If Shibatsuru Academy and Shibaryuu
Academy can collide with each other, Marika does not have to move.
Following that, Hana and Lucille
speak their minds.
『Is it a one-on-one battle? I'll aim
at [Crane （Shibatsuru）]'s flag from a position closer to
[Turtle （Shibakkou）]』
『Okay, I'll be a diversion. Yuuki,
I'll leave the defense to you』
『Understood』
Kamishiro replies shortly.
Now, Chihiro...
**a
『I'll move to the [Crane （Shibatsuru）] side and see what's going on』
『Please do so』
He moved away from the Shibaryuu
side, where a large scale battle is likely to take place, and moved closer to
the Shibakkou side.
He moves to the Shibakkou side while
trying to avoid the line of sight as much as possible.
As he was walking slowly in the
silence.
He heard a light sound.
A light sound broke through the air.
At the same time, something small
passed by Chihiro.
An orange circle about one or two
centimeters in diameter is drawn on a nearby pillar.
（Nii-san, enemy!）
（!!）
Immediately, he activates multiple
thoughts with Chisato.
He forces himself to move his body,
which is about to go rigid with surprise, and at the same time, the sound of
gunfire echoes twice in succession.
The enemy's attack misses by a hair's
breadth and passes by his side again.
――Keep moving!
He ordered himself, moving at a trot
to follow the line of fire.
The attack came from the direction
where Shibatsuru Academy and Shibaryuu Academy are located. However, there is
no one in that direction.
Are they already hidden?
No, Maria would have warned him if
the enemy had come nearby. So, the one who fired the shots was an enemy whom
Maria did not see.
「Shirahama-san!」
「Correct. Well, I missed. This gun is
hard to shoot continuously unless I get used to it」
Chihiro didn't expect it, but Saki
answered easily.
She seems to think she can afford to
miss.
Anyway, without a moment's
hesitation, Chihiro fired in the direction of the voice.
*Pass!
A paint shot was fired with the same
air noise he had just heard.
「Too bad」
The bullet failed to hit the target
and fell to the ground.
Chihiro tried to move his fingers to
fire repeatedly, but as Saki said, it takes some getting used to. He tried to
shoot quickly, but his finger got caught and he could not get it right.
In frustration, he ran to the nearby
wall, where several bullets landed.
"Tsk," Saki said, her
tongue clicking out of her mouth.
「Is it no good? Whatever, I won't go
too deep...」
With that voice, the footsteps move
away from him.
He thought it was a fake, but no
follow-up attack came even after waiting for a few seconds.
『Shirahama-san attacked me. But both
of us are fine. I think she went straight to Kamishiro-kun』
『She's faster than me. I'll make her
regret wasting her time』
Hana declares encouragingly.
Chihiro takes a deep breath to
compose himself.
The crisis is over. But he has a
countermeasure against Saki at the camp. It is better to leave it to Kamishiro
than to chase after Saki. If Hana takes the flag of Shibatsuru Academy, Saki's
attack will not occur in the first place.
Now, let's move to the planned point.
As Chihiro makes this decision,
Maria's voice echoes in his head.
『Izumi-kun. Be careful, Minamoto-kun
is approaching』
This was unexpected.
**b
* * *
Kamishiro Yuuki was standing alone
near the flag of his team.
There were only twenty students in
the large field. With obstacles blocking the sound, the only thing Kamishiro
could hear was the wind.
In the silence, he stares at the
front, in the direction of Shibatsuru Academy's campsite.
He then takes a deep breath.
Chihiro has just warned him that Saki
is approaching.
Chihiro also said that Minamoto is
approaching himself.
――It would have been bad if both of
them had come here.
Frankly speaking, Kamishiro not
confident that he can take on those two together.
In a fight, he might have a chance,
but in a gunfight, the disadvantage in numbers would be fatal.
He feels sorry for Chihiro, but he
hope that he can at least keep Minamoto with him until he can deal with Saki.
In the first place, he does not even
know if he can defeat Saki for sure.
First of all, he must be able to
sense her approach.
There are two major possibilities. One
is that his opponent makes a good footstep. And the other is…
Tap...
The sound of a shoes sinking into the
muddy ground is heard.
Kamishiro hears a faint sound coming
from behind him and immediately turns himself around.
Pss, pss, pss!
The paint bullets fired in rapid
succession neither hit the flag's core nor Kamishiro's body. To begin with, it
is impossible to beat the flag with bullets unless someone have a very good
aim.
But due to this, Kamishiro could
intercept the flag before it is taken.
He immediately turns to
counterattack, bending down and moving swiftly.
He then pulls the trigger of his
marker in rapid succession.
The sounds of gunfire echo
half-overlapping, and several rounds are fired. Although none of the bullets
hit the invisible Saki, the sound and the footprints on the slushy ground
increase.
Perhaps Saki decided that it was
impossible continue so she moves forward.
However, this would only give
Kamishiro more information to identify.
He followed Saki's footsteps and
pulled the trigger ahead of Saki, while he himself made evasive maneuvers.
――The ground was muddy, even though
it had not rained the day before.
This, of course, was not a
spontaneous act, as it was a way of telling Kamishiro of Saki's approach. It
was created by Chihiro and his team during the preparation time.
They borrowed a bucket from a nearby
cleaning toolbox, filled it with water, and sprinkled it on the ground around
them.
Several times they went back and
forth between the water near the ground and their own camp, and managed to
create a muddy area where the shoes could delicately sink into.
Well, the men who worked especially -
or rather, mainly Kamishiro - were extra fatigued.
The fact that he waited quietly in
his own camp was also a way of preserving his energy.
*Papapapa*
「Ah!」
There was an air noise, followed by
the sound of someone falling down with a thud.
Was the scream accompanying the sound
caused by the paint shot, or by the fall?
Before Kamishiro could draw a
conclusion, he moved his marker and pulled the trigger.
But at the same time, a loud voice is
heard.
「Dda!」
Not a paint shot...but "the
marker" itself flew out.
Kamishiro stiffens for a moment at
the unexpected attack, which makes it impossible for him to avoid the marker.
The hard gun hit his left leg, causing a pain.
Alternatively, Saki, who had thrown a
projectile, seemed to have been unable to avoid the paint shot. She emerges and
stands up, rubbing the back of her camouflage uniform, which is stained orange.
She raises her hands in a deliberate
gesture and smiles mischievously.
**c
「I give up. I give up. I mean, I'm
disqualified」
「...No, I got hit too. Because of that
last blow, I won't be able to run as fast as I can during the competition」
「That's good to hear. They told me to
disable Kamishiro-kun if I couldn't get the flag」
It seems that the other side is also
planning various strategies.
Saki's transparency will be used to
control Shibahou. But if it's failed, Kamishiro will be seized and the members
who have conquered Shibatsuru Academy will go to Shibahou.
『Shibatsuru Academy, Shirahama Saki,
down!』
「Well, I'm going. I hope you'll do
your best not to win」
「Yeah. I'll do my best to win」
After exchanging a strange
conversation, Saki leaves. Saki seems to leave the venue after going around the
perimeter of the field.
Now, Kamishiro have to report the
situation here.
『Hana? What happened to you?』
『I'm sorry. I failed to surprise them.
I'm engaged with Arima Shizuru right now!』
Kamishiro tried to speak his mind,
but Lucille and Hana's communication made him feel threatened.
...It is a relief that they succeeded
in intercepting Saki, but it seems that Shibatsuru Academy is not so easy to
deal with.
Furthermore...
『Shibahou Academy, Hazuki Marika,
down!』
Then, an announcement came in,
foreboding further chaos.
NEW SERIES!!!
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