A Final Desperate Struggle

The principal’s office of the Royal Pioneer Academy was, even within the school building, an especially lavish space.

The furnishings glittered under chandelier light, like something out of a dream.

But the people inside huddled together trembling, like stray cats in a winter alley.

“…Th-There’s nowhere left to run, de aru…! The chairman is probably starting to look for a new principal and vice principal, de aru…!”

“T-The vice principal too, zamasu!? Then that means even I—!?”

“Why did you think only you would be spared, de aru!? Of course not, Acting Vice Principal! You’ve messed up too many times, de aru! There aren’t many vice principals who get struck by the Lightning of Judgment—only you, de aru!”

“Y-You’re one to talk—Acting Principal turned into roasted pork, zamasu!”

The two nearly slipped into open hostility, but somehow restrained themselves.

“Th-This isn’t the time to fight, de aru!”

“Th-That’s right, zamasu! At this rate, we’re both finished, zamasu!”

“Damn it! If only that trash didn’t exist, this never would’ve happened, de aru!”

“Exactly, zamasu! We shouldn’t have done something as soft as exile—we should’ve expelled him, zamasu!”

They were united in hating Leopin, but one particular action of Leopin’s ended up delivering an unexpected chance.

“P-Principal, good news, zamasu! I heard Onesuko-san from Class 1-2 passed the first trial of a holy knight, zamasu!”

“What!? That can’t be true, de aru! Even the fastest record for the first holy knight trial is three years, de aru! It’s said to take even longer than establishing a base—clearing it in such a short time is impossible, de aru!”

“But it’s true, zamasu! A certificate of recognition arrived from the Holy Knight Association, zamasu! It’s an unbelievable achievement, zamasu!”

“Ooooooh!? Luck has finally turned my way, de aru! If we let the outside world know, it becomes my accomplishment, de aru!”

“That’s right, zamasu! It becomes my accomplishment too, zamasu! We’ll invite tons of guests from outside and hold a grand commemorative ceremony, zamasu!”

“Mm! Onesuko-kun will surely make the front page, de aru! And if she endorses me in her comments, my rank-up is guaranteed, de aru!”

“Yes, zamasu! If she says it was thanks to my guidance, my rank-up is certain, zamasu! A two-rank jump won’t even be a dream, zamasu!”

A mismatched duo letting their fantasies run wild.

But then, a certain boy’s face drifted through his mind.

“…Surely there’s no way that trash will suddenly pop his face in, de aru…? For example, by processing gemstones to complete the trial, or something…”

“There’s no way that trash can do gemstone processing, zamasu. If he could, he’d be a dexterity monster, zamasu.”

“But it never hurts to be cautious, de aru. Even if that trash was involved, we simply must not let him pop his face in, de aru. Just this once, failure is not permitted no matter what, de aru…!”

“U-Understood, zamasu. We’ll use every possible means to eliminate that trash, zamasu!”

When I woke up, my body wasn’t glowing for once.

Whatever, I thought, and stepped out of the house to head to school…

And then I saw a crowd forming near the forest entrance.

The academy’s guards were lined up in a neat row, blocking the way.

At the center stood the vice principal.

The vice principal shouted at me from far away.

“Trash… I mean, Leopin-kuuun! Today you must not step one foot outside that filthy house, zamasu—!”

Neither the vice principal nor the guards came anywhere near me, like I was some kind of germ.

I shouted back.

“Huh!? Why!?”

“Onesuko-san has cleared the first trial of a holy knight, zamasu—! Today we’re renting out the academy for the entire day to celebrate, zamasu—! We’re bringing in lots of guests from outside as a special exception, zamasu—! There will also be loads of newspaper reporters taking tons of true-photos, zamasu—! If some Special Training Class dropout even ends up in the frame, it’ll be a disaster, zamasu—!”

At an exploration academy, outsiders weren’t allowed to enter unless there was a special event.

Things like an academy festival where progress was showcased, or class observation days.

But apparently, when a student accomplished something especially outstanding, they would sometimes invite guests and hold a victory celebration to honor the achievement.

This time was that latter case.

It still made zero sense that I was under house arrest, but at least I understood the “reason.”

And honestly, I was used to being treated like this.

I accepted it with a reluctant shrug, but the vice principal added an extra remark that stole even that small willingness.

“There’ll be lots and lots of delicious feast food too, zamasu—! If you stay quietly at home, I’ll reward you by blowing the smell over to you, zamasu—!”

“No thanks! Anyway, got it! I’ll just do some farm work all day!”

“No! You must not take one step outside the house, zamasu—!”

He cut me off flatly, then jabbed a finger as he shouted.

“Guards! Lock that filthy boy inside that filthy house, zamasu! And watch him closely—don’t let him take even a single step outside, zamasu!”

But the guards didn’t move an inch.

At the vice principal’s order, they shook their heads side to side, trembling.

I wondered why everyone was standing so far away, and then Mark and Tom rubbed up against me and I understood.

Right—both the vice principal and the guards were scared of my guard beasts.

The vice principal kept hysterically ordering the guards to charge, but not a single one budged, and eventually he backed down.

“Gugigigi! Fine, zamasu! Then you’ll spend all day right here, making sure that filthy boy doesn’t leave this forest, zamasu! If that filthy boy tries to take even one step out, I’ll smash him without mercy—so hard you’ll run around screaming as you flee in panic, zamasu!”

Apparently that order was acceptable, because the guards snapped into a synchronized salute.

Feeling a little mean, I gave an order.

“Go, Mark. Tom.”

The two beasts—one huge, one small—bolted toward the outside of the forest with a “GRAAAH!”—and the instant they did—

“Hii…!? Kyaaaaaaaーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー!?!?”

With shrieks like squealing girls, the guards scattered and fled like spiders.

The vice principal, who failed to escape, got his pants clamped in Tom’s jaws—

…RIIIP!

—and the fabric around the butt got torn clean off.

“Gyaaaa!? This tuxedo was custom-made for today, zamasu!? It hasn’t even been an hour since I first wore it, zamasu—! And—gyaaaaaaaーーーー!!”

Chased off by Tom, the vice principal fled with his bare butt out—pathetic beyond words.

Thanks to that, my mood felt just a little lighter.