She is an attractive woman with
semi-long hair and eyes full of tranquil light.
She wears a loose turtleneck sweater,
a knee-length flared skirt, and black tights, and her body is slender but soft
like an adult woman.
It must be comfortable to hug her.
She rides on a manual wheelchair.
The reason she rides a manual one is
that she wants to move around by herself as much as possible, even though it
would be easy to replace it with an electric one. She says it's her policy.
Since her childhood injury, her limp
has been crippled, but it can be cured if she has patience and having treatment
from [Lost Item].
However, she refused to have it
healed.
She is not particularly concerned
about it.
She said that she would be happier if
the power to heal her could be used to heal others.
**a
「Just to be clear, let me introduce
myself. I am Enjou Mizuki. I'm an S-ranked with an ability called [Gate].」
Almost everyone in Japan is familiar
with her name.
After all, she is the face of [Lost
Item] in Japan, and her picture appears on the website of a national
organization, and she is also a celebrity who occasionally appears on TV
programs.
At the same time, she is a mother of
a child with an ordinary man.
「Wow, I wonder if I can get her
autograph later.」
Someone was muttering this.
That was not surprising. She is the
object of admiration for other [Lost Item], and is one of the goals to which
they should aspire.
But at the same time, she is a person
whom they do not get to see very often because of her busy schedule.
（...Is this the second one?）
The first one, Fukami Kaito ―― [Ruler], whom Chihiro met
yesterday, is also S-ranked. He is not hiding his existence, but he is not
widely open to the public.
Still, Chihiro did not expect to meet
so many S-ranked in a row.
While thinking this, his eyes
suddenly met with Mizuki's.
「...Oh my」
At the same time as Mizuki smiled
faintly, through their intertwined gazes, her affection for the students of
Shibahou, Shibatsuru, Shibaryuu, and Shibakkou flowed into him.
[Emotion Amplification] is not
activated.
However, the "depth" rather
than the "strength" of the feelings is unusual. It's like an ocean
that envelops Chihiro and blows away all his emotions.
Huff...
Within just a second or so of their
intermingling, Chihiro's tension was released, and he even let out a breath
later.
It was just as he had expected.
It seems that Mizuki has a
personality that is rather too perfect.
Anyway, Lucille wasn't afraid of her
personality, but her ability.
Especially if Kaede is going to
cooperate with her.
Just then, a staff member's voice
came out.
「We'll be handing out transmitters to
all of you. This is to shorten the battle time and to prevent you from getting
lost.」
Each person was given a pin-shaped
transmitter and told to wear it on their clothes or in their hair.
If the transmitter was purposely
lost, the participant would be disqualified.
「Enjou Mizuki-san and Izumi Kaede-san,
both of them have a terminal that catches the signal from the transmitter. Of
course, our staff will also monitor them from time to time.」
The idea is that no matter where
participants run to, their location will be identified and they will be
attacked.
They have also been informed that
they are not allowed to leave the school.
To put it another way, it is also
expected that the participants could escape as far as the edge of the school.
After the staff explain something,
Shirosaki Madoka of Shibatsuru Academy raised her hand.
She glanced at Chihiro.
「Is the attack order random? If it is
based on the attacker's mood, won't there be an advantage or disadvantage?」
「Don't worry.」
Kaede answered calmly.
「The attack criteria have been
predetermined. Enjou-san will not move from the area around the log house, and
she will attack all those who are nearby. In the meantime, I will target those
who are closest to the log house within the range where Enjou-san cannot see
you」
「Even for an acquaintances and
relatives?」
「Is that a reason for me to hold back?」
「...Fufu. No, that's fine. Thank you.」
Madoka smiles lightly, and her
expression becomes more relaxed.
（I wouldn't be surprised if Kaede-san
would rather target Nii-san first, just because it's a good opportunity.）
（Well, I can't say that it's not true,
but...）
After some hesitation, Chihiro
finally gave up denying it.
**b
「...Oh, and then... If either me or
Enjou-san is disabled, the student in question will be considered the winner
immediately.」
An exceptional victory condition is
announced.
However, it is only a special case.
It is not something that students would consider aggressively aiming for. In
fact, the majority of the students' reaction was "even if you say
so".
At this point, everyone fell into a
subtle silence.
「――then, I will give you three minutes
to prepare now.」
Kaede suddenly announced.
「The battle will begin in three
minutes. Spectators can go to the monitors in the log house. The
representatives are advised to flee as far as possible during this time.」
She then pulled out a mobile terminal
the size of a smartphone.
She operated the terminal in some
way, which seemed to indicate that she started a stopwatch or a transmitter
monitor.
As she stared at the screen, she said.
「Ten seconds have passed.」
Hearing these words, the students
finally understand the situation and start to move at once.
The students of Shibaryuu Academy run
away as if they were spiders.
Minamoto from Shibakkou Academy
smirks and pulls out his spear in his hand. But the remaining four of his
friends run away as if they cannot be bothered by him.
The Shibatsuru Academy students
gather, exchange a few words, and then disperse.
And then Shibahou Academy――
「You can do as you please」
Lucille looked back at Chihiro and
the others with sweat on her forehead.
「No strategy?」
「If we try any tricks, we'll get
crushed. Rather, each of you should survive in the way you think best. Give it
your all. If you're lucky you might win.」
「...I see. That's easy to understand.」
Kamishiro nodded deeply.
He looked back at Kaede, who was standing
calmly in front of the log house.
「This is a good chance for me to get
revenge on her. For that, I'm going to get away from here first.」
He leaves the place at a pace that
does not put a burden on his injured leg, and moves out of sight of Mizuki.
He seems to be planning to "wait
his turn" and challenge Kaede with Minamoto, who seems to be thinking of
doing something similar.
Frankly speaking, this is not a smart
move.
However,
depending on one's point of view, it could be a way to "buy time" for
the other members. At least while Kamishiro and the others are fighting, the
others are not targeted.
