My Measurement: The Villain Desires a Satisfying Payback

Arriving at the final set of stairs, I spotted a group of grunts waiting for me.

"There he is!"

There were too many for me to just shoot and jump over like the previous guy.

Within an instant, I calculated a few different possibilities in my mind and went for the safest bet.

"H-he's running!"

"Quick, go go go...!"

Not slowing my speed, I ran past them and didn't look back towards the staircase, instead choosing to widen the distance.

Unfortunately, due to the school's small population, it was small and only had one set of stairs to transition between floors, with a stairlift for people with difficulties walking. There was no lift in the building, either.

Therefore, only one choice remained.

My gaze locked onto the window at the end of the corridor.

The height from here to the ground is about 4 metres, or 13 feet. Currently, I am in the section of the second-year humanities classrooms, and so the ground outside should be grass.

As I approached closer and closer to the window, I felt a buzz from the phone in my pocket. Reaching down and grabbing it, I didn't check but still clenched my fist to prevent a case of dropping it.

Bang, Bang, Bang-!

I shot a few bullets at the window to break it a bit in an attempt to make the action that little bit easier since jumping into an unbroken window is a stupid idea no matter the circumstance.

It was just a cheap thing, consisting of nothing but glass and a bit of plastic, but it would still be dangerous.

...No matter.

In my final steps, I folded my arms tightly, rotated my body to the side and put all my force into my foot as I jumped like a compressed spring being released.

Smash-!

All of a sudden, I was in the air.

Four metres above the ground, one storey high, it was not exactly a short or a long fall.

I positioned my body properly and proceeded to drop.

Quickly plummeting towards the ground, I managed to correct my faltering form and perform a roll that significantly lessened the impact, transitioning from my newfound position on the floor and jumping back to my feet as I continued onwards in a sprint.

Directing the energy from the fall into my roll, I was successfully able to land without much negative effect in that regard as the powerful force almost instantly dissipated.

Though I would still be fine for the most part if it were concrete or stone, I thought it lucky that the surroundings were covered in a stretch of soft and luscious grass for me to land on, though it was but a fleeting reflection.

My body ached and pained in various places, but I overlooked it for the moment.

It was a good thing I was wearing a mask that fully covered my face, but I still closed my eyes during the impact just in case. My other extremities, however, weren't so unscathed.

My forearms, which I had not long ago rolled up the sleeves of, sustained a multitude of minor cuts and abrasions, but nothing to be concerned about.

Bleeding usually appeared worse than the reality, anyway.

Now was not the time to be thinking about unnecessary things.

I have more important matters.

Buzz, buzz-!

Suddenly, I felt more vibrations from the smartphone in my hand. Since it was already right there, I turned the screen on with a single finger and glanced to see three notifications.

The one from earlier was a donation from the livestream.

The two from just now were messages from Sana and Sona.

I was still busy running, so I turned the device off and put it back in my pocket. There was no time for me to check anything in detail right now, so I focused instead on the matter at hand.

I had already mentioned to them before about coming home late today anyway, so there was no problem.

In any case, the school's gymnasium was quick to enter my sight as I rounded a corner.

The grounds were entirely barren, meaning my footsteps resounded loudly throughout the premises. It wouldn't be long before all those peons I'd been evading by the skin of my teeth all came in on me at once like the bloodthirsty hounds that they are.

All of a sudden, I noticed a particular shift in the surroundings.

Clicking my tongue, I watched as hordes of those white-clad bastards emerged from all sorts of crannies and crevices within the school premises.

Whether it's the Order or the Wardens, they both seem to be increasing the number of guys they send after me each time quite substantially, huh? I can't disagree that it's an effective method so long as I've nothing prepared for it, but...

...Do they seriously think I would stand here unprepared?

The Ruger in my hand took aim only at the few directly ahead of me. Since they all stood in a large circle encompassing me, it didn't need to execute many more than a couple for an effective path to be cleared.

Needless to say, shooting as I ran would fail to achieve even an infinitesimal amount of accuracy.

On the other hand, I could not afford to stop.

Thus, I waited.

Sprinting as fast as my body would allow, I quickly closed the distance between me and the lackeys in front of me.

In the next moment, I looked onward as not just those in front of me, but to my right and to my left, and even the ones behind me who began closing in, took out something from within the crowd.

Cannons.

No, they were evidently hand-held, so more like guns, but oddly shaped.

In total, there were four of them―one for each cardinal direction around me.

As if instinctively, I felt a sense of critical danger emanating from those weapons.

Immediately, I pulled the trigger. By this point, I had gotten close enough that even haphazard firing like this would retain some accuracy so long as I had some semblance of skill.

However, what happened in the next instant sent my brain into shock.

Bang--click-!

Despite pulling the trigger multiple times, there was but a singular bullet to exit the chamber.

Instead, a single, dull sound echoed throughout the schoolyard.

Click click click click-!

Was it not a mistake? It wasn't, yes? No?

No.

Click click click-!

There was no mistake.

Well, the only mistake was my own; I had thrown away the bag that had contained the entirety of my ammunition like a fool.

All I had left was a few vials of poison and...

I halted my feet, catching my breath for a second as I dropped the Ruger to the floor. Then, reaching down, I pulled a black stick from within my clothes.

"Everyone, stop right there!"

Shouting, I held my hand out and swirled so that they could all view clearly, including the camera that was livestreaming the entire ordeal, and upon seeing what exactly it was I held, they instantly stopped in their tracks.

The remarkably fulgent early-afternoon sun shone down, causing a brilliant glare to reflect off even the end of the black detonator placed firmly inside my grasp.

"Nobody move, else I'll blow up the whole damn school!"

I felt the number of buzzes in my pocket increase by the second, but I forcibly ignored them. After all, how unprofessional would it be to look at my phone at this time? The answer was: incredibly so.

Now, a kind of stalemate has been initiated. Until a powerful person from either side intervenes, neither I nor these grunts are able to take any action.

If they move, I will press the detonator.

If I move, they will use those gun cannon things.

Would this count as Mutually Assured Destruction?

Put simply, it is the concept that either side making a move will lead to the annihilation of both sides. Therefore, the best course of action is no action at all.

They do not possess the authority to decide whether the school is worth the sacrifice to capture me but, unfortunately, I don't doubt the higher authorities will gladly forgo a single empty school for my incarceration.

They are working together with the principal and a select few of the teachers, sure, but they couldn't care less about the school.

Of course, they'll try their best to protect it if possible, but that's not where their interests lie.

Staring into the nigh endless sea of white grunts, they really looked like a cult with their identical uniforms that obscured their faces and removed any sense of humanity.

The Wardens of Future's Blight wasn't a cult by any means, but sometimes they sure acted like one.

In any case, about a minute or two passed before a change occurred.

I was wondering if Saburou or even Azaki Kiryuuin would arrive―obviously hoping it would not come to that―but thankfully, it was someone rather welcome.

"Fuck me! That's a lotta dudes! Hey, uh, Oscar, you need some help?"

Sophie Asanami had arrived.