At some point, a famous line from a movie villain comes to mind. He said that if you break the established order and create chaos, chaos itself is fair.
Indeed...
Although it was a line from a fictional character, seeing this mess made me understand the sentiment.
‘Though, more than fairness, it feels like everyone’s just equally going mad…’
The kidnapped girl was trembling in fear as she clung to the bike’s throttle. Her hands, gripping the handle like a lifeline, were turning white.
“Ugh… Ughhh…!”
Vroom—!
“Hahaha…☆”
I looked back at the increasingly chaotic situation, feeling a mix of embarrassment and amusement.
Vroom—! Vroom—!
Hundreds of students were chasing us. The pursuit, which had long lost its original purpose and rules, was turning more intense, with students colliding and fighting among themselves.
The red-haired girls, following their burning instincts, were rampaging. Their rampage turned into violence, released fiercely.
-Hiyahhhh—!! -Fight!! War!! Race!! Hiyahhhh—!! -I’ll be the leader—!! -Who are you?! Get lost!! Hiyahhhh—!!
The sound of metal clashing began to echo everywhere. Unable to contain their excitement, they drew weapons and started preventing others from getting ahead.
“Let’s blow them up all at once instead of poking around—!!” “That’s what I wanted—!!”
Ether skills from <Scarlet Academy> students burst forth. Flames erupted violently from the weapons they wielded.
“Take this—!!” “Bring it on—!!”
Boom—!!
Flames flickered over the tracks left by the bikes. Countless flames blazed red all over the wilderness. Together, they formed a hot sea of stars.
Another star exploded in a supernova.
Boom—!!
This place had become a red universe of madness.
Now, the goal of rescuing me was forgotten.
The festival of fighting had turned into a festival of pursuit, And the festival of pursuit had turned into a festival of defeating others.
Everything was just an excuse to fight.
Among this chaos... Someone was running faster than anyone else.
Vroom—!
Eir was desperately holding the lead. In one hand, she wielded a magenta flame-covered sword, and with the other, she gripped the bike’s handle as she sped ahead.
Eir skillfully dodged the hundreds of bikes and steadily closed in on us.
“Move!! Get out of the way—!! I was supposed to participate in the Combat Festival—!!” “There’s no such thing!! On this battlefield, the leader is just another warrior—!! Isn’t that right?!” “What did you say?! You little…!”
Had she heard the shout? A fierce response from Fiona echoed from the distant airship.
[That’s right!! Everyone is equal on the battlefield!! The leader taught us that, so we follow!! Therefore, attack the leader too!! Hiyahhhh—!!]
And like wolves howling, the red-haired girls screamed in unison.
“Hiyahhhh—!!” “Hiyahhhh—!!” “Hiyahhhh—!!”
At this moment, with everyone from <Scarlet Academy> rampaging, a fair chaos was unfolding. And of course, this chaos also reached Eir.
Vroom—!
Dozens of students were driving their bikes to overtake the strongest leader. They shouted with joyous smiles.
“Hiyahhh—!! Take this—!!” “Hahaha!! I’ve always wanted to beat the leader—!!” “If we all stab her at once, even the leader will hurt, right?” “She’ll graduate next year anyway!! Just attack her!!” “Hiyahhh—!!”
Dozens of bikes, with flames lighting up the weapons in their hands, approached. Eir’s eyes burned with competitive spirit as she saw them.
“You think you can take me lightly because I’ve been away for a while…!! Fine!! Come at me—!! I’m right here!! I’ll show you why I’m your leader—!!”
Eir shouted bravely.
“Hiyahhhh—!!” “Hiyahhhh—!!” “Hiyahhhh—!!”
The <Scarlet Academy> students charged. Hundreds of pursuers changed direction to chase just one person. That one person was the senior who had been running with them.
They were now racing to win.
One girl, brandishing a spear like a serpent, launched a threatening flame.
“This is the flame the leader taught me—!! Now I use it better than the leader—!!” “Don’t talk nonsense! Did you forget I told you not to rely only on flames?!”
Eir swung her spine-like sword decisively, cutting through the long flame. She kicked away the approaching bike, subduing it.
Thud—!
The girl who had swung the spear protected her body with ether and, while falling to the side, laughed heartily.
“Haha—!! As expected of the leader—!!” “Shut up! Next!”
And the countless red-haired girls, each with their own weapons, charged at their senior to attack her.
In all this chaos, There was only one person they most wanted to defeat. So, instinctively, they charged at Eir.
“Hiyahhhh—!!” “Hiyahhhh—!!” “Hiyahhhh—!!”
Everything was just an excuse for that.
Eir swung her sword so vigorously she almost forgot herself. Facing the weapons wielded by her juniors, she responded in a trance-like state.
“This is the sword technique the leader taught me!” “Sloppy! When did I ever tell you to swing it like that?!”
Another supernova exploded, and she moved forward.
“Try this greatsword that the leader personally trained me with!!” “Haven’t you changed at all from just following orders?!”
Fighting. Winning. Fighting. Winning…
How many times had it repeated?
Eir, facing countless reflections of herself, won.
From the airship, a girl with a husky voice burst into laughter. Being a <Scarlet Academy> student herself, she couldn’t help but be immersed in this situation.
[Hahaha!! Then take this attack from the second-ranked student!! If you still think you’re the strongest in <Scarlet Academy>—!!] “Bring it on—!!”
For them, everything was just an excuse to fight.
Fiona threw away the loudspeaker terminal inside the airship, grabbed a red spear, and shot down like an arrow.
A huge diagonal line. A straight line of flames.
Taah!
Wrapping her body in flame ether from high in the sky, it was an all-out attack.
Fiona poured everything she had into this genuine attack on Eir.
“Hiyahhhh—!!” “Hehehe…!”
Eir, half-unfocused, laughed as she reached out to the massive flaming arrow. The flames, imbued with her will, spun her sword.
By now… Eir was not handling the sword but the flames beyond it.
“Huff…! Huff…! Hehehe…! Hahaha!! This is our school!! Pure lunatics everywhere—!! You can’t see this outside—!!”
The spear and the shield of flames collided.
A roaring sound. A scorching heat.
Another version of ‘herself’ passed by.
And finally, in this vast wilderness universe, only one flame remained. The vividly burning trail was now only one.
After hundreds of collisions and dozens of clashes… only the crimson flame remained running.
Thwack!
Eir pointed her spinning sword of flames at me from the sky. She looked like a flaming chariot racing through the wilderness.
True to its name, [Crimson Trail].
“…Now, I can see you—! [Spiral]—!! I can see the faint scars on your body!! And the ether that passed through them!!”
Eir shouted, leaving countless versions of herself behind.
“I’ve finally caught up—!!! Thank you, everyone—!!!”
Thwack!!
Hearing that roar, The red-haired girls lying on the wilderness raised their hands.
After wandering through many places, Eir finally reached the pinnacle of her art by fighting with her most cherished people in the place she loved most.
“….”
It was a scene filled with heartfelt growth…
“….”
‘We’ couldn’t say anything while watching it.
While the <Scarlet Academy> students were fighting and hitting each other, Albite’s group, who had caught up, stood by my side, watching the scene. Even the kidnapped girl watched Eir’s struggle with sparkling eyes.
“This is… <Scarlet Academy>…? So cool…”
Somehow, her future actions seemed set.
But that aside…
“…” “…” “…” “….”
So… What exactly did I do?
Caught up in something strange in the middle of the night, I had a feeling I had dragged everyone into a massive game of tag.
‘I’m sorry…’
As I touched my forehead, wondering if I should offer a naked apology in front of <Scarlet Academy>...
“…Senior.” “Yes?”
Albite, riding her bike beside me, smiled. Her thick eyebrows slightly raised in a troubled yet warm smile, like looking at a mischievous younger sibling.
“Hehe. This time too, as expected.” “Uh, what…?” “You wanted to give Eir senior a chance to grow again, didn’t you? Really… if you’re going to do this, please give us a heads-up.” “….”
There wasn’t a hint of doubt in the eyes of the brown-haired girl looking at me. Kara and Lota, who had arrived in the following vehicle, also nodded, accepting her words.
“Oh, was that it? I didn’t know…” “Well, it makes sense. Senior always acts first when a solution comes to mind, pretending it’s a joke.” “Haha, come to think of it, even at <Mimir Industrial High School> and <Public Bana Boarding School>… you were always the first to step up.”
…
Indeed… There wouldn’t be anyone who’d want to see a scarred pink head naked apologizing, right?
‘Yeah, let’s go with that.’
I smiled brightly and answered.
“Hahaha☆ You got me—☆ It was a sudden idea… Ah, haha…☆ Hey, you shouldn’t judge a person by their appearance♪ And as a fair lady, you shouldn’t take hostages either—☆” “What, really?!” “Yes♪” “Then, please ask them to let me off! I’ve decided to quit my delinquent life and transfer to <Scarlet Academy>!” “Sure♪ Of course—☆ I’ll explain it so everyone can understand—☆”
…
Anyway, let’s go with that.
We all gathered and rested at the delinquent students' camp where the kidnapper had holed up. It seemed they hadn’t used the place much, as it was a surprisingly clean campsite.
“Haha! So that’s what it was!” “Hehe, well… it doesn’t matter. It was fun.” “Ah, I want to do it again next time.” “What should the prize be?”
Filled with the satisfaction of a rewarding fight… No, they were such heroic and gallant girls that they accepted my flimsy excuse generously.
Like well-fed beasts, The students of <Scarlet Academy> were full of leisure.
They even patted the back of the girl who had kidnapped me, suggesting they go measure her uniform size.
Eir was showing off a new technique she had awakened during the fight in front of her juniors.
Her sword technique had evolved into a ranged weapon. Now, Eir could attack from mid-air and medium distances by throwing her sword.
“Yah!! [Circular Fire Wheel]—!!”
Buzz— Buzz— Buzz—!!
“Wow!! It’s like a floating wheel!” “Hiyahhhh!!”
Clap clap clap…
“…Hehe.”
Albite snickered as she watched the scene. She sipped tea brought by other school students who had arrived and calmed the lingering excitement of the game of tag.
“Really, I can’t keep up with this school’s atmosphere.” “Well… but♪ Isn’t that the charm of <Scarlet Academy>?” “That’s true. Living by following your heart without any thoughts… seems romantic.”
That’s undeniable.
If I weren’t Clara, I probably wouldn’t have come here. But I didn’t say that out loud in front of my juniors.
‘Living by your heart is nice, but I should restrain impulsive actions next time…’
Anyway… I was relieved everything ended well.
“I’m glad it ended well—☆” “What do you mean by ended. Lara?” “…?!” “Rushing here because I heard you were kidnapped…” “…?!”
…
No way. No way…
“….”
I slowly turned around.
“….” “….”
A silver-haired girl was staring at me blankly. Beside her, a wolf-eared girl was mumbling, ‘To receive the president’s favor…!’ and glaring at me.
“….” “….”
Ah. Is this going to end with my lips getting smashed in kisses? Or should I offer a naked apology? Maybe both…
“….” “….”
An awkward silence.
“….”
I scratched the back of my head and winked.
“Tehe…☆”