"Huh...!"
When I looked around again, I was back in Schale’s dormitory, where I’d fallen asleep.
"Whew... I almost got killed by some crazy old hag..."
Then Arona spoke up.
"Haruta, today’s Schale duty officer is Hayase Yuuka!"
"Oh, good. I actually had something I needed to do in Millennium anyway."
"Huh? You, of all people, had no interest in Millennium...?"
"No... I mean, sometimes I can do that, can’t I? I should also go have a proper fight with Neru."
"Ah... that time... you promised, didn’t you?"
"Yeah... my body’s almost fully recovered, so it’s about time I stretched it out."
"But if the opponent is Neru from Millennium..."
"If Neru finds out about this, I’m dead, right?"
"There is a 98% chance of death."
"Huh? What’s the other 2%?"
"Something that would leave Neru stunned, Haruta."
"Well... that’s not important right now. Where’s Sensei?"
Arona fell silent for a moment before answering.
"Um... Sensei is at Kouzagi Park right now."
"Huh? Right now?"
"Yes. Sensei is currently directing the battle there."
"Oh... then I’ll go too."
"Without a weapon...?"
"Hey, that’s a prejudice. If I’m that good with a sword, wouldn’t I be good with my fists too?"
"...That’s just..."
"Hey, that stings, so just let me have this."
"Haah... fine."
"So today’s duty officer is Yuuka... Then write a letter and send it for me. Tell her I’m sorry I can’t come right now, but I’ll be back in about ten minutes... no, five."
"Yes!"
Crash!
I’d gotten used to this ability by now. Borrowing Aris’s expression, I’d acquired a dodge skill that let me move whenever I wanted.
"Now then... let’s see..."
Hearing gunfire from the park in the distance, Sensei was probably there.
"Then shall I go?"
Crash!
"Hey, Moe, we’ve got plenty of bullets. Want to try shooting down that drone?"
"Oh, that sounds good. We still have plenty of explosives left too, so let’s give it a shot!"
"Good idea. Who wants to fire?"
"Then Moe can do it~ You like this kind of thing, right? Just one shot...?"
"Right! Then... over there...?"
"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"..."
Click
"Intruder detected! Respond immediately!"
"Whoa, wai—"
Rat-a-tat-tat
I really needed to fix that habit of theirs, of firing first and asking questions never.
Thump!
"...What the hell... that guy... he caught a bullet with his bare hand...?"
"That’s pretty intense..."
Thud-thud-thud
"Wow... so this is SRT Special Academy, huh?"
"...Wait... that guy is..."
"Miyako? Come here for a second."
"What is it?... That guy is..."
"Chaos... right...?"
"No, why do you keep calling me by a perfectly normal name over and over again?!"
Click
"Even if it’s you, if three of us fire at once, one shot is bound to hit."
"Haah... you’ll get hurt if you keep that up."
"Bluffing in this situation? No matter how strong you are, you can’t catch bullets barehanded. Even if you got lucky and caught one, that would still be a coincidence."
"Luck is a skill too."
I brushed Saki’s logic aside and settled into my stance.
"All right... heads down, okay?"
"We’re not going to—"
Whoosh
"...?! Heads down!!"
"Hyaa!!!"
Shing!
I formed a sharp blade with my hand and struck toward them. With the feeling of something gathering at my fingertips, a powerful slash burst from my hand, cut the tree behind them in half, and left a huge mark on the building.
Rumble...
"...Is that... a person...?"
"Of course! I’m a person."
"...Tch... just kill us already..."
"What, am I an orc or something? What kind of line is that, like it came from some hentai?"
"SRT does not accept defeat."
"But the FOX Squad girls come back just fine, don’t they? I thought I was looking at some kind of rogue unit."
"Don’t insult our seniors!"
Click!
"Fine, I won’t insult them. But you’re coming with me."
"...So you really did have some scheme..."
"No... haah... wait a second."
Crash!
When I opened a portal, Sensei was right in front of me.
"Sensei! I’ve got them subdued, so come over here. These girls won’t listen to reason."
"Huh...? Already?"
And behind Sensei, Kanna was leaning against a tree, slowly sipping coffee from a mug.
"...Haah... Haruta, why are you here...?"
"Oh, come on, Chief, give me a little break! I’m leaving!"
Swish
"Sensei, hurry!"
"Oh... okay."
Once Sensei came over, the rabbits had gone obediently still and were waiting.
"Tch... to be caught like this..."
"Wow... doesn’t that look familiar?"
"I was thinking the same thing."
"So what are you planning to do with us now?!"
"What do you mean, what am I going to do? Off to jail with you."
"..."
For a moment, the entire squad gave me looks of utter contempt.
"...I’ll hand them over to Sensei for now. I’m filing a support request here. If they still won’t listen, then those rabbit friends over there will become very obedient! If anything comes up, call me!"
Crash!
"I’m leaving!"
"Uh... thanks... have a good day!"
When I returned to Schale, I immediately saw Arona and Yuuka working.
"Oh, Yuuka! You were here?"
"...? Haruta?"
"Yeah, I just went out for a bit. I’m going to wash up for a moment!"
"Okay!"
I ran straight to my room, quickly washed up, and came back out.
"Ah, Yuuka, I need to finish work early today and go to Millennium, so come with me!"
"Eh...? Is something going on?"
"No... well, there’s still a little grace period before I enroll in Trinity, so..."
"Ah... wait... Haruta...?"
"Hm? Why?"
"Then... you’re affiliated with three schools...?"
"I’m the one who can’t believe it. If even I can’t believe it, imagine how everyone else feels..."
"..."
Yuuka deeply regretted her past self for not stopping me from going to Millennium.
"Anyway, let’s go to Millennium."
Crash!
"Come on! Hurry!"
"Mm..."
We took each other’s hands and stepped through the portal.
"Phew... Millennium really is fun just to look at."
"What does that even mean... So, where are we going first?"
"Ah... I promised Neru I’d recover fully and then fight her once..."
"You mean... when you broke the Seminar building before...?"
"Probably. And there was a lot I needed to say when I stopped by the C&C office, too."
After I explained everything, Yuuka nodded a few times as if she understood. Then she gave me a slightly disappointed look before heading toward the Seminar office.
"Ah, Yuuka! If you come by on duty again next time, let’s go hang out together!"
"Yeah... okay!"
Then I headed straight for the C&C office.
"...Wait, where was it again...?"
I’d almost forgotten. C&C was, after all, a team created in secret and later exposed to the public once their identity was confirmed—basically the Delta Force of this world.
"...Well... they do have an official name, at least."
No matter how hard I tried to remember, I kept forgetting where this place was.
"...Damn it... I should’ve just asked Yuuka..."
"Ah! What is it, Master!"
"...Oh, Asuna?"
"Yep! What are you doing here? Don’t you usually hang out with Seminar?"
"Yeah, well... I don’t even know where this place is either... no, I came looking for you girls at C&C today."
"Hmm... I was going to hang out with Karin today too, but I forgot the way!"
"By any chance... where’s the C&C office?... Ah, and where’s Neru...?"
"Hmm... the boss is probably at the Training Department office exercising right now."
"Okay! Great."
For some reason, even with my ability, finding the C&C office was a pain in the ass, so I decided to just go to the Training Department and find Neru there.
"If I go find Sumire first, she’ll probably be there."
Crash!
"Thanks! Asuna! I’ll come hang out later!"
"Yep! Let’s play together later, Master!"
Leaving the brightly smiling Asuna behind, I headed for the Training Department.
"...This is the Training Department...?"
When I stepped into the Training Department, which looked like a place I probably shouldn’t be entering, it was just a perfectly ordinary gym.
"Oh... nice. I should stop by here to work out sometimes."
Inside, I could see Sumire teaching Neru her form.
I thought it might be funny if I approached quietly and spoke to them, so I decided to sneak up on them.
"...One more! One more time!"
"Hup!"
"Hey! Neru!"
"?!"
Thwack!
"...Ghk..."
I hadn’t expected a fist to fly at me that fast.
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