Chapter 37: How Shortsighted of Meeeeee!
“Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!”
“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!”
Almost everyone present screamed.
What appeared, breaking through the shelter’s ceiling, was a humanoid Ibinom with insectoid features.
A first in history. No Ibinom had ever broken through a shelter before.
The Ibinom, a symbol of terror, saw the mass of people, and whether it was trembling in ecstasy couldn’t be determined, but it let out an ear-piercing shriek.
“Kieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh!!!”
People instinctively covered their ears and cowered. Then, confirming the sound had stopped, they removed their hands from their ears and stared at the Ibinom that had invaded the shelter.
Then, the Ibinom moved. Landing in the center of the crowd, the Ibinom swiveled its head, surveyed the surrounding people, and then lunged at the nearest woman.
“Eh…”
The woman, unable to react at all, let out a dazed sound. Just as the Ibinom’s claws were about to reach her neck, Kazuma, hidden in the crowd, activated his magic.
“(Damn it! As if I could just stand by and watch!)”
Kazuma, who indeed couldn’t bring himself to ignore it, deployed a Barrier between the woman and the Ibinom. Thanks to that, the woman was spared decapitation.
The Ibinom was surprised when its claws were repelled with a sharp clank, but it immediately began to strike repeatedly, trying to destroy the Barrier.
A terrifying sound that made one want to cover their ears echoed within the shelter. The woman targeted by the Ibinom cowered, merely screaming in fear, not attempting to flee.
To be precise, her legs had given out from fear, and she couldn’t stand or run. Just as Kazuma was growing anxious about this, someone appeared to lead the cowering woman away.
“Quickly, this way!”
“Y-Yes!”
It was a female teacher from the Combat Course. She pulled the woman, who was cowering in fear and unable to move, and began to flee. At the same time, many people scrambled towards the shelter’s exit, each trying to be the first out.
Blending into the crowd, Kazuma also started to move. Hurrying towards the exit like the others, Kazuma glanced back at the Ibinom.
The Ibinom destroyed Kazuma’s Barrier and turned its head towards the fleeing people. Just as Kazuma was wondering if he should stall it a bit longer and was about to activate his magic, multiple figures charged towards the Ibinom.
“You’re not getting past here!”
“Hahaha! This is what we’ve trained for!”
“We’ll buy as much time as we can!”
“Fueeh~, it looks like an insect person, so gross~!”
“If we take it down here, we’ll be heroes, right?! Isn’t that awesome!”
“We’re going too!”
“I know! No holding back! We go all out from the start!”
The Combat Course students, who had been guiding the evacuees with the teachers, distributing supplies, and patrolling the area, charged towards the Ibinom one after another.
“(Hey, hey, are you serious?! You could die if you mess up, you know?!)”
They knew that. But why were they here at the academy? It was to protect many people. They probably felt scared and wanted to run away, but more than that, they had decided to fight to protect what they must.
Kazuma stopped and stared at the Combat Course upperclassmen. What in the world was he doing? Kazuma watched the backs of his fighting upperclassmen.
He possessed the power to fight. Moreover, he likely had power exceeding that of the upperclassmen fighting before him.
Yet, why was he so casually trying to escape?
He certainly wished for peace, but it wasn’t something to be obtained by abandoning many people.
“(Aah, damn it! I have to do something…!)”
The humanoid Ibinom was strong. The teachers and Combat Course students who had come to help were fighting hard but were being pushed back. There were hardly any people left in the shelter. There were still some stragglers, but the Ibinom was likely too preoccupied to notice them.
However, that too was only a matter of time. The number of Combat Course students who had been fighting was dwindling. Despite bravely challenging the Ibinom, it was defeating the Combat Course students with its overwhelming combat power.
The smell of blood filled the shelter. It was proof that many people were fighting desperately. Moreover, even non-combatant teachers were desperately tending to the injured students and teachers.
“(Damn, damn, damn! It’s easy for me to step in here. But if I do that…)”
He could easily imagine what would happen. Kazuma, possessing the unknown power called magic, would probably be transferred from the academy to government jurisdiction. After that, he would undoubtedly be passed around various countries’ research institutions.
After all, it was a power called magic, completely different from Gifts. There would be many who would want to unravel it and obtain it. Of course, there was also the option of using Kazuma as a biological weapon.
If that happened, he could no longer hope for a peaceful life. It would either be a lifetime of being kept and controlled, or the beginning of a life on the run.
“(There are probably cameras, so I can’t fool them with Illusion Magic or light magic… If only I had some kind of tool for disguise!)”
Towards Kazuma, who was paralyzed by hesitation and internal conflict, a student struck by the Ibinom came flying. Everyone was focused on the battle, and no one could shout a warning for Kazuma to dodge.
Normally, it would have been a direct hit, involving Kazuma and leading to a catastrophe, but he was not normal. He caught the flying student, checked for external injuries, confirmed there was no mortal danger, and then laid the student down on the spot.
“(Wait a minute… That’s right. This is an academy! If so, there should be tools to hide my face. If I use something like a helmet from club activities, it’ll surely work out somehow!)”
His face lighting up as if he’d thought of a brilliant idea, Kazuma hurriedly dashed off from the spot.
His destination was the clubroom building. There, clubrooms used by the clubs to which students of the Seventh Esper Academy belonged were located, and various tools were stored.
Reaching the clubroom building, Kazuma first checked for surveillance cameras. In this day and age, surveillance cameras were installed everywhere, and society was strict towards criminals. The academy was no exception.
Of course, Kazuma had no intention of committing a crime, but he was undoubtedly about to commit theft. After all, to hide his identity, he intended not just to borrow but to steal club equipment.
That was only natural. There was no telling where his identity might be leaked from. If he borrowed a helmet or something and went out of his way to return it, evidence like sweat or hair would be left behind. In this era, they could easily trace it back to Kazuma.
“(Crap. My suspicious movements here are probably being caught on surveillance cameras too! Oh no, what should I do…?!)”
Only then did Kazuma realize. It was painfully obvious that he was currently acting suspiciously. If he wasn’t careful, he would indeed be caught by the surveillance cameras.
“(What should I do…? Just run away like this…? Or rather, shouldn’t I have changed my appearance with Illusion Magic when I was in the crowd?)”
It was a regrettable mistake. Despite possessing the almighty power of magic, Kazuma himself was not almighty. That, too, couldn’t be helped. Kazuma was fundamentally an idiot, so he couldn’t use his magic to its full potential.
“(Kuuuh! Back to the shelter for now! No, somewhere out of sight… Aaargh, geez! What should I do?!)”
Kazuma scratched his head vigorously. Growing even more suspicious due to his impatience, Kazuma paced around in circles.
“(Ah, that’s it! The restroom! There shouldn’t be any surveillance cameras inside the restroom! There are probably some near the entrance/exit, but if I change my appearance with Illusion Magic, it should work!)”
He hadn’t even verified if Illusion Magic would work on surveillance cameras, so if he messed up, it would be an instant game over. Kazuma, not considering that far, headed for the restroom, prioritizing saving lives above all else for now.
Naturally, Kazuma’s figure running towards the restroom was perfectly captured by the surveillance cameras.
Rushing into a stall, Kazuma changed his appearance with Illusion Magic.
What emerged from the restroom was Kazuma, clad in full crimson armor. He had decided to imitate the appearance of a comrade he had fought alongside in his original world.
As for why it was full crimson armor, Kazuma recalled that his comrade had said that if you wore the most conspicuous outfit on the battlefield, the enemy would come for you.
Recalling the man who had laughed heartily, saying that doing so would reduce casualties among their allies, and who had saved many comrades, Kazuma couldn’t stop his cheeks from softening into a smile.
“(Heh, I wonder if that guy is doing well… Sorry, but I’m borrowing your armor.)”
With this, his preparations were complete. All that remained was to go defeat the Ibinom fighting inside the shelter.