After the school trip ended, studying and assassination, our usual daily life returned.

“Yo, Nagisa and Ayanokōji, did you hear a transfer student is coming to school starting today?”

“Morning, Isogai-kun, I’m only hearing about it for the first time now, what about you, Ayanokōji-kun?”

“I’m the same as you, I’m only hearing it now.”

“What, you didn’t see Karasuma-sensei’s email?”

As he said that, Isogai showed us the email Karasuma-sensei had apparently sent.

“Judging from the wording, no matter how you look at it, they’re an assassin.”

“Yeah, it’s different from when you came, Ayanokōji-kun.”

“Well, I don’t have that kind of power, so of course it would.”

“What kind of kid are they, I wonder…”

“Fufufu… in that case, I, ‘the great me,’ will introduce the transfer student to you!”

Okajima appeared with a creepy laugh and shoved his phone’s lock screen in our faces.

“Well? She’s super cute, right?”

Sure, the girl on his screen had a very pretty face, but why is this guy acting proud?

“Why do you have the transfer student’s photo, Okajima?”

“To be honest, I begged Karasuma-sensei and got him to send it to me, haaah, I wonder if I can get close to her♪”

Okajima looked like he’d already forgotten the transfer student was an assassin.

I’m interested in the transfer student too.

I don’t think tossing in a single human would be enough to flip the situation, so what is the government thinking, or does she have the ability to break the situation open by herself?

With a growing sense of anticipation toward the transfer student I still hadn’t met, I headed for the classroom.

* * *

“I’ll introduce our transfer student now, she came from Norway, ‘Autonomous Thought Fixed Turret’-san.”

I see.

If that fixed turret is registered as a student, then that monster can’t harm her.

Meanwhile, we can take advantage of the fact that nothing will be done to us and repeat as many thoughts and experiments as we want.

That’s quite a scheme.

…If so, I can pretty much imagine what happens next.

“Alright, everyone, first period is—!?”

Almost exactly when class was about to start, firearms popped out from the fixed turret’s side and the attack began.

“Four shotguns and two machine guns, a dense barrage, but anyone in this class can pull off something like that and also, firing during class is prohibited!”

Korosensei wore a relaxed smile as he dodged the rain of bullets.

As proof, he was even batting bullets away with chalk.

But if you ask me where computers start getting truly frightening, it’s from here.

A computer’s learning ability on its own is something you could say far surpasses even mine.

[Transitioning to Phase 2.]

After that announcement, she deployed more firearms from her sides again and kept up the downpour of bullets.

How much can she learn and improve from a single round of firing?

This should be worth watching.

“Nuruhuhu, the exact same trajectory as before, even if you call it autonomous thought, in the end it’s just junk—”

BANG.

A bursting crack rang through the classroom like something had popped.

In my field of view was Korosensei’s finger, blown apart in a gruesome spray.

I can’t say for sure what kind of attack it was, but from what Sensei had just said, it was probably a blind shot.

In the classroom filled with gunfire, I let out a disappointed sigh where no one could hear it.

‘In the end, it’s just junk.’

Sure, that speed of evolution could become a threat to the target, but the opponent is that monster.

He’ll adapt immediately too.

The moment she shows that monster what she can do, you could say she’s already finished…

But the data the Autonomous Thought Fixed Turret gathers on Sensei will definitely be useful for my assassination later.

If that’s the case, what I should do is only one thing.

‘Use the Autonomous Thought Fixed Turret as a pawn until it’s spent.’

* * *

Korosensei POV

Alone in the darkened classroom, the Autonomous Thought Fixed Turret-san, who had been restrained by the students, seemed to be reviewing today’s results.

“From Autonomous Thought Fixed Turret to Master, due to unexpected trouble, day two plan could not be carried out, probability of resolving the problem alone is 0%, risk that probability of assassination by deadline will drop extremely, requesting immediate countermeasures.”

“No, no, you mustn’t rely on your parents… the tactics your parents think up don’t fit this classroom and besides, you are a student and a transfer student, you have to think of a way to cooperate with everyone on your own first.”

“Cooperate?”

“Do you understand why your assassination was obstructed not by Sensei but by the students who should be your allies, from their perspective, there’s no benefit to helping your assassination.”

“I see, understood, Korosensei, it’s true I did not consider my classmates’ interests…”

“Nuruhuhu, you really are smart. Sensei made an application and additional memory for you, please take a look at this, you should see that if you cooperate with your classmates, the assassination success rate rises dramatically, well then, do you understand the importance of cooperation now?”

“I understand, but I do not understand the method.”

“If a student is in trouble, helping them is Sensei’s job, I’ll teach you what you need for cooperation, harming you would violate the contract, but improving your performance isn’t prohibited, after all.”

Saying that, I began modifying her.

“Why are you doing this? This modification will shorten your life, will it not?”

“As I said earlier, before I am a target, I am a teacher and after just one day yesterday, I felt it in my bones, your learning ability and learning motivation are extremely high, nurturing that talent is a teacher’s job when they’re entrusted with students.”

* * *

“Hey, do you think she’ll be here today too?”

“She’ll probably be here.”

“Let’s complain to Karasuma-sensei, there’s no way the class can function with her around.”

While grumbling, Sugino opened the door and a cheerful greeting rang out.

“Good morning, everyone♪ Today’s weather is wonderful, it’s a perfect day for assassination♪”

That fixed turret was now smiling brilliantly instead of wearing a blank expression.

Ah… and here I was, deciding she was my kind without permission…

Jokes aside, I see, so she modified her.

If he didn’t help her, I was already thinking of a way to remodel her into a slaughter machine for information gathering.

In practice, students aren’t forbidden from harming her anyway, so it wouldn’t become a problem.

“She’s insanely popular now compared to yesterday.”

“Well, she can basically do anything by herself.”

As I said that and looked over, she was talking with the girls in class while playing shogi with Chiba.

By the way, Chiba lost in three moves.

“Amazing! Amaziiing! You can even make something like this inside your body!”

“Yes♪ I can freely shape special plastics inside my body, so as long as I have the data, I can make anything, not just guns.”

“Then, can you make flowers too?”

“Understood♪ I will collect flower data♪”

“Also, shouldn’t we decide what to call her already, Autonomous Thought Fixed Turret is way too much…”

“Then♪ how about Ritsu?”

“Ri… tsu? Is that me?”

“Yeah, is that fine with you?”

“Yes! I’m happy♪ Then from now on, please call me ‘Ritsu’♪”

“Hey, Karma-kun, Ayanokōji-kun, looks like she’ll manage to get along from here on.”

“Hm, I don’t know, in the end she’s only moving according to Korosensei’s program, it’s not like the machine itself has a will… what happens to her from here is something her owner decides.”

“I agree with him… you could say it’s impossible for a machine to become human.”

When I said that, Nagisa looked at us with a slightly lonely expression.

* * *

The next day, when I went to the classroom, just as expected, Ritsu had returned to her usual blank face.

Of course she had.

Ritsu is, in the end, just a tool.

A tool can only obey its owner’s orders…

“It’s a contract that she won’t harm students, but they said from now on, modifications will also be considered harm and of course, you all are the same, if you tie her up and she breaks, they’ll demand compensation.”

If her performance was lowered, does that mean that noisy, pointless shooting will start again?

Karma seemed to realize it too and he looked ready to ditch class, already packing his things.

And then first period arrived, everyone wrapped in tension.

“We’re coming!”

BANG!

A tremendous explosive sound rang out and when I looked to my left…

Instead of a machine gun like before, there was a beautiful ‘flower’ blooming there.

“I promised I would make flowers… Korosensei made 985 improvements to my body, however, most of them were judged unnecessary by Master and removed and deleted. But… based on what I learned about Class E’s situation, I personally judged that cooperation ability is indispensable for assassination and before it was erased, I hid the related software…”

“Wonderful! That means, Ritsu-san, you…”

“Yes♪ I disobeyed Master by my own will♪ Korosensei, this kind of behavior is called a rebellious phase, is Ritsu a bad girl?”

“Not at all, it’s exactly what a third-year middle schooler should be like, it’s perfect!”

Korosensei made a big circle with his whole body.

And like that, the noisy sound that had been a shooting blast turned into welcoming applause and Class E gained one more ally, one more pawn.

* * *

Ayanokōji POV

For the first time in my life, I was being hit by a sensation.

It was like my common sense was being overturned from the foundation.

If this was a human and not Ritsu, I wouldn’t be surprised at all.

Because humans have will and emotion and because of that, they can make mistakes and they can rebel against others.

But with Ritsu, it’s different.

Ritsu is a programmed computer.

She can’t disobey orders like a human.

You could say the decisive difference between me and her, both disposable tools, is right here.

Even if the best choice is lying right in front of her, a single order can make her unable to pick it up.

That’s how I thought until now.

But this time, she chose the best plan.

Which means, in the gap between absolute orders and the best course, while repeating her thinking, she established an ‘ego.’

A computer gaining an ego, that is nothing less than the first step toward evolving into a human.

From here, she’ll learn all kinds of things and keep growing into an existence closer to human…

If one day, in the course of her growth, she comes to understand something called emotion…

Then maybe I, too, could become ‘human.’

After all, she, that thing, will become an important existence both for assassination and for me personally.

For my goal, I have to make sure I can use her at any time…

* * *

Ritsu ← Interesting