492 6.3

At times like this, I wonder if we'll face Nagumo's group in the final 19th match.

That's what you might think, but things don't always go as planned.

In the 17th match, with two personal defeats, we clashed with the still-undefeated Nagumo group.

Following a game of table tennis, the upcoming game was 'archery,' making it the second 'archery' match in the exchange meeting.

In this case, doesn't it work in our favor that the game isn't solely based on craftsmanship or luck? Archery, a skill-based activity, provided an interesting opportunity for others to shine.

Nagumo was present as their leader, but he didn't speak up. 

This time, Nagumo and I had a personal bet, but few knew about it. 

Even the first-year students who had been ordered to gather information might not know the details. 

"So, why are you here, Morishita?" 

"Of course, I'm here to do archery. I came to fight." 

Her results yesterday were disastrous, but she was still trying to participate without being discouraged? 

Looking at Kiryūin, she gave a sincere nod. It seemed she had accepted Morishita's participation. 

"That's how it is. You can think of it as being on the winning ship, Ayanokōji Kiyotaka." 

"Let's hope it's not a sinking ship." 

The instructor started speaking again, explaining safety procedures to students who had never handled archery before and for those who had, he repeatedly emphasized the importance of learning the correct shooting form. 

Unlike the original rules, the format was to switch teams after shooting six arrows instead of taking turns one after the other. 

Hashimoto, who had seen the five opponents, approached and whispered in my ear. 

"Katsuragi apparently practiced quite a bit yesterday, and he scored a maximum of 36 points. There's a chance you could lose if you face him." 

I was impressed by his thorough research as I reflected on myself. 

Yesterday, my scores were 2, 2, 4, 7, 6, 9, for a total of 30 points. 

I understood his concern, but to put it bluntly, I probably wouldn't lose to Katsuragi. 

The problem was elsewhere. Soon, the match-ups were announced. 

First Match: Horikita Suzune vs Yanagi Yasuhisa 

Second Match: Hirata Yōsuke vs Hashimoto Masayoshi 

Third Match: Amasawa Ichika vs Ayanokōji Kiyotaka 

Fourth Match: Kanzaki Ryūji vs Shintoku Tarō 

Fifth Match: Katsuragi Kōhei vs Morishita Ai 

In the 16 matches so far, I had always fought as the third player. 

"Nagumo had skillfully arranged for our opponents to match our fixed positions in the lineup."

"Nice to meet you, Senpai." 

"Your opponent is a first-year girl. You're lucky." 

Hashimoto, who apparently didn't have information about Amasawa, answered optimistically. 

While everyone watched, Nagumo's group, who were up first, started aiming at the target all at once. 

You could tell by their calm demeanor and relaxed expressions. 

Amasawa had finished practicing archery yesterday and seemed to have gained solid experience. 

Without hesitation, the smoothly released arrows pierced the yellow nine-point area. 

She obtained a score of 9 points, 9 points, 10 points, 9 points, 10 points, 10 points, for a total of 57 points. 

The accuracy was so high that not only the participating students but also the instructors were surprised. 

"No way..." 

Katsuragi, who came in second, had scored a substantial 37 points, but it was incomparable. 

In order for us to win, we needed to score 10 points with every shot. 

With everyone still shaken, it was time for Kiryūin's group, who were on the defensive, to take our turn. 

In the silent gallery, I fired the first arrow before anyone else got a chance. 

It pierced the yellow eight-point area. 

While the other students were still fumbling with their preparation, I shifted to fire my second arrow and waited for permission. 

This left us with only one point of leeway, but that didn't matter. 

Immediately upon my first shot, I corrected my trajectory, which was slightly off. 

The second arrow pierced the yellow ten-point center. 

If this had been a 70-meter distance, it might have been impossible due to factors like wind, but at 20 meters, there were no drawbacks. 

As the instructor collected the arrows, I shot without a moment's delay. 

I repeated the same motion like a machine. 

The same motion, the same position—I just needed to maximize the repeatability. 

Without worrying about how many points the others had, I just kept shooting the remaining four arrows straight into the center.

The score was 58 to 57. I took the victory into my own hands.

I received a strong applause from Amasawa, with whom I had a close match.

"You're amazing, Senpai. It's frustrating, but I lost, didn't I?"

"The rules helped me in many ways. The target was close, but if it had been the regular rules where we had to take turns, it wouldn't have been strange for the game to go either way."

Once Amasawa had a fixed score of 57, she couldn't make any other moves.

She had no choice but to surrender to my results.

"I was trying to put pressure on you, but it didn't work, did it?"

I had blocked out all the surrounding noise, so I didn't know.

"You hadn't practiced archery other than yesterday's game, right?"

"I watched some tutorial videos in the middle of the night."

Not just archery, but everything I experienced at the camp.

"It's amazing that you can produce results like that. Nagumo-senpai might get angry."

Even though she lost, Amasawa scored 57 points, so Nagumo probably couldn't blame her.

Ibuki, who had been watching from afar, blatantly looked away in boredom.

Horikita won against Yanagi, Amasawa lost but scored an overwhelmingly high score, and then I won against Amasawa. It must not have been interesting at all.

"It wasn't risky at all. You were so consistent..."

After watching Amasawa return to report to her group, Hashimoto expressed his admiration.

"But she was strong after all."

The archery match between Nagumo's group and Kiryūin's group ended with one loss and four wins.

"Indeed. They were worthy opponents, the top contenders, but it was a close game."

Morishita, who had given it her all, showed a satisfied look on her face.

By the way, the only one who scored a total of six points and suffered a big loss in this game was Morishita.