Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume11 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 3===

"Although it's a bit late to point out now, this seems to be turning into a kind of habit."

"Hmmmmm~ Turning into a habit?"

"Yeah, and a bad habit at that."

"That's really terrible! You should tell the other party... So, who are you referring to?"

"IT. IS. YOU. OKAY!? You, dressed in uniform! This is school! You are not student!"

"What!? You seem to be reminding me with a weird Indian accent!"

After school the next day, Haruaki's group was gathered in the superintendent's office. Currently in the room were the five of them who had met Satsuko yesterday and naturally, the trio who were normally in the office in the first place. Due to Monday being the beauty parlor's fixed day off (but she also slacked off yesterday and did not open shop), Kuroe had put on the school uniform and invaded the superintendent's office as though it was a fortunate coincidence.

Everyone had gathered here to hold a strategy meeting to address the imminent crisis. Just now, they had already explained the gist of what had happened until yesterday to the superintendent and were now waiting for his response. Finally, the superintendent replied:

"Hmm~ ...I still have no clue regarding this Nirushaaki character. What about you, Zenon-kun?"

"I have never heard of her either. Naturally, this goes the same for Onee-sama as well."

"In that case, that person really must have joined the Draconians after we left. Regrettably, we have no information regarding her appearance or somesuch either."

"Yes, I figured. From that fact that you already contacted Chihaya and Isuzu, I can tell that you've at least confirmed whether there were suspicious characters among the new students, right?"

Konoha nodded and did not show any signs of disappointment. "Of course we confirmed." The superintendent nodded and concurred.

"Just as you all know, we are no longer involved with them. We also wish to avoid contact with the Draconians as much as possible. But the problem is that this Nirushaaki has apparently quit."

"Suppose she asks you for assistance, what would you do?"

Kirika asked gravely. The superintendent shrugged in an exaggerated manner.

"What a difficult question to answer. It's impossible to know until the time comes... From a senior's standpoint, I think it's very hard to ignore her. Oh of course, I mean as senior in terms of hating that organization."

At this moment, the superintendent puffed out his chest while sitting in his chair, sweeping his gaze across everyone.

"So anyway, I now understand the situation. Let me summarize. A former Draconian is current mixed in the new students of this school. Because the Knights Dominion that is targeting her does not know her appearance, they asked you to find and hand her over. Otherwise, they will resort to violence, hurting each and every female student to determine whether or not they are Nirushaaki. On the other hand, a member of the Draconians also made a personal request to you, hoping you could help Nirushaaki. So, in the end... What should be done?"

Hmm~ Haruaki tilted his head. In the end, the question to ponder still returned to this issue, in other words, the strategy from this point onwards.

Nevertheless, at this moment, Fear suddenly raised her hand, having crossed her arms in deep thought until now. Like a teacher, the superintendent pointed at her and said:

"Please speak, Fear-kun."

"I've been thinking until now. In the end, there's no choice but to go through the process of elimination, right?"

"Process of elimination?"

"Yes. I've tried simulating it in my imagination already. I don't know what kind of person this «Knight Killer» is. However, putting that aside for now, no matter what kind of person this «Knight Killer» is, are we able to say 'Kill her, slice her, violate her, do whatever you want' and hand her over to the Knights Dominion? But no matter how I try imagining it&mdash;The conclusion is no. Because I don't wanna. If she really deserted the Draconians and is trying to be an ordinary high school student, then whether that «Knight Killer» is like Satsuko or Kokoro, no matter what, the conclusion remains the same. Say... Am I the only one who feels this way? Those who feel this way, am I the only one?"

"No&mdash;The same goes for me. I think it's the same for everyone."

Haruaki narrowed his eyes and nodded. Indeed. Perhaps they were overthinking things. Perhaps they were too impatient in wanting to solve every problem at once. In actual fact, all they needed to do was start by drawing a line that they would never cross or compromise and work successively through the issues they understood, one by one. Handing over their minds to simple thinking like Fear's was enough.

Indeed, since they knew the Knights Dominion will kill that person, no matter how they thought about it, there was no way they were still going to hand the target over. That would be tantamount to killing her by their own hands. That remained true even if that person were an enemy. And knowing that she was no longer an enemy and had abandoned battle, it was even more obvious.

"Very good. Then by the process of elimination, the final choice is this: Originally, it was a choice between two, but now only one is left. In other words, we won't hand the «Knight Killer» to the Knights Dominion."

"But in that case, there is the possibility that students might be harmed."

"Hmph, contemptible Cow Tits, I knew you were going to say that. That's very simple too&mdash;We'll just have to defeat them before anyone gets hurt. They will surely reappear at the deadline after a week. We just need to defeat them definitively when the time comes."

"Easier said than done, Fear. But based on what they said, they seem to have more than two members. If they have other companions, how could it be that easy to&mdash;"

"Hmm~ Looks like a battle plan needs to be made."

"Well said, Kuroe. The way I see it, the best way to fight would be to ask that «Knight Killer»... in other words, Nirushaaki, to assist us."

"I agree. When settling the deal, the other side will be wary if they see that the «Knight Killer» isn't present. Conversely, with her there, they will probably lower their guard. So with her help, we should be able to attack while they're careless, or use her as bait to create more openings&mdash;Our options will increase. I believe this isn't an absolutely ridiculous strategy."

"According to what I've heard, that «Knight Killer» was ranked second? Hmm, frankly speaking, I do harbor some doubts regarding why someone who has climbed to such a high rank would suddenly quit&mdash;No, having occupied the same number two spot in the past, I have no right to say that. I should understand that even members of the «High Singles» might quit depending on circumstances. In other words, so long as there's no sequela like mine, we should expect her to retain combat strength as befitting a «High Single»... Despite giving up her power to fight, in order to defend her own tranquility, she probably has no choice but to consider stepping forward to battle."

"Ah, please brew some more tea," said the superintendent, raising his teacup high. "Okay okay~ I will go bring out everyone's portions as well~♪" Sovereignty answered leisurely while Zenon bowed seriously before walking to the adjacent room. Next, the group's discussion turned to deciding the direction of their concrete actions here on.

"Before we seek her assistance, it's possible that she might not have realized she's being targeted. In the end, we have to meet her first and have a discussion."

"Yeah. The problem is how to contact her."

"Muumuu, I've got it! Like this&mdash;Rush into the first-year classrooms and try yelling: 'Former Draconian, I've got something to tell you, hurry and come out!' How's that? Perhaps she might reveal herself unexpectedly!"

"How could someone who infiltrated the school to hide answer so readily!? Please think more seriously!"

"Thinking from her standpoint... She probably wishes to prevent other students from discovering her true identity. The issue we ought to consider is how to contact her. Hmm..."

Hence, Haruaki and friends' immediate target was to make contact with «Knight Killer» Nirushaaki.

Then continuing until sundown, the superintendent's office was filled with endless sounds of disputes. "No, don't do that!" "No, don't do that!"



In any case, the group's conclusion was to try out whatever they could think of first.

At school the next day, Haruaki's group lingered at the shoe lockers after changing into their indoor shoes. Next to the "Let us get all oiled up together!" poster at which Un Izoey was staring intently last week, a new note had been put up. That note was definitely not too conspicuous, but anyone who looked there would immediately notice it.

The notice board was basically a space that students could use freely and was quite chaotic as a result. You could find anything there. Clubs recruiting new members. Anyone want a puppy? A lost parrot notice. Nailed to a note reading "Lost and found?", what appeared to be a bicycle key. One also read "At 21:00 today, all guild members please gather at the plaza in front of the inn," probably the meeting time for some kind of online game. "The volunteer club is organizing a bazaar for the welcoming festival, seeking donations of unwanted articles." This ad reminded Haruaki of the welcoming festival this coming Sunday. What was going to happen ultimately on that day?

Due to the chaos on the notice board, the note did not seem particularly out of place. People were like going to interpret it as some kind of game and quickly move on after reading the words on the note.

"To the fellow kindred as former dragons. Warning: knights approaching. Hope to make contact. Signed Sekai."

The above was written in Zenon's meticulous handwriting. This was the first plan they had decided to try yesterday. Zenon had probably arrived at school early in the morning and put it up when no one was around. Naturally, Sekai referred to Sekaibashi Gabriel, the superintendent.

"Next it's time to wait. I hope she'll notice."

Fear murmured at the note then walked to her classroom.

Then everyone went to class as usual because excessive concern would not help at all and reckless actions could end up counterproductive by rousing the other person's suspicions. But when they ran over to the superintendent's office during the lunch break to ask about the situation, Zenon and the superintendent only shook their heads. After going home and having dinner, Zenon also called to report at the appointed hour but did not announce any good news.

"Perhaps it just so happened that she didn't see the note today. To make it more conspicuous, let's try drawing a box along the paper's edges using a highlighter. Although it'll attract attention from ordinary students, at least it's better than getting overlooked all along." After they called to tell Kirika, that was her idea. Of course, Fear was immediately all fired up to follow on this adjustment to their plans, zealously stuffing all the pens she could find at home into her schoolbag.

The next day, Haruaki's group left the house early in order to complete this mission. There was actually no harm even if someone saw them, but if asked "What does that note mean?" Explaining it would be a bit troublesome.

"So, let's hurry to make it more visible! What color should I use? Wait, I suddenly of this, we could use the paper decorations used earlier for Christmas to put a ring around the edges&mdash;"

Fear did not continue. Haruaki and Konoha did not point out that she was going too far. Because there was no need. Even the the need for adding conspicuous modifications had vanished as well.

Right there on the piece of paper with the words "Hope to make contact" written on it&mdash;

Someone had used the push pin on the corner of the note to pin a tiny note that had been folded twice into quarters.



Since the superintendent has not arrived at school early in the morning, the group held an emergency mini-conference at the superintendent's office during the break after first period. Waving the tiny note, the superintendent said:

"Hmm... How cold. 'I don't intend to make direct contact. Please show more self-restraint and avoid using this form of communications. Too careless. I will not respond again.' This means that she would normally ignore it, but felt that she needed to remind us because the method of communications was too conspicuous."

Those words seemed to be word processed and the note itself was ordinary copy paper. There was no handwriting or other clues.

Probably the more hope there was, the greater the disappointment. Fear stretched her arms forward and sprawled powerlessly on the table, sighing with the side of her dainty face pressed against the table surface.

"Hmm~ A response at last... What is the meaning of this? Why won't she contact us...?"

"Fear, don't be so disheartened. At least this tells us that the person called Nirushaaki really is among the students. Since neither the Knights Dominion nor Satsuko know her appearance, the worst case scenario originally would be that they're both mistaken and Nirushaaki is not actually in this school."

"Yachi has a point, Fear-kun. In any case, the fact that she has responded counts as progress from our view."

"Really~? But she clearly said she won't respond to us anymore."

"Not necessarily. These words are very direct, but if interpreted in the most benevolent manner... I cannot guarantee for certain, but it might be possible to read it like this: 'Although direct contact is impossible, it's not like we can't have indirect contact. However, I won't respond again if you use this type of careless method of communications again.' ...Right?"

"Hey Cow Tits, are you saying that she'll respond if there's a better method?"

Fear suddenly got up from the table and straightened her body, apparently recovering some of her vitality.

"I mean that in consideration of possibilities, such an interpretation is not ruled out."

"A better method... I see, we just need to write something that is even more obfuscated. Like using a code!"

"It would be great if there existed a code that could only be used by people who knew about the existence of cursed tools... But unfortunately, even if it existed, only that absolutely ridiculous research organization would know. As a side note, the other side probably thinks that "using a notice board that anyone could read for a conversation" is in itself very careless. Because it's possible to be seen by someone when pinning a reply like this and end up revealing her identity instantly."

"Muu, I got it! That's right, we just need to set up a security camera beforehand! We'll immediately know once we check to see which girl came to pin the reply! Can we still make it!?"

"We already said it's too late. Also, we can't reuse this method of notes on the notice board."

"That's true... Besides, even if we find out what she looks like using a security camera, we'll probably get ignored from then on. Using forceful measures will definitely displease her and make her unwilling to trust us."

Only after Haruaki said this without thinking did he realize that this was actually a crucial issue. In the first place, they wanted to meet her in hopes of enlisting her help to drive away the Knights Dominion. Trying to deceive her and secretly find her true identity in spite of that would be completely putting the cart before the horse. What they needed to do most was win her trust while making contact with her.

(That said, we still don't know what we should do...)

During the discussion, break time neared its end. The breaks between periods were only ten minutes long. Finally, everyone decided to go back and think of a second proposal on their own, adjourning the meeting for now.