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High School Hack and Slash Chapter 158 Part 2

A high pitched war song is being played.

The primitive rhythm and shouts are calling me.

Diana, perhaps freed from some kind of 『Shackles』, crooks her lips up as she breaks into a bestial smile.

The distance between the two of us, facing each other, is about 10 meters, I guess.

A maai too close for shooting a bow, too far for launching a fist and kick.

In other words, it’s a delightful distance.

We’re not compromising, but we’re not looking for an advantage, either.

This is not that kind of fight.

It’s not one where we exchange blows with each other.

But the rich communication that takes place just from us facing each other like this builds up the atmosphere in the place.

There’s no need for a battle signal.

That’s for me and her to decide.

Therefore, it’s at the same time that Diana raises her hand holding the bow and I take a step forward as if I were falling down.

「So fast!」

Along with a short exhalation, a flash is released.

It’s a super-quick motion where set up, nock, pull, and release all happen in a single breath.

As I charge at her head-on, leaning forward to minimize my target area, an arrow is closing in on my crown.

「Kaa!」

I raise my left hand and flick the arrow with the back-hand armor, then thrust my right hand into the ground with a piercing hand.

As it is, I swing out my right hand, which has turned into a shovel.

The earth, bursting as if a land mine had exploded, scatters about and turns into a curtain that dazzles the vision.

Before I, who have jumped to the side, can close the distance between us, a shot comes through the dirt and sand.

The second and third arrows that are fired following that are precisely aimed at me.

As it is, I brush them away like a fly.

「Hmm.」

I expected as much, but with this level of deception, I can’t even close the distance.

Diana, planting her legs on her beginning position, points at me with her right hand.

One of a group of arrows floating behind Diana is ejected without being shot by the bow in her left hand.

Grabbing it, the arrow is not as powerful as the one shot with the bow.

This is something akin to an arrow letter, stating that she can do even this kind of thing.

I, too, have finished my greeting earlier.

Ah, so nice.

That’s a very charming smile indeed.

◇ ◇ ◇

―― Episode 『Asagi-sou Daily Phase』 ――

 

「… Err. Well then, for the time being, let’s start the interrogation, I suppose.」

「Let’s begin!」

The place was a dimly lit private room.

The inorganic and bleak space was the famous dungeon of Asagi-sou.

The ones who had been brought there were a boy and his hangers-on.

It was a very standard treatment for boys who trespassed into the girls’ dormitory, Asagi-sou.

Given the fact that they didn’t skip the interrogation phase and go straight to the sanction phase, they were on the luckier side.

「U, umm, err, uhh, I’m, umm…」

The boy, acting extremely suspicious, was noticeably young, even for a first-year student.

The stature was also slender and small, a type that seemed to arouse one’s desire to protect them.

However, right now, he was panicking due to the unusual space he had suddenly been brought into.

「Please wait a minute! We only want to talk to you….」

One of the female hangers-on put her hands on the cheap-looking desk and half-rose to her feet.

「In the Toyoashihara Academy’s student dormitory management rules, 『the right to independently sanction thieves who trespass the dormitory grounds without authorization』 is acknowledged, I suppose.」

「Yes, it is.」

The management regulation stipulations read out by Rinko were the academy dormitory rules, which for the most part were in name only.

The three female hangers-on huddled together to protect the boy.

The incandescent tabletop light shone down on them.

「Now, confess everything at once. Know we won’t be lenient with our questioning means!」

「Asura-chan, calm down a little.」

Asura (Doggy), playing the role of a detective (Police) in high spirits, tilted her head.

「I thought you were helping with the cleanup?」

「Like, after I broke some expensive looking vase, I was sent over here to help….」

Asura was powerful and energetic, but she was not good at detailed work.

After destroying some dubious vases or dubious pots, she was indirectly demoted there.

「W, well, leaving that aside. The interrogation is just a joke, so no need to be so nervous, I suppose.」

「Y, yes. Umm, I’m sorry for barging into a girls’ dormitory…..」

「Very nice. You are an outstanding talent that brings about inspiration.」

「Err, Shizuka-chan, what are you doing?」

Matching the four defendants, there were also four people on the interrogator side across the desk.

In addition to Rinko and Asura, Shizuka and Mikan were serving as the backups.

Rather than Asagi-sou, they were Adept Orders executives.

At this point, it could also be said they had become the core members of Asagi-sou itself.

Incidentally, the dormitory leader Otoha, after raising futile resistance, had been sent out to handle the major cleanup.

「These days, I have been stuck in a slump, so… I was thinking about introducing a new character to give it a boost.」

「A, ahahaha. Keep it in moderation, okay?」

Mikan smiled wryly at Shizuka, who was putting her passion on the brush.

「T, then… Umm, there’s something I’d like to as you, but….」

「Subaru. Calm down.」

「We’re with you, okay?」

The boy nodded as the girls who were snuggling up to him on either side gently held his hand.

「Yes. Well, I suppose I have a general idea of your circumstances. It’s a little surprising, though.」

The one who reacted to Rinko’s line with a twitch was the oldest girl, the one who had braced herself the most.

「… What do you mean by that?」

「Hmm~, let’s see. I have the 『Appraiser (Authenticator)』 class from the Craftsman branching, you see. There’s also a similar 『Assessor』 class in the Officer branching, though. Generally speaking, it’s believed that the one that can use the 『Appraisal』 skill is the Officer class, I suppose.」

Subaru nodded at Rinko’s words.

He himself was of the Officer class, and had conducted a lot of research.

Even among the non-combatant Officer class, the 『Assessor』, which specialized in appraising, was recognized as a useful class.

Although not as much as the 『Guide (Path Finder)』 or 『Surveyor』, the 『Assessor』 was also easy to get invited to parties.

As for its Craftsman counterpart, though, not only was it recognized as nothing but a miss class, it was also not very well known.

「In fact, the skills we can use are also similar, after all. Then, if I have to say what it is that tells the two apart, it’d be our area of expertise. The Officer’s 『Appraisal』 is for people, while the Craftsman’s is for objects. Even if they’re unknown in the eyes of an Officer, your circumstances (status) are visible to me.」

「Oops, if you’re intending to go at it here, you’ll have to deal with me.」

Asura, with her tail standing on end, waved the claws of her kigurumi.

The pressure released from the fancy signature pose of the small body surpassed that of the menacing trio.

「Just so you know, I’m crazy strong.」

「… I know it. O president of the A ranked club 『Black Honey』, 『Beast of Gluttony (Gluttony Hound)』. I don’t know why you’re in this kind of dormitory, though.」

Fuuka, lowering her floating waist, muttered in a way that the other members could hear her as well.

Even Asura alone was not an opponent that they could hope to stand against and be a match for.

She was one of the undeniable monsters reigning over the academy.

「I suppose I apologize if I made you misunderstand. I didn’t mean to threaten you. It’s just that, for you guys to come to Asagi-sou (here), I believe I have a pretty good idea of what you have realized and what you are looking for.」

「… You said something about interrogation at the beginning, after all.」

「… Shizuka-chan, shhh.」

「No, there is nothing wrong with interrogation, is there not? They are uninvited guests, after all. They are more bothersome than boys who come to the girls’ dormitory thinking it is a brothel. It is not like we can simply subject them to an anal vibrator sentence to cut off their memory, after all.」

「Subaru’s memory won’t get cut off from a mere anal vibrators. He’s been trained.」

At the remark made by the petite girl holding Subaru’s right arm, silence descended into the dungeon.

「A, Anju-chan. You mustn’t tell others that kind of thing.」

「You’ve also trained his anal in a crazy excited manner, Ruka.」

「Y, you’ve got it wrong! It simply was because Subaru seemed to want to do it.」

Subaru, assailed with shame play from both sides, hung his head, beet red all the way to his ears.

「As I thought, he is an outstanding talent. A loosely trained, bitch-type shota, huh?」

「A, ahahaha… Err, to each their own preference, right? Yeah.」

As if rubbing salt into his wounds, Mikan, floating a complicated smile on her face, comforted him.

「W, well, that’s how it is, so… What I want to say is, there’s no need to be strangely secretive and feel free to tell us what you have to say, I suppose.」

「… Y, yes.」

Subaru, looking like he was about to vanish, nodded in a small voice.