“Hmm?”
My consciousness slowly returns. Huh? What was I doing again? I was… I was fighting against the dark wolf when I fainted…
“Right. Momo!”
“Aga!”
When I try to stand, something collides with my head.
“Huh? Ichinose-san?”
“Oh, g-good. You’re awake…”
Ichinose-san turns her head away while holding her nose.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fi…wait, you’re, you’re too close!”
“S-sorry...”
She pushes me away with the hand she used to hold her nose. However, she remains close to me as her other hand is holding mine. It’s soft.
“This… this is because the skill’s effect cannot be shared otherwise…”
With her face still turned away, she turns red before providing an explanation. But you could touch just about anywhere for that you know… Never mind, this is fine with me. Ichinose-san’s hand is very soft and a little sweaty. This is good as it is.
Wait a minute. What the h.e.l.l is happening here?
“Ichinose-san.”
“Yes?”
“What happened after I fainted?”
When I ask, Ichinose-san’s expression turned dark before replying.
“To be truthful, I don’t get it either. I don’t understand why that monster showed mercy on us…”
“Showed mercy?”
For a moment, I thought I heard wrong.
“Yes. The dark wolf left before landing us the final blow…”
“….Huh?”
What’s this about? It’s incomprehensible. Is there any reason to let us go in that situation? Ichinose-san seems confused after saying it as well.
“Oh right! Then what about Momo? Is Momo okay?”
“If you’re talking about Momo-chan-”
“Wan!”
Before Ichinose-san finishes speaking, Momo appears from my shadow.
“Momo!”
“Kuun.”
Momo comes out, rubs herself on my body, and licks my face. She also shakes her tail furiously. Using my free hand, I pat Momo. Un, this feeling, she’s authentic.
“Ah Momo. Thank G.o.d…”
“Kuuun.”
Hugging her with the free hand, tears roll down my eyes. From the bottom of my heart, I feel comfort knowing that she’s safe. Even so, a question arises.
“Was Momo spared as well?”
“That seems to be the case…”
I’m getting more and more confused as time pa.s.ses. What was that dark wolf going to do? The reason behind sparing my life. The reason behind leaving Momo behind. Various hypotheses swim around in my head, but none of them sound plausible. There’s no way for me to understand the thought process of monsters.
“Shortly after the dark wolf left, Momo-chan woke up. With her help along with Aka’s, we moved you here.”
“Here?”
Having heard that, I look around where I am currently at. I see walls and ceilings, as well as stairs and corridors at the corner of my view. Am I in… the school? Even so, I don’t feel much presence around me…
“Furu Furu.”
“Aka.”
I see Aka glued to my leg.
“Furu Furu!”
It sticks to me as if it’s trying to say ‘Aka was worried you know.’ Aka must not have recovered fully either. Its body is around half its original size.
“Sorry, I’ve made you anxious as well…”
“~~♪ Furu Furu.”
When I softy caress the semitransparent body of Aka, it trembles in delight.
“Huh? Now that I look at myself…”
I check my body. There… aren’t any injuries? While my clothes are stained with blood and ripped throughout, other than that, my body isn’t harmed in the slightest. I feel slightly tired and dizzy, but that’s about it.
“Was this… Ichinose-san?”
“Yesyes… I used an HP recovery potion. I got it from the Gacha again…”
The “Gacha” skill. If I remember correctly, “Gacha”, a skill which Ichinose-san’s occupation “Hiki Komori” offers, allows the user to roll the Gacha 3 times and get various useful items in exchange for 1 SP. It was also her potion which healed me after my fight with the high orc.
“It is up around 3 SP, but I was lucky enough to obtain it.”
As if relieved, Ichinose-san shows me the emptied bottle. How did she feed me the potion? I’m very curious, but I don’t think I it’s something I should ask.
“I apologize. To make you use your precious points for my sake…”
3 SP. For me who possesses a bonus boost, it isn’t costly, but for Ichinose-san, it must have been quite the expense.
“Ah, it’s fine. I obtained decent items and occupations from it as well… and to begin with, this all started due to my selfish desires…”
Her voice trails off by the end, and her expression turns dark again. She must be thinking that she is the main cause of this trouble. Indeed, it’s not entirely wrong. If I had ignored Ichinose-san’s suggestions and pa.s.sed through the school, none of this could have happened. But talking about this is meaningless. After all, time cannot be reverted back.
“Ichinose-san, don’t mind it too much. I didn’t disagree with your plans either, and there were many things that I could have done better. Rather, I should be the one to blame for failing to carry things out properly due to hesitation.”
“No, if I hadn’t suggested it in the first place-”
“Nonono, if I had done a better job-”
“No, if I-”
“No, if-”
In the end, we laugh after blaming ourselves and lowering our heads at the same time. Thanks to this, Ichinose-san’s expression has become brighter… albeit still looking away from me.
“So Ichinose-san, I want to double check on our situation right now.”
“Yes.”
“You’re certain that we’re within the school?”
Ichinose-san nods.
“That’s peculiar. I don’t see any signs of people…”
Yes, it’s much too silent. All the noises that we heard when we first infiltrated have vanished. Also, looking closely… rather, just by looking, it is apparent that some parts of the ceiling and the walls have been damaged. Is this the aftermath of our battle? I was too focused in the fight to notice, but it wouldn’t be strange to be implicated because of the dark wolf’s wide range of attacks. Did the people here evacuate? When I ask, Ichinose-san shakes her head.
“I’m not too sure either, but just as the dark wolf was about to leave, it howled, drawing in a fair number of monsters here.”
…What.
Now that she mentions it, I remember that shadow wolves and lesser wolves also howl to gather their teammates. Maybe their howls contain such special effects.
“After which, I heard things such as screams and screams, and also things like screams and such…”
So you only heard screams. But that is to be expected. Even the army controlled by the monster tamer was a considerable threat to the normal populace. On top of that, the dark wolf destroyed the school and drew in more monsters with its howl. The scene must have looked like the h.e.l.ls of Buddhism.
“Since I’ll be at a disadvantage fighting in close quarters within the building, we hid here until Kudou-san woke up. Despite being unable to move, ‘Cognitive Impediment’ allowed us to remain hidden. After a while, all the sounds disappeared…”
From this, I could only infer that the people ran away in an unorganized manner. There are not many monsters around as they chased after those that fled.
“Is that so…”
I wonder how many managed to escape with their lives. The current world really is harsh on us humans. d.a.m.n it.
“Oh, by the way, for how long have I been out cold?”
“Around an hour or so.”
An hour… After suffering so much damage, I should be happy about recovering after an hour. Speaking of which, how much HP have I regained? I open the status screen to check.
HP: 180/180
MP: 35/35
Both my HP and MP are full. I guess this is the effect of Ichinose-san’s recovery potion. It’s amazing that it could recover both MP and HP simultaneously. Is it an elixir?
“Speaking of which, Ichinose-san, what happened to your friend?”
When I ask casually, Ichinose-san’s shoulder shudders.
“I don’t know. After the fight, I sent a mail, but there has been no reply.”
Or so she says. Did Ichinose-san who loves spamming mails just say that she sent only one? For her to make such a normal judgment. Does she have a fever?
“Um… are you thinking about something very rude right now?”
“It’s just your imagination.”
I turn my face away to check my conditions. Yeah, it seems like I won’t have any problems with normal movements.
“Let’s move. There isn’t any point staying here anymore.”
“You’re…right.”
I’m curious about what happened to Nis.h.i.+no-kun and Rikkchan, but since they received the mail, they must be alive at the very least. Then there will be a chance to meet again. But then again, that student council president and that twin could be around them. While monsters are dangerous, the student council president is a source of danger in her own way. Those twins as well. They’re unforgivable. The next time we meet, I’ll make them suffer from the Item Box from a distance away. On a more serious note, I should be cautious when I encounter them again. Since I can move again, staying here would be a dangerous move. We should find another place. I activate “Enemy Detection”. With “Profession Enhancement”, the skill is enhanced, allowing more area to be covered. I don’t sense any powerful monsters around. As for humans… un, I can sense a few. Have they missed their opportunities to run away? Seeing as they aren’t moving, they must be either hiding or injured.
“Wan!”
While I am thinking, Momo suddenly dashes out.
“H-Hey, what’s wrong?!”
I chase Momo while carrying Ichinose-san. Inside the dim school, blood and flesh are scattered all over the place. With the corpses laying about, it is easy to imagine what occurred here.
“Wan!”
After a while, Momo stops. In the direction of her sight, there is a person who has fallen down while leaning on the walls. I don’t see anyone around her.
“That’s…”
I am not unfamiliar with the person. A person wearing a miniskirt and having flashy hairs tied into a side-tail. A girl wearing uniforms that have been destroyed, exuding the feeling of a gal. A considerable number of magic stones lay around her feet. Ichinose-san also turned her head from my side to look at her.
“…Ricchan?”
Laying on the ground with blood around her is the cla.s.smate that Ichinose-san has been searching for, Aisaka Rikka.