Chapter 77 – ７７ – Naru's Running

Sports Festival Arc

Tuesday.

During the Masquerade class, Naru arrived at the grounds with Suzu.

The reason was simple: due to the nature of his Masked Form and the class schedule, Naru had not yet performed what was known as “limit running”—the act of running continuously for as long as one can maintain their Masquerade.

Consequently, he had no recorded data for it.

Since this would cause problems in various situations, including the Sports Festival, he had come today to establish a record.

“But ‘limit’ running… the limit… isn’t that impossible?”

“Yeah, I think so too. So, for today, just try running until the end of the class period. After that, the teacher will probably come up with some kind of countermeasure for the next measurement.”

“Got it. I’ll just start running then.”

Activating his Masquerade, Naru transformed into his Masked Form—appearing as a girl in a school uniform—and began to run.

There was no hesitation or awkwardness in his form. In terms of raw speed, he was neither slower nor faster than the other average students running alongside him.

As a result, the surrounding students merely thought it was unusual to see such a student running.

Ten minutes passed.

At this point, most B-Rank Evaluated students either hit their limit or began to feel their magical power bottoming out.

However, Naru continued to run without changing his pace.

Twenty minutes passed.

By this point, all the B-Rank Evaluated students were gone, and even those A-Rank Evaluated students who were barely hanging on had dropped out.

Still, Naru’s pace remained unchanged.

Thirty minutes passed.

Now, most A-Rank Evaluated students had disappeared, and even those touted as the top of the grade were starting to hit their limit.

Yet, Naru continued to run, exactly as he had from the start.

Forty minutes passed.

At this stage, it was no exaggeration to say he had reached uncharted territory. The surrounding students began to buzz with excitement, wondering how long he intended to keep running.

Even so, Naru persisted.

Fifty minutes passed.

By now, the surrounding students were forced to understand exactly what “bottomless magical power” meant.

To Naru, however, it was irrelevant, so he simply kept running.

Eventually, the class period ended, and Naru stopped.

Every single person present served as a witness to the fact that Naru had not released his Masquerade once.

“Naru dear. How much magical power do you have left?”

“I’m in perfect shape. To be honest, it hasn’t decreased at all. Aside from mental fatigue or impulses, I’ve still got plenty of room.”

“!?”

The people around him were shocked by Naru’s words.

But at the same time, they were reminded once again.

Lord Narcissus was a monster on a completely different dimension from them.

And simultaneously, they wondered: if they ever had to Duel him, how on earth could they deal with a volume of magical power that could only be described as a joke?

“So, as I was saying…”

“Right, Masquerade Release. Not Cast Off.”

“Ah, okay.”

✧

With that, Naru leisurely left the grounds.

✧

The next day was Wednesday.

Naru appeared on the grounds again, but this time he was at the section where obstacles had been set up for parkour training.

As expected, Suzu was by his side.

“According to the rules, do I have to release my Masquerade within the class period for this?”

“I checked with the teacher, and it seems there’s a grace period of about five minutes after the class ends. So, do your best and run for an hour again today.”

“Got it.”

Just as he had with the limit running yesterday, Naru challenged himself to “limit parkour.”

His goal was the same as yesterday: to establish a record.

“Lord Narcissus. I shall run alongside you.”

“Sure.”

Unlike yesterday, Tomoe was running beside him today.

It seemed there was no significant difference in their physical abilities; they ran at a similar speed, pace, and course.

This meant that Naru’s body control was on par with Tomoe’s, and that he had a firm grasp of exactly what movements his body was capable of.

“Lord Narcissus. Have you decided which events you will enter in the Sports Festival?”

“Not yet. That said, if I’m playing to my strengths, it’s practically already decided.”

“I thought so. There are several events where I predict things would get out of hand if you entered… so I suppose that’s the case.”

The two continued to run, and eventually, Tomoe dropped out due to her magical power limit.

Notably, up until that point, neither Naru nor Tomoe had made a single mistake while clearing the obstacles.

This served as a testament to the superior concentration and environmental awareness of both.

By the way, many students already knew that Midorikawa Naruki and Morikuni Tomoe had become engaged following the results of their Duel.

From their perspective, the two running together looked like a couple getting along well—and in truth, they were.

For some reason, Suzu watched them with a smile while operating her smartphone, seemingly contacting someone.

Afterward, Naru continued running until the end of the class and exited the grounds with plenty of energy to spare.

As a side note, Suzu also recorded her own limit parkour data that day.

✧

“As for the dancing…”

“Since we’re at it, let’s just do it, Naru. People are probably wondering about it anyway.”

“True.”

The day changed again, and it was Thursday.

Once again, Naru and Suzu appeared on the grounds.

After activating his Masquerade, Naru began to dance according to the instructions of a machine.

“Dancing”… if one just said that, the event might seem meaningless, but in reality, it required the Masked Form to move delicately, accurately, sometimes quickly and sometimes slowly. It demanded even greater concentration and body control than parkour.

He was to continue this until his limit… but naturally, Naru had no limit.

In fact, the machine’s instructions ran out first, necessitating a loop of the program.

“Oh, by the way, Naru dear.”

“What is it?”

Suzu, who had already reached her limit and retired from dancing, spoke to him.

Naru, who was relaxed since he already knew the next movements, replied to her.

“I got a reply from ‘Silk Cloud.’ They said next Tuesday. They’ll probably sign the contract then and take some data while they’re at it.”

“I see. But ‘taking data,’ huh? It’s not just a quick check-up, is it?”

“It’s more than that. Hmm, if the other party doesn’t provide a way, maybe a Mock Duel with Ichi, excluding outsiders.”

“Got it. Well, if it’s for data, I guess that’s how it goes.”

“Between me and Marie, the direction of the data we can provide is limited… and considering the need for secrecy, we can’t invite anyone else.”

Even while talking, Naru continued to dance without interruption.

He performed a dance where he maintained tension down to his fingertips and controlled every single glance.

It was a performance that left no choice but to accept why Naru had taken first place during dance class previously.

“It looks like things are going to get pretty busy.”

“Yeah. The Sports Festival, the Device, Duels as part of the curriculum… there’s a lot to do.”

“Gotta give it my all.”

“Mm-hmm. But don’t worry, I’ll provide as much support as I can.”

“Thanks, Suzu. But don’t neglect your own things, okay?”

“Of course, Naru dear.”

And so, Naru continued to dance accurately and without error until the end of the class period.

From this day forward, it became clear from the simple records alone that Naru was undoubtedly among the top tier, at least when it came to practical skills.