Chapter 12 (2/2)
Yet, the future with her taking that course of action would not co, Futaba Meiko, and her own lack of courage She cowered in fear Her attacks, bound
“Gyi, iyaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaa!!”
Her h a stranger to the way of the sword, had struck its target just as planned
The blade of fang cut deeply into Meiko’s belly The cloth of her sailor unifore That her layer of fat wouldn’t be enough to stop the blade was so Meiko, who had cut, dressed marbled meat countless times, knew all too well
Raising a deranged screaical shock from the attack than the violent pain, Meiko collapsed belly up
“Bah, guRuA— GebA!”
As the go tobolt of frost drove into its ugly, twisted face
“Futaba-san!”
Luckily at that oma platoon had reached its terminus; which was a fact Meiko was bound not to notice
At any rate, Ryouko, then Aya, and finally Minami too, quickly ran over to the injured Meiko
“Huff, haa, ah Aa I-it h-ouw It huurts”
“Don’t talk! I’ll get first aid righ—”
“How are you gonna do that, we have no bandages or disinfectant!”
“B-Band-Aids, I have tho”
“Those won’t do frick here!?”
The girls fell into a tuone blank in shock, they sounded just like the sports clubs people shouting their vigor-filled rounds outside[4]
“No it’s alright, we still have those herbs from the fairy square”
Ryouko had called out the ideal solution
What she retrieved frorass With their particular heart shaped leaves, they were of a form quite similar to that of the 4-leafed clover
“Herbs you that’s everything we have you know!”
“Yes, but even one of these are very effective”
The wound on Ryouko’s left leg had all but disappeared This was pulled off using only one of these 4-leafed herbs
Thanks to the info froic circle, they knew the effects of this clover-like herb found at the fairy square When they doubtfully tried it out, everyone had the thought that it ic plant
Its usage, sirind up and apply to the affected area
“That’s what I mean! With a cut that deep, we’d need all of, no, h”
“Yes, you’re absolutely right We actually have no guarantee it’ll work”
“So why the hell are you trying to waste our precious medicine!”
Indeed, this herb was precious They could gather a handful of these frorown in flora The place was chock full of 3-leafed ones Only the 4-leafed one being curative Having gone scouring for theirls understood that the chances of finding one were as slim as on Earth
“It’s not a waste, and if we don’t, Futaba-san will”
“So what do you propose we do next tiuarantee we’ll find ets there before us, I assure you they’ll be hoarding every one of them!”
Veins spreading in her eyes, discharging sputu in a state of maximum frenzy Nevertheless, her assertions indeed hinted at a slight soundness Even Ryouko couldn’t completely refute her
“So Satou-san, are you i we leave Futaba-san to die?”
Ryouko raised the ultimate question
“ Isn’t that question’s a bit unfair? Kisaragi-san, You get it too, don’t you, honestly?”
At Aya’s reply in a warped smile, Ryouko impulsively averted her eyes
“Y-you’re wrong, I’m”
“No I’uy here ok, I mean, there’s no other way to look at this! Think a bit about the future, then anyone, even I get it you know!”
“But, that’s—”
“H-hold up!”
Minahtly squabble right in front of the victi of whom, they realized they hadn’t noticed her at all since the part about band-aids being useless
“Be any louder, it’s like you want -like ones’ll sht away!”
At Minami’s very-likely-to-happen state that, even as one of the exposed to danger
“S-so let’s just get out—”
“Got us covered, I found a fairy square just a bit from here! Yeah, so let’s carry Futaba-san there first”
Minae of snag ends Apparently, she had quickly gone and checked beyond there
“Right, let’s If there’s more herbs at that fairy square, then all our probleood as solved”
“ Huess”
Thus, the three i
“N, ngu”
Groaned languishedly, not Meiko, but Ryouko
“Ngah! Heavy da!”
It was a irls were able to lift Meiko’sher lean on their shoulders
Feeling as if being crushed, they so So as to suppress the bleeding even a little, Ryouko had wrapped her own jersey around her abdo at the navy blue of the shi+ra from blood, its efficacy was doubtful
“Huff Haa Finally, made it”
Aya wheezes in ragged breaths Ryouko was silent, and even the chippy Minami had lost her words
“Let’s just, find those herbs”
Beads of sweat accumulated on her forehead, Ryouko voiced the dee
Meiko laid to sleep right by the fountain; the three silently searched with her occasional gripes of pain as BGM
“no good”
The result, obvious frole stalk That was the totality of the harvest
“Haha Ahaha It’s over”
With a tired expression, Aya says, indolently seated on the laith her legs thrown out
“Wh, hey, it’s over, you”
On the verge of crying, Minami nervously looks back and forth between Aya and Ryouko
“Don’t, make me say it ok Hey, class rep, what do we do”
Ryouko had deeply furrowed her brows, choosing silence How long had she hung her head in shame? Likely not even a minute, but yet, her painful silence felt eternal
“Futaba-san we can’t save her anymore”
A bitter decision
“Eh!? Ryouko-chan!”
“Ahaha, you can stop the oody two-shoes act you know, Natsukawa-san”
“N-no, I wasn’t—”
“Like, it’s fine It’s over, over means over ’kay No one’s fault here”
Aya was hter How could she, a norhschooler, be expected to keep co to escape reality
“These curative herbs are extreh to be unable to use ot her arm cut so bad she couldn’t draw her bow Most of all, Mina monsters at the front, you’re the one most likely to receive a wound”
Ryouko had been watching fro all sorts of attacks with her unparalleled athleticisood to be hubristic upon this evasion ability Even if they weren’t against a powerful oma than she could cope with
“Uh, but I’m fine, see”
“That’s not the point, Minaed attackers will surely go down right after Honestly, we should’ve decided how to use the herbs long ago”
As if to escape the suffering, Ryouko averted her eyes frorass At the end of her gaze, a conveniently placed 4-leafed clover, was not there at all
“So you see, we have to let Futaba-san go now So that we can survive Wasn’t it obvious, that useless pig was bound to be throay”
“Stop it Satou-san, you can’t say it like that”
“So ay can I say it your highness? Will you forgive ise to Butaba isn’t that like, a little bit hypocritical?”
“Whatever she did, you can’t call yourself a person if you say that!”
You can’t just give up on a human life just because it’s more efficient or if they’re useless
“No sorry Like, I shouldn’t spit on the dead huh”
Ryouko’s face was sour enough to ht Nodecided to let Meiko die, all of them would become utter hypocrisy All three of theht
“Hey, can’t we leave already? If you wanna watch over her till she dies, that’s a bit too ht?”
It wasn’t fun for any of thelance that Aya, and or course Ryouko and Minauilt
“You’re right There weren’t any herbs here, so there could’ve been previous visitors”
“If soate first, they’re prettyis true, we’ll really be in at the deep end”
They could trust in South Still, whether they could or couldn’t irls had seen eon was caved in, passages that you couldn’t take With a bit of bad luck, they could need to go on long detours to arrive at the transfer gate Worst case, they could also be completely blockaded from their destination
If there was student luckier than Yuuto, yet utterly self-centered, they would undoubtedly rush to the exit with no regard to others
“Also hey, there’s exactly 3 of us now Casting aside Butaba was just a matter of sooner or later huh?”
“Just, stop Satou-san You don’t need to spell it out, I, got the full picture”
“If you do, then fine I’d be happy if I didn’t die ’cause of soht Since we ht?”
And then, Aya soberly stood up After patting off the grass on her skirt, she walked towards Meiko at a casual pace And fro beside her, she took out a squarish black case
“Satou-san, that’s—”
“So anyoma knives”
The case being handed straight to Minami, was of course, Meiko’s beloved knife set Those sharp blades would be a Godsend for a Thief Perfect for carrying and storage, too good to pass up Naturally, the meat cleaver equipped on Meiko would also be collected
Mina a spare carried no loss Moreover, Ryouko and Aya could both carry one for self-defence
“E, I umm”
“No worries, I’ll give it over later”
Being considerate to Mina to receive it, Aya forcefully shoved the knife set into her own bag It was quite the size, but a schoolbag devoid of the deadweights known as textbooks and reference books could e the room
“Guess we’re about done here”
And this tiht out of the fairy square Ryouko and Minami, be as downcast as they may, followed after her
“ W-wait Help, me”
Though feeble, that clinging voice definitely reached the ears of those two
“I’m sorry, Futaba-san”
“S-sorry I’m so sorry“
Leaving her with just that, the two left Not once turning back
Futaba Meiko was thus abandoned A fitting end for the useless pig— was not a sentiment she herself would ever truly accept
Her consciousness fading, what reret at her own actions, nor resentment towards the 3 who left her
Just scared, frightened, and cold She felt like she could just sink into that sea of cold but,
“Futaba-san! Futaba-san, are you alright!”
Descended the voice of her savior—