Thunder-General Adelheid
The footsteps and sounds of destruction grew somewhat farther away. If Adelheid understood Kana’s intentions, then now she should escape. First, she would find a safe position, then meet up with any allies there, and avoid the enemy as much as possible.
That would be for the best. She had fulfilled her mission of supporting the assault on the magical-girl class enough in her one-on-one with Lightning. A wounded Adelheid fighting a group of Lightnings all on her own was the epitome of overwork. Either she would look for allies or flee. Her classmates were among those allies. Group Two was there, of course, and Rappy or Miss Ril might be able to fight alongside her.
While keeping an eye out, she sat up in the rubble. Though she was covered in dust, the damage from Kana’s attack was slight. She must have held back when she’d kicked her. She would not waste the life Kana had saved.
There were fallen Lightnings all over the place. Adelheid raised one of them into a sitting position in her arms. The Lightning who had been found with Adelheid was detransformed and dressed in her uniform. The others were in noticeably casual clothing: sweatpants and sweaters, and T-shirts, so it was easy to pick this one out.
She was breathing. She looked like she was in pain, but her chest was moving up and down. But she was still unconscious. It was better for her to be asleep than have her regain consciousness right now and chatter on about stuff. It was better when she was silent, and her talking ruined it—in other words, she was the same old Lightning.
A smile slipping to her face from that thought, Adelheid reaffirmed that she was still not too pressed to be amused about things.
A dagger, longsword, and some gems were lying in the gaps between the rubble. Adelheid picked up two or three of the fallen gems and held them up to the light. Lightning had been using them in order to enhance her power, but could they be used by others aside from her? Thinking she’d take them just in case, she dropped them down her sleeve.
Then she dragged out the dust-smeared Lightning and slung her over her back. They were both completely dust smeared anyway. So that she wouldn’t drop her by mistake and get complaints later, Adelheid ripped strips off her coat and used them to tie Lightning firmly to herself.
Also, just in case, she wanted her saber. Even if it was a little beat-up, there was a big difference between having it and not. Where did she drop it?
“Here.”
Handed the saber, she immediately accepted it, panicked, and backed up. Lightning was there.
The Lightning that Adelheid knew was, based on her clothes, the Lightning on her back now. Which meant that this Lightning was one of those who had attacked Adelheid. Even though she was an enemy, she didn’t seem wary at all, speaking as if she were addressing her in class.
“Did you see that just now?” Lightning asked.
Adelheid put her hand on the hilt of her military saber. She inched her pivot foot out ahead—
“Well?”
Lightning’s face was right there. Adelheid blinked, and she felt a tickle on her cheek as if it had been stroked by long eyelashes. Lightning was placing her hand atop her hilt.
Adelheid was unable to back away, standing there stock-still. Lightning exhaled a breath, and it caught on Adelheid’s throat.
She couldn’t move at all. This wasn’t like Diko’s teleportation; Lightning was simply that fast.
“C’mon, answer me!”
“Yeah… I saw.”
Various things rose in Adelheid’s mind and then vanished again. She tried to draw from past experience to figure out what to do, then closed that drawer, realizing this was not it.
“Ya mean Kana, right?”
“Yeah, her. Wasn’t she amazing?”
“Uh…yeah.”
Adelheid drew it out by talking. All the while, the gears in her head kept turning. But she still came up with nothing.
“I’m pretty good in a fight, but I wouldn’t want to go up against someone like her.”
“Of course.”
“So, about you.” Lightning smiled, and she stepped softly away from Adelheid. The hem of her skirt fluttered, revealing the spade mark on her thigh and the A beside it. “She made that arrogant remark when she kicked you, but let’s face it…she was actually pushing you away to keep you from being attacked as she played decoy, right? You certainly don’t look injured. If that monster kicked you for real, you’d be in pieces.”
A chill ran down Adelheid’s spine. Lightning had seen through everything.
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“So basically, that means you’re important to her, yeah? Then if I take you as a hostage, that monster will leave us alone.” She tilted her head and looked at Adelheid. Brilliant plan, no? her gaze seemed to say.
“So that’s…why you stayed behind?” Adelheid asked.
“I didn’t stay behind—I came back. Brute forcing things looked dicey, so I figured I should just use the girl who got kicked. Work with me here—will you let me catch you?”
“What if I refuse?”
“Here’s the thing: You can’t.”
A sound rang out, and there was a burst of light.