The Strongest Enemy? The Strongest Ally!

The Tamer trainees were thrown into an uproar.

“W-What!? What just happened…!?”

“My pet always obeys me—why is it ignoring my orders!?”

“And of all places, it ran straight to that jobless trash…!”

“Look! All our pets’ eyes turned into hearts!?”

“No way! That’s the highest form of affection a pet can show!”

“They’ve never even made that face for their own owners…!?”

“D-Don’t tell me that guy is… the legendary…!?”

Thinking I might have done something bad, I hurriedly lowered my Charisma.

At the same time, the vice principal came flying over, his face pale.

“Kyeeeeh! S-Stay away, zansu! Pets, my dear pets! If you cling to something that filthy, you’ll catch a disease, zansu!”

Only then did the pets finally return to their owners.

When I noticed, Instructor Domanna was standing beside me, arms spread wide, trembling with excitement.

“W-Wonderful!? I’ve never seen a student so overwhelmingly loved by animals! That whipping from earlier is canceled! As a reward, I’ll give you the ultimate cuddle!”

Instructor Domanna ruffled my head like I was an animal.

That alone would have been bad enough, but she pulled me into a powerful hug, pressing her cleavage right into my face.

I couldn’t breathe and let out a muffled, “Mngh!?”

“Lucky you,” the boys muttered, while the girls glared at them with looks that said, “Disgusting.”

The vice principal barged in again, his face changing color.

“S-Stop it, zansu! Instructor Domanna! Students are watching, zansu! And not just them—our sponsors too…!”

But Domanna kept suffocating me as she spoke without a shred of remorse.

“Eeh, what’s the problem, Vice Principal? This kid is a genius! He’ll definitely become a world-class Tamer! So a little reward like this should be fine—”

“Absolutely not, zansu! This is a problem, zansu! You must follow the plan we discussed…!”

“Okaaay.”

Only then did Instructor Domanna reluctantly let me go.

The vice principal dragged her back toward the podium.

“Ahem! Let us pull ourselves together and continue the lesson, zansu! Since today is a Pet Battle, we have prepared a special prize, zansu! Students acknowledged by Instructor Domanna shall receive the ‘Instructor Domanna Cuddle Prize,’ zansu!”

Hearing there was a prize, the students let out excited cheers.

Everyone suddenly looked fired up.

But one girl muttered quietly,

“Didn’t Leopin just get cuddled a moment ago…?”

“K-Kyeeeh! That doesn’t count, zansu! That prize only applies from now on! From now on, zansu!”

“Okaaay, everyone, let’s move with a big whoosh to the outdoor Arena!

There’s a tournament bracket, so we’ll start with a bang in that order!”

Guided by Instructor Domanna, we exited through another flap of the tent.

Outside was a ring-like space made from packed, dry earth.

On the chalkboard was the tournament bracket, and the first match read:
“Leopin vs. Special Guest.”

“Alright, let’s begin right away! First up is— Leopin-kun! Head on up to the blue corner!”

Swept along by the flow, I climbed into the ring and stepped onto the area covered with blue sand.

“Now then! Let’s dramatically introduce Leopin-kun’s opponent! Making a special appearance just for today’s lesson—Sage Weiss!”

From a small tent near the red corner, Weiss slowly emerged.

I’d been expecting something dramatic, so I felt a bit disappointed.

“Oh, it’s you. I didn’t know you had Tamer abilities too.”

Weiss gave a faint smile.

“I’m different from you. My job, my stats, my lineage, my popularity, my wealth—everything. And of course, my pet as well…!”

With an affected gesture, Weiss raised his hand and called out,

“Come forth, Black Panther!”

—Flash!

A black shadow leapt into the air above the ring, spun gracefully, and landed.

It was a sleek black panther with glossy, jet-black fur.

With exaggerated theatrics, Weiss declared,

“This is the pet that I found in the forest, trained by me, and belongs to me.”

The students erupted.

“A-Amazing!? A Black Panther! That’s one of the strongest animal-type pets there is!”

“Even professionals struggle to tame one, right!? And he did it as a student!”

“A-As expected of Sage Weiss…!”

Though Weiss had been making mistake after mistake lately, the students gazed at him with admiration.

Then they turned pitying looks toward me.

“That trash is done for. A sewer rat versus a Black Panther isn’t even a fight…”

“In Pet Battles, attacking the owner is allowed too, right?”

“Ahh… poor guy. He’s definitely getting seriously hurt. Worst case, he might even die.”

I raised my hand and asked the instructors,

“Um, may I call my own pet too?”

“Muhuhuhuhu! Of course you may, zansu! If you have one, call as many as you like, zansu! But trying to stall for time like that is pointless, zansu!”

I decided to gamble everything on this.

Inside my coat pocket, I opened the Whirlwind-Voice Potion, put a single drop on my finger, and licked it.

Then I thrust my hand forward and shouted boldly,

“Come on! Mark!”

…But when nothing happened, the area burst into laughter.

“Gyahahahaha! ‘Come on, Mark,’ he says!”

“Trying to imitate the Sage now, huh!?”

“And what kind of name is Mark!? Did you just make that up on the spot!?”

“Hmph. Leopin, I understand your thinking. What’s next—are you going to cry, ‘The wolf is coming’?”

“Muhuhuhuhu! The only thing coming is embarrassment, yes indee—hu—ho—!?”

The laughter vanished instantly.

Because everyone heard it. Everyone felt it.

A crushing presence that shook the air itself and sent tremors through the ground…!

…RUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMBLE!!

Kicking up clouds of dust, flattening tents in its path, it came charging in.

It looked like a landslide made flesh, an overwhelming spectacle.

…BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!

When that gigantic body burst through the tent, everyone except me froze in sheer terror.

“E-EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH!?!!?”