Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume8 Chapter4 (section)

===Part 3===

A certain metallic clang caused Haruaki to wake up and open his eyes. This was a familiar sound that he had heard many times to this date. It was the noise made when two metallic objects collided.

Frantically, he flipped the blanket over and rushed out of his room. The noise originated from the garden.

"W-Why...?"

Incomprehensible, without any prior warning signs. Neither could Haruaki deduce the intentions behind her current behavior. But right now, he was confronted with the sight of Un Izoey wielding a knife in her foot as she engaged Konoha in battle.

"I'm not sure what the situation is exactly but you've finally showed your true colors! Cow Tits, how did you let her steal back her weapon!?"

Perhaps having heard the same noise, Fear also rushed out of her room. Figuring out the situation instantly, she transformed her Rubik's cube into the hatchet and charged into the garden.

"I did deliberate over it...!"

"I don't want to listen to your excuses, dummy!"

Un Izoey blocked their attacks with the knife in her foot while slowly retreating. At this moment, the window in the accessory dwelling opened and Kuroe jumped down into the yard with a frown. Kirika soon ran outside as well.

"Un Izoey! You're still our enemy after all, aren't you!?"

Kirika's expression instantly turned grim as she extended the «Tragic Black River» with frightening momentum. Brandishing her knife as though she were dancing, Un Izoey performed a back flip, landed on both hands and jumped vertically with great force.

Silently, she landed on top of the boundary wall. Closer to the moonlight, her gray hair and dark-skinned complexion were illuminated dimly. Standing at that height, she looked down at Haruaki's group without saying a word.

Kirika gritted her teeth so hard that it almost produced noise.

"What on earth... are you trying to do!? What are your intentions!?"

"I give an explanation of not planning any scary plan. I just made a judgment&mdash;judging I should return to the Lab Chief's Nation. Reason: I give the reason that there is nothing to do here now."

"You're saying... You have nothing you need to do... What about the Draconians!?"

"Unrelated to me. The enemy chose me as target without consent. No duty to play with her. I ignore. If she chase again, then I will fight her. Whether the scheduled battle or the abducted normal people&mdash;My opinion: I repeat unrelated to me."

"Stop screwing around...! That girl only came to this town because you're here! That's why Zenon and Ganon were caught up in this! Everything started with you!"

"If I need to look for another explanation, I give 'I don't care.'"

Fear gripped the hatchet's handle hard. Stop screwing around&mdash;Haruaki secretly thought the same thing. How could it turn out like this? Although it was only for a few days, they had lived together. Despite how brief it was, they had also worked together. He clearly experienced that feeling as though there was some sort of mutual understanding.

"Then what about the superintendent... You have a letter to give him, right?"

"Current situation: impossible to complete. Since those two are abducted, even knowing his return date not possible. I give the judgment that new plan is needed."

"You mentioned that there's also... something 'you must find out,' right? What about that?"

Only after hearing Kuroe's question did Haruaki realize that Un Izoey did not seem to have that notebook hanging on her neck as she stood on the wall. Was it because she no longer needed it? Un Izoey's next words served to further support Haruaki's speculation.

"From the start, no proof to prove conclusion correct that research theme is 'finding information about Sekaibashi Gabriel.' Also, even if correct, since those two are abducted, getting more information is difficult. Rather than waste time, I should return and ask for Lab Chief's directions. Very simple, just ask him again what I need to know, problem solved."

Hearing that, Kirika frowned for some reason. However, Un Izoey took no notice. Bobbing her gray hair up and down, she continued:

"My thanks: protection and treatment. But I don't plan to involve in more troublesome things."

"Honestly speaking, you're free to escape as you please&mdash;As much as I'd like to say that, we currently need manpower urgently. Since the Draconians' target is you, at the very least, you could act as bait to attract their attention. We can't let you go so easily."

Konoha took a step forward. Fear also transformed the hatchet into the execution stake and raised it above her head. Kuroe's hair began to writhe restlessly while Kirika's belt stayed on high alert. However, Un Izoey simply watched this scene calmly. Bending over slightly, she reached her arm towards her left foot.

"! ...I don't recall returning the darts to you...!"

"My hint: this is what I do when darts used up in middle of hunt. This is natural."

Pulling the bowstring that was wrapped around her big toe, she placed on it an extremely ordinary pebble that was most likely picked up in the garden while she was fighting Konoha. These pebbles would turn into terrifying bullets once shot using her arm strength and skill. Then right now, this bow was aiming at&mdash;

"Haruaki-kun!"

Konoha chopped with her hand and struck down the stone projectile flying towards Haruaki. But Un Izoey proceeded to shoot even more pebbles.

"Yachi, get down!"

"Tsk&mdash;Mechanism No.23 hole type, thorned surface form: «Maranatha», Curse Calling!"

"Mode: «Cushioning Munemori»!"

Using her immortal body, Kirika hugged Haruaki and pushed him onto the ground. Fear held up the bed of nails to act as a shield while Kuroe extended a defensive net of black hair. Thanks to them, none of Un Izoey's bullets could strike Haruaki.

"Yachi, are you okay?"

"S-Sorry. Rather, are you okay, Class Rep?"

"Yeah, but putting that aside&mdash;"

"She escaped. To think I clearly threatened her that harshly already... Next time I see her, I'm not going to let her off that easily...!"

Konoha glared at the wall viciously. Just as she pointed out, Un Izoey was gone out of view. Not only Konoha but everyone else focused their gaze where she had disappeared.

"I originally thought... she'd stay with us until the end...!"

Kuroe murmured softly and returned her hair to its original length. Fear turned her gaze away from the wall while putting the Rubik's cube away. Bowing her head slightly, she spoke softly:

"No... way... I knew it all along. She is not an ally."

Kirika nodded in agreement. Expressionless, she seemed to suppressing something deep in her heart.

Sounding as though she were speaking for herself to hear, Fear added quietly:

"After all, she's someone from the Lab Chief's Nation."

"...As well as being a core member."

"And also part of those people who went as far as to lie about putting a bomb in the school in order to learn about my structure."

"It simply happened to be a lie. Those people are the type that I won't be surprised if they did it for real."

"And they even tried to take you back by force."

"Yes, I won't forget. I will never believe them again."

"Those guys really are the worst... So, I'm not shocked by this. Un Izoey is one of them, so she must be that kind of person. That's all there is to it. Indeed, that's all... there is to it&mdash;"

"Well said. They are the absolute worst. I definitely cannot approve of them. I can't possibly view them in positive light, neither can I understand them... But..."

For some reason, Kirika suddenly stopped speaking there.

...As though hesitating over a certain matter, as though troubled over a certain matter.

Several seconds later, she clenched her fist tight, took a deep breath and&mdash;

"But... That's not right! Ahhh, how absolutely ridiculous!"

Kirika punched the wall hard. This sudden action startled Fear, causing her to hunch her shoulders and turn to look at Kirika. Naturally, Haruaki and the others turned towards her as well. Keeping her fist against the wall, Kirika continued to breath out with agitation.

"Cl-Class Rep, what's with you? What's not right...?"

"Not right. Clearly not right. That girl&mdash;was lying."

"Lying...?"

Indeed&mdash;Kirika nodded. She frowned as though feeling disgust from the bottom of her heart:

"That Pakuaki loves learning new things and instructing others. The fact that he did not directly tell Un Izoey what she needed to find out... It means that 'the unknown of what she needed to find out' only held meaning if she discovered it herself. In that case, even if she asked him, I don't think that man would tell her. Because if he told her, then the unknown is transmuted into something completely different and worthless to know. Arghh, damn it, absolutely ridiculous... As much as I hate knowing, I still ended up understanding this. How absolutely annoying!"

Kirika bit her lower lip and continued:

"Un Izoey can't possibly fail to understand that Pakuaki is that kind of man. Precisely because she was hanging around him in the same organization, I can tell from her eyes. She sincerely relies on and understands Pakuaki. If someone like her were to go back and ask him what she should be finding out, such an act that runs counter to Pakuaki's intentions would be truly unnatural. At least, I can only ascertain that she's lying about her reasons for leaving."

"But... In actual fact, she did flee. Going back to her faction because of danger is only natural, right?"

"Even so, there's no need to lie, right? Why did she have to say that...?"

Konoha inclined her head slightly. Haruaki also pondered. Why? Reason. Cause. Incomprehensible. Then let's start thinking of possibilities. No way. Indeed. No way. Supposing she fled this home not for the sake of returning to the Lab Chief's Nation&mdash;what remaining possibilities were there&mdash;?

An ominous premonition began to occupy Haruaki's stomach. No way... How could that be possible...

"Muu... She lied... But in fact, she did leave this house... What exactly is she thinking...?"

Also contemplating the same questions apparently, Fear crossed her arms as she began to pace back and forth in the garden. However, she suddenly halted in her tracks. She seemed to have stepped on something. Bending over, she picked it up.

"What is this... Muu, it's this thing? How did it drop here...?"

Haruaki leaned forward to see what Fear was holding. It was the notebook that had been hanging on Un Izoey's neck all along until now.

"Oh, during the moonbathing... How should I say this? In any case, many things happened. Many things."

Konoha shrugged as though she were recalling a certain matter. Haruaki carelessly took the notebook from Fear's hand. Although he did not expect any message left behind, he still flipped through it to check.

Only the the first few pages had been used. Just as seen previously, her extremely distorted handwriting was used to scribble down various useless facts regarding the superintendent. On the last page where words were written, a line of even more distorted words read: "Secretary. Cashier. Very fast. Older sister. Drunk." During the Santa part-time job, she had also approached them sneakily~ Haruaki recalled.

The next page was blank. There really was nothing? Just as Haruaki was about to close the notebook&mdash;He suddenly noticed something...

There were signs that a page had been ripped off. Judging from the sequence, it was written on after the part-time job was over&mdash;

At this moment, Haruaki noticed something else and scrutinized even more closely.

On the page that he had originally deemed blank, in other words, the one that came after the page that was ripped off, there were faintly visible words. Haruaki frantically ran into the living room and spread the page out under the fluorescent lighting. Fear and the rest also leaned forward to watch.

In that instant, Haruaki remembered.

Un Izoey held her pencil like a child. Due to writing in that manner, she pressed hard on the paper; and due to pressing hard on the paper, she said that using pencil was better&mdash;

Precisely because of that, this resulted.

The words she wrote were imprinted faintly onto the next page.

"Towards the end, that girl... She threw something like an mechanical metal part at Kokoro, right?"

"A component shaped like a dart. If it's just a piece of paper, it's possible to pierce it and launch it towards the enemy like a letter delivered by arrow... An absolutely ridiculous deduction, however."

"Then&mdash;That Kokoro took a glance after catching it, right..."

Without a doubt. It was done during then.

Without letting anyone else know, Un Izoey had sent a message to the enemy.

Imprinted on the blank page that followed was her uniquely distorted handwriting that was no different from a blackmail note's.


''Request. Push forward 24 hours early. I come alone.''


The appointed date was tomorrow, right at midnight when the date was changing. Twenty-four hours early would be&mdash;

Haruaki looked up at the clock. The hands were now currently pointing at midnight.

"That... country girl... is really an inconceivably... great big idiot!"

Fear clutched the Rubik's cube tightly and stood up abruptly. Of course, Haruaki and the rest also got up to their feet. If one had to give a reason, surely everyone was the same.

Fear was right, Un Izoey really was an incurable idiot.

Hence&mdash;

Even though she was not an ally&mdash;

Even though members of the Lab Chief's Nation could not be trusted at all&mdash;


They felt obliged to go give her a good scolding.