The Pallum girl abruptly came to her senses.
She looked up at Tsukuyo Inaba.
Then she looked at the group of girls dressed in all sorts of strange uniforms, weapons in hand, who clearly weren't to be trifled with.
A deep fear welled up in her heart.
Who... were these people?!
Why were they so strong?!
And...
They looked so unfamiliar!
If they discovered that she'd actually been trying to lure the monsters over and make them die in her place...
Would they hound her for payment for saving her life...?
"Th-thank you, ma'am!"
At that thought, the Pallum girl's voice trembled.
She scrambled up from the ground on her hands and feet.
She paid no heed to the pain in her ankle.
In a fluster, she grabbed the few things scattered on the ground and haphazardly stuffed them into that tattered backpack.
"B-but I don't... don't have any money to repay you!"
"Anyway, thank you!"
"G-goodbye!"
Then, after blurting out that string of incoherent words,
the Pallum girl clutched her backpack straps and, ignoring the searing pain in her ankle, dragged that enormous pack as she limped into the dim tunnel leading to the upper floors.
In the blink of an eye, she vanished into the shadows around the corner.
Back where they'd been standing.
Tsukuyo Inaba stood frozen.
Her red-and-white furisode sleeves still hung in midair, looking rather forlorn.
She'd already prepared what she wanted to say: asking whether that backpack was heavy, whether the girl needed help, or reminding her that she had an injured foot and ought to treat it.
But in the end,
she hadn't even been given a chance to get a word in.
The girl had run off.
"Wait..."
Onigawara Rin also stared at the scene in bewilderment.
Somewhat at a loss,