword-Art Festival was shaping up to be very interesting.
Shingūji Kurono—forr world #3, now the head of Hagun Academy. Unexpectedly… a true instigator of chaos.
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