“Regardless where we go, trouble always finds its way to my master, but…”
She lowered her eyes as she thought of her master who feared for the future.
As she thought of how much he hated the sacrifice of normal people, a sad countenance painted her face.
“Worth, less, dog, of, the, govern, ment.”
“…Hmm?”
But that too disappeared when that man spoke to her in pauses.
They’d already been defeated, so at the very least he wanted to give voice to his grievance.
His actions called the attention of those indifferent eyes, and for the first time, they looked at him.
“No, matter, how much, you suppress, us, with, power. Even if you, crush us here… One, day, the world will be, righted— GAH!?!?”
The beauty did not wait for him to finish his words before sending her fist into the pit of his stomach.
Although that fist did not go through his body, his breath still choked, and the remaining chest-piece of his armor shattered.
And yet even then, the woman’s attacks did not stop.
“ah, uu, GUE!?”
“I don’t really care about the misunderstanding of a pitiful biting louse that just happened to have a sturdy armor, but…”
It was less the pain of the impact and more the pain from his breath being suddenly stopped short that hurt the man so much, but unfortunately for him, his fun time was just starting, as the woman grabbed his head and smashed it into the floor, then stomped on it.
“Old man? Who? Did? You call a dog? Say it clearly so I can understand. Say it!”
“GAH, GUE, GU.”
His face was being pushed into the ground, so even if he wanted to, he couldn’t.
Moreover, he still hadn’t gotten over the pain from that punch into his stomach.
As for the person demanding questions, despite asking him to answer her questions, she stomped on him repeatedly with a cold smile on her face.
“I know I called you an idiot, but the fact that you really believe that the government is the only one who wants to get in your way… Your imagination is too lacking. On top of that, you actually called me a dog of the government?”
Upon that maddeningly beautiful face appeared a crescent moon, and immediately it felt as though it was 10 degrees colder.
“Ahahaha, what a worthless joke! If not, then that would be the worst affront I’ve ever witnessed! If you want to call me a dog, at least call me my master’s dog!!”
“AH, GUH, S-Stop, GU, ek, uu.”
“You don’t even know such basic common sense. How bad are your brains?”
With her smile still furious and her tongue merciless, she stomped on his head several times.
Each time an anguished cry would resound, and the head of the man would grow smaller as it sank deeper into the ground.
Though she didn’t care what others thought of her, no insult could be more intolerable and more humiliating than for others to mistake who her master was.
“This job is obviously just volunteer work!”
Perhaps out of vengeance for that, a scornful smile appeared on her as she told them that she was interfering despite having no dog in this war.
“What, did she say?”
“V-Volunteer?”
They were speechless.
For the sake of their beliefs, they lived in hiding and prepared for 8 years. All of that was supposed to be rewarded on this day.
They could still come to terms with it if it was some powerful adversary who stopped them.
“Yes, that’s right. There was a lot of garbage, so we just decided to clean up a little.”
But the person stopping them was not doing so out of righteous indignation, responsibility, or self-defense, but out of a shallow feeling akin to one participating in a voluntary community cleanup.
Given her actions so far, it seemed true.
“Fu fu, do you think it’s unreasonable? Disgusting? Unagreeable?”
The beauty giggled and mocked them.
But even as the sound of her laughing voice got on their nerves, groaning in frustration was all they could do.
Their defeat had already been decided. There was no running away because this wasn’t even a fight.
When they thought of the days they spent until now, they couldn’t help but grind their teeth.
What flashed through their mind were the feelings that arose from the animosity and anger they held toward their government and Earth’s, as well as the memories of everything they endured in the past 8 years just so they could appeal them.
And then, as though she was aiming for that, all amusement vanished from the beauty’s voice.
“────But you know, how is this any different from what you’re doing? My irrational, disgusting, unreasonable terrorists, hmm?”
Something fundamental within them had been trampled.
Everyone became speechless as though they’ve been hit by something.
Because of that they all yelled.
“T-That’s not true! We just want to bring back the old Garesto!”
“We want to show the world how many people are suffering because of the cultural invasion from Earth!”
“There’s no reason to interact with a dangerous world no matter how starved we are for resources!”
“That’s, right… To, protect, Garesto, we will… GAH!?”
“Leader!”
The Gamma Team Leader, that was still being stepped on, wanted to give his input as well, but a strong stomp on his back shut him up.
“What a bunch of noisy insects. Please don’t start causing a ruckus on your own. It’ll make me want to crush you.”
“GAH, GYAAH!?!?”
With a smile on her face, she stepped into him even harder, and this time, a scream came out.
The beauty’s feet had easily crushed the hand of the Gamma Leader.
Moreover, she specifically picked the hand that could still move.
Gamma Team went quiet. It was not only because she broke her hand, but because of that condescending smile she gave them.
That beautiful but chilling smile made them instinctively shrink back.
“I wasn’t asking for your opinion, you noisy bugs. Besides, what worth could an opinion have when it needs to be backed with terrorism just to be accepted?”
The beauty said as she laughed and mocked them again.
But Gamma Team was already too scared to even feel frustrated.
The beauty found that amusing and declared loudly.
“Fu fu, good. So you know your place then. Know that you have been permitted to survive by the grace of my benevolent master. However, to disturb his precious peace with vain, foolish, and thoughtless actions – moreover, to actually make him act! This is an unpardonable sin! Even mutts would know better than to forget the grace of receiving lodging and food! Shame on you!”
She said as she lightly kicked on the ground with a different foot she used to step on the man.
How many of the humans noticed the purple electricity that ran through the earth in that moment?
But even if they did, what kind of consolation would such knowledge bring?
“GYAAA!?!?”
“HIGYAAAA!!!”
“AGAGAGAGA!?”
Incapacitated and lying on their back, the terrorists all writhed about as the electricity fried them from inside.
That pain forcefully roused the unconscious ones to consciousness, while the ones that were still awake turned to her, who could so easily commit such overwhelming violence.
And then as though it was a matter of fact, she spoke to them.
“I am talking about the truth of this world, your sins, and your worth. What are you sleeping for? Wake up.”
“I-I-, I-I’m sorry!”
“Y-Yes, Ma’am!”
No one was brave enough to point out who was responsible for shooting them down in the first place.
They took on a servile attitude to avoid infuriating the tyrant any further.
Even the people who’ve been forcibly awoken by her electricity couldn’t help but shiver before her cold gaze.
This was one of the pitiful endings of the soldiers who dreamed of change.
“I shall say it once more. Know your place. In the end, you are nothing more than common bugs. It would’ve still been fine if it was the leading actor responsible for enlivening my master’s life, but… Old Garesto? Cultural invasion? A dangerous Earth? Hah! What is with those stereotypical complaints straight out of the textbook?”
The beauty laughed scornfully.
To her, their words were empty.
For they were merely reciting the words that someone else had taught them.
“Irrelevant, trivial, and worthless things! How dare you trouble my master with such trivialities!? Hear and understand!! Everything in this world exists for my master! You minor characters will do well to simply serve as consumable goods for his sake! Do you understand?” She said, and they found themselves forced to nod by her overwhelming aura.
That was the extent of their existence, she told them haughtily and sincerely.
And given that overwhelming apathy to everything else, that could indeed only be the case, said a voice that revealed itself somewhere within that earnest affection and sorrow that she felt for her master.
But the slaves could not possibly notice that given that they could now only nod like broken dolls.
“…Good. If you understand, then I no longer have any business with you.”
Her anger withered and all of her interest seemed to vanish.
With a snap of her finger, streaks of purple electricity ran toward the slaves and put them to sleep.
She took this opportunity to destroy the weapon terminals on their arms as well.
Their memories of her didn’t matter, but a recording of her could only bring trouble.
It would also be troubling if they died on her, so she cast healing magic on the heavily wounded ones as well.
With that, her errand here was complete, and she nimbly leaped to the top of a tree.
“Hmm, it seems there’s no one suspicious left here.”
Even as she searched the area with senses that transcended humans and machines, she couldn’t sense any presence other than those in the academy.
She knew they’d been locked in, but since she hadn’t received any orders from her master to help them, she left them be.
Besides, even if they did manage to leave, they’d just get in the way, so while they might feel like they’ve been imprisoned, as far as she was concerned, they were in a shelter.
Hence, there was no reason to interfere.
“Oh, my master’s presence… Is inside again? I see he’s doing something troublesome again.”
What was more concerning was the current movements of her master.
Neither the distance nor the presence of the barrier affected her senses.
And when she realized where her master was moving ‘now’, she heaved a big sigh.
“If my master really wanted to, people on those level could easily be dealt with. But considering the future, I suppose there really is a need to get everyone to level up.”
Trouble would start wherever her master was, and there was a big chance that they would get involved in that.
In fact, it’s likely that they already can’t avoid being involved.
If so, then it makes sense to take advantage of this incident to level them up.
If the people around her master become stronger, then her master too will have it easier.
“Lilisha’s maids were fine, but save for a few exceptions, the students here are really terrible.”
The only method she could think of for those students was to fight with number.
But despite that she also knew that her master would still try to protect and raise them up.
People who lived respectably and worked hard; people who lived peacefully… He treasured such people.
That was the kind of person her master was. If so, then doing things that way was undoubtedly correct.
He never hesitated to use his power when others sought his help.
Lack of power was a trivial problem.
But it would be a different story if there was something he was unhappy about.
“I wish he’d order me more, though. Of course, I understand what it means for me to protect this place.”
Protecting the school from the hands of the disturbing elements had various meanings.
Getting rid of external influence was of course to protect the students that had escaped.
It wouldn’t do if they managed to leave the fields only to be sandwiched between two attacks.
That’s why she was positioned here. By protecting the school, she was protecting the students.
And because her master didn’t have to worry about the school, ‘presently’, he could move as he pleased inside the fields and take the needed steps to pacify the situation.
She understood why she was here, she understood the value of it as well, and she was proud of his trust in her.
But…
“Sigh… Why is it always like this? Why is someone like you, who wants peace more than anyone else, always in the middle of trouble? It’s frustrating, but I can’t support him all by myself.”
What made it even more frustrating was that it was not her lack of ability that made her incapable of supporting him by herself, but simply a lack of hands.
No matter how powerful she was, she could not be in more than one place and act simultaneously, but that was exactly what her master needed the most when dealing with these troubles.
“Those girls aren’t too bad, but they still haven’t known master for long. It’s not even enough just to heal his heart… Sigh, if only you were here too—”
Then at least the master she so respected and loved could have his fatigue lifted.
As she grumbled to someone, who neither existed here nor in this world, she uttered her name.
—Stella
In a voice that was both sad and regretful.
As far as she knew, she was the person her master trusted the most.
Gamma Team the School invaders──Destroyed
Remaining Life and Strength of the Target to Defend──Untouched
School Defense──Continuing
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