Editing Sorcery Hacker:Volume3 Phase03 (section)

===Part 2===

A few quiet beeps sounded.

Ayato pulled his sword from the desk’s Media Summoner and flicked the barrel of one of Teleria’s handguns.

“Miss Teleria, Miss Mamilis, and Miss Henrietta too. I have stolen the Student Council’s Grade S authorization and applied it to your front sights. Now you can ignore the frustrating grade system and freely enter any part of the towers.”

Ayato pulled out some other items a little bigger than an oil lighter.

They were assassination handguns that fit in the palm, but they weren’t loaded. Their front sights were what mattered. They functioned as a second key, not as a weapon.

“And this is the secret key needed to pass the final security colosseum and reach the special top floor. With the two sorcery guns, you can reach any floor from the surface to the roof.”

He could arrange this so easily, but those four keyholes had him stumped.

This wasn’t a failure in Ayato’s own skills. No technician in the world could have gotten through that. That was just how monstrous the President was.

“Be honest. How powerful is each member of the Council?” bluntly asked Henrietta, hands on her hips.

She was implicitly asking which of the towers she would be in charge of.

Ayato brought a hand to his skinny chin.

“Well… To start with, you wouldn’t stand a chance against the Vice President on the mana tower.”

“What!? I knew you were disrespectful, but doubting me before I even have a chance to try is a step too-”

“Surace Bran Zorca Totalinus is a legit princess from the Combined Royal Family that rules the Static Continent. I believe she is 4th in the line of succession. That makes her a blood relative of that minotaur, but are you saying you could attack her anyway?”

Henrietta instantly petrified.

“This means one of the people you have been calling eccentrics this whole time was a real princess. Now, I don’t know all the rules, but if someone important heard you saying that, couldn’t they cut you down for being disloyal, Miss Striker?”

“Oh! Oh, no! Oh, no, no!!”

Yes, she was no more than a regional knight, so she could never engage a central royal in combat. It was more a matter of faith than one of skill.

“This also means she uses royal-exclusive magic and knows a lot about ancient sorcery devices. Simply put, she uses the same kind of blade as the ones managed by Micha Angelos and Angela Messenger. Not a good matchup for you, Miss Henrietta.”

In that sense…

“Thus, I want you to handle Treasurer Gark Bryan waiting on the security tower. He’s the highest ranked Bouncer and has earned the nickname Grapple Shields. He’s basically a walking hulk of defense, but he also barely uses any trickery. If you can shatter his two shields with brute force, you win. It’s straightforward but far from an easy task. I think only you could handle him.”

“What about me, coach?”

“Secretary Sibell Wildcat at the control tower. She’s an expert assassin who can fight close range as a knife fighter and long range as a sniper. Rumor has it she silently eliminates any of the school’s weirdos who take it too far. I’ve heard she’s the only one the eccentrics of the School Pet Committee and Theatre Club fear.”

“Isn’t that asking a lot of a rookie?” asked Henrietta, face clouding over.

But Ayato saw things differently.

“She can’t fight the way she likes without using her opponent’s blind spots. In a duel on a flat rooftop with nowhere to hide, she can’t make full use of her knife fighting or sniper skills. Miss Mamilis uses a full-auto shotgun. If she uses an endless barrage of thick fire magic and doesn’t let her opponent move too quickly, she can simply overpower her. That seems like the best plan to me.”

The dark elf puffed her cheeks out.

She may not have liked being pitted against the weakest one. Even though the more experienced Teleria and Henrietta would have a hard time against Sibell since anything short of a full-auto shotgun wouldn’t be able to restrict her movements.

“I will take care of President Umihiko Darkavenue on the gem tower. A Sorcery Hacker is best fought with another Sorcery Hacker. I’ll counteract his tricks with my own.”

“So Teleria is left with…”

Mamilis looked to the blonde girl.

Ayato shrugged.

“She will go to the mana tower to deal with Vice President Surace who Miss Henrietta declined to battle. That should become a clash of magic barrages, but I can’t imagine Miss Teleria and her twin handguns losing when it comes to variety of attacks. I believe you can win.”

“…”

“Miss Teleria?”

“Oh, yes. I understand.”

Teleria’s response was awkward and Mamilis’s long silver hair swayed as she tilted her head.

“That’s weird.”

“Eh? Eh? What is?”

“That ‘I understand’. You normally object to the very act of fighting itself whether you could win or not.”

Teleria’s eyes widened and she bit her lip.

Henrietta sighed softly.

“I am willing to help, but how are you ensuring our safety? I will do my job, but I want to know these other two at least will be safe.”

“I thought of that. For you as well, Miss Henrietta.”

Ayato tossed each girl a small bag he grabbed from the cabinet.

“The Student Council must have these in case of fire. They are emergency escape parachutes. If you conclude you can’t win, do not hesitate to jump from the roof. That way you can at least escape with your lives.”

“Um, coach. Don’t we need all four keys?”

“Your lives are more important.”

With that, the four of them left the Student Council Office.

From here, they had to split up. Reaching the other towers meant either using a connecting walkway or descending to the surface.

“Ayato.”

“Yes?”

“Um, uh, never mind. Just be careful, okay?”

“You too, Miss Teleria. Like I said, your lives are the most important thing. Do not get too fixated on winning the key. If you feel you are in danger, immediately jump from the building.”

The blonde girl turned back once more as she left. Ayato gave her a puzzled look, but she said nothing more and disappeared down the stairs.

(Now, then.)

He sighed.

And looked up at the roof.

Ayato’s opponent was President Umihiko Darkavenue.

That top-rate Sorcery Hacker was waiting directly above here, on the gem tower’s roof.