Editing Kami-sama no Inai Nichiyoubi:Volume3 Chapter3 (section)

===Part II===




"So, let’s start the first Great Escape Conference!"

Ai gently clapped as she announced so. They were at a corner of the cafeteria, and the members of Q class created some strange atmosphere.

Tanya and Gigi were the only ones who were listening to the conversation seriously, and as for the others, Alice was sleeping, Rune plunged her face into a basin of water, and the twins who were playing synchronized rock-paper-scissors, a game only the three sisters could play. And there was more.

Hardy and Volrath in particular were off into their own world and never came back.

[[Image:Kamisama v03 Illustration 08.jpg|thumb]]


"H-Hardy, actually, well, erm…"

"What's wrong, Volrath?"

Volrath said while blushing brightly, her hands behind her back. Hardy’s fluffy cheeks slackened as he gave a reassuring smile.

"Well, actually, I made our lunches today, but…"

Saying so, she extended out her hands, and held a cutely wrapped lunch box.

"Woah, that's amazing!"

"So, erm…will you eat it?"

"Of course."

Thank goodness. Volrath relaxed her cheeks and began to unwrap the lunch. It was very well designed, and every single piece of cloth was carefully thought out.

Her hand stopped just as she was about to open the basket.

"What's wrong?"

"W-well? I made this, but I’m not confident that I made it well…"

"It's okay."

Hardy gave a soft smile that put everyone at ease.

"You made this lunch for me, didn't you, Volrath? I'm sure it's delicious."

"Hardy…"

Volrath blushed, and her eyes looked up through the gaps between her glasses.

"I'll open it then."

Saying so, Hardy opened the box.

"Oh!"

There was an assortment of mud buns.

"…………………Eh?"

Ai, who was peeking over with an outstretched neck, let out a strange voice.

"Here, ahh."

A silver fork stabbed at one of the mud buns, flew in the air for a little while, and reached out to Hardy. The mud buns were made of clay sprayed with white sand, and sprinkled over with sesame-like glass pieces as accents.

Nom, and then,

"H-how does it taste?"

"Yep. It's good."

Volrath's cheeks quickly turned red. It certainly resembled a romance scene fresh out of a young girl’s novel, but the actual incident was horrified. The girlfriend was feeding mud to her boyfriend, who was eating it happily.

It was the little love affair that only "Super Grip" Volrath and "Mud Eater" Hardy could have.

Even Ai could not bring herself to say ‘I want to try it too’. After staring dumbfoundedly, she realized something was amiss.

"No! Please listen to me, everyone! I'm talking about the escape plan!"

Bam bam! She slammed the table several times. On a side note, while she did yell the dangerous word ‘escape’, everyone else was fearful of being a third wheel in Volrath and Hardy's love affair, and had kept their distance, so there were no issues.

"We’re escaping! No, it's treason then! We just can’t stay here and have our freedom taken away!"

"Haa…"

And everyone else reacted so.

"I hope that nobody else gets lured in here after me…"

"You’re the first and last person to be fooled like this."

Alice, who was listening to the speech while lying on the table, suddenly retorted. Ai ignored him,

"We must fight this war until the bitter end! This school is a sham! We'll uproot it upside down until it can’t grow roots again!"

"The words are all wrong, but somehow…the enthusiasm comes across very well."

Tanya put her hand on her cheek and muttered in admiration.

"For starters, we need to imprison the teaching staff! I see that their standard equipment is only a handgun, so we can take them one on one, no problems! It’s easy! The problem is the emergency security shifts, the contents of the gun lockers in key locations, and the extent to which the outside residents are cooperating with them! The first people we need to capture first are security chief Mageta, and…"

Only then did Ai notice the subtlety of the atmosphere.

"What's with the awkward reaction, everyone?"

"Because …"

"Well…."

The Q class members exchanged looks.

"What is it? If you have something to say, please do. It's important to exchange opinions."

Then Tanya raised her hand.

"Actually, Ai, we're not really into fighting or…anything like that."

"Hm, I understand. But don't worry. We're not going to hurt anyone."

"Ah, no, we can’t do that…"

"We won’t."

But …Tanya seemed apprehensive, and shot glances at her classmates.

"Everyone! Please hear me out seriously!"

Bam! Ai slammed onto the table hard.

"Don't you guys hate it here? Don't you want to go outside? Miss Tanya, you said it yourself, that you wanted to get out of here and go home."

"Yes, I did. "

"Then…"

"But I can't go home."

Tanya said, her eyes still closed--forever.

"I can't go home like this. … If I go home, I’ll cause trouble for my parents. We’re just ordinary farmers…if I stay, our family will most likely be ostracized again."

The place turned lively.

"It's the same at home." "Yeah yeah."

The twins said.

"Nobles are nobles, they care about appearances." "Dad was really furious when he found out he couldn’t use his three daughters for political marriages." "Anyone marrying us has to love us three though." "Right?" "Right."

"…My hometown is in a desert, and I will dry up there…”

Splash. Rune said as she looked up from the basin.

The rest of the day was spent bragging about their misfortunes. The boys were silent, sipping their tea in silence.

Ai listened to their conversation—which was interesting in itself—and then cut it off.

"Erm, can everyone listen to me?"

She raised her hand quickly.




"Well, so what if that’s the case?"




So what?  Such words caused Tanya and the others to tilt their heads.

"? Sorry, Ai, I didn't quite understand your question. …"

"Erm, actually, I might be mistaken."

Ai said with a worried look on her face.

"You all have a desire to get out of here, right?"

Well, sort of…everyone agreed.

"Then shouldn't I try to do that?"

Once again, nobody understood her.

"Erm, Ai, did you hear what we said? We can't do that, there’ll only be trouble if we go back..."

"So what is the problem?"

"No, well..."

"What’s the problem about causing other people problems?"

Finally, at this point.

They all realized that Ai was talking about something strange.

"Miss Tanya, you want to be with your parents, don't you? Isn't that your dream?"

"Y-yes."

"Then you should do what you can do to accomplish it. You should be looking to leave and return to your family, to go to a place where you can be happy with everyone."

"D-Do you know of any place that would be that convenient, Ai?"

"No, not at all."

"Hey!"

But," Ai said, grinning like the sun.

"I believe there is! There’ll be a place where everyone can live together!"

"Such a place—"

"And even if there isn't..."

Ai smiled.

Her smile was radiant like the sun, evaporating the little puddles left, and parching a few weeds.

"We can create such a place, a heaven."

"H-How can we do that!?"

Ai was puzzled, why, and asked,

"Isn't that what you dreamed about, Miss Tanya?"

"I-It is, but,"

"Then shouldn’t you do that?"

Ai beamed. She was dazzling like the desert, like the deep sea, like the moon, like the sun.

There was an overwhelming incorrigibly in her smile.

"If you have a dream, and you want it to be true, shouldn't you go about doing it?"

She smiled.

"Isn't that what dreams are for?"

They were all speechless.

No one answered.

Tanya was the most shocked of them all. Tanya listened. Her special hearing allowed her to hear Ai’s words and smile. It was not telepathy, but it allowed her to understand the true intention.

This was what Ai meant.

You have to give your utmost to pursue your dreams. No, it was not a statement. It was a belief, for Ai felt so, and assumed that the others were the same.

In other words.

At her age, she already had a dream worth giving her all for.

That was so frightening to Tanya.

"Ai, just tell me one thing…"

"What is it?"

"…What is your dream?"

Ai was a little embarrassed, but she said it proudly.

"I want to save the world."

Tanya was really speechless. The sound became so distant to her, as if she was anemic from the shock. Tanya would not be this shocked if Ai was just young and innocent when she boasted so. She was however shocked that Ai had recognized the difficulty of her dream as a matter of course, and yet would give her utmost to go for it.

What kind of twelve years did she spend to give her utmost for such a grandiose dream? Tanya was afraid of this little creature in front of her. The creature had not gone insane yet, even after all this time. She was worried for Tanya while looking sane.

To Tanya, Ai was horrible, pathetic.

"I can't!"

Tanya shouted. Her face was pale and her voice was trembling with fear.

"I can't! I had enough!"

"It's okay. We just need a plan…"

"That's not what I meant!"

Tanya stood up, knocking her chair over with a thud.

"I had enough of you!"

With that, Tanya put her hand over her mouth to stifle her apparent nausea, and hurried out of the cafeteria.

"Ah, wait Prez!" "Wait!"

"…Tanya, wait …."

The twins and Rune chased after her.

Those who were left behind looked at each other and stood up.

"Ah, everyone!"

"Sorry, Ai, we're not sure we can follow through with it either—that escape plan."

Volrath said. Her hand was grabbing Hardy, and she seemed to be afraid of something.

"I'm sorry, little Ai. We need to talk—you too Gigi."

"Woah, what are you doing, Hardy?…I’m part of the escape team…"

With that, Volrath and Hardy (and Gigi, who had been dragged along) left too.

Ai sat alone in the middle of the suddenly spacious table.

Everyone’s tea was left on the table.

She felt that she had been left behind, badly.

"I'm the only one in the world."

"Eh?"

"You've got that look on your face,"

Alice said. He was no longer asleep, and sat on the edge of the table with his legs crossed.

"…They said they can’t"

"So they did."

"Did I…do something wrong?"

"Nothing."

Alice then rocked a chair.

"It's just, well, it was kind of hard for them, right?? For Prez, . I mean, for everyone."

"Yep yep."

Dee nodded away with a knowing look, drifting along like a dandelion fluff.

"But well, you’re making it tough on them, Ai~."

"Tough…?"

"Well, basically."

Alice said.

"Prez noticed that even though she wants to return home, she’s unable to risk her life to try."

"But we wouldn’t know that until we try."

"That's right. It’s as you say. But there are people in the world who can't do that. In fact, there are more people like that. The people here are all like that. We have adults maintaining a place that will be destroyed in a few years, children who are oppressed and would rather remain so, the Living waiting to die, and the Dead waiting for a Gravekeeper. That's what this place is."

"I don't want that. That ●● is ●●."

"…Don’t imitate the dorm supervisor when you don’t understand what that means."

It’s dangerous to say such words… Alice was horrified.

"But speaking of which, it's really not that bad. It's safe, and clean."

"But you're not free."

"It’s just a lack of freedom."

It was a word Ai felt was very important, but Alice merely dismissed it as ‘just’.

"…I don't really understand."

Ai lowered her head dejectedly, feeling a little lonely.

"…I've been thinking about something ever since I came down from the mountain"

"Heh? —How about you say it then?"




"Why isn't everyone saving the world?"




They were speechless.




"Well, that’s…"

"… Wow."

Isn't that weird? Ai glared at them in turn.

"Is what I'm saying weird? Because the world is going to be destroyed, right? Why isn’t everyone anxious, and thinking ‘we have to save it?"

"But you don't know how to save it, do you?"

"That's true…but that's not a reason not to aim for it, is it?"

"I guess."

"And yet it doesn’t feel like people are interested in the world at all…"

"No, they really aren’t interested. I mean, that's normal. Let me say this first, you’re the weird one. Normal people don't think about saving the world. They don't put their lives on the line for a dream. In fact, they don't even dream."

"I-Is that so?"

"It is."

"But then, won’t we perish?"

"Most probably"

Ai was the speechless one.

"I-Is it really fine!?"

"I don’t think people will say it’s fine. For example, if you’re a prisoner, and you’re told that you’ll be executed tomorrow, what will you do?"

"I’ll try to escape with all my might."

"By the way, most prisoners actually die obediently.—Other examples include: "If you put a frog in hot water, it escapes, but if you gradually increase the temperature, it doesn't escape and will boils to death."…or "People won’t get their cavities treated until their teeth hurt."…or, well, humanity is pretty much like that."

"…No way."

Ai lowered her head in disappointment.

"…Are there actually very few people who are thinking about saving the world?"

"Well, it's true that there aren't many, but don't worry, there are some."

"Really…?"

"Like us, for example."

Suddenly, the air froze.

Ai looked up seriously.

There was a boy rocking a chair lazily, and a ghost drifting in the air.

Ai said.

"Eh?"

"Oh, there’s the bell. I don't really care, but those guys left without doing the dishes. Hey, Ai, why don't you help them? At least separate the teacups and plates..."

"W-Wait a minute, Mr. Alice, what did you just say?"

"Separate the teacups and plates and put them on a tray—"

"Not that! What you said earlier!"

"Hmm? Most probably?"

"That’s way too long ago! I mean…."

Ai slammed the table.

"Just now, you know, you guys, are thinking about saving the world—"

"Ah, yes."

"Sorta."

Alice tickled his cheek. Dee fluttered about.

"Well, that’s fine, let’s save ourselves from being late—Ai, give me the teacup there. Tch, It’s not finished. Who’s so crude?"

"Not me."

"No, I know you're a ghost. You can't touch things. Why are you making excuses when nobody’s asking you?"

"E-erm…"

"I just want to be part of the conversation…"

"You're a bother, you know?"

"Erm!"

Ai leaned forward and called out to them. She yelled, and scampered over to hold Alice's and Dee's hands—but since she could not touch Dee, it was only a matter of expression.

"I’ve! Never met anyone who thinks the same way!"

"Huh?"

"Why, congrats."

Unlike the high-spirited Ai, Alice was pessimistic, and Dee was being a ghost. Both shook Ai’s hands in a dismissive manner.

"Well, the young people nowadays really can’t be underestimated! Really nice! There’s now triple the number of people who want to save the world!"

"Oh, sorry, I don’t think I count."

"Me too."

"Huh?"

The lifeline was taken away, and Ai almost fell down.

"Dee, what did you say? I remembered you mentioned—"

"I want to end the world."

Floating on the ground.

Dee Ensy Stratmitos said.

"And Alice, you—"

"I said ‘I want to destroy the world’."

Alice Color said as he cleaned up his classmates' dishes.

Ai was dumbfounded and wondered if she had misheard something.

"…Erm, both of you, I think you’re talking about something strange…you don’t want to save the world? It’s ridiculous. Is this hell? "I want to end the world."

"You don't actually know what it means to save the world, do you? Dee told me that what you did in Ortus was a disaster."

"P-Please don’t ask me about that."

"If you want to complain, talk to the ghost. She’s quite the evil one, always whispering to me stuff that I don’t want to hear about. Same thing about Gigi. I wouldn’t have bothered if I didn’t know about him…"

Ai's gaze darted around, but the ghost in question had vanished, just like a ghost.

"…You’re saying you know how to save the world?"

Ai unwillingly looked back and asked angrily, as though taking it out on him.

"Of course!"

"Ehhh?"

"What are you so surprised about?"

"I mean, it's an impossible question to answer!"

"That's not true. There are basically only two ways to save the world."

Is that so!? Ai immediately latched on, and nearly toppled over the utensils Alice barely cleared.

"What's that? Please tell me!"

"Sure."

"That’s casual of you!"

"What’s the point of getting you hooked? The first is..."

"Wait, wait, wait! I'll write it down!"

"You don’t need to. First of all..."

"Wait, wait, wait!"

Ai hurriedly took out her class notebook and opened a blank page.

"Please start!"

"First of all, do you understand that there are two worlds?"

"? Two?"

"You look like you don't know what I'm talking about. Shall I go about it in order? The first world is basically ‘the world as it is’, or in other words, a world that exists without observers."

"The world as it is? Observers?"

"Even if the human race were to die out, the universe would continue, right? There will be other animals and creatures."

"Well, yeah, I guess…"

"That's the first world, one that really exists without anyone else. The second world, on the other hand, is the world of the ‘observers’."

"Observers?"

"Well, you can assume I’m talking about humans, like you and me. We can't see the world as it is for some reason."

Alice said, and pointed at his eyes and head.

"The world we humans see is only the world we see with our eyes, and translate into our brains, isn’t it?"

"Translate…?"

"For example, isn’t the scenery we see very colorful?"

Ai nodded her head in agreement.

"But the truth is, there are very few animals that can see like this. Insects can only see ultraviolet light, and dogs can't see red. The world as we see it is fundamentally different from the world as insects and dogs see it. In other words, different observers see the world differently…even as humans, everyone sees the world differently."

For example, Tanya. Alice said.

"Can you understand Tanya's vision?"

"… No."

Ai could not imagine the world of someone who could listen to the light like that.

"Yeah. This is what I mean by ‘seeing the world differently’. Well, even if it's not that extreme, each of us really lives in a different world. It depends on your upbringing, your environment, your way of thinking."

"…I get that, but…"

"For example, you just said that ‘the world is about to end’. Some people don't think so."

"I don't agree with that. The world is dying."

"It's humanity that's dying, not the world—And that's the position Dee stands at."

"Hello~."

Dee brazenly returned and took over the conversation.

"The world I want to save is the world as Alice mentioned, ‘the world as it is’—say Ai, what do you think is the weirdest thing in this universe right now?"

"The weirdest thing is…?"

"Yes. Answer that in less than three seconds."

"Eh, wait!"

"Three, two, one, zero. Sorry! The correct answer is "Gravekeeper and humanity."

Dee drifted in the air and discussed the ‘end of the world’.

"What do you think would happen to the world if we all died, were buried by Gravekeepers, and then Gravekeepers disappeared?"

"What…?"

"Do you think we can go back to the normal world fifteen years ago?"

Ai was puzzled by the idea.

"Do you think that all the miracles polluting the world will disappear, and the world will go back to normal? Is that what you think?"

"That! B-But the people!"

"People aren’t important here. Other living beings will still be around, and naturally, there’ll be new lifeforms taking over from humanity, hundreds of millions years from now. When that happens, I think it's the role of humanity not to get in the way—That's why my idea of ‘saving the world’ is to ‘get rid of humanity’."

For that reason, Dee Ensy Stratmitos whispered to others. She wanted more winds in the storm, to open a hole in a cul-de-sac, to rip out the festering pus.

"Wait, but you've saved people, right?"

"I’m not helping anyone!"

Dee spat back.

"I'm whispering to accelerate human activity, to bring us closer to the end. I want humanity to oxidize faster, to bring them to their demise quicker. This is my way of saving the world. "

So, Dee Ensy Stratmitos sneered.

"I'm grateful to you for ending Hampnie Hambert, Ai."

"I can't accept that…!"

"That's because you're standing up for humanity."

Alice said.

"It's all about perspective. The world really changes its shape depending on the perspective of the person who sees it. Those with the perspective of someone overlooking from a high place—like Dee, will think the world isn’t dying. For someone on the human perspective—like you, you’d think the world is dying. From an even lower perspective—for someone who thinks the town and family is the entire world, the assumption will be ‘My family is happy. It's okay, right?’. A little lower, and the ‘world itself’ becomes a more distant concept. For those standing from ‘humanity’s standpoint’, a ‘world crisis’ becomes a ‘human crisis’, but to those who say ‘my village is my world’, the ‘crisis’ would be more of a drought or a plague. Those with such a lower perspective might find it difficult to say if the world is really facing a crisis. Of course, a crisis is still one, but it’s hard for them to imagine."

"I've seen all kinds of people, but—"

Dee said.

"Everyone lives surprisingly normal lives. They grow crops, raise pigs, brew alcohol and fish, and when they die, they are buried by Gravekeepers. I guess this is probably the current normal?"

"I think so too."

"…Hm."

Ai held her chest, for she felt that she was hurt by these words.

—She never had a low perspective to begin with. She had no family, and was raised as a Gravekeeper. Those around her wanted her to assume a higher perspective."

But ordinary people were different. For them, the world is their family, or whatever was within their sight.

Ai finally understood what Tanya was talking about; to the latter, the smallest world was her family, and she could not be in there if she wanted to ‘save the world’.

"My point of view is also, well, over here—‘a small community’."

Alice pointed up into the air.

"The world I want to destroy is here."

"Destroy…"

"You said you’re going to save the world, but here's the problem."

The index finger he pointed aside suddenly pointed towards Ai.

"I don’t think the world ever asked you to save it, right?"

"Ahh…yes, yes."

This was the part where Ai felt the pain last time.

"I can't be as materialistic as Dee, but still, the world is just the world, and there’s nothing to save. Someone's salvation is another’s destruction, and someone's destruction is another’s salvation. In extreme cases, from Dee's point of view, by saving us, we may be destroying the intelligent life that is supposed to be born later on."

"Th-That’s quite a large scale of salvation and destruction…"

"That's why, gun to head, I’ll still never say anything about saving the world."

"…Ahh."

Ai sensed the mood.

"…Mr Alice, are you angry?"

"A little."

Alice admitted honestly. The boy had always been blunt and straightforward ever since they first met.

"I'm not going to save the world. I'm just gonna destroy it."

"I won’t save people either. I just whisper."

They said and looked at Ai.

They wanted to see how she would answer.

"I..."

Ai said.

"I'm…."

Her words were cut off, and nothing more came out.

"…Well, your position aside—everything till this point is just a way to save the world. We need to define the world each observer sees, like ‘universe, humanity, village, family;, and then proceed to save it."

And then, the second. Alice held up a second finger.

"The second one is very easy. You don't have to save the world itself, you just have to save the observers."

"? I'm not sure…"

"In other words, just save ‘those’ who say ‘I want to save the world’."

"???"

"In another perspective, people who say they're going to ‘save the world’ are the ones who haven't been saved."

Alice’s dark eyes looked into Ai.

"In contrast, those who don't want to save the world are ‘those who are saved’ to begin with. They will think that since children won’t be born, the Dead won’t die, but they have family. It’s not the ideal situation, but it’s not the worst either. That's how it is."

"Well…I get that."

"Then the rest is easy. All you have to do is to lower your perspective."

"Lower?"

"Give up trying to save the world, and live happily ever after with your friends, family, and loved ones."

Bam! Ai slammed the table. The pile of dishes clinked together.

"What's wrong?"

"What you said!"

Ai's blue eyes blazed as she glared at Alice.

"'I can't accept that!"

"'Why not?'

"Why, you ask!?"

Ai could not believe this question was asked. It was a question so obvious to her that she did not need to think about, let alone answer.

"No, that’s not the case. People have a reason to be obsessed with their perspective.. I have one, Dee has one."

"I just…!"

"That's not true. How can there not be a reason for something grand like saving the world? Why do you want to save people? Why do you want to destroy this school?"

"It's to save Miss Tanya and..."

"No, there’s something more."

"!!"

That was...

It was because this place was so different from the wonderful school that her father spoke about—

"That's your starting point, isn't it?"

Alice said, as though reading could read her mind.

"You need to get this clear. You don't have to save the world, but if the starting point changes, the perspective will change dramatically and maybe you'll be happy."

"That's not going to happen…"

"Maybe you're right."

"My happiness is not important to me."

"You're absolutely right. I can relate to that."

But, Alice looked at Ai with a near expressionless face,

"What would you do if you became someone else's world?"

"Eh?"

"If a world from other perspectives includes you, and those people want to save you, what will you do? If to them, saving you means saving themselves, what will you do? If there’s such a person—like say, a lover who falls for you, and wants you to be happy, what will you do?"

"T-there's no way such a person will..."

"Ai."

Alice’s voice turned serious.

Ai had a bad feeling about this.

"What is it?"

"I love you. Let's get married."

"Please die."

She blurted out without saying, even though it would be say so as a person, as a Gravekeeper, as someone saving the world. She had been keeping it sealed till this day, but she finally badmouthed someone..

"Ah…"

She was overcome with self-loathing.

Alice chuckled next to her.

"I was just kidding, but lover aside, don’t you already have people willing to be your family?"

"…"

"You have traveling companions, don't you?"

"…"

Ai clammed up.

She was reminded of Julie and Scar.

"I wonder what's more important to them, you or the world?"

"……"

"Whether it’s that old man called Julie, the Prez and the others, the Living the Dead, there are so many people who want to make you happy, and yet you’re abandoning them to go to your so-called world, right?"

Ai could not say anything.

"We're both unfortunate."

Alice said, lifting the dishes with a clatter.

"And here’s the bell."

The afternoon bell rang, and lunchtime was over.

"Well, before the world, let's get to class."

He nimbly piled up the trays.

"Let's go."

He said, and strode off.

Ai did not follow.




The members of Q class spent that afternoon in an oppressive atmosphere of low-temperature lava; Ai and Tanya remained silent, and did not speak after class or in the bath.




Then, late at night, Ai slipped out of her room.










"Hey Ai, let's go back, it's not good to stay up late."

Dee said as she floated in the night sky.

Ai did not reply. She looked forward silently as she walked through the forest at night. She was dressed in her Gravekeeper outfit for the first time in a long time.

"Hey, go back, Ai~."

Ai ignored Dee. She did not look back at all. She continued to search the surroundings for enemies. There was no one in the forest.

"Hey…you're not really breaking out tonight, are you?"

Dee asked, sounding anxious….

Ai did not answer after all, but the silence clearly showed ‘affirmation’.

"Say, it’s impossible. The security here is very strict. If they find you, you’ll be locked in the detention room, and you won’t get to eat."

She got ignored.

"Hey, you can't escape by yourself. It's impossible!"

Again Ai ignored her. Ai's pupils narrowed like a cat's as she walked down the dark night road.

Dee muttered to her back, "This is no good," and turned back the way she had come.

Ai was left alone, but she walked on without breaking stride. After five minutes, the forest ended, and she reached the outer wall of the school.

She quickly bolted out of the forest, ran for about three seconds, and without losing her momentum, hopped onto the wall. She put her fingers into the gaps of the bricks, moving her limbs right and left to climb up.

"What’s so difficult?"

She took a little breath while sticking to the wall. This wall was a hedge compared to the one in Ortus, which even a Gravekeeper could not intrude from outside.

Ai climbed the wall at a good pace.

And midway through,

"? What is this?"

There was an iron wire stretched out a little way off the wall. On a closer look, one could see such wires all over.

"?"

She knew what a barbed wire was. These steel lines however would not prevent anyone from escaping. Ai reached out her hand, still skeptical.

She touched the wire.

"Bzzzt!"