Vol 2 Chapter 4 (1/2)

Chapter 4 - Mock Battle Tournament

Part 1

Mari returned together with Ouka Five minutes later

”Stay in my house?! Why?!”

Takeru yelled, after hearing the circumstances from the two of them

”Because of irl's dor a Gleipnir, going outside school grounds is fine at least the Chairman said so”

Ouka explained dissatisfied But at the sa

”So why does it have to be my room?”

”Saionji is living with her parents and there's nowhere to sleep at Suginami's This woman didn't want to come to my room Of course I don't want her in there either”

”you're getting along way too badly; the two of you”

”Don't worry Kusanagi, I won't leave you alone with this witch I'll accoet attacked”

”I won't attack him!”

Mari retorted, as she walked up from the left side

While being a bit nervous, Takeru looked at Ouka

”Ootori, are you going to stay in my house too?”

”is that bad?”

Ouka asked, while feeling a little uneasy

”i-it's not bad! Definitely not!”

”Mht a sleeping bag with me”

He finally found out as in the huge boston bag Ouka brought with her

”Oh well, I' to stop you I'm quite poor so it's really small?”

”It's fine, I already knew that you're poor and prepared myself”

the fact that she's going to o, so why did she have that kind of information

Takeru's mood turned a bit sad

”Kusanagi is living alone is it an apartment?”

”Yeah Six and a half tatami mats, with a kitchen and a bath”

”? Isn't that quite normal, it's not that bad of a place by the way, how much is the rent?”

Hearing Ouka, Takeru raised five fingers

”fifty thousand? That's quite normal rent”

”no, five thousand”

””Five thousand?!””

It's too low no ht

Seeing them surprised, Takeru looked quite proud

”Fufufu, a good deal ain't it? I finally found it after looking everywhere over and over again for a week”

”Umm isn't it unusually cheap when compared with the other rooms?”

Mari asked

”? Yeah, now that you say it, the other rooms were about sixty thousand weren't they”

I wonder why? Takeru tilted his neck thinking that

Mari made a crooked smile Ouka's face turned extremely pale, and she fell silent

”You, that's definitely dangerous It's definitely a rooeist appears in it”

”Hahaha! There's no such thing You've watched too hosts won't appear unless you use evocation ic”

Takeru laughed off Mari's iinative fears

Mari followed Takeru while still being a bit anxious Ouka didn't speak a thing ever since she heard the rent was only five thousand, she trudged a bit behind while looking towards the ground

”We're here This is my place”

The two looked in the direction Takeru pointed at

There, at first glance it looked like ordinary apartment It's overall appearance was pretty normal One part only; one of the rooms The innermost room on the second floor looked weird

———wooooooooooo—gyaa!! gyaaa!! creaak creaak

It's aura was e an o voices Despite no one being inside, a creaking sound could be heard co from inside the room

”——Isn't this definitely dangerous!?”

”What is?”

”What is that black aura?! Isn't it giving out a horrible 'wooooooo' ringing!?”

”Isn't that the ventilation fan next door?”

”And those birds going gyaagyaa?!”

”That's a crow Because they feast on garbage The neighbours act annoyed lately too”

”Crows don't have scales like that?! Also, there's no one inside yet you can hear creaking sounds, what is that!”

”The rattling in this house is pretty horrible”[1]

Takeru explained embarrassed

Mari looked at Takeru with astounded eyes , ”What kind of nerves do you have” she muttered,

”? Ootori, what is it? Why are you standing there? Come over here”

Ouka noticed what Takeru was pointing at and stopped in the back Being called she turned around, hersounds

”Wassit, wassizit?”

”what's up with the slang?”

”There' ain' nothing like dat All's 'fine I ain't scared 't all!”

Looking at her, she was treh Takeru as pretty dense didn't notice it, Mari as pretty sharp understood Ouka's reaction right away, she smiled maliciously

At the sahtly

”You can go back if it's scary? I don't really mind, I'll stay here alone with Takeru”

”Guh!”

”But, for a honour student like you to be scared of ghosts—— That's really unexpected——”

”Y-you! What are you talking about! I thisto me!”

Saying that, Ouka started walking towards the apartment confidently

”uuu——! Uuu〜!”

Seeing Ouka tre and unsteady unable to clihed happily

”Pufufu, don't try the io back”

”I don't get it, but are both of you going to stay in my room? Or is it just Mari? Which is it?”

Takeru asked Mari while checking his watch

Mari was surprised for aa hand on her chin

Without Ouka Alone with Takeru Sleeping alone with a boy Mari's face reddened slightly

”N-no that's a bit hat to do? I-I don't have any experience e aren't going out yet suddenly such a thing, it's a bit”

”? Though I don't really get it, but Mari is staying right Go in then, come on”

Takeru took so out from his pocket, and handed it to Mari

”key? Why?”

”Make yourself at home If you want to eat, there's a superht in that alley, also, you will find the kitchen and bath easily if you don't want to use my bath towel, you can buy one at the supermarket Do you have money?”

”Wa-wait a minute Why? Am I supposed to stay here alone? What about you? Isn't this your place?”

”I've got a part tiht, so you can go to sleep and don't mind me”

”Part time job?! Until 2 o'clock are you fine with that kind of lifestyle? Is your body alright?”

”My body is quite sturdy because of swordsmanshi+p I'm quite used to it”

Takeru said so with a faint smile

He was a self-supporting student He needed money to repay his household's debt and for the sake of his little sister The reason he entered Inquisition was because of the money in the first place

Takeru checked his watch impatient and looked back

”Sorry, I'll be late Use my room as you see fit!”

Takeru ran off while waving Mari was left where she stood un

””

After listening to their conversation Ouka started walking back

That's when Mari grabbed her shoulder strongly

”Wh-what is it I'o”

”Ddon't leave me alone”

Mari clung to Ouka with her eyes full of tears Ouka's eyes were teary as well

”It's a uard me properly!”

”Why are you saying that only at a tiet away from this place as soon as possible!”

”I don't want to stay in a place like this either! But I have no choice other than staying here because I was given the key!”

”Then stay here alone! I-I' back!”

”You're heartless! I definitely won't let you run away!”

”Let! Me! Go!”

The two of theht sky

But in the end, both of theether in Takeru's home

Part 2

Takeru said farewell to Mari and Ouka and left for his part time job

The strategy of using Nikaido Mari as a bait ran behind the scenes

A single truck was parked in front of Takeru's apartment

Inside of that truck were strategic headquarters A large amount of monitors were lined up in the di on the wall

There were several people typing on the computers, a man who seemed like an Inquisitor looked over it and stared at a monitor with a serious expression

《”This is CovertBanshee's firstunit One of our members collided with a bystander Fortunately he wasn't noticed thanks to optical ca”》

”Continuing what Exclude that guy frouy”

《”yes sir!! My apologies!”》

After instructing CovertBanshee corps, Kurogane Hayato removed the microphone from in front of his face

Next to Hayato as staring at the monitor was his subordinate, another member of Witch HunterDullahan who approached him with two cups of coffee

”You let them out of the school on purpose, but it doesn't see The Fantasy CultValhalla”

The woman put a cup of coffee in front of Hayato and murmured quietly

”Don't let your guard down Be prepared to return fire at any time”

Hayato told the wo his eyes from the monitor

”Aren't you a little too nervous? Fantasy CultValhalla won't necessarily act here I wonder if it's necessary to be this cautious”

”You, you're a rookie as admitted to Witch HuntersDullahans from CovertBanshee Have you crossed paths with Fantasy CultValhalla yet?”

”? No, I still haven't”

The black haired wo documents on the desk

”Don't underestiination to kill the target”

”is that so, but maybe they will leave her”

Hayato answered the unconvinced wo his eyes from the front

”Do you knohy humans were able to win the Witch Hunt War?”

”because guns were stronger than ic?”

”Wrong There were few reasons We had an overwhele Guns were uys Just like we used our th as well”

”But, that was 150 years ago? In modern times, the power of the witches has declined Certainly, a witch has strength equal to a tank, but that's the extent of it”

”The o, I think that's the FantasyCultValhalla”

Saying that to the woht towards the documents

”A report from Mistilteinn?”

”It's froo There were no abnormalities”

”Did you run background checks on the students ith Kusanagi Takeru? It was the guys ere present at the capture of Nikaido Mari”

”Yes Kirigaya Kyouya, Yoshi+mizu Akira, Kitakami Heiji, Ishi+bashi+ shi+nya, Mizuhara Ai, There was a recent issue with them They have been punished the other day It seems like they were depressed after they lost one person, but they see as usual”

”Continue being vigilant”

The woiven an order

Hayato as left behind, stared at the monitor and lamented the fact that the current Inquisition lacked a sense of danger

”All members brace yourselves Don't think that the ene the worst Got it?”

《”””——Roger!”””》

Even after hearing a reliable reply he couldn't stop worrying

Kurogane Hayato was one of the few Witch HuntersDullahans who kne terrifying Fantasy CultValhalla was

At 2 o'clock after ht Takeru finished his part time job at the convenience store and returned to his apart quietly

After failing worse than usual and getting scolded by the er Takeru's spirit was at it's li except for swords as sileto fail, so his nerves wore out five times faster than a normal person's

”Haa living is difficult”

While saying the words too heavy for high school students as if he was spitting blood, he headed to the innermost room

While looking at details of water and electricity bills that have been placed in the post, he opened the door

”I'm back〜” hedoor like usual

””wha””

His eyes met with Mari's

Because he ca over

What he had seen, was burned into hi her hair with a bath towel She wasn't wearing anything

She had a slender but feminine body, reddish skin, and wet hair

And above all else, those very(or so they seees The moment he saw it, the sound of his heart roared in his chest

”N-no t-t-this is, umm”

”〜〜〜〜”

This is bad He's going to be beaten up Thinking normally there's no way he won't be beaten up

Thinking that, Takeru braced himself ready to eject and escape at any time

”y-you're q-quite early”

Mari hid her body with a towel quickly, she lowered her face and looked up at him shyly as she said that

He wasn't beaten up after bu into her in the bath But if he wasn't beaten, how should he respond It couldn't be helped that he was embarrassed

”U-umm”

””

”C-can can you g-go out This is quite e”

Averting her faintly wet eyes, Mari——

”Don't stare that much I don't have confidence”

Hearing such a thing, these killer words and that gesture Takeru's face turned crimson

In the super aard atmosphere, Takeru took a few steps back to leave the room

At that moment,

”——Kyaaaaaaaa”

The scream that suddenly resounded loudly, was not Mari's

As he wondered what's going on the bathrooorously and a woman jumped out like a wet animal

She came It was Ouka She jumped out of the bath with teary eyes and crashed into Mari as in the front causing both of them to collapse

”Bah! What are you——hyaa!”

”?! Wait, don't couh!”

The two of theled and fell in Takeru's direction, the three crashed in front of the entrance Takeru fell down in a way that irls

As dust rose up faintly, Mari's face displayed fury

”Hey you! What's up with you ju out of the bath suddenly!”

”I-i-it, it ca hair from the bathtub!”

Ouka was shaking with a blue face as she held onto Mari and Takeru Mari looked with an a

In that situation,

”Uh uht? It's definitely not ht?”

Mari and Ouka noticed Takeru under their chests

Because Takeru held out both of his hands trying to stop therasped Mari's breast, while his right grasped Ouka's breast

It was a really contrasting feeling to him, it was funifuni in his left hand, and ht

The feeling was about the same, but Takeru could not afford to enjoy this bliss

The two of theroped, and stared at Takeru Being stared at, his face turned red in no time and he made a crooked smile as he prayed to God

As expected, he was beaten up by the two of them this time

”Fuu”

After he properly took a shohen he opened the door to the changing roo

Since the spiritual phenomena subsided as Takeru cas were cut

Ouka was bad at handling ghosts, it was surprising that she had such an aspect to her

And Mari was sitting on the edge of an open , gloo somewhere outside

Although she bought fresh underwear at the supermarket, she didn't have any clothes, so she borrowed Takeru's shi+rt

Because the size didn't fit, the white shi+rt was too long and loose, it looked as if she wasn't wearing anything which was strangely sensational

Takeru was still troubled and his eyes were unfocused, he took out two plastic bottles froerator and threw one to Mari

”danke”

Mari smiled thinly and said her thanks

Takeru sat down on the ht the plastic bottle to his lips and looked at Mari as she was illuht

”So hoas it? The first day at our school”

”well, it wasn't anything special It was tiring The level of the class is low And I was made to do unreasonable physical exercises, how barbarous! Only bad things came out of it”

Pouting her lips, Mari started to complain

”Then, what about the Set used to it?”

Takeru asked Mari narrowed her eyes in response and faced down

”I wouldn't know such a thing”

Hearing a neither negative nor positive answer, Takeru made a bitter smile

”But, you and Ootori, so don't you?”

”Haa? Where did you see that? We're hopelessly incompatible”

Seeing her denying it annoyed, Takeru chuckled

”Well, you don't have to rush Even if it's a test run, you know that you will be attending officially once it's fully adopted, right?”

Hearing Takeru's question, Mari fell silent

”I'm not bothered at all by the fact that you're a witch, if you ever wondered about it The others aren't people ould either”

””

”Ootori is the same Her hate is directed towards cri is strange right? If she really thought you were evil, she wouldn't quarrel with you head on like that”

””

”Usagi and Sugina with you a bit After all, I got used to it the same way”

””

”They are picky fellows, if the time passes they will surely——”

”——Stop it”

Suddenly being interrupted strongly, Takeru looked at Mari in surprise

”Please stop talking about that”

As if, Mari said that with a face as if she was putting up with so

”Sorry You're getting a bit too fa uard You're scary, Takeru”

”W-what are you saying?”

”I am a witch You are a human The worlds we live in are just too different”

”you say such things suddenly, what happened”

She had a headache, and placed a hand on her forehead while closing her eyes

”I don't know but I am not the person you think I am”

Mari's face was blue because of the headache, her eyes were devoid of light

”I still don't really re I have”

”You can't re about?”

”I will definitely hurt you”

Mari averted her faintly wet eyes that were staring directly at Takeru and she stood up

”Sorry forget I said anything I' will come soon”

Mari sunk into the futon without looking back

”good night, Takeru”

Mari faced away from him as she slept

Still stunned, Takeru heard both Ouka and Mari's breathing as they slept

He glanced outside, the sky started to light up as it was alh Takeru's head as he recalled so from his ht and easygoing as the dawn sky was

Mari firmly rolled up in a futon, and looked towards Takeru's back

Why did I suddenly such a thing

She frowned as her head still throbbed with pain

Pain surged every few seconds, as if her

Every tie video like a flashback

Video transferred bits and pieces of so

In the video that surging through her head, Mari faced towards him

『”Magic is——it exists to make people happy”』

Mixing with the video, a voice echoed in her head The voice was also very nostalgic, a cruel voice deep from Mari's heart

What is this is this my memory?!

Even without knowing the an to tre as it scary, her teeth started chattering

『”Mama”』

A strangely pale baby, a voice calling her mother

That voice sounded like it blamed Mari for some reason

You are not qualified to live a normal life You are a witch Be crushed by sin

The nus looked down on her scornfully

Mari rolled her eyes and hugged her own body

She re who she is, she felt like she didn't want to remember it

Is that so, acting faiven?

Mari couldn't get rid of the discomfort she was in no matter what she did

195th AntiMagic Academy's mock battle tournament

The annual competition that was carried out in two batches every year preliminaries and the ues from first years to third years it's a coainst each other

Sniper rifles, assault rifles, sub-un, and the bullets used are paint bullets There is a limited number of bullets No friendly fire Lethal close combat weapons are prohibited, a plastic knife covered in paint is to be used Knockout via un's barrel is allowed The possibility of injuries is still considerable

Competition takes place over a period of one week, 100 points for the proiven to platoons that win qualifications, and the winner of the national competition is unconditionally admitted into Inquisition

Ten ht in a team deathmatch style

Objects on the field change every year The field's interior of the 195th co that mimiced urban warfare

”Ahhshi+t!”

swish swish, Takeru had tobehind the rubble as the flurry of paint bullets was sent his way

First years qualifications; first round 10th Test Platoon vs 35th Test Platoon

After the match started, Sht away and scattered as the eneical operation

Because the enemy placed two people on top of an unused church's bell tower, Takeru couldn't move carelessly around the fountain square he was on

”Usagi, can't you fire from there somehow?”

《”I-It's in a blind spot a-a little bit need to move a little bit further”》

Usagi's voice could be heard over the intercom

It was the worst possible situation for Usagi A big audience and her appearance being displayed on the ht on a catastrophic level On top of it, she had to take doo of the eneuards before they could advance

While she was good at long range shooting, mid to short distance wasn't her specialty

The ene the sniper's actions rushed to her position at full speed and hid themselves

《”Uuuuu〜〜〜, Ku-Kusanagii〜〜〜, help mee〜〜〜”》

”Don't cry I'm in a situation where I want to cry as well”

He cal wryly

”Ootori, how is it?”

《”I got rid of the two occupying the position”》

”Ooh, as expected of you”

《”It's not tih the fountain square no matter what I can't hit the two at the bell tower damn it, if it weren't only one weapon a person, I would have taken down that sniper”》

If Ouka had an assault rifle so she could snipe the enemy from medium distance only, only sniper rifles had pyrotechnical paint bullets, assault rifle's paint bullets were too fragile to be used at big distances

”Mari, how about you?”

Timidly, he checked on Mari's status

After a few seconds, response from Mari came

《”I told you before we started, did you forget already?”》

She replied coldly causing Takeru to fall silent

He thought about the words she told theathered

『”I will definitely not help you in any way, if you want to do so, do it on your own”』she said it sharply

Members looked at each other, and everyone reacted differently Ouka only snorted and spit with a grurily said ”Even if you didn't tell us, we didn't expect anything fro it and Takeru just felt very disappointed

It seeh she couldn't open her heart, that she would be able to open to the

Mari see permanent relations with them

Maybe one day wasn't enough for her to get close to the they shouldn't

No good I need to concentrate on the mock battle now

He shook his head and switched his feelings

Takeru couldn't think of a way to break through, the communication with Ouka also fell silent

This is no good I didn't expect us to win, in the first place eren't supposed to participate but somehow

While hiding his body behind the object, and playing with the plastic knife in his hand, he ,

”Even so, it's a bit shameful”

《”I also want to capitalize on that feeling but I'hty yet is unable to acco”》

《”Uuu〜〜〜!! I-it's still not over is right?!”》

《”If ere to know about it earlier, ould be able to think of y and measures If I had time, I could develop dedicated weapons for this”》

It seems like they all felt similar

Despite already knowing that they would lose, everyone still wanted to challenge it and win Even if they were the weakest of their grade, a group called 'small fries'

Wait for a time-out, or perform a suicide attack

There were only two options to choose from

but then, suddenly, a harsh voice coain

《”Hey, Sa forever!”》

《”Ha ha ha, what did you guys think by entering the tournarace yourself? What, you masochists, just coun——”》

Their communication was interrupted by their opponents, the 10th platoon

That was a so called taunt It ended up with provocations since they just stood there It ar, but skills like these can be very useful in the mock battle tournament

S any results, really, a lot

《””””””””》

”h-hey, folks, can you endure that? A chance ht come if ait, we shouldn't kamikaze atta——”

Takeru tried to calm everyone down

But right after he told everyone that, another remark came from enemy—

《”Mr Captain——! Please show me some of your cool swordsmanshi+p——! After all it's only cool and can't really do anything can it——”》

《”It's a divine retribution -degozaru! He's a royal retainer -degozaru![2] It's a raid -degozaru!”》

《”Seriously, so and outdated; an antique——!”》

Any expression vanished from Takeru's face

《”Ku-Kusanagi? Did you again?”》

”It's all right It's okay I didn't snap I didn't snap yet”

It was only his hed, his eyes ide open

That pair of eyes were like an aniht

”It's all right fufufu I'o for a kill head on I'll just evade Just gonna avoid getting hit But, just a little wouldn't——”

《””””””》

”——I think beating the hell out of them should be OK”

Takeru already completely entered berserk mode

Ouka was slightly taken aback by Takeru's sudden change, the other teren't surprised at all

《”I didn't think a day where I approve of Kusanagi going out of control will co provocation I lost my patience”》

《”It's fine just this once If your body hurts after this onee-san will o at them with full force, crush them”》

Takeru stood up after being pardoned by the two of them

”Listen folks we're deeeefinitely winning this”

While still looking like a demon, he squeezed the handle of his blade

”Ootori”

”?! What is it?”