Chapter 32 Bridge Monster (Part One)
After that, everyone was able to return to the town without any casualties.
For Morimura, who had become able to use magic, and Tsubasa, who also wielded magic weapons, creatures like frog-men and Dungeon Gusokumushis were no longer enemies. They were nothing more than practice dummies.
When I was injured, Kondo Shuichi and Fukui lent me their shoulders. Fortunately, just as we emerged from the underground dungeon, we encountered a rescue team of adventurers. They had come to check on the situation, concerned that the previous party had found a new maze. Among them was a person who could use healing magic, and they healed my wounds on the spot. Luckily, my vital organs were unharmed, so I recovered quickly.
Upon arriving at the inn, Alice, Mizuno Kaede, Aoki Runa, and Nemoto Reiko welcomed us.
"Welcome back! Are you all safe?"
Alice looked at me with a worried expression.
"Thank you, It's fine."
Then Fukui interjected, saying, "That's not true."
"Akito got hurt. That's why Kondo and I carried him here. It was tough bringing an injured person through a room full of monsters, seriously. Right, Kondo?"
Fukui said this as if it was a big deal, seeking agreement from Kondo Shuichi. Kondo looked at Fukui with a puzzled expression and replied shortly, "Yeah, no problem on the way back."
(Fukui... During the battle, he was hiding somewhere and only focused on escaping. While leaving the room of the Meikyu Gusokumushi, he leaves it to Kondo to run away... Even in this world, he hasn't changed in his attempts to assert dominance over others.)
But I no longer felt inclined to take this guy's words seriously. The comrades who returned from the underground dungeon with me also looked at Fukui with a distant expression. But Alice, who didn't know the circumstances, had an even more serious expression on her face.
"Stomach wound... Akito-kun, are you really okay?"
She touches my abdomen as if feeling with her hand. Then Tsubasa comes right next to me. It's as if Alice is restraining her from touching me.
"He's really okay. Akito's wound was healed by the adventurer group in this town with healing magic right after we came out of the underground dungeon."
"Well, if that's the case..."
Alice withdraws her hand with a dissatisfied look. Surprisingly, even Nemoto Reiko approaches me, asking, "Are you really okay?" while touching my body.
"I really am."
I answered, but it was surprising since she had never shown any interest in me before. Perhaps in this loop, Nemoto Reiko has been with me from the start, so maybe she's developed a sense of closeness to me? But... I felt something strange in the touch of her hand.
Aoki Runa approaches lightly, looking around at everyone.
"Has everyone returned?"
A small pain ran through my chest.
(Aoki-san will surely be shocked when she learns that Kiridani has died…)
"Well, we'll talk about that in detail later. Including our future plans. For now, can we take a little rest? Everyone's tired."
I said that, avoiding an immediate answer.
Everyone who returned from the underground dungeon is taking a rest in their respective rooms. The room assignments are: myself, Morimura, Kondo Shuichi, and Fukui in one room, and Alice, Tsubasa, Mizuno Kaede, Aoki Runa, and Nemoto Reiko in another.
(Nine people at this point... Same pace as last time. Can we really break out of this loop?)
I closed my eyes, feeling anxious.
...
...
...
I must have taken a nap for about three hours. I woke up to some commotion. I could hear excited voices coming from downstairs. It was a woman's voice. It seems that some of the girls in our class are having an argument.
"It's loud downstairs."
Morimura said from the top bunk. It seemed like he was also woken up by the noise.
"Is there a problem?"
Kondo Shuichi asked as he sat up on the bottom bunk next to me.
"Let's go. I don't want any trouble with my friends."
I said, getting out of bed. Kondo Shuichi and Morimura followed me. Fukui also came down a bit later, looking sleepy.
When I went downstairs, I saw Midoritani Tsubasa and Aoki Runa arguing. Akamine Alice and Gina, the inn's signboard girl, looked confused as they watched. At the table next to them, Mizuno Kaede and Nemoto Reiko were looking at the two of them with a cold expression. Aoki Runa shouted,
"I don't want to go to a place I don't know! You don't know what kind of danger there is!"
In response, Tsubasa desperately tries to persuade,
"But if we don't go, we can't return to the original world! Runa doesn't need to return!"
"Before returning, if you die, it's all for nothing, right?"
"To prevent that, I, Akito, and Morimura-kun brought back weapons with magic power."
"But in the end, people died, right? Like Jun and Shimura! There were others, right?"
In the face of Runa's verbal assault, Tsubasa faltered. Listening to their exchange, I grasped the general situation. Tsubasa mentioned the next destination, and Runa opposed it.
Well, I think we should talk to everyone properly about this. I'll keep the details about the loop hidden for now, but we must discuss the next milestone.
"The arguing ends here. I'll speak from now on. Everyone, take a seat at the table."
I quietly addressed Tsubasa and Runa. As soon as they looked at me, they appeared embarrassed. As instructed, they silently sat at a nearby table. Gina, with a relieved expression, said, "Everyone, I'll make some tea," and went into the kitchen. Once everyone was seated at the table, I took the lead.
"First of all, let me say this. There are only nine of us left alive here. All of our other classmates have died."
The eight of us lower our gaze. Runa speaks up.
"It's not just Jun and Shimura, but I guess Iigaki, Kuriyama, and the others died too, huh?"
I nod.
"Yeah. The only reason we were able to meet up is because Fukui is there."
There's no need to talk about how they died deliberately.
"Didn't you guys get magic weapons in the underground dungeon?"
"Not all of us, but me, Morimura, and Tsubasa managed to get them."
"But still, Jun and Shimura died, right? And the others too. So even if you have magic weapons, it's meaningless, isn't it?"
Runa throws the same question at me that she threw at Tsubasa earlier.
"It's not meaningless. Powerful weapons are necessary, and both Morimura and Tsubasa have become quite capable fighters."
"Even so..."
I took over Runa's unfinished line.
"Even so, when it's time to die, it's time to die. Whether there's a weapon or not. And isn't it the same even if you're in this town?"
"The inside and outside of the town are different, right?"
"Yeah, that's right. It's a matter of probability. But Aoki-san said that and chose to stay in the log hut in the grassland the other day. What was the result?"
Runa's body twitched. The fear of being attacked by bandits is still ingrained in her body. Then Kondo Shuichi interjected.
"Hey, I can't see the whole picture... I understand that Aoki-san wants to stay in this town. But where do Akito and Tsubasa want to go?"
I looked at Tsubasa.
"Tsubasa, sorry, but could you explain to everyone?"
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