The Counterattack Begins

‘Some armed individuals have seized control of the academy. The academy is now in a critical situation.’

At Vincent’s transmission, I shivered and stood frozen in place.

Something unbelievable was happening.

The classic fantasy that everyone is said to have imagined at least once.

The one where the school gets occupied by terrorists.

I had happened to be skipping class, and had therefore happened to escape being captured by them, making this an absolutely thrilling situation.

‘We do not know the enemy’s identity, but there is a high possibility they are an armed organization active in the south.’

“How many are there?”

‘At the very least, several dozen. They are all skilled fighters armed with the latest weaponry.’

“Is it difficult for you to come rescue us?”

‘The magical barrier around the outer perimeter of the academy grounds has been activated. We are executing the release sequence, but it appears some kind of alteration has been made, so opening it from the outside will likely take quite a long time.’

“So I have no choice but to handle this myself.”

This development suited my tastes more and more.

‘If possible, please obtain the cipher key for disabling the magical barrier. If we have that, we can enter as well.’

“Understood. Leave it to me.”

‘However, Lady Mythia’s safety is the highest priority. Please be absolutely sure not to overdo things.’

“It’s fine. I’ll be careful.”

I nodded and replied.

“What exactly are they after?”

‘Most likely, it has something to do with the Third Prince.’

“Anyway, I’ll try to gather as much information as I can.”

Exercising the utmost caution, I went downstairs and observed the state of the academy.

“I’ll report on the clock tower situation. There are two enemies on the fourth floor. It looks like they’re checking whether anyone escaped.”

‘Two on the fourth floor, understood.’

“There aren’t many people outside. I don’t think they can cover the entire grounds of this huge campus.”

Speaking in a low voice, I thought about whether I should go farther down.

If I stayed on the fourth floor like this, the information I could obtain would be limited.

I was worried whether Kate was safe, and I was also concerned about what had happened to my classmates.

To obtain the cipher key Vincent and the others needed to get inside, I had to gather more information.

(Should I take the risk and go down?)

After thinking it over, I decided to move on.

There were three guards on the third floor.

I relayed their positions to Vincent.

I strained my ears and listened to their conversation.

Apparently the hostages from the clock tower had been gathered in two locations.

The teachers and office staff were in the faculty room.

The students seemed to have been gathered in the S-Class classroom.

“Have the two targets been secured?”

“We’ve secured the prince. We’ve also restrained the child with light magic and are bringing her here now.”

(The child with light magic…?)

I wondered who they meant, then suddenly realized.

A child who could use such a rare magic could only be—Claris.

“It’s a cruel thing to think of. Wanting to dissect her and study her body tissue.”

“It seems inconvenient to them that someone of common birth can use magic that nobles cannot. Well, it doesn’t matter to us.”

I felt something cold running down the back of my head.

Claris was being targeted.

This was no time to be admiring her as the heroine in some strange way.

(I absolutely have to save her.)

However, it was bad that I had become so absorbed in gathering information.

“One of them is on the run!”

At the shout from above the stairs, I hurriedly fled down the staircase.

However, the one there was a guard soldier who had been about to come up.

By the time I tried to activate a spell formula, it was already too late.

A dull sound rang out.

My vision went dark.

“――――”

I could hear a voice.

I felt that something was calling me.

“――――!”

Stop.

I still wanted to sleep.

Please, just five more minutes.

Just five more minutes—

“Mythia! Mythia, get a hold of yourself!”

I snapped my eyes open.

Kate was peering down at me.

Her glossy hair tickled my cheek.

Tears had gathered at the corners of her large eyes, and the drops scattered and wet my face.

“Thank goodness. You’re alive.”

With a voice full of heartfelt relief, she collapsed toward me.

She rubbed her face against the area near my chest.

I thought she was moving like a caterpillar, and then I noticed the dull-colored handcuffs fastened behind her back.

I realized my own wrists were also bound by something cold.

My elbows and the edges of my wrists hurt.

But what hurt more was the area around my temples.

It was probably damage from when they had struck me and knocked me unconscious.

It seemed to have split open, and the blood running down was trailing across my cheek and dripping onto my uniform.

“I’m fine. I’m totally full of energy.”

Saying that, I sat up.

When I looked around, my classmates were staring at me.

This was the S-Class classroom, and we were gathered near the back with handcuffs that sealed our magic.

“There aren’t any guards?”

I asked Kate in a low voice.

“They just left. It sounded like something unexpected happened.”

“Something unexpected?”

“Something about an unidentified agent organization trying to break through the barrier.”

It was Vincent and the others.

Smiling softly at the thought that they were doing their best, I said,

“Is everyone from S-Class here?”

“Prince Felix was taken away. Roy-kun is here, but…”

Her voice grew small, as though it was hard to say.

At the end of her gaze, Roy-kun was crouched there in a tattered state, covered in wounds.

“What happened?”

“He fought to protect the prince until he lost consciousness, and then…”

There were traces of blood scattered across the floor.

He looked nothing like his usual cool and smart self, and yet to me he looked cooler than ever.

He had fought to the very end to protect something important.

All alone, against a powerful armed enemy.

“We’ll fight too.”

At my words, Kate’s eyes widened.

At the edge of my vision, Camila said,

“Hah? That’s impossible.”

She continued in a fed-up voice.

“Roy got beaten, okay? On top of that, we’re restrained with handcuffs that seal magic. What exactly do you think we can do in this state?”

“If it’s me, I can open the handcuffs.”

“Then go ahead and try, if you can.”

“I already did.”

I waved my now-free hands.

The handcuffs, unlocked on one side around my left wrist, swung loosely.

“How on earth did you…?”

Camila caught her breath.

The surrounding classmates were also staring at me with shocked faces.

“I have a secret power that none of you know about.”

As I said that, I used the lockpicking tools Vincent had given me to remove Kate’s handcuffs.

“I’m going to remove everyone’s handcuffs here now. In return, I want all of you to cooperate with me.”

“Cooperate?”

“We’re going to join forces and beat the hell out of the people who have occupied this school.”

“That’s impossible. They’re adults. They have lots of experience, and they’re carrying all kinds of weapons.”

“We here also possess the highest level of ability in the magical kingdom. When it comes to magic, we won’t lose even to adults.”

“But magic alone can’t—”

“I’ll direct how we fight. The team survival match that was held as the practical exam. The people who fought in it know better than anyone that the strategy I devised was excellent, don’t they?”

“That was just cowardly—”

“You couldn’t help saying that because you couldn’t beat me. Isn’t that right?”

“…………”

Camila glared at me with eyes like cuts.

“Can you promise that you’ll absolutely make us win?”

“I can. If you follow my instructions.”

“Fine. I’m in.”

Feeling relieved inside at her answer, I used the lockpicking tools to remove my classmates’ handcuffs one by one.

“Isn’t it kind of weird that I’m being left for last?”

“You bullied Claris, so you’re last.”

“…I was wrong.”

I removed Roy-kun’s handcuffs as he crouched there covered in wounds.

After instructing someone to cast healing magic on him, I removed Camila’s handcuffs.

“I’ll repay the debt. What do we start with?”

I walked a few steps toward the front of the classroom, then turned back with my long hair swirling and said,

“We’re setting a trap. First, we’re taking back this clock tower.”