"Activate magic: Constant Force Deflection!"
"Reverse vector target: gravity!"
"Ignore information body data!"
"Activate magic: Amplified Pressurization!"
"Target: Hanzou Gyoubushoujou Hattori!"
"Amplified Pressurization, twenty times gravity!"
"Ignore the magic activation sequence construction system!"
"Ignore..."
"Execute firepower saturation immediately!"
All of this was completed the instant the coin hit the ground.
Thud!
Thump!
Across from Chiba Yeyou, Hanzou Gyoubushoujou Hattori had only raised his hand halfway toward his CAD before he dropped to his knees. Then, with another thump, he fell flat on the floor and lay motionless.
In that instant, Hanzou Gyoubushoujou Hattori had only one thought: He's trying to kill me! I'm dead!
The simulation room instantly fell silent. One lay motionless on the floor, while the other stood motionless with a stunned expression, creating a tableau that was not a still image.
"Ah, ah, ah..."
Hanzou Gyoubushoujou Hattori opened his mouth, silently mouthing cries.
Chiba Yeyou, meanwhile, was simply shocked.
"Holy shit!"
"His legs broke at just twenty times gravity?"
Chiba Yeyou muttered under his breath.
In the silent simulation room, however, his voice sounded rather loud.
Hearing that, Hanzou Gyoubushoujou Hattori nearly burst into tears.
What the fuck do you mean, just twenty times?
You try it!
You'd break your legs too!
Chiba Yeyou hurriedly dispelled his magic.
"Hiss!"
Hanzou Gyoubushoujou Hattori could finally articulate sounds clearly, though not many.
"Sorry, I've never fought anyone this weak... uh, this... I don't have much actual combat experience. Sorry."
Realizing he had misspoken, Chiba Yeyou then had no idea what to say, so he simply tried to bluff his way through by claiming he had no actual combat experience.
I'm weak...
If you can't fucking talk properly, shut up!
Who are you trying to fool?
"Well, you aren't seriously injured. Just comminuted fractures in both legs and internal bleeding!"
"Oh, and a bit of a concussion. No wonder you couldn't speak clearly."
Chiba Yeyou spoke as he scanned Hanzou Gyoubushoujou Hattori's injuries.
Then fucking get someone to treat me!
"I'll treat you. Give me a moment."
"Activate magic: Quantum Reminiscence!"
"Begin tracing the information body's intact state!"
"Begin restoration!"
"Restoration complete!"
With a wave of his hand, Chiba Yeyou healed Hanzou Gyoubushoujou Hattori's "minor injuries."
"All right, upperclassman, you can get up now."
"Upperclassman?"
Chiba Yeyou was a little puzzled.
What's going on?
I've already healed him!
Scan him again!
There's definitely nothing wrong!
What are you playing at?
Trying to scam me?
Chiba Yeyou cautiously walked over and heard Hanzou Gyoubushoujou Hattori muttering something.
"Upperclassman!"
Chiba Yeyou suddenly raised his voice.
"Huh?"
"Ah!"
"I'm already healed!"
Hanzou Gyoubushoujou Hattori stood up, though something seemed rather off about him.
"You can definitely make Mayumi Saegusa happy. I wish you success!"
Hanzou Gyoubushoujou Hattori gave him a smile uglier than a grimace, then headed outside.
"Uh, just to be clear, I only appreciate Mayumi Saegusa's beauty and find her personality entertaining. That's all!"
"At least, I don't have any plans to pursue her right now!"
After finishing, Chiba Yeyou added that last remark. What if he fell for her someday?
"Then why did you..."
"The mock battle with you was to settle things once and for all!"
Chiba Yeyou waved his hand, indicating that he had been forced into it too.
"..."
What the fuck do you mean, once and for all?
Do I really look like someone who would make trouble?
At that moment, Hanzou Gyoubushoujou Hattori truly wanted to have a good cry.
Then he remembered Chiba Yeyou's utterly perfunctory remark, and his figure seemed to darken again.
"Are you all right?"
Chiba Yeyou asked with some concern.
Hanzou Gyoubushoujou Hattori left without answering, muttering continuously under his breath and looking utterly lost.
"Ah!"
"Poor kid!"
Chiba Yeyou felt sad for him, though the curve of his lips looked rather unrestrained from all that sadness.
Chiba Yeyou happily headed toward his classroom, humming an unfamiliar song, his mood lovely once more.
Student council
"Hmm?"
"Where's Hanzou Gyoubushoujou Hattori?"
Mayumi Saegusa looked up and discovered that the vice president was gone.
Clack!
The door opened and closed in one fluid motion.
Hanzou Gyoubushoujou Hattori had returned, but something was wrong with him. His once-bright eyes were now rather vacant, and he sat there as though he had lost his soul, muttering nonstop.
"Vice president?"
"Underclassman?"
"Hanzou Gyoubushoujou Hattori?"
His upperclassman called to him several times. Normally, he would excitedly stand at attention as though awaiting inspection, but now he completely ignored Mayumi Saegusa's calls.
Azusa Nakajo and Suzune Ichihara exchanged a glance, each seeing confusion in the other's eyes.
"Um, vice president?"
Azusa Nakajo tried calling to him, but Hanzou Gyoubushoujou Hattori still barely reacted.
Suzune Ichihara walked over to Hanzou Gyoubushoujou Hattori and finally heard what he was muttering, her face filling with shock.
Seeing this, Mayumi Saegusa and Azusa Nakajo also walked over to Hanzou Gyoubushoujou Hattori.
"I'm weak. I'm weak..."
"???"
"!!!"
What was going on?
Where had their bright, cheerful vice president gone?
Who had dealt him such a blow?
He actually kept calling himself weak!
This guy had never lost once since enrolling!
The three girls exchanged glances. It looked as though he had taken quite a blow.
Mayumi Saegusa quietly walked over to Suzune Ichihara and whispered into her ear, "Suzune, go find out where Hanzou Gyoubushoujou Hattori just went, who he met, and exactly what happened between them!"
"All right, I'll look into it right away!"
Looking grave, Suzune Ichihara nodded without hesitation and left.
"Underclassman!"
Mayumi Saegusa suddenly slapped Hanzou Gyoubushoujou Hattori on the shoulder.
"Ah!"
Hanzou Gyoubushoujou Hattori jolted all over and nearly fell to the floor.
"P-President!"
Only then did Hanzou Gyoubushoujou Hattori notice someone beside him-and not just one person.
Seeing that he had finally returned to normal, Mayumi Saegusa couldn't help breathing a sigh of relief.
"Why are you so distracted? What on earth happened?"
Mayumi Saegusa frowned at Hanzou Gyoubushoujou Hattori.
"N-Nothing!"
Hanzou Gyoubushoujou Hattori gave her a smile uglier than a grimace.
He considered himself someone who could take a loss, and he wasn't afraid of being laughed at.
But being fucking steamrolled by a new student, easily left severely injured, and then considered so weak that the other guy had never fought anyone so lousy-he really couldn't take it. It was too crushing!
His physical wounds had healed, only for his heart to suffer another devastating blow.
Mayumi Saegusa helplessly held her forehead. She didn't even know what had happened. How was she supposed to comfort him?
Being student council president was too hard!
She had to worry about not only the students, but the vice president too.
Which damned bastard had done this?
I'm tired. Let it all burn!
Mayumi Saegusa felt rather worn out.
Clack!
Suzune Ichihara had returned.
"Did you find anything?"
Mayumi Saegusa's eyes lit up when she saw Suzune Ichihara return.
"Uh..."
Suzune Ichihara really couldn't bring herself to say it.
Tracking down a vice president's movements within the school was easy enough, but Suzune Ichihara found the result rather hard to accept.
She didn't even know how to begin. What was she supposed to say?
Was she supposed to flat-out say that Hanzou Gyoubushoujou Hattori had gone looking for trouble over Mayumi Saegusa, fought a mock battle, and been instantly defeated?
Then Hanzou Gyoubushoujou Hattori wouldn't just be temporarily depressed. He would develop outright depression.
"???"
Hearing Mayumi Saegusa's question, Hanzou Gyoubushoujou Hattori suddenly remembered that the simulation room had not only battle records but surveillance footage too, in ultra-high definition and with sound, just like a live broadcast.
Fuck!
How did I forget that?
It's over. My image as vice president is gone!
Hanzou Gyoubushoujou Hattori abruptly stood up, then sat back down, looking even more dejected.
"???"
Mayumi Saegusa and Azusa Nakajo were even more confused.
Suzune Ichihara, however, understood Hanzou Gyoubushoujou Hattori's train of thought.
"Don't worry. I've already deleted it!"
Hearing Suzune Ichihara's words, Hanzou Gyoubushoujou Hattori instantly sprang back to life.
"Thank you!"
Hanzou Gyoubushoujou Hattori looked at Suzune Ichihara with gratitude written all over his face.
"But I made a copy."
Suzune Ichihara's next words left Hanzou Gyoubushoujou Hattori frozen in place.
Give me back my gratitude!
"Don't look like that. I'm quite interested in him. I'll put the video on, and the president and A-chan can watch too. We can analyze it together."
With that, Suzune Ichihara pulled up a recording showing Hanzou Gyoubushoujou Hattori being taken down in an instant.
After watching it, the three girls looked at the vacant-eyed vice president and spent another good while talking him through it. Hanzou Gyoubushoujou Hattori finally returned to normal.
But he also resolved never to court death by picking a fight with that guy again. This time, he had truly felt death. He had never realized death could be so close.
After all, he was still just a high school student. Although teenagers in this world generally matured early, they had yet to take many beatings from society, and their character still had room to grow.
"Vice president, you were the direct victim. Could you tell us about his magic?"
Suzune Ichihara dispensed with the pleasantries and asked him outright.
Isn't that a little too direct?
Although he inwardly complained about Suzune Ichihara, he still said, "Well, it should be gravity magic, with a weight-increasing effect. The reason I collapsed instantly wasn't any external attack. My own body's mass suddenly increased so dramatically that it crushed me."
"According to him, he increased it twentyfold. You can hear it here, too."
As he spoke, Hanzou Gyoubushoujou Hattori pointed at the video. They had all seen it anyway, so there was nothing to hide.