Chapter 9: Protecting Arjuna
Oh no——!!!!!
Eikou gasps sharply in panic.
"What should we do, Sir Eikou,"
Gawain breaks out in cold sweat. "If this continues, Arjuna-sensei will be in danger."
"Stop asking me already!" Eikou slams the desk angrily.
"Your Sir Eikou can't think of any solution anymore! Right now I just want to run away!"
Damn it, what kind of sick play is this supposed to be? A proper class turning into such a horrifying scene!
Open Class?
Open execution play would be more like it!
Complaints aside, Eikou quickly regains his composure.
"Alright, although right now I can use Curse Arts to cover him up, letting this go on like this definitely won't work. No matter what, we have to think of a way to help him get out."
Fortunately—and unfortunately—because of his extremely cold personality, combined with his overwhelming strength, even though Arjuna Alter is firmly bitten by Shinji, he doesn't care at all and continues to listen attentively to the lecture as usual.
But from another angle—
He has absolutely no intention of freeing himself from Shinji's mouth at all!
If it were another man who got bitten in such a vital spot, he would probably have screamed in terror long ago, yet Arjuna Alter remains calm as if facing no danger at all.
Is this the composure of a Lostbelt King? It really is cool.
But please don't show that kind of demeanor in places this weird, okay?!
If Arjuna Alter were seen like this by everyone, then his career as a Lostbelt King would probably end right here…
"Alright, I'm going up!"
Eikou reveals a sharp and resolute gaze.
"Even if Open Class ends up losing, I can't just stand by and watch Arjuna-sensei be humiliated like this."
"Isn't that how you usually treat him anyway?"
"Hey hey, this is different from usual. This time, no matter what, I — Mochizuki Eikou — must protect that of Arjuna Alter at all costs!"
After all, that can be considered the bloodline of the entire Indian Lostbelt, and it is also directly related to the direction of fate for this Open Class and the Britain Class.
If you round it up a bit, then the entire Britain Class is basically hanging from that of Arjuna Alter.
Shinji-kun must be pulled out, and Arjuna Alter's clothes must be returned to him.
"Gambare, Sir Eikou…"
The Knights of the Round Table standing nearby one after another show deep respect, offering Eikou — who suddenly springs to his feet — the highest salute.
In their eyes, Eikou's resolve to protect the small thing of Arjuna Alter is just as stirring and fervent as when Emiya Shirou once faced multiple Heroic Spirits, burning his own life to desperately protect Miyu!
"Alright…"
Taking advantage of the fact that Curse Arts is still active to conceal things from everyone, Eikou tiptoes over to Arjuna Alter's side.
He carefully reaches out with both hands, grabs the robot's head, and starts pulling it outward.
In Eikou's mind, a Disney cartoon suddenly appears, where Winnie the Pooh gets his head stuck in a honey tree, and his friends all gather around, pulling and pulling until they finally get him out.
What he is doing right now is actually quite similar, except that the thing that needs to be pulled out this time is Arjuna's "honey tree"!
[You do not intend to activate a Skill?]
"Don't activate any damn thing. What if it turns into a great failure?"
Eikou thinks to himself. He can't bear that responsibility, so it's better to just rely on brute force and pull it out.
"!"
He grits his teeth and uses all his strength to pull outward, but Shinji-kun bites down extremely tightly and stubbornly refuses to let go.
So Eikou pulls even harder, almost bracing with both legs and kicking backward.
"You bastard, let go! Do you know you're biting onto the most noble and sacred thing of all India?!"
"Be careful, what if you break it by pulling too hard?"
Gawain watches in unbearable anxiety. "How about I join the fight too?"
Tristan immediately jumps up as well. "Me too. Please let us lend a hand to atone for our sins. Like you, we'll risk our lives to liberate Arjuna's Little Noble Phantasm!"
What the hell are you people getting fired up about?!
"Don't come over. My Curse Arts is about to collapse. And besides, if a gorilla like you accidentally uses too much force and damages the Lostbelt King's Little Noble Phantasm, who's going to compensate for that?"
"Is it really okay? That part of Arjuna-sensei really won't be damaged?"
"It's fine, I think I can already see the head sticking out a little!"
Eikou pants as he speaks, gripping the robot tightly and continuously pulling outward.
"Which head are you even talking about?! That sounds just like a midwife!"
"Hyaaa!"
"Or maybe stop it, it already looks really painful! And come to think of it, why is Arjuna-sensei not reacting at all, just letting you and Shinji-kun mess around like this?"
"Hyaaaaaaa!"
Eikou no longer has the mental capacity to care about any of that. He unleashes the full power of Strength A, desperately dragging Shinji-kun out, wanting nothing more than to end this farce as quickly as possible.
This damn robot, sooner or later it's going to be dragged to Principal Da Vinci's workshop and smashed into Mana Prism!
BAM!
A loud sound rings out as Shinji-kun is finally forcibly yanked free by that brute strength.
"Ah, wait—"
Eikou's body follows the momentum and uncontrollably falls backward. He widens his eyes in panic, suddenly realizing something is wrong.
BANG!
He crashes heavily straight onto Scathach's desk, producing an extremely loud "bang."
Hearing the commotion, the students in the classroom all turn their heads to look. Under such a violent and overly conspicuous impact, Curse Arts completely loses its effect.
"..."
Scathach lowers her head, using her deep yet beautiful crimson eyes to look at Eikou, who is lying sprawled across her desk.
She glances at Roland and Shinji-kun beside him, then looks over at Arjuna Alter, who is in a state no different from Adam.
Finally, Scathach's gaze settles on Eikou.
Those beautiful eyes flash with a sharp, dangerous light.
"...Hello, jade beauty baby."
Eikou says to her.
Scathach merely smiles faintly. "You're dead."
[...]
[In the end, everything was exposed.]
[After that, you honestly confessed all of your misconduct, and were brutally punished by Scathach for a full hour.]
[Compared to her punishment, even Heracles' fists could be considered gentle.]
[What followed was an utterly inhumane interrogation.]
[Finn tried with good intentions to plead for leniency for you, but ended up being dragged into the punishment as well.]
[...Sensing the comradeship forged by you boys through adversity, you receive an Encouragement Dice.]
[From a certain perspective, most of the teachers of Chaldea Academy—King Hassan, Tezcatlipoca, Arjuna Alter, Babbage…—have basically all become victims at your hands. And conversely, from Scathach's profound punishment techniques, you have comprehended a completely new Skill.]
[You have learned a new Skill [Sadistic Constitution B]]
[[Sadistic Constitution B]: You become better at bullying others, but lose your original composure. When activating this Skill in combat, your strength will increase to a certain degree, but your defensive capability will decrease accordingly.]
[As for everyday social life, this Skill might be usable in certain special situations, or when targeting certain special individuals...]
"Why are you throwing another weird Skill at me again?"
...