“That’s Maruyama... which means that guy there is Ryoma Takei?” Yuichi murmured. Which would mean that Yuichi hadn’t even had to search; the person he had been looking for had come right at him.
They’d been through so much that he’d almost forgotten how this all started, but he now remembered that Ende mentioning that someone was coming.
“Sakaki, Maruyama’s here,” Natsuki said. “Didn’t you need to talk to her?”
“I did, but uh... given the situation, I’d... sort of like to leave things to them and run away...” Yuichi had been hoping to leave the rest to Yurika and run along home, but the presence of this boy, who might be Ryoma, had complicated things.
If it was him, then Yuichi’s objective of finding him had been effortlessly met, but he hadn’t actually decided yet what he’d do once he found the guy.
I’m supposed to fight him, right?
Ende seemed to want Ryoma and Yuichi to fight, but from the way she was talking, it seemed she was going to just let it happen rather than trying to force it. But a fight probably wasn’t going to spring up under these conditions. Yuichi didn’t have a Divine Vessel, so Ryoma had no reason to fight him, and Yuichi didn’t feel like picking a fight just to get Ryoma’s.
“Ah! Natsuki! What are you doing here? I’ve been looking everywhere!” Yurika cried theatrically as she noticed her friend. “Look! I’ve been running around everywhere searching for you, and I leveled up a ton and got a new party member!” Yurika stepped over Alberta’s body to approach Yuichi and Natsuki.
“I’m glad to see you’ve acquired a proper set of equipment,” Natsuki said.
“You see a friend dressed like that, and that’s the first thing you say?” Yuichi watched the two of them, suddenly feeling drained.
“Sakaki, too... what are you doing here?” Yurika asked, sounding surprised to see him.
“I could ask you the same question,” he returned. “By the way, is that guy’s name Ryoma Takei?” Yuichi pointed at the boy.
“Yeah, it is. He’s in my party. His job class is Goof-Off.”
Ryoma was in the process of picking up Alberta’s head. “Are you the one who killed Mio and my big sister? Where’s Kotori?” His voice was cold as ice, with all emotion stifled.
“Oh, please. Do you know how many people I’ve killed?” Alberta responded in a mocking tone. “I don’t ask the name of every single one. Use some common sense!”
Ryoma threw her head against the wall with all his might.
“What violence,” Natsuki said, a bit disgustedly.
“Yeah, I feel like we shouldn’t be watching this. Is it okay for us to be here? I’d really like to go home.” Yuichi felt like he’d been shuffled off of center stage and into the wings, like he’d been dragged suddenly into someone else’s plotline.
“We stopped by Ryoma’s home and found his childhood friend and big sister dead, and his little sister missing,” Yurika explained. “We went searching for the killer, and it led us here.”
“How did you find her?” Yuichi asked. It would be one thing if they’d caught her in the act, but it didn’t seem possible for a pair of novices to track a killer who had already left the scene of the crime.
“The resonance,” Yurika said. “Apparently the culprit had a Divine Vessel, and it was still resonating, so we just followed that.”
“The resonance lets you tell where Divine Vessels are,” Yuichi nodded. “But how did you know that the criminal had one?”
“Once you get used to it, you can sense lingering resonance,” Yurika explained. “In other words, you can vaguely identify places an enemy used to be. I guess it’s because they don’t want people just running away all the time when the war enters its final stages...”
If that was to be believed, then either Alberta or her borrowed body must have been a Divine Vessel host.
Isn’t this all a little contrived? Yuichi thought. It felt like all of the elements of the story were conspiring, like someone had arranged for them all to fight here and now.
Yuichi cast a glance at Ende, who was watching from a distance. He didn’t know what was going through her mind, exactly, but she really seemed to be enjoying herself.
“Isn’t a hero supposed to get info by talking to people in town?” he asked.
“Oh, I have that skill, too, but when I used it, everyone just started repeating the same thing over and over again, and it got kind of creepy...” Yurika responded.
The whole time they were speaking, Ryoma had been approaching Alberta’s body. He crouched and listened at her chest. Then, upon noticing a mole next to her collarbone, he let out a howl of anger.
“I knew it was you!” Ryoma grabbed Alberta’s head in one hand and squeezed.
“He knows where all his little sister’s moles are? Isn’t that a bit creepy?” Natsuki commented.
“Why are you asking me?” Yuichi replied.
Alberta’s body was apparently that of Ryoma’s little sister. He didn’t know all the details, but apparently Alberta, having been killed by Aki, had gone off searching for a body she could use, broken into Ryoma’s house, killed his little sister, and stolen her body.
“It’s certainly a tragedy, but it feels like it’s none of our business,” Natsuki stated bluntly.
“Yeah, I think you’re right...” Yuichi scratched his head.
It was so sudden, it was hard for him to feel sympathy for Ryoma. It was like tuning in to a soap opera he had never watched before, right in the middle of an episode.
“But by the way, you really shouldn’t underestimate me,” Alberta said. “Did you really think I’m helpless when I’m just a head?”
Suddenly, Alberta’s hair began to grow. It wound itself around Ryoma’s hand, crawled up his arm, and began to bind his entire body.
“Urgh...” Ryoma let out a groan as the hair began to coil around him. Soon, he was encased in a black cocoon of hair. Bound head to toe, it seemed unlikely that he could possibly break free. It was looking far more likely that he’d end up smothered to death.
“I see. I was wondering how Alberta managed to grab someone’s body when she was just a head. So she can do that, too...” Natsuki said, sounding rather impressed, despite the bizarre scene in front of them.
“What should I do? Should I help him?” Yuichi asked.
He still couldn’t help thinking it was none of his business. For some reason, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he shouldn’t interfere.
He turned to Yurika. “Hey, Maruyama, isn’t he in your party? Shouldn’t you help him?” he urged. She seemed to know Ryoma, so maybe it would be appropriate for her to interfere.
“I’d like to, but if I try to attack, it’ll probably hit him, too,” Yurika responded, eyes narrowed.
Ryoma had been holding Alberta’s head in his right hand, which she had forced behind his back. It would certainly be hard to hit just the head under these conditions.
“What about that slash you used that went through the wall?” Yuichi replied. “Can’t you use that?”
“I’m not sure if it’ll discriminate between targets now that they’re joined together like that...”
“It’s looking like he’s beyond hope, so maybe I should just kill them both and put him out of his misery?” Natsuki offered, seeming to find the whole situation annoying.
“Natsuki, you...” Yuichi was about to scold her, but suddenly, there was movement from Ryoma’s end.
He released a howl, which grew and grew in volume.