Time is limited and in a crisis where there’s no time to hesitate, Karasuma-sensei fires off orders at us.

“All of you, pay attention! Our target is the top floor of the mountain-top hotel. This is a continuous mission, from stealth infiltration straight into an ambush. Use the hand signs and coordination we trained with as-is, the only difference is the target, memorize the map in three minutes, everyone, operation start!”

“Understood!”

With the sortie order given, we began climbing the cliff that towered behind the hotel.

But whoever the culprit is, they know about Koro-sensei and even Karasuma-sensei’s contact info, just who are they…

While I was thinking that, we finished climbing the cliff and everyone moved into a final confirmation of the infiltration route.

“Ritsu, final check on the infiltration route.”

“Yes, leave it to me, Karasuma-sensei♪ Displaying the internal map. Final confirmation. Since we aren’t legitimate guests, we can’t use the IC card elevators. That means we have to use the stairs, but the stairs are placed separately on different floors, so we’ll need to move long distances.”

So the longer we move, the higher the risk of being discovered.

But if we get too cautious, we’ll fail from the time limit.

This might turn into a pretty hard mission.

After that, we infiltrated through the back entrance that Ritsu opened by hacking.

“There’s more security than I expected.”

“If it’s hard for everyone to get through, shouldn’t we just reduce the number of people?”

“No. Since we don’t know how many enemies there are, that’s too dangerous.”

“What’s with you guys, stop dithering and just walk through normally.”

Saying that, Bitch-sensei ignored the students’ warnings and just walked right in.

But her acting skill was something else. In no time, she became a pianist, started playing the piano in the center and with her performance and sex appeal, she drew every gaze to herself.

“That’s insane, Bitch-sensei. She never said a word about being able to play piano.”

“Don’t underestimate her based on how she usually acts. The better the assassin, the more they can do. The one teaching you conversation skills is one of the world’s top honey trap specialists.”

“Nuru-fufufu, even if I can’t move, there’s nothing to worry about at all, is there?”

Thanks to Bitch-sensei, we safely got everyone past security and pretending to be guests, we headed toward our objective.

* * *

“It really feels like they’re just guests.”

“They don’t even meet our eyes. They probably want to avoid trouble too.”

“I thought everyone in the hotel might be an enemy, but if it’s like this, we can probably reach the top floor easily.”

“Even if something happens, Karasuma-sensei as the vanguard will notice.”

The earlier tension was gone and since we were moving forward surprisingly smoothly, everyone looked kind of thrown off.

In fact, Terasaka and Yoshida started pushing ahead, leaving Karasuma-sensei behind.

But I felt something off about the man in front of us.

“Wait, Terasaka-kun! That guy’s dangerous!”

Before I could call out, Fuwa rushed ahead and shouted first.

And the moment Karasuma-sensei sensed something and pulled the two of them back, gas sprayed toward him.

“How did you know? Not showing killing intent and taking someone out as we pass is my specialty.”

“Because, you were the one handing out the service drinks at the start, right? It’s obviously weird for someone like that to be walking around here.”

“Then you were the one who gave everyone the virus too…”

“Hey, hey, that’s weak evidence to be so sure. Even if it wasn’t the drinks, there were plenty of chances to slip something like that in, right?”

“Ugh…”

“Tsk tsk tsk, that’s sweet, sweeter than sugar. The only times the whole class put the same thing in their mouths were those drinks and the dinner on the ship. But Mimura-kun and Okajima-kun, who were editing videos and didn’t even eat dinner, are still collapsing, so the source narrows down to the daytime drinks. Therefore, the culprit is you, uncle-kun♪”

“Even if you figured me out, it’s already too late.”

Even after being exposed, the man just laughed confidently.

At the same time, Karasuma-sensei dropped to one knee.

“A poison user and one with good practicality.”

“My custom indoor anesthetic gas. One whiff drops even an elephant and the moment it hits outside air, it breaks down immediately, leaving no evidence. Now, I get it, you’ve got no intention of dealing. I’ll report the negotiation failure to the boss!”

“If we encounter an enemy, immediately block their retreat and cut off contact, right, Karasuma-sensei. You should’ve attacked the moment you saw us instead of trying to go back and report.”

“Hmph, I’m surprised you can still talk, but in the end, the rest are just brats. If you die, they’ll lose control and run.”

The instant the man moved to spray gas again, Karasuma-sensei’s kick slammed into his face and the man’s body flew through the air.

Even while numb, he’s still this fast…

But even Karasuma-sensei couldn’t stay conscious and he collapsed on the spot.

We managed to get past the gas user thanks to sensei, but anxiety was written all over everyone’s faces.

Of course it was. There are more opponents waiting ahead who have more experience, knowledge, everything.

It’s better than that earlier carefree mood, but this heavy air is hard to endure too.

As I was thinking that, Koro-sensei opened his mouth.

“Whew, it really feels like summer vacation now.”

“………”

“What are you being so relaxed about? You’re in that absolutely safe form!”

Since he said that while being the only one in a completely safe state, everyone glared at him.

“Koro-sensei, why is this summer vacation?”

“Teachers and students aren’t here to be buddy-buddy. And summer vacation is also a chance to develop independence in a place where a teacher’s protection doesn’t reach. If you properly apply what you learned in P.E. there won’t be many enemies you need to fear.”

Thanks to his words, confidence returned to everyone’s faces.

Seeing moments like this really makes me feel how much he cares about his students.

For me, up until now, a teacher was nothing more than someone who taught knowledge.

* * *

We advanced to the corridor near the observation area, but there stood a man with an obvious ‘dangerous’ aura.

This corridor has clear sight lines, so we can’t ambush him, which means we can’t use our numbers.

And Karasuma-sensei is in that state…

Karasuma-sensei keeps looking at me, probably knowing a fight is unavoidable, but as long as the assassination is still ongoing, I don’t want to give information to the target, this guy.

“Boring. From the sound of your footsteps, not one of you seems strong. Even though the chaperone is supposedly from an elite unit, too. Looks like he got hit by Smog’s gas, yeah. Come out, yeah.”

As expected of a professional assassin, he’s already noticed our presence.

We have no choice but to step out, but with his monstrous grip strength, the glass in front of him is already cracked.

But what bothers me even more is…

“Isn’t there a lot of ‘yeah’ in your speech, mister?”

Karma says what nobody else can say, without hesitation.

When he’s like this, he’s weirdly reliable.

“I heard that adding ‘yeah’ makes you sound like a samurai, yeah. If it’s wrong, fine, yeah. After I kill everyone here, I’ll drop the ‘yeah,’ and it won’t be embarrassing, yeah.”

“Bare hands, that’s your assassination tool?”

“It has demand, yeah. The advantage of not getting caught in body checks is huge, yeah. Get close, twist the cervical spine once and if I feel like it, I can crush a skull too. But it’s funny, the more you train the power to kill, the more you want to use it for other things, yeah. Namely, fighting, killing strong enemies, yeah. But looking at you lot like this, I’ve lost the will to test it. I’ll call the boss and my comrades and wipe you all out, yeah.”

Saying that, the man pulled out a radio to contact his comrades, but he couldn’t.

The one who moved first was none other than…

Akabane Karma.

“Hey, mister-yeah. Pros are surprisingly normal, huh. I could smash glass or a skull too. And you’re calling for backup right away, are you scared to fight a middle schooler one-on-one?”

“Stop! That’s reckless!”

“Stop, Karasuma-sensei. Look at him. His chin is tucked. Before, he’d flaunt his confidence and stick his chin out as a stance. But now it’s different. His mouth is still bad, but his eyes are straight, focused, observing the opponent head-on without slack. Looks like he properly learned from defeat, huh.”

“Fine. I’ll test you, yeah.”

“Go ahead and clash as much as you want. Against the tall wall of an adult.”

* * *

Karma POV

I swung at him with a nearby potted plant, but it was crushed by his prideful grip strength.

“Soft, yeah. You should find a better weapon, yeah.”

“Don’t need one. I prefer bare hands too.”

The moment I said that, his right hand closed in right up to my face.

I knocked it aside with my left hand and barely diverted it, but immediately the other hand came in from the opposite side.

And it’s not like he’s targeting just one spot. First was the head, next the neck.

Even clothes are game over the moment he grabs them, because of that grip.

Normally it’s impossible, but the only difference is the roles, what I’m dealing with is the same as always.

I kept deflecting those thick arms coming at me, but I couldn’t go on the offensive.

If I attack and eat a counter, it’s over in one hit.

So what do I do…

“…What’s wrong, yeah? If you don’t attack, you’ll never get past here, yeah.”

“Maybe. I was thinking it could work to keep drawing you in while everyone slips past little by little♪ But don’t worry, I’m not doing something that sly. This time I’m going in. I’ll match you properly and settle it fair and square, bare hands, one-on-one.”

“Good face, young warrior. With you, I might be able to taste a fair fight, I can’t get in the assassination business, yeah.”

The next moment, I dashed to the right and kicked him in the face.

He guarded with his left arm and a counter right fist came right at me.

I dodged the fist and tried to counter for his jaw, but then the left fist came flying too.

Both fists cut the air, so in that opening, I drove in a roundhouse kick from the left, aiming at his side.

But he’s still a pro. Even with his posture broken, he never takes a clean hit from me.

I threw out left and right punches in a flow, but all of them were redirected and he went for a big right swing to finish me.

I lowered my center and slipped under the arm, then thrust a knife-hand strike toward his face.

He dodged it, but as he tried to create distance, he went for a kick.

If he gets distance, next time I really will get caught by that arm strength, so even if I die here, I can’t let him break away.

Before the kick could fly, I drove a knee into his thigh.

It landed clean and he wavered for an instant, his attacks stopping.

Chance!

Thinking that, I rushed in to finish him.

But in that instant, he sprayed gas at me.

* * *

Ayanokōji POV

Karma, who had been winning up until just now, took a hit from Smog’s gas and went down.

“One’s done, yeah. I don’t like long fights, so I decided to test Smog’s anesthetic gas, yeah.”

“Y-you’re dirty! Having that hidden, how is any of this fair?!”

“I never said it was only bare hands, yeah. Don’t cling too hard to your clinging. That’s the secret to staying in this job a long time, yeah.”

Saying that, he grabbed Karma’s face and moved into a position to crush his skull.

But I didn’t miss it, Karma’s hand moved for a split second…

“Gas sprayed at point-blank range, if you don’t expect it, there’s no way to dod—!”

In that instant, Karma sprayed the man with gas, the same way.

“What a coincidence, hahaha. Looks like we both thought the same thing♪”

“W-why do you have that… yeah. And why didn’t you inhale my gas… yeah.”

The man rushed in with a knife in desperation, but movements numb from gas are something even a middle schooler can stop.

Karma subdued him easily.

“I swiped the unused one off that poison-using old guy. It’s a waste for it to be disposable, it’s that convenient.”

“Why, yeah. Your gas attack, you didn’t breathe it in because you saw it coming, yeah. I only showed bare hands, yeah.”

“Obviously. I was on guard against everything besides bare hands. It’s true you wanted to do a barehanded one-on-one, but to stop us here, you should use any method you can and if I were in your position, I’d do the same. I trusted your professionalism. I trusted it, so I stayed on guard.”

He’s grown in a good way too…

It’s not like I did anything, but the growth of a person really is a nice thing to see.

“Karma-kun didn’t know a major defeat. He became the loser in the final exams and learned it firsthand. That even losers think just as much as he does. Once you realize that, you naturally stop underestimating your opponent in a match. Someone who can stay on guard with respect for the enemy, on a battlefield, we call that ‘having no openings.’”

“Hmph, impressive, young warrior, yeah. I lost, but I had a fun time, yeah.”

“Huh? What are you talking about, hahaha. The fun starts now♪”

Karma was holding mustard and wasabi in his hands.

I take it back.