Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume14 Chapter1 (section)

===Part 4===

&mdash;I think a dream occurred to me. A very nostalgic dream.

Haruaki slowly sat up from his futon. Morning had yet to arrive. The bedroom was still shrouded in darkness. However, it was not pitch black due to the faint moonlight leaking in from outside the window.

By his pillow was something that quietly reflected the moon's cold blue light. A pair of round-rimmed glasses.

(Konoha...)

Haruaki stared at those glasses, mesmerized, meanwhile recalling Un Izoey and Amanda's explanations.

Simply stated&mdash;Konoha was abducted by the Draconian named Nirushaaki.

He had heard of this name earlier during the commotion at the welcoming festival for new students. She was ranked number two in the Draconians. The owner of the cursed Japanese sword, Nagasone Kotetsu, which they had encountered during the school excursion.

These two incidents were apparently related to the current situation. During the welcoming festival, that Draconian had stolen a tool belonging to the Knights Dominion, which was then used on Konoha. In order to use that tool, for the sake of reducing the curse's backlash accompanying its usage, the enemy needed the Indulgence Disk that Haruaki's group was competing against Kotetsu to obtain. Upon hearing about this, Fear's annoyance with the Lab Chief's Nation was lit up once more: "In the end, it's all you bastards' fault for taking the Indulgence Disk away!"

What was the effect of the tool used on Konoha?

What kind of power was so great that an Indulgence Disk was needed at all costs?

Also, why was Konoha unable to escape despite her powerful strength&mdash;

These answers were all related. This led to the one and only but unbelievable answer.

(Konoha lost... her memory...?)

It's okay, this is nothing. Haruaki persuaded himself. Just as he had been telling himself until he went to sleep, ever since he heard the explanation from Un Izoey and Amanda. Although it greatly resembled plot from manga, he himself had lost his memory once. This time, it had happened to Konoha, that's all. So there's no problem. This is nothing&mdash;

But imperceptibly, he was clenching his fist on top of his blanket. Shifting his gaze away from the two lenses that were silently receiving the moon's rays, he looked up. The desire to sleep was long gone by now.

After being informed by Un Izoey, they had learnt of Nirushaaki's current hiding spot.

Then there was only one thing to do.

Looking up, out of the window, Haruaki wondered if Konoha might be staring at the same pale moon.

As though vowing towards that curving, extraordinarily pristine, clear moon, he resolved himself.

They must rescue Konoha tomorrow.

Then, absolutely&mdash;They must bring her back to this home.



At the same time, Fear was lying in bed, staring at the ceiling in her room while thinking.

(To think she lost her memory? That Cow Tits... Too careless of her.)

But then, she thought, this was nothing special. Last time when «Narrow Narrow Abyss» had done certain things to Haruaki and caused him to lose his memory, the memories had recovered instantly after Fear destroyed Abyss without putting much thought into it. The situation now should be the same. Indeed, definitely so. But&mdash;

But what?

Fear noticed annoyingly complicated feelings in her heart, causing her to frown and turn over in bed. Was she worrying? Impossible. Why must she worry about that Cow Tits? Even if Cow Tits were gone, she would be completely fine with it. Although for the past three days, Haruaki and Kirika did seem to be acting quite strange&mdash;Fear was able to assert with certainty. Whether at home or at school, she had exhibited flawless perfection, showing no signs of mental wavering at all. A perfect woman as always.

Indeed, she could not care less even if that Cow Tits, what an eyesore, did not return. The same sentiments applied to the matter of rescuing Cow Tits. Even though Haruaki and the others looked like they wanted to save her immediately without waiting for morning to arrive, Fear thought that they were absolutely nuts. Not only was it necessary to consider the issues of physical energy and mental preparation, but there was also the fact that night would only tilt odds in the enemy's favor once they stepped into enemy territory. Furthermore, Un Izoey and Amanda had told them that the enemy seemed to show no signs of changing their base immediately, hence Haruaki's group finally decided to wait until morning before taking action.

Fear was not that motivated about tomorrow's task either. How should she put it? All she could say was that she was going there mainly to see that Cow Tits who was stupid enough to be abducted by the enemy. Also, she was fine with rescuing Cow Tits because it was necessary to gather this as shaming material, to be used in the future to tease or mock her. Getting saved by her and owing a favor, that Cow Tits would definitely find it humiliating as well. This was all there was to it.

(By the way...)

Fear suddenly pulled her thoughts back to the main topic, feeling concerned about the names that she had recalled, namely, that of Un Izoey and Amanda. They had claimed they were passing information along. Naturally, Fear was not going to be deceived by them again. Hence, she listened to them with skepticism. But judging from their attitudes, they did not seem like they were lying.

Simply organizing the information they had heard was already turning Fear's brain into a mess. But after calming down to think like this, Fear really found the whole affair full of mysteries. The Lab Chief's Nation had always manipulated things from behind the scenes so why did they come over to tell them information this time? Also, what did they mean by leaking information while claiming to be lost? Did their superiors, such as Yamimagari Pakuaki, know of this? If they knew, what exactly were they thinking? Un Izoey and Amanda had left before offering to extend a helping hand. What exactly was their purpose?

The more she thought about it, the more confused she got.

Were Un Izoey and Amanda actually their friends or enemies&mdash;?

(Uumu...)

Fear tossed and turned in bed for a long time, finally giving up. Because she realized.

Thinking back, the answer to this question had been ambiguous and unknown all along. Hence, by this point, no matter how much she pondered it, she could not possibly come up with an answer, so there was no choice but to go with the flow&mdash;