Escalation

From the instructor’s standpoint, no, even before that, from the position of a teacher at the military academy, it took no small amount of time to accept the words this damn man had uttered.

‘W-Wolf…’

The mastermind behind the plot was neither a large organization, nor a high-ranking school official with evil intentions. It was a child from the same class.

Bang─!

“Damn it!”

“Hii-hiik!”

And he hadn’t properly stopped anything while the plot was progressing so far? Is that being qualified as someone who teaches cadets? You stupid bastard!

“Uwaaa!”

Bang bang bang!

He couldn’t contain his anger. For the first time since being commissioned as an officer, he couldn’t stay still due to the boiling killing intent.

And the target of that killing intent was none other than Gartel himself.

For Gartel, who pursued perfection as a human being and had outstanding pride as a soldier, it was an unimaginable shock that both the perpetrator and victim came from the same class.

Boom─

Gartel grabbed his blood-covered hands that had struck countless times, and buried his head on the iron interrogation room desk.

“Pf-pfuhu──.”

Soon after, he burst into hollow laughter and shrugged his shoulders.

‘To think I’d feel relieved that Yena hasn’t been hurt yet even at a time like this,’

He really disgusted himself. He felt nauseous at feeling relief that even though he failed to respond, because Yena survived well, he avoided the worst case of dishonorable discharge.

‘When I’ve already committed an unforgivable sin against Yena.’

If there’s any action he can take now as a sign of repentance, it’s not allowing any more tragedies.

“Manfred von Eckart.”

Then, though late, from now on, he must do his best, staking his position as an officer, to ensure not even a hair on Yena’s head is harmed.

“If you don’t want to be summarily executed here, answer the questions properly. You only have one chance.”

“O-Of course!”

“Write down on this paper, without leaving anything out, what Wolf von Stremann, that bastard, is planning now, and what you did before being thrown into this basement.”

Thud─

Gartel stopped acting polite for the reason that they were fellow Imperial soldiers, and conducted the interrogation while viewing Manfred simply as a vicious criminal who violated military law.

“The moment even one lie is revealed, I’ll nicely stuff a golden ornament befitting your head into it.”

---

Survival was going smoothly.

Every time I encountered a cadet, when I fired a bullet with a bang, those guys,

“Urgh!”

Collapsed, and

Occasionally when meeting at close range and it turned into close combat, after dodging a few attacks, if I struck the back of their head hard with the rifle stock,

“Gurgle…”

They collapsed. I’ve already taken out about ten enemies like that, so it was the easiest training in recent times.

It might be because it’s the first day.

Tomorrow will be the real start of the ‘individual duel’. In some ways, today was closer to one of the processes of weeding out those who don’t qualify, rather than training.

That means it’s an unparalleled opportunity to achieve results.

Bang!

“Aaaargh!”

“Whew.”

I just added another one, finally accumulating the great achievement of eleven, and blew away the smoke rising from the muzzle in wisps to celebrate.

Clatter─

And as I always did after taking out a cadet, I immediately tidied up the place where I had been lying prone, and left the building where I had been sniping.

It was my own habit to avoid leaving traces.

From the moment I pulled the trigger, someone must have heard the gunshot. Of course, I need to move and hide my body.

“Bang!”

“Boom!”

“Rumble──”

Even from the sporadic sounds of engagement heard around, it’s possible to guess how many children are fighting for survival in this city center, so sitting still in one place?

I might be eliminated by a stray bullet. Although they’re simulation bullets, getting hit by bad luck was no different from war.

Click─

Safety, and more safety. I pulled the loading handle while deeply burying this creed in my heart. Then I walked out onto the road full of scattered shell casings and cadets who hadn’t been collected yet.

Other children are gradually gathering here too.

I easily inferred from the noticeably increased number of traces. I estimate that at least one-third of the participants are hiding their bodies all over this city.

“Hyah!”

Like this guy.

Patter!

The cadet who had been hiding meticulously under concrete debris came running as soon as I arrived within his range.

A shovel?

Swish, swish!

Should I call it wise, he engaged in close combat with the field shovel given as survival equipment.

He’s fast.

Although his first shout was a disappointing cry, the guy was unexpectedly strong. Unlike other cadets I had seen so far, with clean and tidy movements,

Swish!

The back of the neck, chest, wrists, etc. He thoroughly aimed only for vital points.

“Yaaah!”

The sharp edge of the shovel wielded by the unknown guy flew straight towards my crown. I stepped back and parried with the body of the rifle.

Crunch!

Then without stopping, I inserted the gun between the two arms of the guy holding the shovel, twisted and struck down.

When he lost balance and fell like that, I stepped on the arm holding the shovel with one foot, and gently pressed down on his lower abdomen with the other to prevent him from getting up,

I was about to end the fight with the true taste of the rifle stock…

“Uu-uiiik…”

“Erika?”

“Uuu, ung?”

When I lowered my head, what I saw was a familiar girl with fluffy hair and blue eyes, clutching her stomach and groaning in pain.

“Ye-Ye-Yena?”

“Sorry. Here, take this hand.”

“Mm.”

I immediately removed my foot pressing on her stomach, and lowered the muzzle I was aiming at Erika. Given the nature of individual competition, there was nothing to be sorry about, but I still reached out my hand and helped her up.

I didn’t expect Erika to appear here. Because I was dealing with her without seeing her face, I almost finished without realizing it.

No wonder I heard a familiar scream while fighting.

“Were you hiding here the whole time?”

“Yeah…”

Both Erika and I maintained an awkward silence, as the immediate situation was equally awkward for both of us.

“Want to go together from here?”

And I broke that quietness by throwing out a suggestion.

“Huh?”

“Since we met by chance, wouldn’t it be good to cooperate until only the two of us are left? Forming a temporary alliance.”

“Is-Isn’t that against the rules, Yena?”

“There wasn’t any specific instruction not to cooperate between participants. So it’s fine for us two to go together.”

Although we met in a somewhat strange way, I thought we should take this as an opportunity since we ended up facing each other anyway. It’s easier to survive with two people than one, right?

And it’s cooperating with Erika, not someone else.

I was confident that the teamwork we had built up until this individual duel, and the synergy due to our mutual bond would shine. There was no need for us to fight each other.

“R-Really?”

“Yeah.”

“I’d love to!”

Erika didn’t particularly refuse either. The expression full of killing intent she had until she was stepped on was gone, and

“Going together with Yena, hehe.”

She had changed to the gentle girl’s appearance I was familiar with seeing.

Well, what’s good is good. I was internally wondering what to do if I found Erika, but I ended up solving the problem with an ingenious move.

“Where should we go first?”

“First…”

Now it’s time to act more boldly than before.

“Let’s go to that high-rise building over there that looks like the tallest one here.”

With Erika on my back, I should be able to achieve twice my original goal. I slung the rifle strap over my shoulder,

Thud, thud─

And crossed the street filled with eerie screams.

---

“I told you someone like you is no match for me!”

“Uu-uwaaa!”

The dull sound of bone hitting bone echoed through the forest.

Thwack, thud!

Even though Wolf could finish him off with the gun, even though he knew the guy would be incapacitated if he just stopped hitting him now, he kept swinging his fists.

‘To start in a crappy place like this.’

He was taking out his frustration on the poor cadet for no reason.

‘I can’t get many points!’

The area where he arrived by truck was on the outskirts of the outskirts, far from the center of the ruined city, almost outside the arena with the forest just a few steps away.

That meant the absolute number of cadets he encountered was small. Including this guy who had turned into a bloody mess, it was only two in half a day.

“Tsk.”

He wanted to quickly go and stuff a rifle stock into Yena’s mouth.

“This is no fun either.”

“Gu-gurgle…”

Wolf placed the cadet, who was dangling like a soulless doll, on the ground as if throwing him, and wiped the blood on his hands on the guy’s clothes,

Thud, thud─!

He stepped towards the direction of the city center.

“It’ll take about a day, I guess.”

Beep, beep, beep─!

He looked at an electronic device similar to a compass that had appeared from somewhere in his pocket, and moved steadily towards where the green light was blinking.

‘So this is her?’

The identity of the object was a masterpiece among masterpieces that he had asked Manfred to make, a tracker that could pinpoint Yena’s location.

With this, no matter where Yena ran or hid, he could perfectly corner her without losing her.

If by chance he got eliminated by another cadet on the way, everything would end in vain, but he wasn’t worried.

He was confident in his skills.

He had just subdued a cadet without getting a single scratch on his face, using only overwhelming force without any particular technique. Isn’t there no one who could match him except Rina?

‘Even if I meet Rina, I can just request cooperation.’

“Kuhehe!”

Just think about that damn woman. Wolf recalled the many traps he had prepared besides the tracker.

Since there was no law saying the situation from the previous duel couldn’t happen again, he had tampered with Yena’s gun in advance, or memorized the map that Manfred had diverted beforehand.

This time, he had woven a tight net of encirclement so there would be no way to escape.

‘If worst comes to worst…’

Clench!

I can use this ‘thing’. Even if that woman has great power and abilities, at least in this space, she can’t match me.

Only a miserable end awaited her in the future.

“Kuhehe…”

Still, thinking about the reward for his efforts makes the boredom dissipate a bit. Wolf clenched and unclenched his palm, which had become sticky with dried blood, calming his pounding heart.

‘Let’s meet soon.’

Instead, as if expressing his elation through his body, he moved forward with a more energetic gait, as if jumping through the sky.

“Yena, Freud.”