Chapter 358: The Thief

I gulped down the European-style cheese curry soup, savoring the smooth spiciness lingering on my tongue, while slowly chewing on the chocolate bar that was gradually losing its taste.

Though I still feel unsatisfied, I sense my "magic power" is slowly recovering.

I handed the bottled water I'd prepared from the purest water source to Dogbite-kun,

"In case of emergencies..."

"Eh?"

"This water helps restore magical energy."

"But... are you sure it's okay to give this to me?"

"Please, go ahead."

For now, I have more magical energy than he does.

I'd be in trouble if he died here.

Still, the way he's hesitating doesn't seem to be out of politeness or hesitation.

"Hey, the water you gave me... it feels kind of... risqué."

Is this kid some middle schooler just awakening to his sexuality or something?

"Anyway... let's get back to what we were talking about."

"Ah... yes..."

"The person named Alice who triggered the 'End'... that's..."

"Absolutely certain. There's information accessible only to the 'Hero' and the 'Demon King'."

"Accessible...?"

"There's a skill called 'Playing Tutorial,' which allows us to obtain more information than other 'players' can."

"Huh... interesting..."

That's how we got information about Alice.

"Why would she do something like that?"

"That's unclear. I only spoke with Alice once, and even then, just for a brief moment."

"What was the conversation about?"

"I'm sorry, but that's confidential."

...Hmm.

"Then, you have no idea what Alice looks like at all?"

"Yes. However, any 'player' should surely be aware of Alice's existence."

"How?"

"Her voice."

Her voice...?

"The voice we hear when we level up. Alice is the one who speaks that voice."

Hmm.

So you're saying the voice actor behind the voice in our heads is Alice? That makes perfect sense.

"Um, where exactly can I meet this Alice person?"

"I don't think you should be thinking about meeting her at all. She's like the Demon King—better not get involved with her."

"But isn't Alice the one who created this situation—the 'End of the World'?"

"Yes."

"Then shouldn't we just kick her around until she gives in?"

At my words, Inu Kōくん stared at me in shock,

"That might be true... but..."

He seemed to try scratching his nose, then idly started fiddling with his helmet.

"...It's too late to fight her now, I mean..."

"She has the power to do all this. Surely, she must also have a way to undo it all?"

For example, rewinding time so that none of this ever happened.

It's an absurd idea, but with magic that allows anything, nothing seems impossible.

"Maybe so, but... she probably won't listen. She's not exactly sane."

Can someone so unstable really possess such powerful abilities?

The image that comes to mind is—Grandpa Goku, suffering from dementia, tormented by hallucinations, spewing delusions through telepathy to everyone on Earth, while firing off kamehameha waves haphazardly.

And perhaps that truly captures the essence of what's currently happening in this world.

A slight shiver.

"Then... well, in any case, let's be careful around 'Alice.'"

"Yeah. Best not to provoke her."

"Then what?"

"Huh?"

"Be careful around the 'witch,' you said. Is that all your 'useful information' amounts to?"

"Yeah... no, well. Maybe it's lacking something?"

"Yeah."

Today, you can casually run into shady, mysterious figures just by walking down the street.

"Actually, that was some pretty valuable intel."

"Really?"

"Yeah. — Right now, she doesn't seem to be contacting anyone much."

So, she's basically a rare character.

"Still, if you're someone like a 'nameless' player with decent skill, she might come looking for you."

"...Understood. I'll keep that in mind."

At that moment, we noticed the massive "Zombie" from before drawing ever closer.

"One more thing—may I ask something?"

"...It depends on the content."

"Shutai Kouon—where are you now?"

He froze completely, like a robot, for a long moment.

Eventually,

"...Why do you ask such a thing?"

I had a slight bad feeling, so I preemptively made an excuse.

"We've met before—back then, we couldn't properly talk things through, so we just parted ways."

"That... yes, I heard."

"At that time, one of my companions attacked Kotonoha."

"...Why would something like that happen?"

"That's—"

I hesitated for a moment, caught off guard.

I couldn't help but wonder—just how much did he, really, know about... the Immortal?

The lives of the "Hero" and the "Demon King" are intertwined.

It's impossible to kill just one of them.

If you must kill, then both—there's no other way.

If saving the world requires sacrificing one's own life, then what kind of person could truly accept that?

As I hesitated, unsure how to proceed,—that was when it happened.

"Wait...?...What's wrong?...No, wait a minute!"

Those words.

When I raised my eyebrows in surprise,

"Even now, it's still——hey, 光音...!?!"

With those words, Dog Bite's entire body was enveloped in particles of light, and then—zoom—shot forward as a single beam of light straight toward the "Portal to Another World."

I could only gape in shock at the sudden, unexpected turn of events.

"Eh... what's this... what is this...?"

One thing was clear: I'd completely let him slip away.

Also, the fact that magical water was stolen from me.

Even I, as much as I am, was taken aback by the sudden turn of events.

No way, no way at all—

There was nothing left to do but sigh.