When I came through the portal, I found myself in what looked like some kind of ruins.
"...Sensei, are you here?"
"...?! Y-you... you are?!"
I thought, right. I’d said I was with Arius Squad.
"Yeah, yeah, it’s nothing. Where’s Sensei?"
"...Here... sleeping."
Sensei was taking a brief nap. Saori was standing watch, and the other squad girls were nearby.
"...Hm... I get the situation in broad strokes. I’ll help."
"...Was that ordered by Sensei?"
"Ah... well, sort of? And I was personally curious."
"...I see, for now."
I understood why Saori was wary of me. She also remembered that I’d shot Sensei.
"...Ah... and..."
"Go on~"
"...I’m... really... sorry about shooting Sensei... I’ll spend my whole life making it up."
"...Yeah, just thinking that much is enough."
Maybe I’d let my killing intent show for a second, or maybe she just had a sharp instinct. I hadn’t expected her to notice it immediately, apologize... and then accept it.
"...Thanks..."
"Don’t thank me. Thank Sensei."
"...Understood."
After that short exchange, Sensei woke up.
"Mmm... what... is it...?"
"Sensei? Are you alive?"
"Ugh... seeing Haruta makes me feel like I’m going to die..."
"I feel like I’m going to die every time I see Sensei too."
"Heh heh... just kidding. Anyway, let’s get moving soon."
"Uh... but I can’t fight right now."
At that, every girl in Arius Squad looked at me with confusion.
"...Well, that makes sense... If I help directly, maybe I can be useful, but... as you can see right now..."
Crack, crack, crack.
I showed them every weapon I could currently use. The Crucible spear of Paradise Lost.
"...Aren’t those three your strongest weapons?"
That was the most accurate and most painful question possible. But still.
"...Well... my body’s in pretty bad shape right now. So I can only use the spear once."
"What about the other weapons?"
"You know that transforming thing you used to fight before?"
"Yeah, that was the one I was most curious about."
"I was too... When I saw it before, it didn’t even seem human. No, honestly, the fact that a Kivotos student can even have a power like that is strange to begin with."
"To be exact... I poured all my mystery and fear into that crazy monster someone summoned at the end, so I’m recovering from that right now. I can use the scythe’s power normally, but if I do, my sense of self gets eaten away, so I manifested it through fear. But right now?"
"...I see."
"A-and then... that burning... sword..."
"Oh, that? If I use that on a student, they’ll be cut down instantly."
"...Uuuh..."
After hearing that, everyone seemed to accept it.
"!? Then wouldn’t it be better to shove that sword into Beatrice?"
"Exactly why I came here. And Sensei?"
"Hm?"
"This time... can I kill a person... no, worse than a person, that rotten bastard?"
"I don’t make students dirty their hands. And even if I did, I’d be the one to do it."
"...There’s no need to dirty Sensei’s hands. I’ll do it!"
"...No. I’m Sensei, and precisely because of that, I can’t force children to take lives. Even killing out of necessity can’t be justified."
His serious expression and unwavering gaze pushed me back for a moment, but right now I had to say what I believed.
"Sensei, Beatrice isn’t even human to begin with. So it wouldn’t be murder."
"...Haruta? Then if you kill someone who can talk and speak with us just because you’re angry, you’d become the same kind of person."
"...Haah... I really can’t beat Sensei, can I?"
"Yes. Thank you. Thank you for saying that... I really don’t want to make the children dirty their hands."
"...Then I’ll follow around the perimeter and support you with sniping."
That made Sensei’s eyes widen for a moment, and he looked at me with surprise.
"...Haruta... aren’t you a minor?"
"...Uh... yeah, but... here there are all kinds of techniques, including how to shoot a gun."
"...Ah. Right, here."
That was right. No matter how used to it I’d become, this was Kivotos, where firearms were commonplace and getting hit wasn’t all that dangerous.
"Then let’s really get going."
"Right. Let’s move."
There wasn’t much in the way of cover nearby, so I decided to follow behind them and at least practice controlling the recoil on a sniper rifle.
"Arius Squad spotted ahead! All units, fire!"
Rat-a-tat-tat!
Bang bang!
"Even from far away, just watching... that might be a little dangerous?"
Watching Sensei fight, I also saw the Arius students and the Justina Council, who I’d thought had been completely wiped out.
"...Can I even do this with a sniper...?"
Click!
"Oh... this kind of reminds me of an AWP."
And then came the tense first shot.
"Alright... so... just like in the book..."
Bang!
"...Ow!"
The scope slammed into my eye, and a wave of intense pain shot through it.
"No... wait, this isn’t how you hold it...?"
Only then did I remember that a sniper rifle was supposed to be braced somewhere before firing.
"...Uh..."
Embarrassment rushed over me all at once.
"...No, whatever. And this scope is uncomfortable anyway. If I focus even a little, it’s basically like having a clairvoyant eye."
So I focused a little and tried again.
"...Hoo..."
Click!
"Deep breath..."
Ziiing.
Curious, I poured a little mystery into it too.
"...!"
I saw an Arius student slowly approaching Sensei. She had a grenade launcher in her hands. No matter how much the Shittim Chest could block, getting hit by explosives like grenades too many times would still be dangerous.
And as the Arius student slowly raised the grenade launcher and aimed it at Sensei, my body moved on its own.
Bang!
Boom!
"...Oh, this is good...?"
Maybe because I’d fired it with mystery infused into the shot, the power was considerable.
"But... I don’t know if I can keep doing this... and it doesn’t even feel satisfying to hit."
Haruta decided he’d rather just carry a sword.
"Good! Let’s keep pushing forward like this!"
Sensei and the squad girls advanced, drawing closer to their destination.
"Alright... I should probably start watching from above."
With that, I climbed onto one of the nearly collapsed buildings nearby, planning to keep an eye on the situation and head down if it looked like I was needed.
"...Wait, hold on, that—"
Down below, I saw Sensei talking to some kind of hologram.
"...Beatrice... well, whatever. There’s nothing wrong with seeing the face of the bastard who’s going to die later. And now I can curse her out, so I feel great! You rotten old hag!"
A lot of things flashed through my mind, but I decided to hold back for a moment.
"Whoa... the Justina Council is a little bigger this time, huh?"
From above, I could see the Council swarming toward Sensei.
"Hm... this time I’ll use the scope... huh?"
As I raised the scope and looked around, I spotted something familiar.
Pink hair.
Yellow eyes.
A single decorated wing.
Even the princess-like dress.
"...Wait a second... Mika?"
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