"Kazekura Moe."
In one swift motion, I snatched away her handgun and sidestepped.
"And next, Sorai Saki."
The Shittim Chest's power deflected the stream of machine gun fire, causing most of the rounds to strike the twin-tailed girl I had just disarmed.
Moe immediately cried out.
"Hey! Saki, what are you doing!? Why are you shooting your own teammate!?"
"Shut up already!"
While ducking behind cover to reload, the short-haired girl shot back.
"It's your fault for wasting all the shells and then getting yourself taken hostage!"
Even so, Saki's attack noticeably lost its momentum after that.
I couldn't help but shake my head with a sigh.
At a time like this, they still had the energy to argue, throw blame around, and even drag each other down...
As expected, they were only first-years.
Driven by a vague expectation I couldn't quite explain, I chose not to pursue her immediately. Instead, I withdrew to safety and handed the now combat-incapacitated Moe over to Kirino.
When I returned to their position, however, I was both surprised and disappointed to hear the unmistakable sound of pages frantically turning from behind a piece of cover.
"Damn it... The response for this situation... Which page was it on...!?"
Saki shouted anxiously.
So despite being the kind of honor student who scored nearly perfect marks in theory, she was actually a rigid dogmatist incapable of adapting?
Anyone could tell the correct move was to regroup with the remaining squad leader first, relocate, and rethink their strategy.
"Saki!"
At that moment, an urgent voice came through her radio.
"Respond if you can hear me! For now..."
"Shut up already!"
Saki cut her off roughly, paying no attention to how loud she was.
"Why are you the one giving me orders anyway? We're both first-years! The moment the academy decided to shut down, you stopped being our squad leader!"
I see.
So there was internal conflict too.
After all, not every squad was like FOX, whose members had already been close friends before becoming teammates.
Without much time to build trust, and with everyone carrying the pride of being elites, this kind of thing wasn't particularly surprising.
Even if they had disagreements, couldn't they at least pick a better time?
My opinion of RABBIT Squad sank even lower.
And by extension, so did my opinion of Valkyrie, who couldn't even suppress opponents like these.
Of course, they at least deserved some credit for forcing RABBIT Squad to expend so much ammunition.
But that was about all.
No longer hesitating, I advanced toward Saki's position.
The moment I carelessly stepped forward, gunfire suddenly erupted from behind me.
An ambush.
As though using those shots as a signal, something flew out from behind Saki's cover along with her shout.
"Eat this!"
The next instant, a blinding flash and deafening explosion robbed me of both sight and hearing, leaving me dizzy and nauseated.
Although it lasted only an instant before my authority completely healed the effects, it had happened nonetheless.
As bullets poured in from two directions, I sorted out the situation as quickly as possible.
The last two members of RABBIT Squad hadn't started fighting among themselves at all.
Instead, they'd deliberately exploited the information I was likely to have, making me believe they were divided so I'd lower my guard before launching an ambush.
...Interesting.
They were certainly inexperienced. Instead of retreating, they'd chosen to set a trap.
But sometimes, that kind of fearless spirit was exactly what mattered.
The very thing I'd hoped to see by intentionally holding back was this kind of potential!
Otherwise, even if I won, it would have been far too boring.
Before I knew it, a broad grin had spread across my face.
"You rabbits really are delightful!"
"That's impossible!"
Saki exclaimed in disbelief.
"Not a single bullet hit!? You were practically a stationary target!"
A mere couple of magazines, with barely any Mystery infused into them, couldn't even drain one-tenth of one percent of the Shittim Chest's battery.
I burst into laughter.
"Hahaha! Your subconscious simply refused to let you aim your guns at me!"
Arona pouted and muttered quietly,
"As long as you're happy."
I paid no attention to her sulking.
After all, that wasn't too far from the truth.
Whether it was students subconsciously unable to bring themselves to shoot me, or Arona willingly shielding me from bullets, weren't both simply reflections of my unparalleled charm?
"What nonsense."
The white-haired girl answered coldly before making a calm decision.
"Saki, we have to relocate!"
She was RABBIT Squad's leader, Tsukiyuki Miyako.
The voice that had come through Saki's radio earlier had probably been a recording all along.
She really was meticulous.
But...
Run away?
It wouldn't be that easy.
I chose the closer target, Saki, ignoring the attacks Miyako launched from behind after realizing my intentions, and charged straight at the retreating short-haired girl.
Saki was still fumbling with her reload when I slipped inside her effective range.
One hand seized her wrist.
The other grabbed the body of her rifle and twisted sharply.
In an instant, I disarmed her once again before smashing the rifle stock upward into her chin.
She staggered backward and collapsed.
...Perhaps I'd gone a little overboard.
Just as I was scolding myself for not showing enough mercy toward a young girl, I suddenly heard movement behind me.
Turning around, my blood immediately boiled.
The moment Miyako saw Saki knocked down, she had fled without the slightest hesitation.
I immediately gave chase.
With the Shittim Chest's abundant power, I ignored every attempt she made to slow me down and caught up to her before long.
Originally, I'd planned to repeat the same sequence: close the distance, disarm her, then knock her down.
Unexpectedly, however, once I entered her range, Miyako voluntarily threw away her weapon and attempted to fight me hand-to-hand.
But the outcome had been decided from the very beginning.
When it came to SRT-style CQC...
Who could possibly compare to Yukino?
"Your punches lack power, your blocks are sloppy, your footwork is loose, your reactions are slow. Not a single movement is worthy of praise. And you think you're qualified to face me? Keep dreaming!"
Seeing through every intention and every opening, I effortlessly blocked all of her attacks before subduing her within a few exchanges.
"...Those techniques... they're all SRT techniques?"
Breathing heavily, Miyako strained to turn her head toward me.
"Who... are you...?"
Sharp eyes.
Calm judgment.
And the courage to risk everything when backed into a corner.
What a fine rabbit.
If there was anyone in RABBIT Squad who truly embodied the spirit of SRT, it could only be the girl before me.
"It's nice to meet you, Miyako."
Holding her pinned beneath me, I spoke gently.
"I'm Schale's Sensei. I look forward to working with you from now on."