Mokushiroku Alice

"Saki!"

I yell out the name of my little sister, and open my eyes.

But there"s no way my little sister would be here.

Since she has become the world"s most difficult labyrinth of rank 666 and disappeared from this world 10 years ago.

Thus, that was just a dream.

An illusion.

But, as before, I am still inside a labyrinth.

A labyrinth brought forth by Gunjou.

There is no one before me.

Shiro, Himi, Yousuke, Kiri and Kansai"s Valor Team aren"t here.

Only I am left lying in this wide room that seems to have become deserted.

I sit up.

"...... kuh."

My head hurts.

I don"t even know how long I have been unconscious here. If I were to believe the words of my little sister inside my dream, then I should have been sleeping here for a month.

"There"s no fool who would believe the words said inside a dream, is there?"

In the first place, this isn"t a place where one could remain unconscious for a month. This isn"t a place where one could remain alive for even a second without using high level magic.

Then, does that mean I have only been out for an instant?

"...... what on earth has happened?"

I murmur.

I look down at the wound in my chest where Kiri stabbed. For some reason, the wound has been closed. I know not what kind of magic was placed on me through Kiri"s sword. Did she stab me with the intent to kill me? Or did she stab me just for the sake of stopping my movements?

Whichever way it was, she betrayed us.

She"s a traitor.

But she said "sorry" while she was on the verge of tears.

She kept saying "sorry" again and again.

The moment a traitor cries the instant he turns traitorous, he has failed as a traitor so, whether or not she can be called a traitor I do not know.

Anyway, I don"t know anything right now.

"Jeez, what kind of situation am I in right now?"

I look around me but there really isn"t anyone here.

The only thing I can see is the dried-up blood poured all over the floor by the Valor Team when they used it against Gunjou as her weakness.

"............"

When I was still conscious, the floor should have been splashed with tons of blood.

In other words, some amount of time has pa.s.sed since then.

I remember the words said by my little sister Saki in my dream.

One month has pa.s.sed --- that"s what my little sister had said. There"s no reason I should believe that, but at any rate, I have to raise my tension. Because inside the labyrinth, the instant I"m clueless about my situation is the instant I would lose my life.

Shall I Escape?

Should I Escape?

But at that moment, I hear a strong sound from behind me.

No, it"s a strange voice.

"Yaah yaah."

The voice says.

I turn towards that voice.

Upon doing that, I see a white rabbit standing at a short distance away from me. A rabbit in a suit that has a heart mark finely woven into it.

In its left hand, it holds a pocket watch.

I know that rabbit. It is the same strange rabbit that appears in the ill.u.s.trations of the "Alice in Wonderland" that I used to read with my little sister.

While checking its pocket watch, the rabbit says.

"Yaah yaah, Mr. Human, it"s time."

"What time?"

I ask, to which the rabbit says.

"Time to die."

The rabbit jumps towards me. Sharp claws appear in its right hand.

Its movement is abnormally fast.

I have already activated my Headphone Fuzz《 Intra-Cerebral Magic Activator 》s[1], but I have not played my Acceleration switch. What I"m playing is Escape switch. My Escape switch has yet to complete. On top of that, maybe because I"ve just awakened, my body reactions are no good.

"............ ugh."

The attack will probably hit me.

I"ll be activating my Escape as I received the attack.

In other words, if I don"t receive a fatal wound, it"d be my win, but the rabbit"s claws are terribly fast. It"s aiming straight for my head. It"s like I can"t dodge it at all. Will it slice my carotid artery, or send my head flying?

I protect my head with my left arm.

"d.a.m.n, I"ll let you take my arm."

Even if I am to lose my arm, it"s better than dying.

The Escape song reverberates in my head.

The Escape song starts.

Just as the claws are about to harvest my arm, behind the rabbit, another rabbit that has been hidden jumps out.

I look at it.

My eyes widen.

The other is aiming for my heart and I have no way to deal with that.

It"s the end.

I"ll die.

My Escape has yet to complete.

But even so, trying to avoid a fatal wound, I roll on the floor in an unsightly manner.

"Uwu, Uwoooooooooooh!?"

I let out a cry as I operate my muscles, trying to survive.

Even though it"s useless.

Even though either my neck or heart will get sliced apart.

The faster claws of the rabbit are about to reach my neck.

No good.

It"s the end.

The end is coming too easily.

I stop hollering. Smirking with half-opened eyes. I"m amazed at my own weakness and worthlessness.

Then,

"Sorry Saki."

The moment I murmur the name of my little sister softly.

The claws touches my neck.

About to rip open my carotid artery.

Just before that happens.

"Hn."

The voice of a girl appears right next to me.

She catches hold of the faces of the two rabbits with her small hands. And with that, she throws them far away.

I was saved by someone.

The rabbits are blown away.

Right as they are blown away, they divide.

Four rabbits deliberately take out their pocket watches and say at the same time.

""Yaah yaah Mr. Human, it"s time.""

But I can"t see those rabbits. Since my eyes have been taken in by the figure of the girl who has appeared right before them.

""It"s time to die.""

Right before my eyes, is a pet.i.te girl who"s probably at the height of about 150 cm.

She has blond hair. And is wearing the sailor uniform of Kichijouji High.

Her almond-shaped eyes, both left and right, are flickering red and blue respectively.

She"s like a puppet, hung from a black gigantic hand resembling that of the devil.

I know the name of that girl.

"Gunjou!?"

I call that name, and she takes a glance at me.

It"s really Gunjou.

Mizuiro Gunjou.

As before, her face is vacant, lonely, and sad.

She has contracted the labyrinth disease.

The rabbits in mid-air say.

""Time to die, time to die, time to die, time to die.""

Claws appear in their right hands at the same time.

But Gunjou crosses both her hands upwards. Upon doing that, countless...o...b.. appear. And they start spinning.

It"s Sea Moon Wheel switch.

She uses this magic to put down her enemies.

The Sea Moon Wheels attack the rabbits all at once. The rabbits look at them,

"Aah, scary scary."

They say while dodging, but they failed to dodge them and are split apart.

The four rabbits are split cleanly into two and disappear.

Gunjou is strong.

Since she has become an eternal labyrinth.

But, why is Gunjou, who should be the one who has brought forth this labyrinth, fighting the rabbits?

Does that mean those rabbits aren"t soldiers created by Gunjou?

Rabbits appear again at the entrance of this hall.

This time, there are five.

"Hn."

Her almond-shaped eyes, both left and right, are flickering red and blue respectively.

Gunjou looks in their direction. She raises both hands again. She does not activate her 《Headphone Fuzz》 worn on her ear. Without her 《Headphone Fuzz》, she conjures her Sea Moon Wheel switch.

She sends her jellyfish flying.

Slicing the rabbits apart.

Slicing apart.

Slicing apart.

When I look closely, it"s like Gunjou is getting rid of the rabbits to protect me.

Her skirt and uniform are in tatters. They are all bloodied.

Even her thighs and arms are also covered in wounds.

I look at that and say.

"...... don"t tell me, you"ve been protecting me......"

A single rabbit slip past the jellyfish and is about to close in on me.

By this time, I"m already in the state where I can deal with them.

I activate two magics in my brain.

Acceleration switch.

Demon Sword switch.

With these two magics activated, I can surpa.s.s G.o.d for an instant.

But there isn"t any need for me to activate my magic.

Gunjou hurriedly comes back to where I am, and grabs the rabbit"s face.

"Hn!"

She utters and flings the rabbit sending it flying. At that moment, Gunjou"s face is close to me. I peer into her eyes.

As usual, they are vacant, and look lonely and sad. Her emotions are faint.

"Fuh, fuh, fuh."

She is short on breath. I can clearly tell that she is breathing heavily, and has shed lots of blood and sweat. And holding her ground with her slender legs, she immediately turns around towards the rabbits.

Raising her slender hands.

Conjuring up her Sea Moon Wheel switch.

Slashing the rabbits.

I don"t know what"s happening. I have no idea why Gunjou is fighting the rabbits that are supposed to have been brought forth by herself.

However, I only know that she is desperately protecting me.

Covered in blood.

Covered in dirt.

Having contracted the labyrinth disease.

But yet, she is protecting me.

"............"

If one month had really pa.s.sed like what Saki said in the dream, then,

"...... seems like I"ve racked up a load of debt, though I wasn"t able to see your face."

I murmur softly.

The rabbit a.s.sault stops for a while.

But Gunjou continues to have her back towards me, without relaxing her guard.

I call out to her.

"Hey Gunjou."

"............"

"Gunjou."

"............"

"Are you conscious?"

"............"

"Why"re you protecting me? You should hate me right?"

"............"

She does not answer.

Because of the labyrinth disease. In order to talk to her heart, there"s no other way but to enter her heart with magic.

I approach her. And stand before her. Gunjou just looks at the entrance to the hall. Looking out for any incoming rabbits.

I stoop my body a little, and peer into her eyes in order to cut her gaze off.

Instantly, she reacts.

She looks at me,

"...... uwu............ ah, uwu."

She utters, but only that. She looks as if she is about to complain about something for a moment, but that"s all to it.

Her face returns to a vacant look.

She does not attack.

She does not attack me.

Her beautiful face is smeared with blood. The blood probably belongs to her. Her neck is also hurt.

She got hurt while protecting me.

On seeing that, I say in an exasperated voice.

"...... don"t tell me, that you"re thinking of me as your comrade?"

"............"

"That"s why you"re protecting me?"

"............"

"You know, you have the labyrinth disease right? You have to attack me right? Since you are no longer human, you should lose your consciousness and become a proper monster hey."

"............"

"Otherwise......"

I grab the shoulders of Gunjou. Her body is slender. She is so slender that it looks like she will break if I apply too much strength into my hands.

Did she keep on protecting me with such a body all by herself? And how long has that been?

When I touched her, her body quivered a bit, but as before, she did not attack me. She"s merely keeping her alert towards the entrance to the hall.

I look hard at that Gunjou, contorting my face that was on the verge of tears, I say.

"...... otherwise, doesn"t that mean that all the labyrinth diseased girls who have been disposed by the humans, have all retained their consciousness all the while until they were disposed?"

That would be the most dreadful truth.

I would have at least hoped that they were monsters with their consciousness swallowed up by the disease in the instant they were disposed.

But I already knew otherwise.

During the time when I killed Asahi Momoka with my Holy Sword switch, I had entered her heart and I knew then.

Asahi Momoka was a good kid.

She didn"t want to kill her family and friends and said that she wanted me to quickly kill her. She even went as far as to thank me for killing her.

Labyrinth diseased girls retain their consciousness as they are being turned into labyrinths.

I stare at Gunjou.

I stare at my cla.s.smate who has been frantically protecting me despite having manifested the labyrinth disease.

I look hard at my comrade of the same Hero Team that I"m on,

"...... what the h.e.l.l are you all? Shiro, Himi, and Yousuke are also like that though...... things like comrades and friends are suffocating to me."

"............"

"We are strangers right? We are all strangers. In that case...... in that case, you should have abandoned me easily!"

I bellow, taking advantage of the fact that Gunjou won"t respond.

As before, she does not react.

With her vacant, lonely, sad eyes, she merely stares at the entrance to the hall.

I look hard at her. I look hard at the Gunjou who has been protecting me all this while.

"............"

Following that, I snap my fingers three times. And activate my 《Headphone Fuzz》.

In my head, the cursed song of the magic that might allow me to wrench the disease out of the heart of a diseased girl plays.

The magic completes in my brain.

My neural matter throbs.

【Deceiving the night ♪

Beguiling the world ♪

The darkness that saves the girl of the endless night ♪】

"Holy Sword switch ---"

I say.

A silver sword appears in my right hand. Shrouded by light, a shining sword. A sword of hypocrisy that resembles a sword that a hero carries.

But the hand that holds that sword trembles. Of course. Because only until recently, this sword is an incomplete magic that can only be used to kill girls.

Thus,

"...... if you see me as a comrade that strongly....... if you are risking your life to save me...... it makes me afraid to use this you know, Gunjou."

I say in a trembling voice.

According to the craftsman who had developed this sword, Liezel Baimeister, in theory, this sword is complete, but I don"t know whether or not I can believe that.

Because I have yet to test it out.

If I test it out here, I"d be performing human experimentation.

If it doesn"t go well, Gunjou will die.

Just like how Asahi Momoka died.

The hand that is holding the Holy Sword is shaking in fear.

Should I thrust this into Gunjou, or should I give up on that? I don"t know the answer to that.

But, if I don"t save her here, she will probably be reigning here as an eternal labyrinth diseased girl forever. If she becomes an eternal labyrinth, the difficulty increases by ten times.

Rank 420.

If I let this chance go, it probably won"t come back. In the first place, there"s no place on earth that"s conducting research on how to save labyrinth diseased girls.

The world has concluded that it is better to kill or make use of labyrinth diseased girls rather than saving them.

Thus, if I don"t save her here, it"d be the end.

It"d be the end for Gunjou.

You can call it a miracle for me to be right beside her right now.

The only time to save her is now.

The only time to save her is none other than now.

But,

"Maybe it"s my ego saying that......?"

She does not reply.

"Will you go to the extent of risking death to become a normal girl?"

She does not answer.

"If you don"t want to, please tell me. Please attack me. I don"t want to carry the burden of your death."

But she does not react. Even as I show her the Holy Sword, she does not attack me.

But her eyes are slightly moist with tears.

However,

"I don"t get the meaning of those tears......"

Which is it?

She doesn"t want to die?

Or she wants to be saved?

I don"t know. I don"t know at all.

Thus it all rests with me.

I grimace,

"d.a.m.n. How did it become like this? If it were some other girl, I would still be able to bear with it. If I were testing this on another labyrinth diseased girl...... If I never knew the face, it won"t matter this much; if it"s a girl I don"t know, it won"t be so painful."

"............"

"You are all so cruel. Even when I keep telling you guys that I don"t need any friends."

"............"

"Why did you all get so close to me?"

"............"

Tears flow from the eyes of the expressionless Gunjou.

But as before, I do not know the meaning behind that.

--- is she asking me not to kill her?

Or.

--- to save her?

I gripped my Holy Sword tightly.

I might be able to save Gunjou, or I might just kill her; I gripped my sword tightly.

And say.

"I"m afraid, I"m afraid...... of being the one to decide on your fate on my own. But I"ve decided. Since I"m arrogant...... be it as a friend, as a comrade or a cla.s.smate, or whether is it because I want to see that high and mighty angry face of yours again, I want to return you back to normal for these unreasonable selfish reasons......"

I raise my Holy Sword.

Gunjou reacts to that.

She looks up, not at the sword, but at me.

I look down at her,

"I shall save you."

After making such a proclamation, I thrust my Holy Sword switch into her neck.

♦

♦

♦

In the next instant.

With the power of the Holy Sword, I enter the depths of her heart.

The feeling is not much different from the time when I pushed myself into the heart of Asahi Momoka. Up till this point, I still do not know whether the Holy Sword is completed or not.

"............"

The inside of Gunjou is also made up of darkness.

A dark darkness.

Gunjou is sitting alone in the corner of that dark darkness.

With her legs folded against her chest.

The same as Asahi Momoka.

I grow anxious. Can I really save her? Or will I end up killing her with this sword?

I move to where Gunjou is, standing before her. And call out to her.

"Gunjou."

But she doesn"t look up.

"Gunjou, look at me."

She then answers.

"...... I can"t."

"Why?"

"Because I"m crying right now...... and it"s embarra.s.sing."

"Why"re you crying?"

On hearing that question, Gunjou replies.

"...... y-your voice......"

"You heard?"

"...... yeah."

"You"re d.a.m.n annoying."

"What!? You are the one who"s annoying right!"

She then looks up angrily at me. Her face is a little red. She really has been crying. While tears flow from her almond-shaped eyes, she glowers at me.

Strong-willed, and yet terribly weak.

That"s Mizuiro Gunjou.

I say.

"Why did you break out into the disease? It"s really bothersome."

"...... i-it"s not like I want to break out into the disease hey! And I don"t remember asking you to come save me."

"I"m not here to save you."

"Eh!? B-But, just now......"

"That was a lie. A joke. If you get deceived so easily by a man"s words, you can"t get away even if you"re a s.l.u.t."

"What, s-slu...... jeeeeeeez, fine! If you"re not here to save me, then what did you come here for! Hurry up and go home!"

I look down at her angry face. It"s the face I want to see most if I manage to save her.

That moronic face of hers that gets angry when she gets teased.

Gunjou becomes a little bashful from my gaze, pouts her lips and says.

"Wh-What...... what are you staring down at?"

"I was thinking "oh my, you really are a midget huh"."

"I"ll kill you!"

I smirk. I then sigh and say.

"...... kidding. I"m chagrined to say this, but I"m here to save you."

"Ah......"

"But let me say this first, I don"t know whether I"m able to save you. My magic might not be complete yet and I might end up killing you just like what happened to Asahi Momoka."

Gunjou looks at the short knife that has the shape of a sword in my hand.

During the time when I killed Asahi Momoka, she was just right beside me so she should have seen what happened.

Gunjou says.

"Shinnosuke, you said you were afraid."

I did say that.

"You said you were afraid to kill me."

I nod honestly.

"I"m afraid. Frankly, I don"t want to be responsible for your life. That"s why I"ve said this before. Don"t get close to me. I don"t have time to fuss over you in this kind of place."

"But, you came to save me."

"It was because Shiro was annoyingly adamant about it."

That"s a lie.

Shiro was against it.

Himi too was against it.

Yousuke too was against it.

And as for Kiri, she has time and again warned me against entering this labyrinth.

Aah, that"s right...... I remember.

Kiri didn"t want to betray us. She knew something like this would happen. Like I thought, she failed as a traitor.

But, that doesn"t matter right now.

It started from me. I came here to save Gunjou. The truth is I must save my little sister, but despite that, I made pointless comrades, created weaknesses, and ended up coming here to save Gunjou.

I failed as a big brother.

I look hard at Gunjou and say.

"The amount of time the Holy Sword can remain activated is limited. We don"t have much time. So......"

"Are you going to kill me?"

"I want to save you. But I might fail."

"Uhn."

"The chance of failure is probably higher. Since I have yet to save anyone with this yet."

"Uhn."

"But still......"

However, cutting me off, Gunjou says.

"It"s fine. I"ll go with whatever you"ve decided, Shinnosuke-kun."

"............"

I look hard at Gunjou.

While crying, she smiles bashfully. And she says again.

"...... I"ll go with whatever you"ve decided. Be it die or saved, it"s fine whichever way. But before that, tell me one thing."

"What?"

"What are you fighting for? What kind of purpose is the magic of that sword meant for? Why are you risking your life to study in this school?"

On hearing that question, I reply.

"I have no obligation to tell you......"

"Tell me. I might die right?"

"..............."

"Besides, you already know everything about me right?"

She says bashfully.

She"s right, I know. I took the cla.s.s. A labyrinth diseased girl loses her privacy and human rights. Be it her height and weight, or her hobbies and interests. Her reason to be alive. Even secrets about herself that she doesn"t know get publicized.

I know even the truth about her being taken from an orphanage by the Mitsutomo group and raised for their own purposes.

I say.

"I know even the cup size of your b.r.e.a.s.t.s. They are minus G right?"

Gunjou"s eyes become upturned. But she doesn"t protest against that. She merely looks intently at me,

"As the one...... who might kill me, tell me about yourself."

She says.

I don"t know what is the point to that. It"s the end once she dies.

Then, what if she lives? She"ll become even more of a bother. She will probably want to help me. That"s the kind of person she is. A good girl. That"s why I came to save her. Since unlike me, she"s someone who deserves to survive.

"If I tell you, will you leave me alone after that?"

"I don"t think that"s possible."

"Then I won"t say."

"Shinnosuke."

"Hn?"

Gunjou then looks up at me,

"If I got saved...... if I managed to survive this...... then I"ll be the one to save you next, so please tell me!"

She puffs her minus G cups out as she says that. Those b.r.e.a.s.t.s seem like they might very well be C-cups and she may not be the breastless chest that I"ve stated.

I look at her and say.

"The one who"s being saved right now is you. Don"t get too conceited."

She then replies.

"I can say the same to you; it"s not a given that you will save me, so don"t get too conceited."

"Hn ~"

"Besides, I had spent quite a long time protecting you while you were out cold. I was the one who saved you first."

"Are you calling me to repay my debt?"

"Precisely."

"You ain"t cute at all."

"I don"t care about whether you find me cute or not!"

"Aah jeez, your screeching is really irritating."

I stuff my ears and say.

But Gunjou takes another step forward, and glares up at me with her small, cute face.

"Then hurry up and say it! Say it and it"d make you feel better. What are you fighting against!?"

On hearing that question, I start to answer but hesitate. Then, I remember what Shiro said some time back.

"You can enter it alone and die by yourself. Or, maybe, it"d be fine for you to put up your solitary airs and achieve your grand ambition. At any rate, it"s probably an ambition you can achieve by yourself, right?"

Conquering my little sister --- Apocalypse Alice, is not something I can achieve by myself.

But, as the rewards that can be reaped from clearing Apocalypse Alice are way too huge, I"ve never thought it was impossible to get real allies.

I thought that the only way to enter Apocalypse Alice was to hire mercenaries without anyone suspecting that my true intent of raiding it was to save my little sister.

But,

"............"

Gunjou will probably become my comrade, I suppose.

If I am able to save her life here, she will probably be willing to risk her life and raid Apocalypse Alice with me. I already knew that she"s that kind of person. No, both of us have already been risking our lives for each other in absurd situations. I already know that, even in the most dangerous of situations, we won"t betray each other.

In that case, it"s fine to tell her.

More like, I should tell her.

I should pluck up the courage to tell her.

If I really want to save my little sister.

"...... ah."

I say.

Gunjou looks up at me and nods.

"Yeah."

She is looking at me with really earnest eyes. Even though death is before her, she still nestles close to me. Looking straight at me. Her gaze is so forthright that it"s dazzling. The place she lives in is different from mine. Way too different.

But I am probably drawn to that dazzle of hers. That"s why I made a mistake and came here. That"s probably true for Kiri as well. If she wasn"t drawn to it, she wouldn"t have cried and apologized.

Both Kiri and I just can"t help but be drawn to Gunjou and Shiro.

I avert my eyes from that dazzling girl and say.

"...... I don"t really want to say. I have never talked about my own weakness to anyone before."

"Yeah."

"Besides, if I can"t save you despite telling you......"

Then I"d probably be really hurt. If there"s one thing that"s horrible about humans, it"s that they won"t get hurt if things happen within their expectations. If they set their expectations to take into account that things won"t always go well and that the worst could happen, then they won"t get hurt.

Thus, you get hurt when you look upon the light. When you have hopes for the future. And if those hopes are betrayed, you get hurt.

However, as if she has seen through everything, Gunjou says.

"Shinnosuke."

"Yeah."

"Don"t run away."

But still, I can"t say it.

I merely say,

"...... if you survive, I"ll use you."

I say.

But she looks intently at me,

"Then, does that mean that you"d tell me if I survive?"

"............"

"It"s a promise okay?"

"I didn"t promise anything."

"All right! Well then, I"ll definitely survive!"

"I said I never agreed to anything."

But, ignoring me, she presses her hand against her chest and says.

"Then, I shall make you tell me your troubles! Yes, I shall do it. I"ll do it do it do it ! I won"t die! I"ll do my best! I shall show the world who I am!"

"By the way, who are you?"

"I am Mizuiro......"

"Minus G-cup vomit girl?"

"I"ll kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiilll you!"

After bellowing, Gunjou smiles. With a pair of happy-looking earnest eyes, and a somewhat fearful, smiling face.

And she says.

"I"m afraid of dying, but I shall leave everything to you."

"What a coward to leave it to someone else."

"Eh-hehe. If I die, remember me forever got it?"

"Coward vomit girl."

I got hit.

"At least be nice at the very end!"

She got a point.

But, she isn"t angry. She"s smiling.

She then closes her eyes.

Her both hands open.

Her body trembles as if she is a girl who is nervously waiting for her first kiss.

Then,

"....... Shinnosuke. I"ll leave it to you. Save me."

She says simply.

Saving girls is a virgin task for me. That"s why if she dies, I"ll definitely be hurt and carry the regret for the rest of my life, I suppose. This is really dumb; while thinking about stuff which I should be forgetting, I see a dream. A dream in which I kill a cla.s.smate, a student of the same grade, a comrade of my team.

An unpleasant thing that I will never forget.

Really a coward. This girl is really a coward. Curse her for doing that to suppress her own distress.

But I do not say that out.

Since she told me to be nice at the very end, I have no choice but to do that.

"If you survive and become my comrade.............................. it"d be a heartening thing for me."

She then smiles happily.

"Naturally."

I nod, and then, I swing my sword at her chest.

With that, it ends.

Everything ends.

I might have killed her.

I might have saved her.

Gunjou opens her eyes, looks at me --- in the next instant, she disappears.

The surrounding darkness disappears.

I am driven out from the depths of her heart ---

♦

♦

♦

Once again, I return to the labyrinth.

The labyrinth brought forth by Gunjou.

She then smiles happily. I nod, and then, I swing my sword at her chest.

"............"

This is different from the time when I killed Asahi Momoka. Back then, the labyrinth disappeared upon killing her.

But, the labyrinth remains this time.

Is is it because I have succeeded in severing the labyrinth disease away from the diseased girl? Or is it because Gunjou had become an eternal labyrinth, and consequently is different from Asahi Momoka who was a time-limited labyrinth?

I don"t know.

"Gunjou?"

I call her name.

And look around me.

And there she is, lying down at a short distance away.

Slender legs extend from her skirt. Sailor uniform stained with blood. Blond hair.

She is deathly still.

"Gunjou."

I call her name again. I am too afraid to approach. I might have killed her. Thus,

"Gunjou!"

I call her name again with a slightly louder voice, but she still doesn"t move.

I can feel my heart thumping wildly. I feel nauseous. Despair whirls in my head. That"s why I said that. That"s why I said that I didn"t want to get close and familiar with others.

I approach her. If she"s dead, I"ll Escape immediately. There"s nothing else for me to go on.

I get right next to Gunjou.

She still doesn"t move. With her eyes closed, there"s no sign of life on her face. My hand start towards her pale neck. As I extend my hand to search for a pulse ---

In that instant.

"Waah!"

Gunjou"s raises both her hands and shouts at me.

"............"

I jerk in surprise and stop moving.

Gunjou then holds her stomach and laughs.

"That face! Were you surprised? Did you think I was dead? There"s no way that this very Mizuiro Gunjou will die so easily right!"

Seems like she"s alive.

And to top that, she"s strangely animated, in a healthy way.

I look down at that merry Gunjou and say with half-opened eyes.

"...... you"re really annoying and I"m thinking that it might be better to kill you."

But in truth, I feel relieved. The tightness in my chest leaves, and I can feel my heartbeat returning back to normal.

Feeling relieved and accomplished.

The Holy Sword switch has been completed.

I can save labyrinth diseased girls.

I can save my little sister.

"Are you going to keep your word?"

"No way."

"There aren"t many chances to have me as an ally you know?"

"Oh my. I see. But I don"t need you."

On hearing that, Gunjou"s fist flies up. I grab it. Grasp it; comparing our strengths, she"s weaker. On top of that, she"s light. Just a mere 35kg.

I say.

"I won"t keep letting you hit me."

"If you don"t want to get hit, then hurry up and say it."

"You won"t be able to hit me."

"Just be honest!"

"Before that, can you calm down?"

"Gaaaaaaaaaaawd, Shinnosuke!"

"What?"

"You saved me! I"m grateful for that! Thanks!"

With her fist still held in mid-air, her face turns red in embarra.s.sment as she says that.

She"s expressing her grat.i.tude.

I look down at her in exasperation and say.

"Ah, that"s cute."

"Hey."

Gunjou draws her hand back.

"It"s embarra.s.sing so don"t say stuff like that all right!?"

Her face is still red.

With her red face, she glares at me and says.

"...... just once."

"Hn?"

"...... I shall let you use me just once. To repay my debt to you. So hurry up and tell me your objective."

On hearing that,

"All right."

I reply.

Gunjou then looks surprised and says.

"That"s surprisingly quick......"

But, I interrupt her and say.

"I already fully aware of whether you and Shiro can be trusted or not. Thus, I understand that it"d be inefficient to not make use of you guys."

"...... hmm. And?"

Gunjou looks hard at me.

But still, I can feel a resistance in saying what I"m going to say. No person would be willing to follow me in this foolish pipe dream.

It"s impossible to clear Apocalypse Alice.

Since it"s rank 666.

Even for Gunjou who was rank 42, I"ve already ended up in such a state, how in the world are we supposed to raid a rank 666 labyrinth?

Besides, there"s no real benefit in doing this. It"s not like we would be able to get our hands on powerful military magic or save tons of lives or gain anything of that sort.

Even if we succeed, what we"ll get back is just normal, ordinary girl with a cute smiling face.

In that case, there probably won"t be any human being who would risk their lives and use their resources to aid me. If I were a military corporation, I would just make use of the fool who wants to save his litter sister as much as I can in raiding Apocalypse Alice, and dump him in the end.

No one will cooperate unless our interests are aligned.

If that"s the case, then why am I about to tell about my own weakness?; I really don"t know. It"s better to think it over. If I don"t think about these feelings of mine right now more carefully, I probably won"t be able to get a good grasp of the situation I am in.

But still,

"...... it"s my little sister."

I ended up saying it.

In the end, I am probably just a helpless, lonely guy. Since I have always wanted someone to hear about my own weakness. I have come to realize that I was reaching limits of moving forward all by myself.

Thus,

"...... my little sister contracted the labyrinth disease. And, she"s the worst case of all...... at rank 666."

Instantly, Gunjou"s eyes widen in surprise.

That"s a natural thing, I suppose.

Since I just blurted out the name of a labyrinth that"s impossible to conquer.

It"s a foolish child"s words to seriously talk about raiding it to save his little sister.

"Eh, wait, is that true? Your little sister is Apocalypse Alice?"

"Yeah. Ah, I guess you are having second thoughts about repaying your debt?"

I say while smiling.

However.

Gunjou"s reply is far beyond what I"ve expected.

"Ah, erhm erhm, wait, you gotta be kidding......"

She says, fl.u.s.tered. The turmoil on her is so strangely huge that I c.o.c.k my head to the side.

"What"s wrong?"

"Ah, erhm, Shinnosuke, remain calm and hear me out all right?"

"I mean, what"s wrong? You should be the one to remain calm."

However, her fl.u.s.ter not dissipating, she continues.

"Right now...... erhm...... right now......"

"What is wrong?"

"Right now...... the labyrinth that I had brought forth, is for some reason, connected to the 《Apocalypse Alice》 labyrinth in Kichijouji. Those rabbits carrying pocket watches, which had been attacking us all this while without stopping, were monsters sent by your little sister."

On hearing those words ---

I can hear my heart start to race again.