Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume11 Chapter3 (section)

===Part 16===

Zenon and Ganon were stuck in a desperate battle.

None of the enemy knights possessed special weapons or tools. But overall, this team seemed to have gathered the relatively more capable members. They were protecting the trunk carefully, most likely something very important. The shrine maiden watching from the sidelines attempted to take certain actions but appeared to give up in the end.

Zenon dodged the enemy's attacks while throwing knives. Ganon also brandished her sword languidly to engage in battle, biding her time.

"Ooh~ So tiring, honestly, this can be considered a one-sided defensive battle, isn't it~?"

"We have completely accomplished our goal of halting the opponents' advance. Hence this is considered an attack in this sense."

"Oh my~ I've said it every time already, but my body really has gone slow and out of shape... Especially in stamina~ Dear sister, is there anything nearby like those recovery items in games?"

Instantly, Zenon was at a loss for words. This was not because she started doubting the mental state of the elder sister who could still utter such nonsense in this sort of crisis. That was not the entire reason at least.

Instead, it was because something that she wanted was indeed present. For some unknown reason, it had emerged in their view.

But Zenon continued to ponder the meaning behind it&mdash;the significance of that object's appearance&mdash;at the same time, she wondered: Onee-sama would very likely open her mouth wide and pounce on it.

On a nearby tree, in a gap between the flourishing leaves&mdash;A hand was extended, holding a meat bun.

What did this mean?

"..."

Zenon threw a knife without saying a word, striking the meat bun's very center.

"Ahhh! Is that the item for recovering all HP?"

Zenon ignored her sister's shrieking. The meat bun, stabbed with a knife&mdash;Carrying the meat bun, a dark-skinned girl leapt down from the tree with the rustling of leaves.

A glazed over expression, eyes without any fluctuation in emotion. Zenon knew very well that her own eyes were the same. Two faces of similar demeanor looked at each other. The girl remained expressionless and spoke monotonously:

"I mutter to myself: giving this alarming report. Completely unrelated to the surrounding situation, I was just lying in a tree trying to eat lunch while taking a nap but my precious meat bun was attacked. Now I must avenge the meat bun to vent my personal anger. You there, do you know what rude person attacked this meat bun? I ask this kind of question."

Zenon immediately pointed to the side and answered. Even though she was holding a throwing knife identical to the one stuck on the meat bun.

"I do. The suspicious men over there."

"I declare: giving grateful thanks to your information provided. Then out of personal resentment, to vent personal anger, I have decided personally to defeat this group of men and their accomplices. This is purely based on personal resentment for attacking the meat bun, completely unrelated to organizations such as the Lab Chief's Nation or the Knights Dominion."

Drawing the throwing knife from the meat bun, the girl casually dropped it by Zenon's feet.

Then she took out handcuffs from her pocket and cuffed her hands. Bending her legs, she drew a knife from under her skirt. Finally, she tossed into her mouth the meat bun with the large hole in it.

Once she finished chewing, the number of knights remaining standing was reduced to three within the blink of an eye.



"&mdash;Mode: «Cycling Yahoo Masayori»!"

"This move... How is... it...!?"

Kuroe had used her hair to entangle a bicycle in the parking lot to smash against one of the knights. At the same time, Kirika was using the «Tragic Black River» to restrain another knight by the waist. Then using the parking lot's roof as a pulley, she pulled the knight up, allowing him to crash into the ground after gathering sufficient gravitational potential energy.

With that, there were no mobile enemies left for now. The other two knights were already immobilized. The third person wrapped under layers of hair to resemble a caterpillar while the last man had fainted from lack of oxygen after he was choked by the neck. After confirming that all knights were immobilized, Kirika breathed a great sigh of relief. The usual sense of unpleasant pain was present on her chest, calves and shoulder blades. The sensation of pain and the squirming of regenerating flesh. As expected, she was unable to eliminate all the enemies without coming to harm herself. Kuroe jogged over to Kirika.

"Kiririn, are you okay? Do you need me to wrap your wounds with hair?"

"No, I'll heal immediately so don't worry... Anyway, the enemies are dealt with."

"Yeah. It took quite some time but I absolutely won't let anyone call us lacking in power again. Since we worked so hard, we must demand rewards from Haru. I'll be in charge of asking so you must make effective use of this opportunity, Kiririn!"

"A-Absolutely ridiculous... No, it's pointless to hide it from you. Then I'll say thanks in advance."

Kirika spoke with a wry smile, causing Kuroe to widen her eyes for an instant before smiling.

"This honesty is really great~ Ah, while I'm praising your honesty, Kiririn, I've also decided to name your move from just now as «Sure Kill: Kirika Itsuna Drop», please use it! Next time you perform the move, I hope you'll yell it out as loud as you can!"

"Sorry, I don't think I can comply. By the way, she has been gesturing for a while already."

Kirika looked over at the kagura bell shrine maiden and recalled. She had apparently been waving her hands all this time. Then something on the ground leapt into view and Kirika finally understood.

"Oh&mdash;The trunk? You wanted us to steal it, or you were planning to steal it, hoping we could distract them? Sorry, we noticed too late. Because their defense was a bit difficult to crack, even after I noticed, I didn't know if I could act on it immediately."

The shrine maiden shook her head as though saying "Don't mind that." Seeing this, Kuroe said:

"Hmm. In other words, using the nickname I just decided to call you girls, Suzu-chan, you girls were trying to use this trunk as the key to some kind of operation... And looks like this operation is still underway."

The shrine maiden picked up the trunk that was previously in the possession of the knight who had just collapsed, staring intently at Kirika and Kuroe. It felt like she was saying: Please hurry.

"I don't quite understand, but she wants us to follow her, right? Looks like we'd better hurry."

While Kirika was murmuring, the shrine maiden had already turned around and started running. Kirika and Kuroe prepared to chase her.

But after running a few steps, the shrine maiden suddenly stopped and looked back abruptly.

Her face was filled with a shocked expression while her eyes seemed to be staring at a location somewhere else. Her body trembled slightly. Perhaps losing strength, the trunk slid from her palm and fell on the ground. Not only that, but she also stumbled, instantly collapsing to sit on the floor&mdash;

"Hey, what's with you?"

Kirika ran over to examine the shrine maiden's face. This inability to speak was causing such anxiety. However&mdash;

"You just need to answer yes or not. Did you foresee something?"

The shrine maiden slowly shook her head from side to side. The answer was no.

"...Your other comrades, did they tell you something has happened?"

The shrine maiden slowly moved her head up and down. Yes.

The shock she suffered was nothing ordinary. Something very serious must have happened&mdash;Kirika concluded. It did not happen here. Through their shared consciousness, one of them had seen something. What was it?

There were countless answers that could be filled in this blank. Precisely because of that, Kirika wished to obtain a minimum level of relief.

Hence, praying for a negative answer, trying to first rule out this worst possible outcome, she asked:


"''Someone&mdash;did someone die''?"



The shrine maiden's head moved up and down. It was no illusion. Kirika was not mistaken.

No matter how much she wished she were mistaken.