Counterattack

“W-we’re done for.” Hiroshi dropped to his knees, utterly spent.

I had no idea what his skill was, but it seemed like he was unable to use it anymore.

“G-get away from me! Stop it!”

Having used her charm skill, the well-endowed and curvy Ai yelped as goblins swarmed around her.

The creatures tore at her clothes, revealing her voluptuous breasts, but no one could afford to rush to her aid.

Just as my classmates were beginning to abandon hope at the mass onslaught of goblins...

“Don’t give up, you fools! Arise!”

An unexpected person bellowed.

“Huh? Who do you think you are, shortstache?”

Eiko growled, narrowing his eyes.

His reaction was hardly surprising, for the person who had shouted was none other than Tsukasa. Tsukasa was the shortest person in the class and was always being bullied by Eiko’s group.

He had gained the nickname “shortstache” for his resemblance to Hitler and for once spending a whole day with a tiny mustache that Eiko had drawn on his face with a sharpie.

“Don’t talk back to me! Sergeant Yazawa, get rid of the goblins around Ai, immediately!”

“Huh? Who’re you calling a sergeant? I’ll kill ya, shortsta-”

“Answer me with sir or yes, sir! I can’t hear you, Sergeant Yazawa!”

“S-sir, yes, sir!”

Obeying Tsukasa’s command, Eiko shot an arrow at the goblins surrounding Ai.

“Corporal Munechika, to the rear, now! Join the defense unit and use your charm skill!”

“Huh? Wait, what, y-yes sir!”

Even Ai, who never listens to anyone, raised her arm in salute at Tsukasa and followed his instructions.

“Sergeant Yazawa, shoot three more arrows, then move to the rear so you can recover. Those who are free, get drinks for SSG Yachiyo Kisaragi. Her skill transforms the water in her body into ice!”

“Sir!”

“Yes, sir!”

“Sir, yes, sir, sir!”

Tsukasa barked out incredibly precise instructions in rapid succession.

The despairing mood turned around, and we neutralized our enemies at an astonishing rate.

A spatter of goblins’ blood landed on Tsukasa’s cheek.

Shouting like a completely different person, Tsukasa wiped the blood off his cheek and smeared it under his nose.

Like the day he was nicknamed “shortstache,” Tsukasa now sported a mustache on his upper lip: a mustache of blood and madness.

“Private Izumi!”

“Y-yes, sir!”

Hearing my name, I immediately replied.

There was a forcefulness in his voice that made it impossible to defy him.

Was he going to give me a command too?!

“You’re in the way. Get inside the wall with that woman!”

“Sir, y-yes, sir!”

I slumped my shoulders and hung my head as I walked over to join a grinning Charlotte.