The process of landing on the water was different for each of the players.

Ichika stood on the water, balancing effortlessly, just as she had practiced. Gripping her unique bullpup rifle faster than anyone else, she prepared to shoot while tucking her wings as closely as possible.

‘Wonder if Mika Senpai is here…’

Sure, there’s a reason for wanting to win the gold medal – for the pride of Trinity. If you ask whether there’s any animosity towards Gehenna, the answer is no. But still, it feels wrong for her alma mater to lose.

As a member of the Justice Realization Department, it’s only natural for Tsurugi to support her joy as well. After all, what wouldn’t she do for the current chairperson of the Justice Realization Department, who faces many misunderstandings?

However, the core reason they needed to win that gold medal was that Misono Mika wanted it.

Tsurugi, who regarded Mika as a friend and genuinely hoped to grant her a gold medal, chose to play the driver even in the face of the challenge.

Recalling that day when that pleasantly glowing senpai kneeled and begged her to please win a gold medal or she might die, Ichika squinted against the relentless sea breeze that harshly swept across her face. About 0.1mm narrower than usual.

At first, they had their laughable incidents, but the more she got to know Mika, the more she wanted to earn that gold medal for her. Understanding her was not particularly difficult.

Ichika was stunned the first time she asked Mika to dry her wings as a joke and without hesitation, Mika began to do so. If she had been casual about it, it would have been one thing, but the way she took care to dry Ichika’s wings with the same care she used to manage her own wings showed her kind nature.

Yet, despite her playful words, it was easy to read Mika’s overall personality.

For Ichika, who tends to excel at everything, water skiing didn’t seem particularly difficult. However, it was still tough to face Tsurugi’s reckless charge.

Still, since Tsurugi maintained her usual rational demeanor up to this point, Ichika leisurely placed her right foot behind the skis and scanned the opposing teams with her eyes, searching for her first target.

A shooting allowance line? There’s no such thing in water skiing! If you’re slow to prepare, you’re out!

The Sisterhood nun named Sakurako, she heard, was quite an esteemed member. However, since Ichika was still close to being a rookie in the Justice Realization Department, she hadn’t had much interaction with her yet.

Anyway, a quick glance showed Sakurako comfortably balancing while having her eyes closed, seeming to enjoy the moment. She belonged to the same academy, technically making her an irrelevant opponent unless it was time for the final showdown.

Next to her was the devil in sunglasses, Hanuma Makoto, the chairperson of the Manma Battle. With her hair flowing like a cape, Makoto started off in a nervous stance, holding the tow line with one hand, the reason for her hurried start still a mystery.

Bang!

Ichika, thinking her target was suitable for immediate elimination, suddenly tilted her body.

The bullet whizzed past her, fired by Iori, a new face in the Student Council, which could be considered a rival to the Justice Realization Department.

“…Haha.”

Just like Ichika, Iori seemed to have finished her shooting preparation slightly earlier, immediately taking aim at Makoto.

Feeling somehow indignant, Ichika dodged Iori’s shot and started her counter-attack.

A shooting exchange erupted, starting from both ends of the range while leaving the two in the center untouched.

Only Sakurako and Makoto were playing in a different world.

[Ah, Hanuma Makoto has lost her balance and has crashed into the water. She was trying to be stylish by starting with one hand, but it backfired a bit.]

Not satisfied with that, it seemed like Makoto decided to immerse herself in a completely different realm.

[It’s alright. It’s still the early stages of the race, and I haven’t lost the rope yet… Hanuma Makoto is already over 100 meters ahead with only her hands on the water.]

[Meanwhile, Utaizumi Sakurako doesn’t seem to have any intention to start shooting.]

The words of Iroha from Gehenna were picked up by a student from Trinity. This student was a third-year who would be graduating at the end of the next semester.

[Shiroimi Iori is reloading first. As mentioned in a previous match, she modified the tow line to create a mount for her firearm. Since she’s using a bolt-action rifle, it’s understandable that she’d need a more stable reloading process…]

While Ichika finished reloading using a magazine attached to her tactical belt without removing her hands, she gazed at Iori, who was still loading her bullets leisurely. Splash, and down goes a magazine into the sea, with Ichika thinking, ‘Such a waste!’ while fitting the spare magazine.

She had originally learned the loading technique in a more flashy manner, but since it was water skiing, she practiced a more practical approach, allowing her to reload well before Iori even finished putting in her bullets.

[Nakamasa Ichika’s reloading is not only stable but surprisingly fast. In the blink of an eye, she finishes reloading and begins shooting, while Shiroimi Iori’s counterattack lags behind.]

[Ah, Hanuma Makoto has finally surfaced. Her sunglasses are nowhere to be found. Sigh… I can only feel sorry for those expensive shades that went down with her.]

Most people who enjoy water skiing start at a moderate speed underwater and rise above the surface, but being towed at high speed by a racing boat significantly raises the difficulty.

If not for Makoto’s unique physical ability and resilience as a student from Kivotos, she would have likely lost the tow line already.

“Kiki-ki— Puhuh. Keher.”

Laughing off her situation, Makoto spat out the water and glared around with fierce eyes.

“Damn it, all these Student Council members are completely useless. Not one team has been taken down yet!”

Her words cut through the sea breeze and reached Iori’s ears, raising the temperature in the heads of the Student Council members. Especially since she had just finished reloading and was about to start her counterattack, her irritation multiplied.

“Shut up, you fox!”

Bang!

“What the hell are you doing, Nenou?! Are you challenging me to a duel?!”

Makoto was startled as a bullet whizzed past her head, and she glared at Iori while holding up her firearm.

Having watched Gehenna’s teams fight each other all the way to the finals, Ichika sighed in disappointment and began planning to eliminate one of them as she approached the approaching corner.

[It’s worth noting that among the three players in today’s finals, all are using bullpup-style firearms. However, while Trinity’s players are using assault rifles, Gehenna’s players are using bolt-action rifles and semi-automatic sniping rifles. Once Utaizumi Sakurako joins the shooting match, Gehenna’s players will inevitably find themselves in a disadvantageous position.]

[…Not that they look particularly competent even without that, it seems.]

Sigh, Makoto, you’ve gotten carried away with your lead, huh? If you hand over a medal here, you know the score will narrow, right? Not that I stand to lose anything, but I want Gehenna to win!

Seeing the two waste bullets against each other, Kasumi, who had been driving, burst into laughter.

“Hahaha, wonderful! This isn’t quite the explosive work, but it’s still quite an entertaining sight! With that said… let’s turn up the heat a bit?”

As she pressed a button, something slid across the tow line towards Iori at a high speed.

“…”

Upon seeing that, Iori’s face went pale. She quickly set her firearm against the tow line and rushed to grab it.

In her haste, she threw it, completely disregarding accuracy, and it was a grenade that Kasumi had illegally modified. It exploded precisely between Makoto and Sakurako.

The impact sent Sakurako off balance, but she managed to regain stability just in time, while Makoto experienced yet another dunking.

Despite everything, she still clutched the tow line like a stubborn cockroach.

[Uh… should we call this a rules violation?]

[Nope. Since the driver didn’t throw it directly at the opponent, it doesn’t count as a direct attack violation.]

[…I see. Thus, Hanuma Makoto finds herself spending more alone time underwater again. Can she endure it and get back to the game this time?]

As the race entered a corner, Ichika filled her body with the intention of moving toward Sakurako’s direction. Realizing this, Sakurako also aligned her movement in that direction.

Iori, noticing this as well, attempted to pull the tow line toward the same direction, but in doing so, Kasumi’s grenade slid right in front of her.

“You, you?! Just wait until the match is over!”

“Haha, where’s that barking coming from? The wind’s too loud for me to hear!”

As Iori retaliated, throwing another grenade, it soared astray, exploding far behind her.

“Oh, Iori-chan, that was really pathetic. How about you try a bit harder next time?”

Considering whether to shoot a bullet into the back of that annoying girl’s head, Iori hurriedly dodged Ichika’s renewed shots.

Ah, these two. So annoying, really.

With no help coming from her so-called allies, Makoto still stuck to them like a fish caught in a net underwater, annoying her further. Clenching her teeth in frustration, Iori squeezed her eyes shut, now brimming with a growing dislike for Gehenna, far surpassing what she felt before.