"President Rudolf?!"
The Uma who'd originally planned to gang up on Mizuno, upon seeing that the one now blocking their path was Tracen's own Student Council President Symboli Rudolf, instinctively shrank back a few steps.
As they recoiled from Rudolf's overwhelming strength—able to one-shot even the red-leather-jacketed Uma—and from her authority as Council President, they also felt deeply confused.
Why had Tracen's official forces arrived so fast this time?
The last time an Uma Siege had broken out, the official staff had taken a full two hours to arrive. Maybe they'd needed time to gather personnel and organize a response plan, but in any case, they'd never shown up immediately—certainly not fast enough to stop the Uma from invading the secret boys' dormitory.
In all four previous Uma invasions, by the time Tracen's authorities arrived, the trainers in the boys' dormitory had already been thoroughly Uma Pyoi'd.
Thus, even though those Uma would ultimately be caught and punished—locked in confinement from one week to three months depending on how severely they'd broken the rules—most participants had cheerfully evaluated the opportunity to raid their trainers' dorm rooms and enjoy a good round of Uma Pyoi as:
Totally worth it! We'll come again next time!
But! For some unknown reason, this time Rudolf had arrived barely twenty minutes after the invasion began?!
They hadn't even gotten the dorm address sheet from that black-clad dorm supervisor yet, hadn't even had the chance to Uma Pyoi their own trainers yet! How could they possibly accept giving up now, obediently surrendering to Symboli Rudolf?
So, swallowing down their fear of Rudolf, they gritted their teeth and started inching closer to Mizuno again.
"?" Rudolf raised an eyebrow, slightly surprised. These dozen or so young Uma were still daring to approach despite being under her Divine Might?
Is it their love for their own trainers that's made them overcome fear? Rudolf mused.
Mizuno: "..."
More like their desire to 'overcome' their trainers! They're clearly pushing through just to steal the dorm address sheet from me!
"President..." The dozen young Uma formed a ring around Symboli Rudolf, taking combat stances.
A glasses-wearing Uma automatically promoted herself to the group's leader and addressed Rudolf:
"I don't know why you arrived so quickly this time, President. But considering it's over a dozen kilometers from Tracen Academy to here, surely you must be tired now, right...?"
"What? You want to challenge me?" Rudolf narrowed her eyes slightly, sweeping them over the young Uma in front of her, somewhat impressed by their courage.
But only somewhat. Although she was tired and nowhere near peak condition, she still wasn't someone these young fillies could challenge.
Even if she couldn't one-shot them instantly like usual, it would only take a bit longer. The end result would still be all these young Uma laid flat, without even the tiniest chance of victory.
"..." The glasses-wearing Uma knew this clearly, so she clenched her teeth and said:
"President, we know you're powerful. Normally you can handle a hundred of us alone. Even in your current exhausted state, we're still not your match..."
"However..."
The glasses-wearing Uma pointed toward Mizuno, who was hiding behind Rudolf, issuing a threat:
"We have over a dozen Uma here. If it comes to a real fight, President, you might have trouble guaranteeing his safety in the chaos..."
"..." Rudolf's brows furrowed. She tightened her protective stance around Mizuno, glaring dangerously at the glasses-wearing Uma in clear warning.
"Oho~" The glasses-wearing Uma, though a bit scared, noticed Rudolf's protective stance and immediately guessed their relationship wasn't ordinary. Realizing her threat had struck the right spot, she pressed the negotiation:
"If you want to ensure he doesn't get hurt in a fight, that's fine. Just have him hand over the dorm address sheet! Then give us just one hour to go visit our trainers, and this battle can be avoided. Your little lover won't get hurt either... How about it?"
"?" Rudolf froze for a second upon hearing the glasses-wearing Uma's words, then suddenly smiled.
"Huhu~ Is that so?"
At first, when she'd heard the other Uma daring to threaten her with Mizuno, Rudolf truly had felt a hint of murderous intent toward the glasses-wearing Uma!
Luckily, Rudolf had enough self-control that she wouldn't actually kill the girl. However, afterward, she would absolutely use her immense influence at Tracen to assign the glasses-wearing Uma's trainer to permanent overseas duty—never permitting him to return. It was a cruel but fitting punishment for an Uma in love.
Yet the instant Rudolf heard that certain phrase: "your little lover", her ears, previously flattened back from rage, instantly perked upright again.
"Yes, yes indeed~" Rudolf nodded, satisfied, her horse ears flicking happily.
"?" Mizuno, hiding behind Rudolf, saw everything clearly—and understood nothing.
How had an angry Rudolf suddenly become so pleased?
Moreover, Mizuno suddenly felt something tickling his legs. When he looked down to see what it was, he found, to his shock—
Wait! Since when did Rudolf's tail get wrapped around my legs?!
"You just said that if we fought, I wouldn't be able to protect him, right...?" Rudolf wrapped one arm around Mizuno's waist, pulling him close, and pointed with her other hand toward the dark tunnel behind her.
"What if we add them?"
"Them?!"
The glasses-wearing Uma spun around, shocked, as two figures slowly emerged from the darkness of the tunnel.
One had shoulder-length, smooth hair tied with a yellow ribbon on her left ear. Her sharp, proud face and faint orange eyeshadow paired perfectly with her serious gaze, radiating the aura of a queen above all.
Student Council Vice-President, Air Groove.
The other had her long hair tied high, a white bandage across her nose, and a single blade of grass from her own garden dangling coldly from her mouth. Her indifferent expression and sharply aggressive eyes resembled a proud, solitary wolf.
Student Council Vice-President, Narita Brian.
"Trainer Mizuno.." Air Groove, noticing Mizuno as soon as she stepped out of the tunnel, lifted a hand gently in greeting.
"..." Mizuno noticed her greeting and waved back.
"It's the two Student Council Vice-Presidents—Air Groove-senpai and Narita Brian-senpai!" The other Uma stared wide-eyed, utterly shocked.
They couldn't even beat President Rudolf alone. Now with two more Student Council members arriving, how were they supposed to fight?!
Yet that wasn't even the scariest part.
Because behind the two Vice-Presidents, rows of Tracen-uniformed Uma security guards now marched out of the tunnel.
Wearing dark sunglasses, wielding batons and steel poles, they formed up neatly behind the two Vice-Presidents, radiating intimidating authority.
A security chief-like Uma stepped forward, shouting:
"Who are we?!"
"Tracen Security!" came the roaring reply.
"What's our duty?!"
"To protect the Academy!"
"What's our motto?!"
"Warmth in enforcement! Strength in baton swings! Accuracy in kicks! Precision in punches! Attitude in every strike!"
"Very good!" The security chief nodded in satisfaction.
"Guh..." The dozen young Uma immediately lost all fighting spirit upon witnessing the scene.
If the arrival of two Vice-Presidents had already reduced their odds of victory to absolute zero, the appearance of Tracen Security turned the word "battle" into a one-sided "arrest."
Seeing they were now outmatched both in power and numbers, the glasses-wearing Uma could only sigh helplessly, squat down, and hold her hands behind her head in surrender.
"We give up..."
Led by her, the remaining Uma exchanged glances before also giving up their resistance.