get away! Defeat Sakamoto!"

Nemoto's voice and the sounds of footsteps came from behind.

Honestly, the current situation was very dangerous. Not only could we not fight Class B students face to face, but our only hope, Himeji already used up too much of her Mathematics score. Nemoto must have known that, so he called Mr. Hasegawa here. It was a dirty trick, but it was an effective one.

"Hah, hoo.."

"Himeji, are you alright?"

We were running down the corridor at full speed, but Himeji's steps were slowing down. She was not good at sports, and for a physically weak student like her, it must be very hard to run like this.

"Y-you guys.. please go on ahead.."

Himeji said that while trying to catch her breath. We wouldn't be able to escape the enemy's attack with her like this, but we couldn't lose her here as well. If we lose Himeji's fighting ability, who knows what would happen in the War tomorrow. Also, I can't just leave a girl here and run for my life!

Is there nothing we can do now..?

"Yuuji!"

"What, Akihisa!?"

"Leave this to me! Yuuji, retreat with Himeji!"

I stood and looked back, and Himeji and Yuuji ran past me.

I never imagined that I'd have a chance to say some cool stuff like this. Do I look cool or what?

"Y-Yoshii, d-don't worry about me-"

"Got it. I'll leave it to you."

Yuuji stopped Himeji's words, and agreed with my suggestion. This was the Yuuji I knew, never letting his feelings affect his judgement and calmly making decisions according to the situation.

*stops running*

"Wait, Muttsurini, you need to escape as well. I think the key to tomorrow's battle is you."

Muttsurini stopped with me at the same time. I feel grateful for that, but I think he has a more important mission to accomplish; we can't lose him in a situation like this!

"Then it should be okay for me to stay. Right, Leader?"

Shimada stopped running, and stood beside me.

"..Can I rely on you?"

"Of course you can. Leave everything to me!"

(?)

".. (Good luck)"

Muttsurini gave us a big thumbs up, and then ran away from the scene immediately.

"..What should we do now? Leader?"

"Ah, I have an idea."

"Huh? Really?"

Shimada looked at me with disbelief.

Wha--- It seems like she doesn't trust me. What an impolite vice leader.

"I don't want to end up in the Remedial Room either, leave this to me!"

"Found them! Yoshii and Shimada from Class F!"

"Kill them!"

The enemies approached us quickly. Hasegawa-sensei was there as well.

"Class B students! Stop there!"

To decrease their morale, I purposely used strong language to stop them.

"You are pretty brave. Do you think you can stop us with only two of you?"

"No, before we fight I have something to say to Hasegawa-sensei."

If we showed our enemies any weakness, we would lose control of the situation, so I continued speaking strongly.

(Yoshii, what are you thinking? Are you going to complain to Hasegawa-sensei and say that they disobeyed the pact?)

(Well leave it to me, I have an idea.)

I whispered softly to Shimada who was starting to worry. Ah, she worries too much.

"What is it, Yoshii?"

Hasegawa-sensei walked to the front. She was still trying to catch her breath, maybe she needed more exercise?

"Do you know that Class B disobeyed the pact?"

If she was a teacher, she wouldn't stand beside students who were disobeying the rules. That's definitely true for someone who was responsible for being a judge.

(That cunning Nemoto must have thought of a good excuse.)

"From what I have heard, the one who broke the pact was Class F, wasn't it? If you are complaining that you got attacked because of this, before saying anything about the pact, you should check your personality first shouldn't you?"

The teacher's comment was a little rude. Nemoto must have twisted the facts when he was explaining the situation to Hasegawa-sensei, just as Shimada said.

(It is just as I imagined, so what are you planning to do?)

".."

(I am looking forward to your strategy.)

Shimada winked.

Confronted by her expectation, I made the following reply.

"We are dead.."

"This guy's an idiot!"

How rude!

☆

"Sakamoto! Yoshii.. Is.. Is he going to be all right?"

"Of course! I can't make any guarantees about the others, but he will definitely have no problem."

"But.."

"He is not really good at studying. However, even if you get a bad result, it is not everything right?"

"Wh-What do you mean?"

"That idiot.. He is not a normal Punishment Bearer."

☆

"Shokanju Summon!"

Four enemies summoned their Shokanjus at the same time.

We kept on running, but the corridor was full of dead ends. It was just a matter of time before we arrived in the battle area.

"Yoshii, what should we do?"

"You're asking me?"

"Then who should I ask?! Anything is fine, just think of something!"

Shimada and I were running side by side and shouting to each other at the same time.

"Okay, I got it! Shimada, you try to take them on!"

"Okay okay, and then?"

"My chances of escaping will be higher."

"I will definitely finish you off one day!"

Now we were at the end of the corridor. There was only a wall with a window in front of us.

"Shimada, summon your Shokanju now."

"Summon it?"

"Then use it to receive damage instead of me."

"Go die!"

"Wa! Why did you suddenly go berserk? Are you a berserker?"

I kept running, while dodging the punches that Shimada threw at me.

Damn. Now we were at a dead end.

I rested my back on the wall and looked forward, and saw the enemies getting closer and closer.

"You guys must be very tired of running around!"

"By the way, do we really have to chase them?"

"There is nothing else we can do. While we were foolishly playing with them, Sakamoto's group escaped."

"Then let's finish them and go back!"

When they realized we had nowhere to run, the four of them looked like they had used up all their energy and started chatting in front of us.

Since there is no reason to chase us, why not just let us go!?

"Oi, are you done chatting?!"

Shimada was angry and scolded them when she saw that they were being so impolite. Oh, in a situation like this, she was still very aggressive.

".. Ah!"

"What?"

"You really are the lousiest class."

How dare he say something like that! I must say something back!

"We are not the lousiest class! It's just the students that are lousy!"

"Yoshii, shut up!"

Huh? I was trying to fight back, why is she so angry?

"Don't look down on us just because we are Class F!"

"Oh really? What can those from the lowly Class F do?"

"See for yourself! Shokanju Summon!"

Shimada shouted out and the Chibi Shimada that I had seen many times before appeared.

"This is what I will do! I'll make you taste the difference in our ability!"

The guy from Class B who was quarreling with Shimada also summoned his Shokanju. It held its knife and dashed towards us. Although the enemy couldn't do any complicated moves, it had enough power.

"You!"

Shimada let her Shokanju rush forward.

The enemy's strong attack hit Shimada's Shokanju and---

Class B Kudou Shinji VS Class F Shimada Minami

Mathematics

159 VS 171

"You, are you really from Class F?"

No, they had the same ability! What's going on?

"He he, it is your fault for choosing mathematics. For this subject, it doesn't matter if I don't understand kanji!"

Oh, Shimada is so cool!

"By the way, Shimada, what's your score for Ancient Literature?"

"Just a single digit!"

She is so certain! That's also cool!

"Kudo, do you need help? You don't want to be sent to the Remedial Room, do you?"

"Damn, please help me!"

Kudo regretted it and bit his lips. It was really a shame to ask for help when fighting Class F.

The situation was looking bad for Shimada. Both Shokanjus were using their weapons and fighting with all their strength. Neither of them could leave now. If the number of enemies increased, she would definitely lose.

"Shimada, do you need help? You don't want to be sent to the Remedial Room like this right?"

"You'll just get in my way!"

"How mean!"

I regretted it and bit my lips. She's so mean!

However, this was no time for jokes. No matter how tired I was, I shouldn't just run away in a situation like this. It was time for me to join the battle.

"Shokanju Summon!"

A familiar magical circle appeared beside me. The Shokanju that had the same amount of fighting ability as my mathematics score, slowly revealed itself.

Its strong-looking face!

Its sturdy body!

Its fast and swift moves!

Its absolute strength.

"Don't worry about Yoshii! You can see he's just a weakling!"

"Pay me back! Pay me back my handsome descriptions!"

"Go away, you weakling!"

"Shimada, are you really my partner? Why are you insulting me?"

It was true that my Shokanju only had a bokutou on its hand and looked very weak.

Now I was surrounded by enemies (one of them being my classmate)!

"Now we're in trouble."

Shimada's face was slightly twisted.

Although she could win against the enemies, the difference between the scores was small. It was obvious that Shimada had consumed a huge amount of marks.

"Farewell!"

The Class B student controlled her Shokanju and attacked; Shimada's Shokanju couldn't dodge it. Now is the time for me to show up!

"Taste my kick!"

I made my Shokanju dash forward and trip my enemy from the side.

"Ah!"

Underestimating my ability and being unfamiliar with controlling a Shokanju, the enemy tripped over easily.

"This is not the end of it!"

I used my bokuto and swung towards the enemy, hit it into the ground. Now is the time!

"Ah----"

My Shokanju quickly grabbed the back of the head of the enemy Shokanju, and thrust its head towards the ground.

Boom! It made a loud noise that could be heard anywhere along the corridor.

"Huh?"

Everyone said that at the same time.

The result of the battle was decided instantly.

☆

Class B Sanada Yuka VS Class F Yoshii Akihisa

Mathematics

166 VS 51

The score of the battle just now appeared in the air.

This is so embarrassing! Her score is three times more than mine!

"What! Sanada's score is higher right? Why was she defeated by such a weak Shokanju?"

Kudo from Class B complained to the teacher. This had nothing to do with the teacher, what can you get from her?

"Huh? My Shokanju is still alive?"

The Shokanju that was beaten into the ground stood up, the power was really not enough..

"Yoshii, what happened?"

"Ah.. I guess these are maybe the few advantages of being a Punishment Bearer?"

From everyone's performance in the war against Class D, I realized that controlling Shokanju was not an easy task.

The extraordinary power and the difference in size, all made controlling Shokanju more difficult. Therefore everyone only used dash attacks or simple attack methods, and let the scores determine the result.

"What do you mean by advantages?"

"In other words, I am accustomed to controlling my Shokanju!"

As a Punishment Bearer I had summoned my Shokanju countless times, and the pain and fatigue that were reflected back at me gave me a few advantages---- it forced me to make my Shokanju perform more complicated actions. If I only knew how to perform simple actions such as "run" or "swing the knife," I could never do those extra jobs given to me.

"It must have been a fluke!"

The enemy raised its knife again and attacked me. However her terrified expression made me a little bit happy.

"Ha!"

Facing the enemy's knife, I made my Shokanju block its attack. As the score showed, our power difference was threefold. If I took the damage directly, the bokuto would definitely break into two, so I must defend the attack by diverting the enemy's attacking force.

"Ah!"

The enemy's knife was thrown sideways, and its body was open for attack.

"Haaa!"

I made my Shokanju dash forward to hit it on its waist, then gave it another hit on its head.

Class B Sanada Yuka VS Class F Yoshii Akihisa

Mathematics

126 VS 51

The value shown had made a few changes. Even though I bullied the enemy like this, we still had a huge gap in our power. My Syokanju is really weak!

"We better take them seriously!"

"Although I don't want to bully Class F like this, we can't just stand here and watch this mess."

The other two people at the back walked out. No matter what, this situation was just too bad right?

"Ah, wait a minute. At least make it fair, two versus two!"

"Yoshii, you are mistaken, it's not four against two anymore."

"Huh? Has backup arrived?"

"It is five versus one now!"

"Shimada, do you intend to betray me?"

Just how much does she dislike me?

"I'm coming, take this!"

Along with some useless shout, the enemies' Shokanju attacks came. I let my Shokanju duck to dodge the attacks.

"This guy!"

"The undead guy!"

Wa! The number of enemy Shokanjus had just increased by two! Was this the so called "death by dismemberment" punishment?

The enemy Shokanjus stood side by side and rushed towards me. I should avoid being surrounded before trying to defeat them.

"We should be able to kill him in one hit.."

"But none of our attacks land on him.."

"This guy is just like Metal Slime."

I am not that weak!

"Hey!"

I angrily dashed into one of the enemy and gave him a punch to the stomach, right on target!

And I hurt my hand. That was the result of the reacting force.

"Should we start now?"

"Damn! I'm retreating for now!"

Kudo realized that he couldn't win in a one on one fight so he decided to retreat. He wasted a lot of marks in the fight just now, so it was a good idea to run away. Now it became three versus two--- No, Shimada had also spent a lot of marks too, so it is now three versus one.

"Shimada, now!"

I gave an instruction to Shimada who was not being attacked by the enemies at the moment, and who was looking towards the fire extinguisher I used before.

"Roger!"

Shimada picked up the fire extinguisher and pulled out the safety switch. Now we should be able to run away-----

".."

--but she was not moving. What's going on?

"Quickly, use it!"

"Ah, I wonder what should I do?"

She had an extremely smug look on her face.

"Sh-Shimada! What do you want?"

Shimada decided to reveal her true colors in such a dire situation! It was very hard to fight against three opponents at the same time!

"What do I want? Ah, right----"

"I will do anything you want!"

"Then, firstly, let's change how we call each other!"

"I will do it! Please!"

"Then, I will call you Aki, and you will call me Minami-sama."

"Mi-Minami-sama! Is that fine?"

"This holiday, I feel like going to 'La Pedice' in front of the station, and eating some crêpes there."

"Damn! I only live on salt water! How can you even consider such an expensive idea--- Ah! Okay okay, I will treat you, Minami-sama! Please, I will treat you, just don't leave me alone!"

"Good, and one last thing."

"More? Give me a break!"

Shimada looked really happy.

"Say you will love me forever."

What! This is like looting a burning house! I will remember this!

"You will love me forever."

I repeated exactly what she told me. Now she shouldn't have any complaints right?

"Idiot!"

(Blowing sound)

The fire went out.

We had white powder all over our bodies and barely escaped with our lives.

But why did Shimada look like she was in a bad mood?

☆

"Ah----I'm exhausted!"

"Y-Yoshii! Are you alright?"

Himeji opened the door and dashed out. Her bouncing breasts were really dazzling.

"Yeah. This is nothing---- Ah, it hurts!"

Shimada fiercely stepped on my foot. For some reason Shimada was really angry with me today.

"Humph!"

"S-Shimada, what did I do wrong?"

(Scary stare!)

"Ah, n, no, Minami.."

That murderous gaze was focused on me now.

Although she specially gave me permission to drop the "sama" honorific, the name I used for her couldn't be reverted.

I really couldn't get used to calling her Minami in such a short amount of time.

"Why did the relationship between you two become so good?"

"Huh? You mean us?"

If our relationship was good, she wouldn't be stepping on my feet and threatening me at the same time, would she?

"Ah, you're back? Thanks for all your hard work."

"You look fine."

"Yeah, I'm back."

Yuuji and Hideyoshi walked out as well. Muttsurini didn't seem to worry about us so much, but he also slightly nodded towards me.

"Then everyone."

"Huh?"

Yuuji looked at everyone and said,

"Here's the current situation. It looks like Class C is our enemy. Since they haven't attacked us yet, they will be declaring war on us immediately after this war ends. To be honest, we don't really stand a chance if we fight Class C immediately after Class B."

They are probably thinking the same thing. Even if we win this war, they won't give us any time to rest, and will attack us immediately.

"Then what should we do? Even if we win this war, we will only be an easy target for Class C right?"

"That's true.."

"Don't worry."

Confronted by a troubled group, Yuuji stared with his energetic wild look and said,

"Since they are going to attack like this, I will counter their attack in my way."

"Your way?"

"Yeah, I will return them a big favour tomorrow morning."

We were dismissed after that and continued the War tomorrow.