Volume 12, The Twelfth Question(1/3)
Please fill in the appropriate word in the following blank:
"Dust piling up like ( )
Himeji Mizuki's Answer:
Dust piling up like (a hill)
Teacher's Comment:
Correct.
Tsuchiya Kouta's Answer:
Dust piling up like 'garbage'.
Teacher's Comment:
I see.
Yoshii Akihisa's Answer:
Dust piling up like 'large garbage'.
Teacher's Comment:
So we can treat it as normal garbage if we divide it up?
"""DODGE!!!"""
The instant we saw the curtain being flipped, we quickly retreated from the middle of the battlefield to the sides.
After that, several large blades of wind flew in from behind, where we once were.
"You alright, Akihisa?"
"Yeah. It's the second time already, so we're kinda ready for it."
Since we knew the meaning behind the curtains, we more or less managed to predict it, so it is more or less easy for us this time.
"It looks like the other guys are alright."
"Seems that way."
There have been attacks using the power of the bracelets coming from behind; this is the second time I saw it, and the third for the rest. Of course, there are few losses, both for us..and the enemy.
"It looks like the enemy has understood our intents."
"Those observant ones probably picked it up, huh?"
Our allies, except for those on the frontlines, understood the secret regarding the curtain, but the enemy's not stupid. They may be shocked for the first time, realize it the second time, and believe it will happen at the third time. There might be someone amongst them reading our intentions.
"I'll be worried if they didn't. This is what we're aiming at."
"Hm, Yuuji, you're here."
While we're talking, Yuuji, in charge of leading the operation this time, walks to us. Goodness, this guy's strategy is endangering us again.
"Ya, Yuuji, you just bluffed me again."
"Oh Akihisa, you just got bluffed by me again."
Yuuji doesn't look apologetic at all.
Speaking of which, he did say something, 'just go while thinking that you're being bluffed' during a previous summoning war. We really got bluffed as a result back then.
"Don't you feel guilty bluffing me over and over again?"
"Haven't you gained any learning ability after being bluffed over and over again?"
Ugh..! This bastard's answers are always like that!
"Yuuji, you should be careful of what you say now. It's not wrong to say that your fate is in my hands."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, well, that. If I say that your relationship with Kirishima-san has evolved..well?"
If everyone in F class is to know about this, Yuuji's destiny will definitely come to an end.
In response to my words,
"Humph..how naive."
Yuuji merely scoffs it off leisurely.
"Where's that confidence coming from..?"
"No matter whether you say it or not, those girls won't just keep quiet about it, right?"
I was completely speechless.
"Th-That..doesn't that mean that my plan to reveal everything after my execution is useless..?"
"It's going to be an execution either way."
"I'm not shocked about it since I more or less expected it."
Guess I have no choice now. I'll just enjoy myself by being executed alongside everyone else. Hopefully, this will be a happy execution to celebrate our victory.
"Instead of that, we need to plan ahead. Akihisa, Hideyoshi, return your summoned beasts and come here."
If we're returning our summoned beasts now, it means we're going to move somewhere. If it's a battle to decide victory, that means we're going to where Takashiro-sempai is, right?
"Got it. Will be there soon."
"Me too."
After checking the enemies and allies on the frontlines, Hideyoshi and I exit the field, removing our summoned beasts in the process, and return to where Yuuji is.
"We're back, Yuuji."
"How about explaining the strategy?"
"Ah, wait a moment. They're coming soon--oh, here they are."
I look over to where Yuuji's looking at, and see Himeji-san, Minami, Muttsurini and Kudou-san coming out from the school.
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
"Why does it feel like I've been waiting for orders the entire day?"
"..Ready to go."
"Since Muttsurini-kun and I are being called out now, it means that health education is going to be involved, right?"
Kudou-san's with us along with the usual F class members. Maybe this means that it's not a defensive battle to buy time this time.
"Yuuji, have you thought of a plan to win this?"
Having thought of the same thing as me, Hideyoshi asks.
In response to that however, Yuuji simply answers,
"Nope, not at all."
"""Huh?"""
We answer immediately without thinking. He can't think of a plan..?
"Then why did you summon us here?"
"Do we have to strengthen our defenses?"
"But I heard that this is a plan to end the summoning war?"
In response to our doubts, Yuuji gestures for us to quiet down, and answers nonchalantly,
"It's not important for us to win this summoning war. You know what this means?"
"No, not at all."
"That was a quick answer."
"Can't you use your head a little..?"
Then I'll think about it a little.
What's important to us for this summoning war..? The aim of the summoning war is to get the other class' facilities, and it's important for us to get A class' facilities. That's why we've been declaring war over and over again.
But this summoning war is different. The third years started it, hoping to get 'the facilities of classes A to C', and we just so happened to be against it.
In other words--
"We never wanted this summoning war in the first place."
"That's right. We never wanted to beat the 3rd years at all."
"Yeah. In other words, a draw's basically a win for us."
While it may be nice to get 3-A's room, it is the same for them if they can get 2-A's facilities. Looking at this disadvantageous situation, it'll be great if we can get a draw out of this.
"If that's the case, Yuuji, since it's not a plan to beat Takashiro-sempai, it's a plan to get a draw, right?"
"That's how it is."
Yuuji nods confidently. Couldn't he just say it right from the beginning? Why explain things in a roundabout way?
"But Yuuji, how're you going to force a draw?"
Hideyoshi asks about the most important thing, the battle itself, and Yuuji answers the question unabashedly,
"We're going to destroy the machine managing the test summon beast system and end the war."
"Well..this feels like a strategy only Sakamoto will come up with.."
Minami's right. Such an unscrupulous plan is something only Yuuji can think of.
"But Sakamoto-kun, if we're to simply end the summoning war, won't it be started again once it's repaired?"
Kudou-san, who's been listening to this obediently, raises her hand to ask.
"No, there's only a small chance of that."
"? Why's that."
"Our opponents are the 3rd years, and there's a foreign person observing everything here."
Then, what's that about?
While I'm shaking my head in confusion, Kudou-san, standing beside me, claps her hands.
"Ah, I see. This is a serious situation for both parties. They can't back out now."
"That's how it is, Kudou. The foreign sponsors sent someone to investigate because they want to know the results sooner. The 3rd years have their exams, and if the system is repaired even a month later, they won't have the time to start another war again."
I see. Even if the war somehow starts again, there should be some people being too busy. No doubt it's going to be beneficial to us.
"Also, there's not much merit for them to get the facilities a month later."
It seems Minami has more or less understood the situation as she starts to nod away.
How many people can actually get serious about this when the self-attendance period is just around the corner? The answer is really simple.
"Because of those reasons, we may be able to end this if we delay this summoning war. That's why we have to do something about that test summoning system."
"Oh, so there's this way of looking at things too?"
Yuuji has a flexible mindset capable to thinking beyond winning and losing, and this certainly is like his usual self--no, proof that his thinking has evolved beyond that. That lost mindset he had the previous day will never have thought about it.
"We understand our objective now."
"Now's the issue of executing it."
"Yeah, I'm about to explain that now."
Yuuji pulls out a loosely drawn map from his pocket.
"This is a map of the ground floor of the new school building. Since everyone's been there so many times, we all know where the principal's office is, right?"
"Of course."
"Actually, Yoshii-kun, I don't think any normal person will be called to the principal's office so many times."
The principal's office is located on the ground floor of the new school building, facing the field. This should be basic knowledge.
"The enemy general has made his base at the 4th level of the new school building, and the enemy has set defenses around it accordingly. In other words--"
"We'll blow the principal's office along with the entire new school building."
"Yoshii-kun? What're you saying!?"
"--And if we're lucky, we'll get many of the 3rd years caught in the explosion instead of just one."
"You too, Muttsurini-kun?"
"I want to do it too if that's possible, but that's impossible now."
Too bad huh? If only we had the fireworks from the school festival.
"Aiko, you'll get tired playing along with Aki and Sakamoto's jokes. Better to just let it fall on deaf ears."
"I-Is that so.."
"Anyway, Sakamoto-kun, what are the details exactly?"
It seems Minami and Himeji-san are both used to our words. I really hope they don't misunderstand though; if it's possible to carry it out, we'll really consider and look into it.
"Since everyone's focus is on the 4th level, there's no security at the ground floor surrounding the principal's office, so we can enter there using the back door.
We already experienced personally how heavy the security is around the 4th level, but the principal office on the ground floor should be okay.
"All that's left is to start a large performance there--"
"And we'll destroy any area that may contain the system."
“That's how it is. If we can get inside the principal office and start a battle, we just need to wreck the old hag's computer.”
Now that I think about it, the principal does use the computer in her room to control the system. Even if the host computer is located somewhere else, it takes time to restore the system, and it's going to be troublesome.
“Erm..won't you be lashed out harshly if you do that, Akihisa-kun?”
“The only way to prevent that from happening is that Akihisa has to make it look like an accident.”
“You guys are already used to doing this, huh?”
“Well of course. That's what we always do.”
“Though this really isn't something to be proud of.”
“What? Don't worry about it too much. Our wish to beat A class has gone down the drain. This is just a little payback.”
Leaving aside the motives behind our grudge, we at least understand what we're aiming at. Now we just have to split the tasks.
“Of course, Akihisa will be the culprit.”
“Hm, okay.”
“You're making it sound so dangerous by calling him the culprit..”
I agree with those words.
“Himeji will work together with Akihisa as escort. If the only enemies inside are from A class, you're the only one who can fight them.”
“I-I understand.”
“I'll work along with you too. If the teachers aren't around, I have to open a field.”
With no enemies or teachers around, Yuuji will have to create a field using his bracelet. This really is much easier for me.
“What about us, Sakamoto?”
“Please be our guards until we reach our destination.”
“..Roger that.”
“It's comforting knowing that I'm going to be with Muttsurini-kun?.”
Her jaw might drop if she sees any of his scores other than Health Education, but I think we'll just ignore that for now.
“The others will create a commotion as our cover. Since we're going to use a lot of fighting strength, they will have to respond in kind.”
We can say that we'll be in a pinch if this fails—but well, isn't that the basis of strategy?
“Ah, one more thing, Akihisa.”
“Hm? What is it, Yuuji?”
“I got something to say to you.”
Yuuji waves at me, and I lean my head towards him, doing as what he told me; he then proceeded to brief me on several possibilities that might happen once we reach our destination.
“Hm..I see. That's what you were planning?”
“That's what I observed regarding the enemy's strength as a neutral. I'll leave it to you.”
“Gotcha.”
After those words were said, the strategy briefing ended.
Yuuji clapped his hands, and then said to everyone.
“Alright. Let's begin this plan. Once we see the hint, everyone's to run straight ahead.”
“What's the hint, Yuuji?”
“The hint's that hint. You've seen it a few times, right?”
Yuuji looks over at the old school campus. Ah, so that's how it is?
“That's not just something meant to wear out the enemy effectively, huh?”
“You really are good in this aspect, Yuuji.”
“..To be expected of you.”
So that's why we took quite the terrible punishment just now, huh? If us at the frontlines are to act without knowing anything, the opponent will probably fall for it. So this is what it means to fool oneself before fooling the enemy, I guess.
“Well..I guess it's about time.”
We remain where we are, awaiting the hint.
And so, after waiting for a while, the white curtain from the window on the 4th level appeared.
”It's Kubo! Kubo's here!”
”That thing from before is coming again!!”
”Dodge!!”
Warnings could be heard from the 2nd years—and the 3rd years too. I guess this is what Yuuji's aiming for.
“Let's go, you guys! Let's charge right through!”
“““Alright!!”””
On Yuujis command, we run for the open path right in front of us. Having witnessed the attacks of the gold bracelets beforehand, the 3rd years dodged aside, forming a path. At this instance, it is possible to break through the sturdy defenses in front of the new school building.
Suddenly, I notice Kirishima-san standing at the window of the old school building.
She's looking at us, moving her lips, seemingly saying something.
“Do” “Your” “Best”
“..”
“What's with you, Akihisa? You're glaring at me like there's a family feud between us.”
“..It's nothing.”
I just so happened to see her cheering him on. Any ordinary person's vision is typically unable to see those lip movements, but she still wanted to chase after Yuuji and cheer him on silently. As I think about how Kirishima-san's warm and gentle feelings were resting upon Yuuji, I just can't help but feel jealous of him.
“Well, it doesn't matter. Someone has to die anyway.”
“Aki, what kind of inauspicious thing are you saying? We'll definitely win if everyone works hard!”
“That's right, Akihisa-kun! We're going to end this battle in the best way possible!”
Minami and Himeji-san are looking at me adamantly. This really isn't what I'm talking about..but since they say so, I'll forget about my execution of Yuuji if we're going to settle this in the best way possible.
”Hey, they're not attacking!
”Those guys..! It's a bluff!”
We can hear such words as we run by the 3rd years; it seems they have understood our intentions. There's still some distance to the new school building, and it'll be all over if we're stopped here instead.
“We'll leave this to you guys!”
“““OK!”””
Yuuji shouted, and our 2nd year allies begin battle to support us. I guess Yuuji did brief them on what to do beforehand; they build walls around our path to allow us through, and our F class members, after seeing this, quickly got to action. Surely they must have sensed that this is the decisive moment.
But even so, the path is slowly getting blocked.
“Kudou! Muttsurini!”
“Alright!”
“..Understood.”
Upon hearing their names being called up, both of them shouted the keyword.
““Summon!””
Health Education, 2-A, Kudou Aiko, 498 points.
&
Health Education, 2-F, Tsuchiya Kouta, 671 points.
It seems Yuuji has already expected this to happen as he assigned the Health Education teacher here. The subject field we enter just so happens to be the Health Education Kudou-san and Muttsurini are best at.
“Let's go.”
“..Acceleration, begin.”
Kudou-san's summoned beast charges its axe with electricity before barging in, while Muttsurini's summoned beast accelerates itself before anyone can even blink, slashing down one enemy summoned beast after another.
“Speaking of which, those sure are monstrous numbers of points there.”
“I don't think even the teachers are a match for those two.”
Kudou-san continues to swing the electricity-charged axe, and Muttsurini's moving around, leaving afterimages in his wake. The weak enemies are dealt with easily, while the stronger ones are staggered by Muttsurini's blinding speed before being finished off by Kudou-san's follow-up. Both their summoned beasts definitely look like lightning there.
Thanks to those two, the path in front of us is opened up.
“Though I really want to leave everything to Kudou and Muttsurini—”
“It doesn't look like the enemy's going to be that naive.”
“This is just like the prediction.”
A certain person stands in front of those two with unmatched power.
She isn't dressed in anything dazzling, but even in uniform, there was something alluring coming from her.
One would be mesmerized simply by the charming presence surrounding her; Kogure-sempai has appeared.
“I guess I've got no choice then. Aiko and I will take her on.”
“Nope. I want him—Tsuchiya-kun to be my opponent.”
Kogure-sempai puts a finger on her chin and glances flirtatiously at Muttsurini. What could be seen from under the short skirt is causing our hearts to flutter.
However,
“We can't really accept that, Kogure-sempai. Muttsurini's compatibility with you is really bad.”
“Oh dear, I suppose that is supposed to be for him to decide, no?”
Kogure-sempai folded her arms in front of her chest, “..I accept this challenge.” Those large breasts are riding on her arms. Man..! That's despicable..!
Upon seeing this, Hideyoshi reaches his hand out to stop Muttsurini.
“That's enough, Muttsurini. You can't beat that upperclassman.”
But Muttsurini takes a step forward, seemingly wanting to shake Hideyoshi off.
“..This isn't a case of..winning or losing..!”
What's that idiot thinking? Everyone's thinking this now.
“Muttsurini, Kudou, we'll leave this to you.”
But Yuuji doesn't seem to mind as he said this.
“Eh? But Muttsurini.”
“We don't have time, and this subject field is Health Education. Muttsurini won't be able to contribute if he comes out from here.”
That's true now that he says so; leaving aside Kudou-san, Muttsurini can't fight in any subject other than Health Education. He also has to handle the other 3rd years chasing after us, and it isn't going to be wise asking him to retreat from here.
“Muttsurini! Stop staring at that upperclassman's body and focus on her summoned beast!”
“Aiko! Watch over Tsuchiya!”
Since we have no other choice, we can only make these last requests before leaving. Muttsurini gives us a thumbs up with his back facing us. That probably would have looked reliable if there wasn't a pool of nosebleed at his feet.
☆
“Thank you very much, Tsuchiya-kun. I knew you would certainly not ignore me.”
”You can't do that, Muttsurini-kun. Focus on her summoned beast instead of her. I can show you as much leg as you want later.”
”You do not have to worry too much. Please continue to look at my legs if they fit your tastes.”
“You mustn't listen to her, Muttsurini-kun! Once everything is over, I'll dress up in a swimsuit for you to see.”
“..I have no interest in any of you..!”
☆
“So you guys are next, sempais?”
“You actually came here, Yoshii, Sakamoto..!”
“I'm going to pay you back for everything up till now..!”
After getting past Kogure-sempai, the Toko-Natsu pair, whom we have quite the history with, stands in our way. We can't just leave these two to Kudou-san and Muttsurini, but we don't have time to waste..!
“Aki, leave these two to Kinosheeta and me. You guys hurry on. You okay with this, Kinosheeta?”
“Well, we don't have another choice.”
Like Kudou-san and Muttsurini before this, Minami and Hideyoshi step forward.
“Huh? What are you saying? We have a debt to settle with Yoshii and Sakamoto.”
“Na-Natsukawa, I'll be happy with Kinosheeta as my opponent too.”
Tsunemura-sempai's words caused Hideyoshi's shoulders to shudder. Is it really alright to leave things to them?
“We don't have time. Let's leave it to those two and hurry on.”
Yuuji prompts us as he rushes forward. I have all kinds of worries here, but I don't have any choice in this situation.
“We'll leave it to you, Minami, Hideyoshi. Aim for their eyes if anything happens.”
“Right, got it!”
“That's not something we should be agreeing too, isn't it!?”
“You may pound my flesh and bones into bits, Kinosheeta, but this isn't going to stop my love for you!”
“Ki-Kinosheeta..I think I should go on with Aki..?”
“Shimada, I'll hate you for eternity if you leave me behind here.”
We continue on while leaving Minami and Hideyoshi behind. Though the staircase and main entrance of the new school building is tightly defended, it doesn't seem to be the case anywhere else.
☆
“Well then, let's warm up a little before chasing after Yoshii and the rest, Tsunemura.”
“Well, that's true. It's better to settle any personal issues after the summoning war is over.”
“What're you saying now? We're the ones who want to quickly beat you and hurry to Aki and the rest.”
“Right, that's the spirit, Shimada. We must beat them and send them to the detention room as soon as possible.”
“Ah..you guys seem to be mistaken about something.”
“Mistaken? About what?”
“Well, you might have underestimated us because Tsunemura and I have been careless against Yoshii and Sakamoto.”
Mathematics, Natsukawa Shunpei, 3-A, 733 points
&
Mathematics, Tsunemura Yuusaku, 3-A, 751 points.
“—This can't be considered a battle with you guys as our opponents”
☆
“Listen up, Akihisa, even if the enemy's defenses are weak, it doesn't mean that we have time. Once we reach there, we need to hurry up with our objective as soon as possible.”
“Got it.”
“Himeji, you'll be our guard. You'll be in the same field as us, but you'll be handling the enemies coming from the corridor. Please hold on until Akihisa completes his objective.”
“Understood.”
“They're coming! It's those second years!”
“There're 3 of them! Take them out!”
The 3rd years start to gather to prevent us from heading to the 4th level.
We pretend to run to the staircase, before changing directions suddenly towards our real objective, the principal's office.
“I'll call out my summoned beast here!”
Himeji-san stopped at the corridor in front of the principal's office, facing the stairs.
“I'll leave it to you, Himeji-san!”
“Akihisa-kun, please do your best!”
We left Himeji-san behind and continued forward, quickly heading to the room with the principal's office signboard to complete our objective.
“Right, let's begin!”
“OK, let's go.”
Yuuji gets ready to begin the summon the moment I open the door, getting ready to enter. Eh? What do we do if it won't open? If that ends up happening, the lock might be destroyed due to some unfortunate accident. It's good that the door is unlocked, for everyone's sake.
“—Awaken.”
I heard Yuuji say this keyword the instant I entered the room. This is the power of the platinum bracelet we got during the school festival, and because of this, ability, we can summon monsters even without any teacher around.
Once the bracelet's activated, Yuuji hurries into the principal's office. Alright.
“I just need to call out the summoned beast and wreck the principal's office..”
“Well, the problem is that it's not going to be that easy.”
“Oh? That certainly is an unexpected reaction. I thought you would be a little more surprised.”
Takashiro-sempai appears in front of us, looking rather relaxed as he smiles.
“If you don't mind, can you please tell me how did you find me here? Even though I had to reveal my location, you probably would not be able to track me if you aren't at the headquarters.”
Takashiro-sempai asked Yuuji, looking rather interested. Yuuji merely snorted however, don't ask such a stupid question, seemingly saying this as he answered.
“I didn't have any proof about that. It's just a guess.”
“A guess, huh?”
“Yeah. I do know that you're a smart guy. I also know how naive my strategy is.”
Looking at what he did up till now, we can guess that Takashiro-sempai has managed to predict all the situations till now. Naturally, neither Yuuji nor Kirishima-san may be able to predict such situations, let alone me, but Takashiro-sempai was certa-->>