Chapter 21: Surprise Attack
Kaori and Megumi hugged for a good while, but then, remembering Gouda and the others were watching, they bashfully separated. Gouda, judging that the situation was finally right to talk, addressed the two of them.
“Is it alright now?”
“Ah, yes! What is it?”
“First, I want to grasp the team’s situation. There are three Combat Course students here. However, there are only two from the Support Course. Where did the other one go?”
“Ah, that’s…”
Kaori couldn’t answer Gouda’s question and looked down. At that reaction, Gouda tilted his head, looking puzzled. As he did so, Megumi answered in place of the downcast Kaori.
“Gouda-kun. That one person… was defeated…”
“Hmm? Is that so? But when and where?”
“Um, well, first, the four of us were moving together, but we got caught between enemies on the way. The enemy hadn’t noticed us, but we were walking down a narrow alley. But since it was only a matter of time before we were noticed, we decided to take down one of them.”
“Hmm. So, you sent a decoy to one side?”
“No. After I blocked the passage with my wind, Kaori-chan and I, the two of us, fought Kaede-chan, who was acting alone.”
“Kaede, you mean Makimura! Did you win?”
“Yes. But even with the two of us, it was difficult to beat Kaede-chan, and at that time, a Support Course student named Satsuki-kun helped us. Thanks to Satsuki-kun bravely jumping out without regard for the danger, we took advantage of the opening when Kaede-chan was distracted and won.”
“What…! To think there’s someone in the Support Course who would do such a thing! But, I see. So, at that time, that Satsuki fellow was taken out by Kaede, then.”
Gouda imagined that Kaede had instantly reacted and attacked the Satsuki who jumped out, and that the two girls had then exploited the momentary opening Satsuki created. However, the reality was different. Megumi, hearing Gouda’s statement, corrected him.
“That’s wrong, Gouda-kun. The ones who defeated Satsuki-kun were those two from earlier. When we were tired from our fight with Kaede-chan, those two appeared, and he became a decoy… all by himself.”
“That’s a brave man. If possible, I would have liked to meet him once.”
The atmosphere was somber, but it wasn’t as if Kazuma had died. He had merely disappeared from the Virtual Space; they could meet him once the training was over. Well, it couldn’t be helped that the atmosphere had become like that for now.
Then, after a short while, Kaori raised her head. It seemed she had recovered, and her expression was bright.
“Sorry. I made you worry.”
“No, it’s okay. I understand how you feel, Kaori-chan.”
“Thanks, Megumi. And, I forgot to mention, but I defeated Hayami, so there’s only one enemy left.”
“What? Is that so?”
“Yes. Hayami, Kaede, Inoue, Tamura. That makes four. Since squads are formed in groups of five, there’s one left.”
“I see. But, just one more…”
“We won’t know our opponent until we meet them, but since there were three boys on their team, it’s confirmed to be a girl.”
“Hmm. Since everyone except Hayami wasn’t Body Enhancement, it means the last one is Body Enhancement.”
In combat training classes, Combat Course students start by forming teams of five. Teaming up with close classmates is permitted, but to prevent imbalances in Gifts or team members, they must team up with different members each time.
And similarly for Gifts, they must be formed so that Body Enhancement and Nature-type are roughly half and half. This is done because in actual combat, they won’t know what kind of opponents they’ll be up against.
“But, if there’s only one left, we have the advantage, so maybe we don’t need to think about it that much?”
“You should discard that kind of thinking. If it’s a Body Enhancement Gifted, they can take you down one by one with surprise attacks. Though, the same applies to Nature-type Gifted as well…”
“That’s right. If it were me or Gouda-kun, attacking from an unnoticed position would be easy. Besides, even if there are multiple opponents, if a surprise attack succeeds, I think we could take down two, or if we’re lucky, even three.”
“Well, that depends on individual skill.”
“Ugh~, it’s true, if you two suddenly attacked, I might lose…”
Megumi groaned at their arguments. The two in front of her were reassuring allies, but they would be a threat if they became enemies. Since both were experienced in martial arts, Megumi was convinced she couldn’t win if they launched a surprise attack.
“Well then, let’s end this discussion and move from here. It’s possible we’re the only ones left.”
“That’s true. There’s a possibility our allies have been defeated. Let’s find them first and attack with the three of us.”
“Yeah. It’s certain we have the advantage, so a preemptive strike is the only way!”
Saying that, the three of them led the two escort targets and left the building. However, Megumi had injured her leg with a burn. Since it was Virtual Space, there was no pain, but it had lost its function as a leg, so Kaori carried her on her back.
The five who left the building walked down the main street. One might think they’d be ambushed from the shadows, but by walking in the middle of the main street, they intended to prevent ambushes.
However, unless the enemy was a complete idiot, they would likely attack by throwing something like a stone. If that happened, they would conversely be good targets.
But, they had Megumi. Since Megumi could use her Wind Ability, she could nullify projectiles and such by forming a Wall of Wind. However, if a Body Enhancement Gifted threw something with all their might, it would have tremendous power, so Megumi couldn’t let her guard down either.
“Are you okay, Megumi?”
“Yeah. I’m fine.”
Kaori turned a worried face to Megumi, whom she was carrying on her back. Megumi, while being carried by Kaori, was forming a Wall of Wind around them, taking on the role of preventing long-range surprise attacks. But, as expected, since the burn from before remained, Kaori was worried. Worried that Megumi might be pushing herself too hard.
“Natsume. Kizaki says she’s fine, so there’s no need to worry so much. If anything, I’m more worried about you. Don’t neglect your vigilance.”
“That’s! I know, but…”
“Kaori-chan. Gouda-kun is right. Thanks to you carrying me, Kaori-chan, I’m not tired at all, so I’m still fine!”
“Megumi… I understand. But, if it gets tough, tell me anytime, okay?”
“Okay. When that happens, I’ll be sure to tell you!”
Gouda said nothing to their heartwarming exchange, continuing to walk at the head while maintaining vigilance of their surroundings. Kyoko walked behind him, followed by Kaori and Megumi. And at the very rear, Satou was walking.
As for why Satou, an escort target, was at the very rear, it was simply because he was a boy. Originally, Kaori was supposed to be at the rear, but since she was carrying Megumi, a swift response would be difficult, so it became Satou, who was male.
Satou, entrusted with the rear simply for being a boy, looked dissatisfied, but considering Megumi’s situation, he accepted that it was probably the right decision.
After that, the five continued to walk. Tormented by the anxiety that an enemy might appear from anywhere, the five continued to walk without stopping.
They walked down the main street surrounded by buildings, searching for allies while maintaining vigilance of their surroundings.
A single figure was staring at them. From a narrow alley between buildings, the figure, who appeared to be a woman, peeked out as if observing the five.
“…Three enemies. Gouda, Kizaki, Natsume, huh~. If I go head-on, I don’t stand a chance. Besides, even if I try to throw stones from afar, it looks like Kizaki’s wind is protecting them, so that’s impossible too.”
The woman, having finished observing the five, once again retreated into the shadows. After retreating, she calmly assessed the five’s situation and chose to launch a surprise attack.
“Alright. From the looks of it, Kizaki seems to be injured, so I’ll take down Gouda first, then Natsume, maybe. It would be better to look for my allies, but judging from Kizaki’s injury, they were probably done in by those three. Well, thanks to that, their combat strength is down, so I should be grateful!”
Once decided, things moved quickly; the figure stealthily slipped through the alley and circled around to get ahead of the five’s direction of travel. Using a back alley, the woman entered a building.
The woman who entered the building waited with bated breath for the five to pass in front of the building. And then, just as the five were about to pass in front of the building, the woman shot out like a bullet.
Smashing through glass and making a loud noise, the woman charged towards Gouda. Hearing the sound, the five turned towards it and confirmed a single woman charging straight at them.
Gouda tried to counterattack instantly, but the woman was faster. Forcibly breaking through the Wall of Wind Megumi had created, the woman charged in with a low stance.
“Too slow!”
“Gmph!”
The woman, who had lowered her stance, tackled Gouda. Gouda, who received an impact as if hit by a truck, showed an expression of agony. Then, the woman, still holding Gouda, charged into the building on the opposite side, intending to slam Gouda into the wall.
However, Gouda resisted, bringing his elbow down on the woman’s back.
“I won’t let you!”
“Guhh!!! As expected! But, I win!”
“What!? Guhaah!”
Gouda landed an elbow strike on her back, but the woman’s momentum didn’t stop, and Gouda was slammed into the wall. The force was tremendous, and Gouda, slammed into it, became embedded in the wall.
Gouda, embedded in the wall, crumbled as if he’d lost consciousness, but he wasn’t dead yet. Therefore, to ensure she finished him off, the woman slammed her elbow into the collapsing Gouda’s neck.
His neck broken, Gouda received a death judgment and vanished into particles of light. Seeing this, the woman made a small fist pump and rejoiced.
“Alright! Just two more to go!”
Thinking that the four people outside were probably dumbfounded and that another surprise attack might succeed, the woman went up to the second floor of the building.
＊＊＊＊
Kazuma and the others in the monitor room
Kazuma: “This is a guaranteed win, isn’t it!”
Shunsuke: “No, we don’t know yet.”
Kaede: “That’s right. You never know until the very end~”
Kazuma: “Eh~, but we still have five people, you know? Surely they don’t have a chance of winning.”
Shunsuke: “The last one remaining might turn things around, right?”
Kaede: “Exactly. Ah.”
Inoue & Tamura: “Geh!”
Kazuma: “Mob A, Mob B!”
Inoue & Tamura: “Who are you calling a mob! We’ll kill you, bastard!”
Shunsuke: “Kazuma, don’t provoke them. We’re here now, but I don’t know what’ll happen later, you know?”
Kaede: “That’s right~. We can protect you now, but we don’t know what these guys will do when we’re not looking.”
Kazuma: “I’m sorry, please forgive me!”
Inoue & Tamura: “What a quick change of heart! Hey!”