Editing The Zashiki Warashi of Intellectual Village:Bonus4 (section)

===Part 11===

“Wha-…ah!?”

“Are you insane, Favorite-kun!? Dammit!!”

The shouting voices reached me after a delay.

I was frantic. I could not allow Hishigami Yume to live a life where she would clash with her enemies and even have her own allies view her as disposable.

It was nothing more than that.

So I intervened. I ran forward and tackled Hishigami Yume’s skinny waist.

It was all over immediately afterwards.

The UAVs fired a great number of air-to-surface missiles. I was unable to control my own body and fell right off the truck container. And Hishigami Yume, that rusted girl of about ten, was still in my arms.

We were in a world of death running at 120 kph.

Was this the end?

I had desperately put my life on the line, but was that going to completely backfire?

“!!”

I did my best to surround Yume’s body and prayed I would act as a cushion. We would probably both be torn to pieces the instant we landed, but I didn’t want to give up without doing anything.

Why mind went blank.

My brain was fried.

My memories lost continuity, my sense of pain vanished, and time stretched out infinitely.

And…

And…

And…

…

…

…

How long did I keep doing that?

I may have shouted something along the way because the inside of my throat felt like it had torn apart.

But that was all.

No part of my body seemed to have broken. My flesh hadn’t been torn to shreds as if someone had taken a grater to it. I was simply sitting on the shoulder of the highway with the small girl in my arms.

She was safe too.

It was weird for me to feel relief at that fact, but I didn’t want to think it was wrong.

The truck had driven away.

What had happened with the downpour of missiles?

I was pretty sure there had been an explosion, but I saw no wreckage and the elevated highway was intact. Had Ama and Kuji intercepted the twenty or so missiles with some kind of projectile? Not even a cruiser’s CIWS was that accurate.

Lastly, I was sitting not on the ground but on a V-shaped or boomerang-shaped object. It was an oddly-shaped aircraft that was now broken and unusable.

“A…UAV?” I muttered.

Had it matched our relative speed to catch us? If so, just how superhuman were Hishigami Arawa’s skills?

And did that mean I hadn’t accomplished anything?

Risking my life had backfired and someone had needed to make up for my mistake. What was I doing here?

The one piece of luck was that Ama and Kuji had managed to escape pursuit while Yume’s side was focused on me.

What was going to happen to me?

I no longer had the protection of Hishigami Ama and Kuji and now evil Yume was in my arms. And she had plenty of allies. I had already learned all too well that my puny little revolver wasn’t enough for someone like this. It was possible it really was over for me.

But just as I was thinking that, the winds seemed to change.

“Fidget, fidget…”

“Hm?”

Hishigami Yume was acting oddly in my arms. Her face was red and she was looking up at me with damp eyes.

“Squirm, squirm. Ahh, he knew I was his enemy and he’s completely powerless, but he still rushed out without a single thought for his own life to save me. Yes and it’s because he’s completely powerless that his selflessness appears so beautiful. And when I see that superior sense of justice…no, that sense of ethics, it’s like running across a ton of bubble wrap. I feel like I’ve found the ultimate toy. Squirm, squirm, squirm.”

“Hey, what is going on here? Explain it all from the beginning.”

“A-ahh. Can I call you Onii-chan?”

“Explain!!”

I ended up shouting at her. First Mystery Freak Enbi and now her. Why was it always so hard to tell what these girls were thinking!?

But for some reason, Yume looked confused.

“Really, you’re the one that needs to explain yourself, Onii-chan.”

“Stop calling me that. And what do you mean?”

“Okay.” Yume nodded surprisingly obediently. “Why are you helping Ama-chan with her master plan to destroy the world?”

I had no idea what she was talking about.