CH 112

With lunch over, the afternoon competition quickly got under way. Surprisingly the massive alterations made to the field created no delays to the day’s events, and the first competition of the afternoon was……an obstacle course with children from all grade levels participating. Points will be distributed to whatever group the first place winners belong to.

“……….!! …….!!”

Shirley focused all her heart and soul into continuously pressing the camera’s shutter, unable to even speak as it was wasted effort that could be better used to capturing her daughters’ images. At this point those surrounding her had grown to mostly ignore her while thinking that this was just how she was.

“Tio!! You can do it~!!”

“Kyaa! Amazing, amazing~!!”

The sports meet’s obstacle course is another race with different barriers crafted from large-scale earth magic. There aren’t any solid rock walls that would be impossible to break unless you’re a high-ranking adventurer like with the scavenger hunt, but that doesn’t mean you will be able to make it to the goal simply by running in a straight line either.

Made up of obstacles suitable for children, there were a few steep inclines and rocks they had to climb over. There was also what was basically a set of monkey bars they had to cross, and if their feet ever touched the sandbox below, they would have to start over from the beginning. In addition, all over the course were several sand golems that would try to block or catch any runners.

Each obstacle would push these children to their limits. It was a competition that would be both thrilling to participate in and exciting to watch. Most students would try going too fast and slip on the monkey bars their first time through, and any student caught by a golem would be detained for a short moment. And with the first year students, you had a number who would climb up to the top of the rocks and become frozen with fear after looking down. 

“Tio! There’s the goal!!”

“Mm!”

Tio meanwhile was standing out in a big way. Supported by the excited cheers of her sister and classmates, Tio had come out of the gate sprinting and hadn’t slowed down since. 

She was able to climb the rocks without having to use her hands, jumping straight to the top as if she was as light as a feather.

Things started off normal when she came upon the monkey bars, but after grabbing hold of the first bar, she swung herself up on top of them and ran across the bars at full speed with no concern for the rules.

Slowing down for only a second, she slipped through the long arms of the golem that extended out far more than a fully-grown adult. She then bent low, easily weaving through the golem’s legs and continuing forward.

“How is a child able to move like that? Her movements are already sharper than most rookie adventurers.”

“That girl is Shirley’s daughter. I’ve seen her visit the guild a couple of times.”

“That explains it. Nobody else is even close to her.”

Shirley’s pride was about to burst from her chest after she heard all the praise coming out form her surroundings.

(Beryl, Rubeus. Can you hear me? Make sure to properly document Tio’s success from the air as well.)

With a set of cameras once again forcibly hung around their necks, the two birds dexterously maneuvered their claws to continue taking pictures as the telepathic communication they received instructed them to. And so with pictures being taken from all sides, Tio easily passed over the last barrier, a tightrope walk, and passed through the goal tape over the finish line with second place nowhere near close to finishing. 

“Another bounty of wonderful photos…….! Each and every single one of them will be a treasure, but the ones of her crossing the goal line will especially have to be framed.”

“With that amount, you aren’t going to be satisfied with just an album?”

“Of course not.”

Seeing Tio return to the student seating and high-fiving the classmates waiting for her, Shirley felt satisfied from the bottom of her heart. After soaking herself in the sound of her clapping and taking a small breath, she stood up.

“Then I’m heading to my cameras to change out the film. The next event won’t have Sophie or Tio in it.”

“Take care~”

Running at a speed that left no shadows, Shirley moved between each of the cameras she had set up all over the venue. She quickly switched out the rolls of film in the first and second cameras, but when she came upon the third camera she had placed in a small, wooded area……..she came across a small animal with bloodshot eyes that was taking pictures with its own camera separate from Shirley’s. 

“Haa…….Haa…….t-this is the best………all the female students of course, but little Sophie and little Tio especially……..these sports clothes that show off their legs and the beads of sweat trickling down their pearly white skin…….just with this, I’m already……..GYAaaaaaaa!? Ku, my neck…….b-but no matter what they do to me, these photos will――――”

The animal was currently being strangled by a choker-type magic tool, but even though it soon got to the point where it couldn’t even speak, it pushed through the pain and continued firing off the camera’s shutter button with a crazed look in its eyes.

Shirley silently pulled out her sword and slashed the small animal’s……..Raccoon’s neck. She aimed a little low, around the shoulder area, to make sure she didn’t accidentally damage the choker.

“Wai-!? What are you doing all of the sudden!? How heartless!?”

“……….tch”

“…….and now you’re clicking your tongue at me?”

“Shut up. What are you doing over here?”

“What a scary woman.”

Raccoon made his dissatisfaction clear as he used psychokinesis and magic to reattach the half of his body that had been cut off, but Shirley completely ignored all of that as she pierced him with a glare colder than absolute zero.

“Just what were you doing while mumbling the names of my daughters? What’s with that camera? Were you peeping? You were peeping weren’t you? ………I’ll kill you”

“Rude! And you’re wrong! It’s only natural that a principal would take photos of school events to leave behind the wonderful memories of his students! I’m doing the same thing as you!”

“You dare? Don’t compare your criminal peeping to the memory making I’m doing of my daughters.”

“AAAAAaaaaaah!? Stop! Quit digging with the tip of your sword in!!”

There was a mixture of emotions swirling in Shirley’s gut as she realized that even with a magic tool threatening to strangle him out, this beast had no intentions of hiding his carnal desires. Like this, she seriously began considering that it would be for her daughters’ best interests that she kill this animal here and now.

“Fine then, show me the photos you just took. As the principal, I assume that besides my daughters and the other young girls, you’ve also been taking commemorative photos of the boys working their hardest out there?”

“Huh? Why would I take any pictures of those brats?”

Shirley unconsciously flinched as Raccoon responded with pure eyes as if he truly didn’t understand the question. The content may be wildly different, but in a certain sense, that crazy lack of self-understanding was something that all semi-immortals shared.

“……so you haven’t learned your lesson. When we first caught you, Canary and I made sure to deliver a pain so complete you would never think about doing something like that again, and your punishment should have continued even after I left…….do we have to go through that all over again?”

“I am not dirtying my hands with kidnapping anymore though?”

“I don’t think your criminal peeping is that much better.”

Even when faced with cold hard facts, Raccoon didn’t seem to be getting the message. Judging that any further talk was pointless, Shirley confiscated the camera out of Raccoon’s hands.

“Anyway, I will be taking this. I’ll make sure each photo finds its way to the school with the exception of the ones of my daughters.”

“So you’re basically admitting you’re going to steal all the photos of your daughters then!? You can’t…….stop! You shouldn’t trample on small and cute animals!”

“Oi, you two have been causing a ruckus for a while now.”

Taking notice of the spikes of magic power Shirley was giving off, Canary appeared out of thin air using her space magic. 

“Let me guess, you found Raccoon taking peep shots of your daughters……..haa. You’re as small-minded as ever I see. No matter how many child pictures he takes, that guy will only end up hurting――――”

“He took pictures of the other female students as well. Perhaps there’s one of your granddaughter in here?”

“《Obliterate》!!”

“GYAAaaaaaaAAAAAAH!!”

Raccoon was blown away by the small explosion and fell unconscious after crashing into a nearby tree. With the rough way Canary was breathing now, you wouldn’t think she had been insulting Shirley’s overly doting love just a couple seconds before. So as Shirley silently and emotionlessly stared at her, the tips of Canary’s ears began to turn red.

“……..I, feel closer to you than I did before. Even though the thought itself gives me goosebumps, I can’t deny the fact that I feel as f I could get along with you.”

“Haaaaaaaaaaaaaah!? You’re saying some truthfully creepy things you know!? The mere thought that you and I could get along should give you the utmost level of humiliation! I just wanted to remind this peon who was doing whatever he wanted within his territory just who was in charge here!! I don’t have the single tiniest particle of……..oi! Don’t just turn away and listen to people when they’re talking to you!!”

Today may be the only day Shirley could needle away at Canary like this. With that thought in mind, she continued to ignore Canary even as the guild master’s face and neck turned a bright shade of red and tears began welling up in the corner of her eyes. It was at that moment that the fainted Raccoon suddenly opened his eyes and shot up to his feet.

“W-We’ve got trouble! It’s an emergency!”

“What? Did you miss the moment some young girl showed off her navel or flapped the hem of her skirt to cool off?”

“If that were true, I would regret it from the bottom of my heart for the rest of my life…….but I’m being serious here.”

Shirely and Canary narrowed their eyes as Raccoon responded with a relatively calm tone He wasn’t giving off that creepy villain aura he had been a moment before but rather one you would expect to see from an adventurer just before they were about to head out to battle.

“…….what’s wrong? Speak in detail.”

“Since I became principal, I have cast numerous sensory magics all over the school grounds. It was mainly meant to detect any malicious intent aimed towards one of the students here. And now…….”

“There’s been a reaction. Somebody here is exhibiting clear murderous intent.”

Raccoon silently nodded to Shirley’s summation. There is an assassin on school premises. Or at least, somebody here is clearly looking to kill someone else while the school sports meet is going on. If something isn’t done about this, the sports meet would most definitely have to be cancelled.

Shirley couldn’t forget that this event was something her daughters had been gleefully anticipating…….no, even before that, Shirley and Canary would be the two people here with the greatest number of enemies, so the possibility that these fellows were here for them or their loved ones couldn’t be discounted.

“…….Canary. Shouldn’t our interests and principles align this time? I would like to eliminate these potentially dangerous elements to my daughters without them noticing and allow them to continue enjoying the sports meet without worry.”

“Hah? The same principles? What kind of brain dead things are you spouting? ……however this year’s sports meet is something I proposed and planned, so it would be a smear on my reputation if something were to happen that would cause it to be cancelled. Fools who continue to act without understanding the consequences deserve the hellish torture that’s coming to them.”

“Fuu……for the occasion I shall forget the grudges I hold and work to support you both. I could care less about the boys, but as a gentleman, I cannot allow anything to pass that may cloud the smiles of those young girls.”

Each of the three spoke with a soft voice. However those soft voices would echo across the depths of hell for any who would have heard them.

“How many opponents are there?”

“Three on the premises. However when I expanded my range, I acquired numerous other hits. There are already forty of them inside the city.”

“Then they’ve mixed in with the general public? ……..if that’s the case, the biggest problem for me would be time.”

After all, there were still events Sophie and Tio would appear in during the afternoon. There were also a couple guardian competitions left and the parent-child event. So much to do. Canary would be in the same boat. 

It is also unclear how many enemies there will end up being. It would be practically impossible to eliminate all of their opponents in the breaks between events while also returning in time to compete and spectate the competitions themselves.

“I see…….then there should be no problem at all.”

Canary made an unwavering declaration filled to the brim with confidence. Although Shirley silently agreed with her. 

There were three people gathered here together: the Demonic White Sword, the Golden Witch, and the Phantom Thief. On the other side were a bunch of recluses (assassins), lurking in the shadows while looking to ruin this all-important day. 

The semi-immortals infamous the world over quietly seethed in anger as magic power and fighting spirit swirled around them. Moving to the blind spots scattered around the school grounds, they aimed for the arrogant invaders who thought they were being kept hidden inside a grove of trees.