When Even Water Doesn't Know the Answer
When my vision returned, what I saw was 'me' charging at the male student and driving my right knee into his face. The moment the impact landed, 'I' grabbed his head with my left hand and smashed my right elbow down onto the crown of his skull. Before he could collapse, 'I' used his head as a pivot, spun my body, and looped a wire around his neck. For the finish, 'I' stepped on his body and launched myself toward the last remaining student.
Still, something felt off. [Hasn't the duration grown a little longer than before?]
"Right?"
Previously, after about five seconds the surroundings would flash red and send danger signals. This time, however, I could see roughly eight seconds into the future before regressing. The change in my left eye was probably the cause.
"Three seconds at most."
[Three seconds is a massive difference in jungle pathing. Not knowing that is why you are still low-tier.]
"Fuck."
When I returned to reality, the student had already ducked before I could reach him, apparently trying to dodge the flying knee kick he had seen in the future. So instead of kneeing him, I flipped forward in midair and drove my heel down onto his back.
"Bet you didn't see this coming!"
"Hup!"
The heel strike landed squarely in the middle of his back. He let out a short breath and collapsed face-first onto the ground. The red number above his head ticked up by one as a bonus.
I stepped on his back and sprinted toward the final student. The moment he spotted me, he swung his axe horizontally without the slightest hesitation. At the same time, the first student who had been caught by the wire finally collapsed, loosening the tension on the line. I dispelled the wire, slid underneath the axe, and kicked upward into the male student's groin.
"Kyaa!"
A sickening pop traveled up my foot. The student let out an oddly cute scream and passed out. He looked like he had already undergone TS.
Meanwhile, the seven male students Elsia had captured were lying on the ground, limbs bound by butterflies.
"Shinu, what are you going to do with them?"
"First, we talk."
I disarmed every student and tossed their weapons far away. Then I channeled mana into the ten o'clock position of the mana tattoo on my right hand, materialized a fresh wire, and began tying their hands one by one. Fortunately the wire was long enough to string them all together like a holiday dried-fish set.
"Get up, you bastards."
I woke the unconscious students and lined them all up in front of the lake. Once they were standing in a row, I addressed the first one.
"What the hell were you beast-fuckers trying to do here?"
"Don't use such vulgar language! We are animal lovers!"
He still hadn't come to his senses. Fine. Kyouka-mom, give me a little more power than last time.
"Cosmo Blue Planet!!!!!!"
I kicked the first student hard enough to send him flying into the lake. Because they were all tied together with wire, the rest were naturally dragged in after him. A beautiful display of collective responsibility.
[......Wasn't that the same single-target skill as before?]
"This is a 6-star UB. Completely different from a 5-star UB."
The students flailed in the water, apparently still dazed by the new technique. With their hands bound and bodies physically linked, however, the only thing left for them was to sink together in perfect harmony. Once the bubbles rising from the lake grew sparse, I hauled them back out. While pulling one student up by the hair, a large clump came away in my hand.
"This much from a single pull?"
[......Are you even human?]
I stood them up again. Their eyes were filled with terror; they looked ready to answer. I repeated the question.
"You lot. What's your relationship with the pig lying over there?"
"He is the vice-president of our animal... group."
"Earlier I checked his wallet. He's eight years older than me. Why is a guy like that here if he's not even a student?"
"Well..."
Clearly the academy president's son was too old to pass as a student. I had already ruled that possibility out. Yet the student in front of me hesitated, reluctant to speak. My mistake. I hadn't dealt enough damage. I shouldn't have let him regain his senses.
When I raised my foot again, another student blurted out an answer.
"W-we were supposed to have a regular meeting here today!"
"By 'regular meeting' you mean catching an animal and gang-raping it?"
"......"
Silence again. I lifted my foot and began chanting the magic words.
"Cosmo..."
"Yes! Everything you said is true! So please spare us!"
The correct answer came flying out immediately. As expected of our ancestors. Just like they said, water knew the answer.
At that moment, Elsia called out to me in a hurry.
"Husband! Look at this!"
"How much money did you get?"
"Quite a lot! No, that's not the important part!"
When I walked over, I found a bundle of drugs wrapped in the same plastic as the one the president's son had carried, only smaller. I picked it up and held it in front of the student who had just answered.
"What's this?"
"Th-that, I can't tell you!"
The student's face turned even paler than when he had been underwater. The others also refused to answer no matter how many times I asked. It was time to borrow the magical girl's power.
Magical Girl Momo, I need you.
"Magical Aqua Splash☆!!!!!"
"S-stop!!"
"It's magic, so no dodging☆!!!!!"
I drop-kicked the student in the back and sent him into the lake. Naturally, the rest followed in a neat line. After several repetitions, we finally obtained the answer we wanted.
***
"...That's everything that happened so far."
"Ha...... I see."
Right now, we had called the Lizard Beastman over to the lake and explained the situation. My wire had already expired and vanished, so Elsia's butterflies were keeping all the students bound. Hye-ji had materialized a rifle and was glaring at them, ready for anything.
The Lizard Beastman looked troubled, resting a hand on her head and shaking it repeatedly.
"The president's son used the president's authority to enter the academy without permission."
"And like Shinwoo said, this group of perverts has drug addicts mixed in too."
"If Husband hadn't stopped them, it would have become a kingdom of beast-fuckers!"
"This lady recorded the entire process. Please check it."
"Understood. One moment."
The Lizard Beastman began reviewing Jung Ayeon's recording. After a short while, she opened her mouth with a slightly startled expression.
"......Most of it will need to be edited."
".....Let's skip that part."
"So, what would you like to do?"
The Lizard Beastman asked for our opinions. Everyone looked at me, so I answered as the representative.
"I want to beat the crap out of all of them, but that's probably impossible right now. At the very least, make sure these bastards get properly wrecked."
Just in case, I woke the president's son and tried to have a water-based conversation, but this time even water didn't know the answer. In a way, that was wise of him. He had only handed drugs to a bunch of horny idiots.
"Yes, understood. Is there anything else you need?"
"Can you look into the beast-fucker group? And if possible, the movements of the drug addicts as well?"
"Understood."
Once two groups were connected, trouble for one would inevitably affect the other. Usually that ended with one side cutting ties. However—
[Now that the president's son is involved, the other side is too late to cut ties cleanly.]
"If they don't want to die, they'll force CPR on the situation whether they like it or not."
If the other side could also swing a knife and inflict serious damage, the matter would be resolved one way or another. After all, in a do-or-die situation, no one knew what the opponent might do, and mutual destruction remained a real possibility. Of course, their relationship would become even more awkward afterward, and both sides would only prepare to stab each other in the back.
I asked whether we could expect help from the authorities now that drugs were involved, but—
"It will probably be difficult."
"Why?"
"The president will do everything in his power to block it. No matter what it takes."
The president was the problem. As they say, even a hedgehog thinks its own young are cute. The fact that he was willing to hand over money just to find his son showed he had enough affection to act that way. If his son were in danger, he would protect him by any means necessary. In this incident, the president's son would most likely slip away while only the others were punished. Of course, the drug matter would be completely buried.
We took the students and descended the mountain. On the way, Piece spoke to me cautiously.
[You don't look very happy.]
"Probably because it didn't end perfectly."
The things that hadn't ended cleanly were all tied to the president. The sex-slave monsters. The animal lovers and the drug addicts. Yeah. I swear it. I will dedicate my soul and body to destroying this academy.
[Don't steal other people's famous lines!!]