CH 7.2

「Transfer, irregularity…? No way, that’s impossible.」

「You were, more fearless than that, you know? Seiichi.」

Originally, there was no way for him to be like this, previously, he was more flippant and pretentious.

But now, he simply had his mind crushed from the beginning.

「Touma, you bastard… don’t tell me….」

「From start to finish, playing the fool, cheering us on, and then dying with a brazen laugh. That way is probably more like, you.」

「…you, survived? You’ve gotta be kidding, right?」

Seiichi stared at Touma, who was standing in front of it, as if pleading with him.

His warped face twitched, and his faint smile was abject to no end.

「I don’t know what you’re carrying on your shoulder. I don’t know your circumstances either. But, as your friend…, I will make you regain yourself.」

「Huh…?」

Seiichi was unable to understand what Touma was getting at.

Still unaware of it, he had his right cheek hit with a full swing punch.

「Seiichi!」

「That… hurts, you bastard.」

Touma – grabbing Seiichi who staggered by the lapel – raised him to make them face to face.

Mai, who screamed and was about to rush toward Seiichi’s side, was restrained by Shizuka, who grabbed her by the arm.

「What’s wrong, Seiichi? Aren’t you going to hit me back? Are you the kind of man who can only assault and beat a helpless woman?」

Touma’s knee drove into Seiichi’s abdomen, as his body twitched.

It might be from over the body armor, but Seiichi still let out coughs due to the merciless impact.

「Geha… ha, haha, the heck. So that’s it, huh…. Did Shizuka tattle on me? Oioi, please give me a break. Didn’t I merely give her some love for a bit? She was certainly a slut with a pretty good lower condition. She was acting all reluctant at first, but as soon as I loaded her with my cock, she started shaking her ass, you know? She was left all satisfied after I let her squeeze out my load for unknown time.」

As he moved his mouth to spout some suitable made-up story, he quietly reached out his hand toward his hips side.

With a clink, the sound of the lock of the scabbard getting unfastened, and the sound of a dull slashing strike echoed almost at the same time.

Grasping the short sword backhandedly in his right hand, Seiichi stepped back while still in a horizontal cleaving motion.

The other person, who had grabbed his chest, was choking while holding his chest that had taken the slash head on.

The Spectra fiber used in the uniforms for both male and female students, and the Kevlar fiber used in body armor, were synthetic materials with very strong tensile strength.

The cutting stress of the fabric, which was faired with a special weaving method, was high, but it was unable to mitigate impact.

As a result, the strike of the short sword wielded by Seiichi was equivalent to hitting Touma in the chest with an iron rod.

As the thickness of the body armor served as an impact mitigator to a certain extent, most likely that strike would leave no more than a line of bruise on his body.

「Don’t you dare… looking down on me! You lowly commoners who have been living with carefree and foolish mugs. What do you folks know about me? Stop acting like some sort of good guys with those self-satisfied mugs of yours. It’s so sickening!」

「I believe I already told you in the beginning. That I don’t know jack shit about you. — So.」

After confirming that his chest had not been cut, Touma stared at Seiichi’s face instead of the blade pointed at him, which gleamed even in the gloomy light of the dungeon.

「Talk to me. I’ll make it easy for you to talk.」

「Ha, you seem to be trying to say some cool lines, but I bet you’re just scared of a real blade…. Hah, very well. Fine by me.」

Facing Touma, who had held the hand axe strapped on his waist in hand, ah, as expected he pulls it out, Seiichi braced himself, even as such a thought crossed his mind in somewhat understanding.

「… Seiichi.」

「Touma, san.」

What was about to begin was a battle for each other’s life with real weapons in hands.

Unsure of what to do, Mai stood unmoving with both hands joined together in front of her lips as if in prayer, while Shizuka, who was also watching over the two next to Mai, was going pale due to the situation transforming into a scene of carnage beyond her expectation.

Touma tossed the hand axe, whose edge was still enveloped by the cover, to the ground as he was.

He then picked up the survival knife that was included in the recommended equipment set and tossed it under to the ground as he was.

He unfastened the straps on both sides of his body armor, removed it from his head, and tossed it to the ground as he was.

He took off his uniform jacket before ridding his shirt on top of it.

「… What are you playing at?」

「Bring it on. If you’ve got the guts, that is.」

「You bastard, just how far are you intending to look down on me?」

Touma, who had become half-naked, beckoned Seiichi with both hands that were facing the ceilings, still as expressionless as ever.

Do you have the resolve to brandish that sword even not from over the stab-proof armor? or so he inquired.

「… Fine. I’ll take you up on it, that provocation of yours.」

Seiichi, his eyes still, returned his short sword to its scabbard and tossed it on the floor along with even the sword belt itself.

He then removed his body armor and just as he was putting his hands on his uniform, he came to his senses and thought, there’s no need to match him to such an extent, is there?

Perhaps the punch to his right cheek had cut the inside of his mouth, he spat out spit that tasted of iron rust.

With his shoulders raised and his head ducked, he hopped on the floor with his boots that were standing on tiptoes.

「Say… Touma. You seem to have some confidence in unarmed fight, but….」

Raising both hands and lightly clenching them in front of his chest, his legs, which were stretched shoulder width, performed a step as if gliding on the floor.

Seiichi’s fist, as he cut in toward Touma at a speed that even made Mai, who was watching him intently, lose sight of him in an instant, landed at the left side of his face.

「You know no jack shit of footwork. In the end, you’re no more than an amateur.」

「Gh….」

「Let me teach you then. What reality is.」

Dodging the outstretched hand with a sway, he unleashed a series of light jabs at his face.

Touma, who didn’t know the proper way to deal with punches, was no more than a standing sand bag for Seiichi.

「Kukuku… look at what we’ve got here, Seiichi. You can hit men too, can’t you?」

「Huh?! You’re still going on with your prattling, huh, you bastard.」

Along with the footwork that was shifting from right to left, Seiichi’s fists continued to hit Touma in the face.

The bare punches that were unprotected by gloves also sent back recoil damage toward the punching hands.

As he sensed a throbbing pain in his right hand that knocked Touma’s face with a hook, he drove a blow into his body before taking some distance.

「You’ve understood your place, haven’t you? … Say, it’s fine, isn’t it? Just a woman or two. I’ll also lend Mai to you, okay? She’s quite a nice woman, after all.」

Mai’s hand, which was grabbed by Shizuka, subconsciously clenched tightly.

「Let’s just moderately, casually go at it, shall we? Nothing good will come from holding up hopes, you see….」

「I see.」

Wiping his cut and bloody lips, Touma raised their edges slightly.

He finally speaks up, is that his true feeling? He thought.

「You’ve come to this academy with some kind of hope to pursue, huh.」

「… Oi. Stop it.」

「But you see, Seiichi. It’s too early, isn’t it? For you to break. Or could be that your hope is just a piece of trash that can be easily discarded?」

Mouth with bare bloody gums, congested-red slanted eyes.

Combined with thick vein popping on the temple, Seiichi’s face was truly akin to that of a demon face.

「You know nothing about me, so stop blabbering as you please!」

「Ah, I forgot to mention one thing. Mai having a good condition, I already know about it.」

「… Huh?」

Suddenly having the point of the conversation shifted toward her, Mai trembled with a start.

「Her persistently pushing herself and barging on me was a pain, you see. I drove her away after casually taking her accompany, though. It’d be a pain if she gets the wrong idea, so let me make it clear, Mai, Shizuka’s condition is way better than yours. That’s why there’s no point even if you fawn on me…. Well, I don’t mind keeping you accompany from time to time, though.」

「P… please stop, that’s not it. Seiichi, that’s not it….」

It was a blatant monotonous recital of a theatrical elocution, but Mai went aghast as she shook her head.

Speaking of credibility, it was entirely groundless.

However, as it was indeed a fact that she’d thought about comparing Touma and Seiichi and choosing the more convenient one as her partner, the slight truth mixed into it had pierced Mai’s mind.

「I’m impressed that you can shake your ass on top of a man that much without shame. I can relate as to why Seiichi would be repulsed and try to push you on me.」

「That’s not it… stop, please stop.」

Mai, covering her face with both hands, leaked out a sobbing sound.

The nonsense Touma made up in order to fan Seiichi wound up flipping up the trauma engraved on both of her mind and body in her previous school.

「Don’t you dare to make Mai cry!」

「Guh.」

With no boxing form whatsoever, the plain telephone punch thrown with all his might bent Touma’s body backward.

Touma’s amateurish bare punch was also unleashed toward Seiichi, whose form had crumbled.