The Second QuestionPlease answer the following question:
Please state what the Prince Shoutoku [1]did in the years 603 and 604 respectively.
Himeji Mizuki’s answer:
‘In Year 603, Prince Shoutoku created the Twelve Level Cap and Rank System. In Year 604, Prince Shoutoku created the Seventeen-article Const.i.tution’.
Teacher’s comment:
That’s right. Please memorize the sequence of events during these few years, including the sending of diplomats[2]
Shimada Minami’s answer:
‘Year 603, Prince Shoutoku ate. Year 604, Prince Shoutoku had a good sleep.’
Teacher’s comment:
I’m not referring to daily activities that don’t need thinking.
Tsuchiya Kouta’s answer:
‘In Year 603, Prince Shoutoku got married. In Year 604, Prince Shoutoku went crazy.’
Teacher’s comment:
What happened to the prince during that year?
As I prepare to leave the cla.s.sroom and head for the area I’m in charge of,
I glance over at Himeji-san to check on her, since I haven’t had the chance to talk to her recently.
“…It’s alright, we’ll definitely win, we’ll definitely win…”
She feels different from usual, and that worries me.
—And now
Right now, I’m standing on the linkway controlling the battle, and I turn over to Minami to check on her.
“…It’s alright, I just need to stay with Aki and get that book before that foreign student meets him. I just need to bring him away from Aki. I just need to stay with Aki and not let him move on his own…”
She obviously looks different from usual, and that worries me a lot.
“Aki!”
“Ye, yes! May I know what you want, Minami-san?”
“I’ll definitely live and won’t die in battle. Is this alright?”
“Un, of course it’s alright.”
“Everything will be over if I lose my freedom once I’m brought to the remedial room, so I’ll definitely fight hard. Okay?”
“Un, you’re very reliable.”
“Also, if it really can’t be helped, I’ll bring you over to the remedial room too. Is that alright?”
“Wait a second, Minami. That’s not good at all.”
I’m really worried over what happened to Himeji-san and Minami…
As I ponder about this,
“Yoshii! The guys from A cla.s.s are here!”
Sugawa-kun’s words interrupt my thoughts.
“Let’s go, Aki!”
“Okay!”
Minami was rather weird just now, but now changed expressions completely. She just said a lot of ridiculous words, but she has no doubt about letting our cla.s.s win. Alright! Time for me to get into the mood and get into the action!
“Everyone, don’t forget the mission Yuuji asked us to do!”
“ROGER THAT!”
This is the linkway that connects the new and old school buildings. Our duel between F cla.s.s and A cla.s.s will begin here.
“SUMMON!”
The two A cla.s.s students standing at the front carry out their summons. There’re 5 A cla.s.s students standing behind, perhaps because they’re trying to investigate the situation for a while.
Since the opponent is that relaxed…we’ll take them down before retreating!
“Katou-kun, Kondou-kun, please!”
““Okay! Summon!!””
Our side sends out two people as well as Katou-kun and Satou-kun carry out their summons
A cla.s.s and F cla.s.s both summon two summoned beasts as we face off in the middle of the linkway.
A cla.s.s, Kurimoto Raita, Maths 239 points & A cla.s.s, Youta Nana, Maths 243 points.
Vs
F cla.s.s, Katou Takashi, Maths 91 points & F cla.s.s, Kondou Yoshimune, Maths 84 points
Both sides subjects and scores are shown. As expected of A cla.s.s, their grades are higher than any cla.s.s rep we faced in the past. If it were a frontal fight, we’ll definitely lose.
Katou-kun and Kondou-kun’s summoned beasts are leading off as they raise their weapons over their heads. The straightforward attacks are blocked by the opponent’s wielding weapons.
Both sides clash with each other, and then—
“““Summon!!”””
Another 4 F cla.s.s comrades summon.
Katou-kun and Kondou-kun who led the charge are rather specialized in maths.
Then, as for the latter 4—
F cla.s.s, Udou Sumiyoshi, Maths 58 points and F cla.s.s, Endou Kensuke, Maths 70 points.
And F cla.s.s, Hotsuta Kiichi, Maths 87 points and F cla.s.s, Manaka Tatsuo, Maths 64 points.
As one can see, their scores are rather scattered, and maths isn’t their best subject.
However, this group isn’t just randomly created. They’re formed through factors other than scores and best subjects.
“Long-ranged weapons group, attack!”
“““OHHHHH!!!”””
Udou-kun and the rest who’re sortied raise their weapons and charge towards the enemy in a row.
Their common point is that their summoned beasts weapons have length. These four are weapon wielders of longspears or rods, weapons with large attack range.
“How’s that po…!?”
Our side’s actions cause the opponent to widen their eyes in shock. To them, we may seem rather reckless.
It’s not easy to control a summoned beast as its size is not of the same proportions as our bodies, and the power is greatly different from a human. We have to line up 4 summoned beasts in a row on the narrow linkway, side by side before attacking the opponent in front of them, but this in practice is a lot harder than described. Ordinary people would have crashed into their allies, have varying attack speeds, or stab our spears into our partners’ backs.
But if it’s us, we can definitely do it. Our F cla.s.s has experienced countless summoning wars and went through all sorts of battles. To us, this isn’t something that’s impossible for us to do.
A cla.s.s, Kurimoto Raita, Maths 73 points & A cla.s.s, Youta Nana, Maths 179 points.
The opponents fighting our 2 F cla.s.s vanguards took stabs directly from the front.
““How’s that po…””
The two people from A cla.s.s give regretful looks.
After seeing this, Kondou-kun shows a devious smile.
“Don’t look down on us F cla.s.s!”
F cla.s.s, Kondou Yoshimune, Maths 26 points.
Kondou-kun brags about the victory as his back has a buddy’s spear stabbed into the back…I better remain silent about this.
“Can’t be helped! Switch—“
The hurt opponents intends to sub themselves out with another member, but why would we let them do so?
“I’m counting on you Minami, please attack with Katou-kun! Kondou-kun, retreat. Hurry up and replenish your points!”
“Understood. Summon!”
“Don’t you dare run away!”
““Ku…!””
“Eh? Why must I replenish my points?”
3 out of 4 attacks. .h.i.t the opponents when it’s so hard to control the summoned beasts, so this strategy sorta worked out. Now, we just need to deal the finishing blow.
A cla.s.s, Kurimoto Raita, Maths 73 points
Vs
F cla.s.s, Shimada Minami, Maths 161 points.
Minami immediately closes in on the opponent that’s slowed down by the attack. Once the points drop, our side will have the advantage due to experience, so it’s impossible for our side to lose.
“Hu, hurry up and cover Kurimoto-kun! Summon!”
The other people from A cla.s.s start to panic. It seems that they feel it’s not the time to sit back and observe after taking such a vicious attack. In that case, our cla.s.s has something else!
“Saitou-kun, Tanaka-kun!”
““Summon!””
I add in the numbers and send in Saitou-kun and Tanaka-kun who’re better at maths. At this moment, the 4 people raising their long weapons back off for summoned beasts’ s.p.a.cing. Not a lot of cla.s.ses can do such an organized movement. This is a strong point of our F cla.s.s.
“IF YOU’RE SENDING IN SO MANY PEOPLE, WE HAVE PEOPLE HERE TOO!”
Someone from A cla.s.s shouted.
If the other members from the opposing cla.s.s take part, there will be 7, while we’re left with 4 because our partic.i.p.ants backed off. In such a difference in numbers, it’s obvious that A cla.s.s is better.
However, that’s not the case.
“d.a.m.n it!”
“I won’t lose!”
Minami beats Kurimoto-kun from A cla.s.s and retreats while the other three form a line. Now, the opponent will definitely form a line and fight back. The key here is the width of the corridor. If we line up side by side, a squad of 4 will be the maximum. In other words, 3 people from the opponent’s side will be unable fight. No, Minami just finished off one opponent, so 2 out of 6 can’t fight.
“Wai—watch it…!”
“Tha, that’s dangerous!”
“d.a.m.n it, move aside there!”
The people from A cla.s.s start scolding each other. It seems they’re unable to move freely.
Our side is using a packed formation, and actually, the opponent should be making good use of their high marks and let someone launch a powerful attack. Our strength alone can’t stop this force.
However, our opponent is already fuming over our pre-emptive attack, so they’re sending all their forces. However, they’re unable to deal decisive blows because they might hit each other.
On the other hand, our side’s situation—
“YOU b.a.s.t.a.r.d! YOU JUST ATTACKED ME, DIDN’T YOU!”
“SHUT UP! IT DOESN’T MATTER WHETHER YOU’RE HIT OR NOT SINCE WE HIT THE ENEMY! YOUR SACRIFICE IS NOTHING!”
“SAYING SUCH STUFF!? YOU’RE THE ONE WHO STABBED KONDOU IN THE BACK!”
And just like that, our side will continue to attack even though we’ll hurt our comrades. These guys were attacking Yuuji and me with all they got even though we were in a war against C cla.s.s.
The smart A cla.s.s people should understand such logic, but being able to understand mentally is completely different from being able to do so physically.
While the opponent is confused, we skillfully use the narrow s.p.a.ce to battle, and will occasionally attack with the support of the long-ranged weapons.
In the initial skirmish, our F cla.s.s may have gotten the advantage.
“Keep it up. Be careful not to mess up the formation.”
“““Roger that.”””
I set up the people with higher scores (amongst us) at the front, and let those with wider attack range support from the back. This cautious and impregnable tactic wore down on their forces.
“Calm down and retreat back to the cla.s.sroom first.”
The A cla.s.s girls start to retreat in order to regroup. The opponent’s retreating…what should I do? Should I deliberately press on and pursue them?
At the current stage, we’ll reach the new building after a few more steps. Once we continue to move on, we’ll be able to seal off the new building’s stairs, and this will be a great chance to seal off the enemy’s movements.
As I wonder about this, Minami walks to me and whispers,
“Aki, the order the opponent gave just now was a little suspicious.”
“Eh? How?”
“Some of them glanced at the stairs when they said they’re retreating.”
If it’s the stairs…I don’t think they’re checking the path to retreat back to A cla.s.s, but them deliberately glancing over there shows that there’s something over there.
“An ambush…?”
“Most likely.”
They probably planned some counterstrategy here. It’s thanks to Minami reminding me that I can notice it, and this will affect the situation greatly.
“Thanks for noticing that, Minami.”
“I, I’m not losing concentration in the summoning war! It’s just that I’m very wary of the surroundings because I feel that someone may come by here!”
Minami definitely did contribute something, so why is she panicking for some reason?
“Then, what should we do, Aki? Do we stop here?”
“Uu…has Kinos.h.i.ta-san appeared in the opposing base?”
“Not for now.”
Based on Yuuji’s deduction, Kinos.h.i.ta-san will normally appear at the scene and direct them, but up till now, she hasn’t stepped onto the main battlefield. In other words, she may be hiding somewhere.
“Alright, keep chasing. Minami, Sugawa-kun, Yokomizo-kun and—4 people with higher marks will form one team and standby on the left side.”
“You want us to take on the opponent?”
“Un, I intend to finish the other mission Yuuji gave me.”
Revealed ambush forces aren’t scary at all. I want to beat the hiding Kinos.h.i.ta-san at this point!
“Yeah, let’s try and make sure the advantage’s on our side! We have to hurry up and finish this war even if it’s a second earlier…!”
The voice with intense emotions in it rings in my ears. Minami’s momentum today isn’t to be underestimated. What’s with her?
“I’ll explain the plan to Sugawa and the rest.”
Minami again returns to the frontlines and gets into standby beside the stairs. Sugawa-kun and Yokomizo-kun then follow her. Alright, let’s move!
“EVERYONE! PURSUE THEM! CHARGE RIGHT IN!”
“““ALRIGHT!!!”””
The reliable calls echo back as my comrades charge forward.
In contrast, A cla.s.s learnt their lesson due to the attack just now, so they aren’t resisting that much as they gingerly retreat back. A cla.s.s retreats while F cla.s.s pursues on, and this is not a common sense.
Also, as the battlefield moves to the stairs, expected voices can be heard from the left.
“““Summon”””
Alright—right on target!
“I’ll leave it to you, Minami!”
“Okay!”
The opponent appears from the stairs, and Minami and the rest immediately attacks them.
The opponent was charging in for an ambush, but we shocked them back.
“…Not bad, Yoshii-kun. To think that you can realize this.”
Kinos.h.i.ta-san’s voice, which sounded like Hideyoshi, came from the stairs as she intended to ambush us from the side. There’s only 3 people over there, so we can win if it’s just this number of people!
“Yozawa-kun, Negishi-kun, Himuro-kun, go over to Kinos.h.i.ta-san! We’ll beat her here!”
““”Understood!”””
Kinos.h.i.ta-san has 6 people against her, including Minami, Sugawa-kun, and I have another 6 in front of me. It’s not easy to break through here, so we’ll take the win here!
“…Retreat.”
Kinos.h.i.ta-san gives the order. As if we’ll let you!
“Everyone, pursue on. We must finish her off here.”
I give the order from the back of the squad in order to finish Yuuji’s given mission, and let everyone chase down the escaping Kinos.h.i.ta-san.
The moment I did this, Kinos.h.i.ta-san mutters from the stairs.
“Oh? You’re chasing after me?”
Her voice still remains calm even though she’s being cornered. Hold…on…? I think I have a bad feeling about this…
“—Rep really understands Sakamoto-kun really well.”
““”Summon!”””
““”—!?”””
Calls can be heard from the opposite direction, and everyone in F cla.s.s widen their eyes in shock. The other side is…B cla.s.s? What’s going on!?
A cla.s.s, Tokito Masahiro, Maths 265 points
Vs
F cla.s.s, Himuro Tadashi, Maths, 6 points.
A cla.s.s, Hanaoka Rei, Maths 243 points
Vs
F cla.s.s, Nomura Ippei, DEAD
The attacks that came from behind cause several comrades on our side to have their points reduced or suffer the tragic fate of dying in battle.
Not good. Our back is wide open to the enemy because we’re charging to the stairs where Kinos.h.i.ta-san is!
“Surround them! Send them all into the remedial room!”
I hear Kinos.h.i.ta-san’s orders. They were retreating from the stairs, and now they’re using this chance to counter. We’ve been had…is Kinos.h.i.ta-san bait here?
Once we’re surrounded, the flexible tactic can’t work, and we won’t be able to head back to replenish our points. In this case, we’ll definitely be wiped out, and F cla.s.s will lose half their forces in the first fight alone. Our opponent’s A cla.s.s, and I got greedy and let things get way over my head…
“Everyone, hurry up and retreat—line up at the linkway!”
But there’s still a way to salvage this situation! The opponent hasn’t surrounded us yet!
“Who’ll let you!?”
“Nope, let’s run away—summon!”
I call out my summoned beast to fight as I face the onslaught of enemies coming out from B cla.s.s. If I stop here to stop the opponent’s attack, I’ll be able to create a path of retreat. I see, so Yuuji expected this and let me be at the back, is it?
“Yoshii…! Please don’t get in the way!”
“That won’t do. I won’t back off.”
As the opponent tries to aim for the back of Minami’s group, I stand right in front of them and swing my wooden sword. My foe blocks this move and gets ready to counter, but this time, I move to the side and swing out at them without particularly aiming anywhere. I’m not aiming to beat them, but to slow them down, so there’s no need to hit them.
“Uu…this…!”
The opponent’s been making large movements, maybe because of lack of battle experience as he keeps missing.
“Everyone, hurry up and run away! Those with depleted points are to run away fast!”
“Don’t let them get away! Surround them! Forget about spending your efforts beating Yoshii-kun!”
Kinos.h.i.ta-san and I exchanged orders.
“Tokito-kun, leave that side to me!”
“d.a.m.n it. Please!”
As I continue to fight Tokito-kun, the other A cla.s.s girls try to get by me. Do you think I’ll let you do so?
“Double summon!”
I call out the other summoned beast to block the opponent’s path. We’ll definitely not be taken down here!
“Move aside!”
The A cla.s.s girl uses the difference in points as a shield as she curls herself up and charges over. She must be thinking that she will still have enough points even if she takes 1, 2 hits.
However, I’ve seen this tactic too many times, so I’m already used to handling this.
“Over here!”
As the opponent’s summoned beast steps forward to accelerate, I let my summoned beast do a sweeping kick at the ankle and slam it into the opponent while it lost its balance.
“Ah! So, sorry, Tokito-kun.”
The summoned beast that was sent flying tangled with Tokito-kun’s summoned beast, and during this time, I swing the wooden sword down.
A cla.s.s, Tokito Mashiro, Maths 224 points.
Vs
F cla.s.s, Yoshii Akihisa, Maths 82 points
“You b.a.s.t.a.r.d…!”
Tokito-kun stares at me vengefully.
“Leave Yoshii-kun aside for now, Tokito-kun! He’s not someone that can be taken down easily!”
“Ugh…I, I know that!”
“That won’t do. I have to let you play around with me.”
While saying this, I trip the third opponent who’s trying to get through. My summoned beast is weak, but it doesn’t mean that it’s useless.
As I try to buy time, my surrounded comrades start to slowly come back. If I keep this up, we’ll be able to limit damage control to the minimum.
“Kinos.h.i.ta, we’ll let them get away at this rate! We’ll leave that to you!”
“Uu…do, do I have to do this?”
“What are you saying now? Didn’t we decide to go all in this time?”
“Ahh, really! I got it, I’ll do it—Yoshii-kun, I won’t forget this debt!”
After saying this, there’s some movement at the stairs where Minami and Sugawa-kun are fighting. Kinos.h.i.ta-san seems to be talking to someone. That person is—Sugawa-kun?
“Uu, erm, you’re…Sugawa-kun, right?”
“Yeah, what about it?”
“I probably shouldn’t be saying this at this moment, but well…”
“???”
“On, on closer look…I feel that you’re—my type…”
“““SUGAWAWe have MUSTdiscovered DIEthe heretic. ”””
WAIT A SECOND! NOW’S NOT THE TIME TO DO SUCH THINGS!
Our comrades who finally managed to break through the perimeter and return to our base returned back to the frontlines to interrogate Sugawa-kun. This situation’s definitely not good, right!?
“EVERYONE, YOU MUSTN’T BE FOOLED! PLEASE CALM DOWN!”
“““DIVEPUSH HIM TOFROM THE BLUEBACK ON THE ROOF”””
THIS ISN’T THE CASE, EVERYONE! KINOs.h.i.tA-SAN’S SAYING A LIE TO SUGAWA-KUN!
“EVERYONE, THINK ABOUT IT! IT’S THAT KINOs.h.i.tA-SAN TALKING TO SUGAWA-KUN! SUCH A THING CAN’T POSSIBLY HAPPEN!”
“HAH!? DA, d.a.m.n IT! WE’VE BEEN HAD!”
“IT’S DEFINITELY IMPOSSIBLE FOR A CHICK TO SAY THAT SUGAWA’S HER TYPE!”
“We’ve been fooled by such an obvious lie…”
“Anyway, let’s get through this crisis before executing Sugawa.”
“EH!? WHY MUST I BE EXECUTED EVEN AFTER BEING SUBJECTED TO VERBAL VIOLENCE!?”
Everyone seemed to have recovered, but it seems to be a little too late…
“Yoshii-kun, once I handle this gang, I’ll ask you what you meant by ‘that Kinos.h.i.ta-san’.”
Minami and Sugawa-kun’s 6 man group is completely isolated at the front of the stairs.
Not good. Minami and the rest may be annihilated!
“d.a.m.n it…is this the end…!?”
“To think that we’ll die because of Sugawa…this b.a.s.t.a.r.d!”
“No good deeds going unpunished, like this, huh…”
“WHY ARE YOU SO SERIOUS WITH ME!!?”
Including me, everyone present is already thinking that they’ll die in battle.
In this situation—
“(GATAGATAGATA)…stop joking around…sent into the remedial room in such a place? Impossible impossible impossible impossible impossible impossible impossible impossible impossible…”
For some reason, Minami’s more terrified of dying in battle than everyone else.
“…What should I do if I’m sent to the remedial room in such a place? I will have to remain in the remedial room and wait for my diary to be translated? Impossible! I can’t admit defeat here! I definitely must find a way to survive…”
Minami’s voice sounds like she has collapsed mentally. Got to go save her!
“I’ll be there, Minami!”
“Wait, Yoshii! Give up, we can only give up on Shimada’s group!”
“Ku…! But!”
“YOU d.a.m.nED b.a.s.t.a.r.d! CAN’T YOU SEE SHIMADA’S CURRENT EXPRESSION!?”
Minami’s expression?
“…I can’t lose I can’t lose if that diary’s revealed I might as well die together uu no that’s not right even if I die I can’t prevent anyone else from revealing that diary…if I die I might as well bring Aki along…”
Ahh, not good. She’s completely lost it.
“Alright, everyone, retreat!”
“““UNDERSTOOD!!!”””
Sorry Minami! But you don’t seem like a comrade when you’re giving killing intent at me even after being surrounded by enemies!
“Those in charge of encircling, get rid of them! The rest are to follow me! Attack!”
After devouring the isolated Minami’s group, Kinos.h.i.ta-san leads 4 comrades over here. d.a.m.n it! we haven’t regrouped ourselves yet! In that case…I can only buy time here!
“Kinos.h.i.ta-san, let’s fight!”
I call out my summoned beast and stands in front of Kinos.h.i.ta-san. Then—
“Un, alright. A duel it is then, Yoshii-kun.”
I thought Kinos.h.i.ta-san will ignore my presence and attack the rest, but unexpectedly her summoned beast raises its summon as it stops here. Eh? She’s not going over to where everyone is?
“Kinos.h.i.ta-san? This is…”
“Sorry, Yoshii-kun. Please retire from here.”
The moment Kinos.h.i.ta-san says this, the other A cla.s.s member stop chasing after the escaping lot, and seem like they intend to surround me as they stop, raising their weapons…eh, if A cla.s.s doesn’t send some people to chase after them, I’ll have nowhere to escape…
“You’re an important person, Yoshii-kun. The first key affecting this war is definitely you.”
“Your, your opinion on me is really high, Kinos.h.i.ta-san…but, you do know that I’m the most defining idiot in this school, right?”
The opponent’s trying to limit my movements even with the rest escaping. Normally, they won’t give up such a huge chance of pursuing on just to focus on me.
“If you think this way, can you please let us finish you off, Yoshii-kun?”
Kinos.h.i.ta-san’s summoned beast raises its weapon as it leans forward.
“If you don’t mind, I can accompany you to the remedial room.”
Kinos.h.i.ta-san’s eyes are showing a simple serious look as she says this. She really wants to finish me off here.
“YOSHII! WE’LL DEFINITELY NOT LET YOUR SACRIFICE BE IN VAIN!”
“WE’LL DEFINITELY LIVE AND BEAT A CLa.s.s!”
“HELP ME SAY h.e.l.lO TO IRONMAN!”
And my comrades treat me as a sacrifice without hesitation as they escape. My urge to pierce through my allies and enemies is derived from this sort of thinking.
“d.a.m.n it…I’m really an idiot for even worrying about them by the slightest!”
I should have dumped those guys and ran away in that situation just now, d.a.m.n it!
“To put it…that as quite the straightforward retreat…”
“If you pity me, please let me go…”
“I can’t do that, let’s duel.”
A cla.s.s, Kinos.h.i.ta Yuuko, Maths 313 points
Vs
F cla.s.s, Yoshii Akihisa, Maths 82 points.
Our scores are shown. As I expected, the difference in combat ability on both sides is so big it can’t be compared. Also, besides the overwhelming difference in points, there are 4 A cla.s.s students surrounding me. In this situation, I’ll be dead tired trying to prevent an opening at the back. What should I do, what should I do…?
As my back’s giving off irritating sweat—
“GET AWAY FROM THERE!!!”
Some summoned beasts are blown aside behind Kinos.h.i.ta-san. What’s going on?
“That voice just now…Shimada-san? What’s going on?”
Kinos.h.i.ta-san’s taken aback as she looks behind.
Minami, who’s giving off a demonic presence, rushes past the wall of A cla.s.s people and charges right over here.
“I can’t lose…I definitely mustn’t lose here!”
Minami shows a serious expression I’ve never seen before. What’s causing her to become like this?
“Eh, this isn’t important!”
Now’s not the time to think about anything else. I have to make use of this opening Minami made for me!
“Thanks Minami! I owe you one!”
“Don’t mind—I just want to be you. I just want to make sure that I can send you to Heaven if something happens!”
Leaving aside Minami’s dangerous line she just said for some reason, it’s thanks to her action that the opponent’s distracted from me. Now I have to use this chance to escape!
“I, I won’t let you get away, Yoshii-kun!”
While the A cla.s.s folks are still standing around, Kinos.h.i.ta-san recovers first and gives up on surrounding me safely as she lets out an attack. d.a.m.n it, this person’s judgment’s really quick!
I wanted to let my summoned beast try to run away, but now I have to dodge. Kinos.h.i.ta-san swings down the one-handed sword, and it grazes my summoned beast’s arm.
“It hurrrttttsss!”
The sharp pain strikes through my body through the feedback. A graze alone hurts me like this, and I feel my points dropped by a lot.
But I still manage to jump back at the last minute. Now, I just need to retreat.
“Long weapons, cover me!”
“““Roger that!”””
Once I retreated back to the linkway, the long weapons guys that retreated back to the summoning field started to attack. This is more to hold the opponents off then to beat them, a cover to allow us to escape safely.
“…It’ll be dangerous to pursue them any further.”
It’s precarious to try and get through, so Kinos.h.i.ta-san and the rest stop.
Alright! We’ll be fine here! I’ll let Katou-kun and the rest handle this while they’re regrouping. I’ll go replenish my points!
“Katou-kun, Saitou-kun, I’ll leave the back to you!”
““What…Yoshii, why the h.e.l.l are you still alive…!?””
No matter how I think about this, this isn’t a line my comrades should be saying. Despite this, let’s forget about this. The current situation is such that it’s more important to replenish my points.
“Everyone must guard this place well!”
After leaving the frontlines to Katou-kun, I head back to E cla.s.sroom to replenish my points.
Since the battlefield’s shifted back to the linkway, we should be able to at least pull our defensive line back. Once I head back to E cla.s.sroom and call Yuuji to rotate forces, we should be able to hang on for a while.
“Wait, Aki.”
“Un? Ahh, Minami, it’s great that you’re safe.”
The call behind me causes me to turn my head. It seems that Minami was able to escape from that chaos successfully as she arrives behind me.
“You’re going to replenish your points too, Minami?”
“Un, I’ll come along with you.”
Then, she grabs onto my hand tightly. Eh? Why?
“Mi, Minami? Why are you doing this?”
I instinctively try to wave her hand off because I’m terrified of the FFF, and in the end…
“You mustn’t let go!”
She grabs my hand with even more force. Wai wai wai wait wait!
I thought this is some kind of joke or prank, but looking at her—
“Listen up! You must be with me, okay?”
Minami’s expression is extremely serious. Did, did that crisis just now scare me? But her eyes don’t seem to give this vibe. I have no idea what Minami’s thinking. I, I have to find some sort of hint in her words…
“Mi, Minami, that was really amazing from you just now. You managed to fight your way out from that deadly situation.”
“Yeah…”
Minami grabs onto my hand as she says this.
“Once a person is ready to die, anything is possible.”
Really, what in the world caused her to be like this?
“—Well, if I died, you’ll die with me too, Aki.”
And why am I involved in this too?
I have no idea what the current situation is about, and this is confusing me. At this moment, I think there’s a soft mutter coming from the stairs of the old building.
“Un…this isn’t the Akihisa I wanted to see.”[3]
I turn to where the voice came from, and can only see a pet.i.te figure over there. Un? Is that…
“Un? Aki, what’s wrong?”
“Eh, I think I just saw Linne-kun over there UWAHH!!”
While I’m explaining, my eyes see a sudden black. Eh? What now? What’s going on?
“Aki, you’re just too sensitive.”
Minami says to me while I’m all confused.
I just feel real comfortable, and I can smell something fragrant. Minami’s voice is right at my ears too. Until now, I just realize something—am I being hugged by Minami?
“Eh? What? Why? What’s going on up till now?”
“Aki, you just need to focus on the summoning war. Forget about the foreign student and the lost item you handed to him. Understand?”
“…(Nods nods).”
My mind is mentally shaken due to the sudden situation as I can only nod in Minami’s arms.
“What is it? Shimada, Akihisa? Are you two replenishing your points? Eh, Akihisa, do you have a fever? Your face is all beet red now.”
After finally managing to escape from Minami’s clutches, we return back to E cla.s.sroom, and Yuuji says this after seeing my face.
“Yu, Yuuji…”
“What is it? You’re an idiot and yet you can get a cold?”
“Himeji-san’s all weird here, but Minami’s situation now is worse…”
“Wait a second, what happened on the linkway?”
I should be the one asking what’s going on here.
On a side note, that weird Minami has been occupying a position near the corridor the moment she returned back to the cla.s.sroom, and is staring outside like someone out for revenge. It seems like she’s out looking for someone rather than being wary…
“Ahh, leave aside what business you two have for now. How’s the situation at the linkway?”
“Yeah, sorry Yuuji. Can you send the reserve squad to the linkway? Everyone lost quite a bit of points.”
“I understand. f.u.k.u.mura, Asakura, Kimijima, go over for a while. Hideyoshi, go get a teacher. We’re going to change the test subject on the corridor from maths to chemistry.”
Yuuji gives the command in a refined manner. Those good in maths have lost quite a lot of points, so switching subjects here is a logical decision.
“Then, Akihisa, I want to know why everyone lost so many points in such a short time. What happened?”
“Eh, actually…”
I explain what happened on the linkway.
After hearing my explanation, Yuuji mutters unhappily,
“So, they’re using Kinos.h.i.ta as bait to surround our side…our intention is seen through. That d.a.m.ned Shouko…”
As expected of Kirishima-san, her reputation as valedictorian of our year is not for show.
“And she’s using some otherwise pa.s.sive moves, that’s tricky…it’ll be great if she looked down on F cla.s.s…”
“Un, to think that Kinos.h.i.ta-san will actually say such things to Sugawa-kun.”
I can definitely say that if it were half a year ago, they’ll definitely not try this kind of trick on us.
“Yeah, leaving aside Kinos.h.i.ta’s words, A cla.s.s’ plan to position people in other cla.s.ses is ridiculous.”
“Eh? Really?”
Yuuji’s probably talking about how A cla.s.s people are in B cla.s.s. But is that really unexpected?
“How? Think about it, are the other cla.s.ses having lessons? In other words, the people over there are—”
…I see. Even if it’s to win the war, they’re still intruding on other people’s cla.s.s time. To A cla.s.s people, doing this,
“Is really embarra.s.sing.”
“AH, you’re not talking about disturbing other people’ cla.s.ses, but something else, right?”
I see. Thinking about this, everyone’s attending lessons like usual, and standing quietly at the entrance on standby is really embarra.s.sing. They’re trying to achieve victory despite the shame—I see, so A cla.s.s is really serious about this.
“Eh, a normal reason ‘no one’s in the cla.s.sroom because of practical lessons’ doesn’t work here?”
“Nope.”
“Why?”
“Because I checked on the other cla.s.ses’ schedules.”
“When, when did you…”
The paper Yuuji’s holding onto has the information of where each cla.s.s of every single year is having their lessons, including all the cla.s.ses in our second year. The 3rd years’ afternoon schedule has the column ‘graduation counsel’. This is probably the gathering we were talking about this morning. I didn’t expect Yuuji to investigate things so thoroughly. This guy’s not afraid of any ha.s.sle as long as he decides that he has to do things.
“Then, how’s our damage report compared to the opponent?”
“Eh…”
I answer as best as I can, and Yuuji records the situation into a notebook.
“I understand. So far, there isn’t too much damage on the other sides, so we can hang on until noon. You and Shimada are to replenish your maths scores.”
“Eh? There’s till noon break? We have a summoning war.”
I can’t help but ask. I remember we never had one in our war against C cla.s.s.
“This is a request made by A cla.s.s. They hope for a ceasefire during lunchtime.”
“I see.”
Noon break…in that case, those worn out physically and mentally can use this chance to rest. This condition is good for those who aren’t good physically.
“Eh? In this case, won’t it be advantageous for us not to have a noon break since we’re so confident in our physical abilities?”
“That’s true, other than Himeji.”
“Ahh…”
I see. When challenging Kirishima-san, Yuuji, Himeji-san and Muttsurini will be important. Then, even if it looks like A cla.s.s will have the advantage, we’ll have the benefit of having the lunch break since our 3 ‘aces’ will have time to rest.
“Also, the other important point to me about the lunch break is that everyone can calm down, and I can properly explain the next plan.”
“Is that so? So there’s such an advantage.”
To us, who’s unable to win by points, the key to deciding the victory here will be the teamwork between our comrades, the strategy. As long as everyone can calm down while the strategy is explained, we can reduce the mistakes made in battle. This is what Yuuji is saying.
“Besides, even if I say so once, the chances of you guys remembering this until the end isn’t very high.”
Well, you can put it that way too.
“Then, hurry up and go replenish your points. If you have any subjects with depleted points, you’ll have a disadvantage when taking the combined subjects.”
At this moment, Yuuji’s words are interrupted by a cla.s.smate who’s panting as he rushes in.
“Sakamoto! Kubo appeared on the 4th floor! Hurry up and send reinforcements!”
On hearing the name Kubo, Yuuji’s face shows a fleeting tense expression. Kubo-kun’s marks are second only to Kirishima-san, and if we consider that the cla.s.s rep Kirishima-san can’t move on her own, Kubo-kun will become the greatest force A cla.s.s has.
“In other words, luring Himeji over on the second floor was a diversion.”
Yuuji’s tone seems to imply that he’s bothered. It seems that Himeji-san’s held on by the battle downstairs.
“Can’t be helped…Akihisa, can I leave it to you?”
“Eh? Me? You’re not going to send a lot of reinforcements?”
“No, if the enemy’s Kubo, you’re the most suitable candidate. Please.”
Yuuji lowers his head as he mutters. Such a gentlemanly way to ask. Is this mission really that important?
“Since you say so, I’ll do my best…but I might not be able to hang on for long.”
“Once the battle on the second level is done, I’ll immediately send Himeji over. You just need to hang on until then.”
“Okay, understood.”
“If possible, try and buy some time by offering yourself.”
“Sorry, I don’t understand what you’re saying here.”
Anyway, no matter what, I can’t let the opponent pa.s.s through, right? As I think about this, I get up from my seat. Kinos.h.i.ta-san just now, and now Kubo-kun. The opponent has such depth in firepower, as expected of A cla.s.s.
“Sorry, I can’t send more forces. Besides, since the opponent is Kubo, n.o.body else I can randomly send will be a match for him.”
Well, I don’t feel that I can fight him on. But if it’s just to buy time for escape, I should more or less be able to do so…maybe?
“I’m going then.”
“Un. Be careful not to be finished off. Prevent Kubo from moving forward.”
“Don’t make such unreasonable requests…”
Even so, I can only do this. The opponent is A cla.s.s. It’s impossible to win if I don’t get reckless.
As I hurriedly leave the cla.s.sroom—
“EH? EH, EH? AKI, WHERE’RE YOU GOING? DIDN’T I TELL YOU NOT TO LEAVE ME!?”
It seems that Minami’s wail or something entered my ears.
As I step onto the 4th level, I hear the cries of my comrades. They’re fighting in front of cla.s.s 3-F.
“Wa, wait a moment, Kubo! Calm down! NOOOOO!!!”
“Kubo—let’s sit down and have a talk you’ll understand HIIIIII!!”
“Being so serious on us F cla.s.s as your opponent is too UKKIIIII!!!”
My comrades’s summoned beasts are running around like headless flies, and in the middle of them is—
“Can you please move aside. I just want to move past here.”
Kubo-kun’s summoned beast is waving the Deathscythe, and there are other A cla.s.s people standing behind him and our F cla.s.s comrades who’re being decimated and taken to the remedial room. This…the defense line is collapsing!
“Summon!”
I hurry up and call out my summoned beast to a.s.sist my comrades. It’ll be bad if Kubo-kun’s allowed to move forward. I have to stop him here!
A cla.s.s, Kubo Toshimitsu, Modern Language 428 points
Vs
F cla.s.s, Yoshii Akihisa, Modern Language 69 points
But what should I do about this despairing difference in scores…
“!! …Yoshii, kun…”
After seeing me, Kubo-kun uses his hand to nudge his gla.s.ses. Eh? Is he shaken up?
“Ah, well…”
Kubo-kun may look rather aloof, but he’s rather kind. Maybe he finds it hard to take action on me as a friend. The current situation is like this, so in this case, I probably won’t receive any divine retribution if I make use of Kubo-kun’s goody-goody nature.
“Eh, Kubo-kun. Even though the conditions are rather—”
“I’ll give all I have without holding back.”
“WHY DID IT BECOME LIKE THIS!?”
What bad thing did I do to Kubo-kun?
“I heard Kirishima-san say that you hate people who don’t give their all in fighting, Yoshii-kun. I do feel that you’re looking rather pumped up now, so let’s fight it out with all we have!”
“No, THAT’S NOT TRUE AT ALL!”
I LIKE THOSE KIND OF PEOPLE THE MOST! AN OPPONENT WHO LETS UP IN SUCH A CRISIS IS A GOOD GUY!
But even if I say this, it won’t be able to break the deadlock. We’ll decide this victory through teamwork!
“Everyone, hurry up and line up!”
“““WE’LL LEAVE IT TO YOU HERE, YOSHII!”””
“>!”“““BRING IT OOONNNN!!!!”””
I loudly declare the theme of the top rated DVD I got this morning, and my side’s morale is increased. Our side isn’t surrounded like just now by Kinos.h.i.ta-san and the rest, so we should be able to handle this.
That’s what I thought, but—
“Yoshii-kun.”
“Hm?”
“I did say I’ll go all out, right?”
“Yea…AH!”
Kubo-kun’s summoned beast raises its deathscythe and lets its gold bracelet glow. Eh? Wa, wait a sec wait a sec! Kubo-kun has more than 400 points in Modern Language?
I hurriedly let my summoned beast jump aside, and a wind blade like thing immediately pa.s.s by. Ripping through my comrades’ summoned beasts at the back.
“WHY DID YOU DODGE, YOSHII, YOU IDIOT!”
“NOW I HAVE TO TAKE REMEDIALS BECAUSE YOU DIDN’T BLOCK THE ATTACK HIII!!”
Two of my comrades who regrouped are taken away by Ironman, who wordlessly appeared. That move just now is a super move only those with more than 400 points can use. There’s not a lot of people who have these scores, so I forgot about this move—DOOOHH!?
Kubo-kun’s summoned beast swings its summon, and the deathscythe buzzes as it grazes past the flank of my summoned beast. For, for some reason, it seems like Kubo-kun is way too compet.i.tive for being such a cool and collected guy.
“d.a.m.n—IITTT!”
But there’ll be an opening shown when making such big moves.
My summoned beast aims at the opponent’s defenseless body and strikes down the wooden sword.
Kubo-kun’s summoned beast doesn’t dodge or defend as it takes this. .h.i.t head on—and fearlessly swings the deathscythe at me. No way!?
I let my summoned beast drop the wooden sword and leap backwards. If it were holding a weapon, it won’t be able to dodge in time.
“As expected of Yoshii-kun, you’re hard to handle.”
The outcome of this causes the opponent’s slice to only hit the top of the summoned beast’s shoulder. That, that was close!
A cla.s.s, Kubo Toshimitsu, Modern Language 321 points
Vs
F cla.s.s, Yoshii Akihisa, Modern Language 27 points
Both sides’ points data is updated. Kubo-kun’s points dropped by more than 100 because he took my attack and used some points by using the bracelet. In contrast, I have more than half my points reduced by being grazed. This power difference isn’t to be underestimated! I have to let Kubo-kun go easy on me a little more!
“Well, Kubo-kun, I don’t have any weapons in my hands now, so can you please—”
“I understand. You’re saying not to hold back even if you don’t have any weapons, right?”
I DIDN’T SAY ANYTHING!
Even so, whether I do have my best weapon or not, I only have the option to dodge. My summoned beast will be destroyed together with the wooden sword if I want to defend such a powerful attack. In this case, it might be right not to hold back even if I’m barehanded.
“Then, let’s continue, Yoshii-kun.”
Kubo-kun’s summoned beast raises its weapon and closes in on me.
“““>~!”””
At this moment, my comrades are enthusiastically chanting the spell that’s motivating them as they regroup themselves and brazenly attack Kubo-kun. Ah…it’ll be alright if it were other people, but this won’t work on Kubo-kun!
“The way you guys are gathering around helps me a lot.”
Kubo-kun’s summoned beast takes the continuous attacks from the front and swings the large deathscythe forward.
“ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!”
The forwards were decapitated and sent to the remedial room. The people wielding lances at the back are saved, but lose quite a lot of points. Now, we have 3 dead and 5 in need of replenishing points. We’ve been dealt badly by Kubo-kun…
“That’s the end. Let me pa.s.s through.”
“WAIT A SECOND…DON’T KID AROUND HERE!”
Kubo-kun’s summoned beast continues to advance, not intimidated by our attacks. Based on his strategy, those near him, friend or foe will all be hit. Their plan must be to let Kubo-kun make an opening and then mobilize their A cla.s.s comrades to finish off the rest.
A cla.s.s, Kubo Toshimitsu, Modern Language 211 points.
After another update, Kubo-kun’s points are shown. We’ve taken so much damage here, and yet he has half his points left.
As I anguish over this desperate situation, an A cla.s.s girl walk towards Kubo-kun and says to him,
“Kubo-kun.”
“What is it?”
“It’s time to switch. Himeji-san seems to be here.”
“Himeji-san? Is that so…it seemed that I wasted too much time here. Sorry, can I leave this to you?”
“Un, leave it to me.”
On hearing Himeji-san’s name, Kubo-kun leaves the scene to the other girls to take charge and walks out of the summoning field. He probably feels that it’s not wise to fight Himeji-san with his points depleted.
“Yoshii-kun, until next time.”
Kubo-kun leaves these words as he moves back to the new school building.
On seeing this, my remaining comrades regroup themselves and get ready their defenses. We finally managed to escape…I guess?
“Haa…thank goodness.”
I leave the summoning field and call back my summoned beast. That was really close. If Himeji-san’s a step later…on thinking about this, I can’t help but tremble.
I’ll thank Himeji-san before I head back then. As I think about this, I turn to look at the stairs, and Himeji-san appears right in front of me as she runs over here.
“…”
Himeji-san looks rather serious as she continues to run.
As I want to call out to her, a certain thought just appears in my mind without warning.
Speaking of which, I haven’t talked with Himeji-san directly like this for a long time…
“Sorry for being late, Akihisa-kun!”
As I’m thinking about this, Himeji-san stops right in front of me and lowers her head as she apologizes.
“No, you’re not l—”
As I was about to say ‘not late at all’, Himeji-san lifts her head as her mouth enters my stare… or rather, a certain part of it.
This alone causes my face to gradually become hot, and it’s so obvious even I know of it.
“Nuaa…”
“Well…Akihisa-kun?”
Why the heck am I thinking of such a thing in this situation!? IS THIS AN EVIL THOUGHT!? IS IT AN EXISTING EVIL THOUGHT DOING THIS TO ME!?
“Disappear be purified leave oh my evil thoughts vanish my troubles…”
“Akihisa-kun! Pull yourself together!”
I recover to see Himeji-san shaking my shoulders.
“Ah, it, it’s nothing! Nothing at all. I’m just thinking about something.”
“Haa…that’s good…”
I just said an excuse even I don’t really understand.
Uu…I don’t think I can make it whenever I think about that incident. My mind’s a lot slower than usual.
“Don’t let your guard down. We’re fighting an important war here!”
In contrast, Himeji-san doesn’t look any different from usual other than being motivated. Maybe girls have a stronger immunity to such things.
“Akihisa-kun!”
“Huh?”
Eh, so now’s not the time to be thinking about that.
“Thanks, Himeji-san. Your reinforcement really saved us.”
“No, it’ll be better if I had arrived earlier…I’m sorry.”
Himeji-san lowers her head guiltily. But she definitely made her way here with haste.
“Then, leave this place to me. You can go back to take your replenishment tests now, right, Akihisa-kun?”
“Understood. I’ll leave the rest to you, Himeji-san.”
“Alright, summon!”
Once she called out her summoned beast, Himeji-san turns to face the A cla.s.s people. Our reinforcements Yuuji sent is now fighting the opponents around us.
There’s no reason for me to stay.
“Those with depleted points are to head back to replenish them. Also, don’t forget to check who’re taken to the remedial room.”
I turn my eyes to look behind and see that our side’s pushing back with Himeji-san’s power, and again head towards the E cla.s.sroom that became our base.