CH 80

Igarashi Toka, who was walking around in the school, immediately noticed the incident. She heard the screams. When she turned to look, she saw many students desperately running out of the cafeteria. The figures of monsters could be seen behind them.



(As expected, the perpetrator is someone from the school)



Igarashi confirmed that her fear wasn’t incorrect. The monster tamer was inside the school. She also realized that they were in the worst situation imaginable.



“President! President Igarashi!”



Vice-President Miyamoto scrambled over to her. He approached while panting for breath. His shoulders were moving up and down violently.



“Ha~aha~a, it-it’s bad! The monster tamer is a student and the monsters—”



“Please calm yourself. Who’s the monster tamer? How many casualties do we have?”



“The monster tamer… is … Katsuragi. Katsuragi Sayaka is the perpetrator…”



Although she was surprised for a moment at the report, she quickly regained her composure. While investigating, she had gained a certain amount of understanding about the possible suspects. The student council, the exploration squad, and the evacuees. Among all of them, Katsuragi Sayaka was one of the people who she was highly skeptical about.



(I see… so it was her after all.)



She just wasn’t sure about it. Joining the exploration squad since day 2, Katsuragi had received a lot of praise from Miyamoto and the other students for her dedication. Also, since she was so assertive about joining the exploration, she had the chance to interact with a variety of monsters and quietly build up her strength.



(… There wasn’t any report about suspicious behaviors. This means that her acting skill was good enough to deceive everyone.) She had to admit despite the humiliation that they were completely tricked by Katsuragi. Igarashi rapidly shifted gears and thought about the situation presented before her.



“I get the gist of the situation. Please help the others evacuate to safety. I’ll handle the rest.”



Fortunately, there was but one way to reach the main building from the cafeteria. As long as she stopped the monster tamer here, she could minimize the damage.



“H-however, to leave you here alone is—”



“It’s fine so leave immediately!”



“Y-yes ma’am.”



Ignoring Miyamoto who scurried away, she looked towards the army of monsters. She ordered the retreat of Miyamoto and the others not because she valued them but because she judged that they would hold her back during the battle.



(Having people who had their spirits broken would only serve as hindrance.)



They were clumps of meat that weren’t even worth having as shields. It was better if they disappeared. To begin with, her skill was meant to be used against multiple enemies at once. The only problem was that the number of monsters was so great that it put a certain amount of pressure on her.



“Hey, nee-chan, there are so many monsters!”



“Indeed, my little bro! I’ll be using my arm a lot!”



She suddenly heard innocent voices from behind. When she turned around, she saw twins.



“Shiori, Shido, why are you two here?”



When she asked, the two smiled.



““It was so noisy that we couldn’t take a nap.””



“What do you mean nap… you guys are already—”



She laughed at the twins for being so relaxed in this predicament. The twins were named Igarashi Shiori and Igarashi Shido. They were her – Igarashi Toka’s – real siblings. Igarashi smiled. It was encouraging to have these two besides her because they were her trump card. In this school, they had the greatest power.



“Shiori, Shido, those are enemies. Get rid of them.”



“Okay.”



“Understood.”



Without a hint of hesitation, the three of them charged towards the monster hoard.



On the other hand, in the cafeteria———



I move about while hiding behind obstacles such as tables and chairs. While having every stealth skill activated, I go about making sure that I do not draw any attention from students or monsters. Well, everyone including Nishino-kun and Rikka-chan are both concentrating on what’s going on in front of them, so it’s very unlikely that they will notice me. But you know, just in case.



“Giyaaa~!?”



Using Aka which is mimicking a weapon, I lob off the head of a goblin. I’m trying to finish off monsters with a single blow. By doing so, the chance of being discovered becomes infinitely small.



Great, that’s one down. The goblin next to it is tilting its head, wondering what happened to the comrade next to him. Do monsters that are being controlled still have their own will? Such an irrelevant questions pops into my head, but I immediately concentrate on what’s in front of me after dismissing such absurd notions.



Two down. As I thought, it isn’t easy to level up anymore. My current level is 17. The last time I leveled up was in the morning when we fought against the dark wolf’s horde. Now that I think about it, it has only been half a day since that battle. After the world changed, I’ve been living with a packed schedule.



“Gyi!?”



“Gyi~i~i~i!”



“Gururururu!”



“…~o~o~oooooo”



There are around… thirty monsters left in the cafeteria. The other half seemed to have left from the entrance and headed towards the school building. About ten students, including Nishino-kun, remain. Although they have fought bravely, there is an absolute disparity in number. In addition to that, there are powerful monsters like shadow wolves, orcs, and hob goblins within the crowd. If they kept going, they would soon face annihilation.



“—-Well, if that occurs, then that’s that.”



I feel sorry for them, but I don’t have the leisure to look after them either. I’ll only do what I can do with my abilities. Now then, what should I do. I have to bail out from here while keeping my companion safe. On the windows and the walls, the “darkness” has latched onto them like spider webs. Without doing something about them, it won’t be an easy task to escape from here. I look out from the windows.



It appears that the “darkness” has latched onto not only the cafeteria but the main school building as well. She spoke of slaughter, so it’s not likely for her to keep the people inside the building alive. With that said and that, we need to deal with the monster controlling the “darkness” if we are thinking of escape. There is no doubt that the dark wolf is controlling the darkness. That very wolf is also refusing to come out from the monster tamer’s shadow.



“So there is only one method left.”



Break through the wall of monsters and deal with the monster tamer one way or another. I activate a new “Ninjutsu”.



— Monster tamer Katsuragi was feeling uneasy about something. Strange. Something was strange.



(Who? Who’s the one that has been killing the monsters?)



Even under careful scrutiny, she couldn’t figure it out. When she realized, it was already too late. The monster was slain and its magic stone rolled on the ground.



(Is it the same person who sniped me just now?)



No. She rejected her hypothesis. The guy going around slaying monster definitely excelled in close combat. It was not a strategy that a sniper could use. That could only mean(There are at least two… that can completely conceal their presence and take action)



Who were they? As far as she knew, there weren’t anyone in the school with skills like these. That could only mean that they were outsiders.



(Were they from the recently arrived evacuees? No, there weren’t anyone that looked capable among them. Wait, just a moment before I got shot, Aisaka was saying some weird things…) She tried to recall Rikka’s words. Something about a mail.



(Was that perhaps a signal?)



The bullet was fired right afterwards. If she wasn’t automatically protected by the “darkness”, she would have been a corpse by now. The thought frightened her. She looked downwards at her servant that was lurking in the shadows. The more she thought about it, the more she felt glad that she was able to capture it.



(The sniper has been observing my movement from somewhere else. The person decided to shoot after knowing that I was about to attack. If this is true, then everything is starting to make sense. Is the sniper hesitating right now because the first shot missed? Then—) She narrowed her eyes and ordered, “Monsters! Take priority in taking down Nishino and Aisaka!”



The monsters lunged at the duo. Three orcs were posing a great difficult for them already. Anymore would have been dangerous. If the sniper had anything to do with these two, he or she would not be able to stand quiet.



(I’ll expose you for sure)



Whether the bullet is aimed at herself or her monsters, there should be some signs of movement. If she was shot, she would have the “darkness” protecting her. She wouldn’t die.



Her predictions proved true. There was a sound of a bullet being fired from a distance. A goblin who was heading towards the two got its head demolished. Following that, monsters started dropping to the ground one at a time.



(Yosh, got her)



Using the dead goblins as reference, she calculated the possible trajectory.



(There)



There wasn’t anyone in the direction of her gaze, but she felt a faint stare. There was definitely someone there. Having thought that, she kept staring at the location.



(Found it)



When she recognized this, she suddenly saw a clear image of a girl holding a gun. Without a doubt, the girl was concealing herself through some skill of hers, but once she was found, the effects dropped dramatically.



(…. Wait a sec. That’s Ichinose, ain’t it?)



She was astounded indeed. Her opponent was a classmate of hers who dropped out of school after being bullied. While various questions such as why she was here and why she held such a gun emerged, she quickly stashed them away at the back of her mind.



(Whatever, just die for me.)



She immediately ordered some of the monsters. Three lesser wolves near Ichinose abided the order.



(The monsters under my control share my five senses. They should be able to perceive Ichinose without any problem.) Furthermore, lesser wolves were known for their mobility. While one or two of them might die, the last one was sure to bite Ichinose’s neck.



(Now, die!)



How would she look? Imagining her former classmate trembling in fear, she looked towards Ichinose, but—



(Ah? What kind of expression is she making?)



Ichinose’s face showed no sign of fear. She was firing while looking straight at the lesser wolves that were running in her direction.



(Oi, oi. Don’t ya understand what’s happening?)



One of the lesser wolves was killed. However, that was it. The other two arrived before her. Even so, Ichinose’s expression didn’t change.



(How unsatisfying~)



What’s with that face? What’s with that relaxed attitude? How could she be so calm? It was an enigma. Perhaps she had an ace up her sleeve? Just when she was having such thoughts, a vending machine appeared above the lesser wolves.



“….Huh?”



Along with a dull sound, the vending machine crushed the lesser wolves.



“Wh-what is this?”



What? What had happened? A vending machine? Why a vending machine? What was happening? She felt overwhelmed by confusion. The confusion created an opening.



“Freeze.”



A sound came from behind. When she turned back, she saw a man wearing a hood.



“Huh?”



She couldn’t see the face due to the hood. However, the moment her eyes landed on him, her body felt an unprecedented sense of tension.



(Wh-who is this guy?)



Dangerous. Her instincts were telling her that the man was no good.



“I remember warning you not to move.”



The weapon on the man’s hand was the giant knife that the orcs used. The sharpened potion was directed at her neck. From the surface of the weapon, she saw the reflection of her face.



“I already knew you would aim at the two in order to catch us. I also knew that Ichinose-san would not be able to hold back. So I used it against you. Directing your attention towards somewhere else, I allowed myself an opportunity to get close.” She was able to feel her opponent’s hostility and killing intent. She was certain now. The mysterious individual that went around slaughtering monsters. This person was the one.



(Oioi, what is this. I was only wary against Igarashi and Nishino, but isn’t this guy muuuuch more dangerous?) They were literally on different levels. To think she would allow an enemy like him to get near her.



“Now monster tamer, you better listen to my orders if you don’t want to die.”