Chapter 47

Between Aria’s bite and Sugamo’s right hook, Yuuma’s remaining HP had dropped all the way to 40 percent, but Nagi, Tomori, and Aoi had cast healing magic on Yuuma after they pulled Sugamo away, so it only took about five seconds to top his HP up completely. Unlike in the virtual world, however, pain lingered in the real world even after injuries were healed. Strangely, Yuuma felt only a slight cramp in his shoulder, which was more injured than his cheek; Sugamo had punched him there nearly thirty minutes earlier, and yet it was still throbbing. “That jerk, Sug… One of these days I’m gonna make him grovel in the dirt and apologize for what he did,” Sawa said, her voice full of indignation, as Yuuma passed her a steaming hot mug. The mug was full of tea, made from some unfamiliar leaves they had received from Thula Village. The kettle they had used to boil the tea had also been acquired from the village. The mug itself was made from eco-friendly plastic and stamped with the Althea logo. There had been plenty of these on the display racks in the store, and although they weren’t exactly fancy, the plastic didn’t affect the flavor. Sawa took the mug from Yuuma’s hand with a sour expression, blowing on it a few times before taking a small sip. She blinked. “This is good,” she noted. “It tastes like milk tea, even though there’s no milk in it…” “There’s sugar, too, if you like.” “No thanks, but Nagi and Kenk might want some…and the others might, too.” “I’ll just add the sugar for them.” Yuuma opened his inventory and pulled out a small waxed paper sachet containing sugar that had been produced in Algol. The sugar was unrefined, but it had a less distinct flavor than the black molasses sugar of the real world. He removed the lid of the kettle and added the contents of the sachet before stirring with a long-handled spoon. Yuuma poured just a little bit of tea into his own mug and tasted it. A rich, fragrant sweetness, like Royal Milk Tea, blossomed across his tongue. Yuuma had used his Still Fire spell as a heat source to brew the tea. The output of the flame was a little unreliable, but his utility magic skill had increased enough during their mission today to brew the tea without much issue. As he set his mug down, Yuuma took a look around the shelter. The register counter in the back had been cleared off, and Mimi Hariya and Aoi Soga, who were in the cooking club, were busy at work, with help from Tomori Shimizu and Chise Tsuda, preparing some of the food that Yuuma and the others had received from Thula. Yuuma and several of the boys had offered to help. They had been taught in their home ec and civics classes that the idea that women were supposed to cook was prejudiced and outdated. But Mimi had chased them away, saying, “If you want to help, go clean instead!” Mimi had a point. A fierce fight had taken place inside the shelter earlier, and there were still piles of trash and dust all over the place. Stuff like clothing and cutlery could be cleaned just by running it through their inventories, but that didn’t work on the room itself. With no other choice, they turned to mops, brooms, and rags and began scrubbing the room in the traditional way. But since the students who had been freed from their petrification pitched in as well, the room was spick-and-span again, down to the nooks and crannies, in just fifteen minutes. It would probably have been a good idea to clean the back room as well, but Takeshi Moro’s body had been laid out in the small partitioned nap space back there, and they were hesitant to disturb it. With no more work to be done, the students split back up into groups to rest. Yuuma and Sawa had set up camp near the entrance to the shelter and had decided to try making tea while they waited for Kenk and Nagi to return from the bathroom. The reason the tea turned out so much better than expected probably had more to do with the otherworldly tea leaves than it did with Yuuma’s hidden tea-making abilities. “We’ve got something like milk tea here. Anybody who wants some, bring me your mugs!” Yuuma announced to the rest of the shelter. Sayu Kenjou, Mami Shimonosono, and Kimiko Nobori immediately formed a line, as if they had just been waiting for the offer. “Yes! Thank you! I’ve been dying for a cup ever since I smelled it…,” Sayu said, holding out her mug with a smile. Sayu was part of a stylish clique at school that included Ren Fujikawa and Saki Chikamori. A group that Kenk liked to refer to as the Cutest Girls in 6-1 Brigade—naturally, Sumika Watamaki was in a league of her own. However, since Ren and Saki had fled to the fourth floor, Sayu was now on her own down here, without her other friends from the group. Yuuma had been a little worried that Sayu would wind up isolated due to this, but Mami and Kimiko seemed to have made an effort to include her. Relieved, Yuuma carefully tipped the kettle, pouring milky tea into each of the three girls’ mugs. Mami always wore a black face mask, whereas Kimiko liked to adorn her pigtails with black ribbons. When it came to having things in common, the two girls didn’t seem to share much other than the fact that Mami’s face mask and Kimiko’s ribbons were the same color, but according to Kenk, they and Karin Henmi had formed some kind of a group that was big into the occult. Karin had fled upstairs, however, and was not here right now. So maybe it was their uneasiness at being separated from friends that had brought Sayu, Mami, and Kimiko together. Yuuma finished pouring the tea, while these thoughts ran through his head. The three girls expressed their thanks before returning to their original location. The next group to approach was Shouko Ezato, Chinami Nushiro, and Aria Misono, another trio of friends. While all three had managed to flee to the first floor together, they had been through quite a lot since getting here, including Shouko and Aria being turned to stone and Chinami volunteering to join the search party into Algol to save them. Yuuma poured tea into Shouko’s outstretched mug and asked, “Ezato, how are you feeling?” “Me…? I’m already doing fine,” Shouko answered quietly. Despite her large size, she seemed to shrink a little as she spoke. “Ashihara, Sawa, thank you for getting the petrification medicine for us.” “Petrification medicine? Don’t you mean de-petrification medicine, Shouko?” Chinami teased. Shouko cocked her head. “But we call medicine for colds cold medicine and medicine for headaches headache medicine, don’t we?” “Oh, true… But still…” While Chinami was pondering this riddle, Yuuma filled her mug with tea and then held the kettle up in Aria’s direction. “How about you, Mibs? Want some tea?” “…Sure.” Aria nodded slightly and took a step closer, hesitant. She glanced furtively toward the eat-in corner before holding out her mug. “Nothing feels strange, does it? Physically?” Yuuma asked as he poured the tea. A faint, uncomfortable smirk appeared on Aria’s face. “You mean other than the horns and wings?” “Uh… W-well, yeah…,” Yuuma mumbled, taken off guard. He must have been distracted because he accidentally filled Aria’s mug to the brim. However, Aria brought it to her mouth without spilling a drop, before taking an endearing little gulp. “This is good…!” she said, her eyes widening. Although Aria had been cured of her petrification, she remained in her demon form. Like Sawa, short horns now extended from her temples and miniature wings had sprouted from her back. She was also dressed in a swimsuit–like bodysuit—or so Yuuma presumed, at least. The suit and those features were currently hidden by a black windbreaker with yellow stripes, which Sawa had given to her. Sawa had found it at the same time as her own windbreaker. It was the same design as Sawa’s windbreaker but with a yellow stripe, so whether intentional or not, they now looked like a duo. Earlier, Kenk had gotten a hard slap upside the head from Sawa for telling her, “You and Mibs ought to form a demon idol group once we get out of Althea.” Yuuma was glad he had witnessed that first; otherwise, he might have said the same thing. Honestly, the reason the students were still as friendly with Aria as before, despite the fact that some of them had witnessed her rampage, probably had a lot to do with her cute new matching outfit. But surely Sawa couldn’t have seen something like this coming when she picked up the other windbreaker in a second color, could she have—? Yuuma was still staring absently at Aria, as she sipped her milk tea, when he suddenly felt a set of sharp eyes upon him, snapping him out of his reverie. He turned his head slowly, trying to act casual, and cast a glance toward the eat-in corner on the other side of the room. No sooner had he done so than he made eye contact with Teruki Sugamo, who was standing there, leaning against the wall. Thirty minutes ago, Hokari and Kenk had been forced to peel Sugamo off Yuuma. Sugamo had kept trying to pummel Yuuma even after Yuuma had already been knocked down. After that, they had jostled Sugamo off into the eat-in corner, which is where he had been ever since. Yuuma had expected Sugamo to make a big stink and demand another trial or whatever, but surprisingly, Sugamo was staying quiet so far. Even Sugamo must have realized he would have no chance of winning a vote under these circumstances. Why was Teruki Sugamo even so insistent on being shelter leader in the first place? Was it that he felt responsible, as class president, for the other students’ safety? That clearly didn’t seem to be the case. After all, he had purposely stirred up trouble by framing Kai Kisanuki for stealing food—an absolutely despicable act—so that he could engineer the trust of the class by feigning responsibility alongside Kisanuki. Sugamo may have been used to having Kisanuki at his beck and call, but Kisanuki was part of the class, too. What about his protection? After exposing Kisanuki to such danger, it was impossible to believe that Sugamo really had his classmates’ safety at heart, rather than just seizing power. “Hey, Ashihara, can we get some, too?” Yuuma lifted his head, his train of thought interrupted. Aria and the others had long since returned to their initial spot, replaced now by three tall boys—Youichi Oono, Takato Sera, and Haruki Hokari. Despite having just recovered from their petrification, Oono and Sera seemed to be doing well. “It’s kind of like sweet milk tea. Still want some?” Yuuma asked, just to be safe. All three boys nodded in unison. Eventually, the trading card game duo of Shinta Aida and Tomonori Tada, the two geeks; Masato Takio and Naruo Wakasa; and Nagi and Kenk (once they returned from the restroom in the back) all asked for tea as well. Just enough to leave the kettle empty. Yuuma returned the kettle to the four girls preparing the food. Lunch was ready a few minutes later, so the students set up a makeshift extra-large table in the center of the room. It was just three display racks laid flat, with their shelves pulled out and arranged on top to form a surface, so it was a little low to the ground, even when sitting on the floor. But there was enough space for twenty-three people to easily fit around the table. The extravagant lunch, which had been made by Mimi, Aoi, Tomori, and Chise, consisted of a dried fish, potato, and tomato stew; spinach sauteed in bacon; and lightly toasted rye bread. Despite the size of the meal, they had only used up about one-fifth of the ingredients that Yuuma and the others had brought back from Thula Village. The villagers must have shelled out nearly everything they had, even emptying their own cupboards. The cutlery they were all eating from, the pots and pans they had cooked with, and even the kettle in which Yuuma had made the tea had also all come from Thula Village (though, of course, they had paid for these items). That meant that if, just if, the search party had not been able to find the white lotus flower in the end and had been forced to log out with the villagers still turned to stone, Yuuma and the others would have had no choice but to return to the shelter with absolutely nothing to show for it. No panacea, no food, not even a single plate to eat off. When you looked at it that way, the real MVP of their mission had been Kai Kisanuki for pulling that slime boss all by himself back there in the swamp. Kisanuki was currently sitting on his knees at a corner of the table, meekly staring down at his own plate. To the left of him sat Sugamo, who had finally left the eat-in corner. Apparently, hunger had beaten his need to pout. He sat with his legs crossed, looking sullen. Usually, the spot to Sugamo’s left would have been reserved for Aoi, but she was at the upper end of the table, with Shouko and the others, where all the girls were sitting. Oono was occupying her spot instead. “Everyone’s gotten their food, right?” Aoi asked, holding a wooden ladle in one hand. “Yep!” most of the other students replied. “In that case, Mimi would like to say a few words. On behalf of the chefs.” “Who decided that?!” Mimi demanded, unwillingly shoved into the spotlight. She straightened up, however, and cleared her throat. “Um… I left the seasoning of the stew up to my Cooking skill, so if you don’t like it, you can blame it on the game! Thank you very much! Now, let’s dig in!” They barely had a chance to shout, “Let’s eat!” before a dull bang, bang, bang echoed throughout the shelter. Yuuma reflexively began to rise to his feet, clutching at the cleansing steel chain hanging from his belt, but the voice that called out from the other side of the barricade a moment later mostly dispelled any fear of attack. “Aoi!! You’re in there, right?!” a shrill voice cried. The ladle fell from Aoi’s hand with a thunk. “Yukimi…!” Aoi murmured hoarsely. Yuuma knew who it was intuitively, even before the name had left Aoi’s lips. That voice belonged to Aoi’s friend, Yukimi Yumura. Aoi made a beeline for the barricade. Yuuma, Sawa, and a few other students quickly chased her. The shelter’s simple barricade was only a barricade in name—little more than a disordered jumble of merchandise display racks, metal pipes, steel L-beams, pegboard, and refuse, all bound together with cable ties. When Niki and the others had attacked the other night, it had only taken them a single spell or technique to knock the barricade down, and it was probably even evident, from the outside, that they hadn’t done much to reinforce it since. In other words, it seemed unlikely that Yukimi calling out Aoi’s name like this was just a ruse to get them to open up. However, Yuuma still stopped Aoi, who was trying to pull the barricade aside all by herself. “Soga, wait! Before we open the barricade, we need to confirm that it is actually Yumura out there and that no one else is with her!” “C-confirm? But how…?” “If we can catch a glimpse of even a piece of her through a gap in the barricade, her HP bar should appear,” Yuuma explained, trying to keep his voice down. He crouched low and peered through a gap in the L-beams. He spotted a light blue jacket, likely the Yukihana Elementary School uniform, just ten centimeters away from the barricade. As Yuuma’s gaze flicked upward, an HP bar appeared in his field of view. The name read Yukimi Yumura. As far as any of them knew, not even the Masks of Deception could make someone else’s name appear on an HP bar. Looking straight ahead again, Yuuma peered to the left and right of the human-shaped shadow, which was apparently Yukimi. The adjacent waiting room was dark and gloomy, so it was impossible to scour the area closely just through the gaps in the barricade, but no other player or monster HP popped up. As Yuuma returned to his feet, the fragile voice on the other side of the barricade spoke again. “Aoi, are you in there…? Please, let me in…” In a horror anime or manga, something like this would almost always turn out to be a monster in disguise. But Aoi seemed confident that it was the real Yukimi. She shouted her friend’s name and reached for the brace of the barricade once more. “Soga… And you, he-twin,” a stern voice said from behind them. Yuuma spun around quickly. Sawa and Kenk were waiting behind them on standby. And behind them stood Teruki Sugamo, leaning against the wall, his arms crossed. There was no way Sugamo was going to let Yukimi just waltz into the shelter. Not based on his behavior so far. Yuuma racked his brain, trying to think up some argument to cut Sugamo off at the pass, but Sugamo surprised him. “It’s your responsibilities if this turns out to be another one of Niki’s traps, understand?” “Of course!” “Absolutely!” Yuuma and Aoi shouted almost in unison. “It has to be the real Yukimi out there! I just know it!” “Then…do whatever you like,” Sugamo said before turning away. Without another word, Aoi gripped the brace once more. Together with Yuuma and Kenk’s help, she pulled the barricade forward by about five centimeters. The student who bobbed into view was undoubtedly Yukimi Yumura. Her hair was mussed slightly, and dirt and frayed patches stood out all over her uniform. She was about three centimeters taller than Aoi, but much like Aoi—or at least, like Aoi before Aoi had gone on the search party—Yukimi was one of the most quiet and timid girls in class. That impression seemed to hold true now as much as ever. It was a little hard to believe she had been able to make her way through Althea, evading monsters along the way, all on her own like this. “Aoi…” Yukimi reached out with both hands as tears began to spill from her eyes. Aoi hugged her firmly, tears welling up in her own eyes as well. Yukimi’s hit points were nearly full, but her level of mental exhaustion was extreme. As soon as their hug ended, Yukimi slumped to the floor, perhaps out of relief at being reunited with Aoi. Aoi lent Yukimi a shoulder, leading her to the center of the shelter. Mimi Hariya, who was in the cooking club with the two girls, immediately rushed forward and enveloped them in a hug. The other girls spoke some kind words to Yukimi as well. Once the commotion had died down, Yukimi joined the table at Aoi’s urging. Her eyes went wide when she saw how much food was crammed onto the table. “This is amazing… Is this how you guys always eat down here…?” Yukimi murmured. Mimi smiled uncomfortably. “I wish… We just had onigiri and packaged bread rolls this morning. But Aoi, Ashihara, and a few others dove into AM to get ingredients and kitchenware, so we were finally able to make a proper meal.”