“Huh!? Why can’t we go inside?”
Akito furrowed his brow, pressing the soldier standing before the gate.
The two soldiers exchanged glances, looking at Akito with annoyance.
“It’s an order from above. Don’t let any Japanese inside.”
“Hold on a minute!”
Charlotte, who was behind them, pushed past Rui and Akito, stepping forward.
“Thanks to these people, the residents of the first district were able to escape! What do you mean they can’t enter the city!?”
“Well, even if you say that to us…”
The two soldiers were quite perplexed. Charlotte was a famous Seeker in England. Glared at by Charlotte, they seemed unable to argue back.
“Now, now, let’s calm down for a moment.”
Rui stepped in front of the enraged Charlotte.
“They’re just following orders from the government. There’s no point in arguing with them here.”
“But, still…”
“We’ll stay outside, so could you go and talk to the higher-ups? Please convey that we’re willing to fight and defeat the Monsters together.”
Charlotte, still not convinced, reluctantly agreed after being persuaded by Rui.
Only Charlotte passed through the Ice Gate and entered the city. The remaining three could only watch her go.
“Why do we have to get kicked out after helping them? It’s infuriating.”
“Well, let’s leave it to Charlotte-san for now. But we don’t know how long it will take, so we can’t just keep waiting here.”
Hearing Rui’s words, Yuma looked around.
“Then, let’s secure a place to rest. Let’s look for a building nearby where we can stay.”
“That’s a good idea.”
Yuma and the others, ignoring the glaring soldiers, left the area.
They went to the fourth floor of an apartment building overlooking the Ice Gate and decided to rest in one of the rooms. There wasn’t a single resident in the building.
Well, it’s only natural since everyone has evacuated.
Yuma sprawled out on the sofa in the room and closed his eyes. He was feeling quite tired, but he glanced at the window.
Rui was standing on the balcony, looking down.
He seemed to be checking if Charlotte was coming out of the Ice Gate. If it was Charlotte, she would talk to the government’s higher-ups and tell them the result.
However, Yuma thought that they would not be accepted.
–Well, it’s not unusual for me to be feared. I can’t complain even if the British government rejects me.
As Yuma thought this, an irritated voice came from over his head.
“Ugh, it’s all Yuma’s fault! Because Yuma is so hated, we’re getting dragged into this too!”
Yuma frowned and raised his head. Looking around the room, he saw Akito lying on the bed, his hands behind his head, staring at the ceiling.
Even though it was an empty house, he was making himself too comfortable, Yuma thought with a scowl.
“Ugh, it’s Yuma’s fault! It’s Yuma’s fault! It’s Yuma’s fault!”
“Shut up! It’s not like I can do anything about it!”
“We flew all the way from India, and we finally arrived in England, only to be treated like this!? Something’s wrong, what’s going on in this world?”
Too tired to argue, Yuma lay back down on the sofa.
He decided to sleep for a while. Leaving everything else to Rui, Yuma drifted off into a doze.
◇◇◇
“Yuma! It’s Charlotte-san.”
“Ugh…? Huh?”
Yuma rubbed his eyelids and looked ahead. It was already dark outside, and Rui’s face, who had called out to him, looked blurry.
“What is it?”
“Charlotte-san came out of the Ice Gate. She’s looking for us.”
Still half-asleep, Yuma got up from the sofa and tried to leave the room with Rui.
At that moment, he caught sight of Akito, who was snoring on the bed.
–His nerves are ten times thicker than mine.
Leaving Akito asleep, Yuma and Rui quietly left the room.
“I told the soldiers guarding the gate that we moved to the apartment,” Rui said.
“So, Charlotte-san is coming here too?”
“Probably.”
Since the electricity was out, the elevator wasn’t working. When they went down the stairs, Charlotte was indeed in front of the apartment, as Rui had said.
Yuma and Rui hurried over to Charlotte.
“How did it go? What was the government’s response?”
When Rui asked, Charlotte made a difficult expression. The result was easy to imagine just from that.
“I’m sorry. Hans-san and I negotiated many times, but they wouldn’t listen. They said you can’t enter the city…”
Rui spoke gently to Charlotte, who looked apologetic.
“Is that so… It can’t be helped. It’s not Charlotte-san’s fault.”
“But…”
Seeing Charlotte’s pained expression, Rui sighed softly.
“Unfortunately, we can’t fight together any longer. We’re traveling around the world to collect Magic Gems… I’m sorry.”
“No, I’m the one who should be apologizing. You helped us escape all the way here, but we can’t even repay that kindness. It’s truly pathetic.”
Charlotte turned her gaze to Yuma and smiled faintly.
“We couldn’t fight together here, but… your power will surely bring hope to this world. Let’s meet again somewhere. Please lend us your strength then.”
“Yes, definitely.”
Rui and Yuma shook hands with Charlotte and parted ways there.
When they returned to the apartment room, Akito was still snoring, completely unconcerned.
Yuma slapped Akito’s face to wake him up.
“…Hmm? What is it? What happened?”
Akito stretched greatly and sat up, and Yuma told him about the conversation with Charlotte.
“What!? What does that mean! We can’t enter the city!!? So there’s no reward for helping them?”
“That’s right.”
Rui replied while preparing to leave.
“Why are you guys so calm! Shouldn’t you be more furious?”
“There’s no point in getting angry. We need to think about how to get to the next country.”
Akito gnashed his teeth at Rui’s detached attitude. He turned his gaze to Yuma and shouted, “Yuma! Are you okay with this!?”
“Hmm, well, it’s always like this. I’m used to it now.”
Yuma also casually slung his bag over his shoulder and prepared to leave. Seeing Yuma like that, Akito became enraged.
“Isn’t it because of you that we’re in this mess!!”
“Ouch!”
The clock that Akito threw hit Yuma’s head directly. “What the hell are you doing!” Yuma snapped and started punching Akito, and the two began to fight.
Seeing this, Rui said, “I’m going ahead,” and left the room alone.