Chapter 80
Igarashi Toka, walking through the school, noticed the strange disturbance immediately.
The sound of screams reached her.
When she looked that way, she saw students running desperately toward her from the cafeteria.
Countless monsters followed behind them.
(...As I suspected, they were inside the school...)
Igarashi became certain that her deduction had been correct.
The Monster Tamer really had been inside the school.
And they were in the worst situation imaginable.
"P-President! President Igarashi!"
The first person to rush toward her was Vice President Miyamoto.
Panting, Miyamoto approached her with his shoulders heaving violently.
"Huff, huff... T-this is terrible! The Monster Tamer was a student, monsters appeared, and there's a battle—"
"Calm down. Who was the Monster Tamer? What is the extent of the damage?"
"The Monster Tamer was... well, it was Katsuragi. Katsuragi Sayaka was the culprit..."
The news surprised her for an instant, but she quickly regained her composure.
Igarashi had already narrowed down the possibilities to some extent when she began searching for the Monster Tamer.
The other student council members, the exploration team that fought on the front lines, and the evacuees.
Among them, Katsuragi Sayaka had been one of the most likely candidates.
(I see... So it really was her.)
However, she had had no proof.
Katsuragi had joined the exploration team on the second day, and her devoted attitude had earned high praise from Miyamoto and the other students.
The fact that she had actively participated in explorations meant she had had many opportunities to encounter monsters outside.
She must have gathered her forces while evading the notice of the other members.
(...There was nothing suspicious in her reports. Her acting was simply a level above mine...)
It was humiliating, but she had no choice but to admit it.
They had been completely outmaneuvered by her.
Igarashi immediately changed her mindset and considered the situation before her.
"I understand. Then you will guide the evacuation together with the other student council members. I will hold them back here."
Fortunately, there was only one path from the cafeteria to the school building.
If she held them back here, the damage inside the school would be minimized.
"B-but I can't leave you here alone, President..."
"Never mind that! Go, now!"
"Y-yes, ma'am!"
As Miyamoto hurried away as if fleeing, Igarashi stared at the approaching horde of monsters.
She had not sent Miyamoto and the others away because they were important to her.
She had judged that they would only interfere with the battle.
(Anyone whose spirit has broken would only be a burden.)
They were mere lumps of flesh, not even useful as shields. It was far better to be without them.
Besides, her Skill was suited for fighting one against many.
Even so, this number might be somewhat more than she could handle.
"Hey, sis! There are tons of monsters!"
"Indeed, little brother! My arms are raring to go!"
An innocent voice suddenly came from behind her.
When she turned around, she saw a small pair of twins.
"Shiori, Shido, what are you doing here?"
At her question, the small twins grinned brightly.
"It was too noisy for our nap!"
"...Your nap? You two are already..."
Even in a situation like this, the two of them showed no sense of tension, making her smile wryly.
The twins' names were Igarashi Shiori and Igarashi Shido.
They were the younger sister and brother of Igarashi Toka herself.
"Well, never mind. In any case, you two being here was a fortunate surprise."
Igarashi's smile deepened.
With these two here, she felt reassured.
After all, they were her trump cards.
They were the school's 'greatest fighting force.'
"―――Shiori, Shido. They're enemies. Let's exterminate them."
"Sure!"
"Understood!"
Without hesitation, the three of them advanced toward the monster horde.
Meanwhile, in the cafeteria―――
We moved while hiding behind tables and other obstacles.
We used every stealth-related Skill we had to avoid being seen by the students and monsters as much as possible.
Well, everyone, including Nishino-kun and Rikka-chan, was focused on what was happening right in front of them. The odds of anyone noticing us were low, but there was no such thing as being too careful.
"Gigiya?!"
Aka, disguised as a weapon, decapitated a goblin.
We tried to finish off the monsters with a single blow whenever possible.
That would greatly reduce the chances of being noticed.
You acquired experience points.
Good. That makes one.
The goblin beside it tilted its head, wondering why its companion had suddenly disappeared.
Did the controlled monsters have minds of their own?
A pointless question arose in my mind.
But I immediately pushed the thought to the corner of my mind and focused on what was in front of me.
You acquired experience points.
Two.
Apparently, leveling up wasn't going to be that easy anymore.
My current level was 17.
The last time I had leveled up had been during my battle with the Dark Wolf pack that morning.
Come to think of it, only half a day had passed since that battle.
Ever since the world changed, I felt as though I had been living through an incredibly intense stretch of time.
"Gii?!" "Gigiiiiii!"
"Grrrrrrrrr!" "...Oooooooooh!"
There were about thirty monsters left in the cafeteria.
It seemed that about half of them had gone through the entrance toward the school building.
About ten students remained, including Nishino-kun and the others.
They were putting up a decent fight, but the difference in numbers was simply overwhelming.
On top of that, there were powerful monsters such as orcs, Shadow Wolves, and hobgoblins.
At this rate, they would all be wiped out before long.
"―――Well, if that happens, it happens."
I felt bad for them, but I had no room to worry about them that much.
I would simply do what I could.
For the moment, that meant dealing with this situation.
Escaping from here safely together with my companions.
'Darkness' spread across the windows and walls in a spiderweb-like pattern.
Unless we did something about it, escaping from here would be difficult.
I looked outside through a window.
Apparently, the 'Darkness' had spread beyond the cafeteria and was eating into the walls of the school building as well.
She had said she would kill everyone, so she probably intended to let no one inside the school escape.
If so, in order to get out of here, we had to do something about the monster controlling this 'Darkness.'
At this scale, it had to be the Dark Wolf controlling it.
But the Dark Wolf itself remained hidden in the Monster Tamer's shadow and showed no sign of emerging.
"Then there's only one thing to do."
We had to break through the monsters' defenses and deal with the Monster Tamer herself.
I activated a new 'Ninjutsu.'
―――Katsuragi, the Monster Tamer, felt something strange about the scene before her.
Something was wrong. Something was definitely wrong.
(Who is it...? Who's been killing my monsters one after another?)
Even when she observed carefully, she could not quite make out the figure.
By the time she noticed, a monster had been killed and a magic stone was all that remained.
(Is it the one who shot me earlier?)
No, that's not it, she decided, rejecting her own thought.
Whoever was killing the monsters was unmistakably a close-combat type.
Their method was nothing like sniping.
Which meant―――
(There are at least two of them... People who can move around while erasing their presence and appearance.)
Who were they?
As far as she knew, there was no one in the school with a Skill like that.
In that case, they had to be outsiders.
(One of the recently arrived evacuees? No, there wasn't anyone like that. ...Wait, hold on. Come to think of it, right before I was shot, Aisaka said something strange...)
She remembered what Rikka had said at the time.
She was sure Rikka had said something about an email.
(Could that have been a signal for the sniper?)
The shot had come immediately afterward.
If the automatic defense provided by the 'Darkness' had not activated, she would have been dead by now.
The thought sent a chill through her.
Unconsciously, she stared at the servant lurking in her shadow.
She was truly glad she had obtained this thing.
(The snipers were monitoring my movements from somewhere. They struck first because they realized I was about to make a move. That would explain everything. Did they fail to follow up because the failure of their first shot had put them on guard? Then—)
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
Then she issued a command to the monsters.
"Monsters! Prioritize Nishino and Aisaka!"
The monsters rushed toward the two of them.
Nishino and Rikka were already fully occupied dealing with three orcs.
They would have a hard time handling any more opponents.
If the person who had sniped her was connected to those two, they could not possibly ignore this situation.
(I'll flush them out.)
Would they target her, or would they shoot the monsters?
Either way, they would have to make some kind of move.
Even if she were sniped, the automatic defense provided by the 'Darkness' would protect her. She would not die.
And her prediction proved correct.
A gunshot rang out.
The head of one of the goblins that had gone after the two of them exploded.
Then another, and another—the monsters swarming toward the two were shot one after another.
(Got you.)
She traced the bullets' trajectory back from the dead goblins.
(Over there.)
There was no one in the direction of her gaze.
There were only chairs and tables.
But she felt the faintest 'gaze.'
They had to be there. Convinced of that, she stared intently.
(―――There.)
Once she 'recognized' it, the figure of a girl holding a gun became clearly visible there.
Apparently, she had been hiding her presence with some kind of Skill.
But once she was recognized, its effect must have weakened.
(...Wait, what? That's Ichinose...)
The sight left her genuinely astonished.
It was a classmate who had been bullied a year earlier, stopped attending school, and eventually dropped out.
Various questions arose: Why was someone like her here? Why did she have a gun like that? But she put them all aside for later.
(Well, who cares? Just die already!)
She issued another command to the monsters.
Three Lesser Wolves nearby immediately charged toward Ichinose.
(The monsters who became my servants share my field of vision. They should be able to see her clearly too.)
And Lesser Wolves were monsters with excellent mobility.
At this distance, they could close in before being shot to death.
One or two might be killed, but the last one would certainly tear out her throat.
(Now die!)
What kind of expression would she make?
She imagined the face of her former classmate trembling with fear, then turned her gaze toward her―――
(...Huh? What is with that expression?)
There was no fear on Ichinose's face.
She calmly raised her gun and fired at the Lesser Wolves approaching her.
(Hey, does she not understand her situation?)
One of the Lesser Wolves was killed.
But that was all.
The other two drew closer to her.
Even then, her expression did not change.
(I don't like this...)
What was with that face? What was with that composure?
How could she look like that in this situation?
She could not understand it.
Or did she have some hidden trump card?
Just as she thought that, a 'vending machine' appeared above the Lesser Wolves' heads.
"............Huh?"
A dull, squelching sound rang out.
The vending machine that had appeared crushed the Lesser Wolves beneath it.
"Wha—huh?!"
What? What had just happened?
A vending machine? Why a vending machine?
What was going on?
Confusion overwhelmed her.
It created a decisive opening.
"―――Don't move."
A voice suddenly came from behind her.
When she turned around, she saw a man with his hood pulled low over his face.
"...Huh?"
His face was hidden beneath the hood.
But the moment she saw him, a chill ran through her entire body.
(―――What the hell is this guy...!?)
This was bad.
Her instincts told her that this man was bad news.
"I said don't move."
The man was holding a massive cleaver of the kind used by orcs.
Its tip was pressed against her neck.
A dull silver glint reflected her own face.
"...I could predict that you would target those two to flush us out. And I knew Ichinose-san wouldn't be able to ignore it. So I used that against you. I made you turn your attention over there and gave myself an opening to approach you like this."
The hostility and killing intent directed at her were unmistakable.
She realized it.
The mysterious presence that had been killing monsters all over the cafeteria.
It was this man.
(Well, well. I was wary of Igarashi and Nishino, but there's someone even more dangerous here.)
He was literally on another level.
How had she allowed someone like him to approach her?
"Now, if you don't want to die, will you do as I say, Monster Tamer?"