"Hey, Mahiro-kun, are you really going through with this?"
"Yeah. If these bastards dare to act so brazenly, then I assume they're prepared to be wiped out."
Mayumi asked nervously, but Mahiro's response was resolute.
After all, this was something he'd decided long ago—nothing and no one could stop him.
Soon after, an armored off-road vehicle drove through the school gates and came to a smooth stop before him. A familiar face peered out from inside.
"Yo, long time no see, Mahiro-kun! Didn't think you'd actually make it out."
"Tanma? Where are Fumiya and Ayako? They didn't come?"
Surprised by the arrival, he glanced into the vehicle and found it mostly empty, save for a lone loli sitting in the passenger seat.
"They're still in school. Besides, this is just a simple driving job—no need to trouble the young master and miss."
"Fair enough."
Mahiro nodded in agreement and climbed aboard.
"Mahiro-kun, who are they...?" Mayumi, who had followed behind, asked.
"Oh, just some branch family members of Yotsuba."
Mahiro replied offhandedly, his tone slightly teasing.
But that was the truth.
The driver was called Wanitsuka Tanma, while the extra passenger in the front seat—a red-jacketed, long-pants-wearing, dagger-twirling, expressionless legal loli with black hair, standing only 150 cm tall but older than him—was named Hashibami Yuki.
They were assassins from the Asia Trading Society.
But the Asia Trading Society was now under the management of the Kuroha family, so by extension, the two of them could be considered branch family members.
Although this operation had been proposed by Shiba Tatsuya, he himself was not part of the team.
Mahiro hadn't included him—not even Miyuki.
Originally, he hadn't even wanted to bring Mayumi and Erika along.
But.
The former insisted that, whether as student council president or a member of the Ten Master Clans, she couldn't allow him to take such risks alone, while the latter simply found it interesting and stubbornly tagged along.
Even though they were dealing with terrorists—the kind where a single misstep could cost them their lives.
Yet it felt more like a spring outing.
After boarding the vehicle, Mahiro took out his intelligence terminal and unfolded the screen.
It contained a map forcibly obtained from their teacher, Ono Haruka, marking the location of the Japanese branch of [Blanche].
But the revealed location was shocking—only ten kilometers away from the school!
An abandoned biofuel factory in the suburban hills!
At that distance, it might as well have been built right in their faces!
Sitting in the side seat, Mayumi found herself momentarily entranced as she watched him intently analyzing the intel.
They say a focused man is attractive, and Mahiro was exactly that.
Especially his profile, bathed in the dappled twilight sunlight.
Elegant and composed, yet with a faint trace of authority between his brows.
It was captivating.
Mayumi, who had been watching him all along, couldn't help but lose herself in thought, recalling their earlier conversation in the infirmary—
"This is too dangerous! It's beyond the scope of students!"
When Mahiro proposed eliminating Blanche, Mari immediately stepped forward to oppose it.
As the head of the disciplinary committee, she had the most experience dealing with dangerous situations—and thus the most right to say such things.
"I also object. Matters outside the school should be left to the police."
Mayumi shook her head with a stern expression.
Beside her, Juumonji Katsuto remained silent, but his grave gaze said everything.
This wasn't something students should interfere in.
They were dealing with terrorists—armed with Sunstones, no less. This was no joke.
Even Sayaka tugged at his sleeve, pleading:
"Yotsuba-kun, if you're doing this for my sake, please reconsider.
"The president is right—leave it to the police."
"I'll be fine. I'm just accepting the punishment I deserve."
"If something were to happen to you or the others because of me, I wouldn't be able to bear it."
"I refuse."
Mahiro remained unmoved, his voice cold. "If we involve the police, then what? What can those incompetents even do?"
"In the end, the only one they'll blame is Mibu-senpai. They'll pin all the charges on her and drag her to court."
"Not only would she be expelled, she'd probably spend the rest of her life in prison!"
"Meanwhile, the real culprits would still be walking free!"
The group fell silent.
Mayumi and the others tensed, rendered speechless.
It was true—while the members of the alliance could claim ignorance, Mibu Sayaka, who had infiltrated the library, couldn't escape responsibility.
As per the usual trope, Mibu Sayaka would undoubtedly be pushed forward as the one to shoulder all the responsibility.
"If they dared to tarnish senpai's sword, then they must repay it with their lives. That was decided from the very beginning."
"I don't need any assistance from the school either. I alone am enough."
"This is my battle of vengeance!"
His voice wasn't loud, yet it reverberated through the infirmary.
He never cared about laws—only the things he held dear.
No one could bring themselves to stop him, and secretly, they even felt a tinge of envy.
Thinking this, Mayumi puffed her cheeks slightly, as if pouting.
"How enviable. If something like this happened to me, would Mahiro-kun help me like this too?"
"Of course," Mahiro answered instantly.
"Eh?"
The sudden reply snapped Mayumi out of her reverie.
Mahiro had already finished reviewing the intel, putting away his terminal as he looked at her.
Word by word, he said:
"I said, if Mayumi-senpai were in the same situation, I would definitely make the same choice."
"Eh... ehhh~~~"
Saegusa Mayumi, whose face was already flushed, now turned so red it seemed about to bleed.
She hadn't expected her earlier words to be overheard...
Ugh, how embarrassing.
"My, my, Yotsuba-kun is quite the playboy~"
"Scumbag."
The two remaining girls in the car voiced their opinions bluntly.
...
.....
....
"Erika, Yuki, you two guard the back entrance. Mayumi-senpai will stay in the car with Mr. Katou to provide support and prevent any escapees. I'll charge in directly from the front."
Outside the abandoned factory, the group stood by the wall, listening to Mahiro assign their tasks.
"Any objections? Speak now if you do."
Except for Katou, everyone's expressions were slightly off.
"Why am I stuck with a rookie dragging me down? I could handle this alone!"
"Are you sure about this? She's just a middle schooler, isn't she?"
Erika and Yuki's voices overlapped.
After speaking, they stared at each other in surprise.
"Who are you calling a kid?! I'm 18 years old!"
"Oh? Calling me a rookie means you think you're strong, huh?"
Sparks practically flew between their locked gazes.
"Yuki."
Mahiro cut off their argument, addressing the black-haired loli directly. "You don't have to accept it. How about I have a nice chat with Ayako about this next time I see her?"
At the mention of Ayako's name, Yuki's back stiffened.
As if recalling some unpleasant memory, she trembled slightly.
"Nuts to you!"
She cursed under her breath, glaring at him like he was the devil, but had no choice but to comply.
Mayumi's request was much simpler.
"I'm going with you. Charging in alone is too reckless!"
"...Fine, Mayumi-senpai."
He could reason with the others, but against the stubbornness of the Saegusa family's young lady, he could only relent.
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