Would there be another worldwide upheaval after that?
He could ask Panel-kun later. For now, he should go check on Haruhi. After following her outside, Jiu Ming realized something was off about her behavior. The way she kept looking around didn't resemble someone weighed down by heavy emotions at all.
Shouldn't she have found somewhere to sit in silence?
"There really isn't a lake..."
In any case, the moment he saw the disappointment on Haruhi's face, Jiu Ming knew all his worries had been completely for nothing.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"You ran out here just to see whether there was a lake nearby?" Jiu Ming asked in astonishment.
"Of course. What else did you think it was?" Haruhi wasn't stupid. After thinking for a moment, she understood what Jiu Ming meant. "You didn't think your Regiment Leader would be depressed over the people in there, did you?"
"Uh..." That was exactly what he had thought.
"Don't be ridiculous." Haruhi waved a hand and gave a light snort. "I'm not that old-fashioned. Those people had already been as good as dead before that, right? And besides, your Regiment Leader was nearly sliced in two! Why would I be feeling down?!"
Haruhi raised her brows and pointed at her waist, staring hard at Jiu Ming.
"Yeah. Once you get touched by something like that, you're really dead. Trying to turn them back isn't some anime plot—it's completely impossible."
"Yeah, yeah, I was a little careless." Jiu Ming scratched his head. Neither Yuki nor Itsuki Koizumi would have had any trouble dealing with this, but since Haruhi had brought it up, he would handle it himself.
He took out the Dragon's Neck Jewel. A ring of earthy yellow light bloomed from the gem. The soil churned, burying the