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“Uwah, we’ve been robbed, nya!”

After surviving the chaos underground and making it back to the surface, we returned to the ruins we’d been using as our hideout.

Hearing Noche’s irritated voice as she went in first, I couldn’t help but clutch my head—figures.

Sufi hurried in after her, and inside, the floor was covered in muddy footprints. Lots of them, small ones—children’s footprints—leading toward the food storage. They must’ve snuck in to steal while we were being chased.

“What got stolen?”
“…All the food’s gone, and they took that blue-thingy flower and the knife, nya.”

Noche said grimly as she came back from her room. As expected, the food was gone. It’d hurt to start off without any supplies, but there was no helping it.

The flower was valuable, but losing it wouldn’t be a problem. In fact, if word got out about its value, it’d only bring trouble to whoever stole it. Serves them right.

“Sufi, what about our stuff—”
“Ah, yeah.”

Still on Sufi’s back, I urged her toward the room we’d been using. There were footprints here too, and the knife Sufi had kept in the corner was gone.

“The knife’s gone…”
“It’s a shame, but let’s not dwell on it. Put me down for a sec.”
“Okay…”

She set me down as I headed toward the far corner. Using the lantern, I drew an alchemy circle and used *Transmute* to open the seal.

When we started using this room, I had spent time carving a small circle into the floor—slowly, carefully—and created a hidden compartment with alchemy to store our things. The lid had been sealed to blend in perfectly with the rest of the floor.

I checked the bag that came out—it was intact.

…It was just in case, but I’m glad I did it.

“You hid it there, nya?”
“Yeah.”

If precision wasn’t required and there was enough time, I could manage this much without tools. After confirming everything inside was safe, I tucked the whole bag into the pocket tied around my stomach.

“That’s all for us.”
“Sufi’s knife…”
“I’ll make a better one later, cheer up.”

Sufi looked a bit down about losing the knife she’d been fond of. I patted her head before she lifted me back up again.

“So, what now, nya? We’ve got nothing left to take with us, nya.”
“If we get found again, it’ll be trouble. I wanna leave the city, soon.”
“…True, nya.”

Noche and Filia looked disappointed, but not deeply upset. They’d probably kept whatever they truly valued on them.

In that case, it was best to leave the city quickly.

At least five people had gone missing. Even if they were slum dwellers, that many vanishing at once was sure to draw attention.

If we lingered and got spotted by their comrades, we’d be in trouble again.

The fact they chased us that persistently meant Sufi and I were probably worth a lot on the market.

…Between the village and this place, I was starting to get sick of people wanting to sell us off.

When we left the ruins, Sufi suddenly turned around. …Yeah, even if it had only been our home for a short while, it felt a bit sad to leave it behind.

“……”

Noche and Filia were also looking back at the ruins. They probably felt even more attached to it than we did.

“Should we go on ahead?”
“…No, it’s fine, nya.”
“I’m okay too.”

When I asked if we should go first, they both shook their heads. Guess that was unnecessary. Noche took the lead and started walking briskly.

“Alice, hang in there a bit longer, okay?”
“…Mm.”

Retracing our steps through the underground passage, we soon reached the hole we’d used when passing through the wall.

“Um… what should we do?”
“I’ll go first, nya. Filia, you pull her up.”
“O-okay.”

With agile movements, Noche ran up the wall and disappeared through the hole.
Filia followed, hanging from the edge.

“Alice, grab my legs.”
“Okay.”

Forcing my sluggish body to move, I reached up and clung to Filia’s legs while Sufi supported me from below.

“Ready?”
“Mm.”
“Pushing—one, two!”
“One, two—!”

Sufi lifted my hips, Filia pulled from above, and I barely managed to get my upper body into the hole.

I braced myself and used what strength I had left in my arms to crawl through. The tunnel was narrow; I had to move on my own.

“Guh… ugh…”
“Alice, hang in there, just a little more.”

Sufi’s voice from behind kept me going as I dragged my almost lifeless limbs forward. My stamina had long since run dry—what was left was pure willpower.

“Nuooh…”
“Alice, I’ll pull you out—just a little more, okay?”

Filia disappeared from view, and light filled the tunnel. A hand reached in just as I was about to collapse, grabbed mine, and with a *rip* sound, I was yanked out.

Finally outside. That tunnel had felt endless.

“It was, so long…”
“…You did well, nya.”

Noche’s slightly exasperated tone reached my ears as relief washed over me—and my consciousness faded away.

A-anyway, I’ll just… leave the rest to the dependable big sisters…

■■■

“……?”

I woke to the sound of something crackling and popping.

…Right, I’d fainted as soon as we got out. There was a campfire nearby… looked like we were resting in a crevice among some rocks.