「Okay. Then I'll run for cover too.」
"I wish you all the best".
With these words, Lucille and Marika
leave. Kamishiro also leaves the log house slowly.
The remaining Hana said.
「Maria-chan, please take care of my
glasses. And please give me [Retaliation.]」
She rushes to her beloved girl and
exchanges her glasses and the ability.
「Hana-san, what are you going to do?」
「Of course, I'm going to challenge
Enjou-san. That's the best way I can do.」
「...I see」
The meaning of the request for [Retaliation]
instead of [Self-Healing].
Maria, who sensed Hana's intention,
tried to say something, but in the end simply nodded her head. In return, she
smiled and took Hana's hand in hers.
**a
「Don't force yourself」
「Yes. I'll try not to kill myself,
don't worry.」
After talking for a while, Maria
walked into the log house.
Hana turned around with a smile, but
her face turned delicate when she saw Chihiro.
「...Ah, Izumi-kun. Please cut off the
share...」
「Eh? Oh, okay」
[Stimulus Sharing] is the ability to
distribute wounds and damage to fellow humans.
[Retaliation] is the ability to
return the damage to the attacker.
If the damage is distributed, the
damage returned to the attacker is also reduced. This would destroy the concept
of [Retaliation] itself.
「So, please use the sharing
effectively, Izumi-kun. Frankly speaking, I think you will be our trump card.」
Out of the twenty representatives
from all the schools, Chihiro is almost certainly the most resilient.
If the winner is the one who survives
to the end, Chihiro will win if he survives anyway.
「So ――
I think it would be better if Izumi-kun would escape quickly, but why are you
still here?」
Are you sure you're not thinking
about nothing? I mean, you're not thinking about anything, are you?
Chihiro smiled at Hana's staring eyes
and answered.
「I don't have any deep thoughts, but I
want to challenge Enjou-san too.」
Mizuki's [Gate] is not a direct
combat ability.
Her physical ability is as good as
anyone else's, or rather more fragile than Shibahou alumni such as Suzu because
of her legs, which prevent her from training properly.
Just as Hana was willing to try
[Retaliation], there may be a chance after surviving the attack.
「...I understand」
Hana nodded slowly, seemingly
satisfied with Chihiro's explanation.
「Then, would you do it after I
challenge her? If you don't think you can do it, then please escape quickly.」
「Okay.」
Chihiro answered and took a deep
breath.
「Chihiro-kun!」
Just then, he hears a voice from the
log cabin and turn around.
Aika, Riko, Maria, and Suzu were
standing in front of the entrance, looking at him. He raise his arms in the
same manner as they do, and answer their encouragement.
Giggle...
Mizuki, who had been watching Chihiro
and the others, laughed.
Before everyone knows it, she has
moved her wheelchair to the ground in front of the log cabin. Within this
range, she can easily be heard without speaking out loud.
「You have a lot of supportive
children, Izumi Chihiro-kun」
「You know my name?」
「Yes. I know the names of all the
participants. But that's not the only reason in your case.」
「That's...」
What does she mean by that?
Chihiro was about to ask, but Kaede's
quiet voice interrupted him.
「Two minutes and fifty seconds」
It will start.
Chihiro looked at Hana and stepped
back. Hana stepped forward to stand in front of Chihiro.
Once again, Mizuki said.
「I'm glad. I thought I would not be of
much help under the rule.」
「It seems that many of the students
are even more stupid than I expected.」
Kaede looks at the terminal as she
answers.
「Three minutes.」
It was the beginning of the fifth
event, survival.
**b
* * *
As soon as the game starts, Kaede
rushes out.
Kaede does not attack those who are
within the range of Mizuki's vision. Therefore, Chihiro and the others are
ignored. For Chihiro, this is a good thing, since A-ranked Kaede is more
frightening than S-ranked Mizuki.
Also, the flow of air has slightly
changed.
There is a sensation of a big wall
appearing around the log house, probably due to the creation of an invisible
"wall" that protects the log house.
It seems to be an ability of one of
the staff members.
With this, everyone can use their
ability without worrying about the effect on the log house.
Who?
Of course, the most powerful person
here――
Mizuki.
「Now, let me show you my ability」
After a few seconds of looking away
from Kaede, Mizuki announced.
Hana whispered in a low voice to
Chihiro in the back.
「Hey, don't you feel like getting
rewarded just for seeing this in person?」
「Yes, but the price will be too high
if we don't survive.」
As they were saying these things to
each other, Mizuki made a move.
She looks at the terminal on her lap,
and a change occurs in the empty space above the left side of the wheelchair.
On there, a fluctuation of space is
occured.
Something that can only be described
as such was born. Within an area of about 30 centimeters in the air, there was
a scene of some other place, a warehouse or something.
This is Mizuki's ability, [Gate].
She could open a gate that leads to
somewhere other than here. The opened gate can carry her and others, and she
can move to any place she has been.
She uses this ability to move from
place to place on errands and business.
This ability must be the reason why
she does not want to heal her leg.
After all, she has the ability to go
anywhere.
Perhaps she is thinking that if she
heals her leg, she could move, but as a result, she will lose her ability.
However, this ability itself does not
have the ability to kill.
Then, how will she fight?
Fuuh...
Suddenly, a brown-colored sphere
appears from the fluctuation of space.
Surprisingly, it's a basketball. It
appears from the fluctuation and shoots straight toward Hana.
The speed is comparable to that of a
high school boy throwing a basketball without any effort.
「...Kuh!」
Hana took a serious hit. The ball
sank into her stomach, but she managed to hold on just in time to be almost
blown away by the impact.
She could have caught it with her
hand, but she did not because of [Retaliation].
As a result, the Hana felt should be
returned directly.
「...This is」
――However, Mizuki's reaction was only
a faint frown and a murmur.
（Why?）
Hana, standing on two legs,
staggered. It would not be surprising if Mizuki, who is in a wheelchair, would
fall over if she was hit by it, but the damage seems unnaturally small.
Hana saw this and exhaled
regretfully, as if she had expected this result.
「...I knew it. If it was Maria-chan,
maybe the result would have been different...」
NEW SERIES!!!
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