A bullet whizzed past, cutting a few strands of hair as a tall girl grimaced. The girl in question was Kakudate Karin, a sniper from C&C, characterized by her chocolate-brown skin.
She had taken position on the roof of a nearby building, overlooking the Burger Emperor. In other words, finding a shooting angle that could target her from inside the store was no easy task.
Yet, the enemy leader, Haruna, was curiously managing to do just that—growing stronger in real time.
At first, Haruna couldn’t even locate Karin’s position, but after Karin took a shot at Mika, she immediately retaliated. However, the shots weren’t threatening at all, leaving Karin feeling somewhat disappointed.
So this was the notorious terrorist organization from Gehenna? Their leader seemed rather pathetic.
No matter how she looked at it, it was odd that Mika appeared more like a leader, even matching or outdoing her own officer, Neru. It made her question if Haruna was really the leader at all.
Of course, everyone knew that Neru had made a mistake by attacking what could be a kidnapped hostage—with the exception of Neru herself.
“…Why is her skill increasing so rapidly?”
Growing in real time. Karin felt a sense of unease, realizing that if the situation continued as it was, she would need to take decisive action within this current magazine.
She turned her body and entered the stairs leading inside the building, moving down to the second floor where she took position by the window. The previous spot for sniping had been completely exposed, so she resolved to snipe again from here, aiming to suppress with her first shot.
At that moment, Karin saw Haruna kneeling and looking through the scope. Karin pulled the trigger.
No, she hesitated.
It was because she saw Neru and Mika fighting down on the street, having burst out of the shop’s walls.
As Karin observed them, she noticed something strange again.
“…A transport helicopter from Gehenna?”
External forces had begun to appear from a considerable distance. The kind of forces that president Rion would never allow inside the autonomous district if he were sane.
From the direction of Millennium Campus came an unidentified wave of white. Upon closer inspection through her scope, they appeared to be armed robots… unmanned weapons.
“President. The situation is escalating.”
As Karin rapidly radioed, turning her gun back toward her original target, Haruna—
Boom——!!!
The store exploded, showering Karin’s view with flames and smoke.
“…”
It was clearly the work of Akane. Well, the terrorists remaining inside the store had certainly been dealt with. Karin thought to herself. The cleanup would be the responsibilities of the Seminar.
Beep—
[Huh? What’s going on? I was having such a good time… What, what’s happening—Urya!!!]
“Ugh.”
Karin grimaced at Neru’s loud battle cry over the radio. Thanks to her earplugs, it didn’t go beyond that.
[Seriously, what the hell is going on?! Hurry and check it out… Ugh!! Damn it, just hit me already!]
“A transport helicopter from Gehenna is approaching rapidly. Unidentified forces are moving toward the operation area from the direction of the campus—”
Step—step—step—!
Karin quickly dove for cover. Though there wasn’t any solid cover nearby, her quick reaction when she heard the footsteps spared her from getting hit.
“…Who are you?”
“I’ve come to find a precious person. That’s all I’m here to tell you.”
That was the girl with a delicate outfit and a gas mask, Shirase Azusa, as she aimed her weapon at Karin, beginning her hunt.
Karin made a quick judgment. She hurried up to the upper floor via the stairs and radioed the situation to all C&C members.
“I’ve been flanked. The enemy is… presumed to be from Trinity for now.”
With the info delivered, it was time to endure or suppress the opponent. Entering the last floor, full of poles providing ample cover, Karin turned to face the end of the staircase while aiming her gun.
And then, as if anticipating this, the one who entered the last floor first wasn’t Azusa.
Bang!
A flashbang detonated just as Azusa invaded.
Bang——!!!
“Kuh…!”
Karin was shot squarely in the shoulder by the round from Azusa’s anti-tank rifle.
Karin had predicted Azusa’s entry despite the flashbang exploding quite a distance away and had fired in time to compensate for the entrance.
Having briefly served as a security guard for the Seminar before being part of C&C, Karin’s experience showed in her shooting.
“Finally, the situation is a bit more balanced.”
“…Vanitas Vanitatum.”
Students as quick as Azusa were definitely her nemesis when Karin lost the advantage of sniping. Hitting a small, agile target like her with an anti-tank rifle at such close range required technique, even for someone skilled.
However, if the opponent had one arm out of commission, the story changed a bit. The inability to move one arm equally affected their balance as well, creating minimal opportunity for Karin.
Bang—Bang—Bang—!
Yet, a minimal opportunity was still just that—minimal.
Even having to shoot with one arm due to the close combat situation didn’t faze Azusa.
She had no intention of leaving a blemish on her first mission since joining Trinity.
To Karin’s surprise, rather than playing to her advantage, the many cover points, which she thought would work in her favor, became a void where Azusa darted around without worry.
Shooting became reliant on predicting Azusa’s movements, but after taking a hit upon entering, Azusa behaved erratically, anticipating even that.
Boom!!!
Moreover, Azusa had many means at her disposal.
The supplies the squad received during their time in Arius were of a remarkable level by Arius’s standards, but that was nothing compared to what Azusa had now as a Trinity member. She wouldn’t hesitate to use grenades or flashbangs like it was breathing.
In the end, cornered, Karin fell to the ground. While she struggled to reach her dropped weapon, Azusa stepped on her arm with one foot and aimed her gun at her forehead.
“…Oh no.”
Bang—!
“Here is Squirrel. Sniper spot secured.”
[…Ah, well done.]
As the Halo’s light shut off, Azusa sat beside Karin, catching her breath. Now, all she had left to do was await Hiyori, who was lugging her heavy arms ammo up the stairs, perhaps even more strained than before.
*
Clearing debris from the ruined Burger Emperor, the Gourmet Research Club peaked out, looking a complete mess.
While Izumi shook in a corner and Akari was absorbed in a food showdown despite the fight, Haruna sighed with disappointment, having directly engaged in combat.
“Ugh. I’m sorry, Misono Mika. I’ve let your expectations down.”
Being so consumed with gourmet experiences, Haruna had little combat experience. Especially having never gone toe-to-toe with another sniper, she was garnering less than favorable results.
Since it was Mika’s request, she had wanted to elegantly and gloriously deal with the other attackers and receive praise. It was truly regrettable.
After glancing at the two monsters clashing in the street, Haruna closed her eyes, checking her fellow members’ status. It wasn’t the body that was tired—it was the mind that was weary.
“Wow?! P-President! You can’t die! If you sleep here, you might actually die for real! So, um… Okay! Just think of the remaining half of your precious gourmet list~!”
“I won’t die, Izumi.”
Despite being buried in rubble, Haruna maintained an unusually calm expression as she leisurely reassured Izumi’s frantic demeanor.
“Hehe…”
Then, sensing a laugh from behind her, Haruna realized things were about to get worse. Considering that when it came to food they would leave no one alone, someone had stirred up the one person who must not be disturbed.
“There were still seventeen burgers left that I haven’t eaten… you’ve made me a little angry, you know?”
With that, Akari sprang up, debris scattered, her gun adorned with numerous accessories.
“Whoever you are, you ought to prepare yourself. I… won’t let you off when I find you!”
Call Sign Zero Three, Murokasa Akane was utterly unprepared to face the wrath of a monster that had lost her platter.
*
Now that the battlefield had shifted from the cramped store to the street, I began to keep my distance completely. My extra magazines were dwindling, but it allowed me to steadily stack damage on Neru.
That said, it didn’t mean I was safe. My effective range and Neru’s were roughly equal, and naturally, the firepower was stronger for the side with one extra gun. If there was a lopsided fight in play, Neru wouldn’t dare claim to be the strongest in close combat.
Then the store exploded. Initially, I thought Haruna had done it, but on second thought, she had no reason to do so in this situation.
Although I almost lost my cool worrying for Haruna, I trusted she would be fine, given her habit of blowing things up from within the store. For a Kivotos student, minor injuries would do just fine.
After that, I saw Neru engaging in radio communication, leading me into a brief ponder about whether I should let her continue talking.
The next second proved how pointless that was when Neru suddenly charged at me with a single-minded focus to win.
Well, part of it was on me for poking her nerves, but still.
As I was gearing up for the engagement, I overheard something valuable while Neru was speaking on the radio before I had to drop everything to pay attention.
A transport helicopter from Gehenna? Why were they suddenly in the picture? This is effectively the heart of Millennium!
“…Ah.”
The overall picture of what was happening finally came into focus.
This was a logical explanation for why C&C had been treating what was practically the Gourmet Research Club—a group with hardly any recorded terrorism in Millennium—as a terrorist organization to be suppressed.
Trinity must have investigated the situation after realizing I was missing, and upon discovering it was Haruna from Gehenna, they would have brought in Gehenna as well.
It stands to reason that, given I was heading toward Millennium, the appropriate information would have been relayed to Rion, the Student Council President there. Thus, it was only normal that Rion would order C&C to capture the enormous criminal being hunted by two major academies disguised as the Gourmet Research Club.
While everything until now made sense, why was Gehenna pushing military forces all the way to Millennium…?
Wait a second. If this was an agreement with Millennium, that would be good, but given C&C entered first, there’s a strong possibility that an agreement wasn’t made. If so, then the issue falls upon the boundary infringement between the two major academies.
It wasn’t just my fees and the damages to the store I needed to worry about. There was a genuine possibility that the relations between Millennium and Gehenna could spiral into an irreparable rift… Hold on.
“Wow—oh.”
I hate to say it, but honestly, that was the only elegant way to sum up my situation right now.
I’m in deep trouble. And I don’t even have a clue how to salvage this mess.
The fact that Gehenna was mobilizing here meant that Trinity had lent their might.
Hina wasn’t the kind of child who would nonchalantly engage in such reckless acts. At the very least, someone else must have been shouldering the burden with her or volunteering to take the blame for everything if she pushed in forces this way.
In other words, it’s simple.
Nagisa either missed the Momotalk I sent using Haruna’s phone. Or she saw it but didn’t believe it. One of those two.
“Hey, Neru-chan. Can we call for a temporary ceasefire? Uh, things are starting to get really weird here—”
“Huh? Who said you could call me like that?! Ora ora ora ora ora!!!”
Crap. I habitually called her affectionately, and Neru got furious. I was so focused on not calling her a brat that I made this blunder.
And she didn’t even process my words…! We’ve already exchanged blows; isn’t it about time to hear me out, Neru…?!
A torrential hail of bullets showered down on me. I ducked behind a nearby vehicle, which instantly turned into a honeycomb wreck. My apologies to the car owner; I truly don’t think this is my fault.
“You bastard, stop hiding and come out!!! Don’t tell me you—”
Boom——!!!
Neru’s head whirled sharply. I knew that sound all too well. I had personally fought against the owner of that monstrous sniper rifle.
“Why is Hiyori… Did she send the Squad?!”
Hiyori’s sniping came right after. Unlike when alone, someone seemed to be assisting her to reload quickly. The intervals were unrealistically rapid. If Hiyori had fired at that level when I faced the Squad, I would have certainly struggled much more than I did back then.
Having barely recovered from the initial shot, Neru instinctively felt something was off and hurriedly dodged the subsequent sniper shots.
Thud-thud-thud-thud——
The sound of a helicopter grew nearer, pounding in my eardrums. I could see a rope being thrown from the stationary helicopter behind Neru. Soon after, several members of the Student Council descended the rope.
Seeing two familiar faces among them, I fought to suppress the urge to cradle my head and collapse. Hina and Iori themselves had directly come to invade Millennium with the Student Council members.
Hina glanced at me and suddenly looked very cold, pointing her machine gun at Neru.
And then…
“It’s better for you to surrender. Depending on your choice now, Millennium could end up in a little trouble, or could be in grave danger.”
This time, a voice behind me sounded familiar yet in this moment, deeply feared. It was heartwarming but also not; the place and circumstances dictated otherwise.
“Hello, Misono Mika.”
“Nagisa…”
“This is an issue where you might want to scold me a bit. What do you think about that?”
Nagisa stood before me, flanked by a fully armed Saori, Misaki, and Atsuko, a cold glare mixed with a dissonant smile on her face.
But in this situation, I’m the one who should be scolded rather than Nagisa… Why does this feel so unfair?
