"Do you think I'll believe that?"
Onigawara Rin did not relax at all because of these two's banter.
On the contrary.
After experiencing that kind of public execution where her mask was forcibly removed, her nerves were now like a string tightened to the limit; any slight disturbance could cause an overreaction.
This was not mere sensitivity.
Rather, it was a stress mechanism triggered by a living being's extreme sense of insecurity.
When a person is used to hiding in a shell, once that shell is shattered...
Even a light breeze from the outside world feels no different from a biting cold wind to her senses.
To the point that Onigawara Rin keenly perceived something.
In the air, besides Kikakujuo Mary and Hanazake Warabi with her bear...
There was also a more obscure gaze mixed in, one that made her instinctively feel uncomfortable.
It wasn't a straightforward stare like Kirukiru Amou's.
It felt more like being watched by a cold-blooded animal.
"Since you said you rushed over to provide backup..."
"Then why are you still hiding your head and showing your tail?"
"Also!"
"Come out!"
"Or do I have to invite you out?"
After saying that...
A fierce light flickered in Onigawara Rin's delicate eyes, now deprived of their mask's concealment.
Her sword-finger pointed toward the pile of old gym mats in the corner outside the gymnasium.
As soon as those words were spoken...
Kikakujuo Mary, who had been looking down and patting the dust off her clothes in an attempt to maintain her last bit of elegant image, was stunned for a moment.
"Hey, hey! Onigawara Rin, what kind of madness are you displaying?"
"We aren't some kind of suspicious people!"
"We are fellow maintainers of order at Aichi Symbiosis Academy. We sensed an unidentified intruder entering, so we..."
Thinking Onigawara Rin was talking about her, Kikakujuo Mary's face turned red as she tried to use that set of official rhetoric to cover up the fact that she was actually there to eavesdrop.
After all...
If she, who had always prided herself on being elegant and ladylike, were known to be hiding in a corner eavesdropping like a pervert...
How could she continue to hold her head up in the academy?
That kind of thing...
Once it spread through the academy, it would be social death!
"Exactly, exactly!"
Hanazake Warabi was also rubbing her still-aching ankle while waving the short stick in her hand, quickly chiming in with a show of bravado.
"We weren't eavesdropping or anything!"
"That was tactical lurking! Tactical, do you understand?"
"And..."
"Onigawara Rin, have you been scared stupid? Are you hallucinating?"
"There's absolutely nobody there!"
After all...
The place Onigawara Rin was pointing to only had a pile of old gym mats; there wasn't even a ghost of a person there.
However...
Before Kikakujuo Mary and Hanazake Warabi could conclude that Onigawara Rin was truly seeing enemies in every bush due to overstimulation...
As it turned out...
From right behind that long-accumulated pile of old gym mats, a light, airy voice suddenly drifted out.
That voice didn't contain any panic from being exposed; instead, it carried a sort of playfulness, as if intentionally revealing oneself during a game of hide-and-seek.
"Oh dear."
"Little Sanori has been found."
There wasn't even any intention to hide anymore.
And then...
The figure of a girl with long emerald-green hair slowly stepped out from the shadows of that pile of old gym mats.
She wore a neat uniform, and a harmless smile hung on her face.
That smile was so standard that it made one feel as if the expression were painted onto a mask.
She looked harmless, even a bit dorky and cute.
—Tamaba Satori.
The last of the five swords of the world, and also the most inscrutable one.
If someone didn't know her...
They would likely be deceived by this seemingly harmless appearance at first glance, thinking she was just an innocent girl who had wandered in here by mistake.
However...
Upon seeing Tamaba Satori, the bodies of the several people present all tensed up in unison.
"You..."
"Since when were you there?"
Kikakujuo Mary's eyes widened, and the dictionary in her hand almost fell to the ground.
As a master of Western swordsmanship, she had actually failed to notice anyone in that position!
"I've been here the whole time."
Tamaba Satori scratched her head, the smile on her face still not changing in the slightest.
"From when you were eavesdropping."
"And from when Onigawara Rin-classmate's mask was shattered."
"Even..."
"From when that Kami-sama descended."
"Little Sanori has been here the whole time."
"Little Sanori originally thought she could watch for a bit longer; after all, Rin-classmate's expression just now was truly too interesting~"
As Tamaba Satori spoke, she scratched her head, that signature temperatureless smile hanging on her face.
"But I didn't expect Rin-classmate's senses to have actually become so keen."
"Even though back when you wore the mask, your senses were as dull as a rock."
"It seems Kami-sama was right; the mask really did bind you."
After finishing her sentence...
Tamaba Satori's gaze bypassed everyone and landed directly on Heimdall, who was standing in the very center.
She tilted her head, and the curve of that smile at the corner of her mouth deepened.
"Nice to meet you, Kami-sama."
"I am Sanori, Tamaba Satori."
"The things you said just now were truly interesting."
"So..."
"Is that world really full of various adventures like you said?"
"If it's true..."
"Then Little Sanori wants to go."
"She really wants to go."
"Little Sanori wants to see if she can find something in a world like that that can make her feel a little bit like she's alive."
Tamaba Satori's tone was light and cheerful.
At this point...
the five swords of the world.
Onigawara Rin, Kikakujuo Mary, Hanazake Warabi, Tamaba Satori.
As well as the Empress Kirukiru Amou, who had already defected.
The top combat power of this academy was basically all present.
This scene...
If the ordinary students in the academy were to see it, their jaws would probably drop in shock.
After all...
On normal days, none of these people would yield to the others.
Being able to get them to stand quietly together was simply a miracle.
...
Facing Tamaba Satori's almost pathological statement...
Kikakujuo Mary finally couldn't help herself.
Clutching that thick dictionary, she looked at Heimdall with some unease, then looked at the others around her.
"Hey... are you guys serious?"
"Going to another world or whatever..."
"No matter how you think about it, that kind of thing is very dangerous!"
Kikakujuo Mary's voice was a bit dry.
Although the impulse to become stronger just now had indeed made her head hot for a while...
But...
When that hot blood cooled down and reason reoccupied the high ground...
She still felt a faint sense of unease.
"Yeah."
"If we really go..."
"Then can we still come back?"
Hanazake Warabi asked weakly.
This question...
Undoubtedly hit the weak spot of everyone else except Kirukiru Amou and Tamaba Satori.
Including Onigawara Rin.
After all...
Although she longed to become stronger and longed to break free from the past...
That didn't mean she was willing to completely cut off all ties with this world.
Her life was here.
As well as her past, which, though not beautiful, had always existed.
Asking them to abandon everything and go to a completely unknown world...
That kind of price was too great.
So vast it was daunting.
Regarding this,
Heimdall did not show an expression of disappointment.
On the contrary,
this kind of hesitation was actually normal.
After all,
not everyone was like Kirukiru Amou and Tamaba Satori.
This was the truest portrayal of humanity.
Longing for the unknown scenery of the distance, yearning to escape the stagnation of the status quo.
But when the door leading to a new world truly opens and the cold wind blows in,
the anxiety of being lost on the road ahead, as well as the attachment to their existing stable life, will turn into heavy chains, firmly dragging back the steps humans take.
It's just like those people clamoring to go on a spontaneous trip.
When the moment truly comes to resign, check out, and pack their luggage,
most people will still worry about the future, and finally silently stuff the suitcase back under the bed.
The so-called 'Burning one's bridges',
is, in the end, a trait possessed only by a minority of people.