NOVEL NEXT The desperate talk about needing to study for the exam came up, but we decided to put that on the back burner for now. Nagisa thought it would be better to first check how serious the situation really is through the last mock exam’s questions.
Realistically, it’s impossible to pull up from a total zero to just above failing in three weeks. Nagisa even went so far as to say, “If it really comes to it, we might as well cheat…” I mean, when a studious person like her says that, it’s pretty telling. For subjects like math, I feel like I could manage, considering I went through higher education and even university, but for history and theology, there’s really no substitute for actual studying.
“Ugh, my mouth hurts…”
“Well, you really shouldn’t have crossed that line. Do you have any idea how flustered I was when you pulled that prank?”
“But, Nagichan, you can’t just randomly bring up guarantees even among close friends☆ It’s a super important lesson, so remember it well!”
“I would like to etch the notion of seriousness into Mika’s forehead.”
“Are you planning to tear off what’s stuck on Seiya-chan’s forehead?”
“…Pfft. That’s rude to Seiya-chan, Mika.”
“Heueng, but they say you can even curse at the king in their absence, right? Seiya-chan has probably talked trash about me once or twice when I’m not around, so we’re even☆”
Well, I think Seiya’s forehead is quite cute. It’s not like I want to draw a tic-tac-toe board on it.
Bang! Bang! Boom!!!
As soon as we entered the T-party’s shooting range, a cacophony of various firearms echoed, making my ears ring. By the way, how do those beast people even shoot guns? Wouldn’t having two pairs of ears double the noise? Heueng…
“Follow me this way.”
I decided I should ask Seiya about that later and walked alongside Nagisa. There was a bit of a commotion as the students training at T-party panicked seeing us—specifically surprised by Nagisa—and rushed over to greet her, but Nagisa just smiled and waved them off.
Hmm… it really feels like I’m a useless CEO with a ridiculously competent secretary. It’s a little sad that that secretary is about to take on three people’s workload alone.
“This is a personal shooting range only for the heads of T-party. So far, only Mika has used it among us, and that’s why everyone was surprised to see me here.”
So, if I originally came here alone, they probably wouldn’t have cared much, but Nagisa coming along made them react that way.
If it weren’t for that sudden exam study topic, I probably would have been here every day. I would’ve focused on training with the mindset to at least catch up to the original Mika. Otherwise, I’d never get a chance to have a proper conversation with Arius or even Gehenna.
Let’s take Hina as a benchmark. In-game, attack and defense attributes are effective against each other, but how meaningful that is when students actually fight here? Without considering attributes, when it comes to pure skill, I’d definitely lose to the original Mika.
I really can’t be sure if I’ll even get a fight with Hina. If I can just suppress my hate toward Gehenna, the real problem is that blockhead Makoto. Hina is going to be a character I can communicate with easily, so I really hope situations that would lead to a fight won’t come up.
However, Arius Squad is a bit different. As long as Beatrice remains the ruler of the Arius Autonomous District, it’s practically guaranteed we’ll end up fighting them at least once, regardless of how well things might unfold.
So it’s ideal to prepare enough power to at least get a draw against Hina when it comes to an unexpected confrontation, and to secure a comfortable victory against Arius Squad.
…Before the talk about studying came up, that’s all I was really considering. So, exams and studying are my sworn enemies. My head is already a mess, and now I’m also stressed about exams? Could this be Kivotos’ way of taking Mika-hate to a whole new level?
“Alright, stand here and hold the gun. For someone like Mika, recoil shouldn’t be an issue so I’m not overly concerned about stance during a skirmish, but it’s still essential to start with the position that has the highest accuracy.”
Mika’s weapon, Quis ut Deus, is a submachine gun that uses standard 9mm ammunition. It’s a weapon strong in close combat and trench warfare, making it quite suitable for Mika’s physical prowess.
She slides in and empties the magazine up close to suppress enemies. As the distance closes even further, Mika’s strength truly shines. I remember reading somewhere that the original gun, the Lanchester MK. I, was made by the UK to save costs. So perhaps Mika’s ridiculous in-game performance has to do with her insane stats rather than the weapon itself.
With Nagisa guiding my hands, I took up my stance with the firearm. To be honest, I felt a bit excited. I mean, I told her that calling me Mika-chan felt too close, but now this is okay? I really need to reconsider the definition of personal space.
At first, it felt a bit awkward getting into stance, but soon that feeling vanished, and I felt a satisfaction as if I had found the lost piece of a puzzle. For a moment, I was intoxicated by confidence as if I could do anything.
That was until I remembered that there was no safety on the gun and that the magazine was loaded, which made me involuntarily exhale in horror.
If, by mistake, I pulled the trigger and hit an innocent person, I’d be stuck as a murderer. I silently vowed to always remove the magazine when carrying a firearm in the future.
“Mika, you know we have work to do this afternoon, right? If we keep dawdling, we won’t even have time for lunch.”
Like Nagisa said, it was indeed a waste of time to hesitate like this. I needed to learn the T-party business, start studying in advance, and set aside time to research the information I need personally. With so much to do, it feels excessive that I’m putting myself through this hassle.
Anyway, I took aim at the targets set 50 meters away and confidently hooked my finger on the trigger. I was sure that, while it might be different in real combat, I wouldn’t have any problems with shooting.
Tatatak— Tatatak—
I started pulling the trigger on the left target, releasing and pulling again. I didn’t feel any recoil. Is this body really something built to be among the strongest of military high school girls?
Ten targets, each hit with three shots, with shocking accuracy hitting only the forehead and glabella areas. It felt like the results would’ve been similar even if the distance was 100 meters. If it went to 200 meters, that level of precision would be out of the question, and the power would drop significantly, but it seemed reasonable to assume I could still cover a range of that extent.
“…Mika, if this keeps up, it’ll just make me look foolish for offering to teach you. Are you deliberately choosing to do things that raise suspicion?”
Nagisa muttered this grumpily, but looking at her expression, she seemed rather pleased. I wonder if she realizes how adorable she looks when she’s pouting, which adds a different charm to her?
“Huh? But it was Nagisa-chan who helped me get into position☆”
“Do you really think I could achieve this just by getting my stance right?! Your underlying intent is so obvious!”
But honestly, it really did help a lot. If I tried to do this alone, it would have taken considerable time to catch on, yet I succeeded in one go thanks to Nagisa… but I’m afraid that it might look like I’m just being manipulative by saying that.
“Yeah, but you really helped me a lot, so it’s up to you whether you believe that!”
In a time where time is gold, not having to go through trial and error is a huge blessing. Plus, knowing that I could handle Mika’s combat skills without issues as long as I practiced also sparked a bit of ambition in me.
What if I trained really hard until I’m strong enough to potentially beat even those strongest kids from other academies? It’s not like Mikael, presumably blessed by Mika’s mysteries, is called the greatest archangel under God for nothing.
…Thinking about it calmly again, this is a bit childish. It’s true that getting stronger is good, but that’s only because I should be able to use my strength when absolutely necessary. Fighting against high school girls just to prove I’m strong seems a bit disgraceful and unnecessary.
So even though it’s a story for after passing the exam, I’ll focus on consistent training. If I still can’t win after all of that, I’ll just chalk it up to my lack of effort.
But really, the most important thing right now is something else.
“Nagichan!”
“Yeah?”
“I just want to see Nagichan shoot once, okay?”
“…After just showing off like that, you want me to shoot now?”
I can understand Nagisa being flabbergasted. She must think I’m just messing with her.
But here’s the catch. The truth is, what I really want to see isn’t about her shooting skills at all.
“Yeah! If shooting feels burdensome, just showing your stance is fine☆ What I really want to see is you doing that instead.”
Honestly, I think seeing Nagisa hold a pistol and take aim would be cooler than many actresses I’ve seen in movies. At least that’s what I think.
So please assist me in satisfying my personal desire, Kirihouji Nagisa!
“…So just showing the stance, right? If you suddenly tell me to shoot, I won’t forgive you!”
Hehe, surprisingly, Nagisa is easier to deal with than I expected.
Click—
“…?!”
Today, I obtained a fantastic photo in my hands. For this, I’ll let go of the fact that she took a photo of me while I was cooking secretly. How’s that for fair?
“Delete it right now…!”
As a certified nerd, there’s no way I’m going to delete a national treasure photo like this! No way, that’s absurd!
…Later, when I set this photo as my profile picture on Momotalk, I received countless death threats from Nagisa saying she’ll kill me if I don’t change it immediately, and because I stubbornly refused to back down, she retaliated with a similar stunt by setting a picture of me cooking as her profile.
This whole incident finally ended after Seiya gave us a telling-off about how we should tone down the teasing a bit. Just another ordinary day in T-party!