You’re Right, They’ll Expel Me if I Run into the Store with a Weapon!! - Chapter 90: Glad to Have Arrived Here

A black shadow stretches under the water.

It advances through the dark depths without revealing its form.

At the forefront of this shadow was a girl.

New shadows sprout from the extended shadow, exposing the girl to water pressure so intense it creaks her limbs, yet she does not stop.

She navigates the terrain without hesitation, thanks to the “half-destroyed skull mask”.

The skull, crafted by Haruna, is filled with features that utilize her intelligence to their fullest extent. One such feature is Haruna’s special sonar, which enables the understanding of underwater objects and terrain.

Despite being half-destroyed, the functionality remained alive, and even with faint noises, it sufficed for moving underwater.

Eventually, it becomes visible.

A steel castle floating between the surface and the underwater world.

A world where only the strong may enter.

However, the girl had the right.

Her mere presence up to this point was her qualification to enter the castle.

And then…

────!?

The entire ship trembled.

“What’s that?” Hiroki wondered aloud, unlike Suzuko, who alone noticed it.

“Hiroki, move to the very front of the bow…”

“Hm? Why?”

“It’s starting…”

She rechecked her equipped weapons and held the sniper rifle in both hands, lowered. Her aura was incomparably sharper than before, as if she were a completely different person.

“Hiroki… I’ll tell you.”

“Tell me what?”

“Everything about me.”

Then something flew over the building.

The sound echoing on the wide wooden deck came from an open silver case.

It was soaking wet, suggesting it had been underwater until a few seconds ago.

“Waterproofing for the arms…”

This confirmed it.

She understood how the enemy had boarded, moving hundreds of meters underwater to reach this place.

Only one of the participants was capable of such a feat.

Suzuko once again confirmed the enemy who had come here.

Then footsteps echoed.

The sound that filled the quiet space came from the corridor beside the building.

Suu──Suu──

A uniform clinging with water droplets.

Long hair dripping with water.

A half-destroyed black skull.

“…………The Tenth.”

At Suzuko’s words, the girl discarded the skull mask.

What appeared was the answer Suzuko had in mind.

“It’s been a while… The Ninth.”

Shiori responded to Suzuko.

(What? The Ninth?)

The stadium was rocking with excitement.

The reason was the scene displayed on the monitors.

“Finally, this moment has arrived! Right, Amano-san?”

“Yes! The moment everyone has been waiting for is happening right there!”

Amano and Moriko, in the commentary booth, were also putting their wild emotions into their voices. That’s how momentous the scene was.

The clash between the tenth and ninth ranks.

The confrontation between Himeji Shiori and Uchimoriya Suzuko.

Such an exhilarating development rarely happens.

“Since it looks like a storm could break out any second now, it’s a shame we can’t make out their conversation, so we’ll almost entirely cut out the sound from that spot!”

“I really wish we could hear it, such a shame!”

“Absolutely! But no worries about the conversation, I’ll do my best!”

“Eh, what do you mean by that…”

Amano made a smile like a child who had thought of something fun and grabbed the microphone that was set up.

“I’m confident in my dubbing!”

“Eh!?”

“It’ll be improvised, but I’ll make it sound realistic, so look forward to it!”

“Improvising won’t make any sense, will it〜!?”

The rain stopped, leaving behind dark clouds.

A gentle breeze caressed my cheeks.

White birds circled around the ship.

In such a fantastical situation, my heart trembled at a single word.

(What? The Ninth? What does that mean?)

“Hiroki, it’s been a while.”

“O-Oh, long time no see.”

Shiori’s voice was as usual.

(No! That’s not the point! Why did she call Suzuko the Ninth!?)

“I want you to hold onto this for me.”

She said straightforwardly with a smile.

There, was a gray koala plushie. I didn’t know why she had it or what led to that moment. But, her smile and the atmosphere around her felt oddly unsettling. Hence,

“Understood.”

I forgot to ask for her intention and just agreed, going with the flow. Then, it was thrown into the air. It landed in my hands without issue, just as instructed.

“Thank you.”

Lastly, Shiori said that and turned back to face Suzuko.

“…………”

“…………”

Shiori’s face, which had been smiling until a moment ago, sharpened into a focused expression.

Suzuko, too, emitted a daunting atmosphere that was palpable even from behind.

(What? What’s really going on?)

A palpable tension was felt between the two.

Shiori was the first to break the silence.

“I see you’ve managed to come out of your room.”

“……”

“A change of heart?”

“……”

“Or have you finally “moved on”?”

Her words sounded as if she knew Suzuko’s past.

To this, Suzuko, who had been silent since their initial greeting, didn’t respond.

“So.”

“……”

I could only see Suzuko’s back, but Shiori, facing her directly, seemed to find her answer in Suzuko’s expression.

“I’ve never been able to acknowledge you.”

She spoke with eyes harboring dark shadows.

“Why are you the Ninth, and I’m the Tenth?”

That was the darkness Shiori harbored.

“I spent three years working hard. I was acknowledged for my talent. Yet, I’m losing to you, who stays cooped up all day.”

It was Shiori’s past. The sacrifices she made to reach her rank were part of the reason Kaika said she lacked femininity.

“I was hailed as a genius, but you were called a prodigy. Why should my three years of effort be negated by your single talent?”

Shiori claimed she couldn’t acknowledge Suzuko, but that was more about Suzuko’s character than her abilities. She silently admitted that her own powers were inferior to Suzuko’s.

That’s why she couldn’t accept it. The fact that a single prodigy’s talent could surpass a genius’s efforts.

“How could you…”

Despite such realities, Shiori faced an intolerable situation.

“Why are you there…”

Suzuko stood with Hiroki at her back, a place where he wasn’t behind me. That fact gnawed at her heart, filling it with a dark, malevolent presence.

“Why are you standing there…”

What means did you use? Are you negating my efforts again? Was my desperate struggle to bring him in so easily taken from me?

“Why…”

Her voice, filled with genuine emotion, spilled out her inner thoughts, confronting Suzuko, who had done nothing.

But, as for Suzuko,

“……”

She remained silent, her gaze eventually shifting upwards.

The view was dominated by dark clouds, but then…

“……nh.”

Suzuko noticed something, letting out a soft sound. The dark clouds gradually began to thin.

Soon, sunlight from the gaps illuminated the vast lake.

It reached the bow where the three of them stood, but not everything was covered in light.

What resulted was Suzuko bathed in light, while Shiori remained enveloped in darkness.

Suzuko’s heart raced with a single thought.

(Hiroki was right…)

She recalled what Hiroki had said minutes ago about the scenery of dark clouds from the ship. If this stage illuminated by light was the outcome, for Suzuko, it was nothing short of miraculous.

“Hey──”

Shiori continued speaking, and slowly, Suzuko turned to face her again.

“(Having stolen Hiroki’s side from me,) how do you feel now?”

Then, Shiori, standing in the darkness, posed one last question to Suzuko, who stood with Hiroki at her back.

What feelings? My emotions upon encountering this scene?

There was only one answer. I recalled the quote of a warrior character from a story game that Hiroki and I had finished together, converting this emotion into words.

“The best.”

With a rare, broad smile, I conveyed this to Shiori, who was in the shadows.