Chapter 160: What the rabbit from the sky says (1)

Afterward, the Blue Team and the White Team continued their fierce battle.

As always, their strength was evenly matched, but in terms of score alone, the Blue Team, which included the Esperians, held a slight advantage over the White Team, which consisted of the Salemites.

The reason was simple—Isabella had committed a massive trolling blunder in the cavalry battle, the event with the highest total points at stake.

A 400-point gap was practically a death sentence in such an intense competition.

Of course, that didn’t mean the White Team simply gave up. They kept pushing forward, gradually closing the gap to within 100 points.

At this level, the result could easily be flipped with just one or two matches.

However, to be honest, the outcome of the Blue Team versus the White Team wasn’t particularly important to our protagonist, Sion.

She had her own battle to fight—to defeat all other competitors (including Dorothy) and claim the title of Best Cheerleader.

And at least for now, she was holding on with unwavering determination.

“Okay! Group A, you’re done! Time for Group B to take over!”

Charlotte, the cheer captain, clapped her hands as she announced the team switch.

The sports festival ran from morning until sunset without a break, and the cheer squad had to keep dancing and singing throughout every match to keep up the excitement.

Naturally, no ordinary person could endure such a brutal schedule. It would be a miracle if they didn’t collapse midway.

To manage this, Charlotte had divided the cheer squad into three groups—A, B, and C—rotating them on and off the stage.

The system was simple.

While one group performed on stage, the other two rested in the shade or hydrated.

When their turn came, they got back on stage to dance again.

Thanks to this rotation system, they could maintain their choreography without interruption while still ensuring everyone got enough rest.

Everyone except for one person.

“Hey, Hero. You’re getting tired, right? If you need a break, it’s okay to step down and rest…”

“No, I’m fine. I’m completely fine.”

“But seriously, we feel bad just watching you. You’ve been dancing nonstop for five hours now.”

“As I said, I’m fine. Not tired at all.”

It wasn’t just empty words.

Sion’s breathing was perfectly steady, as if she truly wasn’t exhausted in the slightest, despite being on stage for over five hours straight since morning.

Was this what it meant to be a hero? Charlotte inwardly clicked her tongue in amazement.

Even she, with her superior stamina as a half-nonhuman, couldn’t pull off such a feat.

“Sigh… Alright. I’ll leave it to you, then. But if you start feeling exhausted, let me know anytime. I’ll take over from there.”

“Understood. Don’t worry, go get some rest.”

Sion smiled and saw Charlotte off.

The reason she was running an endless shift without switching out was simple—unexpected incidents had left a massive gap in their lineup.

About an hour into the festival, one squad member was rushed to the hospital with acute appendicitis.

Two hours in, another twisted their ankle coming down the stairs.

Then, in the third hour, as Marianne went on one of her rampages, an unfortunate ball went flying into the cheer section, hitting one member square in the chin and knocking them out cold.

A triple disaster of pure misfortune.

It was a crisis not just for those individuals but for the entire cheer squad.

Their choreography relied on precise formations, and losing even one member could significantly impact their performance.

The audience would likely be understanding, given the circumstances, but as cheerleaders, their pride was on the line.

Showing only 70–80% of what they had prepared instead of the full 100% was frustrating.

And so, Sion had stepped forward to sacrifice herself for the team.

By continuously filling in for the missing members, she prevented the need to reduce the number of performers.

As long as she participated in every group’s rotation, it was as if they had an extra person to cover the gaps.

The remaining shifts could be adjusted among the others to handle the rest.

‘She’s really such a good kid. I can see why the goddess chose her.’

Charlotte smiled to herself.

Intelligence, personality, combat ability, looks—there was nothing Sion lacked. And now, it turned out she could even dance well.

She had no doubt that Sion would sweep the votes for Best Cheerleader.

And honestly, Charlotte didn’t mind at all. It was only fair for the most deserving person to win.

“Captain! Captain!”

Just as Charlotte stepped off the stage, the vice captain, Rabi, came running toward her, waving urgently.

Charlotte tilted her head in curiosity.

“What’s up? What’s going on, Rabi?”

“There’s a commotion in the waiting area. I think you need to come help.”

“You remember that first-year, Dorothy? The one with blue hair?”

“Yeah? Of course, I remember. She’s cute and hardworking, so I was keeping an eye on her.

Why? What’s wrong with her?”

“Well… that’s the problem…”

The vice captain hesitated, looking troubled.

“She’s been causing a scene.

We tried to stop her, but for some reason, she’s ridiculously strong… I think only you can handle this.”

“What? Dorothy?

Why? Is she too tired and wants to rest?”

“No, actually, it’s the opposite—”

Just then, a furious voice rang out from a distance. It was Dorothy.

“Let go of me! Why do you all think I can’t do it?!

I can perform back-to-back just fine! Just let me prove it!!”

“I told you, no! We have a set rotation, and we can’t just randomly add people to different groups!”

“Then what about the Hero?! Why is she allowed to stay on stage the whole time?! That makes no sense!”

“The Hero is filling in for missing members! That’s completely different from what you’re asking!”

“Then let me fill in too! Why won’t you let me?! This is discrimination!”

“That’s ridiculous! The Hero has divine blessings that make her body stronger!

Anyone else who tries to keep up with her would collapse in less than an hour!”

“Don’t be ridiculous! You keep talking about the Hero like she’s so special, but I’m also—”

At that moment, Dorothy nearly blurted out a dangerous secret in her fury.

“Alright, that’s enough.”

A solemn voice cut through the commotion.

Charlotte had stepped in, causing Dorothy and the surrounding cheer squad members to pause and turn toward her.

Charlotte glanced at the cheerleader beside her and asked,

“What’s going on? Explain.”

“Well, she’s insisting on performing in three consecutive groups, just like the Hero.

We keep telling her it’s absolutely not allowed, but she won’t back down.”

“So! What’s the problem?! Don’t judge me by your standards!”

Dorothy bared her teeth in a threatening manner, growling.

However, unlike in her dragon form, in her human form, she just looked like a little bird puffing up in anger—more cute than intimidating.

Charlotte held her throbbing forehead and sighed.

“Uh, Dorothy?”

“What.”

“As Leia just pointed out, we can’t just add more people to the performance on a whim.

The group choreography has already been set based on the number of participants, and we’ve been practicing accordingly.

Do you really think we can just throw in more people now?

That’s absolutely impossible.”

“I know that!

Who said I didn’t?!

What I’m saying is, let me take over the role that Sion is currently handling!

Three people dropped out, so even if Sion is covering for three, there’s still one more spot left, right? I’ll fill that gap!”

“We’ve already adjusted the shifts to distribute the workload, and everyone has agreed—”

“Agreed, agreed, agreed! I never agreed to anything, yet you all just went ahead and decided among yourselves!

There’s no need for all that—just let me take over! I can do it too!”

“Ugh…”

Charlotte let out a deep sigh.

Honestly, with Dorothy pushing this hard, part of her just wanted to give in and let her do whatever she wanted.

But if Dorothy couldn’t handle it and collapsed, the responsibility would fall entirely on Charlotte.

The reason Sion was allowed to perform back-to-back shows was because she was a hero.

Dorothy, on the other hand, was just an ordinary girl.

Just because a child sees an adult wielding a sword and throws a tantrum, saying, “I want to swing it too!” doesn’t mean you just hand them a blade.

‘She’s already been treating Sion like a rival throughout practice, but now she’s just being stubborn.

This isn’t something you can achieve with passion alone…’

Charlotte shook her head.

Even if she allowed it, she could already see the outcome.

Dorothy would stubbornly push herself to the limit, repeating, “I’m fine! If Sion can do it, I can too!”

And then, she’d collapse.

Young people often overestimate their abilities, letting enthusiasm get ahead of reason.

Charlotte, as a knight, had seen plenty of rookies like that before.

She felt bad for Dorothy, but rejecting her was the only option.

That was her duty as the cheer squad captain.

Just as she was about to speak—

“Captain! Captain!!! Big trouble!!! CAPTAAAAIN!!!!”

A squad member came running from a distance, frantically waving their arms.

Their face wasn’t just anxious—it was downright terrified.

Charlotte turned around, halting what she was about to say.

“What now?

Don’t tell me… another one collapsed?”

“Bingo, Captain!!”

“What?!

No way.

A fourth one?!

In just one day?!”

Charlotte’s eyes widened in shock as the squad member breathlessly continued.

“Aine was dancing when she suddenly just—collapsed.

When I checked, her body was burning up.

I think it might be heatstroke… or maybe she was already coming down with a fever before.”

“Oh, come on…!”

Charlotte instinctively grabbed the back of her neck.

She felt so dizzy that she thought she might collapse herself.

Heatstroke?

But they had been rotating in three shifts and taking sufficient breaks.

It wasn’t even particularly hotter than usual today.

‘Could this be divine punishment for that bunny girl incident?

Why is everything going so wrong today?’

Charlotte looked up at the sky in exasperation, as if hoping for an answer.

But the blue sky remained silent, drifting on indifferently.

Meanwhile, on the stage—

“Aine!

Aine, wake up!”

“I’ll go get a stretcher right now!

Hang in there!”

The members of Team B were gathered around the fallen student, busy administering first aid.

Even Sion—who (at least outwardly) was a hero—was helping, using her fake divine power.

Watching the commotion, Exia murmured anxiously,

-“This is… a lot of people dropping out today. Acute appendicitis, a sprain, bruises, and now heatstroke…

It’s like every kind of bad luck imaginable is hitting us all at once.

It’s almost as if… someone is doing this on purpose.”

The moment she said that—

Wait.

Wait a second.

Exia suddenly realized something felt very wrong about this whole situation.

Appendicitis, a sprain, bruises, heatstroke—each of these incidents could happen individually.

But all of them, happening at the same time?

Was that even possible?

No matter how unlucky they were, this was just too much of a coincidence.

Hold on.

What if… someone actually did this on purpose?

Forget about their motive for now.

Let’s just focus on whether this was possible or not.

Among everyone gathered here, was there someone who could deliberately cause all these accidents?

As far as Exia knew, there was only one person in the entire world who could pull something like this off.

The only person capable of casting magic in secret, without being detected by the magic-detecting devices or the principal’s mana-sensitive eyes.

That person was—

-“Heh… Heheheh… Hehehehehe…”

A familiar laugh echoed inside Exia’s mind.

The kind of laugh that sent chills down your spine.

-“Sion,” Exia whispered.

Sion had her hand placed over the fallen student’s body.

With a smirk, she spoke in a slow, eerie voice.

-“When you have to compete in a specific field…And your abilities are far inferior to your rival’s…And if fighting fair would guarantee your loss…

Do you know the one and only foolproof way to win?”

-“…What is it?” Exia asked cautiously.

Sion grinned.

It was a vile, utterly despicable smile.

-“You simply get rid of all the stronger competitors.”

-“YOU PSYCHOPATH!!!!!!!”

Exia completely lost it and screamed at the top of her lungs.