Watching the three subordinates who'd been causing trouble at her heels all this time, Warabi sniffed hard and put on the full "boss" aura.
"Did you understand?!"
"Yes, Boss!"
Looking at their boss, whose eyes were clearly red, yet who was still stubbornly trying to look cool, the Three Beast Warriors nodded hard.
Their voices were perfectly in sync… and trembling with the edge of tears.
And…
In another secluded corner of the academy.
The shadow beneath an old tree was so thick it looked like ink that could never be diluted.
Satori was squatting under that shade, idly toying with several poisoned blowdarts.
In the darkness behind her, a small short-haired figure, Misogi, stood silently.
"Are you really going?" Misogi's voice was hoarse, the worry in it impossible to hide. "That world… might be even more brutal than he says."
"Brutal?"
Satori paused, tilting her head.
Her smile remained innocent and pure, yet it carried a chill that made spines tighten.
"And this world isn't brutal?"
"It's just that the knife is hidden beneath the smile."
"And besides…"
Satori rose and brushed dust off her skirt.
"If I leave, won't you finally be able to stop being that shadow, big sis?"
"You can be the real Satori again… or you can be Misogi again."
"Isn't that interesting?"
Misogi fell silent.
After a long while, she finally spoke again, so softly it nearly scattered in the wind.
"Come back alive."
"Of course I will."
Satori narrowed her eyes into a smile, waved once, and turned away.
…
At the same time.
Aichi Coexistence Academy, its highest floor.
The principal's office, the room that symbolized the academy's absolute authority.
A faint, indescribable fragrance of tea lingered in the air.
"I truly apologize, God."
"This happened so suddenly. Our academy is remote, and we had no time to prepare refreshments worthy of your status."
"This crude offering… please don't take offense."
The woman speaking was the academy's principal in name, Fujibayashi Yukino.
She wore a sharp, dark-purple bob and a perfectly tailored business suit.
Her usual composed, ironclad "woman in power" demeanor had vanished without a trace.
Hands folded before her, she bowed slightly, so controlled it felt like she was even deliberately slowing her breathing.
"It's fine."
"I came uninvited."
"As an unasked-for guest, it would be poor manners to criticize the host's hospitality."
Haimer didn't bother with the trivialities of tea.
He took a light sip, then set the cup down.
The crisp clink of porcelain against the saucer made Yukino's shoulders twitch.
"And besides…"
"Compared to the tea…"
"There's something else I care about more."
"My purpose here, and the matter of taking those children with me…"
"Principal, you've already told that child what happened here, haven't you?"
That child.
The moment the pronoun left his mouth, Yukino's breathing stalled for a fraction of a second.
Of course she knew who Haimer meant.
Narukami Koharu.
Inaba Tsukuyo's half-sister.
A prodigy who wielded Kōyō.
At the same age Tsukuyo had been, she had defeated her own birth mother and forcibly seized the title of Second Seat, a genius swordswoman.
She had mastered Kōyō's two great instant-kill techniques, Thunderflash and Thunderclap, to a terrifying degree.
A "Thunder God" that countless swordsmen feared at the mere mention of her name.
More than that…
Although Koharu was enrolled elsewhere, she was tied to Aichi Coexistence Academy by countless threads.
In many ways, the academy's current system existed because Koharu had pushed it forward.
Her purpose,
To use this academy as a massive breeding jar, hoping that through cruel slaughter, a single strongest venomous insect would emerge as the final survivor.
"Yes."
Yukino lowered her head, her voice tightening slightly.
Lying in front of a god was nothing but stupidity.
"When you descended, she sensed the anomaly immediately."
"I reported the situation honestly."
"And she said…"
Yukino hesitated, as though choosing her words carefully.
"She thought it was interesting."
"Because… if even a god has taken interest in her 'poison insects,' then it means her judgment was correct."
"Poison insects…"
"How Presumptuous ."
To treat lives, lives of infinite possibility, as bugs.
"And yet…"
"It doesn't matter."
Haimer didn't care about that phrasing at all.
Because,
From the moment humanity crawled out of caves, the instinct to compete had been carved into its genes.
Society, school, on some level, weren't they all just jars in different shapes?
Living in groups gave weaker individuals the right to survive.
But it also built a bigger jar around them.
Like placing a hundred venomous insects into a jar, when the fighting ends, the one left alive will be a monster steeped in every poison.
Survival of the fittest.
No matter how many layers of civilization you drape over those words, the blood-soaked cruelty at the core never changes.
Narukami Koharu had seen through that.
So she fanned the flames, trying to develop the strongest poison bug.
Haimer didn't dislike it.
He admired it.
"Speaking of which…"
"Before I descended to this world, the list of candidates I deemed suitable did include a few names beyond the ones you see now."
"And among them…"
"Her name was there."
"But…"
"This time, I'm only taking these few."
Haimer glanced at Yukino with meaningful calm.
"As for her…"
"If she wants to see a different landscape…"
"Tell her to prepare herself."
"The next time I descend…"
"I want to meet her."
"I want to see what kind of surprise the greatest poison bug can bring me."
At those words,
Yukino jolted.
Even with her head lowered, you could see her folded hands tense.
A flash of shock crossed her eyes, quickly swallowed by something deeper, reverence.
"Yes."
"I will relay your will to her exactly as you've spoken it."
With that, Yukino bowed deeply.
…
A while later.
Aichi Coexistence Academy, on the plaza before the main gate.
The sun was setting.
The wide plaza had been cleared; everyone unnecessary had already been evacuated.
Amou stood with her arms crossed, tapping the ground lightly with the tip of her foot.
Beside her, Tsukuyo cradled her katana, eyes closed in quiet focus.
Rin had packed away her mask, sealed it in a small box, and kept it close. Now she was seriously checking the luggage she'd brought.
And, right now,
"Hurry up, hurry up! Kyoubou, stop dragging your feet!"
Warabi was straining as she hauled a black bear that absolutely refused to budge.
The poor thing dug all four paws into the ground, leaving deep gouges as it whimpered like it was begging for rescue.
"Aww~ If Warabi-chan can't pull it, Satori can help, you know~"
Satori squatted nearby, twirling several blowdarts that glinted with cold light as she smiled sweetly.
"For example… one little needle to put it to sleep?"
"Don't you pretend to be nice!"
Warabi practically threw herself in front of the bear, glaring at Satori with full suspicion.
"Don't stab my Kyoubou with your poison needles!"
As for Mary,
"Aaaah! My conditioner! And my tea set!"
"Do I really have to leave them behind?!"
She was staring at a suitcase stuffed to bursting, the zipper refusing to close. Her golden curls had been clawed into a full bird's nest.
"You're leaving them."
Amou cut her a cold glance.
"Other than weapons and necessities, throw away all burdens."
"We're going to slaughter, not picnic."
"But, "
Mary tried to protest,
When suddenly, an invisible pressure descended.
The noisy plaza fell silent in an instant.
Everyone instinctively looked up toward the school building.
Haimer stood on the steps.
He swept his gaze across them.
"Are you all ready?"
"R-Ready!"
Rin snapped straight first and answered loudly.
The others nodded as well.
Even Mary, still wrestling with her luggage, gritted her teeth, kicked the suitcase aside, and only grabbed her thick dictionary to hold against her chest.
"Then let's go."
Haimer wasted no words.
He raised a hand and lightly tapped the air before him.
Humm,
A deep blue gate of light formed out of nothing. Ripples spun like a profound vortex, radiating an aura that made hearts pound.
"Step through this door."
"Beyond it is Orario."
"And the beginning of your new lives."
With that, Haimer walked in first.
Amou Kirukiru followed immediately, lips lifting into a feverish smile without the slightest hesitation.
Inaba Tsukuyo. Onigawara Rin. Tamaba Satori…
One by one, they vanished into the gate of light.
At the end, Warabi drew a deep breath and tightened her grip on the chain.
"Come on, Kyoubou!"
"Awooo…"
The bear let out a miserable howl, utterly dead inside, hugging its cub as it trudged forward.
One girl and two bears plunged into the light.
As the gate swallowed the last of them,
The next moment, the wind stilled and the clouds scattered.
All that remained were a few fallen leaves rolling across the empty plaza…and the abandoned suitcase left by the roadside.
By the principal's office window.
Fujibayashi Yukino watched the now-vacant square.
Somewhere below, Ubaragasaki chōka quietly slipped onto the plaza and dragged Mary's luggage back toward the girls' dorm.
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