“Uon?”
“Ah? A dog?”
I swiftly retrieve Momo who hiding into my shadow and activate my new “Ninjutsu”.
“ The Art of Smoke Shielding ” (TN: 煙遁の術 Better name?)
The next moment, black smoke erupts around me. The smoke that would disrupt anybody’s field of vision covers the cafeteria in an instant.
“What’s this?”
“I can’t see anything!?”
This is my second Ninjutsu. It is The Art of Smoke Shielding . The important thing is that it interrupts everyone’s vision. With this, I have sealed its eyes. Next.
(Ichinose-san)
Under the cover of the smoke, I retrieve Ichinose-san. Even if I can’t see anything, I still have “Detect Enemy”. As I approach Ichinose-san, I activate Duplication and create four duplicates. I make the duplicates rub themselves at Ichinose-san.
(Fuee~?! Wait, Kudou-san, what are you doing in this situation?)
(Just be quiet for now.)
After rubbing thoroughly, I order the duplicates to flee in different directions. If I can’t trick its sense of smell, I can make do with numbers. With Ichinose-san’s odor, the four of them shouldn’t be differentiable. Although the chance is still one out of five, it’s better than nothing.
(Ku-Kudou-san! This is?)
(I’ll explain later. We should first get out of here.)
After whispering an answer, we smash a window and escape. The duplicates also flee through different exits.
At that moment -
“Darkness” spews out from the ceiling of the cafeteria and spreads like the webs of a spider. Once again, it encompasses the entire school.
“Wha !?”
This is bad! I immediately start dashing but fail to make it in time. A few seconds before we make it out, we get trapped within the barrier.
“Damn it!”
“That was a close one.”
I hear a voice from behind. When I look back, I see the monster tamer and the dark wolf standing there.
“Blinding us. What a futile resistance. Also, I have no idea how you did it, but you also managed to split your smell what an interesting skill you have there ” This girl she saw through our plan in an instant. While being secretly surprised, I release the duplicates that are some distance away. Since the escape has failed, there isn’t a need to waste any more MP.
“Hee~ so you are indeed with Ichinose-san.”
The monster tamer’s stare alternates between Ichinose-san and me.
“Long time no see. Didn’t think we’d unite like this.”
“Tsu ”
Ichinose-san doesn’t reply. However, her shoulders are slightly shaking.
“It was unexpected. I didn’t think you and Aisaka would have established contact. Thanks to you, all my plans have gone out of the window.” So it was that mail I guess the mail triggered all this.
“If we didn’t do something, you would’ve killed them right?”
I reply in Ichinose-san’s stead.
“Well yeah. I was thinking of killing both Aisaka and Nishino using this guy.”
“Uuu~gururururu ”
The dark wolf is whimpering as if it is in pain, but the monster tamer continues without minding.
“But then~ there’s something I don’t understand. Innit better for ya, Ichinose, if they died?” “What are you ?”
“Oya? So the one wearing the hoodie doesn’t know about it? This girl was bullied by Aisaka in the past.” “ !”
Ichinose-san reacts strongly to the monster tamer’s words. Bullied? What does she mean? Isn’t she her friend?
“While I wasn’t in the same class as Aisaka, Ichinose was. I heard that people bullied her under Aisaka’s orders, making sure that they do not get caught by the teachers or that Student Council President. The rest of her classmates pretended like they didn’t know what was going on. I bet there wasn’t anyone willing to side with her.” “ ”
“One day, I was in the bathroom. There, I saw her soaked in sewage water and crying. There were also traces of a beating.” The monster tamer laughs as if there’s something funny.
“In the end, she refused to attend school and dropped out. It was a while after that. The school finally noticed and suspended everybody that participated in the bullying. Of course, Aisaka included.” The monster tamer claps her hand because of the “happy ending”. What is going on If she isn’t lying, then why would Ichinose-san Her actions up till now Having learned about the truth, I’m stunned by how contradictory they were.
“So anyways, she has no reason to help Aisaka. More like she should hate her to the bones. Wait. Were you actually trying to snipe her instead of me? Then-” “ up.”
“Shut up. You don’t know anything.”
Ichinose-san glares at the monster tamer while crying tears.
“You don’t know anything. You have no right to talk about Ricchan. AAHH!”
A bullet gets shot along with her scream but gets stopped midway by the “darkness”.
“Hmm, whatever. Doesn’t matter. You’re going to die regardless.”
Having said that, she takes a step back and allows the dark wolf to move forward. So a battle cannot be avoided. For Ichinose-san who is panting in anger, I soothe her by patting her back.
“Please calm down Ichinose-san.”
“So-sorry.”
“I will charge forward. Please cover me from the back.”
There are many things I want to ask, but I will save that for later. Right now, I need to deal with the situation in front of me. The shadow near my feet shakes. No, Momo. You can’t come out yet. Since I don’t know what conditions the monster tamer must pass to manipulate monsters, I can’t reveal Aka or Momo yet. That’s also why I kept Momo at the rear in the cafeteria.
“Momo, pleas assist me from the shadows.”
I sense a nod from within the shadow. I kick the ground beneath me.
“Goaahh!”
Just like before, the darkness surrounding the dark wolf rushes forward like a stream. As if I’ll get done in by the same trick. As I jump, I’m taking out vending machines and scrapped cars so that I can use them as scaffoldings. Kicking them allows me to maneuver in the air.
“I’m not going to hold back.”
I trigger the Duplication skill. Creating four duplicates, I confuse the dark wolf’s perception.
“What? Copies?”
The monster tamer raises her voice in surprise.
“Gua ”
The dark wolf tries to follow every copy’s movements, but it doesn’t seem successful. A knife which one of the duplicates throws gets imbedded on the dark wolf’s hide. Unfortunately, the injury is shallow and it has only scratched the surface of the skin.
“Like I predicted, its defense has gone up ”
Attacking from a distance isn’t working well. Then I should use that. I dismiss all my duplicates and take “that” out of my Item Box. Thereafter, I summon my duplicates again and order them to hold “that”. Unlike me, the duplicates cannot use the Item Box skill. Once again, the duplicates surround the dark wolf to confuse it.
-Right now.
Finding an opening, one of my copies throw “that” at the dark wolf. It hits the wolf’s face and the liquid inside the container splatters on its face.
“Ga!? Gaa!?”
The dark wolf screams and proceeds to roll on the ground.
“What? What? What did you do?”
The monster tamer is also stunned by the sight. Apparently, the Tabasco Ball seems to have worked. It is a perfect weapon against an enemy with an excellent sense of smell.
“Now! All the duplicates! Onwards!”
The copies rapidly close in and slash at the dark wolf. Since I can’t inflict damage from a distance, I can only do so by using the Strike and Swordsmanship skills at close quarters. My plan works and the knives firmly land on the dark wolf.