"Eh?"
"Hahaha, little girl, that's a really amusing way to put it. If an old, down-on-his-luck cat like me could keep attracting customers, I'd be making a killing."
Kirino was growing anxious, while Elder Gandak slapped his knee and burst into laughter.
"By the way, little girl, I haven't asked for your names yet."
Kirino and Yō began introducing themselves.
Gandak's expression immediately changed. "You said your surname is Kasukabe?"
"Yes. Is there a problem?"
"Nothing. What matters now is how to overcome our current situation. Unfortunately, my leg is injured. As unwilling as I am to admit it, all I can do under the circumstances is use scare tactics like surprise attacks."
"What a shame."
"Come to think of it, scare tactics probably won't mean much against plants, will they?"
Listening to their discussion, Kirino felt somewhat puzzled.
"But if Winter Beast Summer Grass can parasitize corpses, what are the hosts of those fungal threads?"
Just as Yō began devising tactics again, the endlessly echoing footsteps suddenly stopped.
Yō immediately looked up, but her reaction was still a little too late.
"We're surrounded! Everyone, run!"
The sound of something leaping in through the window came first.
To their surprise, the dark-red cordyceps were looking their way and rapidly closing in.
The children immediately began screaming. This sight was simply too terrifying for them.
Yō kicked apart the body of an enemy in front of her, then blasted apart rubble nearby to alert the people behind her. "Run!"
Hearing that, the children immediately followed Yō toward the castle's outer wall.
Meanwhile, Kirino helped Gandak to his feet.
"I'm truly sorry, little Kirino."
"It's nothing, but we need to regroup with everyone as quickly as possible."
Kirino and Gandak turned around. A thunderous roar had just sounded from that direction.
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