Page 143 (1/2)

"The Brunt of Feelings"

"Aa, geez! Cut it outttt!"

In a sreat labyrinth, Shia’s angry voice resounded followed by a creaking noise

The source of the noise was Hajime’s ari-Juji-Gata technique fro, Shia? His ar with this calm face? Rather, Yue-san, please stop with the provocations!"

"… Nn Hajime wishes for me but has to hold himself back because we’re inside the maze… cute"

"Now’s neither the time nor the place for this!" Shia violently retorted

Of course, her arhtest It was proof of her re to rejoice about

Or so it should have been She was holding Yue in her ar Haji to rejoice about

They were currently taking a short break in a small room close to a junction of the labyrinth

More precisely, the break was intended to let Kouki and the others rest They were in low spirits from the disorder caused by the whispers However, for soreater a chance it becaone past the point of reason ‘You’re flirting far too reat labyrinth, Koraa!’ was probably what Shia thought as she stepped in to hold thereat labyrinth, you know? It’s not like we’re really going to start acting without restraint here, right?"

"… Just noeren’t you about to kiss?"

"That was just Yue replenishing her energy"

Hajime tried to exploit this opportunity and calance at Yue by his side, who had narrowed her eyes while licking her lips, would be enough to make his declaration really suspicious

"But I didn’t see her using her ic to the point she would need to replenish"

Shia replied with an unusually sharp observation and tightened her grip on Hajime’s arm further

"No mercy, huh… "

"Th- That’s because he’s o too far!"

"Shia… Good girl"

Shia blushed slightly as she gave her reasoning Hajime and Yue let out a ‘Ho’ and voiced their admiration Then they corrected their postures

So far, Shia had always followed Hajime and Yue froed by Hajime, it seemed she caround with Yue

She used to watch the two fros she didn’t like fro side by side with them and wouldn’t hesitate to take their hands and pull

"Fumu, indeed, just like a lover"

"Un Indeed"

Tio let out a weak ue Next to her, Kaori forced a bitter sreed There was envy in her eyes

"…"

"Shizu, Shizu? Is so? More i Hajime and the others silently, Suzu raised a voice of concern

Suzu also felt the pain caused by the whispers which was so the heart But she also remembered what it felt like to be truly stabbed and could somehow put up with the pain However, she noticed no one was paying attention to Shizuku who didn’t see so well

Usually, Shizuku would discreetly put aside her own feelings and only worry about others Given her behavior, it was obvious that so was up

However, or rather as expected, as soon as she was called by Suzu, Shizuku put on a delicate s Suzu about her oell-being Suzu’s face certainly did not look very well either, but putting aside Shizuku’s abstract words which didn’t betray her condition, Shizuku should also be feeling exhaustion due to the whispers teasing her heart

With a troubled smile, Suzu could only reply ‘I’m fine’ in order to not worry Shizuku over her and in the process forget taking care of herself

"Oi, Kouki…"

"What is it, Ryuutaro?"

"Ah, no, nothing in particular Let’s just leave this sickening place quickly"

"Yeah"

Then again, Kouki was the person affected thereplies only to a bare minimum when Shizuku, Ryuutaro or Suzu would voice their concern

And then, there was also his look, which was getting increasingly intense and reflecting his negative feelings

His look was directed at Hajime Maybe the person himself wanted to take his eyes off of Hajime, but he was too obvious Soaze to Kaori So it was not difficult to guess what he was being told by the whispers

"Well then, how did it go? Everyone, did you get so her head It had already been one hour since they started to rest Tio had suggested they use spirit ic on everyone to stabilize their minds

"Yup Thanks, Tio I feel that the inside of ot a little lighter…"

After all, the whispers werereht that had piled up inside her That’s why, if the person herself was repeatedly worrying after being reic wouldn’t be any help It was only ic that could refresh one’s spirits te, the faces of Shizuku’s group had considerably regained their colors Therefore, even taking into account the consuic required, it seemed to have been a wise choice

Nevertheless, it seemed there was someone for whom that wasn’t the case

"Ah Thanks, Tio-san I feel htly sht in his voice which betrayed his statement His face seemed shadowed somehow

"Don’t thank et out of this maze Goshujin-saht line, there’s not even one kilo in this place, so we should go without stopping," Hajime said and stood up with his compass in hand

The others followed suit The previous at around had completely vanished Most of it was truly intended to refresh their spirits Definitely, surely,a little heavy It had already been thirty hours since they entered the otten a wink of sleep They had been using ic potions to recover froue caused by the whispers had been accu the , the abstract whispers, using their own voices, were reverberating inside their ears unpleasantly and re after the traps, were clearly nificantly increased the danger

"Shit"

Just now, Kouki, as following behind Hajire, defeated it, and hit the ice ith his fist while swearing

?? It ended up like this again?

?? As I said, it will be stolen

?? If only I had power

And so the whispers continued Kouki’s frustration kept accu

Then, at that ti up at his own i was strange What was being reflected was his own face It’s just that he was looking at hiely, he couldn’t stop staring

"… What the hell?" Kouki muttered unintentionally

Then, he beca and a shiver ran down his spine

His face reflected in the ice wall stood as firm as a rock… expressionless Neither his irritated frown nor the sight of his gritting his teeth out of exasperation, were anywhere to be seen Also, his lips which were supposed to have been …

He stiffened and opened his eyes wide The Kouki reflected before him… suddenly parted his lips

"UwaAAAA!?"

"Ko-Kouki!? What happened!?"

"Are you okay, Kouki!"

Kouki jue voice Shizuku and Ryuutaro became confused and called out to hioing on and stared at Kouki in wonder

Cold sas running down his spine, and his breathing rhythm was thrown out of order by the ed to draw and point his holy sword towards his reflected self in the ice wall His reflection in the ice wall also drew his holy sword and did the sa rhyth he had been feeling up until a few o

"Kouki?"

Shizuku approached him with a worried face and put her hand on his shoulder He did not break his stance and kept breathing roughly He suddenly caain so his hed Even though I didn’t laugh… Just as if it were a different ination?"

Shizuku took a breath after listening to Kouki’s words and turned a serious gaze to Kouki’s reflection in the ice wall, as well as her own

However, Kouki quickly turned his face towards Shizuku He was irritated

"… You won’t believeyou?"

It see her doubts about what he stated Of course, that wasn’t Shizuku’s intention She just wanted confiraze towards the ice wall That’s hen she heard Kouki’s next sentence, she thought ‘What could he be saying?’ as her face became suspicious

This seemed to irritate Kouki even further, and a sarcasuht?"

"Kouki? Really, what are you saying now? Didn’t I tell you I believed you?"

Although Shizuku frowned angrily in response to his sarcasm for a moment, her face immediately became worried the nextshe orried about hi as if she had just been whispered solance at Hajiht after she saw Hajih to make a heavy en of the reflectionson their own… but let’s be careful astheir reflections using his deave the coument between Kouki and Shizuku

The otherthe two When they received Haji

Then, witnessing no such weird pheno froe rooantic gates which had a design a lot like the previously sealed doors they saw Because the gates had no dent where so could be inserted, unlike the previous sealed doors, it see so the co their goal

"Fuu, looks like we finally oal However…"

"Nn… it’s obviously suspicious"

"Right You would norotten tired of the h of relief when he saw the goal and used his demon eye stone and perception abilities to search for the enemy It was trivial that it would be far too easy and uninteresting for there not to be anything taking place in the big roo, Yue and the others started exercising caution

"… As expected, no response Maa, there’s no choice left but to proceed"

As expected, Hajiical response He raised his eyebrows and walked ahead as the vanguard Yue and the others followed behind

Then, by the tih, it happened

"Ah…? The sun?"

Hajime pronounced these words as he looked up towards the source fro down If Yue and the others were to look up as well, they could indeed only call this ‘the sun’

Shining froht it enificantly Given that they were in a enerated could easily cause such a s"

As Hajied hily, Haji quite strange

All the surroundings were glittering The light coh the spray of snow overhead was reflected on the ice crystals in the air This phenomenon had a name: diamond dust

However, colittering was obviously far too intense It felt as though there were countless la in the air Moreover, one part of the ice shard was shining increasingly bright erous about this supposed diathen your defenses!"

To Haji ice shards were like sy He could tell because he used batteries to power his cross bits and send the to the other er that presented itself before them and felt shivers down their spines

It seerouped The moment Yue and Suzu cast ‘Holy Interruption’ there was a flash

"Uh, it’s like a high energy laser weapon"

As Haji in the rooht as heat rays

It seemed the thin, white rays weren’t especially directed at Haji both the ice walls and the ground A ‘Bi--’ sound was heard as the rays struck the ‘Holy Interruption’ cast by Yue and Suzu and slipped through

The rays were apparently fired co andthe trajectory of the rays unpredictable Every second, there were additional scars in the ground and the ice walls It goes without saying that this process scattered even more ice shards into the air It was a vicious circle

To make matters worse, as if it had just been dropped by the false sun, the spray of snow overhead started descending towards Hajime’s party At this rate, it would dramatically reduce their field of vision in a few seconds like in Haltina’s Sea of Trees

"Tsk It’d be a bother to be wrapped up in set ready"