“So that’s why… So that’s why everyone stayed in this city,” Rui said.
Felix replied to Rui’s words, “Ah, that’s right.”
“A military helicopter came to rescue us before, but it was attacked and crashed when it tried to leave the city. No one can get out of this city.”
“A helicopter? Can the Conglomerate fly?”
“No, that’s not it. Black chains stretched out from the ground and pierced the helicopter. It’s said that the main body of the Conglomerate is underground, but no one has ever seen its entirety.”
“I see.”
Rui gradually understood why the current situation in Germany was so dire.
The Dark Knight and the Conglomerate. These two Monsters must be the root cause of everything. Seeing Rui deep in thought with a serious expression, Felix cleared his throat and changed the subject.
“More importantly, what about your companion?”
“Ah, Yuma. I’ll go pick him up. I doubt he knows where this place is.”
“No, there’s no need for that.”
“Huh?”
Rui looked at Felix blankly.
“Our companions should be observing the situation on-site. If your companion is alive, they’re supposed to bring him here.”
“Is that so? Thank you.”
Felix sighed softly at Rui’s brightening face.
“That’s only if he’s alive. If he’s dead, they’ll just bring him back.”
“Then it’s fine. Yuma will never die.”
Felix was perplexed by Rui’s chuckling.
Two hours later—
“Hey! They really came!!”
A resident of the Underground City shouted loudly. Rui, who had been resting in a tenant in the Underground City, rushed outside and ran through the premises.
When he got close to the entrance, he saw several men coming down the stairs.
“Yuma!”
Yuma reacted to Rui’s voice.
“Oh! Rui, you managed to evacuate safely.”
Yuma was happy to see him again and smiled broadly. Rui approached and was relieved to see that Yuma was unharmed.
He thought he would be fine, but there was always a chance of something happening.
“What happened to that Monster?”
When Rui asked, Yuma said, “Ah,” and rubbed his nose.
“Once it realized my attacks weren’t working, it quickly ran away. But that was close. If it had persisted and the duration of my ‘Metallization’ had run out, I might have lost.”
“So, your attacks didn’t hit at all!?”
“Ah, that’s right. Not a single one. I think I could have defeated it in one hit if I had landed one, but it was too fast to catch.”
Rui gasped. The speed of Yuma when he uses ‘Metallization’ and the Bloodstained Ore is extraordinary.
To think there’s a Monster that surpasses that speed…
“Anyway, let’s not talk here. Let’s go deeper inside. I’ll tell you where their leader is.”
“The leader? You mean that silver-haired guy?”
“Yes, his name is Felix-san. He’s a reasonable person.”
Rui and Yuma walked through the premises with several men. Yuma looked around curiously at the unique atmosphere of the underground passage lined with various shops, different from Japan.
Then, he stopped when he saw the back of a store sign.
“Ah!”
Yuma raised his voice in surprise.
“It’s that kid!!”
“W-What’s wrong, Yuma!?”
Rui couldn’t hide his bewilderment at Yuma suddenly pointing at a child.
“It’s him! This kid shot me in the head!!”
“Eh!?”
When Yuma shouted, the child hiding behind the sign jumped out and ran into the depths of the premises.
“Hey! Wait!!”
Yuma also started running after the boy. Slightly confused, Rui quickly ran after Yuma.
◇◇◇
“What’s going on? It’s noisy.”
Felix, who was in the tavern tenant, opened the door and went out into the underground passage. He frowned, wondering what was going on with so many people shouting.
As he walked along the passage with Werner following behind, there was a crowd in one corner.
“What’s wrong?”
When he called out to the man at the end of the line, the man said, “Ah, Felix! It’s terrible,” and pointed beyond the crowd.
“The Seeker who came earlier and Luis-san are fighting.”
“What!?”
Felix pushed through the crowd and stepped forward.
There was a chaotic situation where Luis was grabbed by the clothes, and the man who grabbed Luis’s clothes was being held in a headlock by Amasawa Rui.
For a moment, Felix didn’t know what to do.
“Hey, Felix! You have to stop them!!”
Werner’s words brought him back to his senses, and Felix said, “Ah, yes, that’s right,” and went to stop the three of them.
The man who had been grabbing Luis seemed quite angry.
Felix and Werner somehow managed to pull the two apart, and to hear the story, they headed to the tavern they always used.
◇◇◇
“What! Luis shot this person with a Gun!?”
Felix’s face twisted in surprise after hearing the story.
Inside the tavern were Yuma, Rui, Luis with his head down, and Felix and Werner.
Each of them sat in a chair, facing each other across the table.
“If that’s the case, we’re 100% in the wrong. I apologize from the bottom of my heart, I’m really sorry.”
Felix and Werner bowed their heads, and strongly told Luis, who was fidgeting, “Apologize!”
Luis lowered his head and apologized to Yuma, “I-I’m sorry.”
“Well, I was surprised to be suddenly called out to. Considering the situation in Germany, I think it can’t be helped.”
Rui tried to calm things down gently, saying, “Please raise your head,” but Yuma, who was next to him, crossed his arms and snorted, “I’m not convinced!”
Felix, who raised his head, put his hand on Luis’s head,
“Listen, Luis. This person was unharmed by the bullet because he’s a top-notch Seeker. An ordinary person would have died. Be more careful when using a Gun.”
Luis, scolded, replied in a small voice, “Yes, I understand.”
Yuma, who was listening to that from the opposite seat, thought, “No, I almost died from being shot,” but decided to keep quiet because he was called a top-notch Seeker.
“I’m sorry. This city has bad治安, you see. People are fighting each other, so we mistook you for Tzore’s people. The responsibility lies with me for letting a child have a Gun.”
Felix lowered his head again apologetically.
“It’s okay. Yuma’s perfectly fine, right! Yuma.”
Yuma, who was prompted, reluctantly nodded, “W-Well, yeah.”
“More importantly, who are these Tzore people? If possible, I’d like you to tell me more about them…”
Werner opened his mouth at Rui’s question.
“They’re a group that opposes the community in this Underground City. They’re based at Tzore Station and number nearly 300. They’re a pretty violent bunch.”
Hearing that story, Rui and Yuma exchanged glances. They were convinced that the people who had attacked them were from Tzore.
“Couldn’t you cooperate with those people? I don’t think it’s a good idea to be fighting…”
Felix gave a wry smile at Rui’s words, “Yeah, that’s right.”
“I wish we could have. But those guys have too much power. They never had any intention of compromising with us from the start.”
“Do they have a lot of weapons?”
Rui recalled the situation when they were attacked. At that time, all the men had Guns with high killing power.
“Ah, that’s right. Some of them are former soldiers, and they have plenty of weapons. I think there was also a former high-ranking government official.”
“Eh!?”
At those words, Rui and Yuma reacted in unison.
“Yuma!”
“Ah, the White Magic Gem… Maybe it’s not too late to give up.”