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“U-uwaah, ueeeh, hueeeee…”

The moment the battle ended and silence fell, sobbing broke out right behind me.

“What the heck was that, nya…?” Noche was still frozen in place, her tail puffed up.

“Alice…” In the midst of it, Sufi, who somehow still had the strength to move, staggered closer on trembling legs.

“Why… why didn’t you run?” Her voice and expression were caught between anger and tears. She must have wanted me to escape. If I were in Sufi’s place, I’d have thought the same thing.

I stared back at Sufi’s face, which looked like she had more to say, carefully searching for the right words.

…And now, at last, my body began to shake. My legs felt useless, as if my strength had drained away, and I couldn’t stand. Sufi knelt down in front of me and touched my cheek.

“Why…”
“I don’t want… Sufi to die.”

In the end, the words that came out were simple. No decoration, no bravado — just my own will.

That’s right. There’s no way I could run away and leave behind the sister who was risking her life to protect me. I don’t want to abandon anything anymore. It was my wish in my previous life, and it’s Alice’s wish now.

“…S-Sufi too… doesn’t want… Alice to… ueeh…”

Her words broke off into sobs as her trembling arms wrapped around me. I held Sufi’s back in return, pressing against the quivering muscles of arms that didn’t even know where to go anymore.

Because that was all a stupid little sister who couldn’t obey her sister could do.

“I was scared… so s-scared…”
“Yeah…”

I was scared too.

The lantern’s flame slowly faded, and darkness spread as if to envelop the sound of our crying.

In the dark corridor, the sound of sobbing echoed, layer upon layer.

■■■

“Mm, sniff…”

After crying it all out in Sufi’s arms, my body finally stopped trembling.

I lit the lantern’s flame again.

I’d thought maybe it had run out of fuel or something, but surprisingly, the flame came back just fine. It felt a little weaker than before, though—maybe it only shows its real power under certain conditions.

…Well, as long as it works normally, that’s good enough.

“Huh?”

I turned around to check on the weasel monster’s corpse, which I’d been keeping in mind, and saw the scattered parts dissolving into black particles and fading away.

For something blasted apart by that absurd gun’s beam, there hadn’t been any blood or entrails at all, which had bothered me. Maybe it hadn’t even been a living creature.

The weasel’s head collapsed and vanished. When it was gone completely, only a transparent stone remained, glowing with an emerald-green light.

It was pretty big, about the size of something a child would have to hold with both hands.

“Wait a sec! What the heck was that, nya! That firepower was way too crazy, nya!”
“I told you, it’s very strong.”
“That’s not just ‘very strong,’ nya! What the heck is that thing, nya!?”

While I was staring curiously at the stone, this time it was Noche who burst out in anger.

Apparently the gun’s power had been way beyond her expectations. I had known about the full burst mode’s output, but whether it would actually work on a monster like that weasel had been a gamble.

And the fact that it was stored in this archive, which only held lower-risk items, made me all the more cautious.

This one is actually one of the easier Unknowns to handle. Just in case it wasn’t enough to finish it off, I went for a full burst.

We all managed to make it out alive, but now I’ve got to explain why I know the gun’s firepower and all that. That’s going to be a pain.

While I was wondering how to handle it, Sufi grabbed Noche’s shoulder.

“Hics… Noche, calm down, we’re safe now, aren’t we?”
“It’s not fine, nya! We could’ve been caught up in it, nya!”
“I knew exactly how strong it was.”
“See? Alice said so too…”
“That’s what makes it worse, nya!”
“Ugh… h-hic…”

Sufi tried to calm things down, but Noche was furious, Filia wouldn’t stop crying, and I wasn’t one to talk either—the ammonia smell was starting to sting my nose. It was chaos.

“I’ll explain everything properly once things settle down.”
“Grrr… you’d better, nya!?”
“I promise.”

The biggest threat might be gone, but that doesn’t mean the danger’s over.

There are rats living here, and who knows what else could be lurking. This isn’t exactly the place where I can sit down and calmly ask them to believe me.

And more than that, even if I did tell them everything, I was scared they wouldn’t accept it.

Not just Noche. Sufi too.

“…Fine, nya. You’re right, now’s not the time. I’ll let it go till later, nya.”

Having survived alone in this harsh world, Noche wasn’t stupid—quite the opposite, she was sharp. Once she calmed down, she realized this wasn’t the moment to interrogate me.

“Nyah, I’m exhausted… and I want to wash up, nya.”

Almost as if to reset the mood, she said something unusual for her, who normally hated water.

Not that I could blame her. I wanted to wash myself as soon as possible too.

It looked like neither Sufi nor Noche were badly hurt—the real toll was the fear and tension, the mental exhaustion. Wanting to wash up was probably part of that, too.

“Sufi, are you okay?”
“Yeah… it hurts a little, but I’m fine.”

She was putting on a brave face, but trembling. I wanted to let her rest somewhere safe. But with a hole blown open at the entrance, the storage room wasn’t guaranteed to be secure anymore.

On top of that, the hallway was a mess, and with the ammonia smell lingering, it must’ve been unbearable for beastfolk noses.

…The body reacts to fear whether you want it to or not.

Captain’s belief was that what’s uncool isn’t pissing yourself in fear—it’s giving up and running away. No matter how pathetic you look, if you stand and face it to the end, that’s what’s cool.

“Alice, s-sniff… I’m sorry, I, sniff, made a mess…”
“They’re just rags. Don’t worry about it. You did great.”

I answered Filia’s tearful apology with a little peace sign.

—Even if she got so scared she wet herself, that is!

I couldn’t help but remember that one rookie. First mission right after assignment, and he ended up facing a monster unleashed by some occultist. Survived, but with a huge stain on his pants.

Captain teased him mercilessly while he went beet red.

And really, I was no different from everyone else here.