Only I know that this world will end – 073 | Sousaku – 創作

A changed city

After parting with Karube, Akira left the hospital accompanied by Nao.
Karube nodded without saying a word when Akira told him he was leaving, and muttered only one phrase: "Take care".
What was surprising was Karube's reaction when he told him that Nao would also go with him.
Akira was strangely struck by the way Karube's eyes widened in surprise, and he asked if Nao needed to follow along.

Akira and company walked quietly through the darkness of the night, wandering the monster-filled world in search of Man-eating Plants, as originally planned.
While doing so, Akira opened his mouth to Nao.

"Karube probably wanted you to stay behind as well, Nao-san."
"I guess. And considering the forces that are left, it's going to be pretty difficult with me gone."
"No, not that."
"No? "

Nao said in wonder.
Staring at her face, Akira let out a small sigh.

(……Probably, although I'm pretty sure, he was interested in her.)

Perhaps one could call it the suspension bridge effect.
Akira thought that Karube must have felt that way about Nao, because this was a world where monsters appeared and one never knew when one might die.

(Well, she doesn't seem to have noticed at all. I guess she's always been insensitive to these kinds of topics.)

He thought about that as he let out a single sigh.
He then turned his attention to the object nestled against Nao's thighs and asked her a question.

"I've been wondering about that for some time. Was 'that' really necessary to activate magic? I know that due to your personality, Nao-san, you certainly wouldn't wave a wand to activate the magic, but as long as you can determine the direction to activate the magic, anything is acceptable, right? Why did you have to go to the trouble of using a real gun? "
"……Nope. Frankly, I don't need this to trigger the magic."

Nao said so clearly in response to Akira's words.

"Then why did you decide to use it? "
"Is it easier to say, 'For self-defense'? I mean, the monsters appeared, the world panicked, and law and order is as good as gone, right? The concept of levels is being introduced, and I think there will be some people who will try to do some nefarious things in the future. ……In case you're not aware, I'm a woman, too. When they attack you, hold this up to them and they'll freak out a little bit, won't they? So I was hoping that would create an opening."

Akira nodded his head in understanding.
Certainly, anyone would be scared if a gun was pointed at them.
As Nao said, it is difficult to believe that the law and order that has been maintained up to now will be maintained in this world where monsters have appeared. There will be those who will kill for supplies, and there will be those who are willing to attack others to satisfy their own greed.

"So that's why Karube-san gave it to you? "
"Well, it wasn't so much that he gave it to me, but rather that he reluctantly allowed me to have a real gun with no bullets. Karube-san refused at first, and he kept refusing, but in the end he gave up, saying he'd give it up if it would help me cast a spell."

After saying this, Nao stopped speaking and gently stroked the item hanging from the holster.

"As for me, I've always wanted a gun to protect myself after the world went through this. At first, I thought that a model gun would be a good idea…… Well, as I suspected, I couldn't get it. It was then that I spotted it――――"
"The real gun, huh?"

Akira let out a sigh of dismay.
Nao nodded with a serious face at Akira's words and continued to speak further.

"Yeah. The goal was to create an opening when I was attacked, so I didn't care if it had bullets or not. Guns don't work against monsters anyway. I got the elementary magic because I thought if I said I needed a tool to activate it, I'd be able to get a gun…… Frankly, it went well."

When Nao said this, she grinned like a child whose prank had succeeded.

Walking through the darkness while having such a conversation, Akira and Nao arrived at the center of the city.
The city that they had not set foot in for the first time in three days had undergone a great deal of change.
The power lines that had spanned the city like a spider's web were now hanging black threads from broken poles that laid on the asphalt pavement, and the alleys in the city were caved in places, probably due to the rampages of monsters here and there during the past three days, making it very difficult to walk around.

"These broken poles and ground are usually the remains of a monster called Boar that had gone berserk."

Said Nao as she made her way through the city, looking like she was accustomed to the walk.

"Monsters showed up, and it was terrible. ……Look, there. Can you see it? In that supermarket, on the evening of the first day, there was a brawl for food among the survivors, and everything inside was taken away. The convenience store there was occupied by college students on the first night. ……I don't think they are there anymore."

The stores were ransacked of everything inside and everything that could be used was taken away.
Abandoned cars on the street that had lost their owners were turned into beds for goblins, and Gray Wolves and Black Wolves were often seen sitting in small parks in residential areas, looking like they belonged there.
Sometimes there were buildings with large holes in the ground floor, as if a large car had crashed into them, in such places, Boars with their children were often seen resting in a leisurely manner, perhaps as if they were using the building as a den.

In just three days, the city of people had been completely transformed into a city of monsters.

"No matter how many of these guys you take down, there's no end to them. It's as if every number we defeat is reappearing in this world."

With that, Nao pointed her muzzle at the goblin that had jumped out of the alley and activated her Shock Arrow.
The arrow that pierced the goblin's right shoulder instantly ricocheted and blew off the goblin's right arm.

"I certainly didn't have any trouble finding a leveling opponent during those repetitions, either." In any case, the numbers never seemed to decrease. On the contrary, they kept popping up in greater numbers as time went on."

As he said this, Akira fired a kick at the goblin, whose right arm had been blown off by Nao's magic, and reaped its life in a single swoop.

"As expected, you're quite familiar with this."

Nao, who was watching him, said.

"Well, I've dealt with hundreds of these monsters."

Akira shrugged his shoulders as he said this.

"So you say, Nao-san, but you are also used to killing monsters, aren't you? You were shooting a lot of magic at the Black Wolves."
"You know how many days it's been since a monster appeared in this world? Sure, the first time I killed a monster, my hands shook for a while after the battle was over and I couldn't sleep at night, but as you can imagine, I'm used to it now."
"……It's too late to ask this now, but. Now that you have experienced "death" and returning from death, aren't you afraid of monsters? "
"……I'm scared. But."

Nao muttered and pointed the muzzle of the gun to the front.

"We are the weak in this world. If we are not determined to live, we will die in a heartbeat. Now that I understood that anew, I didn't have time to be afraid."

Saying this, Nao activated Shock Arrow.
The impact struck a goblin that was a few meters away, knocking it unconscious.
Nao pointed her muzzle again at the goblin, which fell to the ground, and then activated her magic to finish it off.