Chapter 4: The Wrong Answer
Kamishiro Matsuri, the female student who had been attacked by an Ibinom and rescued by Kazuma, had returned to her classroom. Matsuri, who never imagined she would be attacked right after the Ability Test, thought it was a miracle she was alive.
After all, since Matsuri was a Support Course student and possessed no means to fight, her only option when facing an Ibinom was to flee. However, when she actually came face-to-face with it, fear made her legs give out, and she collapsed on the spot.
She had been certain she wouldn’t make it, yet she was alive. What else could this be called but a miracle? At the same time, however, she thought of the male student who had saved her then. She had been so shocked by the incident that she couldn’t even remember his face, nor did she know if he was a Combat Course or Support Course student. The only thing she knew was that his voice was male. That was all.
“Fueeh~. Misaki-chan. I was about to die, you know~”
“What? Did you do something clumsy again?”
“No~! See, the alarm went off earlier, right?”
“Ah, it seems an Ibinom appeared nearby. Eh, don’t tell me you were attacked…?”
“Yeah…”
“No way! Were you okay!? Wait, but you’re not injured or anything? Were you really attacked?”
“I was! I thought it was all over and closed my eyes, then a guy saved me, and that’s why I’m alive~”
“Is that so? Then you have to thank him!”
“Yeah. That’s true, but I didn’t see his face or appearance, so I don’t know who it was. I think it was a guy because his voice sounded male, though…”
“Eh? You don’t know anything about the person who saved you?”
“Yeah. So I can’t even thank him…”
“That’s strange~. I’d think they’d normally come to check on you…”
As the two of them were talking, music flowed from the classroom speaker.
“Support Course, Year 1, Class 3, Kamishiro Matsuri-san. Please come to the Faculty Office immediately. I repeat. Support Course, Year 1, Class 3, Kamishiro Matsuri-san. Please come to the Faculty Office immediately.”
Then, the music played again, and the school-wide broadcast ended. The students in the classroom who heard the broadcast turned their eyes to Matsuri. And Toudou Misaki, who had been talking with Matsuri, patted Matsuri’s shoulder and gave her a thumbs-up with a lukewarm gaze.
“Go on.”
“Yes…”
Her face deathly pale, Matsuri left the classroom. Her destination was the Faculty Office. When Matsuri arrived at the Faculty Office, her homeroom teacher called her over and explained that there were guests in the reception room. Hearing this explanation, Matsuri headed to the reception room with her teacher. When Matsuri arrived at the reception room and entered with her teacher, there were two Gifted individuals wearing Combat Suits.
“Excuse us. We’ve brought Kamishiro Matsuri-san.”
“Thank you very much. First, let us introduce ourselves. I am Houjou Mizuki, affiliated with the National Defense Force’s Anti-Ibinom Unit. And this gentleman here is Sugisaki Kenji. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Now, we’d like to ask you some questions, so please have a seat.”
“Yes. Come on, Kamishiro. You greet them too.”
“Ah, yes. My name is Kamishiro Matsuri. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Yes. A pleasure. Well then, Kamishiro-san, I’d like to ask you right away, were you attacked by an Ibinom today?”
“Eh, ah, yes…”
“What! Kamishiro, you were attacked by an Ibinom!?”
The homeroom teacher hadn’t heard the details and was surprised to learn that Matsuri had been attacked.
“Excuse me. Sensei, we’re in the middle of a conversation right now.”
“Ah! My apologies!”
“Then, let’s continue our talk. Kamishiro-san. First, please take a look at this footage.”
Mizuki operated the laptop on the desk and showed the two of them footage of when Matsuri was being attacked by the Ibinom. The camera angle was poor, showing only leaves and a part of the Ibinom, but it was paused when Matsuri’s figure, fleeing, appeared in the latter half of the video.
“Kamishiro-san. The student in this footage is you, correct?”
“Y-yes. That’s definitely me.”
“Then, I’d like to ask, who saved you?”
“Eh, ah, that is…”
Mizuki looked suspiciously at Matsuri, who looked down when asked. Was she hiding something? However, that wasn’t it. Matsuri couldn’t answer because she didn’t know. That’s why she was looking down awkwardly.
“Kamishiro-san. Is there something you can’t say?”
“N-no, it’s just, well, how do I put it…”
Pressed by Mizuki, Matsuri panicked but couldn’t answer, so she squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her skirt. But the discussion wouldn’t progress like that, so Matsuri resolved herself and confessed that she didn’t know.
“I’m sorry! I was so scared and desperate to escape back then that I don’t know who saved me!”
“Eh! So, you don’t know at all?”
“No, I remember the voice, so I think it was a man.”
“I see… A man, huh.”
“Y-yes. Um, I’m sorry. For not being helpful.”
“Ah, it’s fine, really. Don’t worry about it. So, I want you to tell me, did that man’s voice sound young? Or did it sound like he was older?”
“Um, I think he sounded young.”
“Young, right. Then, one last thing I want to ask, did you talk about anything with that person?”
“No. He just told me to run, and nothing else…”
“I understand. Thank you very much for the information.”
“Ah, um… if you find that person, could you tell me too!”
“Why is that?”
“Um, I was saved, but I haven’t been able to thank him. So, if I ever get to meet him again, I want to thank him properly.”
“Fufu, I see. You’re a good girl. Understood. If we find him, I’ll let you know.”
“Thank you very much!”
After expressing her thanks, Matsuri left the reception room with her teacher. The only ones remaining were Kenji, Mizuki, and the staff member who had guided them, a total of three people. Kenji and Mizuki had obtained the information they could, so they decided to leave the academy. They informed the staff member in charge of guiding them that they were leaving, and the two departed from the academy.
“Hey, what do you think about what she said?”
“Well. She didn’t seem to be lying. I think she really doesn’t know.”
“So, in the end, the only clue is that it might be a young man?”
“If we know that much, it’s enough. Fufu, isn’t it great? It means there might be a promising Gifted person here, right? For now, let’s report to our superiors and then investigate the Combat Course students at the academy. We might find him that way.”
“I wonder about that. If it were me, I’d brag about defeating an Ibinom. Defeating an Ibinom single-handedly while still a student is a heroic tale. If he’s still a student, he’d be bragging to his friends all over the place by now.”
“That’s also possible. But honestly, if he were doing that, I’d be disillusioned. I wanted to scout him for the National Defense Force, but if I heard something like that, I’d have to reconsider.”
“Well, that’s just my guess. If he just awakened his Gift, he’d be even more prone to that, right?”
“That’s true. When I awakened my Gift at seven, I got pretty carried away too.”
“See? Same here. When my Gift awakened at thirteen, I developed a bad case of chuunibyou and mass-produced a dark history.”
“Sugisaki… you did something like that?”
“You weren’t much different, were you! You were probably doing something like those shoujo anime things!”
“Th-th-th-that’s not true!”
Apparently, he had hit the mark, as Mizuki’s face turned bright red and she became flustered. Seeing that, Kenji also gave a wry smile, apparently not expecting his random guess to be spot on.
“Seriously, you…?”
“Y-you were the same, weren’t you! Why are you looking at me like I’m the only crazy one!”
The two continued to argue for a while. Eventually, perhaps tired from arguing, they were out of breath, sighed, and started on their way back.
“Haa~. What a pointless argument. Shall we go home?”
“Yeah, let’s…”
And so, Kazuma’s identity remained unknown to anyone. Mizuki and Kenji, hearing “young man,” assumed he was a Combat Course student. Well, no one would imagine that a Support Course student could single-handedly defeat an Ibinom. It was inevitable that the two of them would make a mistake.