Mistaken for a Masked Munchkin

Javert's Iron and Justice (3)

"Are you Student Viktor?"

"......Pfft."

Javert's question sounded like she was talking to herself.

I only let out a short laugh.

I neither confirmed nor denied it.

It was a reaction crafted so it could be taken either way.

"Well... I wonder."

Javert suspected the assailant before her was me.

She had not gotten a proper look at my face.

After all, this assailant was completely different from the boy named 'Viktor' in build, speech, voice, and everything else.

"Why? Do you hope I'm not that student?"

"Answer only the question."

All she had to support her suspicion were impressions that had built up over a long time.

Javert's thoughts must have been a mess by now.

I made a show of fluttering the hem of my robe.

Her green eyes were calm, but there was definitely a faint tremor in them.

"Well... are you going to keep standing there? I was thinking of running away soon, you see."

"Denied. You cannot take a single step out of Purgatory Floor 80."

"Oho, according to whom?"

"Not according to anyone. According to principle."

"You really do love those damn principles."

Whiiiiish-!

The clusters of light around us swirled even more fiercely.

Before I knew it, the woman had raised her fist and lowered her stance as if she were about to launch herself forward.

"That aside, I still have not heard your answer."

"I will permit no further conversation."

"What will you do? What if I am one of your students? Will you still kill me without asking a single question?"

"Nothing changes. Whoever you are, there can be no exceptions when carrying out principle."

"What a dreadful educator you are."

"I will resume the execution."

Kwaaaang-!

The woman kicked off the ground, and a delayed roar rang through the floor.

Her flying red hair moved so fast it was hard to follow.

A white flash drove into my abdomen.

I had to defend by instinct before I could even process it.

I barely raised the back of my blade and narrowly blocked the woman's fist.

"Kgh...!"

Teooooong-!

A terrifying impact scraped at my eardrums.

The recoil sent me flying backward as if I had been shot away.

Tap.

Javert closed even that distance.

Her chillingly lifeless pupils flashed with light.

Through the scattered brilliance, blazing heat surged toward my shoulder.

-Droit-Style Martial Arts, Fourth Form-

'Annihilation'

A flowing, seamless combination.

As I steadied myself, I signaled Her Highness in my mind.

'Now.'

[Understood!]

Red gathered around my fingertips.

Soon, bright red blood surged forth and blocked my vision.

It opened a savage maw, as if to swallow the pure white whole.

-Blandir-Style Bloodcraft, Tenth Form-

'Bloodstorm'

Light and blood collided in the air.

The light shone on the blood, and the blood covered the light, while a dark red sun briefly rose at the center.

For that brief moment, they seemed evenly matched, but in the end, the flash was the one that broke through.

Peeeeok-!

The blood-colored form was torn apart with a violent sound.

That was how overwhelming the woman's violence was.

Even as Carmilla clicked her tongue, she continued blocking Javert's path.

[Kgh... As expected, I cannot win in a contest of strength!]

-Blandir-Style Bloodcraft, Ninth Form-

'Blood Spear'

Kwaaang-!

Fragments of broken Potent Blood scattered.

A bright red spear collided with Javert's fist.

A small scratch appeared across Javert's cheek.

I seized that moment and leaped toward the woman in return.

"Huuup...!"

I swung the dagger in a surprise attack.

In my other hand, I had a pocket watch hidden.

Click.

When I pressed the button, the world slowed for a moment.

The silver blade cut through time and rushed in.

Krrrk-!

The dagger scraped one of the emblems on her uniform and missed.

Javert had twisted her waist away with insane reaction speed.

Only a faint blade mark was carved into the badge on her chest.

I quickly stepped back.

'Damn it, what is that combat sense...!'

Kuuuuung-!

Right after, the woman's counterattack struck the dagger.

I had no choice but to get pushed far back.

'Even with the crown on, all I can do is barely hold out?'

I quietly clicked my tongue.

Of course, I was in a situation where I could not go all out.

The Step Bug, Lua, and everything else were unavailable.

'Anything that might identify the assailant as me.'

I had to avoid using anything too distinctive.

I could not give Javert certainty yet.

I needed to shake her a little more.

I had to make her waver.

I had to make her sink deep into thought and question everything.

"I have something I want to ask."

"Denied."

"Why is the academy trying to kill me? Wouldn't it be better for you if I cleared Purgatory?"

"You violated regulations. A fitting punishment is simply being carried out."

"What do you think? Am I truly someone who must be executed?"

I asked the woman.

How long could she keep that expressionless face?

"Do you have no intention of judging for yourself? Are you really going to entrust yourself only to principle?"

"Principles exist for righteousness by nature. Judgment based on principle is many times more accurate than the delusions of a mere individual."

"Haha! You must believe everything in the world can be explained by principle. Do you truly believe that is righteousness? Even when you ignore every comedy and tragedy born outside the rules? What you speak of is nothing but oppression under the banner of principle."

"Questions are unnecessary. Humans need only follow principle."

"Why? Do you not know that even those principles are full of holes, a righteousness born from humans?"

"At the very least, principles and rules are consistent."

"Meaning they are merciless no matter who they face."

A spear and a shield.

The spear dug in relentlessly, and the shield had no intention of being pierced.

The clash between conviction and conviction was that tense.

I swung my dagger and deflected the flash.

Kiiing-!

'But.'

I felt something.

A change in Javert.

It was subtle, but my eyes did not miss it.

It had started the moment the woman began suspecting that the assailant before her was 'Viktor.'

-Are you Student Viktor?

The purpose of her attacks had changed.

In the first clash, she had clearly seemed ready to incinerate me in a single blow.

Her movements had seemed focused entirely on execution.

But now, her killing intent had faded slightly.

Her attacks were still fierce, but their trajectories were straying bit by bit from my vitals.

'Rather than my vitals... it feels like she is aiming for this robe.'

Javert was pretending otherwise while trying to strip off my robe.

It seemed the assailant's identity bothered her after all.

Because of that, her killing intent had unconsciously weakened.

"Ha."

I sneered.

A bitter sentence stabbed deep into the woman's chest.

"Your fists have been awfully weak for a while now. Did you start hesitating?"

"Is that provocation?"

"No... Your movements just seem strangely off. At first, weren't you ready to burn me to ashes without even giving me a chance to speak? Now you do not seem to be aiming for my vitals. You look more occupied with snatching at my robe."

"I am only attempting to confirm your identity."

"Why? If you confirm it, will something change?"

"I will report your identity..."

"Even though you are going to kill me anyway."

"......"

"If you are going to check my face, would it not be easier to turn me into a corpse first and check afterward?"

"......"

The woman's lips closed for a moment.

Instead, a fist loaded with even more force struck my dagger.

My vision kept flashing hollowly.

Teeong! Kagrrk... Clang!

"Why?"

"......"

"Why do you want to check?"

"......"

"Could there be someone inside this robe who should not be there?"

Kwaaaang-!

A louder boom shook the floor.

If not for the crown, that attack would have broken my arm outright.

Tremble.

I gripped the shaking dagger tight.

Beyond it, I stared at the green eyes shaking even harder.

"You should kill me."

I whispered.

"You are going to kill me anyway, are you not? No matter who is inside this robe."

A student.

A professor.

An old person.

A child.

Someone precious.

Or even herself.

"Because that is your justice."

The woman carried out executions without hesitation.

By the conviction she had cultivated, Javert was someone who had to be that way.

"Do you hope I am not your student?"

"......"

The woman's lips did not part any further.

Her movements also grew strangely disordered.

I twisted the corner of my mouth.

'Shall I leave it here this time?'

This seemed like enough to shake her.

I spun the dagger in my hand a few times.

Whirl.

The silver blade spun straight.

Then I tilted my head toward the red-haired woman.

"Unfortunately, it is about time I returned."

"......Denied. You cannot escape."

"I decide that."

"Go ahead and try."

Javert took position as if blocking the floor's entrance.

But my escape route was not that way.

Ding-!

[Mid-Range Teleportation Sigil]

-Category: Sorcery-Mixed Weapon

-Grade: B+

-Status: Clean

-Description: A dagger once used in a sorcery ritual. If it leaves a blade mark on a nonliving object within 3 km, the user can teleport to that location at will. The effect is not canceled as long as the blade mark is not damaged, and the number of possible transfers is 3.

The dagger I had been using in battle all along.

It was the item I had obtained during the School Trip after taking first place in the tag game activity.

Tap, tap.

I tapped the tip of the dagger.

Right after, a bluish haze wrapped around me.

Javert belatedly grasped the situation and lunged toward me.

"Wait...!"

Of course, she was already too late.

Beyond my blinking vision, I calmly waved my hand.

"Then, see you next time."

Pajik.

Teleportation activated, and my vision changed.

A blue window floated before my eyes.

The destination was the bedroom in my dorm room, where I had left a blade mark.

Ding-!

[Item 'Mid-Range Teleportation Sigil' has activated.]

[Current remaining uses: 2/3]

And just like that.

I successfully escaped Purgatory Floor 80.

***

The next day.

A morning where even last night's commotion had scattered like a dream.

I woke up the same as usual.

"Hmhm."

After washing up and getting ready, I left the dorm as if nothing had happened.

It was a day for going to work at Javert's laboratory.

As her Direct Aide, I had to help with various paperwork.

I fiddled with the mask I had put on and stepped lightly toward the research building.

"Looks like she isn't here yet."

The laboratory was empty.

So I sat down first and started on the paperwork.

Exactly thirty minutes later, Javert strode in through the laboratory door.

"Ah, Investigator!"

I waved with a bright smile.

"The weather is especially good tod..."

"Student Viktor."

"Geh."

Clatter-!

Naturally, the woman grabbed me by the collar.

Javert shoved me against the wall, pinned my whole body down tight, and looked up at me.

"So it was you after all. That man from yesterday."

Her green eyes shook.

Reflected in those pupils was only a masked boy.

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