We secured our first win in the opening match.
We need two more victories to claim the event reward.
Makiko mounted Mashiro, while I and Chiyu took their seats on Mikron’s back, and we set off.
It was a huge relief that Mashiro’s keen sense of smell could detect the enemies’ locations.
Without it, we would have wasted precious time just trying to find them.
After traveling for a while, Makiko suddenly shouted.
“Sousuke, Mashiro says it’s ‘something weird’!”
“Weird…?”
“‘The same smell is coming from everywhere’? Mashiro, what does that mean—” “Eek!”
A cute squeal echoed through the air, and soon a human figure appeared nearby.
The spirit beasts came to an abrupt halt.
On closer inspection, it was one of our female classmates.
Pink inner color peeked out from the underlayers of her black two-side-up hairstyle. She had a delicate face that still held traces of youth, and was known for her sweet voice.
While Shiine was the type of beauty who inspired boys to confess out of sheer infatuation, this girl took the initiative by approaching guys directly, encouraging them to misinterpret her intentions.
Since our first year, I had watched numerous boys get hopelessly defeated after convincing themselves that she felt the same way about them.
“Oh, it’s Momo-chan.”
“Mousuko-chan. It’s scary down there, so how about we get off and talk for a bit?”
Her eyes glistening with unshed tears, the girl known as Momochi pleaded with him.
“I… I d-don’t know… Umm, sorry, but I probably can’t do something like that.”
The girl quickly scanned her surroundings and spotted me.
“Oh, it’s Tsuchino-kun! You’re one of Mousuko-chan’s allies too, right? Thank you for helping out with everything the other day. I heard you were the one who made those things too—” “Sōkun, don’t waste time.
Cage.”
“…C-Chiyu-chi?
I was just about to explain—” “Sōkun, cage.”
Feeling the pressure from Chiyu, I dropped a stone cage onto the girl’s head from above.
“Hey wai—!”
The girl became invisible as she was enveloped by the stone cage.
“That was clearly stalling for time. Watch out so you don’t get hooked by someone like that again.”
“Y-Yes…”
“Chiyu-chi, you really don’t hold back, huh…”
As I gathered my thoughts and was about to resume moving, something strange happened.
“Hey! That wasn’t cool of you, Tsuchino-kun!”
The girl reappeared from the shade of a nearby tree.
“Huh?!”
Mousuko’s eyes went wide.
“Sōkun, next time use a lattice cage.”
“Ah, y-yeah.”
Like a response to Chiya’s calm voice, the stone cage with grates was lowered.
“That is…! Just have some doubt, you know!”
The reason became immediately clear.
To decipher the girl’s ability.
The first stone cage had only ventilation holes, making its interior invisible.
It was impossible to determine whether two copies of the same girl had appeared or if she had avoided detection via high-speed movement.
“Ugh!” “So I told you I didn’t want to do this!” “Ryoka made me do it!” “Actually, wouldn’t it be better if we just got along with Momo-chan’s team normally!?”
Multiple girls with identical appearances manifested.
— An illusion ability…? No, considering that she was brought onto the desert island, it is likely a “Clone Ability.”
In an desert island stranding situation, the ability to secure “manpower” on one’s own is useful.
Moreover, since clones are duplicates of oneself, there is no need to worry about them betraying you.
“Momo-chan using the Clone Technique!? Soujirou! What do we do!?”
“I don’t know how many clones she can create! Even if it’s just one unit, can you ask Mashiro to handle it so they don’t head toward our base!?”
Here, I want Mashiro’s sense of smell to ensure that all the clones are taken down without missing a single one.
“U-um…! ‘I hate biting beautiful girls with my fangs, but this time it’s unavoidable!’”
“What?!” “You’re making such a cute girl fight a giant puppy?!” “Momo, she’s such a beauty, you can’t just—?! ”
She seemed to place considerable value on her own cuteness.
Personally, I preferred it to humble modesty, but…
“We can’t afford to lose either, Yūko.”
“Don’t call me Yūko…! It’s not cute!”
The girl erupted in fury when Chiyu called her by her first name.
“Tsuboko, get on the Microon.”
“Roger!”
After confirming Tsuboko had mounted the Microon after dismounting Mashiro, the Microon began to ascend.
“Aaah, damn it…! It’s already impossible from the start!”
The girl’s scream reached them from the ground before quickly fading into the distance.
Since they had already determined the general direction and learned in the first match that bases are set up in open areas, they were able to locate the enemy base even without Mashiro’s sense of smell.
On the way, they successfully captured the two female students who appeared to have no abilities in stone cages.
”……You’ve arrived, Aruke Sōko!”
A beautiful girl characterized by long, wavy golden hair and small buns on both sides of her head.
It was Sumphua Ryōka, leading an all-female party.
“You’re here, Ryou-chan!”
“Oh? Kujino Sōsuke is here today too? How about it—want to join my party?”
“I appreciate the offer, but I’ll pass.”
“Grrr……so Aruke Sōko is better, huh!”
Sumphua growled in frustration.
“Oh, stop it, Sōsuke… You don’t need to be all lovey-dovey here.”
Sōko scratched her cheek, looking flustered.
But what exactly was the romantic element there?
“Got it.”
“I know.”
The last member of the enemy team was a girl who had wished for ‘Immortality’ in the first White Dream.
It was an exceptionally powerful ability, but under this event’s rules, it could be countered by immobilizing her.
Like the other enemies, she should be able to be neutralized with a stone cage.
“Wait. If Yuko Momohara’s sabotage has failed too, this party has no winning left to speak of. I concede.”
Sumphong raised both hands in a dramatic gesture of surrender.
If they were refusing to fight, he had no intention of picking a fight either… but there was something else on his mind.
“Sumphong, this party wasn’t formed to win, was it?”
At his words, Sumphong widened her eyes in surprise.
“Oh? And why is that, pray tell?”
“Hmm… There are several reasons, but the main one is… you don’t look like you’re taking it to heart.”
Just as when he had refused to join forces with them, Sumphong harbored a competitive streak against Tsukuko.
Yet for her to so graciously accept the defeat of the party she led was a bit peculiar.
On top of that, the absence of Manaba, who had served as his close aide during their last encounter, suggested that another party might have been formed separately.
”…I see. You’re right, you really are. This is, so to speak, our sub-pilot strategy. Depending on how the matches play out, we can share information between the main and sub parties, increase the mental burden on the enemy team by increasing the number of games, and simply declare a draw when the main and sub teams face off. It’s a risk-free approach.”
Indeed, while his physical health had recovered, no one had said his mental fatigue was gone.
The impact of one’s mental state on physical performance could not be ignored, so it was a perfectly viable strategy.
Moreover, after battling enemies different from the main force and sub-forces, once they finally engaged directly, they were able to exchange information about the respective enemies they had fought.
Afterward, all I need to do is let the main force have the victory, so you’re right, Seifeng. There’s no disadvantage to it.
If I have to name a drawback, it would be worrying about which members are grouped together or the risk of our abilities being exposed.
“Also, there’s one more thing: appealing to Kouji Sousei.”
“Appealing?”
“There are plenty of attractive women here on this side too, no?”
Seifeng flashed a bewitching smile unlike her usual expression.
Inadvertently, my heart skipped a beat.
“That so?”
“Sousei?”
The pressure from the two riding behind me was intense, making me afraid to turn around.
“I-I’m sorry, but my current comrades are what matter most.”
“Oh my, a shame. But it’s all right; I’m not giving up, so.”
Seifeng chuckled softly.
After that, we retreated alongside the one remaining member to the side of the base.
“Please, go ahead and destroy it. Our objective has been achieved.”
Then, Micron flicked his tail in a bad mood and bashed the enemy base wetly—slap-slap-slap.
It wasn’t just Senju and Meshiko who were upset; it seemed Mikuron was in a foul mood too.
But still, victory was victory.
The enemy base crumbled to ruins.
Our vision washed out white, and we were once again flung back into the pitch-white void.
It would be fair to call this match a complete domination.
But I couldn’t shake the impression that Seihou was a formidable foe.
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