While Chiba Yeyou was wandering around, Hajime Tsukasa finally approached Mizuki Shibata.
"Um... no, um... that's not... that's not it either..."
The flustered words reached Tatsuya Shiba's ears, and he found the voice somewhat familiar.
Tatsuya Shiba looked toward the source of the voice and, sure enough, saw a familiar figure-Mizuki Shibata.
"Mizuki!"
"Ah! Tatsuya!"
Mizuki Shibata visibly relaxed at the sight of Tatsuya Shiba.
Tatsuya Shiba walked up to Mizuki Shibata and caught sight of Hajime Tsukasa, half of whose body had been hidden from view.
The instant Tatsuya Shiba saw the person wearing glasses, he felt a sense of familiarity, which reminded him of the fleeing figure he had seen when he was attacked in the woods.
Could it be...
Tatsuya Shiba could not help taking a careful look at the man before him.
"I'm Tatsuya Shiba of the Public Morals Committee. Persistent pestering may be considered harassment. Please know when to stop!"
Tatsuya Shiba took a few more steps forward and warned Hajime Tsukasa.
Hajime Tsukasa showed no fear and pushed up her glasses.
"Shibata, I'm always available. If you change your mind, you can contact me anytime. Goodbye."
Before leaving, she made sure to glance at Tatsuya Shiba out of the corner of her eye.
"Ah."
Mizuki Shibata stared blankly as Hajime Tsukasa left, her mind momentarily muddled by what Hajime Tsukasa had just said.
"Who was that?"
Watching the figure disappear down the hallway, Tatsuya Shiba asked Mizuki Shibata.
"The captain of the kendo club. Her name is Hajime Tsukasa, and she has Spiritron Radiation Hypersensitivity, just like me."
Having collected herself, Mizuki Shibata answered.
So those glasses really aren't just for show...
Tatsuya Shiba silently watched the direction in which Hajime Tsukasa had disappeared, thinking to himself.
"She said there's a group made up of students who also suffer from hypersensitivity and asked whether I wanted to join."
"That's really..."
Tatsuya Shiba did not finish, and Mizuki Shibata knew the rest would surely not be very pleasant, so she hurriedly said, "I've turned her down many times, telling her that just attending classes takes a lot out of me."
"The captain of the kendo club, Hajime Tsukasa?"
Chiba Yeyou was on his way home, passing through the streets he usually took.
"Hm?"
Chiba Yeyou suddenly realized that someone had been following him the whole way. They were clearly after him.
"They really have no shame!"
Chiba Yeyou sighed. These people had also driven him to make a terrifying decision.
On the balcony of a tall building not far from Chiba Yeyou, a person dressed in brown looked at a photograph in their hand as though checking something, then raised a communicator. "The target has appeared. Bring him back. The boss is very interested in him."
Chiba Yeyou headed toward a somewhat narrower street. Since it was not a residential area, very few people passed through at this hour, and there were few people there in general. Compared with the other places, this was undoubtedly the most suitable.
Sure enough, after Chiba Yeyou had walked some distance, people approached him from ahead, while others closed in from behind.
Chiba Yeyou could clearly tell that these people were not magicians, and their weapons did not even fire the high-speed rounds specifically intended for use against magicians. He found it rather laughable. Just how little did they think of him?
"Do it!"
The man leading them waved a hand.
"Make sure you don't hit any vital spots!"
Seemingly remembering something, he hastily added a warning.
The reason he had not bothered with bullshit like "Someone wants to see you, so come with us" was that he knew the guy before him was very powerful, no ordinary magician. They had to subdue him before they could take him away.
Rat-a-tat-tat...
Upon receiving the order, they quickly opened fire, though they all obeyed their leader and avoided Chiba Yeyou's vital spots.
"Heh!"
"You really are underestimating me!"
Quantum Domain spread out. Innate Quantum Magic: "Defense Countermeasure!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Aah!!"
As they fired, the people who had been feeling smug, certain that the inexperienced guy before them was scared stiff, suddenly blanched. Agonizing pain shot through their left arms, right arms, and legs, but alongside the pain on their faces was a look of disbelieving terror.
The bullets they had fired returned along their original trajectories at astonishing speed. Had they not been moving while firing, they would have died instantly.
"Impossible!"
The man who had just given the orders looked utterly incredulous. He clearly had not seen the guy before him use a CAD, so how had he counterattacked?
And the bullets that struck them had actually been fired from their own guns!
Of the people surrounding him, some had been hit in the arms and could no longer hold their guns, while others had been shot in the legs and fallen to the ground. They stared in terror at the student they had considered inexperienced.
A few whose arms could still hold their guns tried to raise them and keep firing, but unfortunately, they had no chance.
Hum!
Chiba Yeyou reached out with his right hand, drew his handgun-shaped CAD, and aimed it at those still trying to fight back. Then something like a ghastly white beam shot toward the people he pointed at. Those struck by the beam blazed up rapidly like flammable objects made of gasoline, turning to ashes in mere seconds. Even the guns in their hands could not escape that fate. Nothing remained but ashes.
A-rank magic, "Ashes!"
Chiba Yeyou had recently finished developing this spell, and its performance in its first combat use left him thoroughly satisfied.
"You're really annoying!"
"It looks like you didn't listen to a single warning I gave you before!"
Chiba Yeyou spoke with some impatience.
Those still alive could not help swallowing. There had been ten of them, and now only four remained. Before coming, they had never imagined encountering anything like this. They had thought it would be a simple little matter.
"Devil!"
"Devil!"
Several people who had been shot in the legs struggled to limp away from Chiba Yeyou, shouting "Devil!" Everything that had happened before their eyes had robbed them of reason. They fled madly for their lives without regard for anything else, wanting only to leave this terrifying place.
They fled for their lives with every ounce of strength they had, praying that Chiba Yeyou would ignore them and trying to run faster than the others. Perhaps then this terrifying guy would not come after them.
"I haven't finished talking!"
"How rude!"
Chiba Yeyou frowned in displeasure, then pulled the trigger again. A blue light rose from the CAD before dimming.
The four who had run some distance away instantly flew backward.
Magic: "Constant Force Deflection."
"You... forget it. I doubt you'd cooperate and tell me anything useful anyway."
Chiba Yeyou muttered to himself.
"We'll tell you any..."
Hum!
Four ghastly white beams flew from the CAD again. Four masses of flame abruptly flared up amid screams, then slowly died out.
"Did someone just say something?"
"I don't think so?"
Chiba Yeyou left. In the distance, a bright flame rose from a tall building, lighting his way home.