Fighting was inevitable, so the only way was to fight them all.
There were five who were still active, while there was one who had fallen— I think there were six in total.
In a battle, the first thing to do is to confirm the number of opponents— because if it's not confirmed, troublesome things will happen as the number of opponents suddenly increases. In that case, I would definitely be in trouble.
"Keichi-kun, how is this?"
"I told you, take cover behind me!"
"Alright!"
After I ordered, Rikka-senpai immediately moved behind me— it seemed like she was really scared this time.
I could tell that her voice was trembling and her body was also filled with fear, so she was clutching my uniform tightly.
However, I don't quite understand why Rikka-senpai keeps repeating her questions.
Well, forget it— it would be useless for me to think about such things.
The most important thing now is to defeat all the bullies and make Rikka-senpai feel safe.
"Senpai, please let go! I can't move."
"Ah? Yes, I'm sorry!"
It would be very difficult to move if she was holding onto my uniform, so I asked her to let go.
Although Rikka-senpai still looked scared, but in the end she ventured to stand on her own without holding on to me.
"Are you guys done?"
One of the bullies asked the two of us.
"I don't mind if you attack together, so there's no need to ask anything."
I could only answer like that.
"You're pretty brave, huh? Maybe you don't know who we are yet."
"Maybe, but I think you guys are like dogs hired by the school to discipline the students. Am I wrong?"
"No, you're right. That's what we are."
"Is that so? Then do you find this job boring?"
"It's boring now, but it used to be very interesting because they kept challenging us."
"Challenging, what does that mean?"
"We got in their way, then they acted like thugs. Why would they want to be in a quiet place anyway? You must be feeling weird, right? So I asked them. But instead of an answer, they got angry and forced us to move away."
This is a little strange, why did I think that they would attack me and Rikka-senpai?
They had been silent and I didn't sense any violence from them.
Ah, I see.
There was a misunderstanding here.
I misunderstood that the bullies would immediately do horrible things to the students who were in the forbidden location.
I made a mistake again.
I jumped to conclusions too quickly.
No, it's not entirely my fault.
It seemed like the students were making too much of the rumors and assuming that the bullies were horrible— when in reality, the bullies were just a bunch of guards.
The reason why they acted violently, it was because of the students themselves who resisted and did not treat them politely.
Then if everything I've deduced now is true, that means I've done something bad, right?
I had kicked one of the bullies, even knocking him unconscious.
Of course, I was at a loss as to whether they would retaliate against me.
"Keichi-kun, I'm sorry!"
"Eh? Rikka-senpai?"
Amidst my confusion, Rikka-senpai suddenly walked forward towards the bully.
She looked different from before— I mean, her gaze was much more serious and seemed to penetrate everything.
"So you guys didn't actually intend to do anything cruel?"
Rikka-senpai asked the bully— she was now right in front of me.
"They were very stubborn, so we changed a few things."
"Changed? What did you change?"
"An eye for an eye. I think you'll understand right away."
An eye for an eye?
There is one possibility that is close to the truth.
No, I think it's the truth.
If the bullies see a bad event caused by one of the students, then they will return the bad event to that one student.
For example, if there was an incident of extorting money from student A and it was done by student B, then the bullies would do a similar extortion of money from student B - then afterwards, the bullies would give back the extorted money to student A.
If it really is like that, I guess I have to make amends.
I had kicked one of them, so they had every right to be angry.
"Sorr-"
"Really, I feel so guilty!"
"Umm?"
Though I wanted to immediately admit my mistake and ask them to kick me immediately, but I was surprised that Rikka-senpai bowed her head and apologized first.
"It's all my fault, I've given my Kouhai the wrong understanding and he's acting like this because of me!"
"So, please take it all out on me!"
Just like me, the bullies seemed to be a bit surprised by Rikka-senpai's actions.
Well, I know that bullies are always treated disrespectfully and are considered to be a horrible bunch of people— that being said, I also understand that they would be confused if there was suddenly someone behaving like Rikka-senpai.
"Alright, I'll forgive you two. Pick up your heads and get out of here!"
"Huh? Yes, I understand!"
Rikka-senpai raised her head as instructed by one of the bullies, then her body turned around and looked at me with the same gaze as she passed me earlier.
"Rikka-senpai."
I could only call out his name because of his intense gaze— as if fixated further, my hand involuntarily moved and grabbed his cheek.
"Good job, you tried hard."
"Yes, praise me more!"
"Emm?"
Wait!
What did I do?
What did I say?
It wasn't my will, it felt like my body was actually moving on its own and being forced to do something like that.
Besides, what does it mean to ask for more praise from me?
I really don't understand.
No, I can't do that again.
Quickly, I removed my hand on her cheek and deliberately made a distance with Rikka-senpai.
"Gosh, you guys are interesting and different from the others. That's why I'm letting you go this time."
One of the bullies interrupted and said that we were different from the others, then he approached me.
After getting close enough, he put his face close to my ear— like he wanted to whisper something.
"For some reason, we feel that we won't be able to win against you. When our leader approached your girlfriend, you kicked him without hesitation."
"Huh?"
I couldn't say anything when he talked about that, there was too much I didn't understand- so I just kept quiet.
"The leader is the strongest person in our group, so after he fell in one kick, we knew right away that you weren't just any student."
"I was bluffing when I said I wanted to make you cry, when I was actually trying to think of a way to make peace."
"In that case, let's pretend this incident never happened. I won't report anything about you guys today, but be careful if you meet anyone not from our group!"
He continued to whisper things to me, then left when he was done— I hope Rikka-senpai didn't hear him.
But with this, my business of learning with the bullies was over— now I had to stop calling them that.
Ah, that's right.
Maybe I should call them guards instead of bullies.
After one of the guards who whispered to me left, the others also left while carrying the body of their leader who was still unconscious.