Meeting Gazes, After Many Years (2)

Long black hair, beautiful black eyes, and an ice-cold expression that seemed to freeze the world itself.

The girl walked slowly towards Headmistress Wave, carrying with her a regal aura that seemed to silence everything around her.

Strangely, the young man beside her, who was the leader of the club, was walking half a step behind, keeping always a respectful distance as though he was escorting his liege.

Such a strange scene startled the students observing the ceremony. They could not help but look at the young woman in confusion and bewilderment.

"Who is her?"

"It's my first time seeing her."

"Why is she taking the lead?"

"W-Wait, will they just walk towards the Headmistress just like that? All the other clubs showed something amazing..."

However, even when they arrived in front of the headmistress, the girl and the young man did nothing special.

They just walked the entire way, not caring for the commotion in the surroundings.

Well, the girl did not care. The young man, on the other hand, was smiling bitterly with a slight trace of embarrassment. It seemed as though he had been forced to do this.

But while the entire stadium was confused, someone was looking at the black-haired girl with a nostalgic and slightly lost expression.

"Eres…" Bloed murmured softly.

"Huh? Do you know her, Bloed?"

Liu Ying's question attracted the attention of the rest of the group, who looked at him in curiosity. Only Regina put on a complicated expression.

At that moment, Gina's eyes flashed, and her ability activated automatically.

"W-Wait a moment, s-she is… Your sister!?"

Bloed smiled wryly and did not deny it.

Yes, she was his sister. His twin sister.

Eres Skysword, the Princess of the Kingdom of Alterna.

Liu Ying's eyes opened wide. She then looked towards the girl in surprise.

At the same time, she turned slightly nervous.

After all, she knew about Bloed's origin and his relationship with his blood family. Thus, when she learned that his sister was here, Liu Ying could not her but put her guard up.

"Master…" Regina grabbed Bloed's hand with a worried expression. But Bloed shook his head with a complicated smile.

"It's alright. I was just surprised."

Regina stared at Bloed silently and sighed.

"… Should we leave?" Liu Ying suggested. "If you don't want, we don't need to participate in this ceremony."

Bloed hesitated slightly before shaking his head. "If she is in the city, I'll need to face her eventually. Don't worry, nothing will happen."

By this point, Gina, Aya, and Prince Calisto had realized that something was wrong with Bloed's sister.

Although they did not know what it was, they could see that Bloed did not seem eager to meet her.

However, none of them asked the reason. They just looked at each other with worried expressions.

The ceremony continued after that. The strongest clubs of the city were called out by Headmistress Wave, and their representatives walked towards her.

Every representative that stepped forward showed a magnificent entrance. Some of them showed their strength to appeal to the students, others used the specialties of their clubs, and others released spells and techniques with marvelous effects.

This ceremony was also an opportunity for the clubs to attract new members and to show their status, so none of the clubs neglected the entrance of their representatives. Even the shabbiest entrance was rather amazing.

Well, with the exception of [Wings of Liberty], whose representatives just walked towards the headmistress silently.

Several clubs attracted Bloed's attention, such as [Elf Garden], a club made only of Elves, [Beast Brotherhood] a club made purely of beastmen, and [Glory of the Demons], whose members were all demons.

There were also some clubs with rather peculiar entrances, just like [Knowledge Seekers] that showed a 'chimera' and brought it in front of Headmistress Wave.

But despite the clubs' efforts, the cheers became softer and softer with each club. When it came to the clubs ranked fifty and lower, the cheers were almost inexistent.

Eventually, it was [Machine Revolution]'s turn.

Bloed looked at the girls beside him before smiling at Gina.

"Are you ready?"

"I am."

Looking at the excited expression of the honey-haired girl, Bloed chuckled.

At that moment–

"Ranked 86, [Machine Revolutio], previously named [Golem-Making Club]!"

With Headmistress Wave's voice, Bloed and Gina stood up.

Then, after nodding at the good luck wishes of the girls and Prince Calisto, Bloed pulled Gina's hand and jumped towards the arena.

Just before touching the ground, though, his psychic power surged out, activating the storage device in his wrist.

Then, a vortex of metallic sand formed below him, quickly taking the shape of a four-meter-tall metallic wolf pulsing with bluish arcs of electricity.

Bloed landed on the wolf's head with an ice-cold expression. At the same time, two metallic birds appeared out of thin air, one taking shape below Gina, flying leisurely with her seated on it, and the other flying around the group in a lively way.

The appearance of the three metallic pets stunned the students in the stadium.

For an instant, the entire stadium was silent.

But then–

"Amazing!"

"Are they golems?"

"That wolf is so cool!"

"Look at the birds. One of them is flying with a girl on it!"

"What clubs is that? I would like a pet like that."

Loud cheers and cries of excitement came from the stands.

In fact, the cheers could not compare to the ones that the first twenty clubs received, but they surpassed any other club!

Bloed ignored the comments from the stands, just standing on Leto's head expressionlessly as it advanced towards Headmistress Wave.

He had already decided to make his entrance as cool as possible, but at the same time, he wanted to get the interest of the students.

And obviously, he was very successful.

Just looking at the four-meters-tall wolf walking with Bloed on its head as it flashed with bluish electricity shocked many of the students.

Anyone would want a mount like that!

Proud of his idea, Bloed looked towards Headmistress Wave and smiled.

But all of sudden, he felt a gaze on him.

Instinctively, he looked in the direction of the gaze, finding a black-haired girl looking at him with an astonished expression.

Then, her expression turned into one of excitement.