A sudden sound of something being fired. A female student who was blown away. The people that were present froze in their tracks. It was as if time had stopped. They were unable to understand what had just transpired. After a few moments, however, someone screamed upon seeing the girl who had collapsed.
“K-KYAAAAAAA!”
“What is it? What’s happening?”
“Katsuragi-san?”
“Hey, is everything alright?”
“I just heard something!”
And time started to flow again. Chaos ensued. Among the ruckus, Rikka, who had been standing next to the collapsed girl, was still immobile due to the shock.
(What… just… occurred?)
It was incomprehensible. The mail that arrived out of nowhere. The voice that she heard within her head. The name of the sender, the content of the mail, and the event that just happened. From the beginning, she didn’t excel at thinking. By this point in time, her brain was experiencing an overheat as she failed to organize all the information.
(R-right, Katsuragi-chi is…)
She glanced at her classmate who had been blown away.
(….Eh? What does this mean…?)
Witnessing the sight, Rikka’s made a surprised expression.
———We are watching all of this from the shadows.
“Ichinose-san”
“Y,yeah. I know.”
Ichinose-san readies her gun without lowering her guard. Momo and I are also in combat mode. Why are we in this situation? If I am to explain, we would have to go back in time.
—–Several minutes ago
We are undergoing our second infiltration.
“Okay, Momo, it’s all on you from now on.”
“Wafu.”
Momo replies with vigor. Momo is being carried around on Ichinose-san’s arms. By doing so, Momo also receives the effects of Ichinose-san’s “Cognitive Impediment”. Momo has to be outside of her shadows in order to sniff out the smells. This is the most efficient way of getting things done. Just for security, I have my skills activated too. We have to be ready to escape at any time if things go awry.
In particular, I have “Detect Enemy” deployed at all times. Although the monster tamer is our primary concern, I don’t want to encounter the Student Council President either. It would be terrible if we are placed under the effects of “Brainwash” or “Bewitchment”. Since I know her presence, it should be fine as long as we keep our distance. While being carried around, Momo sniffs here and there “That way…”
Momo shapes our shadows into arrows to indicate the directions we have to proceed in. While following her instructions, we lurk around the school… No one noticed us, right? When I look around, the students and the evacuees are walking pass us as if we didn’t exist. Despite knowing that we are safe, my heart pounds heavily.
“… There’s quite the commotion…”
Unlike when we first entered, we could feel the heavy atmosphere around us. The attack from the dark wolf must have been the cause. Students are moving about in a hurry, and we see multiple evacuees crying or shouting hysterically.
Nishino, I can remember the home center where you originally stayed at. The evacuees there were also creating a scene like this. It’s a wonder how these types of people never forget to assert themselves despite being virtually useless. To begin with, they are not in the position to complain while being protected by others. Mob mentality is truly troublesome. As long as there are enough people standing behind you, everything you say would sound justified. While thinking about this, two kids energetically pass us. They look alike. Are they twins?
“Hey, nee-chan, it’s real loud here. I won’t be able to take a nap.”
“Hahaha, lil’ brother. These guys are what we call ‘headless chickens’ You shouldn’t mind them.” “Oooh, nee-cham, you’re amazing to know such a difficult word!… but what does that mean?”
“I have no idea!”
“As expected of nee-chan!”
Even in such an environment, the children are cheerful… Rather, I feel something powerful from these kids. Do they, perhaps, possess skills? From Momo’s reactions, they don’t seem like the monster tamer… It doesn’t matter. As “Detect Danger” and “Detect Enemy” isn’t setting off any alarms, leaving them aside is fine. We continue our search inside the building while listening to the kids’ voice fade into the distance….
“—Huh?”
“What’s wrong, lil brother?”
“… It’s nothing. I think I sensed something peculiar just now?”
“…?”
——
A few minutes after entering the school.
Arriving at a certain point, Momo lets out a soft bark.
“Wafu”
We have arrived at the cafeteria. So the monster tamer is here… There are around a dozen or so noticeable presences. As of this point, “Detect Danger” isn’t showing any form of reaction. We enter the cafeteria. The interiors are simple and open, with everywhere aside from the kitchen being visible from the entrance. There is a group of students gathered together. Within the group, I see several acquaintances. Nishino-kun, Rikka-chan, Smart Glasses-kun, and the sports girl from the shopping mall.
“Riccha…!”
Ichinose-san also notices her.
“Ichinose-san, I understand what you are feeling, but please hold yourself back.”
“I-I know.”
I wonder if she truly understands… Regardless, I am curious about what the students are discussing. Using “Listening Ears”, I listen to the content of the discussion. They are trying to track down the monster tamer as well. They have arrived at the same conclusion as us, and it seems like the President was the one that took note of the abnormality.
The students are about to go out to search for the tamer… As I expected, that President is clever. To reach the truth without having any prior knowledge of the situation. The only miscalculation she has made is about the location of the culprit. This is the case of a bug hiding on a lion. Momo sniffs each individual carefully before her gaze lands on a single person.
“Is ‘that’ who we’re looking for?”
Momo nods. Ichinose-san’s eyes open wide upon realizing who it is.
“Are, are you sure there isn’t any mistake?”
“It’s impossible for Momo to be wrong. Right?”
“Wan!”
Momo nods again, this time with confidence. So this person is the monster tamer…
Momo is staring at the sports girl from the shopping mall.
Her name is… oh, the word “Katsuragi” is printed on her jersey. That’s her right? So she’s Katsuragi. It is kind of unexpected. She doesn’t look like the type of person that would command monsters to attack other humans. Or was she acting all along? There’s a saying telling us not to judge a book by its cover and all that.
Now then, how should we act? Since we know who the monster tamer is, we could just send a mail to Nishino-kun and Rikka-chan, after which we would retreat. Although I’ve told Ichinose-san about meeting up with them, simply mailing them should do the trick. It should be enough as long as the information is passed on to them. Whether they choose to believe or not is up to them to decide, and there isn’t any reason to go so far for them in the first place.
Yup, that’s right. Now that I think about it, why am I trying so hard to help others? It’s a request from Ichinose-san, isn’t it? It’s true that she’s a party member and she has saved me once, so until I pay her back… arriving at this point, I stop. Until I pay her back? But what will I do after I pay her back?
An exceedingly ugly and terrible thought crosses my mind. Really, I shouldn’t be thinking about these sorts of things… “Kudou-san.”
“Offu…”
Oh shoot. A strange sound came out.
“……What’s wrong?”
“N-nothing… Rather than that, what is it?”
I glance at Ichinose-san from the side. I see determination in her eyes.
“This is just a speculation… but if I were to… snipe her from here, will it solve the problem?” “…That, that’s…”
I stutter in response to her suggestion. Indeed, while it’s pretty extreme, if we get rid of the girl right here right now, everything will be solved. But to think Ichinose-san will bring it up herself… “Can you… do it?”
“… I will.”
Having said that, Ichinose-san positions her gun.
“Right now… right here, if I fin…finish her off, it will bring everything to an end. From this distance, I won’t miss either… so I, I will—-” “Kill her? Ichinose-san, are you able to do it?”
Hearing my blunt usage of the word “kill”, Ichinose-san falters momentarily.
“…I can. I was the one… who brought this up. I will take responsibility… for what I have said.” “Even so…”
To a certain degree, she realizes the fact that we’re being dragged into this mess. That is why she is asserting that she should be the one to dirty her hands. However… “Rejected. I will not permit you.”
“Why?”
“There are two reasons. First and foremost, if Ichinose-san pulls the trigger, regardless of whether or not the target dies, our existence might be revealed to the students here.” Even though Ichinose-san’s “Cognitive Impediment” and “Sniping” are powerful, they are not all-encompassing. Because of the scope, it’s possible to notice her line of sight even with concealment skills activated.
Another demerit is that once her opponent recognizes her, the effects of the skills gradually decrease. We can’t risk being exposed in front of all these people. I mean, a former-classmate wielding a gun while being accompanied by an unknown man who can control a shape-shifting slime and a dog with the ability to manipulate shadows? If things go wrong, we might be accused of being the monster tamers. Even escaping will be difficult at that point.
“Second, we can’t guarantee the death of our enemy as of now.”
“…And what do you mean by that?”
“I didn’t realize until I took a good look at her, but I sense an unpleasant feeling coming from her. More specifically, it’s coming from her shadows.” “That means…”
With that, Ichinose-san seems to have also noticed.
“Yes, the dark wolf should be hiding within her shadow.”
No, there might even be other monsters lurking around in her shadow. After such a disturbance, it’s unlikely for her to enter her opponent’s headquarters defenseless. It won’t be weird for her to have some guards nearby. From that perspective, the dark wolf ability to cut off the presence of those in the shadows is very useful. She might also have slimes which have mimicking skills like Aka. In other words, in the worst scenario, a battle might erupt the moment we attack.
“It is as you have said, Kudou-san. Sorry for being so thoughtless.”
“It’s fine. For now, we should continue to observe her behaviors. A perfect opportunity to shoot might arise.” Nodding, Ichinose-san lowers her gun. Immediately afterwards, Katsuragi draws herself near Nishino-kun and Rikka-chan. From an ignorant bystander’s perspective, they would seem like they are having a casual conversation. However, it was completely different from our angle.
“…!! Ricchan!”
“Y-you can’t! Please hold back!”
“But!”
“We can’t be negligent and have our identities revealed. We should send a ‘Mail’. As long as she moves away from the girl, we can protect her at the very least.” “”Y-yes.”
Ichinose-san hurriedly shoots a mail to Rikka-chan. Almost simultaneously, Rikka-chan shows a reaction.
“What is it, Rikka?”
“No, I thought I heard something just now. It said ‘You’ve received a mail’.”
“A mail?”
“Yes.”
Fortunately, she received the mail. With this, Rikka-chan should move away from the monster tamer. This will do.
Just when I am entertaining such thoughts— I feel a shiver run across my body. “Detect Danger” activates.
“Eh?”
What an awful timing. Soon after we sent the mail, Katsuragi’s, the monster tamer’s, shadow moves. Nishino-kun isn’t aware of this. Neither is Rikka-chan. Not to mention the other students. We are the only ones conscious of this fact. Is she planning on starting a rampage here? Impossible. What is she thinking? No, this isn’t the time to get distracted.
“—Kudou-san!”
Ichinose-san has already positioned her gun. Stop! If you fire, our position would be exposed! We should just abandon her—No, shit!
“Fire!”
I was shouting when I noticed. Ichinose-san pulls the trigger without hesitation. The sound of gunshot is heard throughout. The bullet that was fired travels straight towards the eyebrows of the monster tamer… and is absorbed. Afterwards, she falls to the ground.
Silence. And then screams.
In the midst of chaos, we do not look away from the monster tamer who has fallen down. Just now… did it… miss? It looked like the bullet was sucked in. When I observe closely, I see that a small “darkness” has appeared on her forehead.
Is that the dark wolf’s ability?
“That hurt…”
Words leak out of her mouth.
-Incoming!
The next moment, “darkness” spreads.