One week left until the southern island assassination trip.

We had gathered at school to finalize the plan.

“Well well, brats, even though it’s summer vacation, you’re sweating from the morning in this heat, what hard workers you are~”

Saying that while cooling off with a juice in hand was our English teacher, Bitch-sensei.

“Bitch-sensei, don’t you need to train too? Your shooting and knife skills aren’t that different from ours…”

“Adults are sneaky. I’ll just ride along with your plan and take only the tasty parts.”

“Oh? You sound quite full of yourself, Irina.”

“…R-Rovro-sensei?!”

With everyone thrown into confusion by the sudden appearance of a big shot, Karasuma-sensei added an explanation.

“He’s here as a special summer instructor. He’ll be giving advice on your plan from a professional’s perspective.”

“If you skip even one day, your fingers and arms forget how to kill. If you don’t want to fail, hurry up and change!”

At her master’s furious shout, Bitch-sensei, who had been so relaxed just moments ago, went pale and hurried off toward the school building.

“Thank you for cooperating.”

“No problem. Now that we’ve lost contact with a professional assassin, we have no choice but to entrust it to them. More importantly, he isn’t here today, is he?”

“Yeah, just as we warned in advance, he’s currently on Everest escaping the heat.”

“Good. Maintaining operational secrecy is the key to assassination.”

It seemed the target wasn’t anywhere nearby right now.

That worked well for me too. It meant I could explain things to the key person in my plan today.

After Rovro finished going over the classmates’ plan, he narrowed his eyes slightly.

“I see. First you destroy the promised eight tentacles, then immediately have the entire class attack and finish him off. But what exactly is that psychological attack from before?”

“First we shake him up and slow his movements. It seems his mental state affects how he handles his tentacles, so even if he regenerates, it should still be effective.”

“That’s certainly a good plan. But the crucial part is the final shot that delivers the finishing blow. Precise timing and precise shooting are indispensable.”

“Are you worried about this class’s shooting ability?”

“No, the opposite. Especially those two. They’re excellent.”

Chiba Ryūnosuke.

He excels at spatial calculation. His long-range shooting based on spatial awareness makes him an unparalleled sniper.

Hayami Rinka.

With a good balance of manual precision and dynamic vision, she excels at taking down moving targets. Her shooting stability is among the best in this class.

“Neither of them is the loud, assertive type. They’re professionals who speak through results. I’d like them as my own students. The others are well-rounded too. You did well to find and raise them in such a short time. They have more than enough potential.”

* * *

Rovro POV

“Your aim has stabilized. For some people, shooting cross-legged works better than kneeling. You seem to have trouble syncing your breathing. Don’t force it, use a style that suits you.”

As I observed each student and gave them advice tailored to them, one student caught my attention.

His name was Ayanokōji, if I recall correctly…

His shots missed, but the lack of post-shot shake was unnatural. Almost mechanical.

As I was about to speak to him, a voice suddenly came from behind.

“Rovro-san.”

‘When did he get behind me?’

Without letting even a flicker of surprise show, I continued the conversation.

Looking closely, he has talent. And more than that…

“What is it?”

“What kind of person is the greatest assassin?”

“You’re interested in the world of assassins?”

“N-no, that’s not it…”

“Then I’ll tell you. The greatest assassin… one worthy of that name exists as only one person on this Earth. As is common in this line of work, no one knows his real name. He is known only by a single nickname.

They call him… ‘Death God.’ Appearing and vanishing at will, utterly merciless, piling up countless corpses, a man who came to be called death itself. If you fail to kill your target, he will eventually appear.”

“T-that kind of person really exists…”

“Are you scared? Then, boy… I will grant you a finishing move.”

“A finishing move?”

“That’s right. A finishing move taught directly by a professional assassin.”

* * *

Ayanokōji POV

To prepare the groundwork for my plan, I called Hayami and Chiba out to the deserted back mountain.

“What’s going on, Kiyotaka?”

“There’s something I need to tell you both regarding the southern island assassination plan. This time, I need you to… act as my decoys.”

“What do you mean?”

Seeing Hayami and Chiba look confused, I explained as simply as possible.

“Just as I said. The one who will take the final sniper shot and kill him won’t be you. It’ll be me.”

“…So you’re saying you actually have that level of skill?”

“You can think of it that way. If you want, I can prove it right here.”

“Fine. Then let’s settle this with a match.”

“H-hey, Hayami. There’s no need to suddenly turn this into a contest.”

“He said it first. And after hearing that, I can’t just back down. What about you?”

“Well, I’ve got my own thoughts too… but are you really okay with this, Kiyotaka?”

“Yeah. But if I win, you’ll participate in my plan whether you like it or not.”

“Bring it on.”

And with that, a sniper showdown between me, Hayami and Chiba began.

* * *

We absolutely couldn’t let anyone see us here, so I decided to quickly overwhelm both of them.

Chiba went first.

The match was a point-based contest of accuracy over ten long-range shots, his specialty.

As expected, his skill was impressive. Even at the BB gun’s effective limit of fifty meters, he hit accurately, if not dead center.

But sniping isn’t particularly difficult for me.

By increasing the BB’s weight and giving it sufficient hop spin, it’s possible to extend the effective range beyond fifty meters.

Once you know the shot will hit, piercing the exact center is trivial.

I calculate wind direction, air resistance and the bullet’s trajectory, then pull the trigger.

The fired round pierces the exact center of the target fifty meters away, exactly as calculated.

Once you’ve done it once, the rest is easy.

All you have to do is perfectly reproduce that motion.

Next was my match with Hayami.

We’d done this before.

A ten-round survival game using paint rounds.

With paint or BB rounds, even at close range the shots wobble too much to reliably hit a running target.

So there’s only one choice.

Shoot the opponent before they even realize you’re there.

With Hayami’s core stability, she can aim not only from the ground but also from trees, making these rules extremely favorable for her.

But once you know her tricks, predicting where she’ll aim from is easy.

After all, I’m the one who showed her this style in the first place.

I know her thinking like the back of my hand.

I walked through the forest while keeping an eye on likely spots where she’d peek out.

The moment she showed her face to take a shot, I pulled the trigger and took her out.

After completely shutting both of them down, I explained the plan.

“I’m not saying you shouldn’t try to kill him. I just want you to shoot in sync with my signal. If you can kill him with your sniping, just like the class plan says, that’s fine.”

“…I see. You draw his attention with our shots and the real kill shot is yours. That’s why we’re decoys.”

“Exactly. And keep this from the rest of the class. I don’t want to stand out.”

“If you’re fine with that, I don’t have a problem… but…”

Chiba glanced at Hayami, who hadn’t said a word since the match ended.

“Hayami, are you okay with this too?”

“So now you’re planning to deceive not just us, but the whole class?”

“Information control is basic assassination protocol.”

“…Then what did you think of me all this time while I was teaching you how to shoot? Were you laughing inside at how much worse I was than you?”

Her expression was more serious than I’d ever seen.

This was a moment where I needed to be honest.

“I’ve never thought that.”

“…I lost, so I’ll go along with your plan. I’ll do my job properly… but I don’t trust you.”

With that, Hayami left us with a faintly sad expression.

Left alone with Chiba, I decided to ask what he was thinking.

“Do you feel the same way she does?”

“Well, at first I was pretty conflicted too. But I figure you’ve got your own reasons, so it can’t be helped. Still, Hayami taught you seriously, so maybe she feels especially betrayed…”

“I see. Then I did something wrong…”

We ended up slightly estranged from Hayami, but she said she’d do her job properly, so it probably won’t affect the assassination.

And if we take him out this time, my relationship with Hayami will become no different from a stone lying by the roadside.

And so, the southern island assassination tour, colored by killing intent, begins.

* * *

Hayami → What did you think of me all this time?
Chiba → A little disappointed you were hiding your strength

Hayami ← Nothing
Chiba ← Just a good guy