Leaving aside Mumei's reaction, Fang Li, who knew the original plot well, naturally understood why Kurusu Kunoichi was pointing a gun at Ikoma with such a grim expression.
As mentioned before, at the beginning of the story, two Hayajiro entered Aragane Station, one during the day and one at night.
On the Hayajiro that arrived during the day, someone had been falsely accused of being a Kabane and was shot to death.
And the one who had stood up for that person was Ikoma.
This young man, who possessed a strong sense of justice and saw defeating the Kabane as his mission, had long since developed a distaste for the warriors in this station.
Not only were they cowardly and fearful, but because they had nowhere to vent their terror of the Kabane, they turned their guns on weak people who were also human. To Ikoma, such warriors were nothing but cowards.
Thus, Ikoma, who had stepped forward for that person's sake, was likewise suspected by the warriors. They believed he might become a Kabane and locked him in a cell.
Under such circumstances, Ikoma should logically have had nowhere to escape to and should have been killed by the Kabane.
Yet Ikoma had appeared here, and he had once again stepped forward for someone else's sake.
Someone already suspected of possibly becoming a Kabane had suddenly appeared here. Who would not be on guard?
With that in mind, Kurusu Kunoichi pointed his gun at Ikoma.
"You should have been locked in a cell," Kurusu Kunoichi said coldly. "Why are you here?"
"...I picked the lock and escaped myself." Ikoma's tone was no friendlier, and his expression was exceedingly grim. "Otherwise, thanks to you people, I would have been bitten by a Kabane in that cell long ago, wouldn't I?"
"Almost bitten by a Kabane?" Kurusu Kunoichi's gaze turned even sharper. "I'd say you've already been bitten by one."
The surrounding civilians were immediately startled and instinctively backed away from Ikoma, not daring to approach him again.
Even the official Ikoma had just stood up for moved away from him, his eyes filled with fear.
As for Yomogawa Ayame, the kind-hearted young lady seemed to want to speak up for Ikoma, but Kibito Aragane pulled her back.
"Lady Ayame, please do not interfere." Kibito Aragane's expression was somewhat grave. "If a Kabane has infiltrated our group during the escape ahead, then everyone will likely die."
Yomogawa Ayame was startled, then fell silent.
That made Ikoma agitated. "I'm not a Kabane!" he shouted.
Unfortunately, that highly agitated appearance only made everyone suspect him even more.
At once, not only Kurusu Kunoichi, but even the warriors of the Yotsuyu Clan raised their guns one after another and aimed them at Ikoma.
"You..." Ikoma wore a pained expression.
That was only natural.
This justice-driven young man had always believed that humanity's enemy should be the Kabane, not humanity itself. He deeply rejected infighting among humans.
Yet in any era, conflict between humans was unavoidable.
Because humans possessed intelligence, hearts, and all manner of complicated emotions.
So long as they could not understand and tolerate one another, human conflict would never cease.
Therefore, at his core, Ikoma really was an idealistic hot-blooded youth.
Acting without understanding the situation and relying on nothing but passion sounded very positive, but bluntly put, it was simply too reckless and thoughtless.
Without plot armor, characters like him were generally among the first to die.
However, to those who could see the situation clearly, such a person was not unpleasant.
Watching Ikoma become the target of everyone present, Fang Li looked down at Mumei, who had been watching Ikoma from his arms, and chuckled softly. "What? Aren't you going to give him a hand?"
"Help?" Mumei froze for a moment, lowered her head, and said, "Why should I help him?"
"Is that so?" Fang Li looked straight at Mumei, his tone quite meaningful. "Are you sure you don't want to help him?"
Hearing the meaning behind Fang Li's words, Mumei felt as though this person had seen straight through her.
Naturally, that feeling was not pleasant.
Mumei shot Fang Li a resentful glare. Then, under his teasing gaze, she propped up her somewhat weak body, raised her head, and looked ahead.
Immediately afterward, Mumei's voice rang out clearly, breaking the tense atmosphere.
"Put down your guns." Still sounding somewhat weak, Mumei spoke listlessly. "That person isn't a Kabane."
Mumei's words delighted Ikoma, while the people around them exchanged looks.
"Not a Kabane?" Kurusu Kunoichi did not lower his gun, and his voice remained cold. "He may not be one now, but who knows whether he will become one later?"
"At present, we cannot rule out the possibility that he was bitten by a Kabane." Kibito Aragane spoke in agreement. However, compared to Kurusu Kunoichi's coldness, his words carried a little more humanity. "Unless we examine his body and prove there are no bite marks from a Kabane on him."
Ikoma's expression immediately froze.
Fang Li naturally knew why.
And Mumei clearly knew as well.
"If you want to know whether he was bitten by a Kabane, I can tell you that." Mumei slightly raised her eyelids, her childish voice sounding slowly.
"He has already been bitten."
The temperature in the air instantly dropped to freezing.
"—?!"
Every gun-wielding warrior reacted as though shocked, their muzzles snapping toward Ikoma as terrified expressions appeared on their faces.
The surrounding civilians cried out in alarm, and panic spread among the crowd.
"W-Wait!" Ikoma could not help taking two steps back. As if unwilling to accept reality, he shook his head and said in a trembling voice, "I... I'm not a Kabane... I'm not a Kabane!"
Yet not a single person believed him.
That anyone bitten by a Kabane would become a Kabane was a universally known fact.
Only Mumei's expression remained unchanged from beginning to end.
"That's right. You aren't a Kabane."
With that, Mumei stepped forward and came to Ikoma's side. Looking directly at him, she spoke word by word.
"But you are no longer human, either."
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