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Fateful Day

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“Ha, I’m in trouble…” (Lux)

I had gotten quite used to the narrow room’s ceiling by now. However, I was still unable to escape from this room.

Getting out of the room itself was simple. According to Mitia, the only source of information connecting me to the outside, the security inside the research building wasn’t that tight, or rather, it had been loosening as time went on. The problem was after exiting the research building. In contrast to the research building, the security at the academy had become stricter with each passing day, and any disturbance would likely be quickly responded to.

Since the back of the research building was surrounded by a forest, it might be possible to hide there. However, without weapons and with nowhere to hide, even though someone like Rita-san or Lulu-san could do it, there wasn’t much I could do. Even so, I had made it to the morning of the academy’s inter-school competition.

If there was a chance, I thought it would have been either yesterday or today. By now, I was sure that Remnos would have sent people like Beretta-san and Verger, and from Solar, people like Willard would have arrived. Follet-san would have also arrived, I believe.

Everyone would surely be suspicious if we weren’t there. That’s when I was waiting to see how Bowman Deran Baxwal would act. They were all not easy people to deal with. I didn’t think they’d be doing nothing. Even if it didn’t lead to a full-on rescue, there was a chance something would happen… I was waiting for that. However, nothing had happened up until yesterday and now. Anxiety and impatience kept building up.

“By the way, is there no breakfast today?” (Lux)

No matter the situation, I was always hungry. For the past few days, Mitia had brought breakfast along with information, but today, she still hadn’t come. I wondered if something had happened…

I couldn’t sit still, so I kept standing up and sitting down repeatedly, when I faintly heard footsteps from the other side of the door. The fact that I could hear them even through the door meant it was either a big person or someone who walked heavily. Mitia, being small and light, wouldn’t make noise like that until the door opened.

The footsteps stopped in front of the door. I braced myself, but I had no weapons to fight back. At the very least, I should prepare myself to dash and escape the moment the door opened.

*Click*

The lock clicked open, and the door slowly started to move. And then, the person who appeared was…

“Yo, you’re looking better than I expected.” (Lulu)

“Lulu-san!?” (Lux)

And behind Lulu-san, another person. A face appeared over Lulu-san’s back… it was Bianca.

“Bianca!? What are you doing here!?” (Lux)

There, standing with a slightly embarrassed smile, was Bianca, holding the bag containing my beloved firearm, the Counter.

 

—

 

“Well, well, I came to help, and you don’t even thank me?” (Lulu)

Lulu-san sat heavily on the bed, and I hurriedly asked.

“You came to help!? How?” (Lux)

“How, you ask? I took down every guard around here.” (Lulu)

“Took them down? You mean defeated them?” (Lux)

“Yeah.” (Lulu)

“Isn’t that dangerous?” (Lux)

“It wouldn’t be, if I didn’t do it. Eventually, Deran’s soldiers will start swarming here, though.” (Lulu)

Lulu-san laughed merrily.

“Then why would you go that far to help me…?” (Lux)

“Huh? You don’t like that I helped you?” (Lulu)

“No, I’m really happy! But you said the other night, that you’d follow the Princess’s orders.” (Lux)

The one who captured us, Baxwal, was there because of the Princess’s orders.

“Oh, I see. Well, this time, no one told me to do this. It doesn’t matter to me.” (Lulu)

“Then, why…?” (Lux)

“It’s because this seemed more fun. You sent me such a passionate love letter after all.” (Lulu)

Ah, that’s a very Lulu-san reason for helping… Wait, a love letter? The letter she pulled out was the one I had entrusted to Mitia, which was supposed to be delivered from Holland-san to the Bell Household. Why does Lulu-san have it?

“The little one from the lab was acting suspicious, so I followed. Turns out, he gave this to a pastry shop guy, so I took it from him.” (Lulu)

Took it? Not “stole” it?

“I looked inside, but it didn’t seem all that interesting, so I wasn’t going to act on it. But when I talked to that girl, I changed my mind. You should thank her.” (Lulu)

Saying that, Lulu-san looked at Bianca. Bianca was still standing at the entrance.

“Bianca, thank you. But are you okay? What about the inter-school competition…?” (Lux)

“I’m not participating in the inter-school competition. I’ve been substituted due to an injury. Saxon and Roy-kun are on watch, so they can’t move, but that means I can move freely…” (Bianca)

I understood why Bianca was here, but I knew she had her family matters and had decided not to get involved in this. As though reading my thoughts, she continued.

“I understand why you’re confused. But since then, I’ve been thinking about it. What does it mean to be a soldier? What does family mean? And… I’ve decided.” (Bianca)

I waited silently for her next words. Bianca looked down for a moment, then raised her eyes to look at me with a strong light.

“My idea of a soldier is that I can’t accept the way Baxwal does things! And I want to help my friends!” (Bianca)

With that, she declared resolutely.

“Bianca… thank you.” (Lux)

I was almost about to cry when Bianca started explaining everything.

After deciding to help us, Bianca had snuck into the old school building last night, taking shelter in the newspaper clubroom to wait for dawn and wandering around looking for a way to help. That’s when Lulu-san, who had been wandering around, noticed her. Lulu-san had pressured her to explain the situation, and Bianca, ready to get caught herself, tearfully told Lulu-san everything.

“What, they’re doing something interesting after all? You guys left me out.” (Lulu)

Lulu-san had said, agreeing to cooperate.

By the way, the research building had been stormed with a literal frontal assault. Everyone was knocked out cold, and Lulu-san took control with her very simple philosophy, “Cooperate, and all is well. Resist, and get knocked out”. It was completely under her control…

Is she even human?

Then, Lulu-san interrupted our conversation.

“Hey, I hate to interrupt your youth, but we can’t relax. We’re heading into a siege here. Get ready.” (Lulu)

Right. This isn’t a time to be sitting around.

I told Bianca, “I’ll properly thank you later,” as I took back my beloved firearm, the Counter. “Oh, and you also brought this”, she said, handing me the slingshot. Apparently, it had been kept in a room in the research building.

“Mitia, the little one, went to help the others upstairs. We’ll open the other cells and head back up.” (Lulu)

As she said that, we all left the narrow room. Since I had been brought here unconscious, it was my first time stepping outside. The hallway was longer than I expected, and we were at the farthest end. The others had cells scattered closer to the stairs. So, they must have opened my cell from the farthest part.

“Alright, let’s go.” (Lulu)

Just as I was gearing up to head out with Lulu-san to rescue everyone, I heard a cat’s meow from behind.

A cat’s meow, in a place like this?

When I turned around, I saw that a door at the farthest end of the hallway was slightly ajar. From the gap in the door, the white tail of a cat swayed, as if inviting me.

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