Sakurada Niji opened the door to the guardroom. At first glance, it was empty, with nothing but a desk and chair and no one in sight. He sensed for cursed energy again and found that faint trace beneath the desk.
There isn't some terrifying-looking cursed spirit hiding under the desk to scare me, is there...?
Sakurada Niji slowly approached the desk and nervously bent down to peer underneath-
A black-haired young woman of about eighteen was curled up in the space beneath the desk. Her whole body was trembling, and her eyes were squeezed shut.
"Are you okay, miss?" Sakurada Niji softly asked the frightened young woman beneath the desk.
Hearing Sakurada Niji's gentle voice, the curled-up Konno Yoshiko gradually calmed down. She stopped trembling and opened her eyes a little, looking at the boy before her.
He had long gray hair and looked sixteen or seventeen. His high gray ponytail draped from the back of his head over his shoulder, and his bangs left his gray eyes visible. His face looked very youthful, but there was something distinctive about his gaze that made him seem dependable.
At that moment, he was looking at the young woman with a faint smile.
"So hungry... and thirsty..." Konno Yoshiko's voice was hoarse.
After a full day of work followed by a day and night of terror, Konno Yoshiko's lips were so dry they were peeling, and her body had no strength left. Even the air passing through her throat when she spoke made it sting.
"Do you have any strength left? Do you need help?" Sakurada Niji moved the desk aside and crouched down to ask Konno Yoshiko.
Konno Yoshiko tried moving, but holding the same position for so long had left every joint aching. Weakened by the lack of food, she couldn't control her body and began toppling to the floor.
Sakurada Niji hurried to catch her, then let her lean against him as he reached out to gently move her joints.
"Feeling any better?" Sakurada Niji asked with concern.
"Th... thank you..." Konno Yoshiko replied with difficulty.
"Sorry... I didn't bring any food or water. Could you wait a little? I'll get you some once I've finished my assignment, okay?" Sakurada Niji told Konno Yoshiko apologetically.
"...No, I want to... go with you." Konno Yoshiko didn't want to stay here alone anymore. Her nerves were stretched to the breaking point, and the fellow human she'd just encountered was her lifeline.
I still haven't figured out this domain's rules, so I can't get her out yet. Leaving her here isn't safe either. Should I take her with me? If a fight breaks out, can I protect her? Sakurada Niji was torn.
"Can you get up?" Sakurada Niji asked Konno Yoshiko.
Konno Yoshiko struggled to try, and finally managed to stand with Sakurada Niji's support.
"Move around a little. If you get tired while we're walking, just tell me, okay?" Sakurada Niji told Konno Yoshiko lightly.
"My name is... Konno... Yoshiko... May I ask... what... yours is?" Konno Yoshiko spoke slowly. Her throat was very uncomfortable now.
"Sakurada Niji. Just call me Niji. It's shorter that way." Sakurada Niji gave Konno Yoshiko a bright smile.
"Thank you... Niji... You can call me... Shiko," Konno Yoshiko replied haltingly.
"Okay, Shiko." Sakurada Niji tilted his head at her, then moved ahead.
"I'm going outside now, since that's my assignment. You can just nod or shake your head, Shiko," Sakurada Niji said, looking at Konno Yoshiko behind him.
"Okay." Konno Yoshiko nodded.
"Shiko, was anyone else here besides you?" Sakurada Niji asked.
Konno Yoshiko nodded, then shook her head.
"There were, but they left on their own?" Sakurada Niji surmised that this domain's cursed spirit didn't actively hurt the people who entered. Instead, it slowly trapped them to death, absorbing their final despair bit by bit until they died inside the domain.
Konno Yoshiko nodded.
"Did they go this way or that way?" Sakurada Niji pointed in both directions.
Shiko walked toward the direction she'd come from on the train, and Sakurada Niji followed.
"This way?" Sakurada Niji confirmed.
Konno Yoshiko nodded.
"Then let's get going." Sakurada Niji looked at the sky, where dawn was about to break, and spoke to Konno Yoshiko.
Konno Yoshiko hesitated, but ultimately nodded.
The two then followed the route the couple had taken.
I'll use the simplest method: count my steps and find where the loop starts.
After they had walked for an unknown length of time, Konno Yoshiko began running out of strength behind Sakurada Niji.
She tugged at Sakurada Niji's shirt, signaling that she couldn't walk any farther.
2,318 steps. We've gone a long way, but I still haven't come across the marks I left earlier.
"Can I carry you on my back?"
Sakurada Niji turned around and asked Konno Yoshiko.
Konno Yoshiko hesitated for a moment, then slowly nodded.
Sakurada Niji turned around and crouched down, taking Konno Yoshiko onto his back before setting off again.
A little while later, the sky gradually began to pale.
4,000 steps... I can't keep going like this... I've left a mark every hundred meters along the way, but I still haven't come across any of them...
Sakurada Niji looked back. Konno Yoshiko had fallen asleep on his back. Suddenly, he noticed the station behind them.
After all this walking, why is that station still so close?
Sakurada Niji patted Konno Yoshiko on his back, and she slowly woke up.
"What is it... Niji...?" Konno Yoshiko asked.
"Shiko, how long were you on the train before you reached that station?" Sakurada Niji realized that the station might be the key.
"About... six hours or more...?" Konno Yoshiko thought for a while before answering.
"Let's go back," Sakurada Niji told Konno Yoshiko.
Konno Yoshiko froze for a moment, then nodded.
A little while later, daylight had arrived.
514 steps. We're here.
On the way back, Sakurada Niji encountered many of the marks he'd left earlier. Some of them were even joined together.
He guessed that within this space, the distance stretched when they walked forward at night, and when they walked backward during the day.
The correct way to measure it might be to walk backward at night and forward during the day. Only then could he find where the space connected normally.
"All right, I've figured it out. Shiko, let's keep going." Sakurada Niji was brimming with confidence.
Konno Yoshiko nodded. She hadn't eaten or drunk anything for two whole days now.
Sakurada Niji marked the station as his reference point, then began running forward.
If I'm right, I should find other trapped people besides Shiko up ahead.
500 steps.
Sakurada Niji saw two unconscious people sprawled on the ground.
"They're... those two... But they clearly... went the other way..." Konno Yoshiko said weakly.
"Okay, I understand. Wait here for a bit. I need to test a few things as fast as I can." Sakurada Niji lowered Konno Yoshiko from his back beside the couple, then began running faster.
He left a mark every hundred meters, and soon encountered the three of them again.
About 1,000 meters. But the route back keeps stretching during the day, so I haven't established its length yet. According to Shiko, though, the train ran for over six hours before reaching the "station," while the route forward returns to its normal length during the day.
Now I just need to keep running in one direction during the day. Sakurada Niji began running at full speed.
Just as Sakurada Niji ran past Shiko for the third time, the space began to collapse.
The false daylight vanished, returning them to the correct time: night in the real world.
It worked! That wasn't so hard. Just a stitched-together space with a time component. As far as Sakurada Niji was concerned, it hadn't taken much effort. Anyone with hands could do it.
Now I need to find Shiko and the others. They should be nearby.
Right, cursed energy sensing. Sakurada Niji activated his cursed energy sensing and began searching for sources of cursed energy around him.
Then he discovered two enormous masses of cursed energy beside three faint traces.