“It was definitely Sakashita-san.”
“I know Sakashita-san died. The god made an announcement about it.”
That was true.
That was how we knew the body belonged to Sakashita-san, the girl who had gone missing three years earlier and whom none of us had known very well.
“She hadn’t been dead for that long. But her body had suffered severe injuries, and it didn’t look like an accident. Those wounds weren’t from monsters or animals either. I realized she had been killed by a human.”
I could tell that much.
Death had always been close in the other world.
“I see… Was it a bandit or something?”
“We thought so too. Our Jobs and Skills made us stronger than ordinary people, but we already understood that strength alone couldn’t keep death away.”
Though we wouldn’t truly understand that lesson until two years later…
“So what about Sakashita-san?”
“Afterward, we went to a nearby town and saw one of our classmates there. He possessed an incredible amount of mana, his eyes were empty, and something about him felt deeply wrong.”
“That person was…”
Ayaka seemed to understand.
“We had no proof, but we suspected him, so we fled the area.”
“Who was it?”
“Yamane.”
What was his first name again…?
“Yamane-kun… I never really talked to him.”
“Neither did I. We were classmates for less than a month, but I never saw him talking to anyone.”
We had been in different classes during our first year too, so I didn’t know much about him.
He wasn’t the only person like that, though.
We had become second-years in April, and we were transported to the other world less than a month later, so we hadn’t really had time to get used to our new classes.
Even I still spent most of my time with Minato, Riku, and Shouta, who had shared my first-year class. Naturally, the four of us formed a party after the transfer.
“What happened with Yamane-kun?”
“He might have been in that red-light district earlier.”
“What? He was there?”
“When we were about to leave the street, I put my arm around your shoulder, remember? That was when. I felt a bad presence coming from the shop on the right. It was the same feeling I had back then.”
I hadn’t sensed any mana.
However, just like we could do, mana could be concealed.
“…Do you know what weapon he had?”
“I have no idea. I only saw him that once, and I never learned what weapon he used.”
I had only ever seen him that one time in town.
“Hmm… Let’s trust Yuu-kun’s instincts and assume that the person there earlier was Yamane-kun. Then there’s certainly a possibility that Spear Guy is Yamane-kun.”
I thought so too.
“There’s no proof that Yamane killed Sakashita-san. There’s no proof that he’s Spear Guy either. There’s even a possibility that the bad feeling I had earlier was just my imagination. But we should still retreat. We can’t take any more risks.”
“That’s true… I think that’s the right choice.”
Ayaka nodded.
“I agree too. From what I’ve heard, there’s a high chance that Spear Guy is that person. More importantly, when something like this happens, you act while assuming the worst.”
Elvis was right.
“Assuming the worst, Yamane was the first person who came to mind when I heard that killing someone lets you steal their mana. And there’s one fact he must already know.”
Killing someone allowed you to take their mana.
And the most efficient targets weren’t monsters or ordinary people, but people like us who had accumulated enormous amounts of it.
“Yeah… We shook him off, right?”
Ayaka stood up and quietly looked outside through the curtain.
“Probably. He didn’t seem like he was following us, and I don’t think he noticed us.”
“Let’s leave early tomorrow. Um… let me check the first train…”
Ayaka returned to the bed and started searching on her phone.
“Yuu, there’s one more thing you need to mention. What exactly was the condition of that Sakashita girl’s body?”
When Elvis asked that, Ayaka raised her head and looked at me.
“Her clothes had been disheveled… or rather, torn apart…”
They had been strewn around her…
“You assumed Yamane was the culprit, and that’s also why you covered Ayaka so she couldn’t be seen earlier, right?”
“Yeah.”
I nodded, and Ayaka lowered her eyes back to her phone.
“I see… We need to share this with Mayumi and Hina too. Actually, I guess this confirms it. We can’t trust the other classmates.”
I felt the same way.
“Yeah. What time are we leaving tomorrow?”
“6 o’clock. Is waking up at 5 okay?”
“The earlier, the better. Let’s do that.”
“Alright, then let’s sleep early. I’m going to take a bath.”
Ayaka headed toward the bathroom.
“Elvis, sorry about making you sleep on the floor.”
“It’s fine. Actually, we should sleep in the same room. The most dangerous time is when we’re asleep.”
That was true.
The thing we had to be careful about was a surprise attack.
Especially a nighttime attack.
That was the first thing I learned while traveling through the other world.
After a while, Ayaka emerged in her pajamas. I bathed next, followed by Elvis.
Then we settled down early: Ayaka and I on the beds, and Elvis on the floor.
“Elvis, are you really okay with this? If you want, you can use my room instead…”
Ah, having him sleep in her room was also an option.
“I’m fine. Right now, we don’t know what could happen. If you two get attacked and have to escape somewhere, I’d be left stranded right in the middle of enemy territory. For now, I should stay with you guys.”
That made sense.
“Elvis, thank you.”
“Yeah. Thanks.”
Things had been going smoothly because of Elvis.
“Don’t worry about it. This is much more interesting than farming alone in the mountains. And the cup ramen was good.”
It really was good.
“Elvis, how about you come with us to Tokyo? I’ll give you mana along the way.”
“That doesn’t sound bad. I want to see Mount Fuji.”
“You’ll be able to see it on the way.”
If it was Mount Fuji, we could normally see it if we got close enough to the area. We could even make a stop there if we wanted.
“Well, for now, we should return to Beppu and head to Kokura. I’ll at least stick with you until then.”
“Thanks.”
“Yeah. Go to sleep.”
We closed our eyes and soon fell asleep.
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