Ch'en shouted with all her might, but to Rope, her voice was as faint as a mosquito's buzz. It was not easy to carry sound across a crater six kilometers in diameter, and finding a rope that long was no simple matter either. After struggling for quite some time, Rope finally climbed out of the pit carrying Hoshino on her back.
"She told me to take her to the shrine."
"I'm starting to think I don't want her going to Lungmen. I probably won't be able to sleep tonight."
Ch'en sounded as though she were joking. She lowered her head and touched the hilt of her sword. Staring directly at such a grand sight always made one feel powerless, and gripping her strongest weapon was the very manifestation of that helplessness. If she could destroy a Catastrophe and still look perfectly fine afterward, Ch'en might be even more frightened.
Pitch-black stars.
It was even harder to comprehend than Lightning Empress's power, and the fear in her heart deepened further.
She looked at the peaceful sleeping face of Ural Silver Wolf, unable to calm down for a long while. After returning, she planned to speak with Yae Sakura again.
The villagers who had already fled halfway away saw that the threat had vanished and quietly slipped back one after another. Panting, they looked at the girl with undisguised awe—and some speechlessness.
"We're pretending to be Rhodes Island operators."
Rope softly reminded her from behind.
Ch'en nodded in understanding, turned around, and said, "Heavy Bunny will finish the remaining work. You need not worry."
"But the Treasure Hoarders..."
"What a coincidence. I ran into that whatever-thieves-group you mentioned on the way, and then..." Ch'en removed her hand from her sword hilt. "They've already been wiped out."
"..."
"Just a Lungmen police officer