Breaking In [I]

Of course, if circumstances allowed, he still hoped to capture the students from his own school alive.

"Ku... Koushu... why are you still... here?"

The one who spoke was Mibu Sayaka.

Blood had splattered across her pristine school uniform skirt, and droplets stained her hands and face.

Though she stammered, the fact that she could still speak was proof of her remarkable resilience.

Any other inexperienced student would probably have fainted at the sight of all that blood and gore.

"You bastard."

The man who had been sitting in a chair copying the data stood up. He flicked off the safety on his pistol and prepared to shoot Kudo Mitsunobu.

Another pale green beam shot from the muzzle of Night, but this time it struck the terrorist squarely in the chest.

He dropped his gun and clutched the hole in his chest, seeming to want to say something.

But his vacant eyes, the blood running from his mouth, and his slowly collapsing body all proved that he was dead. He had no chance of speaking again.

After all, Kudo Mitsunobu had never planned to leave everyone alive when he came in. That would have been far too much trouble; one survivor was enough. That was why he had killed the man so decisively.

He stepped forward and activated Flash Time again.

This time, however, he covered a greater distance than he had when fighting Shiba Tatsuya. Flash Time was, after all, a technique much like spatial transit.

The version he had used against Shiba Tatsuya last time had merely been a stripped-down version of the technique—a simple application of physical skills.

True Flash Time required using divergent magic to open a vacuum passage between two points, then crossing it in an instant with a unique technique for exerting force. This created the illusion of instantaneous movement.

Standing before the control console, Kudo Mitsunobu bent down and crushed the storage device still plugged into it.

Mibu Sayaka stared blankly at everything unfolding before her. The other two terrorists had also been cowed by Kudo Mitsunobu's murderous aura and didn't dare so much as breathe loudly.

"Upperclassman Mibu, weren't you fighting to improve the treatment of Course 2 Students? Then can you explain why you're here?"

Kudo Mitsunobu asked coldly. He would decide how to deal with Mibu Sayaka based on her answer.

He could have overlooked the incident at the screening room and pretended it had never happened, but the situation had now changed completely.

Stealing the Magic High School's precious magic data was a serious crime. She could be tried in a military court.

Still, he knew her, and she was a student at his school. Mibu Sayaka had also left a decent impression on him the day before.

He would consider whether to use his influence to protect Mibu Sayaka.

Mibu Sayaka finally seemed unable to bear the bloodshed before her. She fell to her knees and covered her face as she wept.

"I don't know! Why would they investigate magic data just because we asked for the system to be changed?"

"At least she isn't completely stupid!"

"Then give her a chance!"

Kudo Mitsunobu completely incapacitated the sobbing Mibu Sayaka and the other two terrorists.

He had hit them hard—after all, he hadn't brought any help. They would probably remain unconscious for the better part of a day.

"Mitsunobu, where are you? Riots have broken out all over the school."

Jumonji Katsuto's voice call came through at just the right moment.

"Perfect timing. Upperclassman Jumonji, send a few people to the school Library. There are four terrorists and two students from our school here who need to be taken into custody."

"Bring a stretcher too. One terrorist is seriously injured; I've incapacitated the rest."

It was just like getting a pillow when you were sleepy. Kudo Mitsunobu had been about to contact the Disciplinary Committee himself.

When he came, he hadn't expected students from his own school to be involved. He had planned to keep only one person alive for questioning and eliminate everyone else.

"So students from our school were involved after all?"

"Yeah. Upperclassman Jumonji, please cover for those two students a little. They seem to have been tricked into coming here and weren't fully aware of what was going on."

"I'll take care of the rest."

"Understood!"

After ending the call, Kudo Mitsunobu headed downstairs to bring the other two terrorists up so he could keep an eye on them, even though he had knocked them out completely.

But they were still sprawled across the lobby. It would be bad if someone happened to rescue them now.

Kudo Mitsunobu had only just reached the stairwell when he saw the Shiba Siblings and Chiba Erika checking the two terrorists lying on the lobby floor.

"You got here pretty quickly! You must have headed straight here as soon as the riot started."

Kudo Mitsunobu leaned against the stairwell railing and called down to the people in the lobby.

Shiba Tatsuya had noticed Kudo Mitsunobu as soon as he reached the stairwell. Though, that wasn't quite right.

From the moment he entered the Library, he had used Elemental Sight to determine where everyone inside was. The fact that one person was standing while everyone else was sprawled on the floor had already confirmed that the enemies in the building had been subdued.

He just hadn't known who had subdued them.

"Did you realize the terrorists would attack here in advance, Mitsunobu?"

"It wasn't hard to guess. There are only two or three important places in the school. I just figured this one was in the greatest danger."

Kudo Mitsunobu shrugged, then jumped down from the fourth-floor railing. He used magic to step against the wall twice on the way down to slow himself; otherwise, even he would have been seriously injured by a fall from that height.

"Since you're here, you can help me out."

"With what? We came here to help, after all."