Hanamizuki, Because Flowers Are Not Just Beautiful
Chapter 15: The Unmarked Attack
Camelyum did teleport magic. Only about a few more meters arrive in front of home—kastil—Riri.
“It seems I also need to recharge my mana...I can not teleport to the Master's room..Wound while buster on the boy named Azalea was still left.”.
Camelyum looked at the large gate in his sight that was about 300 meters away from him.
“Riri, you're still conscious, right? Riri?!”
Camelyum wiggled a little of his Master's body which he held with great difficulty. But there was no response from him.
“Hold a little more, R-Riri—”
“Ah, brothers who were there a long time ago.”
DEGGS!
Hearing the foreign sounds around him, Camelyum instantly changed to combat mode. He leaned Riri's body near the tree behind him and enveloped him with light, then took out his black and white sword.
“Comeout! Who are you!?”
Without waiting for long, the owner of the voice appeared, and he was a small child.
“You!? A-Azalea!?”
“Ya~we meet again huh? And..huh? What's with brother over there? Sleeping yes?”
Camelyum blocked the boy's view from Riri. Looking at him full of anger.
“Riri has attacked you with a buster to drain a lot of mana, but why are you still alive!?”
“Ooh..that's it..quite sick tofu, like clawed cat.”.
“What!?”
“I will not be like Ixora-nii who immediately fell when clawed cat so.”
“Ixora…? The red one!”
“Well, did you know I was coming here? Of course to take revenge on Riri Hanamizuki who already made my beautiful dragon split in two!”
Azalea prepared her arrows to attack Camelyum, quickly Camelyum repelled all his attacks.
“I don't have time to serve you!”
“But I have!”
As if he had 1000 pairs of hands, Azalea continued to fire her arrows nonstop, at a terrifying speed. Camelyum began to be a little overwhelmed to fend him off until some of the arrows managed to injure his body.
“What Riri said..you're nimble too boy!”
“Hmm, don't call me boy, sweet brother!”
Worse, Azalea conjures up millions of arrows with her magic. He looked evilly at Camelyum.
“You must be tired of fending off my attacks, right? Why not just run away and leave your weak Master behind?”
He must want to separate me and Riri who are unable to move!
“M-where might I leave my precious partner to get caught up in your tricks!?”
“It looks like you've realized enough what I want to do huh? The flower spirit of the famous Riri Hanamizuki?”
I also ran out of mana because I deflected the attacks of the arrows…
“Master..”.
“I'll count one to three before the end approaches you guys huh? Ah no, I can't make Riri-nii die, first of all you first yes, sweet sister~”
“Hey...you think because my Master can't move, you won't get a cat scratch again?”
“What did you say?!”
“This will be more terrible than the cat scratch you felt the other day, Azalea.”
“Whispering! This 10 million arrows attack of mine will tear you apart first!”
Camelyum turned his head for a moment towards Riri who was still unable to move. She smiles.
“Riri, I'm so glad we can be a suitable partner in this seed fight war.”
“BRANCH HIM O CLEORODENDRUM!!”
“Connect, O black Camellia, white Lily, and become a new form to protect your Master.”
THE SYAATSS SYATTSS SYATSS!
When the 10 million arrows were fired, the two Camelyum swords banded together, and made it a giant shield, resisting its attack. Camelyum held the handle of the shield, which was a fusion of his black and white sword, into one new weapon.
“HANA NO UTA!!”
“DON'T LOSE! 10 MILLION OF MY BEST ARROWS!!”
Attacking and holding each other, their strength was almost balanced. But Camelyum still did not want to lose.
“HEAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!”
The shimmering shield of light grew so much that the arrows hitting it were reflected off each other.
“Damn it! No way! Impossible!”
“SING MORE LOUDLY AGAIN!! HANA NO UTA SHIELD!!”
Increasingly and more, the shield of light was getting closer to Azalea and was about to swallow her.
“FUCK!! HOW COULD I POSSIBLY BE DEFEATED BY A TRASH LIKE THIS!!!??”
The shield of light completely engulfed Azalea until it vanished without a trace, the shot of its 10 million arrows instantly vanished along with the shield of light.
“You will never win, my Master is the best. No one will ever be able to beat him.”
The black and white sword returned to Camelyum's hands, he then switched off his combat mode and returned to Riri.
“Riri! You're still..”
Camelyum still did not feel the response from his Master. All he could do at this moment was to re-split him and walk.
“I don't have enough mana anymore to teleport..Master..please be aware...”.
***
“This is the awaited moment! The second round of the magic tournament is about to begin! Currently the only remaining participants are class 2 A, C, and D, as well as class 1 A, B, and what is unbelievable, this year class E qualified for this round! Did the presence of an apprentice teacher to his class make them rise from a slump?!”
The entire audience cheered, it was still early in the morning but the atmosphere was getting hotter. Especially when the participants enter the tournament arena.
“N-Miss Carnation, why did you say that about Riri-sama?”
Alstromeria whispered softly to Carnation who was immersed in her excitement of becoming a tournament commentator. The headmaster of Hanatarou academy only replied to him with a smile. He put his microphone on the desk.
“Because I am grateful, it is not wrong to bring him here and join this academy. You feel that way too, right?”
Alstromeria did not immediately deny it, but Typha nudged her hips slowly.
“Alstro-san considers Riri-san to be very similar to her late sister back then, all the greatness that Riri-san hid, similar to the way that Alstro-san's brother hid her. He hid it in his always cheerful face. That's what makes Riri-san so similar to Alstro-san's older brother that she is very much respected as part of the same family, the Lily.” family
“Typha!”
Carnation gave a smile to the two of them.
“I'm also sure that that brat will definitely make a big change in this academy. Go back to duty! I'll be back to being a pretty and cute~” commentator
Alstromeria and Typha saluted the headmaster of Hanatarou Academy who had served for 5 years there.
***
“This second branch is a flower magic test right? What's this round like?”
“I cannot even understand what Riri-sensei taught us yesterday!”
Iris, Elder and Amaryliss looked nervous as they looked around them filled with thousands of spectators. But not with their opponents, class A and B, as well as their upperclassmen.
“Hey, I'm stressing one thing on you guys huh, low class kid! You guys are just lucky to get through to this round! Surely your teacher taught you cheating magic tricks in order to get away in the labyrinth round yesterday, right? Let's just confess!”
“It must be so! All men are crafty!”
“Just give it up! You will not be able to surpass us in this flower magic test! We're more knowledgeable than you guys!”
Hearing the rant from her opponent, Iris gave a sharp look at them. But he even got a mock laugh.
“Heh! What kind of look is that? Are you scared, huh? Ahahaha!”
“Berisik—”
Amaryliss took a step forward in front of Iris, looking back at her opponents.
“Do you want a former princess? Trying against us?”
“As much as you want to insult me ex-daughter or whatever it is..”
“A-Amary-chan already..”.
The elder tried to stop this uneasy conversation, he held onto Amaryliss' shoulder.
“Know right..if it has a stingy nature of science. Because humans are basically greedy.”
“People who are greedy of science and stingy share it with lowly people, it sucks.”
“What!?”
“But if you insult our teacher again.
“What did you say.....!!!???”
“Sst, stop, the tournament will start soon. You will regret daring to say that to us who will be the winner, lowly base!”
Riri-sensei, we definitely won. Sure.
Amaryliss took a deep breath, Iris nudged her arm slowly.
“What the hell?”
“For just this once, I loved your words earlier, Amaryliss-chan.”
“Hah?”
“This second book tests the magic abilities of flowers through a fictional story whose answer relates to the magical abilities of the flowers that the participants have. We will give you a fictional story and we will end with a question. The answer relates to the kind of flower magic that fits and makes sense and fits the fictional story we created. We will give this fictional story 3 times, a story of 5 minutes to answer it. If the answer is 3 times wrong then the participant will be considered dead. Who gets the most points will advance to the final round. In other words, this second half was a teamwork to find the right answer. Do you all understand?”
“Anu...Miss Carnation, why should it be a fiction story, not a true story or based on an experience that has happened?”
The question from one of the participants made Carnation even more excited.
“The second half this time was my idea. In the second half you will be trained in imagination and decide something in a team. So you can apply it to the original story. Is that clear enough?”
All the participants nodded at each other briefly.
“Team cooperation..ya..”.
“Iris, I won't let you get in my way, just let me and Elder answer.”
“What did you say!? It is clear that this round must rely on cooperation!”
“K-you two already..”
“Aready in your respective positions?”
In the second round, all participants sit on a chair and in front of them there is a table and a button in the middle. Behind them there is a hourglass timer that lasts 10 minutes, which is none other than the time needed to answer 1 question. In front of the participants there is a long table occupied by several teachers and 2 representatives of 3rd grade children who will give questions.
“We start the second round of magic tournament academy Hanatarou!”
***
Wet floors, hot steam everywhere.
I'm so enjoying this. Is this what you call endless pleasure?
“Your Majesty, Daffodil is about to see you.”
The man who was drowning his body in a large bathtub with a glass of wine in a clear cup in his hand, gave his servant a short nod.
“Send him in.”
Unfortunately the servant could not see his consenting face, because the giant bathtub was covered by a high curtain. All he could see was his silhouette.
“Greetings Your Majesty, forgive me for interrupting your precious time.”
The figure with golden-colored clothes and hair gave a respectful greeting in front of the giant, high-circled bathtub with his chauffeur. But the silhouette inside did not seem to respond, only raising a small glass of wine in his right hand.
“Precious hmm?”
“Yes, Your Majesty, there are things you should know.”
“Before that, how can I thank you, O Daffodil my loyal follower?”
“Sorry?”
The silhouette put down the wine glass and stood up from its place, but Daffodil still could not see clearly what his master looked like. The giant curtain that blocked him had a dark color.
“Because of you, I am enjoying more and more all that is in this body, everything is subject to me, obey everything that I want.”
Daffodil smiled triumphantly, then again gave a bow of respect.
“I feel like I haven't done much for you, Yang Muliaku the Great.”
“What do you mean? Now my body feels stronger, as if it can crush a stone just by looking at it.”
“I...still not worthy of praise from You.Your Highness..because I still have not granted your wish to drag that jerk man here.”.
“When or later, I will swallow it, and make my body immortal. There is nothing more precious than to devour everything in this body!”
“I'm sorry, Your Honor, I heard the 8th rank Azalea failed to take him, Camelyum is indeed quite tough—”
“I admit, it's true.”
The black silhouette again submerged his body in the bathub.
“The boy holds many mysteries behind the spirit of the flower which amounts to 2. If my spirit of the flower is perfect, then my spirit of the flower is better than it is. My spirit of the flower is invincible! Daffodil, go on, do what you have to do! Make that boy regret for killing Azaleaku!”
“Don't worry, Your Majesty, it's all in my hand control, you just have to feel the results like your enjoyment here!”
Daffodil saluted one last time and left. His lips returned a triumphant smile.
“Being His Majesty's most favored person, you really big head huh, Daffodil-kun?”
Without a single presence, suddenly a woman stood before him with a sharp yet voluptuous look, she sipped her tongue.
“Heh, that's because my performance is more fruitful than yours, Gladiolus. It is only natural that His Majesty likes me.”
The number 4 behind her ears is seen when the woman flicks her orange hair. He pointed at Daffodil's nose with his sharp fingernails.
“I will be in the sky while you are still above the clouds, Daffodil-kun, fufufu.”
The woman disappeared in the fog just like that, Daffodil grieved.
“Gladiolus the mad woman...what are you planning?”
***
“Discussion time is up! What's your answer?”
Almost half an hour long, the first and second story was resolved, the remaining participants were only 1st class A and E who were still fighting each other thinking of answers.
“This question is more difficult..”.
Carnation, who only acts as a commentator and supervisor in the upper tower of the stadium, pays attention to all participants in the tournament arena. But his gaze was only on the 1-E class only.
“I was curious..what did Riri give them huh?”
“Yes? You mean Riri-sama?”
“The proof is that he can raise their spirits until the first round yesterday. What's he doing?”
“Do not like that the answer! Definitely wrong!”
“That's wrong it's you! I'm more precise!”
“Whispering! Let me push the button and answer! If you answer, it must be wrong!”
The elder who could only mediate the quarrel of Amaryliss and Iris, started to feel worried. All the judges are waiting for the participants' answers.
The last fictional story reads: ‘you are in a state where now your position is a traveler who is actually a government observer. You visited a village consisting of 4 camps. They cannot all unite because of different beliefs. Suddenly you get dragged into their problems because there are irresponsible people who accuse you of murdering one of the citizens who are in the camp. With your position as a government observer, are you going to unite the 4 camps and drop the charges or just free yourself from false accusations? The 4 camps want you to be punished for the charges. What flower magic would you use in this state?’
A pretty good story for girls like them. Unless he does consider himself ‘science’.
“We class A will answer first!”
One of the participants from class A raised his hand. All attention was immediately on them.
“Good, what's your answer?”
“We deliberated and decided, we will prove those false accusations and tell the real identity that we are government observers, so they cannot arbitrarily accuse us of murder. If they resist, we will use Epiphyllum magic, time-reversing magic and erase their memories of us.”
The atmosphere was quite calm for a moment. The jury began deliberating to decide on the right answer.
“We save class A answer, how about class E?”
“I, I will answer!”
The other participant raised his hand, and it turned out that it was an Elder. He showed a serious look on his face.
“E-Elder-chan!”
“Wait! We have not agreed!”
Iris and Amaryliss' elbow, but the Elder did not reply to both.
“Ya, Elder of class E, what's your answer?”
The elder let out a short sigh, he turned his head for a moment to his opponents who were looking cynically at him. He also turned his head to Iris and Amaryliss who saw him worried.
The elder raised his face slightly, his gaze fixed on the top tower of the stadium, where the alumni students and teacher staff witnessed everything.
Riri-sensei's? Where's she?
“Elder? Please talk.”
“T-wait s-seventh..”
Suddenly Elder became nervous and turned to Iris and Amaryliss.
“T-before...if I see...R-Riri-sensei is up there..k-I think I can...answer him b-well....t-but.me....I get nervous..since Riri-sensei doesn't exist...d-there!”.
Amaryliss and Iris looked up together. Their eyes did not find their teacher in the staff tower of 3rd grade teachers and alumni. They only saw Carnation from a distance.
“But you are sure that yesterday's trip can be connected with this question?”
“...I think so..”
“I will answer in place of Elder, the judges.”
Amaryliss raised her hand confidently, although Iris beside her seemed unconvinced.
“Ya, Amaryliss, please answer you.”
“Our answer is..”