The highlight of the Academy Festival—the sparring matches between cadets—was about to begin. And kicking off this much-anticipated event were none other than Shia and Alice.

…Though things got a little intense.

"……."

‘You two aren’t actually fighting for real, are you? This is supposed to be just a spar, right?’

Just watching made my heart race. Shia was landing genuine kicks on Alice, who, in turn, was going so far as to self-detonate in an attempt to grab Shia. Even when fighting villains, they probably wouldn’t go this all out.

So when the match finally ended, I couldn’t help …