We can’t give him room to retrieve Reina. Depending on the situation, the first move belonged to us.
“Match me, Mashiro!”
“On it! [Sixteen Ice Arrows]!”
The moment I closed in, sixteen ice arrows fanned out from above, below, left, and right with staggered timing toward the black robe.
”…… [Flame Shot].”
“Fire element……! Worst matchup……!”
The ice arrows were struck down. That they balanced at all was because Mashiro had the larger mana pool.
A typical mage would have had [Flame Shot] reach her.
“It’s two on one! You’ll have to deal with me too!”
A simultaneous thrust at head and torso.
A normal mage, distracted by the upper strike, would have eaten the body blow — but the black robe expertly caught both.
Bad to stay in his grip. I needed distance……!
I delivered a front kick. The sole of my foot caught his body, and we were both flung back.
“Hmph, not bad.”
”…………”
Talent as a mage and athletic reflexes that can follow my movement.
Clearly abnormal. There’s no question his body has undergone some kind of modification.
That an excellent mage’s physical ability inversely scales down with magical talent has been demonstrated through history.
This man is breaking the rule the world set.
“Now…… what’s your next move……?”
If I’m to use [Magecraft Funeral], I want to finish him here.
But even with Mashiro and me, the odds of pushing through cleanly are at best fifty-fifty.
We’re managing by complementing each other’s weak spots, but if one of us goes down, it’s over.
If we two can’t close it out…… there’s only one move.
The question is when to deploy it.
I glanced toward the room where Reina must be.
The distance between me and the black robe is about the same. So — I move first!
”…………”
“Eerie how our thinking lines up.”
He and I started at the same time. But he arrived first.
“How modified are you……!”
”…………”
No spoken reply…… but an unpleasant boko sound came from his body.
Bad if I take this!
By instinct I pulled back the hand I’d been about to receive with, and shifted to dodge.
The empty fist pierced into the wall and shattered it.
I broke into cold sweat at the power. But pulling back here disgraces a villain.
“After a big swing comes an opening — don’t forget it.”
I slipped behind the black robe and locked him into a full-nelson.
Uooo! Hold up, my muscles……!
“[Sixteen Wind Arrows]!”
“[Flame Shot].”
Fire and wind collided; an explosive gust burst out.
In that instant, a scent that didn’t suit this battlefield wafted by.
Huh…… this smell — I’ve smelled it somewhere——
My eyes drifted unconsciously toward her room.
“Looking away mid-life-and-death exchange?”
“Uoh!?”
As he twisted, the black robe’s fist grazed my cheek. A line of skin tore; blood ran.
What kind of body does he have……
“Let me see what kind of face you’re hiding!”
”……!”
I drove a palm strike at the mask, but his palm was slipped between them — unsuccessful.
We ended up grabbing each other’s hands, locked in a grapple.
“What kind of idiot strength is this……!”
“My line……!”
“[Frost Wind]!”
”……! [Burning Wind]!”
“Didn’t you just say not to look away, and you forgot?”
“Gh……!”
To counter Mashiro’s spell, he had to deploy a considerable spell.
Not missing the casting interval, I swept his leg and unbalanced him.
Now — only now!
I shouted the name of the one who’d break this situation.
“——Aliiiice!!”
“——I was waiting.”
As though it were the most natural thing, she had entered through the window without making the slightest sound.
Catching golden hair in the edge of my vision, I dove down, holding Mashiro’s head down with me as I crouched.
”——[Blade-Flower Scattershot (Zankasangeki)].”
A shockwave of slashes passed overhead.
Lightning-speed.
Slashes shot from Alice’s sword split into three paths. They crept along the floor, traced the wall, flew through the air.
The slashes writhed as if alive, sowing confusion in the black robe.
“[Flame Bomb]……!”
Flame bombs scattered into the air, but Alice’s attack didn’t stop there.
His response was late; the slashes hit him directly and blew him away.
“Tt! [Frost Wind]!”
The aftermath he left behind exploded — and Mashiro’s magic froze it. But because the fire had spread wide, a wall of frozen flame formed, blocking the line of sight.
“Damn it! Pulling a hassle right at the end!”
“I’ll go after him.”
“Counting on you!”
If it’s Alice, no worries.
She cut a person-sized hole in the ice wall and immediately gave chase to the black robe.
Mashiro and I burst into the room he’d been near.
It was a staff room — unusually scarce in belongings, plain.
At the back, leaning against a bed, lay the familiar pink-haired girl.
In the moonlight, her skin looked white as if drained of life.
"""Reina!"""
We hurried over and gently lay her on the bed.
Mashiro brought her face close to listen for breathing; I felt her wrist for pulse.
The longest ten seconds of my life.
When we looked at each other, the panic had drained from our faces and been replaced with relief.
”……Thank god~”
Mashiro went floppy, eyes half-watering.
“Looks like she’s only unconscious.”
“Then maybe the others too——”
”…… Yeah, let’s go tend to them at once. The students hiding in their rooms need to help.”
“Then Boku will let them know!”
“Ah, hey!”
Before I could stop her, Mashiro left the room.
Geez…… she needs to remember she’s also a target.
Well, the perp is being chased by Alice, so the threat should be neutralized.
”…… Ouga-kun……?”
”……! You’re okay?”
“Sorry…… I…… troubled you……”
“Don’t worry. I told you, lean on me. This much is no problem.”
”…… Fufu, kind…… hm……”
“Don’t talk. Rest slowly.”
She gave a small nod and closed her eyelids.
”…… I’m really glad you’re safe.”
I stroked her head along her beautiful hair as she closed her eyes.
“——Ah.”
“Lord Ouga! Over here!”
”…… Got it. On my way.”
Leaving the now-safe Reina, I moved to where Alice was calling.
She’d already sheathed her sword and was in her usual maid mode.
”…… That.”
”…… That’s……”
Where Alice was pointing was a scene that even miserable failed to describe.
A body crumpled like origami.
…… A shattered mask and glasses.
Sherva Anthem — who’d fought us — clad in the black robe, had become one who would not return.
“And this was lying near him.”
”…… It’s been a while since I saw one of those.”
[Body-Strengthening Doping Extract]. The illegal stimulant Aliban had also used.
I see. The abnormal physical ability — all of it makes sense with that.
Without anything dramatic, the pieces just fit.
“The magic-element matches as well. Circumstantially, he’s no doubt the perpetrator…… what shall we do?”
”…… Right. I agree, Alice. As a House Veret servant, please go inform the kingdom’s guards.”
“Understood.”
”…… Wait a moment, Alice.”
“Yes, what is it?”
“Do you have paper and pen?”
“If my everyday set suffices.”
“That’s fine. Lend me.”
…… An insurance policy for an extreme case. Frankly, I may be overthinking it. But for a first-class mind, hedging is the move.
“Deliver this too. Trust you.”
”…… It will be done.”
Alice bowed, then leapt from the window and into the night city.
I, too, mimicked her routine, jumped from place to place, and descended to the ground.
I wanted to check something before the body was collected.
Please let me be wrong.
I approached Sherva’s body and confirmed what I’d wanted to know.
And I was certain.
”…… As I thought.”
My small mutter was swept away by the night wind.
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
The incident that had thrown the academy students into terror was processed as Sherva’s jealousy-driven rampage, and ended without fanfare.
Many testimonies confirmed his agitated state, and the official line was that he’d resorted to the [Body-Strengthening Doping Extract] and acted on emotion.
As Mashiro and I had guessed, no one assaulted last night had died.
But the dead tell no tales. The already-missing students were searched for by the guards but never found.
With missing persons, things can’t be papered over.
Lamdarb Kingdom and the magic academies jointly issued a statement.
The Inter-Academy Magic Tournament was canceled, and a return order was issued for everyone, including the supporters and tourists.
Other than representatives, it’d take time via regular ferries; Mashiro and the others must be on the ship by now, already departed.
I marched on, my whitest battle-coat fluttering.
I walked the dark, shadow-cast paths and finally emerged into a place lit by sunlight.
At the center of an audience-less stage stood one person, looking at the sky.
”…… You came.”
“With no one here, I’d been wondering if you’d stood me up. I was the one called. Lateness is not impressive.”
“I actually arrived ahead of the appointed time, but……”
“So — what’s this important conversation?”
“Don’t rush the conclusion. Before that, one thing to make clear——the perpetrator — Reina Milfonti.”
As I said it, the figure wrapped in the black robe constructed her false, unsettling smile.