Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu‎

Chapter 96

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The Eleventh Question

Please list a proverb for the following:

“1. You may fail at things you’re good at.” “2. One unlucky event after another.”

Himeji Mizuki’s answer:

“1. Even Kūkai[1] will make mistakes when writing.” “2. When it rains, it pours.

Teacher’s Comment:

Correct. Also, for (1), there is also another proverb, ‘Kūkai can’t choose pens’. A similar expression for (1) would be ‘A kappa[2] can get washed away’ or ‘a monkey may fall from a tree’.

Similarly, for (2), there is a proverb ‘a bee stinging on a crying face’ as well. It will be helpful to memorize these together.

Tsuchiya Kouta’s Answer:

“(1) A kappa can’t choose a pen.”

Teacher’s comment:

You mixed the proverbs up because you can’t differentiate between them?

Shimada Minami’s Answer:

“(2) A bee sting on the eye.”

Teacher’s comment:

It does seem to hurt.

“Now then, what instructions do you have for everyone, Yuuji?”

It’s now the second day of the summoning war.

Once the cla.s.s representative meeting ended, Yuuji returns to our base, 3-D"s cla.s.sroom and answers me.

“Nothing much, we have our F cla.s.s members at the more intense battlefields, and then we sent D cla.s.s’ guys and girls to the frontline separately. Finally, I requested for everyone to try and retreat as much as we can to lower the scale of battle.”

This strategic instruction doesn’t seem to be something too big.

Upon hearing this, Kinos.h.i.ta-san beside me again asks Yuuji,

‘Is this really alright, Sakamoto-kun?”

“Ahh, it is for now.”

In this case, it seems Yuuji has prepared all these to execute the strategies later.

“…”

“What is it, Kinos.h.i.ta sister? You look like you have a lot of ideas there.”

“I’m not unhappy about this…”

Kinos.h.i.ta-san seems to be a little disappointed by this instruction. Maybe she’s hoping that he would come up with some great revival.

Yuuji then continues to explain to Kinos.h.i.ta-san,

“The enemy’s forcing us to a point where we’ll fail if we do something. We need to bring the tide to our side if we want to reverse the situation.”

“Though you say that, aren’t the 3rd years stronger than us if we compare our situations?”

“This is fact, but right now, we’re inferior in ability, and also at a disadvantage right now. First, we have to think of a way in this situation.”

“If there’s a way, we would have—”

“And I gave this instruction so that everyone can fight at their actual ability.”

Yuuji’s instruction is simply just to create a good opportunity, and then we’ll wait for everyone to recover, I think.

“We’re not doing anything big even though it’s an instruction.”

“Anyway, just watch. You’ll know later.”

“…..If you say so. I guess I’ll just watch without saying anything…”

It seems Kinos.h.i.ta-san seems to be unhappy about something, but she’s no longer asking Yuuji any more questions.

This time, Minami instead approaches Yuuji and asks him another question.

“Speaking of which, Sakamoto, didn’t Nemoto say anything to you during the strategic meeting?”

B cla.s.s’ Nemoto-kun really humiliated Yuuji on the first day of the strategic meeting. It seems Minami’s worried that he might be coming up with something else this time.

“Ah, I don’t know why, but for some reason, he—”

“…Not around.”

Kirishima-san answers, following up on Yuuji’s words .

“Eh? Not around? That Nemoto?”

“(Nods)…Anyway, he did not attend the meeting.”

“Oh my? Is that really the case? It’s good for Prez and Sakamoto-kun, isn’t it?”

While Kinos.h.i.ta-san nods,

“Hmm…not around, huh…?”

For some reason, Minami’s giving us a very suspicious look.

“What now, Minami? Why’re you staring at us like that.”

“We didn’t do anything, we don’t know anything.”

“…A blasphemy of the highest order.”

“I’d say I’m surprised to be so suspected.”

Minami however ignores our excuses as she looks around the cla.s.sroom for a little while,

“It’s around here, right?”

She approaches the cabinet with the cleaning equipment inside.

And reaches her hand for that door.

*Creaks*…………*Thud*

Nemoto-kun, bound and gagged, rolls out from the opened cabinet.

“Then, let me hear your reason.”

“““Akihisa did it on his own!!!”””

“HOLD ON A MINUTE!”

Why’s it that those 3 would gang up and call my name at such moments?

“That’s not it. It’s just an unfortunate incident, you know. Nemoto-kun just so happened to trip over when I was walking, and I just so happened to hold him down, and by chance, Yuuji pa.s.sed by and sent a punch into his chest, and it’s bad luck that Muttsurini and Hideyoshi just so happened to be nearby practicing their rope skills and—”

“Aki, don’t think of pa.s.sing this off with excuses like just so happened and by chance or something like that.”

I still want to say the omnipotent line that anything can be rationalized no matter what. Looks like the effect will weaken if I say it too much.

“Speaking of which, I’m a little surprised that Kinos.h.i.ta took part in this.”

“Hm? Is that so?”

It’s just like Minami has said; Hideyoshi rarely takes part in such unethical behavior.

“Yuuji’s an important friend of mine, a buddy. It’s a must to give an equal amount of payback after what Yuuji has suffered through.”

Even so, Hideyoshi’s not a saint himself; he’ll naturally be angry if his friend is hurt, and will use force according to the situation. It can’t be helped that Hideyoshi would gag Nemoto-kun and tie him up after he had already done such a thing.

“What? Don’t worry about such a small thing. There’s nothing in the summoning war rules that says that we can’t knock out our ally.”

“Yes yes. That’s right. That’s just an area between the grey and black.”

“At least say that it’s between black and white…”

I know I did something bad too, but even so, there’s still something I have to take a firm stance on.

As we’re talking about this, Minami looks around the cla.s.sroom, and says,

“Speaking of which, I don’t see Mizuki.”

“Aiko’s not here either.”

“So is Kubo-kun.”

Yuuji however answers their doubts.

“Yeah, those 3 are waiting behind the F cla.s.s guys.”

“…For what?”

“Must be to deal with any deserters.”

“What are you saying, Yoshii-kun…how can there be such a thing?”

“That’s one of the objectives.”

“Are you serious!?”

F cla.s.s has been used to fighting in the war, but even so, they often have to fight battles where they’ll die if they don’t go all out, so it’s not a weird thing to see deserters.

“Your methods are really cruel. Even though you’re cla.s.smates…”

“Let me tell you something good, Kinos.h.i.ta. If you want to make use of the F cla.s.s guys, don’t hold back. If they know it’s going to be a battle with 100% chance, the situation’s going to be worse. It’s for the better that I don’t say anything.”

And then, we kill off the deserters. That’s really a terrifying rule.

“I say…if you’re going to do such cruel things, I don’t care if you get attacked by them during the replenishing tests, no?”

“Don’t worry too much. The replenishing tests are held in a different place from the remedial room.”

“Ah, that’s true.”

I guess Kinos.h.i.ta-san has never been beaten in a test summoning war? She just accidentally mixed up the remedial room with the test replenishment room.

“On a side note, since we have a lot more people this time, there’s a chance they might be in the same place.”

But in that case, there’ll be tighter security; they won’t be able to even whisper to us, let alone take revenge.

As we’re explaining about this, the bell chimes, indicating the start of the lessons.

“Alright, the summoning war’s about to start again. Get ready so that you can fight back anytime.”

“““Roger that.”””

And so, the second day of our war against the 3rd years begins.

“Th-Things are really going our way now…”

Kinos.h.i.ta-san says with disbelief as she looks down from the top floor of the old school building.

“What’s so surprising about that? Though you say it’s going our way now, the thing is that they can’t push us back now.”

Yuuji says. It seems there’s no improvement in the situation however, and the difference in strengths still remains.

“But I’m already surprised by this already…Prez and I tried our best to allocate our fighting strength, but we couldn’t salvage the collapsing frontlines…”

Upon hearing Kinos.h.i.ta-san mutter this, Yuuji answers as he stares at the strength report Kirishima-san’s writing on.

“Most of the winning results in war is caused by pursuit. Do you know why?”

“I never heard of it before…but I understand what you’re trying to get at.”

“Leaving aside modern times, it seems during the era of bayonet warfare, the worst losses always arise from the moments when the losing side is being pursued.”

I can understand what Yuuji means. Through my own experience, if it’s a comparison of fighting the enemy head on or fighting while running away, the latter’s a lot tougher to do.

“You guys made the correct decision to fight head on at the beginning, but because of this, the even strength between both sides…no, the 2nd years were overwhelmed slightly..”

“…Then, what is the problem?”

“Isn’t it because of Nemoto-kun?”

“Yoshii-kun, I think you can leave that aside for now.”

It seems Kinos.h.i.ta-san really wants to find out how to solve the issue of this collapsing frontline once Nemoto-kun retreated. I guess that’s to be expected of the studious A cla.s.s.

“…We sent in our main forces, hoping to regain ground?”

“No, that’s the correct decision.”

It was the correct decision to send in all the fighting strength before the situation got out of hand.

“But that b.a.s.t.a.r.d Takashiro had the upper hand. When you attacked with the main force, he sent an equal number of forces.”

That uppercla.s.sman’s really devious, even though he’s basically an idiot.

“I want to know the conclusion now, Sakamoto.”

“Ahh, when you sent in forces and were unable to salvage the situation, didn’t you start retreating in an attempt to limit the frontlines?”

“…Yes.”

“That response back then was the wrong choice.”

“Why do you say so? Isn’t it reasonable for those with high scores to cover those with low scores in their retreat?”

Yuuji just said “the worst losses always arise from the moments when the losing side is being pursued.” In that case, it does seem that there’s no issues with letting the strong ones retreat last.

However…

“Those guys with high scores don’t know how to retreat, since they aren’t used to defeat.”

The most important thing when fighting and running away is to defend. It is not about beating the enemy in front of them, but to retreat while buying time for their comrades to retreat. Experience, rather than high scores, is the important thing here.

“And after everyone got pursued, our formation collapsed, and we got forced back by the 3rd years. That’s why the difference in strength between both sides just got bigger.”

Basically, the scores are still the weapons used in this summoning war. In an ordinary exam, one may feel that this is merely a battle against oneself, but this is different. There are enemies, wins and losses; of course, it’s disadvantageous to be overwhelmed by the enemy.

“Is that so? So you let the F cla.s.s members stand at the front because they’re used to defeat?”

“That’s how it is.”

“Then why did you separate the D cla.s.s boys and girls?”

“The girls in that cla.s.s dominate the guys, they’re indomitable, and can’t read the mood to save their lives. This means that they’re not going to be suppressed by the 3rd years that easily. Besides, their experience in the summoning war is only less than that of F cla.s.s.”

F cla.s.s and D cla.s.s, normally considered scrubs, are able to fight on the frontlines, and that’s because they rely on something other than points.

“I see…so once everyone sees the lower ranked cla.s.ses fighting hard, they’ll be able to calm down.”

“…I didn’t think that much.”

Kinos.h.i.ta-san and Kirishima-san are giving Yuuji impressed looks. This guy’s really reliable in such moments.

“I do think I haven’t done a lot yet.”

“I do feel that you did plentiful though.”

“Or rather, I might say that the real battle begins now.”

“? What do you mean?”

“Just sit back and enjoy the show.”

Yuuji got up from his seat as he said this, and observed the state of battle from the window in the front.

“Alright, perfect timing. Akihisa, are you done with those preparations?”

“Okay.”

I grab onto the curtain dangling from the window, and open the window frames.

“Ready, 3, 2, 1…go.”

“Hah!”

As according to Yuuji’s instructions, I push the curtains out of the window. The curtain hanging on the rail floated in the air outside the window, expanding outwards.

And so, a blazing trail crosses through the battlefield immediately afterwards.

“Eh!? What did you just do, Yoshii-kun!?”

“I just gave a signal. The one attacking—I think it’s Himeji-san’s side and not Kubo-kun’s.”

I remember Kubo-kun’s power is that of wind blades, right? I do have an impression of it, so the attack just now should be from Himeji-san’s summoned beast.

“…A lot of people were caught in it.”

Kirishima-san muttered.

It’s just as she said; the trail of fire Himeji-san’s summoned beast released caught a large number of enemies in it.

“Amazing…”

“Himeji’s true ability is ranked 2nd amongst us second years after all.”

“She’s amazing too, but I’m talking about how the formation was used in this situation.”

Kinos.h.i.ta-san continues to stare at where the blaze attacked. There probably are a lot of enemies caught in the crossfire.

“…They were so wary of us back then.”

“How did you gather the enemies together, Sakamoto-kun?”

“Well, this is part of our F cla.s.s’ characteristic—”

As Yuuji explains, voices can be heard from outside.

“SAKAMOTO YOU b.a.s.t.a.r.d! YOU INTENDED TO KILL US AS WELL, RIGHT!?”

“AND YOU EVEN SAID ‘I’LL TRY NOT TO HIT YOU GUYS’!”

“YOU WERE FULLY AIMING TO HIT US, RIGHT!?”

““…””

“—In terms of fighting strength, the guys from F cla.s.s aren’t worth weeping over, even if they’re used as baits or p.a.w.ns.”

“……Sakamoto-kun, I really can’t tell the difference between your methods and Nemoto-kun’s…”

Kinos.h.i.ta-san said with a shocked expression.

Yuuji however took such criticism without flinching, and honestly admits,

“This is a fact after all. Both Nemoto and I are no different in the sense that we act on the same basis.”

The similar thing here refers to ‘gaining victory no matter the means’. In this sense, there’s no real difference between Yuuji and Nemoto.

But there’s a decisive difference between them, and that’s their understanding of the meaning of the word ‘winning’. Nemoto-kun thinks of personal victory. Yuuji’s idea of a win however is that of a team win. It’s because of such a major difference that even though us F cla.s.s continues to be fooled by him, we still continue to follow his instructions. This is the idea of team victory we believe in.

“For some reason, you guys really have a weird sense of unity.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. The proof is that none of the F cla.s.s guys got hit by it, right?”

“…They really believed.”

If they truly believed that they were used as bait, doesn’t that mean that both sides never trusted each other at all?

“Anyway, this is how it is in the end…Akihisa.”

“Hm? What is it?”

“Call Himeji back to replenish her scores. After that, stay at the frontlines to lure the enemy’s attention.”

“I got it. I’ll come back with Himeji-san once the order’s given, okay?”

“No, don’t come back. Stay there and fight.”

“No way.”

You still want to bluff me after all that explanation I just heard?

“What? Don’t be so stubborn, Akihisa. Himeji used up a lot of points just now. There’s no way the trail of fire will appear until she finishes her replenishment."

“I do see the second arrow in Kubo-kun being on standby, you know?”

In my situation, I’ll be sent on a direct course to the detention room if I get a graze in anything other than j.a.panese History.

“Don’t be stubborn, Akihisa. Shimada, Hideyoshi and Muttsurini are at their positions fighting hard. Is it fine for you to be here enjoying yourself here?”

“Though you say it like it’s the truth, Yuuji, I find that there’s a lot of wrong in that.”

He’s clearly demanding that I go over to sacrifice myself.

Since I’m unwilling to go, Kinos.h.i.ta-san then advises me,

“Yoshii-kun, calm down a little. Your power is needed in the ‘strategy’ Sakamoto-kun talked about, you know? In that case, how can he possibly make you bait?”

“…Yuuji has always been dishonest.”

“You’re saying too much, Shouko.”

I guess Yuuji probably feels very disgusted for giving me such special privilege…well, it’s not like I don’t understand that feeling anyway.

“In that case, I’ll get myself fooled by you on Kirishima-san’s account.”

“Tch. Stop talking too much and hurry on.”

“Yes yes. Got it.”

I glance aside at Yuuji, who’s not being cute at all, and run off to the schoolyard, where everyone’s fighting.

“...”

I heard something rustle, and saw a curtain pushed out from a window on the 4th level of the old school building, fluttering in the wind.

“““DODGE!!!”””

“Tha...t, Sc.u.mBAG!!!!”

The voices of the F cla.s.s members can be heard from there.

Without thinking, I let my summoned beast, which I just summoned out, jump to the side. I’ll kill you...! You b.a.s.t.a.r.d Yuuji!! I’ll definitely kill you once this war is over...!

Immediately afterwards, several layers of wind blades catches the enemies over there, and pa.s.ses by them.

This definitely is the power of the gold bracelet Kubo-kun’s summoned beast has.

“Oh, Yoshii, you came!?”

“You were fooled too, comrade!?”

“Be careful! Focus 20% of our attention on the enemy and 80% on our allies at the back!!”

At the place Yuuji says is the most intense battlezone, the F cla.s.s guys are all in a mess. Not taking into account that the damage dealt from the back rows is more than the front, it seems that they’re ferocious warriors in the frontlines, basked in blood.

“Ah, Yoshii-kun. It looks like you’re fine after all.”

A voice came from behind as I keep my guard up there.

“Ah, Kubo-kun.”

Standing over there is Kubo-kun, who just showed off his power just now, together with his summoned beast.

“Is it fine for you not to replenish the points you just used up?”

“Sure. I am to go crazy on the frontlines as much as I want; that’s what Sakamoto-kun said.”

Perhaps the term ‘go crazy’ doesn’t really suit Kubo-kun’s image, but this is what Kubo-kun himself had just said.

“Then, I shall go and come back, Yoshii-kun.”

Kubo-kun’s summoned beasts advances forward with its deathscythe in hand.

“You b.a.s.t.a.r.d!! I’ll send you to the remedial room!!”

“This second year!!”

The enemies that got lesser damage quickly attack Kubo-kun’s summoned beast.

Kubo-kun’s summoned beast however does not dodge the attack or use any fancy tricks as he swings a clean slice with the scythe.

3-F Fujishima Takeo, Language, DEAD

2-A, Kubo Toshimitsu, Language, 632 points

3-D Rikiishi Makoto, Language, DEAD

2-A, Kubo Toshimitsu, Language, 592 points

The Center Test is the basis, so the modern language and cla.s.sics/kanji subjects are all combined together.

As for the summoned beasts, one of them got sliced in half without being able to do anything, and the other managed to land a hit after much difficulty, but was still hacked down by the scythe. Because of that, Kubo-kun’s summoned beast took a little damage, especially when it didn’t resist. However, the two opponents are definitely going to the remedial room.

This is how Kubo-kun fights; little things like dodging the enemy’s attacks or feinting to get in and attack the enemy do not exist in his style of battle. His battling style is a simple contest of strength, a case of who wins or who gets beaten.

“I can’t manipulate my summoned beast as skillfully as you after all, Yoshii-kun.”

Kubo-kun had once said this with a laugh, but this is a battling style I can’t imitate. It’s a method of abandoning skillful manipulation and petty tricks, pumping in high scores on the summoned beast and using it to increase its strength. It was very threatening when we first fought each other, but now, it’s very reliable when he’s one our side.

“Hurry up and capitalize on this!!”

“Flank him from the sides, Shimamura!!”

2 third years again take on Kubo-kun’s summoned beast. I guess that’s to be expected of the 3rd years after all. Once they do that, Kubo-kun can only react to one side. Kubo-kun himself understands this, but isn’t shaken in the slightest.

“It’s embarra.s.sing, but this is the only way to battle I know of.”

He aimed his scythe at the enemy coming from the right, ignoring the attack on the left.

The enemy attacking from the right immediately defends itself once it understood the situation.

Kubo-kun’s summoned beast continues on without hesitation as it swings the large scythe.

3-C Shimamura Tadashi, Language, 215 points

2-A, Kubo Toshimitsu, Language, 592 points

The enemy didn’t get hit with a fatal blow as it focused heavily on defense. However, that’s still a significant amount of damage.

And as for enemy on the left,

“Yo-You b.a.s.t.a.r.d...! I remember, you’re that second year...”

“Ah, sempai, you actually remember me? Now I’m getting shy.”

3-C Matsuo Hiroshi, Language, 231 points

2-F, Yoshii Akihisa, Language, 142 points

It is in an intense battle against me.

“Eh? Yoshii-kun...?”

Kubo-kun looks slightly shocked as he stares at my summoned beast.

His style of battle is such that he has to stand at the front and fight alone so that he doesn’t get the people around him involved.

But it’s different now.

“Don’t worry, Kubo-kun. I can cover you.”

Since I’m already used to controlling the summoned beast, I can react according to Kubo-kun’s movements, and I can fight alongside him.

“Everyone else in F cla.s.s can join in too.”

“What are you saying now, Yoshii!?”

“You want us to die too!??”

Everyone in F cla.s.s is highly experienced in the summoning war, adept at controlling the summoned beasts. More importantly, their fighting strength is not worth crying over even if they get caught in Kubo-kun’s attacks. I guess n.o.body other than them can fight alongside Kubo-kun like this.

“...Thank you, Yoshii-kun, and everyone from F cla.s.s.”

This really isn’t something worth thanking us for. We’re all comrades now after all.

“Now I can focus on dealing with the enemies in front.”

Kubo-kun showed a smile, and then turned forward, commanding his summoned beast to charge forward.

And then—

“Let us go too, everyone!”

“““Guess there’s no choice, d.a.m.n it!!”””

A cla.s.s and F cla.s.s are actually able to get along so well; the bonds between humans is truly inexplicable.

Thanks to Kubo-kun"s ma.s.sive contribution, the toughest frontline has been brought under control.

"That Yoshii"s on the other side! We"ll leave it to you, Natsukawa! Tsunemura!""

"We can enter the school building once we break through there!"

"Go finish those d.a.m.ned brats off!"

I heard the third years saying such things.

"Yo-Yoshii."

"That"s Kubo, am I correct? I heard you"re rather capable."

"Ugh...the Toko-Natsu pair...!"

And so, the 3rd year pair, who we"re very familiar with, are standing in front of us. If we"re talking about them, they"re a pair of seniors, one of them called Toko-whatever and the other called Natsu-whatever.

"Those are the uppercla.s.smen who have been taking care of us, right?"

"Oh? Looks like you know about us?"

"That"s impressive."

"Yes. How can I forget about you? You"re the ones who wore a dress and wrote a poem to Kinos.h.i.ta-kun during the test of courage tournament, right?"

Kubo-kun"s words caused the nightmare hidden within my memories to be reawakened, and a nauseous feeling overcomes me.

However, I shake my head with all my might to cast aside this disgusting feeling. I"m fine! I definitely won"t lose to this disgusting feeling!"

"Enough talk! Let"s settle this, disgusting sempai!"

"Yoshii-kun, it"s alright to go to the toilet if you feel like vomiting."

This is bad. My urge to puke has overwhelmed my mind.

"Se-riously, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d juniors are an annoyance, Yoshii...!!"

"We must really teach you how to respect seniority...!!"

Veins are bulging on the foreheads of the Toko-Natsu pair, and they shout while glaring at us.

""Summon!!!""

Language, 3-A, Tsunemura Yuusaka, 423 points.

Language, 3-A, Natsukawa Shunpei, 407 points.

Kubo-kun"s eyebrows twitch a little the moment he saw the opponents" scores.

No matter how rotten they are, they are still A cla.s.s caliber. They"re science students, but it looks like they have impressive scores for language.

"Shall we go, Kubo-kun?"

"Well, I"ll try."

Kubo-kun has used up quite some points for his bracelet just now. To be honest, it is really hard for him to take care of those two.

"Natsukawa! Take the smart one!"

"OK, Tsunemura!"

"Be careful, Yoshii-kun! They"re aiming for you!"

"Stop it, Kubo-kun! This bad sympathy is more painful than anyone scolding me!"

The Toko-Natsu pair"s challenging Kubo-kun.

Until now, Kubo-kun"s summoned beast had the mentality of taking on anyone that stood in its way no matter what.

Kubo-kun"s summoned beast swings its ma.s.sive scythe as the mohican-sempai"s summoned beast flies in. The enemy cleaves its sword upwards as it attacks.

And also, the other enemy, the baldy-sempai, lets his summoned beast duck low and charge in.

"Your actions are too obvious, you gla.s.ses b.a.s.t.a.r.d!"

The bald-sempai"s summoned beast charges in ferociously with its sword pointed forward.

"Don"t even think about it, you disgusting sempai!"

I let my summoned beast swing its wooden sword from the side to intercept.

"Yoshii-kun!"

"I"m fine here, Kubo-kun!"

In response to Kubo-kun"s signal, I lower my summoned beast slightly.

After that, his scythe makes a loud swoosh, ripping through the winds as he slices his way through.

"...Ugh!"

"You b.a.s.t.a.r.d...!"

The Toko-Natsu"s summoned beasts are on the defensive this time; though they used their weapons to block the attacks, they were still sent flying away.

"Let"s continue."

He launches another 3 scythe attacks, and the Toko-Natsu pair could only jump back to increase the distance.

"You"re not getting away!"

My summoned beast managed to regain its balance, and swings the wooden sword at the baldy-sempai"s summoned beast. It"s unable to dodge completely because of its posture, and the wooden sword grazes the tip of the shoulder.

Language, 3-A, Natsukawa Shunpei, 389 points.

Language, 2-F, Yoshii Akihisa, 142 points.

The points showed a slight amount of damage.

"Yoshii...! You"re really getting on my nerves, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d...!"

"I"ll take that as a compliment, sempai."

The baldy-sempai clicks his tongue furiously as he glares at me.

"Natsukawa, watch out! It"s coming for you!"

"d.a.m.n it!!"

Kubo-kun didn"t stop even when we"re attacking each other, and he swings the scythe down without thinking of defending himself.

"It isn"t good to forget about me like that, sempai."

I swing my wooden sword extremely hard at the baldy-sempai so that he can"t focus completely on Kubo-kun.

The baldy-sempai"s summoned beast blocks my attack in annoyance, and I leap up high in response to his movement, blocking his line of sight.

After that, Kubo-kun swings his scythe at the baldy-sempai"s summoned beast.

"What...!? You"re annoying!"

The baldy-sempai"s sword managed to block the sword at the last moment. I let my summoned beast move quickly, while Kubo-kun continues with his attacks as we continue to hold off baldy-sempai"s summoned beast.

"This is frustrating...! Yoshii! Fight me like a man!!"

"Calm down, Natsukawa! You"re getting caught in their pace!!"

Right now, I shouldn"t be attacking. The best way now is for Kubo-kun to exert his strength as much as possible.

"Shut up Tsunemura! I must break this wimpy attack head on!"

"Natsukawa...d.a.m.n!"

As the bald-sempai charged in rashly, the mohican-sempai provides cover for him.

I continue to a.s.sist Kubo-kun as I fight the Toko-Natsu pair.

This situation continues for a little while, and I hear a familiar voice from behind.

"Leave it to us, Kubo!"

"Kinos.h.i.ta and I will take over. Go replenish your points!"

Minami and Hideyoshi came to provide support. Since Kubo-kun had used his bracelet, we can"t let him continue to fight here.

"Shimada-san and Kinos.h.i.ta-kun? I"ll leave it to you then."

""Summon!""

Once he saw that the pair"s summoned beasts have entered, Kubo-kun escaped to the old school campus.

Language, 2-F, Shimada Minami, 94 points.

Language, 2-F, Kinos.h.i.ta Hideyoshi, 257 points.

"...Minami, what"s with that score?"

"Shut up! That"s why I came along with Kinos.h.i.ta, right?"

Though I said that, Minami"s language score too has actually increased as well. If wasn"t rare for her to have a combined score of 30 in modern language and cla.s.sics during our first year.

"Stop looking down on us...! Your attacks are only so paltry without that b.a.s.t.a.r.d"s attack power!"

Because of Kubo-kun"s retreat, the bald-sempai continues to attack again. He attacks Minami"s summoned beast without the mohican-sempai providing cover. It looks like he has abandoned the formation they used against Kubo-kun.

"Die, you bast...!"

The baldy-sempai"s unable to p.r.o.nounce the words correctly as he yells and attacks. My summoned beast dodges the attack, and swings the sword down hard unlike before.

"Ugh...!?"

His summoned beast could not withstand this attack, probably not expecting this full-powered attack. I then seize this opportunity to send a kick at his jaw from below.

"Y...ou..."

My summoned beast doesn"t stop however, and once it slams into him, it uses the wooden sword to poke the middle of the forehead. The enemy barely managed to block this attack with its weapon.

Language, 3-A, Natsukawa Shunpei, 342 points.

Language, 2-F, Yoshii Akihisa, 142 points.

The reduced points from the attack was shown.

"Hideyoshi, Minami!"

"Righto!"

"Okay!"

Hideyoshi and Minami"s summoned beast charge in, swinging their weapons. There"s no way the baldy-sempai"s summoned beast can avoid these attacks after being sent flying by my summoned beast.

"As if I"ll let you."

Of course, the mohican-sempai won"t let this happen; his summoned beast chases after us.

"Double!"

I summon the second beast to obstruct the mohican-sempai"s attack.

"You"re annoying!!"

His summoned beast swings its weapon, the halberd at my second beast, trying to shake me off.

My second beast ducks to dodge, and follows up with a sweeping kick.

"You b.a.s.t.a.r.d...!"

Though his summoned beast did not take any damage, it stopped in its tracks.

Language, 3-A, Natsukawa Shunpei, 201 points.

Language, 2-F, Shimada Minami, 94 points.

Language, 2-F, Kinos.h.i.ta Hideyoshi, 257 points.

The additional damage done by Minami and Hideyoshi"s attacks on the baldy-sempai was shown. He managed to defend himself, but we"re successful in reducing his points.

"d.a.m.n you! You"re using numbers now that Kubo isn"t here!?"

The baldy-sempai was trembling in rage, his face completely red.

"Calm down and pull yourself together, Natsukawa!"

"Shut up!"

The baldy-sempai"s so angry he can no longer see what"s around him.

"Listen, Natsukawa!"

The mohican-sempai grabs the other by the shoulder, and emphasizes strongly.

"We can"t beast Yoshii in such a situation. Let"s fall back and replenish our points."

"Tch...!"

The baldy-sempai bit his lips as he saw his indicated score.

And then, he gritted his teeth.

"Yoshii, whatever I owed you till now, I"ll pay it all back in this war!"

Once he said this, he swapped places with another person, and went to the new school building.

The enemies taking over cautiously kept their distance from us, allowing us to heave a sigh of relief.

"Phew...managed to chase them away."

"Looks that way."

It seems the Toko-Natsu pair is an important fighting strength to them; having chased them away, the enemy"s attacks have eased up.

"Anyway, Aki, Sakamoto has given you some new instructions. Do you have some time?"

"Ah, yeah."

Minami deliberately hushed her voice, seemingly fearful of others hearing her as she looks around.

Having seen her do this, Hideyoshi suggests.

"Well then, Akihisa, there"s no time for you to replenish your points, but how about you go take a rest with Shimada?"

Hideyoshi"s meaning is that it"ll be troublesome if the opponent is to overhear us, and that we have to be careful. I"m a little tired after focusing so much effort on controlling the summoned beast, so I"m really grateful for this suggestion.

"I"ll do as you say then."

"Sorry for leaving you so quickly after arriving, Kinos.h.i.ta."

"Well, don"t mind about that. You"d have to continue working hard after this."

D cla.s.s, which was on standby, takes over from us, so Minami and I retreat from here.

"So Minami, what"s the plan?"

We left the frontlines, and started to chat near the corridor of the old school building. There"s no worry that the 3rd years can overhear us here.

"Erm, you know the plan for Mizuki and Kubo to use the bracelets?"

"Yeah."

"When they use the bracelet again, Sakamoto will also be on the frontlines. Just follow them from behind without calling out your summoned beast, and get ready to go."

Right now, the situation has more or less stabilized, so we"re proceeding with the next plan? I don"t know what he wants to do, and it"s definitely not going to be pretty. I better be careful from now on and not use too many of my points.

"Got it Minami."

"I told you all these already, so don"t think too much about winning that you forget about the plan, okay?"

"I"m alright."

I"ll get scary thoughts if those bracelet attacks happen again anyway.

"Anyway, now that I heard of the plan, I"ll go back to where Hideyoshi is--"

"Wait, Aki."

The instant I try to return from this corridor to the battlefield, Minami grabs me by the hand. What now?

"Anything else you had to tell me?"

"Ah, erm, it"s not about the strategy."

"? What is it then?"

"Erm, well, that, I guess, huh?"

Minami"s att.i.tude changes completely as she starts to panic. What"s going on? This isn"t like her.

"Argh seriously...! I already decided that I want to say it now. Why am I being so fl.u.s.tered...?"

This time, she turns her back on me and mumbles to herself. Is this really something that difficult to talk about?"

"Erm, Minami, I"m not sure what"s going on, but it"s fine that you calm down and tell me later if you"re anxious about it."

"Y-Yeah, I did think of this before. I"m scared that you"ll be distracted if I say something strange in this important battle, Aki."

Since she"s thinking about whether she wants to say it now, I guess it"s something that puts her in a dilemma or something?

"But if someone else is going to spill it out, I better make a promise before I regret it..."

Minami seems to be whispering something, and she turns around, looking like she made up her mind as she looks at me shyly.

"Erm, Aki."

"Ah, yeah, what is it?"

"I got something important to say to you once this summoning war is over."

"...Oho."

Why? Why is it that I feel that either Minami or I will die in this war when I hear this line?"

"Erm, Minami? In movies, those--"

Those are basically death flags. The moment I was about to say this.

"..."

I"m stumped by Minami"s ridiculously serious look, and can only swallow my words.

"Erm...what"s that important thing about?"

"Very important...more important than anything else to me."

These words don"t seem to be a lie, and Minami"s expression conveys these words as well.

In this situation, I can only answer seriously.

"Got it. It"s a promise. I definitely won"t forget about that."

"Yeah. Please."

Minami"s showing an expression more serious than anything else I have seen. Is it really that important? I guess it is that important if she"s worried that I"ll falter in this summoning war if I hear it.

"Sorry about it, Aki. How about we return to the war?"

"Sure."

After making a promise about something, Minami and I again return to the frontlines.

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