Vol 3 Chapter 6 (1/2)
Chapter 6 - Apocalypse Alice
Seven days later
We reached the 25th floor below
It is where shi+ro and the rest are --- or rather, where shi+ro and the rest are shown on the one Of course It has been one week since then
Once we passed the 20th floor beloater and food supplies were no longer a problem
Since the food and water supplies that the Kansai tea around
There was probably a fierce fight A nu around We took some of the backpacks fro, toiletries, food, and stuff needed for staying in the labyrinth
””
I whip out a chocolate bar fro 300 calories With nuts I take a bite The crunchy feel of the nuts swirl around in my mouth deliciously
Perhaps, as a result of eating only apples for five days, the artificial processed sugar sti up the rest of the chocolate bar in one go, I take out a butter-and-jam bread roll next
” haha, this is so good that I'”
While saying that, I grin stupidly
The bread roll is also crazily delicious Whileon my bread, I look up at the sky
On the 25th floor below, there are few trees
It is rass plains, trees stand sparsely
Leaning against such a tree, I eat my bread roll
” guh, muh”
As I was gobbling away too quickly,Even as I hao down I frantically s some water,
” uuh-ah, that was dangerous I almost died, what a joke”
And I put the bread roll back into ain
Behindsounds of water Gunjou is soaking her toater, and wiping her body with it Since there is spare clothing in the backpacks, she intends to get a change of clothing it seems Well, it's understandable since it's been a week --- no, it has been 37 days since we entered the labyrinth We hadn't bathed all this while It's no wonder she would want to wash her body
But,
”Not done yet?”
I say
Gunjou then replies
”Hey, don't look here I still haven't put on my clothes yet!”
”I' er There's not much to see anyway”
”What did you say!”
”I' a fact”
”Wha, of course there would be things to see!”
”Then I'll look”
”I'll kill you if you do!”
”So which is it?”
I take another bite at my bread
I then look up at the sky
The sun rays are strong At this rate, I feel like taking a nap Eat, sleep, eat, sleep, I feel like just repeating this for half a year
”Fuh-wah”
A yawn escapes my lips
But I don't have the luxury of tih Liezel has not contacted me, there is a chance that Kujaku has reached my little sister
Or, there's a possibility that challengers froht behind us
Thus, we have no time to tarry around
”Gunjou, we should get ”
”Wait, a sec, just a little more”
Just as she says that, a voice rings out
”Yaah yaah, yaah yaah”
The voice of a rabbit The voice is the direction of where Gunjou is An eneers, and activate my 《Headphone Fuzz》
But Gunjou says
”Hey hey hey, wait! Don't face here! I still haven't put on !?”
While yelling, Gunjou falls back
”Hn?”
Gunjou has her blouse in her right hand and skirt in her left hand
She is only in her underwear Slender legs Slender waist Her chest is bigger than I thought Her fair skin has a pale pink tinge
I look at her with half-opened eyes
Gunjou looks at me with a beet-red face
”Hey, don't look here dummy!”
”You're the one showing me, you exhibitionist”
”I' to wear them now so buythe pocket watch!”
I stand up and turn around
The usual rabbit is there
In its right paw is a broken pocket watch
Its left paw has claws extended
””
The left and right are swapped as compared the usual The usual rabbit would have a pocket watch in its left paw Maybe it's at a higher level Once again, I use the assassination property
Upon doing that, a red target appears not on the pocket watch, but on its ear
”Just as thought, it's a different type”
But it's only one Maybe another is hidden behind it
”Gunjou, for now, the weak point is at its ear Back et dressed”
”Sea Moon Wheel switch!”
While getting dressed, she activates her ic I look at her, and she's not completely dressed yet She is just about to put on her skirt, and her panties are coaze,
”Don't look here!”
”Did you poop in your panties”
”I didn'tttttttttt!”
I s
The rabbit turns its attention to s its paws Its speed is overwhelly faster than mine but, it can't be helped with the current me
She is just about to put on her skirt, and her panties are completely visible
”Acceleration switch”
I say My whole body accelerates With that, I swing my Demon Sword And that is the end I slice off the rabbit's ear
The rabbit is annihilated
But behind it, as if in layers, the hidden rabbits appear
7 of them
”So many!?”
My eyes widen I swingto land a blow to the ear But, the rabbit turns its ear aside My blade brushes against its head These fellows are aware of their weakness They are trying to deal with my attack appropriately
Strong If a large bunch of theht be a little bad, but,
”If it's just seven, I can do this”
I swing raze the pulled back ear
One flash, two flashes Three flashes
With that, I dealt with five of them Two of them are left I turn around
The two of the towards Gunjou
But I did not worry
Since we know their weak points Gunjou can deal with theh that I can leave--- that should be the case but,
”Wah ah wah, you're kidding me, wait a sec!?”
Gunjou yells She waves the fingers of her right hand, unleashes her Sea Moon Wheel, and annihilated one
However, the Sea Moon Wheel she launched missed the other one
On top of that, because she is trying to wear her skirt with her left hand, she loses her balance She falls in her underwear Even though she went through the trouble of wiping herself clean, she got dirt onto her body again The rabbit attacks the fallen Gunjou
”Erhm, you idiot!?”
I kick the ground The Acceleration switch has a shortof operation My body's acceleration ends in the e to catch up to the rabbit
”Wait up, you murderer rabbit!”
I swingoff its ear
With that, the rabbit is annihilated
”All right”
But at that moainst the clothing and lose my balance
”Eh? Oh oh”
I fall over To top it off, I a on top of Gunjou, who is in her underwear, with sword about to pierce into her,
”Begone”
Frantically, I pull my hands back and the Demon Sword disappears Because of that, I am unable to support my own body
I fall on top of her, covering her body with mine
My body adheres to hers
Our faces are just about to bang into each other, but I twist e to avoid it
Gunjou stares at radually flushes red
Expecting her outburst screaht into my ears, I feel exasperated but,
””
She did not scream
With her face beet red
”E-Erhm, sorry I was clumsy”
”Really man”
” t-thanks for saving me”
”Whatever, just hurry up and get dressed, would you?”
”Can you stand up without looking?”
”I already tired of looking”
”You've looked for so long that you are already tired of looking!? You, lecherous, pervert”
”Ah ~ you're really annoying The eneh, so I really didn't have the leisure to keep up with your idiocy”
”You big pervert droopy eyed man!”
”” She is really annoying
However, I feel a different presence at thatI tense my whole body, but,
”Hey, what the hell are you guys doing?”
The voice comes from the direction of the footsteps
”Hn?”
”Eh?”
Gunjou and I look up
Before us, stands a h』 He has sharp, strangely red eyes And gray hair
It's shi+ro
Hishi+ro shi+ro stands there, looking at us with a disgusted face Seems like he's alive
shi+ro looks down at me and the Gunjou who's in her underwear pressed beneath me
” ah ~, are you guys in that kind of relationshi+p?”
On hearing that, I reply
”We are just into the physical aspect of the relationshi+p”
”Why are you telling such a lie!?”
Gunjou, who's pressed by me, hits my side
shi+ro smiles wryly and says
”Which is the joke? Are you actually going out?”
Gunjou shouts
”NOo! It's because the ene my body”
”And after that, things just happened?”
”NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
Gunjou yells
shi+ro smiles And then says
”Well, it's great to see you guys so energetic You ht that you would be able to do it if it's you”
”What's with that faith? When did you start having that kind of faith in me?”
”When you were hollering to Kiri about us being comrades”
”As usual, you're one annoying fellow”
”Haha”
shi+ro laughs
I sigh and tries to stand up But Gunjou clings onto me,
”H-H-Hey, if you stand up now, shi+ro is going to see me naked”
”No one is interested in your naked body”
”That's not the point right!”
She shouts angrily At any rate, I can't stand up with her clinging onto me Slowly, slowly, Gunjou retreats behind s Wears her skirt
At that point, I ignore her and stand up
”Hey!”
While yelling, she turns her back toher uniform
shi+ro says to that
”Have you already done it?”
”Every night”
”Like I said, why are youup!”
Gunjou hollers
shi+ro and I laugh
shi+ro then says in a small voice
”This kind of teasing is fun”
I shrug my shoulders,
”By the here's Himi and Yousuke? Already dead?”
That possibility exists Since the last tio
shi+ro then looks at ht and says
”Oh, you are concerned about the well-being of your comrades?”
””
”Are you concerned about whether Himi and Yousuke are alive?”
”Aah whatever See”
But, shi+ro's face becomes a little sad,
” they both died”
”Wha”
As ht
”You're pretty concerned about your comrades”
I strike shi+ro on the shoulder
”Hahaha”
shi+ro laughs
”So, what's the situation?”
I say in a tired voice and shi+ro replies
”They're alive They are in the safe zone on this floor”
”Safe zone but this is the 25th floor below right?”
”That's right, and what about it?”
shi+ro says, to which I ask
”Due to certain circumstances, I have the map of Apocalypse Alice inside o were indicated on the uys”
”Yeah ~ You want to ask e have been holding out on the 25th floor for a whole week?”
”Yeah Is it because you are useless?”
shi+ro smiles
”Well, you can say that Below this floor, the eneh we can defeat them, with just the three of us, we can't advance much Besides, we don't know the layout of the labyrinth”
”What about Hiic?”
”Like I ic, we advanced forward, then Hiot lost, and we retreated back to the safe zone; rinse and repeat”
Well, that would probably happen if they didn't have the map
However,
”The Valor teao you know?”
shi+ro then smiles and says
”We caught up with the behind stealthily But, on the 26th floor, ere attacked by strong enemies and we lost them”
Kujaku's team also has lost more than half of their comrades by the time they reached the 33rd floor
Given the difficulty level that could suppress both shi+ro and Mitsutoroup, the labyrinth couldn't be a rank 15 one
In other words, the rank of the labyrinth from here onward is unknown
At thatwalks up to us Maybe it's because she has been seen naked, or maybe it's because she feels unsociable since it's been a while since she has lares at us with a sharp look that seems to indicate she's in a foul mood, and says
” where's Himi and Yousuke?”
I shi+ft my eyes down and reply
”I heard they died”
”What!?”
That kind of surprised reaction
The Hero tearoup
shi+ro says
”Anyway, let's get to the safe zone Both Himi and Yousuke will be pleased to know that both shi+nnosuke and Gunjou are alive and well and have become lovers”
”Hey, so they are alive after all!?”
Gunjou hollers and glares at me
Following that,
”And we aren't lovers!”
She busily turns her glare back to shi+ro
shi+ro and I ignore her and start walking
♦
♦
♦
”Hey, you guys are alive!?”
”shi+nnosuke-san! Gunjou-san!”
Upon seeing us, Yousuke and Himi yell and run up to us
shi+ro then nods happily and says
”On top of that, while eren't looking, these guys”
Before he can finish, Gunjou cuts him off and kicks him in the back
”Ooucch What the hell are you doing?”
”I already told you that you've misunderstood, didn't I?”
”But weren't you guys e each other while naked?”
Instantly,
”Eh!?”
”Eh!?”
Himi and Yousuke exclaim and look at us, but Gunjou's face turns beet red as she desperately refutes shi+ro's claim
”Like I told you, youtoo”
”Ok Like I said, our relationshi+p is only physical”
”NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
She tries to hitshi+ro too sht It's fun to tease Gunjou but,
”Now's not the tiht?”
I say, to which Gunjou pouts
”But”
”No buts This is the labyrinth you know? Stoparound, would you?”
”The ones who are uys!”
On hearing that, I look in the direction of shi+ro
”Were wearound?”
”Nope”
”Y-You guys, I'll definitely kill you guys later, hear me!”
Himi looks troubled as she says
”W-Well well, it's great news that everyone is well, we should get along”
”I don't want to!”
Says Gunjou
Yousuke looks at her and smiles
”Well, seereat”
He is referring to her returning back to norone by, a oal of the Hero team was to separate Gunjou from the labyrinth disease and turn her back to human
But yet, how did things coht noe are inside the world's most difficult labyrinth, Apocalypse Alice
On hearing Yousuke's words, Gunjou trembles with a start
She looks at Yousuke
She looks at Himi
She looks at shi+ro
She looks at me
Then,
”E-Erhm”
She starts
Of course, we knohat she wants to say The people here all ca their lives to save Gunjou without any concern with personal gains
Gunjou's face contorts in slight embarrassment,
” e-erhm I mean”
But, cutting her off, shi+ro says
”Saving coiven in my world There's no need for words of thanks”
I look up at shi+ro with half-opened eyes
”Isn't that too cool?”
”I have always been cool”
”Shut up”
”Cos I'm too cool?”
”Super irritating”
”Haha”
shi+ro laughs
Hihs
Yousuke also laughs
Every one of them is kind like a fool While I feel spooked and have no idea why they are so kind towards strangers, anyhow, they are kind Thus, they will probably die Since kind people die in this world
But Gunjou still said it
” t-thanks For corateful”
Unlike es with a 'Uhn' and accepts her thanks with a s face These fellows are really adults at heart and are really cool people And regarding that,
”I'm really fed up with it”
Once again, I voice out hts
On doing that, maybe it's because he feels the sa form, Yousuke says to me from the side
”But surprisingly, I'm the more popular one you know?”
”I didn't ask about that”
Ah-haha, Hihs
As before, with her face red, Gunjou looks away in embarrassment
Really buddy-buddy
Surely, if anyone here dies, I'll feel hurt I want to distance myself from them now, but it's already iotten close toabout hoere comrades
””
And I too am the same
I ended up saving Gunjou, when there was no need forstuff about co asked to
On top of that, the result of that, was that I ended up entering the labyrinth which should have been impossible to raid
The instant I did so, the results showed up
Even if that were purely a coincidence, I can no longer turn back from this path I would still save Gunjou if there is a next time
That is really an e
But, even if it's e, I need comrades
” sigh”
On hearing h, shi+ro asks
”Why?”
”Nothing I'm tired of this buddy-buddy stuff”
”Haha, but you were the lead in the pack causing this buddy-buddy stuff”
””
I can't deny it
shi+ro continues
”But, even without Kiri, we have five people assembled On top of that, shi+nnosuke has the map of Apocalypse Alice inside his head, it seems”
Yousuke and Himi become surprised
”For real! How did you get your hands on it?”
I reply
”It's a long story, but we can trust it At the very least, welost even once”
shi+ro nods
”We have the map We can form a formation of five In that case, we can proceed forward So, let's decide e should do from hereon”
Of course, ht is to raid Apocalypse Alice
But shi+ro looks at me,
”We have worked hard till this very day with the hope of ic on you But, you woke up on your own and saved Gunjou Then, I can no longer see any reason to take further risk to proceed forward”
He says
Indeed, as what Gunjou had said, shi+ro and the rest infiltrated Apocalypse Alice with the purpose of saving me and Gunjou
In other words, for the pastdesperately to save even ht now, I understand Since if I were in the same situation, I would surely do the same
I look at shi+ro, and say
”I won't say any thanks You did say there's no need for words of thanks right?”
”For you, say it”
”I don't want to”
”A brat”
I am indeed a brat But,
”I live with the principle of not saying thanks here”
”But you do feel like saying thanks?”
””
”You really are cute huh”
shi+ro hits'what do you think of this fellow's annoying personality?', I look to Gunjou seeking her empathy
But for so look on her face and puffs her chest out,
”It should downright clear now that, since I said my thanks, I am more of an adult than you”
”Can soht of an elementary school student just shut up?”
”What did you say!?”
shi+ro continues
”Thus we have two choices Let's decide this together Do we go after Kiri and ask her about her circumstance or do we all Escape?”
However, I can't Escape I have to save my little sister
To that,
”Say, since you are not planning to advance forward, why haven't you Escaped before?”
I ask
shi+ro then answers
”Hn? About that, it's to save you”
”But you have other choices right? You belong to sootten out, made preparations, then re-enter ---”
But, shi+ro cuts me off and says
”I probably can't re-enter Otherwise, the Valor teaht?”
”Aah, so that's your conclusion huh That's why you didn't Escape?”
”Yeah”
”For the sake of saving me?”
”That's right”
shi+ro acknowledges straightly and all too readily
I scowl
”What's your purpose?”
shi+ro smiles
”You'd also do the saht?”
”I won't”
”Don't lie We objected to saving Gunjou But yet, you were the one anted to save Gunjou more than anyone else”
On hearing those words,
”Ah”
Utters Gunjou
But I don't want to continue the conversation down that path, so I say
”But even so, there's no benefit to you right?”
”There is I can save you And when that happens, you will save me the next time”
”You want me to repay this debt?”
But shi+ro smiles and says
”You will return it on your own That's the kind of guy you are”
”Don't make assumptions”
I say and look at shi+ro Following that, I recall the words shi+ro said before entering this labyrinth
”You can enter it alone and die by yourself Or, maybe, it'd be fine for you to put up your solitary airs and achieve your grand ambition At any rate, it's probably an aht?”
But those words couldn't possibly coreat areat a comrades to accomplish that
However, why did he need to go to the extent of risking his life to assemble comrades that he can trust?
What is he planning to do?
I ask
”Hey shi+ro”
”Hn?”
”Which organization do you belong to?”
On saying that, I can feel Himi and Yousuke behind tense up Those two should be froanization
shi+ro replies
”What happens if you know?”
”I can judge whether I can trust you or not”
”That sounds pretty high and ether is what ht? We are comrades”
But I did not listen to him, and look hard at shi+ro
”Speak”
shi+ro glares at me
” ha, I don't really want our friendshi+p to be weighed using that”
Then, his fingers ic His thuer Once he snaps them, his 《Headphone Fuzz》 will activate
I look at that But,
Both our s
From the side, Gunjou says
”shi+ro, wait a minute About shi+nnosuke”
But, I cut her off and say
”Shut up Gunjou I'll decide whether to say it or not”
shi+ro looks at both me and Gunjou, then says
”What's this? You told Gunjou your secret, but yet can't tell it to us?”
I reply
”I already know her whole profile Since it was given to us during our class”
”And, you knew that she wouldn't become your enemy so you told her?”
”That's right”
”Then, if after I tell you and it turns out that we are ene our comrade?”
On hearing that, I ask
”That's what I want to ask you You have a great aht? Then, if your interest is not aligned withto tell ive up on your ambition and remain buddy-buddy with me?”
”Yeah”
shi+ro nods readily
I laugh derisively through my nose
”I can't believe that”
He doesn't seem like someone ould act on an ambition of such level
But shi+ro says
”Since you were the one who suddenly started this, you actually want to believe it right? Since you don't have enough power by yourself, you want us to become your comrades In that case, speak For what purpose did you come here for?”
I look hard at shi+ro and reply
” if I say it, and find out that you are my enemy, I will kill you”
” hm”
”But I don't want to kill you”
”I see”
”So you say it first”
”If so, please Tell me your true identity”
I glare at shi+ro But, if he can know ave his, he should say it
So I say,
” I beg you, shi+ro”
But shi+ro stares at me,
”No”
He says
”It's tiet so alone only happens while you are still a kid If you want comrades, be a comrade first If you don't take a risk and leave a backdoor for yourself, don't think that you can obtain anything”
shi+ro says
But even so, I still shouldn't say it My objective is to turn my little sister --- Apocalypse Alice back to huainst the benefits of every single hu
By now, the world organizations are already fearful of Apocalypse Alice They all want to get their hands on Apocalypse Alice
If they ht even be able to conquer the world
The organization that shi+ro belongs to probably also wants to get hold of Apocalypse Alice
Then, he's an enemy
If I say it, then to shi+ro, I will become a pawn that he can make use of This will happen anyway It'll definitely happen Since only such a thing exists in the world
””
But yet, even so, I want shi+ro I want him as a friend I wonder when did I beco happened before If I let others knoeakness, I won't be able to grow strong --- that should be what I had decided but yet, I,
” it's my little sister”
I er be able to advance forward by myself
” I want to save my little sister Arisu Saki”
shi+ro ansithout even appearing surprised
” I see I got it I'll help you Let's forget about Escaping”
Even though it's soainst the line of human benefit, but yet, he said that so readily
On top of that, his face said that he knew Well, that's obvious I guess I didn't even change anization with soate ations, shi+ro could have already guessed from my family name
Thus, maybe I didn't really need to act like an ass Since I already revealed to shi+ro and the rest soic, Holy Sitch, that can allow irls
shi+ro says
”With this, we are real comrades”
But I say
”Not yet I don't know your real identities yet”
shi+ro then grins and says,
”Taikou Pharet our hands on Apocalypse Alice”
”Wha”
”You are a fool You let your mouth run loose and babble out what you shouldn't say That's why you can't get your hands on anything”
On hearing that, I snap ers
He's an enemy
He's the worst enemy that I should not even allow close by in the first place
Taikou Pharmaceuticals is a corporation which had conducted human experimentation on the labyrinth diseased Asahi Momoka, and forcibly made her into a labyrinth
”Demon Sword switch”