Best Comrade Chance
At my one-finger salute, the Hero Class students' faces flushed as red as tomatoes. What were they going to do, glaring at me like that? Start a riot in front of Lionel? Go ahead and try.
Lionel let out a low growl at the ugly turn in the air, and the kids could do nothing but stare me down. Having a backer this solid felt pretty great.
"You little brat, put that filthy hand away this instant."
Bonk!
Only after Baba Yaga hopped up and rapped me on the head did I finally lower my middle finger.
"T-Tiss, y-you could've just stayed behind him. S-safe and comfortable, you know. I... w-when this many eyes are on us, I-I'm gonna—hurk...!"
Shan, whose queasiness had improved ever since learning Hoyeonjigi, finally couldn't endure the flood of stares and threw up a rainbow.
Sorry. I'm grateful Siu's stepping up, but this is something we have to settle ourselves.
"Tiss?"
"Sorry, Siu. At first I was going to stay quiet, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized I couldn't."
If I ducked behind Siu right now, it would be easier. I knew that. The shield was only half complete, but Siu was still the one holding the Hero's shield—standing in as my substitute would have been nothing. If he volunteered to play the black knight and swore that anyone who wanted to touch me had to put him down first, nothing would land on me directly.
The problem was that none of this discontent would ever actually get resolved. Even if it did, it would take forever and turn into a miserable slog.
"I know talking you down is pointless. Your heads are already too full of blood for that."
So I would give them what they wanted. I would show them who the strong one was.
A low rumble rolled through the air.
"Wh-what?"
"What's happening right now?"
The Hero Class students who had crowded in found themselves taking two or three steps back before they even knew it. I had cracked open the killing intent I'd been holding in, just a sliver of the Silent Killing Method's aura, and their survival instincts had answered on their own.
"Anyone who can't accept that I drew the Holy Sword, come to the Subspace Sparring Arena tomorrow at ten."
Their heads and their hearts were running on two different tracks. With hot-blooded kids like these, trying to govern them with words or rules only piled the resentment higher.
The Hero was the leader. If that leader had no honor and no authority, they were nothing but an empty scarecrow. Things were already broken. If I ran from this now, I wouldn't be able to lead anyone when real danger came. Balloon people like these—press one side and the other bulged out—had to be popped here and now, thoroughly. If I was going to do it, I had to do it properly. I had to show them who I was. They needed to slam into the "leader" standing over their heads and have the hierarchy carved in so deep they would never mouth off again.
"I don't care how many. Lady Baba Yaga, please put out a notice to the entire student body. I'll take on everyone who isn't already standing here. You can all come at me at once."
"Student Tiss. That could be taken as an arrogant claim."
"No, Instructor Lionel. I'm simply stating an obvious truth. Besides me, who among the students here could face Cheon Geomhwa one-on-one and win?"
"Hrm."
Instead of answering, Lionel set me down carefully on the floor. Tacit agreement, plain as day.
"Right—how did we forget? That white-haired kid was the one everyone was watching at the entrance ceremony."
"There's even a rumor she's White Ghost's disciple."
A few students finally got their brains working again and remembered the most talked-about figure from the entrance ceremony.
"You're bragging over barely beating Cheon Geomhwa after White Ghost had already half-killed her?"
Of course, most of them—Lukeshire included—took my words as a provocation and looked ready to charge me on the spot.
"You seriously wanna do this, furball?"
"Yes."
My mind hadn't changed.
"That is enough. Be on your way. As this lady has declared, I shall have the duel prepared to begin at ten tomorrow morning. Those who wish to participate, present yourselves at the administration office in the main building."
At Baba Yaga's dismissal, the Hero Class students turned away, however reluctantly—but they glared in our direction until the very end.
In the end they decided a proper class was impossible in this atmosphere, ran through a simple orientation covering the facilities, and wrapped every academic schedule around lunchtime. The only students left on campus were a handful from the Lower Class still waiting their turn at the selection chamber.
"Aaaagh!"
On the way back to the dorms I clawed at my hair and just screamed.
"I actually went and did it."
"Tiss unnie, be honest. You're regretting it a little right now, aren't you?"
"No... well... honestly, it's about fifty-fifty?"
I'd expected Sia to scold me—how long had I even been off the sickbed before stirring up another mess?—but she was calmer than I'd thought.
"I figured one of you would lecture me. This is unexpected."
"We've been through this kind of thing plenty of times ourselves."
"We didn't stop you because we think the choice you made is the right one."
Sia told me that back in their Secret Society days, when they were just two orphans Chris had brought in, the only way they had ever been acknowledged as leaders of the pack was by proving their strength, thoroughly and without shortcuts. Then she patted me on the shoulder.
"Tiss unnie, you already drew the Holy Sword. So I get wanting to become the strongest—someone everyone has to acknowledge."
"Don't worry. No matter what anyone says, we'll always stay by your side. So Tiss, just go forward however you want, by your own will."
The two of them said all that to cheer me on, and still looked like they were about to cry. I think I finally understood how Mary had felt, sending Dorothy away.
Tiss.
Shan was looking at me with a sulky face. Not fully in a snit the way she had been last time, but clearly lodging a protest.
...Sorry.
"D-don't start with an apology. I-I understand how you feel, Tiss, and the way you do things. B-but we promised each other."
It's fine to be considerate, but don't worry or stew over things alone. Just tell me, comfortably.
"Y-you remember, right?"
Yeah. Those were my words.
We had agreed to talk things through and move together, and this time I had gone and done it impulsively, on my own. The stress of drawing the Holy Sword had been enormous, but a mistake was still a mistake.
I'm sorry.
"A-again with the apology... I just said I understand you. We're o-one. We're a community. So I'm okay."
Shan's expression eased, and she offered an awkward little smile.
"This isn't the time to tally up faults anyway. What matters is cleaning this up. D-do you have something in mind?"
We couldn't unroll our full power the way we had last time. I had provoked them thoroughly enough that there was no telling how many students would show up tomorrow.
First, I'm going to find a way to replenish our calories.
The aftereffects of fainting for a week while holding Katie still hadn't fully faded. I needed to pack even a little Essence and Magic Stone into our stomach. In mimicry, we could only afford abilities that didn't strain us much and ran at good energy efficiency. Which meant we had to move right now.
I have a plan.
I laid out what I'd been thinking to Shan.
"Mm... i-it does seem like the best we can do right now. O-okay. Let's do it."
I had Shan's permission. That left one thing.
"Siu, Sia. I'm sorry, but—"
"Heading off somewhere? To prepare for tomorrow's match, right?"
"Uh... yeah."
"Heh. I guess I'm starting to get used to this."
Sia had beaten me to it. I could feel, sharp as a blade in her eyes, that she didn't want to let me go—but she didn't say it out loud.
"Go on. If you need our help, call us anytime."
"Tiss, we'll always be cheering for you."
"Sia, Siu... thank you."
"Heheh, enough. You're making it weird. If you're really grateful, then win against all of them tomorrow and show everyone you were chosen by the Holy Sword. Got it, Tiss unnie?"
"Yeah. I got it."
I waved them goodbye and bolted out of the Academy.
Beep. Beep-beep-beep.
I worked my terminal and tried the only person I could ask for help in a situation like this, but—
The power's off...
Emily wasn't picking up.
"What the..."
"D-did something happen? I-I'll try whispering to her telepathically."
Please, Shan.
While Shan focused on using the power of her other name, I worked on shaking the irritating tails that had been on me for a while now.
"T-Tiss, the... the eyes are still following us."
Yeah. They'll be Watchers. Leave this side to me.
The Watchers dispatched after the news that I'd drawn the Holy Sword weren't just inside the Academy—they were scattered through area after area. If they'd shown up like this during the entrance ceremony raid, I wouldn't have had to suffer through all of that.
Watchers were strong, but if they weren't here to kill me—if they were only going to tail me—there was a way. However many eyes they had, if I used Hoyeonjigi and White Ghost's Silent Killing Method properly, they wouldn't find it easy to keep up.
I slipped into a large office building and wove through it, melting into the crowds. When a long time passed without me coming back out, I felt the Watchers who'd been following me head inside.
Now.
"Target's gone."
"Track her."
While the Watchers tore through the building, I slipped out unseen and cut across the abandoned factory district.
Our destination was one of the hidden underground passages the cultists had used to try smuggling monsters into the area. The Secret Society had cleaned it out once, but the side paths were still there. Emily's signal was coming from inside that underground passage too.
Shan, how's Emily's signal?
"Mm, it's starting to catch. Ah! Got it! We're connected."
Shan's other name was the Whispering One—the power to send her voice to whoever she chose.
"Mm...! I know where the hideout is. I'll guide you."
Following Shan's lead, we arrived at a hideout tucked deep inside an underground waterway where sewage ran.
"Best Comrade Tiss! I have been waiting!"
"Haa... little lady, would you mind explaining what on earth is going on?"
Beside a weary-looking Emily, Katie—wrapped in rags—was waving with a sun-bright face.
"No need to make it long. The rumors are true. I drew the Holy Sword, Siu got the shield, and Sia was chosen by the Kitchen Knife of the Mess Swordsman."
"Holy Sword? Is that something you eat?"
"It's not for eating... just a pretty sharp blade. The kind that gets you dragged into every mess first."
"Best Comrade Tiss, you do not need a weapon like that! Throw it away!"
"I'd love to, but it's the kind you can't put down once you've picked it up."
"I know! I saw it in a book! That is a bad sword! Therefore... it is junk!"
Pffhahaha!
Pff—!
Emily and Shan burst out laughing at the same time.
"Yeah, Katie's right. It is junk. I drew it and immediately started making everyone around me suffer."
"Sorry... I didn't mean to, but I dragged you into this. Are you okay, Emily?"
"Honestly? The situation isn't great. You could call it a parasite's greatest crisis."
Hoo.
It was the first time I'd ever seen Emily, who always kept a poker face, let out a sigh.
"Forget it. You two look like you're in more of a hurry than I am, so my story can wait. So what's the plan? Abandon the Academy and everything else and make an emergency run for it?"
"No. I'm staying. I just want to take Katie home. This place is crawling with them right now, right?"
"Just like the little lady said. Packed with remnants who barely survived the entrance ceremony raid, plus the ones who flocked in from other areas after hearing about the Holy Sword."
"Good. That works out perfectly."
What a relief. That would put out the immediate fire.
"Katie."
"Yes! Best Comrade Tiss called me! At last, you need Katie's help!"
Katie hopped in place, flung off the rags she'd been wearing, and strode right up to me.
"That's right. I need your help, Katie. Can you give us a hand?"
"Mm! I have been waiting for those words! At last I repay the debt!"
Katie grabbed my hands and shook them, eyes sparkling.
"Just tell Katie what to do!"
"We're going to take you home through this underground passage. On the way out, can you half-kill all the monsters and bad humans hiding along it? So Shan and I can eat them easily."
Then I added one more thing.
"Please, Katie unnie."
Heheh.
At that, Katie bared her teeth in a grin that looked like the happiest thing in the world.
"It is possible! Easy as eating a meal! If Best Comrade wants, I can mince them fine and make dumplings! Do Best Comrades need dumplings?"
"Ah, that's okay. Just the cleanup, please."
"Understood! Passage cleanup begins now!"
The instant she finished speaking, Katie began to multiply—two, four, eight—splitting and swelling in number. The countless hive bodies that had been packed inside the "representative personality" called Katie were showing their original form.
"Leave it to the Katies!"
"Work time! Work time!"
"Forward, charge!"
"Waaaaah!"
"Mince the meat, mince the meat!"
"Dummy! Best Comrade said not to mince them!"
Thousands of Katies began spreading through every corner of the underground passage, tangled and interwoven like plant roots.