Outside of school premises, in backstreet downtown, beside the venture company buildings that had recruitment posters on it, in the corner of the street was a seemingly deserted building.

The 35th Platoon"s members were already set up on their positions.

It was a building built around 10 years ago and without any special features. It used to be utilized by trading companies, but currently n.o.body used it. The rooms on all floors were vacant.

The target for seizure is a D-rank Magical Heritage 『Trackless Psalms』.

The four of them including Ouka were to perform their mission as planned.

『"For the time being, wouldn"t it be better to be on standby together with me on your first day?"』

Ikaruga asked her during the briefing. Ouka confirmed her choice as she dismantled her gun for maintenance.

『"No problem, I"ll partic.i.p.ate."』

『"Is that so, that"s fine then. But aren"t you pretty motivated."』

『"No matter what kind of mission is it, using full force is my principle. Don"t worry, I won"t pull your leg. I"ll move according to Captain"s orders."』

As she a.s.sembled her gun once again, she moved her gaze towards Takeru.

Seeing Takeru practising swings with a specialized baton, she started blinking surprised.

『"Show me your abilities... Kusanagi Takeru."』

The words Ouka said were enough to put heavy pressure on Takeru.

"...haa."

He sighed trying to get rid of the unpleasant feeling.

Ikaruga remained in the platoon room as an operator in charge of communication.

Usagi was on the roof of the building across the street on standby, she was in charge of sniping.

Ouka was supposed to infiltrate from the front door.

Takeru was going to enter by the back door.

"There"s n.o.body guarding the back door, how about you Ootori?"

《"........ No sight of enemies here either."》

"O-okay, let"s go."

Communication switched over to Ikaruga, the operator.

《"The trading organization shouldn"t be that great, at most they"re just a small gang."》

"How do you know that?"

《"The thug that stole 『Trackless Psalms』 probably won"t trade with a large organization because the risks are too high."》

Ikaruga"s words seemed quite convincing.

The fact that the other party is small was good for them.

And the target Magical Heritage"s cla.s.s is high too, if the enemy organization were too strong their authorization for dispatch would be taken back. It was within the acceptable level of missions accessible for students so application was approved.

But it was still dangerous, the amount of AntiMagic Academy"s students dying every year was quite large. Even though the risk has been cla.s.sified as low, sometimes unfortunate events happen.

Wary of the back door, he invaded the building together with Ouka.

"They"re quite an irresponsible bunch, is the deal really going to happen here?"

"I"m going to proceed. I leave my back to you Captain, asking for authorization."

"Y-yeah, go."

Covering each other, they moved forward gradually.

That being said, Takeru didn"t have any guns he just had a baton and a sword at his waist, so he felt uncool. Although the baton was advantageous when fighting in an enclosed s.p.a.ce, but aside from special circ.u.mstances like that, a gun was better.

Ouka on the other hand, had a pistol and a baton. The pistol was an automatic one, and even though it was the same model as the one used by the police, it was made by Inquisition"s Alchemist Corps so it had been modified into an anti-magic firearm. Its pride was its compact size and stability. Made in a way that makes it fit even in hands of women and children. Though, in contrast to that, its power posed problems.

That weapon was currently loaded with anaesthesia bullets. Usually, teams were only allowed to take anaesthesia bullets and mithril bullets with them. Mithril bullets usage was restricted to fighting against witches, or people equipped with Magical Heritage. Aside from that, they"re not allowed to use lethal bullets.

It was a good sub-weapon, but bluntly speaking its lack of fire-power couldn"t be denied. It might not be enough against the unknown trading organization.

But Ouka specifically chose the gun she was familiar with.

"............"

Ouka embodied calmness itself, she didn"t make any unnecessary moves. She walked while eliminating any sound and covered point position flawlessly. As expected of a former Inquisitor, truly deserving the name, thats the impression he had.

She used gestures to convey the right meaning.

Takeru signalled her to wait, and spoke to the headset.

"Usagi, how is it?"

《"S-sev-seventh floor, office. L-light is on, t-there"s two of them."》

Usagi seemed to be nervous like usual.

"Okay, seventh floor then."

《"——I-I"m not really anxious, I"m not nervous e-either, they"re looking o-outside, they are really really careful, yeah careful."》

"What are you talking about, I just asked you about the situation inside."

While saying that, he noticed something odd.

"Two people? The client is alone?"

《"It looks that way, I can only see through the window, so someone might be hidden. H-have I m-messed up something?"》

The trader was alone, it couldn"t be. Organization pa.s.sing the object through a single collector, then it would make sense for only two people to be there... but is that possible?

《"Wh-what are we going to do?, sh-should I do it now? I-I"ll do it, i-i-it"s a piece of ca-ca-cake."》

It"s wasn"t convincing when someone said that while biting their tongue.

"Wait wait, we have to get to the office first."

Usagi sniping hit-rate could be trusted, but they didn"t know if there are more enemies inside.

"Ootori, go around from the other side of the pa.s.sage, we"ll rush in after the signal."

《"............"》

"Hey, Ootori?"

Ouka was squatting in one place and looking at the ceiling that had nothing but air vents.

What is she doing?

He thought she was in a daze, so instead of relying on headset he signaled her with gestures.

《"Affirmative."》

A bit late, but she made a gesture and disappeared.

So far so good, let"s not screw up now.

Takeru went up the stairs while being vigilant, he reached the seventh floor and confirmed the entrance to the target room.

".....!"

A single enemy, he was holding a gun while smoking a cigarette.

"Confirmed one person at room"s entrance."

He reported to other members while waiting for Ouka to come from the opposite side.

They had to deal with the lookout at the entrance first, otherwise the guys in the office would notice them and it"s possible that a firefight will happen once they enter. It was better to blitz in at the same time as Usagi snipes them.

"Th-then, we"ll go at the same time. Usagi will take out the two people inside after making count to three. I"ll rush out and act as a decoy and take the lookout"s attention, then Ootori will shoot the lookout from behind. Next I"ll rush inside the room... umm, like that... is that fine?"

《"Affirmative."》

《"T-that"s quite a reasonable strategy from you. I u-understand, i-it"s alright there"s no problem, b-by the way d-do I shoot after counting to zero or to o-one——?"》

《"You"re the one counting, so it doesn"t matter〜"》

The only person not involved in the operation was really motivated. He pretended not to hear that.

Takeru waited for Ouka to appear on the other side.

That"s when he heard faint voices from the transaction site.

"...I came here on my own legs, I hope I won"t have to do that."

"Don"t worry, we have borrowed the office"s safe. Also there"s no way trouble will make it here, and you won"t have to use that d.a.m.n thing."

"It doesn"t matter to me as long as you pay up, use it or sell it, do whatever you want with it. By the way, I"ve heard your organization was crushed by Inquisition, I wonder if it"s really okay."

"I told you there"s no problem dammit."

Because the wall was thin, the voices carried over.

Judging by the contents, there was no doubt the information stolen by Ikaruga was right.

"...so, have you brought it?"

"It"s as you see."

Something was rustling.

"...indeed. Well done, I"ve already put the reward in the place I specified."

"Are you really okay with this? Isn"t it just fragments?"

Takeru who"s focused with his ear against the wall.

Fragments? It"s not 『Trackless Psalms』?

"That has nothing to do with you, don"t try to stick your nose into it."

"...what an annoying woman... by the way, there"s something else you might want to buy."

".....?"

"Hey, show it to her."

He heard rustling again.

"...what"s that."

"『Trackless Psalms』first edition; a book I stole in secret. It"s definitely better stuff than that c.r.a.p, how is it? You can name your own price."

"...seriously, you guys really are idiotic bunch."

The voice resounded in the tense atmosphere.

"You"re underestimated Inquisition, did you really think they won"t notice?"

"...eh?"

"Even if your organization was destroyed, those guys will follow you frenziedly as long as even one book is missing, even to the bottom of h.e.l.l."

After hearing something disturbing, Takeru broke out in sweat.

If they notice the a.s.sault and become more vigilant, it"ll definitely be no good.

《"I"m at the appointed position. Orders.》

Ouka entered at a perfect timing. Takeru takes up the baton hanging on his waist. He deployed it and switched the electrical current pm.

"Everyone ready?"

《"No problem."》

《"W-w-wh-whenever!"》

As he heard the replies, he tensed his foot. His eyes looking sharp.

"Mission... start!"

Takeru drew attention of the enemy by jumping out from the corner.

Of course, the enemy noticed him and pointed his gun"s muzzle towards him.

Takeru rushed at the enemy without stopping while holding the baton in his left hand.

A kamikaze attack, a fake one, of course.

There were two shots from behind the enemy that caused him to fall down.

Ouka did everything according to the plan.

At the same time.

《"I-I did it, I took down the two idiots in the office, look Kusanagi, as expected of me!"》

The sniper"s timing was a little bit too early, probably because she was impatient, but there was no problem.

In order to get to the office, he went through the fallen enemy"s body and stood with his back to the door.

Ouka whom he looked towards nodded in confirmation. Takeru kicked open the door and rushed in.

"——Inquisition, freeze!"

Takeru was happy that everything has gone swiftly.

They have earned their first points, it was far from fulfilling the quota but at least there was hope now.

"...eeh?"

Takeru looked around the room dumbfounded.

Usagi definitely confirmed it before he went in via radio, two people inside. It"s impossible for him to have misheard that.

Despite all that...

There was seven Onii-sans dressed in black pointing their guns in his direction.

"...umm, Usagi-san?"

《"What is it. Did you see it already? I knocked them out both! Amazing isn"t it! I hit them both in their rotten brains! Ohohohoho!"》

"Umm, in front of me there"s seven Onii-sans who"ve made a circle around me."

《"...that"s impossible! I took them down for sure?! Two people in security guard uniforms!"》

Takeru figured out what happened right away.

"...you...that"s... isn"t that the building on the opposite side."

《"...ah."》

"You shot two security guards, if you look carefully you"ll realize it."

《"............t-t-th-these things... happen sometimes."》

As if!! What if it weren"t tranquillizer bullets!

Takeru wanted to blame her, but this was also the captain"s mistake. He should have predicted something like that might happen due to Usagi"s hopeless stage fright.

There were nine enemies to be exact, seven of them were mafia-like men who wore coats and hats so their faces weren"t visible, one of the silhouettes was probably a woman"s.

And, one more thing.

The last thing was the most unexpected existence. He wondered why such thing was in a place like that.

A humanoid covered in heavy armour. A round silhouette much bigger than a human.

No doubt, it was unmanned at the moment but it was a heavy armoured infantry exoskeleton used by Inquisition in the past; a 『Dragoon』.

What the h.e.l.l! I haven"t heard of an organization having one of these!

No matter how you slice it, it"s not something that some thugs would have. It looked like Ikaruga"s judgement was wrong as well. It was too dangerous to be a D-rank Magical Heritage trade.

Unlike the seven suddenly confused men, the woman had already put her leg on the window.

"It"s just like I told you, I"m leaving, I leave clean-up to you."

After saying that, the woman kicked off the window. She looked at Takeru right before she jumped off.

"——wait!"

Takeru tried to catch her before she jumped down. This was the seventh floor, a normal human wouldn"t avoid injury.

But before Takeru could run up to the window, a man who looked like a leader aimed his gun at him.

"Don"t move..."

"Th-this guy said he"s from Inquisition, this is bad isn"t it."

"Don"t be so scared, we have a Dragoon here. And also, look this guy isn"t a full fledged inquisitor. He"s from a test platoon. You"re an AntiMagic Academy student aren"t you. What the h.e.l.l did you come here for?"

In addition to the leader-like person there were 5 people led by him. Also in the corner of the room was a thug-like man holding 『Trackless Psalms』 while muttering something.

A hopeless situation, he would win one-on-one while using a baton. But the Dragoon aside, it was seven-on-one.

"Ootori... don"t come in."

In order to conceal his words, he spoke as if exhaling.

If they noticed there was one more person behind him, Ouka would get dragged in it.

The enemy leader was smiling fearlessly, he had a smile of a person who"s sure of his victory. Takeru saw that smile many times. If I was Takeru from the past who had a lot of pride, he would have rushed in already.

"Ha, haha... um, I-I just got lost a little on my way home from school."

The current Takeru wasn"t reckless like that, rushing at them was impossible.

He made a desperate excuse and smiled.

"Ooh, I see. You got lost, that"s troublesome isn"t it."

"Eeh, yeah... haha... hahaha"

"HAHAHAHAHA!"

"Aha, ahahaha."

"What the h.e.l.l you"re laughing for— it"s a checkmate for you b.a.s.t.a.r.d."

Next moment, their leader stuck out his tongue and placed his finger on the trigger. Takeru"s eyes followed that movement.

What to do? What"s the best course of action?

Dropping the baton, and touched the sword on his waist with his fingers.

He laughed at himself in his mind for thinking he could do something with it. It was unrealistic. A sword winning against a gun, ridiculous. A few years ago he would have rushed in without thinking, but right now, he won"t tempt fate.

I can take out two... three people at most, and I"ll probably get hit by few rounds by then.

The close quarters are good, but their numbers are bad. I must be prepared to die, and make a 『Suicidal』 attack.

Ways of surviving this by fighting... there"s none left.

...no.

There was one. A way out for Takeru."

No... I can"t. Either way, that will be disastrous for me anyways...!

Having only one way out, Takeru was distressed.

The forbidden school of Kusanagi-style swordsmanship. A prohibited 『Technique』. It was the only way out of this situation.

Takeru shook his head, and took his hand off the sword.

Ikaruga should be aware of the situation, she would contact the Inquisition Board to have them dispatch the KnightsSpriggans.

Until the KnightsSpriggans came, he"d stall for time by talking.

"Hey, look at that guy. Is he carrying a sword there? He has no gun, and instead he has a sword with him! Gahahaha, is he right in his head?"

One of the enemies insulted Takeru, Which in turn caused the others to laugh at him.

"The Inquisition these days sure is old fashioned! It"s a terrifying samurai-sama!"

"Nowadays, even the police are obligated to carry guns. This brat must be insane!"

"Gahahahaha" insulting laughter echoed. Takeru stopped the movement of his hand, his eyes were wide open.

He has a screw loose in his head. Outdated. Let"s hear you say -degozaru![4]

A never ending stream of contempt and insults, voices he had heard many, many times before. A shadow slowly appeared on Takeru"s face.

Ikaruga who noticed the situation spoke to him through intercom.

《"This is bad. Kusanagi, don"t listen to them. Getting angry right now would lead to worst-case scenario."》

"...I know..."

《"Try to convince them, prolong the talk. You"re no longer the same as your old self. I admit that it"s all my fault for not investigating this completely, please——"》

"I know that!!"

Takeru"s entire body was burning hot. Takeru felt his head heat up and he clenched his teeth.

In this worst situation, Takeru"s dark side began to emerge.

Hold it in... endure it... I"m no longer my old self, I won"t survive in this world if I explode at every little thing... the sword being inferior to the gun is obvious and you know it Takeru! Let go of this outdated pride! Bear with this, tolerate this!

He bit his lip hard enough to have blood flow from his lips trying to calm himself down with pain.

It"s not like it started now... endure this... endure, endure, endure, endure endure...!"

Takeru tried to restrain his rage desperately.

If I lose control here, it will trouble other members too, that has to be avoided. Thinking like that he suppressed his anger.

——But,

"Swordsmanship. What"s the use for it? Both you and that sc.r.a.p iron. Iron that can"t win against neither guns nor magic. Enough of this. Writhe, you sc.r.a.p iron b.a.s.t.a.r.d."

Together with the leader"s words.

There was a sound of something snapping inside of Takeru"s head.

《"Aah, it"s over. Do whatever you want."》

Ikaruga"s sigh no longer reached Takeru.

"Don"t worry, we won"t kill you right away, at least not until we sell off all your organs. Haha, we"ll just make a hole in your leg. As a samurai, you should be able to stand that much right?"

The enemy"s voice no longer reached him, he could no longer stop in this situation.

The boss put some strength in the finger holding the gun"s trigger.

At the same time, Takeru slowly touched his sword.

Along with the flash from the muzzle, a bullet flew out of it towards Takeru to pierce through him.

However——

The bullet slowed down... like a video in slow motion.

And not only the bullet, everything in Takeru"s field of vision could was perceived in slow motion.

Muzzle flash. Hair swaying from an impact. Dust flying in the air. Even the noise outside the building. Everything.

Takeru"s body was no exception. He pulled the sword from it"s sheath, struggling as if he was submerged in cement, his own speed slowed down.

The world has become stagnant, pa.s.sive, slow.

But that wasn"t what really happened. It was exactly the opposite.

The world around him didn"t change its speed. Time was flowing normally.

It"s was him who sped up——

And left everything behind——


It was Takeru"s brain.


That"s all it was.

In the past, in order to gain strength, Takeru received the teachings of a 『Monster』.

The only monster in the modern times, the one who had completely mastered Kusanagi"s Double-Edged style swordsmanship, a 『Former』 human.

In Kusanagi style two schools existed. There"s was a well known Kusanagi True Light style, it was swordsmanship made to kill humans, a sword of murder.

Its counterpart, was the Double-Edged style. It was a style made for killing monsters that had raged in j.a.pan a thousand years ago. In other words, a style made for dealing with things that are not human.

Those who knew the latter in modern times were few.

Takeru, in order to learn teachings of Double-Edged style for the sake of revenge, asked the monster in front of him.

—— I want to win with a sword against a gun.

—— What should I do to win against a gun with a sword?

『Takeru... that"s impossible. The human body can"t move as fast as a bullet, no matter how much you train. Also, no matter what swordsmanship you learn you will not keep up with the speed of the bullet."』

—— Why can"t the sword win?

『"Because, it"s too fast for you to see. If you"re skilled and have great luck, you might be able to stop one bullet, but that"s it. Give up."』

...Even so, I want to win.

『"It"s impossible, you"ll die, that"s all."』

—— Even so, I want to win.

『"Stop it, you can"t win with a sword."』

—— Even so, I want to win!

『"You don"t get it, it"s impossible."』

—— Even so, I want to win!!

『"One."』

『"There is only one way. In exchange, you"re going to regret if you continue to use it. Rather than yourself, you will hurt those that are close to you."』

—— That"s fine, even so, I want to win!

『"Very well, I will acknowledge your resolve. Listen Takeru, the thing you have to train the most is not your body."』

—— ?

『"The way to surpa.s.s your limitations is here, Takeru.』

—— Where?

『"Here, inside your head. Your flea-sized brain."』

*screeeeeeeeeeeeechhh*, after hearing a metallic sound, everyone was astonished.

They couldn"t believe what happened in front of their eyes. Their leader had definitely shot him with his gun. Without doubt he shot in a straight line.

At this distance even an amateur, even women or children wouldn"t miss. It was a distance from which it"s hard to miss. Despite that, he did not fall, he did not bleed, and he had no hole in him.

There was a bullet rolling on the floor, sheared in half. And there was Takeru"s figure with a drawn sword.

"...w...hat...?"

The leader made a face like a fish, and shot two more times in rapid succession.

And again, it didn"t hit, only a metallic sound filled the air.

It took them a while to acknowledge reality, the fact that Takeru had stopped the bullets.

Heavy silence filled the room.

"...you said..."

Takeru"s voice tore through the silence. Heavy, rough, it was unimaginable for this threatening tone of voice to come from the spineless boy from before.

"...just now you said "sc.r.a.p iron"... prepare yourself you b.a.s.t.a.r.ds."

He raised his face slightly, the face of a demon peeked out from behind long bangs

Everyone froze up on the spot.

Because in front of them, there was a demon wielding a sword.

Takeru shouted. It was quiet, but wild like a demon"s roar.

"Kusanagi Double-Edged style initiate, Kusanagi Takeru. Neither average nor s.h.i.t——one sidedly, I"ll just cut you up."

After being told that, no one was able to move.

Takeru was completely prepared for battle; his fighting instincts took over. Poised with his sword horizontally, he exuded a force that made people think they"d get slashed the moment they moved or took a breathe.

The seven men solidified.

They still could not believe Takeru had cut down a bullet. Of course, to think that there was a human who could pull off a technique that belonged to manga rather than reality, it couldn"t be true.

But Kusanagi style was that kind of school, it had techniques like those straight out of a manga.

The ancient swordsmanship technique Takeru activated was called Magic-Sweeping Sword『Soumatou』. Kusanagi"s Double-Edged style was an irregular swordsmanship. A heretical sword style created in order to fight fantastical j.a.panese organisms called demons. [5]

That"s Magic-Sweeping Sword『Soumatou』.

To put it simply, it disables a limiter inside the brain increasing processing power. When people are placed on the border of life and death during extreme conditions they utilize more of their brain power.

It means, Magic-Sweeping SwordSoumatou is footage from his own memory being played.

It means, that the world turns slow motion.

It means, conflagration causes brute force to come out.

These phenomena are a result of the brain activating during an emergency. That theory exists because of a malfunction. All of that power comes from original survival instinct.

『Magic-Sweeping SwordSoumatou』 is triggering that instinct. That"s Kusanagi"s forbidden swordsmanship. Men of the Kusanagi family devised this technique to fight demons.

"This guy...!"

The leader lifted his gun again and aimed. He kept pulling the trigger until his magazine was empty.

None of the bullets reached their target, not a single one..

A loud metallic sound filled the room, the sound of ricochets.

"...hiii."

In the room filled with gunpowder smoke, Kusanagi Takeru was untouched.

Looking around the room, Takeru"s mouth arched.

At first glance it appeared the situation had turned around. Takeru seemed to have more time, but his body wasn"t in such a good condition.

Magic-Sweeping Sword"sSoumatou"s activation burdened the body a great deal; the movement forced the body too much. Tearing muscles, breaking bones, it was moving too much.

The body couldn"t keep up with the brain being 『Serious』.

Takeru"s body had several muscle fibres ruptured, his bones aching. Even in this state, he continued.

He still continued, despite that.

"...something like this."

The current Takeru didn"t think of things like that. He had had a lot of pride in his swordsmanship ever since he was young; Blood would rise to his head every time swordsmanship was made fun of, because of that he was known as a problem child in the neighbourhood.

After being defeated during his second year of middle school, Takeru revised his att.i.tude, he changed, and his personality calmed down. From the side, he behaved like a timid boy.

But, after he reached the limits of his patience blood would rush to his head, his original violent personality would surface.

"Whether it"s sc.r.a.p iron or not, I"ll show you. Instead of coming at me one by one, come at me all at once."

"Hi—hiiiii"

"If you think it"s sc.r.a.p iron, I"ll show that I"m a guy who won"t bleed."

Takeru laughed like a demon; everyone saw a glimpse of his canines. Now that he had become like that, no one could stop him.

Even if all seven thugs kowtow[6] on the spot, even if the Dragoon starts up, even if the KnightsSpriggans arrive. His anger won"t subside.

If, a.s.suming there was a person who could stop Takeru, that would be...

《"Onii-chan, please, don"t make such a scary face."》

It was just one person. His only family left, his little sister.

"——Eh!!"

As her voice came from the intercom, Takeru had gasped in surprise.

With just that, his anger had been blown away.

Just with "Onii-chan".

《"Did you calm down...? Kusanagi?"》

"Eh?! Umm?! Just now?! Eh?!"

《"That was my voice, you siscon. How was it? Was it similar?"》

Now that she said it, Takeru thought the tone was different from his little sister"s. In the first place, it was impossible for his little sister to be together with Ikaruga. Absolutely impossible.

Takeru sighed with relief; if he remained like that, it would surely become irreversible. And not because of killing the enemy, but cause of Takeru"s body suffering consequences. Thinking about it normally, going against seven trained gunmen. He couldn"t do anything if they shot at the same time. His body would self-destruct before he took out anyone. He wasn"t strong enough to do such a thing.

Grateful for being stopped, he lowered his sword.

《"So, what will you do in this situation?"》

As he looked around, all the seven thugs had completely terrified look on their faces and aimed their guns at him.

Because he had had such an intimidating face, and acted so c.o.c.ky until now. They all had fingers on their triggers.

He was done for, it came down to that.

"A-Ahaha, that before was a joke. Just a little joke——the thing about being hit and not bleeding, that was obviously a joke. You know, it"s one of these p.u.b.erty problems... ahaha."

After showing them a scene of bullets being cut in mid-air, it was hard to pa.s.s it off as a joke. After seeing such out-of-ordinary power, it was obvious that they would attack as a group.

Eh, what do I do? Do I drop my weapon? Or maybe I should kneel down? Kneeling down is a good idea, but I think it"s too late to apologize.

Takeru was thinking at high speed like that.

"*parin*

Suddenly the fluorescent light in the ceiling broke.

Because visibility was suddenly lost, everyone stopped in place.

That"s when Takeru saw it.

From above the seven guys, out of the vent installed in the ceiling. Something sunset-coloured dropped down.

"Uwaghh!"

It landed on enemy"s head.

Everyone looked towards the knocked out man.

A single girl was there, and with her sunset-coloured hair gently suspended in the air she kicked a guy.

Such misplaced beauty. Her long hair rose up according to the laws of gravity. From between the hair shined pair of sharp, deep blue eyes.

"Ootori!"

Takeru called her name.

"Wh...you b.i.t.c.h...!"

One person changed his target from Takeru to Ouka, but Ouka moved faster.

Her left hand pressed against his gun and knocked it to the ground.

She didn"t stop, reacting fast, she neutralized weapon of another thug. Then she fired at two people with anaesthesia bullets right in their chests.

With her movements like a torrent, she focused her attention on the guy who had dropped his weapon. She turned her body in mid-air, flexibly dancing in the air like a leopardess, and kicked his face.

The last guy had lost all his companions, and was too confused. He fell down helplessly after Ouka swept his leg. He let out a scream.

After he opened his eyes what he saw was——an incredibly beautiful girl.

The girl was looking down at him, while he was looking up at her. Takeru has experienced a very similar situation in middle school.

Too beautiful, too strong, and completely silent.

While he was laying there impressed, a muzzle was pointed at his belly at point blank range and he got hit by an anaesthesia bullet. He lost consciousness.

All of that happened in the blink of an eye.

Ouka stood up with a relaxed face and swept her hair aside.

But, that wasn"t the end yet.

There was one existence that could not be ignored, a huge shadow behind Ouka.

"Behind you!"

Takeru instinctively called out to her.

It should have been unmanned, but the man who was holding onto 『Trackless Psalms』 seemed to have boarded it during the commotion.

The dragoon swung its huge arm. Ouka faced Takeru with a cool expression.

"Get down, don"t interfere."

And the next moment, Ouka instantaneously disappeared.

Cutting through the air, a huge fist broke the floor of the office.

《"d.a.m.n, I missed."》

An annoyed voice resounded from inside of dragoon. Ouka jumped towards it and after rolling she knelt, changing ammunition from anaesthesia bullets to live ammo.

The dragoon swung its fist down, trying to capture her.

Before the dragoon could catch her, Ouka shot the joints of its right arm. Of course even live ammunition didn"t have enough power to damage it.

《"I won"t let myself get caught in a place like thisssssssssss."》

As he let out a frightened cry, the barrel of a minigun equipped on the dragoon"s left arm made a creepy rotating noise.

"This is bad!"

Takeru laid down on the ground and protected his head.

Ouka kicked off the floor, and at the same moment a bullet storm filled the office room coming out of the rotating barrel.

The sound of gunfire completely filled the room, shutting out any other sounds. Minigun bullets tracing Ouka destroyed not only the desk and chairs, but also the wall.

Ouka ran along the wall of the office, despite having powerful impact resounding behind her back. She was pulling the trigger repeatedly, shooting towards the dragoon"s arm calmly.

With dust and pieces of wood scattering and flying all over, the girl was sprinting in front of the bullet inferno. Her hair looked like a tail lamp on the streets at night.

After reaching the corner of the office, Ouka kicked off the floor, jumped towards the dragoon and started sliding, bullets flew above her head. She crawled under the dragoon this time.

The huge mini-gun was no longer scary while you were right under it, but the dragoon"s fist was waiting at close range. As the huge arm swung, Ouka stayed in the same spot, unmoving.

Thinking that it would crush her, Takeru almost triggered Magic-Sweeping Sword『Soumatou』 reflexively, but at that time.

*...clank....clank...clank...!*

The right arm of the dragoon made a clanging sound.

The swung right arm had stopped halfway in the air, trembling and making sounds of being stuck.

《"Wha-what the?!"》

The man piloting it shouted.

Takeru looked at the dragoon"s arm with surprise as well.

Three bullets were stuck in cracks between the joints, and made it unable to any move further. The only way! to make it move was to repair it manually.

"One of the dragoon"s weaknesses is the vulnerability of the joints. This thing was not made for close quarters combat."

《"J-just because of that... you stopped it with a handgun?!""》

Said the man inside.

G.o.d-like marksmanship. The crack was just about 3 centimetres big. It was something impossible for a normal human. Even if her gun sacrificed power for accuracy. To pull something like that off in the middle of a battle, it was astounding.

《"S-s.h.i.t! Move! Move dammit!"》

The pilot tried to move the dragoon, but the right arm stuck in the air wouldn"t budge.

That"s when pilot lost sight of Ouka,

Where is she? he thought.

*bam* the pilot felt a slight vibration.

"............"

The powerful opponent with sun-coloured hair was standing on top of the dragoon"s armour.

Looking down on it with cold eyes, she pointed a muzzle at the dragoon"s neck, the spot that was a ventilation outlet.

《"Mo-monst——"》

Monster, as he tried to say that.

Ouka put the gun"s muzzle in the outlet and pulled the trigger.

《"Guaaaaaaaahhhhh."》

A scream sounded from inside. He tried to shake her off with the dragoon.

Ouka who held onto its head wasn"t shaken off, and continued to shoot inside until her ammunition ran out.

Bullets that entered the ventilation outlet ricocheted inside, destroying the machinery as well as hurting the pilot.

When she stopped shooting, the dragoon stopped and started releasing smoke.

The c.o.c.kpit"s hatch opened, and smoke spilled out from it.

"...gah...ughh...haa..."

The pilot showed himself. Two bullets. .h.i.t him, one in the leg and the other one in the shoulder.

She really defeated it, a flesh and blood human defeated a dragoon.

Normally it would be necessary to use anti-tank weapons. To defeat such a thing with a sub-weapon, he wondered if that had ever happened before.

He knew it, despite knowing it from the beginning.

...she"s on a different level.

While Takeru was speechless, in front of the pilot who was trying to catch his breath, Ouka placed a foot on the seat and pointed her gun at him.

"...that"s how it ends up when an amateur pilots a dragoon, didn"t you learn that?"

"...s.h.i.t...s.h.i.t...d.a.m.n it...!"

"Whether it"s outdated c.r.a.p or not, using a dragoon is against law. When fighting an enemy using a dragoon shooting to kill is allowed."

"He...hehehe...do it...I dare you, you won"t do it anyway."

"............."

"You b.a.s.t.a.r.ds won"t shoot defenseless people, I know that very well."

Ouka didn"t respond to his insults, silent. He continued with even more c.o.c.ky voice.

"See? You can"t shoot can you."

"..........."

"Even if I kill kids in front of you, all you can do is look at me like that."

——At that moment.

Gunfire resounded.

"Gaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh! Aah! It hurts! It hurts dammittttttttttttt!"

Inside the c.o.c.kpit, the man was writhing while holding his hurt left leg.

Takeru couldn"t move, stunned. He noticed Ouka was about to pull the trigger again.

"He-hey!"

Takeru tried to rush there, but suddenly his legs stopped.

Ouka was looking at the suffering man with her cobalt-blue coloured eyes.

There was something very, very dangerous inside of them.

"I-I get it! F-forgive me! Don"t shoot me anymore! I"ll give this back to you!"

The man took out 『Trackless Psalms』 from his pocket and offered it weakly.

Ouka looked at it, and her eyes facial expressions sharpened slowly.

"The one who told me to try to do it was you."

"...ugh...that was..."

"I thought you wanted to get killed, am I wrong? That"s really convenient, in fact that helps me a lot."

"T-that was a joke! A joke I tell you...! I apologize, so please s-spare me!"

The man was crying miserably from the deeps of his heart. Ouka narrowed her eyes. The thug"s cries sounded in the office.

At that time Ouka"s mouth trembled.

Takeru certainly heard a small voice.

"Trash... garbage... despite having a great strength they won"t use it righteously. You can only hurt others for your own gain... it makes me wanna puke."

Takeru could feel cold, murderous intent. He didn"t know what made her so angry. She changed as anger welled up from the depths of her heart, he knew that intuitively.

He had an ominous foreboding.

Her thirst for blood that suddenly welled up, Takeru vaguely realized it was familiar.

"...I"ll exterminate you b.a.s.t.a.r.ds... witches too... everything...!"

Ouka moved the gun"s muzzle from the man"s leg to his head. Takeru shouted from where he was.

"Hey, what are you doing! You"ve done enough already haven"t you?!"

"The opponent is armed with a reinforced exoskeleton. Doing this is legitimate, Captain."

"Armed with... isn"t he powerless now!"

"I see. So he is. But he still has a Magical Heritage. So I still have a reason to kill him."

"That"s too far-fetched! Such a reason won"t hold up! Also, why do you want to kill him!"

"Shut up, it"s already up to me. If I hadn"t come you would have been defeated. You know that, so just stand there and look."

"...wha..."

Ouka didn"t listen to the words of Takeru who was her captain.

It was unprofessional. Inquisitors were allowed to shoot to kill only in limited circ.u.mstances. Killing a defenseless opponent would be problematic.

She was clearly wrong. It didn"t mean Takeru wanted to protect the man. In fact, Takeru didn"t care what happened to that kind of sc.u.m.

Killing this man would affect Ouka and their platoon badly. As a captain he had to stop it.

"Well then... let"s start the witch hunt."

As if looking at an ant, Ouka let out a distorted laugh.

——Make it in time!!

Takeru activated Magic-Sweeping Sword『Soumatou』 instantaneously. His body launched before he even thought.

Feeling pressure throughout his body, as if he moved in cement. He rushed towards the enemy as the world turned slow.

"...wha——"

Ouka revealed a surprised expression. Takeru who was supposed to be far behind her, was suddenly in front of her and protected the man by grabbing her hand.

As he grasped her wrist, Takeru was about to admonish her with a serious look.

However,

"?!! Owaah!"

"——Guuhh."

Because of Magic-Sweeping Sword『Soumatou』, the momentum was too strong and his posture collapsed. Takeru and Ouka fell down on the floor together.

"It hurts——"

He touched his head while opening his eyes.

And he froze.

"———"

"..........."

As they fell down, Takeru was on top of Ouka and the hand that was supposed to be rested on the floor was felt something unknown. A water balloon? A Marshmallow? A rubber ball? It didn"t fall into either category, it was a warm and soft bulge.

His heart rate accelerated.

"———"

Words didn"t come out. "Pretty big." came to his mind, but that impression was too frank.

There wasn"t any change in Ouka"s expression, but her face was tinged slightly red.

"I-it"s okay."

Said Takeru in desperation, even though he didn"t know what was okay himself. He was trying to find words that would allow him to live through this situation.

"Because I."

"............"

"Because——I"m in small b.r.e.a.s.t.s faction!"

...*kachin*

"Sorry, I lied! That"s not a problem! Please forgive me, blood rushed to my head! It was an excuse!"

There was a muzzle touching his forehead, Takeru made a submissive posture with his hands raised.

Ouka was completely red and trembling as she pressed the muzzle harder.

"...uuuu..uuuu.....u....."

Embarra.s.sed like that, even though it may be rude to say it, she seemed very girly.

During the battle earlier, and in the middle school he always thought "She"s a female terminator!" and had that kind of impression of her. He thought he"d get slapped coldly and told "Will you get off me?". That"s what he expected to happen.

That she would have watery eyes, or act pretty cute. He didn"t think that would happen.

And that he"d get shot, definitely shot.

"Wait, calm down Ootori!"

"Get off me——already!!"

She put strength in her finger holding the trigger. Takeru was certain he would die.

And that time.

He"d been shot in the head. But the pain came from the back of his head for some reason.

"...eh, wha...〜at?"

Takeru tried to turn away, but he failed.

Power left his body, and his face fell on Ouka"s chest with a *boing*. It seemed like his head was being severely beaten, but he didn"t feel anything.

《"Th-this time, I-I to-took them out! I took them out properly! Yeah! Hurray!"》

A joyful voice came from the intercom. Takeru understood as he started to lose consciousness.

The one who shot him was Usagi, not Ouka. He figured what had happened. In a hurry she definitely mistook Takeru for an enemy. The fact that it was an anaesthesia bullet was a blessing.

It was the result of failing to report the situation.

"In the end...it ends up...like this..."

It was his own fault, is what flashed in his mind before he fainted.

"Such a...!"

Ouka violently pushed Takeru who had a happy face while unconscious off her chest. She threw away the noisy intercom and brushed aside her sunset-coloured hair.

"Small fries, even though I heard they"re small fries, I didn"t expect it to be this bad."

With a face that seemed like she gave up, she put a hand on her forehead.

She looked at Takeru who was rolling on the floor. It seemed he had a dream of being chased by debt collectors.

Ouka wrinkled her eyebrows.

If Ouka wasn"t here, the mission this time would probably have failed, wouldn"t it. It was unknown what would happen to the 35th platoon if it was just those thugs. But them having a dragoon was a different story.

It was clearly beyond students level. If not for Ouka, they would have been wiped out.

Strange...

Looking at the half-destroyed dragoon, Ouka narrowed her eyes.

These guys shouldn"t have something like a dragoon. Though they were in possession of 『Trackless Psalms』, if you consider the level of the Magical Heritage, it was strange. That means there was something else. There had to be something more behind this.

The moment Ouka thought that.

"Mmmm, mmmmm, so-sorry, next week... next week for sure I"ll pay... stop... don"t destroy the furniture... mmmm....mmm...."

"............"

Her thoughts were hindered by nonsense coming from the side. Ouka"s cheeks twitched.

"Of all things this guy is the captain..."

She sighed.

"Haa, why is the chairman considering giving a Relic Eater to guys like these?"

Showing a tired expression, her eyes showed disappointment as she looked at Takeru wearily.

She looked absent-mindedly at Takeru as he groaned.

Can"t do anything else than close quarters combat, spineless, his leadership is bad, there"s nothing good about him... on top of that, he goes berserk.

No matter how she looked at it, it was disappointing.

But... to stop me from going out of control... this guy is the first one.

Even though she considered that a good thing, there was no grat.i.tude in it.

Ouka was aware of her own shortcomings; that fatal habit was in the way of Ouka"s purpose.

As she thought so, an ironic smile appeared on her face.

"............"

While looking at Takeru"s face, Ouka"s confusion subsided.

What appeared in her heart was a small hope.

Loneliness in Ouka"s heart slightly decreased.

That"s why Ouka dared——dared to.

"...why so late."

Failing to meet her expectations, she moved her sight from Takeru. She looked at the cloudy night sky outside the window that reflected the city"s neon lights, there wasn"t a single star visible.

On the roof of a building far away.

From there, an azure-coloured girl has seen it all.

She was on top of a water tank, playing with her legs in mid-air. Her hair swayed in the wind.

A single girl under the night sky.

"…Kusanagi...Takeru..."

The hair of the girl that whispered his name floated ignoring laws of gravity.

As if reflecting moonlight from above, particles of azure light glittered around the girl like fireflies.

↑ Degozaru - in short, an old fashioned way of speaking used by samurai"s and the like.

↑ The kanji means Magic-Sweeping Sword, however Soumatou - as written with furigana refers to phenomenon that some people experience when encountering near-death situations, i.e. your entire life flashing before your eyes, and everything turning into slow motion.

↑ Kowtow- A form of showing respect by prostration.