Vol 3 Chapter 42 – Meido Arisu (【The Exonerator of the Maritime Nation】 Arc)

In the darkness.

No matter if I reach out or run around, there is nothing around.

“…….”

Even if I try to speak, I can’t produce a sound.

Furthermore, even if I clasp my hands together and strike them, no sound is produced.

I felt a sudden surge of stress in this inexplicable dark space.

I feel like I’m going to puke.

But I can’t.

Why.

Why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why———————.

It feels as if everything is being negated by this world.

In a world where I can’t hear anything, I start running while screaming.

This world doesn’t even evoke fatigue.

There isn’t any pain.

“…….”

I became fed up with everything and sat down on the floor.

No laughter emerges.

I don’t even know if I’m truly laughing.

I’m on the verge of losing my mind.

“…….”

What is this world?

Uncertain thoughts whirl around in my head.

“……!?”

Then, at that moment.

Suddenly, human screams echoed throughout the dark space.

It didn’t matter whether they were young or old, male or female.

The crying of children, the screams of young women, the agonized cries of the elderly.

They all joined in a grand chorus.

“……!!”

The suddenness of it all makes my chest ache.

I begin to hyperventilate, unable to breathe properly.

“……!”

The screams multiply endlessly like zombies, overwhelming me.

The voices come to kill me.

They are not sounds heard through my ears.

They are being screamed directly inside my brain.

It hurts. My head feels like it’s going to explode.

“……!”

No matter how much I bang my head, it doesn’t subside.

There isn’t any pain from the hitting.

I’m going insane
Stop.
Stop it.
Stop!

“Stopoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!”

—————————————————

“Hah…!”

I jumped up.

It was in a place I recognized—————.

“——————Well, I’m surprised. You’re already awake, huh?”

I heard a hoarse female voice coming from the room’s door.

“Takanashi Hitomiko… is it…?”

“Yeah. Who else could it be?”

Takanashi Hitomiko, with a sulky look, offered me a plate of porridge.

“What’s this…?”

“You looked unwell, so I made it for you. Any complaints?”

“No… Thank you.”

“You’ve been asleep for three days. Since you haven’t eaten anything, you need something easily digestible.”

“Right.”

Listening to her story, I take a bite of the porridge that was handed to me.

Though it’s lightly seasoned, as is typical for porridge, after three days without food, I naturally eat it.

“It’s delicious.”

“Delicious? Haha. Well, thank you.”

Then, glancing at Takanashi Hitomiko, I think I saw her smiling a little happily.

At that moment, I realized something.

“That apron is cute.”

Takanashi Hitomiko was wearing a brown apron embroidered with a bear.

The stark contrast to her usual self made me smile naturally.

“Are you mocking me?”

“Not at all, it suits you. It’s what they call gap moe.”

“The word ‘moe’ is among my top ten least favorite words…”

Takanashi Hitomiko made a grimace, as if she had bitten on something bitter.

Seeing her like that, I couldn’t help but let out a sigh.

“I am complimenting you, though.”

“I’m not wearing it because I want to be complimented by you.”

“Hahaha…”

I continue eating the porridge while chatting with Takanashi Hitomiko.

Takanashi Hitomiko watches my every move intently as I eat.

Her piercing gaze sends a shiver of fear down my spine, yet the bear-embroidered apron dispels all my dread.

“By the way, I have one question.”

“What is it? I’ll answer as long as it’s within what I can.”

Perhaps because the bear-embroidered apron and the porridge were handed to me so abruptly, I was slow to notice an obvious question.

“——————Why am I in Takanashi Hitomiko’s hideout?”

“…….”

“And… although you say I’ve been asleep for three days, what happened to me?”

An obvious question.

It concerns why I’m here and why Takanashi Hitomiko has been taking care of me.

The last thing I remember is fighting in a cave.

“I believe I was fighting alongside Kuzuryuu Kazuto against humans wearing Hannya masks…”

“……So your last memory ends there.”

“That’s right… I don’t remember what happened after that.”

Takanashi Hitomiko seems troubled by my words.

I wonder if there’s some issue.

“…Knowing you, I don’t think you’re lying.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

As I show a hint of delight, she speaks with a trace of pain in her voice.

“So, as a warning, I’ll tell you something.”

“A warning, you say?”

“Ah. For you, ‘Meido Arisu’…”

At that moment————————

“There’s a possibility that a second personality has taken hold.”

————————It felt as if time had stopped.

—————————————————

“……A second personality?”

“Ah. You had suffered fatal wounds from the enemy—so much so that it’s a wonder you’re still alive.”

“…….”

“But with an extraordinary recovery ability, you woke up on an airplane and rejoined me and Kirino Haruka.”

“I don’t remember any of that.”

I have no recollection of meeting Kirino Haruka.

Nor do I remember being treated on an airplane.

“From my perspective, your aura was clearly different.”

“…Was I doing something at that time?”

“…….”

When I tried to ask for details about the actions of the second personality, Takanashi Hitomiko suddenly exuded a heavy atmosphere.

“What? Were you really so different from your usual self?”

“No, if you insist on calling it normal, then it was normal…”

As she continued to speak ambiguously, I couldn’t help but worry about what you might have done.

“If it was just your usual self, then that’s fine. Please tell me.”

“……Well, you won’t be surprised when you hear it.”

“I won’t be surprised; after all, it’s about me.”

After hearing my words, she paused for several tens of seconds before speaking.

“After you woke up on the airplane, you became like a different person.”

And then, I heard everything.

No, I ended up hearing everything.

After hearing it all, I felt something whisper in my ear.

It wasn’t a threat or anything like that———————.

『Hello, original me.』

————————————It was a welcome.