Infighting Breaks Out

Leopin ran off toward the setting sun.

The mud-doll squad watched, stunned, as his shrinking silhouette and his lengthening shadow receded into the distance.

But when they snapped back to their senses—

“N-niku!? Crap, he got away!?”

“Nickbacca-san! Could it be that trash overheard what we were saying earlier!?”

“That’s impossible! He was at least a hundred meters away from us! Hearing whispered talk from that far would be beyond even a superhuman ear!”

“Then what do we do!? If he abandons us, we’re—!”

“W-we call him back together!”

They screamed toward the sinking sun.

“H-heeey! Celebrity boy! Be a good kid and come back—!”

“Trash! Come baaack!

You’re kidding about leaving us behind, right!?”

“Yeah, yeah! If you really mean you’re not coming back, we’ve got ideas too!”

“That’s right! Starting tomorrow, we’ll bully you nonstop!”

“If you make enemies of us, you know you won’t get off for free, right!? So if you understand, come back quietly!”

They had been clinging to Leopin in tears just moments ago, yet after a little rest, this was how they acted.

Why could they behave so arrogantly?

Because they’d been raised from childhood to do whatever they pleased.

So without even understanding the situation they were in, they threw their selfish “standing” around…

But as the silhouette showed no sign of returning, they finally began to panic.

“N-niku! We went too far! He got sick of being teased and sulked off, didn’t he!? We won’t call you celebrity boy anymore, so come baaack!”

“Tra— I mean, Leopiiin! Please, just come back—!”

“We ran the Hell Marathon together, didn’t weee!? We’re besties for life, right!? Come on, stop being mad already—!”

There may be no situation more fitting for the phrase “Too late now.”

Along with the sun, Leopin’s figure was disappearing over the horizon.

In the ever-darkening forest, they finally heard that sound.

A howl that was neither human nor animal—an ogre-like shriek.

“Gyah! Gyah! GYAAH!”

That alone made the mud dolls jump.

“W-whoa!? Th-that voice… don’t tell me…!?”

The bushes shook violently, and a green-skinned creature burst out.

Faces twisting in terror, the mud dolls screamed.

“G-goooobliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin!?!?”

A pack of goblins licked their lips, and the mud dolls tried to flee in a mad scramble.

But their legs and backs wouldn’t work, so they were surrounded in an instant.

They clung to each other and screamed at the top of their lungs.

“H-help! Help, Leopin-kuuun! N-no, Leopin-samaaa!”

“Your friends—no, your best friends—are getting attacked by goblins!”

“No! Nooo! Don’t come, don’t come aaaaaah! No—Leopin-kun, YOU come! Come heeere!”

“F-fast! Leopin-kun, hurry, hurry, hurry!Or we’ll die, we’ll die, we’ll die! We’ll dieeeee!”

In a crisis like this, if you scream like that, a hero usually comes rushing in.

But for them, everything was already far too late.

Taking advantage of the fact that the mud dolls were exhausted, the goblins began tormenting them with kicks.

They swarmed them, kicking again and again, while the mud dolls sobbed and shrieked pathetically.

“Ow ow ow, owaaaaaaaah!?”

“Help! Heeelp meeeee!”

“Please, please, forgive us! F-forgiiiiive uuuuus!”

Then one of the mud students realized something.

“R-right! Nickbacca-san! The distress flare! Launch the distress flare!”

“N-nikut! I can’t! Because that guy said he rewrote the name, didn’t he!?”

“That’s obviously a bluff! Only a Fireworker can rewrite the text on a trick firework!”

“Yeah! That trash is unemployed, isn’t he!? There’s no way he could do something even we can’t—!”

Normally, that would be the logical conclusion.

But one thing kept snagging in Nickbacca’s mind.

“In that situation, what reason would he have to bluff…!? And he ran like a demon and cornered us…! Could it be…!”

And at last, he caught the tail end of the truth.

Not only because he had witnessed Leopin’s absurd abilities firsthand…

But because he—having suffered through it personally three times—had reached that bitter summit.

“If it’s him… if it’s Leopin…! Rewriting a trick firework is something he could do…!”

But that tail got severed with a snap.

“Hey, how long are you gonna ramble, you muscle lump!? I’ll launch it instead, so hand over the distress flare!”

“Niku!? How dare you speak to a teacher like that!? I’ll beat that attitude out of you!”

“In this situation, who cares about teacher or student!? Hey, everyone—take the distress flare from this meathead!”

At last, they began fighting among themselves.

“Damn it, this meathead’s freak strength is insane!”

“Ow! Don’t shove! You bastard! Don’t try to push me outside!?”

“It’s your fault the trash got away! Take responsibility and be our shield!”

The mud dolls grappled and tangled together, punching and brawling.

The goblins stared in dumbfounded silence, as if thinking, “What are these guys doing?” and even stopped kicking.

A red tube rolled—clack clack—toward a goblin’s feet.

The goblin picked it up with a puzzled expression and began fiddling with it.

Nickbacca squeezed out every last bit of strength to try to stop him.

“S-s-stoooooop iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!”

But it was too late.

They had already been left behind in every possible way.

The red tube spat fire—shubaa!

Nickbacca reached out toward the rising bolt of light.

His face looked as if he were falling into a deep ravine.

…DODOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!!!!

A thunderous roar and countless sparks burst in the sky.

In the fully darkened heavens, flower-like light bloomed and shone.

The letters that appeared blazed across the entire sky, bright enough that it felt like you could read them from anywhere in the country.

PLEASE HELP ME! I WAS STUPID TO OBEY THE VICE PRINCIPAL!

I’LL QUIT THE ACADEMY, SO PLEASE SAVE ME! —NICKBACCA