The Sixth Question

Please answer the following question:

Write down the molecular formula for Benzene.

Himeji Mizuki's Answer:

"C6H6"

Teacher's Comment:

It's very easy, isn't it?

Tsuchiya Kouta's Answer:

"Ben + zene = Benzene"

Teacher's Comment:

Do you despise Chemistry?

Yoshii Akihisa's Answer:

"B-E-N-Z-E-N"

Teacher's Comment:

Come to my office later, together with Tsuchiya.

"Good job, everyone. Thanks for all your efforts in taking those tests."

Yuuji said that as he stood behind the lectern and put his hand on the table.

We had tests the entire morning. The tests finished not too long ago. Now we were getting ready for lunch. To replenish the scores we lost in all our subjects, the amount of tests we took were scary.

"We will begin the Summoner Test War with Cla.s.s B this afternoon. Are you ready to kill?"

"Oooo...!"

Morale was still high, and it was our cla.s.s's only weapon.

"The goal of this War is to hold the enemy in their cla.s.sroom; therefore, we can't afford to lose the battle at this corridor."

"Oooo...!"

"Himeji Mizuki will be the commander there. Guys, be prepared and ready to die."

"I... I will try my best."

Himeji shyly walked out of the crowd; maybe she didn't want to shout like the boys did.

"OOOO...!"

The morale of the front line troops went over the limit since they were able to fight alongside a beautiful girl.

In conclusion, the key to this War was the battle at the corridor; if we lose there, we're finished. Therefore, from the fifty students in Cla.s.s F, we sent out forty into that battle. This troop will be led by Himeji, who's the strongest student in our cla.s.s and the second strongest in the whole school, so we should be able to win that battle without any ha.s.sles.

(?)

When the bell that announced the end of lunch break rang, the War with Cla.s.s B finally began.

"OK, everyone, let's go! The target is the systematic tables!"

"Yes, sir!"

To successfully hold the enemy in their cla.s.sroom, we must take control of the momentum.

We rushed to the corridor outside Cla.s.s B at full speed.

Since a lot of the students in Cla.s.s B were good in non-science-related subjects and since the Mathematics teacher Mr. Hasegawa has a larger summoning field, we picked Mathematics as our main subject for battle; in other words, if we wanted to finish the battle fast, Mr. Hasegawa would be very useful.

There was English Composition teacher Yamada-sensei and Physics teacher Kimura-sensei there on our side as well. This time, we need to increase the number of supervising teachers and finish the enemies off as fast as possible!

"I can see the Cla.s.s B students!"

"They brought Ms. Takahashi!"

The Cla.s.s B students walked slowly toward us, but there were only ten of them. They should be the vanguard, and they just wanted to test our ability.

"Don't let them escape alive!"

Along with this threatening shout, the War against Cla.s.s B had officially started.

Cla.s.s B Nonaka Chounan VS Cla.s.s F Kondou Yoshimune

c.u.mulative

1943 VS 764

What!? He's too strong! It's like they're on a totally different level!

Cla.s.s B Kaneda Ichiyuuko VS Cla.s.s F Mutou Keita

Mathematics

159 VS 69

Cla.s.s B Satoi Mayuko VS Cla.s.s F Kimishima Hiroshi

Physics

152 VS 77

The difference between fighting abilities was overwhelming; our frontline troops kept on losing. If we don't send in reinforcements before their scores are reduced to zero, our numbers would greatly decrease.

Just as I was trying to see whether we had any reinforcements or whether the route was being cut off by our enemies...

"I-I'm late... S-Sorry..."

Himeji hardly caught her breath and arrived at the scene; I thought she should be running all the way to the front line.

"Himeji Mizuki is here!"

One of the students in Cla.s.s B shouted. It seems that Cla.s.s B already knew about Himeji not being in Cla.s.s A and made appropriate investigation, I guess?

All the students in Cla.s.s B were shocked when they heard that. It was very easy to see that they were scared of Himeji.

"Himeji, although you just arrived, can you please...?"

"Y-Yes. I'll go now."

Himeji immediately dashed into the middle of the battlefield. Looking at her gave you the feeling of calmness. I really feel like taking a photo right now and keeping it as a souvenir.

"Mr. Hasegawa, I am Iwas.h.i.ta Ritsuko from Cla.s.s B, and I would like to challenge to Mathematics Himeji Mizuki from Cla.s.s F!"

"Ah, Mr. Hasegawa, I am Himeji Mizuki; nice to meet you."

Himeji was immediately targeted by the enemy; maybe the enemies wanted to get rid of her as soon as possible?

"Ritsuko, I'll help as well!"

Another girl from Cla.s.s B stepped forward and summoned at the same time. Two of the ten students from Cla.s.s B were present here; it seems that they were really scared of Himeji.

"Summon!"

The magic circle appeared after the summoning, and the Being that we were all familiar with stood in front of us.

The enemies' Beings pointed their sword and spear at Himeji's Being, but it seemed to be very calm and just held the greatsword that we've seen before.

It was now a face-off between the three Beings with the faces of their respective owners, but...

"Eh? Himeji's Being has an accessory."

"Ah, yes. Because I'm pretty good in Mathematics..."

"You can wear an accessory in the subject you're good at?"

Himeji's two-head-tall Being had a beautiful-looking bracelet on its left wrist beside the greatsword on its hand.

"T-That's...!?"

"She's not an enemy we can handle!"

The enemies started panicking when they saw the bracelet.

Ah, this reminds me: wearing the bracelet means...

"Erm, I'm going to attack."

Himeji tightly held her hand; following her action, her Being dashed towards the enemy from its left-hand side.

"Wait a minute!"

"Ritsuko! Dodge the attack first!"

Both of their Beings jumped to the side with dramatic actions. Suddenly, the bracelet on the wrist of Himeji's Being emitted a bright light.

*Beep!*

"Ahhh!"

"Ri... Ritsuko!"

The instant the left arm emitted the light, one of the enemies' Beings that couldn't escape in time was covered in flames.

Cla.s.s F Himeji Mizuki VS Cla.s.s B Iwas.h.i.ta Ritsuko & Kikuiri Mayumi

Mathematics

412 VS 189 & 151

So, wearing the bracelet means that the Being is capable of using a special ability? Although I have forgotten what the requirement score for that is, I did remember somewhere in the rules stating that students who score above a certain amount are able to equip on their Beings a bracelet that allows them to use a special ability. This rule has nothing to do with me, so I totally forgot about it.

"S-Sorry. I can't be gentle on the battlefield!"

Himeji's Being stuck to the enemy that had lost control due to dodging the previous attack, and cut both it and its weapon in half, killing it instantly and winning the fight.

"Iwas.h.i.ta and Kikuiri have died in battle!"

"What!? How's that possible!?"

"Himeji Mizuki's scarier than the rumors say!"

The remaining eight students from Cla.s.s B looked extremely shocked; it was not surprising for them to look like that.

By the way, Himeji, you're too strong.

"E-Everyone, please do your best...!"

Himeji said something that didn't sound like a command from a commander, but it was extremely effective.

"I'm going to unleash my power!"

"Himeji's the best!"

The number of Himeji believers had dramatically increased.

"Himeji, you can have a rest now!"

"Ah, yes."

The enemies' morale had significantly dropped, so it was better to let Himeji rest now. A special ability could deal a huge amount of damage, but it would cost a lot of points. Even if there was no Himeji in the fight, defeating the enemy vanguard was just a matter of time now.

"Switch with the main troop and retreat at the same time. Don't die in battle!"

And that was the enemy's command. Anyway, we've achieved our target successfully. Let the enemy step back slowly, restrict their actions in the Cla.s.s B cla.s.sroom, and then the battle for today should be close to the end. It was thanks to Himeji's extraordinary fighting ability that the plan's going so smoothly, thank you very much!

"Akihisa, I'm heading back to the cla.s.sroom now."

"Huh? Why?"

Hideyoshi had walked towards me while I was looking over the overall situation of the battle.

"Heading back"? Did something happen to the main troop?

"The Cla.s.s Representative for Cla.s.s B is..."

"The guy named Nemoto."

"You said 'Nemoto'; could it be Nemoto Kyouji?"

"That's right."

The guy called Nemoto Kyouji had a very bad reputation. According to the rumors, he was a pro at pulling dirty tricks and would take whatever actions needed to achieve his goal. There were rumors about "poisoning the opposing team in a ball game", "bringing weapons when fighting others", and so on. I didn't really believe that he could be that bad, but being careful wouldn't harm us at all.

"I see, then we should head back as soon as possible!"

"Although I don't think that Yuuji will fall for his trap, we better head back just to make sure everything is okay."

After we informed Himeji about this, Hideyoshi and I brought a few men back to the cla.s.sroom.

"Wha, this is terrible!"

"I never would have imagined that they would actually do all this."

"This is so mean."

When we got back to the cla.s.sroom, we saw not only holes all over the chabudai but also pencils and erasers all broken or split into two.

"This is bad; now we can't replenish our scores smoothly."

"Yeah, this might be a minor problem, but it will certainly affect our score replenishment."

By the way, I think that Nemoto is a petty coward.

"Don't worry about it too much. Although it'll take some time to repair, it won't affect our plan too much."

"Well, Yuuji, we'll follow what you say."

Something didn't seem right.

"How did the cla.s.sroom get this bad, and Yuuji, how did you not know anything about it?"

There were no problems in the cla.s.sroom before lunch break, so it must have happened sometime between the start of the battle and now. However, Yuuji should have been in the cla.s.sroom at that time and been able to stop them, right?

"They wanted to sign a treaty with me and I went to negotiate with them, so the cla.s.sroom was empty during that time."

"What treaty?"

"Well, if neither of us can win the War before 4 PM, then we will maintain the situation of the War as is and continue it from there at 9 AM tomorrow morning, and until that time, both sides cannot do anything related to the Summoner Test War."

"I see. And you agreed?"

"That's right."

"But if it comes to the point where stamina determines the result, we should have the advantage, right?"

"That's true for all of us except Himeji."

Ah, I see.

"After forcing them to stay in the cla.s.sroom, the War will end for today; the true battle will start tomorrow."

"That's right. It seems that we can't take them down today."

"At that time, Himeji's fighting ability will be more important than that of the whole cla.s.s."

That meant the battle would be focused on certain areas? Then it should be the same as the battle against Cla.s.s D and let Himeji finish off the Cla.s.s Rep, I guess?

"That's why you accepted their suggestion: to let Himeji fight in perfect condition?"

"Yes. This pact is good for me."

Is it? Good, then, if you say so.

However, I keep feeling a little bit strange about this. They destroyed our tables, and then signed a treaty that was good for us at the same time. I don't think Nemoto Kyouji is such a naive person.

"Akihisa, we should head to the front line now; they may have used some dirty tricks again."

Hideyoshi ran out of the cla.s.sroom after he said that.

"Yeah. Yuuji, we'll leave this to you."

"Oh, I will go prepare new pencils and erasers."

Yuuji raised his hand and said goodbye. I turned away from him and chased after Hideyoshi.

I managed to catch up with Hideyoshi quickly without running at my full speed.

"I keep thinking that we haven't seen the last of them!"

"Yeah. I don't think they'll stop here; we better be careful."

What would be the next dirty trick they'll use? d.a.m.n, they have stronger fighting ability than us, so why aren't they fighting us face to face?

We were about to reach the battlefield.

"Remember to be careful!"

"You, too, Hideyoshi!"

After reminding each other, we went back to our troops.

"Yoshii! You're finally back!"

The person who welcomed me back was Sugawa. Huh? Wasn't Shimada supposed to be controlling the troop?

"Sorry to keep you waiting! What's the situation now?"

"Very bad for us."

"Huh!? Why!?"

The enemy's main troop never appeared, and our fighting ability is better than theirs; why are we in a bad situation now?

"Shimada was captured and is being held hostage."

"What!?"

Now they're using a hostage!? Do they really believe that they can win through dirty tricks!?

"Therefore, the enemy has only two people left, but we can't attack them at all. What should we do?"

Now my troop is confronted with the enemy because of this incident.

"Hmmm... let me see the situation before I make the decision."

"Then we should head there now. The enemy is blocking us in the corridor there."

Sugawa led the way, and I followed behind him.

After walking through the human wall formed by my troop, it was clear that the situation in front of me was exactly as Sugawa said: Shimada and her Being were being held hostage by two Cla.s.s B students.

And they had the Remedial Teacher beside them as well.

"Shimada!"

"Y-Yoshii!"

Why does this sound like a soap drama?

"Stop right there! If you come any closer, I'll deliver the final blow to her Shokanju and send her to the Remedial Room!"

One of the enemies that captured Shimada stood out and restricted my actions.

Not only would they let our precious female cla.s.smate die, but they deliberately held her hostage to threaten us and lower our morale. It was a really smart strategy.

If we blindly dashed forward before we managed to defeat them, they would defeat Shimada and use the fact that she was sent to the Remedial Room to make us feel guilty.

...This is nothing at all.

"Everyone, prepare to attack!"

"Leader, are you sure about this!?"

There's no other way! There are always sacrifices in War! This is not revenge for being tortured every day; it's just one of those decisions that a leader must make!

"W-wait, Yoshii!"(?)

Even the enemy was telling me to stop; so uncool.

"Don't you want to know how we caught her?"

"It's because she's an idiot."

"I'm going to KILL you!"

Huh? What? Why does Shimada sound stronger than me even though she's being held hostage?

"This girl believed the false information about you being injured and left the troop to look for you in the infirmary alone."

What did he say!?

"Shimada..."

"W-What?"

Am I thinking too much? It seems like Shimada's face was pretty red.

"Trying to kill me while I was injured, are you a demon!?"

"That's not why I went!"

This is so scary. Now I can't have a nap in the infirmary in peace.

"Was there anything wrong with visiting you to see how bad your injuries were!? I was worried about you!"

Huh...?

"Shimada, is that true?"

"Y-Yes. Can't I do that?"

Shimada looked a little bit angry and turned her head to the side.

Really. Her, worrying about me. That Shimada...

"Haha, now you understand. So, listen to me and don't try anything."

"Everyone, attack!"

"Why!?"

Why? Do you really need to ask that?

"She is not the real Shimada! She must be an enemy in disguise!"

You guys picked the wrong person to fake! That Shimada would never be so gentle! If she were the real Shimada, she would definitely be very happy to send me to h.e.l.l!

"Oi, wait a minute! This person is the real Shimada!"

Cla.s.s B students, look how uncool you are.

"Shut up! You still want to keep using that dirty strategy after we've seen through it? How ugly!"

"I'm telling you that she's the real one...!"

Cla.s.s B Suzuki Jirou VS Cla.s.s F Tanaka Akira

English Writing

33 VS 65

Cla.s.s B Yoshida Takuo VS Cla.s.s F Sugawa Ryou

English Writing

18 VS 59

Defeat those two first! Deal fatal blows to their Shokanjus!

"Aaah...!"

"Help me...!"

Both of them were immediately taken away by the Remedial Teacher. This felt really good.

Then, all that's left is...

"Everyone, be careful! The enemy might drop the disguise at any time and attack us!"

This was the impostor who was trying to imitate Shimada!

"Y-Yoshii, you're so mean... I really was worried about you..."

"Stop your silly act, you second-rate actor!"

The real Shimada would never say something like that!

"It's true! I really was worried about you!"

"Surround her. Even if she is from Cla.s.s B, she can't fight this many of us at the same time."

"It is true! They told me 'Yoshii saw Mizuki's panties and can't stop his nosebleed', so I got really worried!"

"Cease attack! She is the real Shimada!"

She's the only person who would fall for such an stupid lie.

"Shimada, are you alright?"

I lent my hand to Shimada who was sitting on the ground. d.a.m.n you, Cla.s.s B; how dare you use such a dirty trick!

"..."

"It's good that you're okay. I was worried about you!"

"..."

"Go have a rest in the cla.s.sroom. You must be very tired, right?"

"..."

"By the way, these guys really are cowards. Do they have no pride as human beings?"

"..."

There was no reaction from Shimada.

"Ah... Shimada. Actually..."

"...What?"

She finally turned her head and looked at me.

I put on an apologetic face and flashed my best smile at Shimada, who was now staring directly at me.

"I knew that it was you all along!"

She went berserk.

"...Where am I?"

When I regained consciousness, I saw a ceiling covered in dirt. This is... ah, our cla.s.sroom.

"Ah, you finally woke up?"

The cute voice came from my side. Could it be the healing voice of Himeji?

"I was worried about you. Yoshii, you looked like you were beaten up by someone and then pushed down some stairs."

Correct answer.

"Even if it is a Summoner Test 'War', there's no need to injure someone like this, right?"

No, instead of calling it a war, you should call it a one-sided slaughter...

"It's nothing important. How's the Summoner Test War going?"

I tried to sit up on the tatami, and felt pain all over my body.

"According to the treaty, we're now in a ceasefire. The War will continue tomorrow."

"And the situation?"

"We sort of attacked the front of their cla.s.sroom as planned. However, our losses were greater than we imagined."

Yuuji read the damage report on the paper one by one. Although it was sort of within our expectations, this was still a huge loss. It seems that we didn't have a total win in the battle at the corridor, and since we put most of our men in there, the result was not good for our overall strategy.

"Although some accidents occurred, it seems that things went smoothly for now?"

"You could say that."

However, the opponent was that coward Nemoto Kyouji; he must have some hidden plan.

*knocking on the door*

"Oh, Muttsurini. Is there anything to report?"

Before I realized it, Muttsurini was beside me.

Muttsurini was a member of the intelligence team today, so he didn't take part in the battle. His job was to stay alert and record what was going on in the enemy troops.

"Huh? Something strange is going on in Cla.s.s C?"

*nod*

According to Muttsurini's information, Cla.s.s C was preparing for a Summoner Test War. If they aren't planning to challenge Cla.s.s A, then there's only one other reason...

"They want to take on the easy target. They're such cowardly b.a.s.t.a.r.ds."

As Yuuji just said, they were planning to attack the winner of this War. It is easier to take on opponents who are tired and exhausted.

"Yuuji, what do you plan to do?"

"Hm, what should I do...?"

Yuuji raised his head and looked at the clock. It was 4:30 now- not too late.

"We better sign a treaty with Cla.s.s C as well. If we threaten them with using Cla.s.s D to attack them, I believe that they'll give up the idea of attacking us."

"Also, they don't believe that we'll win, right?"

It shouldn't be too hard to sign a treaty with Cla.s.s C.

"Okay. Let's go now."

"Yeah."

I injected power into my aching body and stood up. My body seemed to be fine.

"As a backup plan, Hideyoshi, you stay in the cla.s.sroom."

"Huh? Why? Is it not okay for me to go with you guys?"

"If your face is seen, my hidden strategy that I'm saving for emergency situations won't work."

"I don't quite understand what you're talking about, but if you say so, I'll just do as you say!"

Hideyoshi stepped down obediently. But what is this emergency situation Yuuji was talking about?

"Then, let's go. It will be a little dangerous since we're short on numbers."

Without Hideyoshi, Yuuji, Himeji, Muttsurini, and I headed towards Cla.s.s C.

"Yoshii, it took me a long time to wash your blood off my fingers; I'm going to make you pay for that later."

"Was it Yoshii's fault?"

While we were in the corridor, we saw Shimada, who was using her handkerchief to wipe her hand, and Sugawa, who had his bag on his back.

"Ah, Shimada, Sugawa. Nice timing. Let's go to Cla.s.s C together."

Although I don't think it will happen, the Cla.s.s C students might attack us, and it'd be dangerous to be going there with only a few of us. Also, we need extra people to guard Himeji. I kept on thinking and called on my two best friends in front of me at the same time.

Of course, as my best friends, they won't reject my invitation.

"Hmmm, okay?"

"Ah, no problem for me."

Now I have backup I can trust.

"Hurry up, or Cla.s.s C's Rep will head home."

"Yeah, let's go!"

After Shimada and Sugawa joined the team, the six of us continued to head towards Cla.s.s C.

"I am Cla.s.s F's Representative, Sakamoto Yuuji. Who's the Cla.s.s Representative here?"

There were still a lot of students remaining in Cla.s.s C. It was just as Muttsurini reported: they were preparing for a Summoner Test War and waiting to pick off the easier target.

"I am. What do you want?"

The girl who appeared in front of us had very short hair. Wasn't Koyama the star of the volleyball club?(?)

"I am here to negotiate with you as Cla.s.s F's Representative. Are you free now?"

"'Negotiate'? Huh..."

Although I don't like to badmouth girls, Koyama was so far away from being gentle and steady. After she heard what Yuuji said, she showed an evil smile on her face for some reason.

"Yeah, I'm here to propose a treaty of mutual non-aggression."

"A treaty of mutual non-aggression... What do you think, Nemoto?"

Koyama turned her head and spoke to the group of students in the corner.

Huh? "Nemoto"?

"Of course not. There's no need for that, right?"

"What!? Nemoto!? Why is Cla.s.s B here!?"

The person who brought a group of people and walked towards us was our current enemy: Cla.s.s B's Representative, Nemoto Kyouji. He had short hair, an unshaven beard around his mouth, and evil-looking eyes. He looked totally different from Yuuji who had a pair of sharp eyes.

"How terrible, Cla.s.s F. You broke the pact. I thought we agreed that we wouldn't do anything related to the Summoner Test War?"

"What did you say...?"

"Weren't you the ones who broke the pact first? I'm just doing what you were going to do!"

After he said that, the group of people at his back started moving. The person who was hiding behind him was Mr. Hasegawa, who was short and was staying on the battlefield for now.

"Mr. Hasegawa! Yoshino from Cla.s.s B wants to challenge-"

"Not so fast! Sugawa from Cla.s.s F will accept that challenge! Summon!"

Just when Yoshino from Cla.s.s B planned to attack Yuuji by surprise, Sugawa jumped out and accepted the challenge for Yuuji. Good job, Sugawa!

"We didn't violate the pact! This is just between Cla.s.s C and Cla.s.s F-"

"It's no use, Akihisa! Nemoto will definitely use the words 'anything related to the Summoner Test War' as an excuse!"

"Yes, that IS what I'll do.♪"

"Nonsense!"

"'Nonsense' is a very useful theory!"

"Akihisa, run!"

"d.a.m.n!"

Leaving Sugawa who was fighting at the back, the rest of us left Cla.s.s C as fast as we could.

Cla.s.s B Yoshino Takayuki VS Cla.s.s F Sugawa Ryou

Mathematics

161 VS 41

"Don't let them get away! Defeat Sakamoto!"

Nemoto's voice and the sounds of footsteps came from behind.

Honestly, the current situation was very dangerous. Not only could we not fight Cla.s.s B students face to face, but our only hope, Himeji already used up too much of her Mathematics score. Nemoto must have known that, so he called Mr. Hasegawa here. It was a dirty trick, but it was an effective one.

"Hah, hoo..."

"Himeji, are you alright?"

We were running down the corridor at full speed, but Himeji's steps were slowing down. She was not good at sports, and for a physically weak student like her, it must be very hard to run like this.

"Y-you guys... please go on ahead..."

Himeji said that while trying to catch her breath. We wouldn't be able to escape the enemy's attack with her like this, but we couldn't lose her here as well. If we lose Himeji's fighting ability, who knows what would happen in the War tomorrow. Also, I can't just leave a girl here and run for my life!

Is there nothing we can do now...?

"Yuuji!"

"What, Akihisa!?"

"Leave this to me! Yuuji, retreat with Himeji!"

I stood and looked back, and Himeji and Yuuji ran past me.

I never imagined that I'd have a chance to say some cool stuff like this. Do I look cool or what?

"Y-Yoshii, d-don't worry about me-"

"Got it. I'll leave it to you."

Yuuji stopped Himeji's words, and agreed with my suggestion. This was the Yuuji I knew, never letting his feelings affect his judgement and calmly making decisions according to the situation.

*stops running*

"Wait, Muttsurini, you need to escape as well. I think the key to tomorrow's battle is you."

Muttsurini stopped with me at the same time. I feel grateful for that, but I think he has a more important mission to accomplish; we can't lose him in a situation like this!

"Then it should be okay for me to stay. Right, Leader?"

Shimada stopped running, and stood beside me.

"...Can I rely on you?"

"Of course you can. Leave everything to me!"

"... (Good luck)"

Muttsurini gave us a big thumbs up, and then ran away from the scene immediately.

"...What should we do now? Leader?"

"Ah, I have an idea."

"Huh? Really?"

Shimada looked at me with disbelief.

Wha--- It seems like she doesn't trust me. What an impolite vice leader.

"I don't want to end up in the Remedial Room either, leave this to me!"

"Found them! Yoshii and Shimada from Cla.s.s F!"

"Kill them!"

The enemies approached us quickly. Hasegawa-sensei was there as well.

"Cla.s.s B students! Stop there!"

To decrease their morale, I purposely used strong language to stop them.

"You are pretty brave. Do you think you can stop us with only two of you?"

"No, before we fight I have something to say to Hasegawa-sensei."

If we showed our enemies any weakness, we would lose control of the situation, so I continued speaking strongly.

(Yoshii, what are you thinking? Are you going to complain to Hasegawa-sensei and say that they disobeyed the pact?)

(Well leave it to me, I have an idea.)

I whispered softly to Shimada who was starting to worry. Ah, she worries too much.

"What is it, Yoshii?"

Hasegawa-sensei walked to the front. She was still trying to catch her breath, maybe she needed more exercise?

"Do you know that Cla.s.s B disobeyed the pact?"

If she was a teacher, she wouldn't stand beside students who were disobeying the rules. That's definitely true for someone who was responsible for being a judge.

(That cunning Nemoto must have thought of a good excuse.)

"From what I have heard, the one who broke the pact was Cla.s.s F, wasn't it? If you are complaining that you got attacked because of this, before saying anything about the pact, you should check your personality first shouldn't you?"

The teacher's comment was a little rude. Nemoto must have twisted the facts when he was explaining the situation to Hasegawa-sensei, just as Shimada said.

(It is just as I imagined, so what are you planning to do?)

"..."

(I am looking forward to your strategy.)

Shimada winked.

Confronted by her expectation, I made the following reply.

"We are dead..."

"This guy's an idiot!"

How rude!

"Sakamoto! Yoshii... Is... Is he going to be all right?"

"Of course! I can't make any guarantees about the others, but he will definitely have no problem."

"But..."

"He is not really good at studying. However, even if you get a bad result, it is not everything right?"

"Wh-What do you mean?"

"That idiot... He is not a normal Punishment Bearer."

"Shokanju Summon!"

Four enemies summoned their Shokanjus at the same time.

We kept on running, but the corridor was full of dead ends. It was just a matter of time before we arrived in the battle area.

"Yoshii, what should we do?"

"You're asking me?"

"Then who should I ask?! Anything is fine, just think of something!"

Shimada and I were running side by side and shouting to each other at the same time.

"Okay, I got it! Shimada, you try to take them on!"

"Okay okay, and then?"

"My chances of escaping will be higher."

"I will definitely finish you off one day!"

Now we were at the end of the corridor. There was only a wall with a window in front of us.

"Shimada, summon your Shokanju now."

"Summon it?"

"Then use it to receive damage instead of me."

"Go die!"

"Wa! Why did you suddenly go berserk? Are you a berserker?"

I kept running, while dodging the punches that Shimada threw at me.

d.a.m.n. Now we were at a dead end.

I rested my back on the wall and looked forward, and saw the enemies getting closer and closer.

"You guys must be very tired of running around!"

"By the way, do we really have to chase them?"

"There is nothing else we can do. While we were foolishly playing with them, Sakamoto's group escaped."

"Then let's finish them and go back!"

When they realized we had nowhere to run, the four of them looked like they had used up all their energy and started chatting in front of us.

Since there is no reason to chase us, why not just let us go!?

"Oi, are you done chatting?!"

Shimada was angry and scolded them when she saw that they were being so impolite. Oh, in a situation like this, she was still very aggressive.

"... Ah!"

"What?"

"You really are the lousiest cla.s.s."

How dare he say something like that! I must say something back!

"We are not the lousiest cla.s.s! It's just the students that are lousy!"

"Yoshii, shut up!"

Huh? I was trying to fight back, why is she so angry?

"Don't look down on us just because we are Cla.s.s F!"

"Oh really? What can those from the lowly Cla.s.s F do?"

"See for yourself! Shokanju Summon!"

Shimada shouted out and the Chibi Shimada that I had seen many times before appeared.

"This is what I will do! I'll make you taste the difference in our ability!"

The guy from Cla.s.s B who was quarreling with Shimada also summoned his Shokanju. It held its knife and dashed towards us. Although the enemy couldn't do any complicated moves, it had enough power.

"You!"

Shimada let her Shokanju rush forward.

The enemy's strong attack hit Shimada's Shokanju and---

Cla.s.s B Kudou Shinji VS Cla.s.s F Shimada Minami

Mathematics

159 VS 171

"You, are you really from Cla.s.s F?"

No, they had the same ability! What's going on?

"He he, it is your fault for choosing mathematics. For this subject, it doesn't matter if I don't understand kanji[1]!"

Oh, Shimada is so cool!

"By the way, Shimada, what's your score for Ancient Literature?"

"Just a single digit!"

She is so certain! That's also cool!

"Kudo, do you need help? You don't want to be sent to the Remedial Room, do you?"

"d.a.m.n, please help me!"

Kudo regretted it and bit his lips. It was really a shame to ask for help when fighting Cla.s.s F.

The situation was looking bad for Shimada. Both Shokanjus were using their weapons and fighting with all their strength. Neither of them could leave now. If the number of enemies increased, she would definitely lose.

"Shimada, do you need help? You don't want to be sent to the Remedial Room like this right?"

"You'll just get in my way!"

"How mean!"

I regretted it and bit my lips. She's so mean!

However, this was no time for jokes. No matter how tired I was, I shouldn't just run away in a situation like this. It was time for me to join the battle.

"Shokanju Summon!"

A familiar magical circle appeared beside me. The Shokanju that had the same amount of fighting ability as my mathematics score, slowly revealed itself.

Its strong-looking face!

Its st.u.r.dy body!

Its fast and swift moves!

Its absolute strength.

"Don't worry about Yoshii! You can see he's just a weakling!"

"Pay me back! Pay me back my handsome descriptions!"

"Go away, you weakling!"

"Shimada, are you really my partner? Why are you insulting me?"

It was true that my Shokanju only had a bokutou[2] on its hand and looked very weak.

Now I was surrounded by enemies (one of them being my cla.s.smate)!

"Now we're in trouble."

Shimada's face was slightly twisted.

Although she could win against the enemies, the difference between the scores was small. It was obvious that Shimada had consumed a huge amount of marks.

"Farewell!"

The Cla.s.s B student controlled her Shokanju and attacked; Shimada's Shokanju couldn't dodge it. Now is the time for me to show up!

"Taste my kick!"

I made my Shokanju dash forward and trip my enemy from the side.

"Ah!"

Underestimating my ability and being unfamiliar with controlling a Shokanju, the enemy tripped over easily.

"This is not the end of it!"

I used my bokuto and swung towards the enemy, hit it into the ground. Now is the time!

"Ah----"

My Shokanju quickly grabbed the back of the head of the enemy Shokanju, and thrust its head towards the ground.

Boom! It made a loud noise that could be heard anywhere along the corridor.

"Huh?"

Everyone said that at the same time.

The result of the battle was decided instantly.

Cla.s.s B Sanada Yuka VS Cla.s.s F Yoshii Akihisa

Mathematics

166 VS 51

The score of the battle just now appeared in the air.

This is so embarra.s.sing! Her score is three times more than mine!

"What! Sanada's score is higher right? Why was she defeated by such a weak Shokanju?"

Kudo from Cla.s.s B complained to the teacher. This had nothing to do with the teacher, what can you get from her?

"Huh? My Shokanju is still alive?"

The Shokanju that was beaten into the ground stood up, the power was really not enough...

"Yoshii, what happened?"

"Ah... I guess these are maybe the few advantages of being a Punishment Bearer?"

From everyone's performance in the war against Cla.s.s D, I realized that controlling Shokanju was not an easy task.

The extraordinary power and the difference in size, all made controlling Shokanju more difficult. Therefore everyone only used dash attacks or simple attack methods, and let the scores determine the result.

"What do you mean by advantages?"

"In other words, I am accustomed to controlling my Shokanju!"

As a Punishment Bearer I had summoned my Shokanju countless times, and the pain and fatigue that were reflected back at me gave me a few advantages---- it forced me to make my Shokanju perform more complicated actions. If I only knew how to perform simple actions such as "run" or "swing the knife," I could never do those extra jobs given to me.

"It must have been a fluke!"

The enemy raised its knife again and attacked me. However her terrified expression made me a little bit happy.

"Ha!"

Facing the enemy's knife, I made my Shokanju block its attack. As the score showed, our power difference was threefold. If I took the damage directly, the bokuto would definitely break into two, so I must defend the attack by diverting the enemy's attacking force.

"Ah!"

The enemy's knife was thrown sideways, and its body was open for attack.

"Haaa!"

I made my Shokanju dash forward to hit it on its waist, then gave it another hit on its head.

Cla.s.s B Sanada Yuka VS Cla.s.s F Yoshii Akihisa

Mathematics

126 VS 51

The value shown had made a few changes. Even though I bullied the enemy like this, we still had a huge gap in our power. My Syokanju is really weak!

"We better take them seriously!"

"Although I don't want to bully Cla.s.s F like this, we can't just stand here and watch this mess."

The other two people at the back walked out. No matter what, this situation was just too bad right?

"Ah, wait a minute. At least make it fair, two versus two!"

"Yoshii, you are mistaken, it's not four against two anymore."

"Huh? Has backup arrived?"

"It is five versus one now!"

"Shimada, do you intend to betray me?"

Just how much does she dislike me?

"I'm coming, take this!"

Along with some useless shout, the enemies' Shokanju attacks came. I let my Shokanju duck to dodge the attacks.

"This guy!"

"The undead guy!"

Wa! The number of enemy Shokanjus had just increased by two! Was this the so called "death by dismemberment" punishment?

The enemy Shokanjus stood side by side and rushed towards me. I should avoid being surrounded before trying to defeat them.

"We should be able to kill him in one hit..."

"But none of our attacks land on him..."

"This guy is just like Metal Slime."

I am not that weak!

"Hey!"

I angrily dashed into one of the enemy and gave him a punch to the stomach, right on target!

And I hurt my hand. That was the result of the reacting force.

"Should we start now?"

"d.a.m.n! I'm retreating for now!"

Kudo realized that he couldn't win in a one on one fight so he decided to retreat. He wasted a lot of marks in the fight just now, so it was a good idea to run away. Now it became three versus two--- No, Shimada had also spent a lot of marks too, so it is now three versus one.

"Shimada, now!"

I gave an instruction to Shimada who was not being attacked by the enemies at the moment, and who was looking towards the fire extinguisher I used before.

"Roger!"

Shimada picked up the fire extinguisher and pulled out the safety switch. Now we should be able to run away-----

"..."

--but she was not moving. What's going on?

"Quickly, use it!"

"Ah, I wonder what should I do?"

She had an extremely smug look on her face.

"Sh-Shimada! What do you want?"

Shimada decided to reveal her true colors in such a dire situation! It was very hard to fight against three opponents at the same time!

"What do I want? Ah, right----"

"I will do anything you want!"

"Then, firstly, let's change how we call each other!"

"I will do it! Please!"

"Then, I will call you Aki, and you will call me Minami-sama."

"Mi-Minami-sama! Is that fine?"

"This holiday, I feel like going to 'La Pedice' in front of the station, and eating some crêpes there."

"d.a.m.n! I only live on salt water! How can you even consider such an expensive idea--- Ah! Okay okay, I will treat you, Minami-sama! Please, I will treat you, just don't leave me alone!"

"Good, and one last thing."

"More? Give me a break!"

Shimada looked really happy.

"Say you will love me forever."

What! This is like looting a burning house! I will remember this!

"You will love me forever."

I repeated exactly what she told me. Now she shouldn't have any complaints right?

"Idiot!"

(Blowing sound)

The fire went out.

We had white powder all over our bodies and barely escaped with our lives.

But why did Shimada look like she was in a bad mood?

"Ah----I'm exhausted!"

"Y-Yoshii! Are you alright?"

Himeji opened the door and dashed out. Her bouncing b.r.e.a.s.t.s were really dazzling.

"Yeah. This is nothing---- Ah, it hurts!"

Shimada fiercely stepped on my foot. For some reason Shimada was really angry with me today.

"Humph!"

"S-Shimada, what did I do wrong?"

(Scary stare!)

"Ah, n, no, Minami..."

That murderous gaze was focused on me now.

Although she specially gave me permission to drop the "sama" honorific, the name I used for her couldn't be reverted.

I really couldn't get used to calling her Minami in such a short amount of time.

"Why did the relationship between you two become so good?"

"Huh? You mean us?"

If our relationship was good, she wouldn't be stepping on my feet and threatening me at the same time, would she?

"Ah, you're back? Thanks for all your hard work."

"You look fine."

"Yeah, I'm back."

Yuuji and Hideyoshi walked out as well. Muttsurini didn't seem to worry about us so much, but he also slightly nodded towards me.

"Then everyone."

"Huh?"

Yuuji looked at everyone and said,

"Here's the current situation. It looks like Cla.s.s C is our enemy. Since they haven't attacked us yet, they will be declaring war on us immediately after this war ends. To be honest, we don't really stand a chance if we fight Cla.s.s C immediately after Cla.s.s B."

They are probably thinking the same thing. Even if we win this war, they won't give us any time to rest, and will attack us immediately.

"Then what should we do? Even if we win this war, we will only be an easy target for Cla.s.s C right?"

"That's true..."

"Don't worry."

Confronted by a troubled group, Yuuji stared with his energetic wild look and said,

"Since they are going to attack like this, I will counter their attack in my way."

"Your way?"

"Yeah, I will return them a big favour tomorrow morning."

We were dismissed after that and continued the War tomorrow.