Chapter 145: What Are You Doing to My Pet?
"Inconceivable, inconceivable, this is truly inconceivable!" The girl's voice, a mixture of tsundere and anger, echoed through the cafeteria.
A few interested individuals, seeing the "Tyrant Rex" getting angry, pricked up their ears to eavesdrop, but under her wide-eyed, fierce glare, they lowered their heads in fear and quickly fled.
Charlotte proudly stuck her little nose in the air.
Seeing this, Kobayashi waved a hand in front of her face. "Don't be so aggressive. It's not a big deal. Is there any need to be so angry?"
His words had a double meaning.
Charlotte understood, but she picked up her fork and pointed it at him, lecturing, "You were assassinated, and you actually let the other person get away? You're such a contemptible coward! A complete and utter coward!"
"Hey, hey, hey, let me make this clear. I punished her harshly, you know? I gave her a punishment that was almost impossible to accept," he quickly defended himself, explaining that he wasn't the type to stay silent when he had been wronged.
Charlotte raised an eyebrow and said with disdain, "Punishment? What punishment? Let's hear it."
"I ate her."
"...Eh?"
Hearing his answer, the girl was suddenly stunned, blinking as if she hadn't quite understood what "ate" meant.
But a tsundere girl is not an ignorant girl. She paused for a moment and then said in shock, "A-a-a-a-ate... you ate her?! You did—to her?!"
The girl was stammering, unable to speak. It seemed she was thinking of another kind of "eating."
And Raishin Akabane added fuel to the fire, pressing on, "Ate her? Forgive me for asking, but it wouldn't be the 'adult' kind of eating, would it? The kind where it's not you eating her, but her eating you?"
"Oh my, you know quite a bit, don't you, Akabane-kun?"
"Of course. I understand that much."
The two men shared a knowing laugh. Their expressions were exceptionally lewd, which earned them a disgusted glare from the tsundere girl at the same table.
Seeing that Raishin was so knowledgeable, Yaya immediately chimed in, "Raishin. Why don't we do it together tonight? You can eat me... no, wait, it seems it should be me eating you? We'll slip under the covers at night, take off our clothes, and then... hehehe... hehehehe..."
"Hey! Stop thinking about weird things! This is obviously a joke!"
Raishin shook the delusional, perverted Yaya, while regretting that he had just joined in with Kobayashi to tease Charlotte. After all, he had an even bigger problem on his own side.
The tsundere girl also reacted.
"You were lying to me?!"
"Hmph hmph hmph, you fell for it. Besides, I'm a civilized person. How could I do that kind of thing?"
"Heh, a civilized person. The same person who attacked me before, trying to violently take away a girl's most important thing (her Night Party gloves), is now calling himself a civilized person? Don't make me laugh."
"Wait! The person you're talking about is Akabane-kun! I didn't make a move at all! At most, I was just an accomplice... no, wait!"
"Hmph, so you admit it!"
Having been played, he was dumbfounded. Charlotte must have deliberately used misleading words to get back at him for teasing her just now. Looking at the surrounding students who had gathered to whisper, and the hostile gazes of the girls, he felt prickles on his back and was very uncomfortable.
"I surrender, I surrender, I give up."
He raised both hands.
As the girl made a victory sign with her index and middle fingers, he added sincerely, "I didn't expect you to be worried about me. Thank you, Charlotte."
"Huh?! Wh-wh-wh... who's worried about you?!" The discovered Charlotte's eyes darted around, not daring to look him in the eye.
The tsundere girl was the same as ever.
He knew what she was thinking in her heart, so he naturally wouldn't say the opposite.
On the other side, Raishin, who had just calmed down the fanatically-generating Yaya, said, "But that person... that person who looks so timid... to think she's a glove holder. Her timid attitude doesn't look like a high-ranking student at all."
Indeed.
Frey, whether in personality or appearance, gave off the feeling that she was very easy to bully. For a person like that to be able to participate in the Night Party... it really would, as Charlotte had said, lower the prestige of this year's event.
"But, Akabane-kun, you have to know one thing—you can't judge a book by its cover."
He said this very seriously.
Raishin felt it made a lot of sense and became serious after hearing it.
"Don't tell me... she's actually very strong?"
"No, she's pitifully weak."
"..."
Raishin was instantly speechless.
He had lectured him about not judging a book by its cover, and he had thought the other person was a hidden expert. It turned out she really was a weakling. What a waste of emotion.
Charlotte, on the other hand, took out a notebook and explained to the two, "Frey, a third-year student. Her registration code is [Silent Roar]. Her original rank was 100th. She went up two places, then down one, so she's now ranked 99th."
"Thank you for the explanation, Charlotte. But I already know all of this."
When he had decided to participate in the Night Party, he had already investigated the members. Except for those whose whereabouts and origins were too secret, he knew the intelligence on most of them.
—Through the file cabinet in the headmaster's office.
Charlotte patted the notebook, puffed out her meager chest confidently, and said, "I know. It must be because she saw that you are quite skilled, so she wanted to eliminate you before the Night Party begins."
"...What's that about?" Raishin asked, puzzled. "Since she's his first-round opponent, wouldn't they face each other from the start anyway?"
His rhetorical question ignited her anger.
"You're a real idiot! So dumb you're going to die! She's trying to assassinate him because she has no possibility of winning in a real fight!"
"Er... you're right."
Raishin nodded readily. Even he was afraid of meeting Kobayashi in the first round and being kicked out of the Night Party, which was why he had hurriedly gone to threaten others to exchange ranks. Looking at Frey's foolish appearance, she would surely be instantly defeated.
Just at this moment, Sigmund, who had been wrestling with a piece of chicken, suddenly turned his head to look at the central courtyard.
"What is it, Sigmund?"
"The person you were talking about... has arrived."
He and the others followed its gaze out the window.
Talk of the devil.
On the main avenue in front of the cafeteria, which ran through the north and south of the academy, someone was setting up a cage for catching a giant bear.
Her pearlescent hair was exceptionally conspicuous under the sun.
"What... is she doing?"
"Who knows?"
Kobayashi smiled as he watched Frey and her automaton, Rabi. The person and the dog were together, dragging a heavy iron cage that left two tracks in the soft ground. The passing students all stared at them with dazed and surprised expressions.
She arrived at the center.
Frey let go of the rope pulling the large cage and climbed through the iron bars into the cage herself.
Then, she took out a book from between her peaks. Its cover was of a level that would need to be censored. It looked like something only adults could read, that children absolutely could not, and a single glance would make one's face turn red. It was an R-rated photo album.
No way.
Although I think it's impossible, it looks like she's really going to do it—
Frey placed the R-rated photo album in the center of the cage. It looked just like bait for catching prey.
Smack!
Charlotte slapped her hand on her forehead, an expression of complete disbelief on her face.
Raishin held back his laughter and asked, "You're... not going to stop her? You're just going to let her continue like this?"
"Why should I stop her? To watch her clumsily set a trap, and then be caught by her own trap... don't you think that scene is wonderful?" he said, a look of delight on his face.
The corner of Charlotte's mouth twitched. She couldn't help but say, "Your personality really is awful sometimes. You were the same way with that person... Felix."
"Hahaha, thank you for the compliment."
"I wasn't complimenting you!"
The girl denied that she had been a tsundere just now, but the man in front of her didn't listen, and just took her words as such.
The heavily sweating Frey was painstakingly setting up her trap.
Leaving aside the bizarre iron cage placed in the middle of the road that could be seen through at a glance... don't tell me... she thinks I'm the kind of man who would be lured by that sort of thing?
His super-strong vision allowed him to see the cover of the photo album.
—Mmm, it was his type.
He couldn't help but wonder how the other party knew his preferences, but then he suddenly remembered what he had done to her this morning and realized why she was doing this.
Just as he thought that was enough.
Clang—
The lock on the iron cage suddenly came loose. It fell with a loud noise, and at the same time, it trapped the dazed Frey inside. Seeing her freeze up in confusion, he thought to himself, As expected.
After more than ten seconds.
She seemed to have finally figured out the situation and began to frantically run around in the cage. As a result, she accidentally tripped on her scarf and fell.
She couldn't get up, and just flailed around.
She really was clumsy.
And Rabi was also at a loss, constantly circling the cage. It seemed this dog wasn't very smart either.
Charlotte sighed helplessly, turned her head to see his reaction, and found that the smile on his face was even more delighted than before. The tsundere girl was so scared she couldn't help but scoot to the side, as if to get away from him.
His personality was actually very good. But sometimes, a switch would flip for some reason, and he would become a person who enjoyed wicked fun.
Suddenly, she saw that his expression was not good.
"What's wrong?"
Puzzled, she turned back to the central courtyard, and after seeing it, her expression also turned sour.
Because a slender male student had come to the front of the cage. He had a half-length scarf wrapped around his shoulders. His side profile looked very proper, but his eyes were so fierce that they ruined his handsome face.
And his hair was also a very characteristic pearl color.
Beside the male student was a small, angel-type Gundam composed of several steel plates, floating in the air. It held a longsword in each hand, the length of which was about the same as the student's height.
It should be his automaton.
"—The Sword Emperor, Loki."
"The Sword Emperor? The Self-Flying Flame Sword? One of the Thirteen?"
"That's right. One of the glove holders of the top thirteen of the Night Party. A second-year student known as the Sword Emperor among the students, and seen as a rival to the Marshal, Magnus. He has never been defeated in practical combat exercises, and his strength is in the top ten of the academy."
Charlotte quickly recited his intelligence.
Most importantly—
"Do you see his resemblance to Frey, and the same pearl-colored hair? That is proof that they are brother and sister."
"Brother and sister..."
Although they were siblings, their relationship was very bad.
Because Loki grabbed her scarf and forcefully lifted her up, causing her to hit her forehead on the iron bars.
The delicate, dazed girl almost cried out in pain.
Rabi sensed its master's crisis and let out a loud roar, but after being glared at by him, it tucked its tail and retreated. Even though its body was burly, its personality was as timid as its master's.
Then, he roughly pushed her away and said viciously, "If you're so desperate to complete your mission, then I'll settle things with you right now, Gabriel!"
"—Command!"
With his command, the angel-type small Gundam let out a mechanical sound. Then, the parts on its back spun around, spreading out like wings. On them were eight thorns... no, sharp daggers.
The fallen Frey crawled backwards in fear. But as if she had thought of something, she shakily stood up, a determined flame lighting up in her still-timid eyes.
"Ngh... at the very least, I am a puppeteer! Let's go... Rabi!"
"ROAR—"
With the influx of its master's mana, the dog-type automaton Rabi once again became雄起. Something like an electric current flowed over its body, and it roared at the angel-type small Gundam.
Then, as it roared, a ball of something like static electricity shot out.
A sound pressure that almost blocked one's ears suddenly arose around them. The static ball, while shattering the stone bricks and kicking up sand, flew straight towards Gabriel.
But at the moment before it hit, a flash of a sword cut through the static ball. With a boom, an unnatural, huge gust of wind blew around them.
It was unknown what magic Gabriel had used, but a simple slash had dissipated the static ball that Rabi had shot.
Seeing this, Frey's almond-shaped eyes widened.
Her red eyes revealed a timidity, and she looked like she wanted to run away.
But Loki showed no mercy. He still gave the command to continue the attack and said the famous line:
"The weak must obey the strong!"
"—I'm ready."
The mechanical voice was like a final judgment.
Gabriel leaped up. An unnatural gust of wind flowed towards its body, and then, as if riding this wind, it used its light and agile mobility to continuously slash at Rabi.
Rabi dodged nimbly, but Gabriel's movements were even faster. With the continuous attacks, Rabi was in a crisis.
The longsword was heavy, and the steel blade was raised high. Just as Rabi's neck was about to be cut, a dark shadow suddenly slid in front of them.
From Frey's perspective, she saw a figure that was not burly, but in her eyes, was incomparably tall, standing in front of her and Rabi.
At the same time, one of his feet was stepping on the longsword of the angel-type small Gundam, Gabriel, pinning it down, not allowing it to pull its longsword out of the ground.
"Kobayashi...?"
Frey's eyes widened, and she stared blankly at the third person who had suddenly intruded.
Everyone's gaze gathered on him.
"Hey, hey, hey. They say a hero saving a beauty is the most cliché thing ever. But if you save a dog and indirectly save a beautiful girl, is that a little more acceptable?"
He was saying something completely nonsensical.
Seeing his own automaton being suppressed by a human, Loki's expression instantly became extremely ugly.
Wasn't this a kind of slap in the face?
Just as he was about to say, "This is a matter between us siblings. Unrelated people should not interfere," to accuse the other of being a busybody, he hadn't expected the man before him to say something that would instantly ignite his anger—
"You... what are you doing to my pet?"
"...P-pet?!"
To actually call my sister a pet? As I thought, I should just kill him!
Loki's eyes were filled with danger.
(End of Chapter)