Part 2

He braced himself for any sort of harassment that might come, but even after several days have passed since that sudden duel, he still hadn't heard a single thing out of Raios and company.

Humbert merely gave him hateful glares when passing by him in the swordsmen-in-training's dormitory or the central school building, without even a single word of resentment. He did tell Kirito about the practice arena incident just in case and warned him to watch out, but it seems that absolutely nothing happened on his side either.

"It feels kind of weird... I didn't think they would be the type to stay quiet from merely receiving a draw in a duel. Raios even said something that sounded like a threat too..."

Leaning against the old cloth couch, Eugeo tilted his head to the side and Kirito, sitting on the opposite side, started to speak while raising a ceramic cup.

"I don't believe there's any chance of them changing their characters either. But thinking about it, it's pretty hard to do something nasty in this swordsmen-in-training dorm."

He held the kohiru tea without milk to his mouth and contentedly drank it down.

It was 9:30 P.M., with the tempestuous past week passed and the break finally just a day away. They would be in dreamless slumber in their respective rooms at this time on weekdays, having settled their daily practice, meals and baths, but this particular night every week was reserved for them to chat about various matters in the shared living room while drinking tea.

Eugeo picked up his own cup and took a lick of some of the boiling pitch-black liquid, his face involuntarily turning into a frown. His partner was fond of this powdered tea only available from the south empire and would definitely make it when in charge of the tea, but Eugeo felt it to be too bitter by itself. He poured in plenty of milk from the small pot and stirred it with a teaspoon while prompting a return to the topic with his sight before Kirito raised an unexpected question.

"That's right... just for example, what kind of pranks did you play while schooling during your childhood in Rulid?"

After drinking a mouthful of the kohiru tea that lost its bitterness, leaving behind only a curious aroma, Eugeo loosened the tension in his shoulders and replied.

"I'm mainly the one those pranks were played on, though. Look, you remember, don't you, Kirito, that guard captain called Jink who challenged me to a duel during the festivities before the journey. He harassed me quite a bit... Hiding my shoes somewhere, putting those annoying bugs in my meal bag or jeering when I was together with Alice."

"Hahaha, guess kids fool around the same whichever world it is. ...But he didn't start beating you up or anything. Right?"

"Of course."

Eugeo answered with his eyes opened wide.

"There's no way he could do that. After all..."

"—It's strictly forbidden by the Taboo Index. «Unless another clause applies, you shall not intentionally reduce the Life of another person». ...But hold on, there's no problem with hiding your shoes? Theft is a major taboo too, right?"

"Theft is to make someone else's belongings into yours without permission. The sacred words in the «Stacia Window» that prove who the owner is will only transfer the ownership twenty-four hours after the item is kept on hand

or left at home. That's why even if it was an item transferred with mutual consent, it can be returned anytime within one day and for those taken without consent, the proof of ownership won't disappear if left somewhere other than a home, so it won't be theft... —You didn't actually manage to forget a law as basic as this, did you?"

Eugeo stared intently at the face of Kirito who was a «Lost Child of Vector» and his partner laughed embarrassedly while messing up his black hair.

"Th-That's right, that's how it was. Of course I didn't forget about it, obviously... wait, huh? Then what about that? Wouldn't that make Bercouli violating the law when he tried to steal the Blue Rose Sword from the white dragon's nest in that old story?"

"Hey now, the dragon's not a human."

"I-I see..."

"Returning to the topic, pranks that involve hiding items aren't violations, but those left in the outdoors that don't belong to any particular person will begin to lose their Life after a while, so if it's not returned by then, it would become «damage to another's belongings». Thanks to that, my shoes were returned by evening, no matter how late it was, though... but how is this related to why Raios and company started behaving?"

After Eugeo leaned his head to the side, Kirito blinked his eyes as though he completely forgot he was the one who brought up the topic, and spoke.

"Th-That's right. Erm, this academy has a ridiculously long list of rules in addition to the Taboo Index, you see. And within them, there's even a clause stating «You shall not enter the personal rooms of other students or staff without permission». In other words, Raios and Humbert can't enter this room and all of our belongings are safely kept in the room. Though it's a different story if we were to leave something important in a public place without proper caution..."

He paused there for a moment for some unknown reason, but Kirito soon continued the explanation.

"...And of course, we haven't done that. Hence, Raios and his buddy can't do anything with our property in the first place, like how Jink-kun bullied that helpless kid, Eugeo, in Rulid Village."

"You didn't need that helpless bit. Hmm... I see. I didn't even think about it until now, but it's true that there's no way to do anything more than insulting someone else in this swordsmen-in-training's dormitory, huh."

"And those insults become an act of disrespect that warrants the «Punishment Authority» if they cross a certain line."

Adding that on, Kirito grinned.

The Punishment Authority refers to an authority granted only to the elite swordsmen-in-training through one of the academy regulations that allows them to practically act in the place of instructors. In cases of acts of disrespect or foolhardiness that borders on breaching the rules or cannot be turned a blind eye to, swordsmen-in-training are able to use their own judgement to give a fitting punishment according to the severity of the act. The case where Kirito, who pointed it out himself, had made a large stain of dirt on the uniform of the previous head swordsman-in-training, Uolo Levanteinn, and was ordered to participate in a first strike duel as punishment was still fresh in his mind.

The Punishment Authority for swordsmen-in-training was basically for guiding novice and advanced trainees, but there was no word of it being restricted to trainees in the academy regulations. In other words, a swordsman-in-training imposing a punishment on another was theoretically possible and that was the reason why the contempt and insults from Raios and Humbert had somewhat cooled down compared to the previous year.

Kirito had emptied his cup, so Eugeo poured in another serving and his partner dribbled a little milk in before gently stirring it. It looked like he would still be wondering for a bit while skillfully spinning the silver teaspoon in his fingers, but he nodded once and spoke before long.

"If they can't mess with our stuff, they can only go after us. In that case, the quick and easy way would be to challenge us to a first strike match and land

a hit, but they've already tried that on you, Eugeo, and ended with a draw. Other than that, oh right, if I think about it... they could only bribe me with money to distance myself from Eugeo, I guess."

"Eh..."

Eugeo, who automatically let out that forlorn voice, flustered to close his mouth, but Kirito grinned and spoke pompously.

"Don't you worry, kid. Big brother here won't just toss you aside."

"I-I wasn't worrying about that! ...But putting money aside, what if they were to stack up those special meat buns from Gottlo's store?"

"That might do the trick."

After nodding with a deadpan expression at what Eugeo pointed out, he cheerfully laughed out loud.

"Well, jokes aside, I don't think there's much cause for worry for anything aside from them messing with our property or us directly."

But then, Kirito's expression tensed up and continued with a sober voice.

"But if you were to turn that around, it wouldn't be strange for them to come up with anything as long as it doesn't touch on the Taboo Index or academy regulations. They likely don't have the slightest intention to surrender their positions as the head and second-ranked, after all... Eugeo, do try to think of anything we might have missed."

"Yeah, I got it. There isn't even a month until the first official match. Let's both take care so that we can fight them in our best conditions."

"Yeah. ...That said, it might just be a plan to make us worry by threatening us, huh. Let's not forget our composure and stay cool[2]."