The fireworks that suddenly rose drew everyone's attention to the black shadow.
In the next instant, the mysterious shadow flashed and appeared atop the city wall, revealing its true form.
It was a cartoon mouse doll with a humanoid shape, black and white all over, dressed like a circus clown. It had a long tail tied with a bow, round plump ears, and pupils glowing with a faint blue light.
At this moment, it held one hand to the side of its mouth, making an extremely human-like snickering gesture.
Immediately after, the cartoon mouse doll leapt high into the air, deftly twisting its body before stretching out its limbs into a "wood" shape, then landing steadily atop the huge pinball that had been abruptly placed before the city gate. It spread its arms wide as fireworks exploded behind it, as if welcoming our arrival.
The girls of the Game Development Department could not help but exclaim in admiration at its circus-like opening act.
But in the next moment, the doll lifted one leg, balancing on the pinball in a one-legged stance, while reaching back toward its waist.
"Careful!" Noticing the movement, Saori shouted sharply, raising her gun as she dodged to the side.
The Game Development Department and I reacted a beat slower than she did.
Before we could evade, the doll grabbed a white sphere and raised it high, striking an exaggerated throwing pose, then hurled the white ball toward us.
The white ball landed not far in front of me. After colliding violently with the hard ground, it suddenly erupted with blue flames in all directions.
This was clearly a bomb.
Even under the protection of the Shittim Chest, although I would not be injured by a close-range explosion, the consumption of precious power would be unavoidable.
However, not even that happened.
At the very moment the bomb exploded, an incomparably swift shadow rushed straight toward me, throwing itself onto me. Slender hands protected the back of my head as we tumbled together out of the blast radius.
"Sensei, are you all right?"
As the low female voice sounded, the soft pliant mass constrained by a tight vest moved away from my face. The girl stood up and extended her hand to me, her ice-blue eyes calmly fixed on mine.
It turned out to be Saori, who had already dodged away. In the instant she realized I might not react in time, she forcibly changed direction solely to protect me.
"I'm fine. Thank you." I took Saori's hand and stood up, giving her a gentle smile.
Strictly speaking, even if she had not done this, it would not have mattered much. Still, I accepted her sentiment.
Thinking about it, Saori must have had some unavoidable reason to be driven by Beatrice. In reality, perhaps she had already been partially moved by my personal charm, even developing special feelings toward me, which was why she rushed in without hesitation to save me.
Saori wears a mask every day. Perhaps it is to hide the fact that she blushes every time she sees me because her heart starts pounding.
"I'm glad you're unharmed."
With that, Saori turned around and immediately opened fire.
Momoi, Midori, and Yuzu also launched a counterattack toward the doll wobbling atop the pinball.
Watching Saori's shapely back, then recalling her cool beauty beneath the mask, I secretly made up my mind. One day, I would absolutely rescue Saori from Beatrice's clutches.
Of course, the main reason was that, between Saori, who placed my safety above her own, and myself, even if there were other factors involved, it could still barely be called a bond of true mutual trust.
Next, I looked toward another girl holding an electromagnetic cannon, who had yet to pull the trigger. She was watching me with concern and hesitation, as if awaiting instructions.
"Arisu, cover my retreat."
"Yes, Arisu understands."
After that, accompanied by the robot girl, I withdrew from the fiercest frontline of the battle, preparing to command the students remotely.
But before that, there was something else I needed to do.
I spoke to the white-haired girl in the projection beside me. "Himari, help me look up information on that doll."
"Ara ara?"
Himari raised an eyebrow and let out a cold laugh. "You didn't know? One of the most popular mascots of Utopia Theme Park back then, Shiro."
I vaguely recalled it, touched my nose, and fell silent in embarrassment. As for information about the mission site before it was abandoned, my thoughts had been mainly occupied with plans involving Arisu, so I had only skimmed through it roughly without paying much attention. Otherwise, I should have recognized it easily.
However, seeing that I knew I was in the wrong and did not speak, Himari pressed her advantage.
"That said, whether it's snowflakes at the peak of a snowy mountain or filthy water in the sewers, at least they know where they are, you know. Hehe. Only partially treated reclaimed water would be ignorant even of something so basic, wouldn't it? Perhaps your attention was so focused on something else? What do you think, Sensei?"
In the past, when I watched Himari attack Rio, as an observer, I found it rather amusing.
But now that I had become the target of her attacks, it was not very amusing at all.
For a moment, I even felt a subtle sense of empathy toward Rio, until I remembered that Rio's own aggression was not low either, and she had scolded me pretty harshly before.
All of a sudden, I wondered whether, back in the conference room, I should not have deliberately downplayed the seriousness of the situation in order to prevent Rio, Himari, and Neru from developing too much hostility toward Arisu.
At the time, I had only said that without a trump card, I might be severely injured. I did not tell them that the trump card could only be used once, and had already been completely destroyed by Kei's attack, which had been lethal enough to kill me.
If I told this fact to the Himari who was now speaking sarcastically to me, her expression would surely be quite something.
Thinking of that, I immediately took out my phone and opened the chat window with Himari.
Then I sent her a selfie that fully showcased my handsome looks.
I found it disgusting to sell misery by talking about my own misfortune.
It felt better to just resort to bribery.
In the projection, Himari stared at her phone, her expression freezing for a moment, then her fingers began moving rapidly.
Himari: What do you mean by this? What kind of person do you take me for?
Himari: One photo isn't enough.
Himari: Send more, and this super genius pure maiden frail hacker girl will forgive you.
Perhaps this was what passed for a maiden in Kivotos nowadays.
Me: I'll take more after we get back.
Himari: Deal. No backing out.
Immediately after, the Himari in the projection revealed a gentle smile.
"Sensei, is there anything else you'd like to know? Please feel free to ask anything."
I could not help but laugh. Arisu, who had looked somewhat uneasy after sensing the tension earlier, also let out a sigh of relief.
However, just as I was about to ask Himari for information on other "mascots", I suddenly heard the rapid sound of something rolling closer.
Along with Momoi's startled shout.
"Sensei! Watch out for the ball!"