[560] Scramble Royal (1)
"Run!"
Knowing they couldn't overpower Shirone, Shuamin and the others fled into the opposite corridor the moment the ambush failed.
'Are you out of your mind?'
They'd attacked a senior with offensive magic.
Deciding he could no longer tolerate it, Shirone cast Teleport and pursued them.
Challenging Shirone with movement tricks had been the juniors' mistake from the start.
The distance closed in an instant, and when Shuamin's group realized they couldn't escape, they turned a corner and slipped into a storage room.
Catching the tail end of their stealth, Shirone burst the storage door open and scanned the room.
They had vanished like ghosts.
"Invisible cloaks. Where on earth did you get those?"
Shirone's voice echoed through the storage room.
"Come out. I know you're hiding here."
When no one answered, he floated a Homing Photon Cannon around him and used Spirit Zone to lock onto targets.
As the three turned, the golden orb trembled as if about to leap.
"You see the laser? It's a guided missile. Once I fire it, even I can't cancel it. I'll count to three. One."
Silence.
"Two."
Tension wavered.
"Three—!"
Shuamin revealed himself from a corner of the storage room.
"Hah, you think you can attack us?"
Alt crawled out from inside a box, and Gerein slithered out from between the building materials.
'They're really fast at hiding.'
Gerein, getting to his feet, echoed Shuamin's bravado.
"That's right. Magic's forbidden on campus. If you hurt a student, a week of suspension won't be the end of it."
Their audacity was infuriating.
"You were the ones who cast magic first."
"Hahaha! Fine. Then we'll die together. I always wanted to get expelled once."
'Cheeky brats…'
They tried to use the weight of graduation and the advanced class like leverage, but the logic was absurd.
"All right. Then I won't use magic."
Shirone figured it best to play along if he wanted a confession, but Gerein already wore a victorious grin.
"Good thinking. We'll be going now. Guys, let's go."
Shirone moved sideways to block the exit.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"What are you gonna do? If we don't use magic—"
Shirone lifted his right arm slightly and opened his palm; Gerein immediately shut his mouth.
A Cubric slot spun across his retina and summoned a sword overhead, and Armand latched onto Shirone's hand.
"Diamond Armament."
At the spoken keyword the blade split with a snap and raced along his right arm, swallowing Shirone in an instant.
"W-what is that?"
Shirone, clad in a pure white robe, looked overwhelmingly intimidating.
The artificial brain's outer casing emitted a violet glow and revolved, almost mesmerizing.
Still, for the advanced-class kids it seemed less frightening than seeing him brandish a sword; the tense expressions around them slowly relaxed.
"Geez, you startled me. Don't scare people like that."
Passing a graduating senior with a sword in a dead-end storage room was naturally terrifying.
Shuamin signaled with his eyes and cast Wind Cutter; Alt and Gerein provided supporting fire.
'You bastards…!'
For the first time in a while, Shirone responded with serious intent and moved without evasion.
There was a clang as metal formed and shattered; the three who had been running for the door froze in shock.
"What kind of outfit is that?"
Where Wind Cutter had struck, the surface had turned metallic.
It was the carapace of a Ringer—the armor-type mineral species famed even in Heaven for its supreme durability.
"When did you start going this far?"
"What are you talking about? Old fogey."
When Shirone had first met them in combined advanced classes, they'd been polite and well-mannered.
'There's definitely something going on.'
Feeling the need to interrogate them, Shirone drew a tentacle of Armand out like plucking a feather from a craftsman's quill.
"Ugh!"
Shuamin and the others shrank back at the sight of the living material.
"Spill it. Who sent you?"
"W-what is this! What are you going to do with that hideous thing? Senior, you're a pervert!"
Shirone's face stayed cold.
"That depends on how you act."
"Guys! Let's do it for real!"
At Shuamin's cue, the group activated their specialties.
Fireball, Ice Dagger, Eruption.
The magic was on another level from Wind Cutter; Shirone finally grew serious.
The floor's molecules ground and detonated like a volcano, the fireball's flames blossomed, and the ice blade drove into the heated air.
But Shirone, already out of range, swung his tentacle, grabbed all three by the neck, and hoisted them into the air.
"Grrk! Monster!"
"Who's the one doing this? This is self-defense. And like you said, we didn't use any magic."
"Shut up! You dodge exams and still judge us!"
"Shut up?"
Shirone's eyebrow twitched.
Their impudence was outrageous, considering how they once looked up to graduating seniors when he'd been in the advanced class.
"Aaah!"
Under the tentacle's pressure, their faces flushed.
"Tell me. Or I'll break your necks."
"Kill us then! We'll never talk!"
There was probably some sincerity in that cry, but Shirone couldn't shake the feeling they were still looking down on him.
They likely assumed he wouldn't actually kill, and Shirone had no intention of murder either.
'What now?'
After a moment's thought, Shirone had an idea.
"You really won't say, huh?"
"Yes! We're proud mages! Our convictions won't break!"
"All right. Then I have no choice. I'll ask Mark."
"Ugh!"
As expected, their faces crumpled.
Mark, who had become Shirone's follower after losing to him in the Teleport evaluation, had trained relentlessly, settled into Class Four, and now reigned as the advanced class's top tough.
"How cheap! Selling out a junior's name? And you're in the graduating class?"
At Alt's words their tone softened—Mark must be terrifying to them.
'Well, a fist at hand is stronger than a law far away.'
They were probably more worried about Mark, who would be around for years, than about Shirone, who was graduating.
"So speak. Or Mark will ask you."
Gerein, watching Shuamin's expression, spoke cautiously.
"We're the Hide-and-Seek Research Club."
Shirone had heard the name from Naid; it was one of the underground clubs. That explained their recklessness.
Underground research clubs had a strong sense of belonging and operated almost as extraterritorial societies within the school.
"Why was the Hide-and-Seek Research Club tailing me?"
"We don't know. The president told us to observe and report."
They'd been full of conviction a moment ago, but now their answers flowed freely.
"Who's the president?"
This time Shuamin and the others refused in unison.
"We absolutely won't say!"
"Is that so? Then Mark—"
Shuamin began to plead, voice trembling.
"Seriously, senior. If we reveal it, it's not Mark who'll get us—it's the president. We don't even know why we were told to investigate. Please, just forgive us this once."
Ironically, their refusal to name anyone above Mark made their fear feel genuine.
Shirone withdrew his tentacle and lowered the three wheezing juniors to the floor.
"Don't spy on other clubs again. If something like this happens again, you'll be the first suspects."
"Y-yes. Yes."
"Now go home. And don't skip class."
No sooner had the words left his mouth than Shuamin's group bolted outside, and Shirone fell into thought.
'Hmm, the underground club stirred. Could it relate to my target portrait?'
It was possible, but he couldn't be certain—he'd never seen that club in class before.
'I'll ask Naid.'
Noticing lunch hour was approaching, Shirone headed for the dining hall.
'I wonder if those kids can even find their way out. They'll have to take a long detour.'
* * *
The dining hall looked the same as it had before.
It was the one time of day people could relax, so the atmosphere was lively.
What had changed since the early days, when everyone kept to their classes and factions, was that social dynamics were now much more varied.
What caught his eye most was Dorothy, the four-dimensional girl, sitting opposite Iruki.
'Dorothy only ever ate with Luman before.'
Strictly speaking, Dorothy had been the only one who put up with Luman, but in any case Luman still sat by her side now.
A master of crowd control, Luman's selfish personality and heavy frame left her unpopular; over the break she'd put on about one and a half times more bulk.
Boil, majoring in summoning magic, watched Luman shovel food in with a disgusted look.
"Do you still feel hungry eating like that? How much did you stuff yourself over vacation?"
"Hmpf. You should be asking how much special training I did. I eat when I'm stressed."
Iruki snapped back.
"You get stressed because you keep eating."
Luman lifted her catlike eyes.
"Don't you dare. You're the weak one because you can't eat."
"Want me to show you an easy way to lose weight?"
"Huh?"
When Luman showed interest, Iruki tapped the table with his index finger.
"Whenever you eat or read, keep tapping the table like this."
"Tapping? What's that supposed to do?"
"The more you move your fingers, the more calories you burn."
Luman shot up from her seat.
"Really! Are you making fun of me for being fat?"
Iruki answered briefly.
"That's math."
Boil and Dorothy both turned to look.
"No matter how trivial, numbers express things clearly. Tap the table and you'll burn that many calories. Even a tiny amount matters; you'll lose weight by that much."
Unable to contradict the logic, Luman slid back into her seat, but she was thoroughly offended.
'You psycho. You'll regret this someday…'
At that moment, Iruki noticed tapping beside him and turned to see Dorothy tapping the table with her forefinger.
"What are you doing?"
"Dieting."
Naid had crept up beside Shirone and whispered in his ear.
"Those two are acting suspicious lately."
Relieved to see Naid, Shirone exhaled and said, "Who's suspicious? Iruki and Dorothy?"
"Yeah. You felt it too, right? Dorothy's been paying attention to Iruki lately. So we should interfere—both you and me."
"That's a weird conclusion. Isn't that a good thing?"
Naid made a sour face.
"Nope."
"Why not?"
Naid slung an arm over Shirone's shoulder and lectured him.
"Listen. For someone our age to be around girls means they can do so many terrible things. It's the perfect betrayal for us! I'll never stand for it until I die."
Shirone looked at him in exasperation, shoved Naid's arm away, and turned toward Iruki's table.
"Then you can just die."
"Heeey!"
Naid pouted and followed as Shirone reached their table. Amy pulled out a chair for him.
"You're here."
"Yeah. How was class? That was the specialty exam, right?"
"Not too hard. The real crunch comes around ten weeks from now. I think only Arin will get a master's grade."
"Oh. I see."
As Shirone and Amy chatted, Naid leaned into Iruki's ear and whispered.
"So it looks like they worked it out? I was worried since Dorothy's so cold when you're not around."
"Iruki and Dorothy will sort their feelings themselves. Mind your own business and worry about you."
"Naaah! Everyone hates me!"
Just as Naid was about to shout, everyone suddenly went silent, and his voice rang embarrassingly in the hall.
"Ugh!"
Naid's face went red, but no one paid him any attention.
Everyone was looking toward the dining hall entrance.
"It's Mayada."
She hadn't set foot in the dining hall since she refused evaluations earlier in the term; this was her first appearance.