episode_0044

Three people are facing each other in the dueling arena.

Unusually, the size of the dueling arena inside the barrier was larger than the actual building space. This was because the dueling arena inside the barrier was a type of virtual reality, allowing its interior to be adjusted to be larger than the exterior.

The standoff, which had continued precariously like a thin sheet of ice, ended in just one minute. The purple-haired girl, having roughly grasped her opponent’s capabilities, aimed her vertically held spear towards the enemy. In the blink of an eye, she sprang forward like a recoiling spring.

She ran across the hard tiled floor as if flying. Her hair rippled like waves. She charged, holding her spear, longer than her height, straight forward. The momentum of her charge was like a battering ram striking a castle gate.

There were two opponents directly targeted by the spearhead: on the left was a female student holding a crossbow with a drum magazine. A little ahead on the right, a male student wearing a rapier and gloves with strange patterns took a defensive stance.

“Take this!”

As he raised his left hand, the pattern on his glove glowed. Following a sharp ricochet sound, several glowing orbs poured down like rain. It was a basic magic bullet attack.

Irene nimbly dodged by stepping, and as their numbers increased, she spun her spear like a windmill, deflecting the incoming magic bullets. The magic energy clinging to her spear clashed with the magic bullets, sparking golden flames and slightly slowing her advance.

The male student lunged. The white sword energy at the tip of his rapier glowed. It was a quick thrust, like that of a fencer. Simultaneously with his thrust, the female student on the left aimed her crossbow.

Magic-infused crossbow bolts flew one after another. There seemed to be no way to simultaneously evade the two attacks coming from different angles.

I would have fallen there, but Irene was different.

In that moment of crisis, she vanished.

“What? Where… Ugh!”

-Thump!

Irene slammed her spinning spear into the ground, using the recoil to spring upwards like a pole vaulter. The rapier cut through empty air. As the male student stared blankly behind him, the golden spearhead immediately targeted the female student in the rear.

“Huh? Kyaak!”

By the time the flustered female student stammered and aimed her crossbow, the glowing golden spearhead had already split the crossbow in two. It was a clean vertical slash. The spear, having struck downwards, continued its fluid motion, sweeping across the female student’s head.

“Gasp!”

“Damn it! I won’t let you get away with this!”

Seeing the female student, who had been struck by the spear shaft, faint, the male student finally came to his senses and rushed at Irene’s back. It was a meaningless act. Irene didn’t even turn around, instead thrusting the back end of her spear into his chest.

“Ugh! Urgh! Blech…”

The one struck in the solar plexus fell backward, rolled on the floor, and dry-heaved. The duel was over.

All of this happened in a mere five seconds.

The time was accurate because I was measuring how long it would take the other clones.

The victory declaration was made, and the barrier lifted. She went to find the student disciplinary committee member, received a file, and then calmly walked over to her fallen opponents.

“You’ll keep your promise, won’t you?”

“Haa… damn it…”

The two reluctantly signed the document in the file.

“With this, you are no longer members of the Management Committee. Understand? And don’t forget your other promise.”

“Ah… I get it! I said I get it… ugh…”

Their expressions crumpled, perhaps due to their defeat and bruised pride, but that was all.

I, who had been sitting in the dueling arena seats, exited first. As I left, some first-year students who had come to watch the duel shouted excitedly.

“Irene! Irene!”

“Freedom! Hurray!”

I waited for her to finally make her way through the wildly cheering crowd, then slowly approached her.

“Congratulations. As expected, Irene is strong!”

“Oh, it was nothing.”

Despite her victory, a hint of bewilderment was on Irene’s face.

“…They were weaker than I thought.”

“Huh, what did you say?”

“If they entered earlier than us, they should have had more training and experience. To collapse so quickly against such simple tactics is too anticlimactic.”

To some extent, I agreed with Irene. Two people with long-range attack capabilities charged, yet they were instantly toyed with by just one person.

Strictly speaking, she didn’t even use her unique ability.

“Still, if others hear that, they might get angry.”

“…Right. I know what you mean. But I don’t understand why they’d collapse so quickly against such basic tactics.”

I think I can understand where her disappointment came from.

-Her standards were too high.-

-Because it’s the school her parents attended.-

This school might indeed have been the prestigious institution she imagined it to be a few years ago. But she knows it’s not anymore.

“Oh, don’t be too disappointed. It just makes achieving your goal easier, right?”

“That’s true, but…”

While I was with Irene, the other clones who had watched the duel shared their opinions.

-Though those seniors were pushovers, she was truly overwhelming.-

-Even if all of us charged at her, we couldn’t win.-

It’s a good thing she’s on our side. Her movement speed alone was beyond imagination. Her charge speed was comparable to that of a vehicle. Even if a hundred Violets formed a battle formation and charged, she would break through all of them in a single rush. It feels like we couldn’t even lay a hand on her.

-At this rate, the school normalization process will be over quickly.-

Number 4 said.

Suddenly, the conversation we had yesterday came to mind.

***

Before this duel took place, yesterday afternoon, we met and had a brief conversation.

“The organization called the Freshman Management Committee is a type of club. Its main members are one chairman and four subordinates, and they create and disseminate unified instructions.”

“So if only they’re gone, it’ll be over?”

“No, the departmental injustices or individual acts committed by others proceed separately from that Management Committee. However, we can immediately eliminate the unfair treatment imposed on all first-year students.”

My smartphone vibrated.

“I uploaded the data to the messenger. Take a look.”

It was a group chat room I had created before. I could see the detailed personal information she had written herself, along with their photos.

While examining the data, I saw a female student with a striking impression at the very top. She was a female student with long, flowing blonde hair. At first glance, she looked more like an adult than a student.

“Martina Perian? Is she the leader here?”

“That’s right. She’s a fourth-year.”

It’s pathetic that a fourth-year student is doing such strange things at her age.

“Alright, so if we just duel and get rid of this organization, everything will be over.”

“No. That’s not right. There’s still a lot to do after that.”

Determination filled Irene’s purple eyes.

“First, I’m going to create a group to eliminate injustice. Starting from there, we’ll tackle the student council, the faculty, and various other problems step by step.”

A question suddenly came to my mind. There must be a quicker way to solve this.

“Can’t you just challenge the chairman to a duel directly?”

Irene shook her head.

“I’ve already tried. But that person refused the duel request.”

“Ah!”

As expected, there was a crucial problem. Duels had to be conducted by mutual agreement.

Although the outcome of a duel within the school was absolute, it was difficult for one side to unilaterally threaten and force another into a duel.

As I had felt even during previous duels, the procedure was very complicated. There were many documents to fill out, and mutual agreement was required for duel conditions and various other matters. If you won, you could make all sorts of bizarre demands to the defeated opponent, but it was impossible to present some exceptions, such as demanding a transfer or withdrawal.

Despite rampant injustices and flawed order, they were thorough in this regard.

-Perhaps those at the top are using duels as a form of internal control?-

-It seems they don’t care what happens, as long as conflicts beyond a certain level are resolved through duels.-

During the discussion, the other clones observing spoke their thoughts.

Good, one question was resolved.

Her plan seemed quite reasonable to me, and it had long-term goals.

But another question arose.

“But, will that alone solve all the problems?”

“What do you mean?”

“Getting rid of the Management Committee is good, and creating a problem-solving organization to replace it is an excellent idea. But what about the student council, or other school problems? What about the entrance ceremony incident?”

Irene’s face grew serious upon hearing my words.

“Oh, I was just asking…”

“Your point is right.”

She quietly nodded.

“Huh?”

“I also don’t think I can solve all the problems of this school with just clubs or gatherings.”

She sighed. Her shoulders slumped for a moment.

“From the start, the entire school is twisted. It’s strange. It’s also true that there’s not much I can do.”

If the conversation I overheard with the student council president at that time was true, she couldn’t even ask for outside help. It was a bleak situation.

I felt Irene looking at me again.

“But I don’t intend to do nothing. I’ll do my best, as much as I can.”

“It seems like it’ll be very difficult, are you sure you’re okay with that?”

“It won’t be easy. In fact, it’ll be harder. I don’t just plan on dueling. My ultimate goal is to uncover the truth about the entrance ceremony tragedy.”

“Entrance ceremony…”

It seemed that incident always occupied a place in Irene’s memories.

“Yes. Eliminating injustice is the priority for now, but regarding the beast’s intrusion incident at the entrance ceremony, I’m privately hiring people to investigate it continuously. If I appropriately adjust the pressure from below and provoke the student council and board of directors, their attention will turn to me. Then an opening will appear.”

“Won’t it be too hard?”

When I asked again with concern, her gaze met mine, less energetic than before, but filled with strong resolve.

“It will be hard. But it’s something someone has to do. Someone has to protest and stand against this injustice. That’s what others who graduated from this school… and even our parents would want.”

I felt a sense of composure in her calm demeanor. It seemed reckless, but also quite admirable. Someone of her caliber could have simply transferred schools.

Remaining in this muddy situation and voluntarily taking on such burdensome work is not easy.

“…That’s why I want to return this school to normal. And I will definitely uncover the truth. Because it’s the right thing to do.”

I didn’t know if it was truly possible, but I didn’t want to refute her.

I didn’t know why she had decided this. But she wasn’t planning on doing anything bad, was she? That was enough.

Since the atmosphere had become too serious, we somehow returned to the main topic of conversation.

“Anyway, for now, disabling the club’s activities is the answer. They won’t be able to do anything alone.”

“Right. If we keep up the pressure, that person will have no choice but to act. If they try to avoid dueling until the end, I’ll defeat everyone connected to the Management Committee in duels to prevent them from acting.”

This meant that if the head remained hidden, she would sever all the remaining limbs of the organization. For now, it seemed like a good method. With enough pressure, they would eventually be forced out.

And now, that achievement had unfolded before our eyes.

The ones Irene crushed today were precisely those so-called Management Committee executives. Thinking they would lose in a 1:1 fight, those foolish individuals proposed a 2:1 condition. And they were soundly defeated.

“Still, if you take down just one or two more, you’ll be able to reach that so-called chairman of the Management Committee, right? Irene is amazing!”

“Thanks for the support.”

Seeing her smile, I also thought I should do what I could as quickly as possible.

-The underground search still has no progress. Haven’t you found anything?-

-Soon! Just wait a little longer! I think I’ll find it soon!-

***

That night, good news arrived.

-I finally found a decent space. It looks like a storage room for equipment.-

One of the many Violets circling the ventilation shaft finally achieved results. She found an empty, uninhabited space through a crack in the wall.

-Finally, there’s a use for this.-

-It’ll be worth the money, right?-

Carefully widening the gap, I inserted the endoscope camera I had purchased in advance and looked around. It was an item that could even be connected and used with a smartphone.

I looked around. No surveillance cameras or special alarm devices were visible.

There was nothing to worry about now. A short while later, a clone was created in the middle of the room. A Violet, clad in black clothes and a full-face mask, looked around.

-Do you see anything?-

-No, maybe because it’s a warehouse? Just boxes.-

When I pulled the warehouse door, it was locked. It seemed there was a padlock on the outside. When I inserted the endoscope camera through the gap under the door, a concrete corridor lit by fluorescent lights was visible. No signs of human presence were felt.

-Confirmed. No surveillance system visible.-

-First, let’s take a quick look outside.-

I created another clone on the other side of the door, like a stepping stone. It was an underground facility with various large and small pipes and frameworks exposed. The only thing giving a slight sense of life to this silent space was the distant humming of unknown machines.

-Starting the exploration.-

-No need to overdo it. If you feel anything strange, de-spawn immediately.-

I took off my shoes, put them into my inventory, and cautiously walked down the corridor. Several Violets disappeared beyond the concrete corridor.

What could lie beyond those shadows?