Seeing such a terrifying scene, the girls all cast wary glances.
"!"
"Is she a demon?"
"How scary..."
"Natsuyu, stay away from her!"
This scene exceeded their common sense, and their danger assessment of Tokisaki Kurumi instantly maxed out!
If Tokisaki Kurumi could suck a small bird into a mummified corpse from a distance, could she do the same to them?
She was too dangerous!
Tokisaki Kurumi smiled brightly, looking down at the wary girls. She giggled, her expression satiated as she licked her lips.
"Thank you for the hospitality, my reserve food supplies."
Natsuyu asked, "How do you feel? How much strength have you recovered?"
"Ara?"
Tokisaki Kurumi opened her wine-red eyes wide, showing a look of surprise. "Natsuyu-kun, aren't you afraid of being eaten by me?"
"I'm not afraid."
Tokisaki Kurumi took a few extra looks at Natsuyu and gave a soft, weak smile. "A girl's secrets are only told to her closest companions, Natsuyu-kun."
Natsuyu stopped questioning and nodded. "Then I'll leave things to you tonight."
"I will fulfill our promise. Wake me up when night falls."
After Tokisaki Kurumi finished speaking, she gave Natsuyu one last curved-eye smile and lowered her head into a deep sleep.
Tonight's problem was solved!
After promising to protect Natsuyu and the others tonight, Tokisaki Kurumi fell asleep.
"Whew~"
Natsuyu heard the soft sighs of relief from the girls behind him and turned back into the midst of the group.
"Natsuyu, she really is dangerous," Sakuraba Ema said in a low voice.
Kushida Kikyo nodded with a frightened expression, grabbing Natsuyu's hem and lowering her voice. "Let's stay away from her."
Natsuyu wasn't a control freak and didn't insist on the girls trusting the unfamiliar Tokisaki Kurumi; in fact, he didn't fully trust this senior figure himself.
After moving away from the Splendid Gate, the group came to a halt.
Natsuyu spoke:
"In the direction Yukino and I explored, we encountered a group of spider monsters. There's clean stream water there, and it's not too far from us. To prevent being ambushed by the spider monsters one day, we should strike first."
Kiana showed an interested expression. "Spider monsters?"
Sakuraba Ema confirmed that the two weren't injured and breathed a sigh of relief. She pretended not to care as she whispered, "By the way, why were Natsuyu and Yukino acting together?"
Could they be... trying to isolate her?
Sakuraba Ema had wanted to ask this for a long time.
Having been isolated in the past, Sakuraba Ema was exceptionally sensitive to the thoughts of Natsuyu and the others.
She had finally made new friends, and everyone was so nice. Sakuraba Ema was very happy and cherished this friendship.
If her newly made friends started to isolate her...
Sakuraba Ema felt a sting in her heart, her eyes turning slightly hollow.
Yukinoshita Yukino had already thought of how to answer. While maintaining an elegant smile, she shot a quiet warning glance at Natsuyu. "We were just heading the same way."
Natsuyu gave Yukinoshita Yukino a quick wink and said to Sakuraba Ema, "I asked Yukinoshita to help collect wood. The direction she explored was the forest, which has more resources."
Seeing the two exchanging glances and appearing to be on good terms, Sakuraba Ema replied with a smile, "I see," though she felt a bit bad inside.
They had all met at the same time.
Why did it feel like she was being left out?
She wanted to be on such good terms with Natsuyu too...
And Yukino as well, she wanted to be friends with her too...
Natsuyu returned to the main topic and explained, "I call those monsters Round-headed Spiders. Their strength isn't great. Later, everyone help me collect some materials. Once I've crafted the equipment, we'll go hunt them together."
"The Spider Silk they drop can be used to make bows and crossbows, so we can stock up. With bows and crossbows, our safety will be greatly enhanced."
"Wiping them out will also remove a potential threat. It prevents someone from being ambushed by a large swarm of Round-headed Spiders while acting alone."
Natsuyu successfully convinced the team once again.
Sakuraba Ema beat Kushida Kikyo to the punch in responding, raising her hand and shouting softly, "I'll help Natsuyu pick up resources!"
Kushida Kikyo was a bit annoyed.
Are you some kind of good girl in class, raising your hand like that?
You've said everything I was going to say!
Damned Ema.
Your scheming is definitely not inferior to mine!
...
The group arrived at the edge of the forest zone.
Hunting the Round-headed Spider swarm would not only grant Experience but also provide the forest zone's abundant basic resources. Occupying it offered many benefits.
The more he thought about it, the more he felt the Round-headed Spider swarm had to be dealt with.
Through his Resource Acquisition ability, Natsuyu chopped trees, dug stones, and picked up Twigs.
The girls helped put the resource materials into the Extra-dimensional Backpack.
Then, the Crafting Table was activated!
Natsuyu began crafting armor but suddenly thought of something and stopped. He looked at the four girls standing in a row in front of him, staring at his work with curious eyes.
"Armor is very heavy, and stone is even heavier."
"Are you willing to let me understand the general state of your bodies? If your physical strength is insufficient, I'll prepare Wooden Armor; it's lighter."
Sakuraba Ema looked at the "big thunder" of Kushida Kikyo on her left, then at Kiana's "big thunder" on her right, and finally looked at Yukinoshita Yukino to find a bit of comfort. Still, she said somewhat dejectedly:
"I have no problem with that."
Kiana leaned her face in close and smirked mischievously. "Natsuyu, do you need our detailed physical stats?"
"Not necessary."
Natsuyu looked at the perfect figures before him and heartlessly pushed away the seemingly disappointed Kiana.
The others had no objections either.
It was just physical data, not three-fold measurements, so there was no harm in telling Natsuyu.
While they were reporting their physical conditions, Natsuyu activated his Appraisal ability.
[Kushida Kikyo: Level 0 (0/10)
Physique: 0.7 (A normal adolescent girl)
Soul: 0.7 (Low mental determination)
Charm: 1.3 (Hostile to All Living Beings)
Ability: Focus Manipulation.]
Her Soul attribute was a bit weak.
Natsuyu thought about it and could understand why.
Kushida Kikyo's psychological state was quite poor. Once her true face was exposed, she would definitely explode. It was normal for her mental determination to be lower.
[Sakuraba Ema: Level 0 (0/10)
Physique: 0.7 (A healthy adolescent girl)
Soul: 0.6 (Very low mental determination)
Charm: 1.3 (Hostile to All Living Beings)
Ability: Life Absorption.]
There's an even bigger expert here!
How could her Soul attribute be even lower?
Natsuyu recalled Sakuraba Ema's situation.
During her middle school years, she hadn't actually been bullied.
The person who had been bullied was her friend, the Great Witch.
The Great Witch eventually hanged herself in front of her, which Sakuraba Ema could not accept. Her memory created self-deception, erasing the Great Witch's existence and making herself the victim of the classmates' bullying to lessen her guilt.
If Sakuraba Ema were made to remember this, she would immediately turn dark.
In the first playthrough of the game, it was Sakuraba Ema who killed all humans infected with the Witch Factor, successfully destroying the world.
This one was truly a heavyweight.
[Kiana Kaslana (?): Level 0 (0/10)
Physique: 4.5 (Super Valkyrie!)
Soul: 0.7 (Low mental determination)
Charm: 1.3 (Hostile to All Living Beings)
Ability: Honkai Energy, Herrscherization (Locked), Stigmata (Locked).]