"Well, let's kill them."
When Yogiri found out that what was flying towards them were his classmates he promptly made up his mind.
"Ah, yes. Who wouldn't choose murder when finding out about his flying classmates...――What the heck are you talking about!?"
Tomochika pulled a noritsukkomi, seemingly in disagreement with Yogiri's proposal.
"Then what? Are you planning to have a nice talk with them and make up again after they left us out here to die?"
"Huh? Wait, you were serious about killing them?"
She thought he was joking, but after realizing he meant what he said she was in dismay.
"Leaving us behind out here is basically the same as killing us. The whole class shares that guilt, they can't really complain if we pay them back, can they?"
It wasn't like Yogiri held some kind of resentment, he just felt he had a right for revenge.
"I can't really agree with you there, even if you weren't talking about killing them..."
"Well, I don't think we could avoid a hostile confrontation even if we approached them peacefully."
"Huh?"
"Why do you think they're coming back, just the three of them?"
"There was something about enemy detection, maybe they found out the dragon died?"
"So they're coming back to see if we're alive and ready to be saved? Wasn't their policy to leave dead weight behind?"
"Ah, it was."
Tomochika recalled Yazaki's words and dropped her shoulders dejectedly.
"That's why I'm thinking these guys are moving on their own. They're probably trying to get the jump on the rest of the class and made the left behind luggage their target, in which case I doubt they'll see us as anything other than an obstacle."
"That's still speculation... right?"
"Right, but it's got a decent possibility of being right. Since I've been thinking about wanting to protect you I'd rather avoid potential risks altogether. But I still value your opinion; let's see what they're up to first."
"If they're only after the luggage then how about running away or hiding?"
"We've probably been spotted already, and I doubt we can run away from someone that can fly. Actually, can you tell me who's who?"
They were now close enough for Yogiri to be able to make out their faces as well.
The smaller one in the middle with the brown hair, Sadaaki Fukuhara.
Yogiri thought about what to do from here.
'Oh well, let's try talking with them,' Yogiri had made up his mind, but Higashida took action before him.
He raised his right hand.
Yogiri determined that his conduct didn't pose any immediate danger. Higashida had no killing intent and his fist wasn't facing Yogiri or Tomochika.
"Fireball!"
His right hand started sparkling and in the next moment something had passed right by Yogiri. That was all.
The back half of the bus was missing and what he had heard just now was the remaining bus frame tilting over and crashing into the earth.
Whatever Higashida brought forth, it soundlessly erased everything in its path of trajectory.
"Your Fireball's ridiculous as ever, Higashida-dono! Be honest, how often do you go 'ah, but it is no Hellflame, it is a Fireball!'"
Higashida smugly accepted Hanakawa's praise. It was the kind of carefree attitude that made it clear they weren't worried about the possibility of a counter-attack in the least. Then again, with that kind of power one's surroundings might just appear like no more than trash.
"Can only use basic tier magic, after all. All I trained while leveling was this so now it's strong enough to take down demon lords. Oh yeah, guess who blew off the top of Mount Karuone?"
"No! Was that you, Higashida-dono!? Now that's what I call a hero summon. 'As expected of hero-sama,' as they say!"
"Higashida's lucky he got here as a hero, I started out as a soulmancer at the bottom of the ladder in some demon lord's army."
Yogiri had no idea what they were talking about.
The Fireball must've been a sphere of 10 meters in diameter. Everything it passed through burned down to less than ash, evaporated even, and what was even more impressive was that everything outside its diameter was hardly affected, a clean cut. He tried touching the bus' frame--only a faint heat remained.
"Higashida-kun! Why are you doing this!?"
"Well, we decided we'd live to our heart's content if we ever got another chance, and now that time has come. Gotta do what you gotta do, you know?"
"And my body falls into that category!?"
Tomochika talked with her arms wrapped around her body.
"I'm impressed you can talk like that in this situation, Dannoura-san. You look like you're able to survive on your own even in a different universe."
Yogiri expected her to be petrified by fear after hearing their discussion, but she was surprisingly energetic.
"How nice, when did you two become such good friends?"
Fukuhara talked in a joking manner, but his speech was tinged with jealousy. Warped as it may be, he clearly held affection towards Tomochika.
"For now I'll try making them more cooperative."
Yogiri talked to Tomochika in a gentle tone.
Silencing their twisted mouths and giving Tomochika some peace of mind was Yogiri's first course of action.
Thanks for reading. Next chapter sometime now.
Noritsukkomi: The straight-man act of going along with a proposition before pointing out its absurdity.
We decided to keep the trio's conversation the way it was in the original, without any 'then Higashida said.' The cluttered feeling was intended.