Only I know that this world will end – 106 | Sousaku – 創作

Hanayagi Ayaka

Hanayagi Ayaka woke up in a bad mood.
Maybe she's never been a good sleeper. Perhaps she didn't like being woken up from a good night's sleep.
While the reason for this was ultimately unclear, she didn't hide her bad mood when she woke up, and after taking a stick of candy from the pocket of her mountain parka and putting it in her mouth, she listened to Arthur's story with a sullen expression.

"……That's how it is. They have agreed to cooperate."

Arthur explained the situation to Ayaka, who had just woken up, in simple terms.
Ayaka let out a small click of her tongue at Arthur's words and then turned her glowering gaze towards him from behind the hood covering her face.

"……I can't believe it."

Ayaka said this as soon as she opened her mouth.
Hearing this, Arthur laughed and opened his mouth to continue.

"Hahahahaha! I know, I understand how you feel!! That's what I thought when I saw their battle with my own eyes!!”
"That's not what I meant. Because you're saying it, I'm saying that I don't believe that story itself."
"Huh!? That's why you don't believe it!?”

Arthur raised his voice at Ayaka's words.

"Of course. You always exaggerate your stories. You like exaggeratedly talking about trivial things, don't you?”
"Ahahahahahaha!! You are right and I won't deny that!!”
"Shut up. I wasn't praising you. Also, you have a loud voice. Shut up. And you smell like an old man."
"That's not relevant now, is it!?”

Ayaka clicked her tongue again at Arthur, who was overreacting, and then turned her attention to Akira's party.

"……So? Are these two such people? Did you really defeat that werewolf?”
"Umu. It's not a lie. I was there, watching it all with my own eyes. There was also a screen that showed the inversion rate had decreased, indicating that the extermination had taken place, so there is no doubt about it. ……By the way, I think that screen appeared on your side too, right?”
"……I was asleep, so I don't know."

Ayaka said in a whisper.
Apparently, she falls into a deep sleep during each sleep period.
As Arthur heard the words, he smiled and said to Ayaka.

"Hmm, that's not good. That's not good!! Sleep is important, but you should be a little more tense. No matter how safe it is here compared to the outside, monsters can still attack at any time. They wouldn't think about our convenience, would they? This old man doesn't approve of you falling asleep so much that you can't hear the sounds around you!!”
"…………shut up."

Ayaka clicked her tongue at Arthur's words.
Then, after making a small gesture as if to think about something, Ayaka muttered 『progress』 and stared into space.

"……The date has changed, but the inversion rate is still 2%. Is it true that you defeated a werewolf……? Arthur, what are these two people's levels? You've already seen them, right?”
"Ichijou-kun is Level 13. Nanase-kun is level 40, right?"

With a small smile on his lips, Arthur said.

"Which one is Nanase?”
"It's the young lady."

Ayaka looked at Nao when she said that.

"Hmmmph……"

An impolite gaze was directed at Nao as if to assess her value.
Nao stepped back slightly, as if she was a little intimidated by Ayaka's gaze, but quickly pulled herself together and opened her mouth.

"W-What is it?”
"Nothing in particular? ……I just thought it didn't look like the old woman had defeated the werewolf."
"Old wo――!?”

Ayaka's words made Nao let out a cry and open her eyes wide.
Ayaka continued to speak to Nao.

"She looks plain and seems weak. She's the kind of “serious girl” who looks like she's trying too hard. Arthur, are you sure this old woman defeated the werewolf?”
"H-hey? Isn't that a little rude for a first meeting? I'm only twenty-seven, so I'm not old enough to be called an old woman, am I?”

Perhaps she was offended by being called an old woman. Nao said this with a smile and in a polite tone.
Ayaka snorted at the words and opened her mouth.

"Twenty-seven? As I thought, she's just an old woman."
"――――――――"

Nao's face froze. Upon closer inspection, you could see that her mouth was twitching.
Nao exhaled slowly, as if to suppress her anger, and then gulped down the whiskey glass in her hand in one go. After that, she smiled at Arthur and stood up.

"Thank you for the whisky. Well then, we're off. ……Let's go, Ichijou."
"Whoaaaa!! Wait, please wait!! Please don't go!!”

Arthur panicked and shouted as he grabbed Nao's clothes, who had already started to walk away. Olivia had also come around to block Nao's path without her noticing, and she was standing there with her hands outstretched, looking panicked.

"What? Is there anything else?”

Nao shook Arthur's hand off and gave him a piercing stare.

"I'm sorry! She didn't mean any harm!! I apologize for that bad language, I'm really sorry!! She's just at that difficult age. You've probably been there yourself, right? Don't take what the kids say seriously!!”
"Hey, old man. Don't act like you're my parent. Also, who's a kid? I was only voicing my thoughts. A woman in her 30s is already an old woman."
"Hey, stop it!! You just keep quiet!!”

With a look that almost seemed like he was going to cry, Arthur exclaimed.

"Ichijou-kun too! Stop Nanase-kun! Don't just stand there and watch!!”

Arthur turned to Akira for help.
Akira let out a long sigh and turned to Nao.

"Nao-san. Let's calm down for a moment. If you're an old lady, Nao-san, then I'm an old man too."
"Ahh…… umu. That's not how you do a follow-up."

Arthur muttered in response to Akira's words.
Then, when he put his head in his hands in a deliberately dramatic way, Arthur turned his gaze to Olivia, as if asking for help.

"Oh, what should I do? Olivia…… Looks like I'm the only normal person here."
"No way." "There's no way." "That's impossible."

Coincidentally, all three of their words overlapped in response to Arthur's words.
At those words, Arthur's expression became a little downcast, as he looked over at Akira's group.

"……You guys are actually already good friends, aren't you……? Isn't that right?”

Akira's group did not respond to the words that were being whispered.