"Ah, are you all famous warriors?"
Sakumura and Musashi, together with the others, cut down the monsters wandering nearby, buying precious time for the fleeing civilians. Even Otama let out a sigh of relief.
"Well then—Otama will be taking her leave?"
With that, the fox girl tried to slip away.
"Hey, you're not going anywhere."
Sakumura grabbed Otama by the ear.
"We said we need your help with something."
"Seriously—what is this?! Is this really the time to be talking about helping or not helping?! I'm trying to stay alive too!"
Otama broke free from Sakumura's clutches, glared stiffly at the group, then sighed and looked east.
"Half an hour has passed since that bloody light started raining down from the sky. Anyone who was alive should have escaped by now. Most of those left behind are probably dead."
"No one knows how many people died in that half hour."
"In any case, thanks to that guy called Yagyu and all of you, the people in this area managed to get out."
At the very least, Otama was glad about that.
"I believe your home is nearby, isn't it? Why didn't you run?"
Fujimaru Ritsuka asked the question with some confusion.
"Well, there are a lot of elderly people, women, and children around here, so I just instinctively stayed behind to help. And then I ended up leaving rather late."
"As expected of Miss Otama!"
Fujimaru Ritsuka grabbed Otama's hand and shook it.
"Y-Yes, helping each other is only natural, isn't it? Besides, in a situation like this, one person alone can't do much, right?"
Praised by Fujimaru Ritsuka while having her hand held, Otama's face reddened. Then she suddenly realized something and hastily pulled her hand away from Fujimaru Ritsuka's.
"Oh, right, everyone. Before you tell me what you