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[Hiiro]

Hiiro realised that his current situation was really bad. He had none of his life-saving MP potions on hand.

He had used quite a bit of MP in the battle against Winka and was anxious that his MP was depleting. He could write『Hole穴』on the wall and get out the same way he came in.

Since there was no one to hinder him, he could write it directly onto the wall and his MP consumption would be kept to a minimum.

He was, however, concerned about Arnold and co since B Building was destroyed by the earlier explosion.

It was fine to check on them once he got out but if he assumed that Arnold and co were still inside the Building and could help him, then he would have to use magic again to get to them.

In this situation where his MP was low, it seemed like a somewhat problematic approach.

(Then should I go after Old Man and the others first? The Old Man or the Chibi might have some MP potions.)

Although it was Hiiro’s wishful thinking, it was more efficient for him to find them now rather than to try and do everything alone.

He felt sorry for Arnold and co but if it got dangerous then he would use his magic and escape alone.

Hiiro thought and his next course of action was decided. First he would head to B Building. There was debris blocking the building so he had to get rid of that somehow.

He might be able to find a gap and pass through it but searching for it would take time and if another explosion happened while he was searching then he would be helpless.

Then an idea hit Hiiro and he looked up at the sky.

“Alright, it looks like I can escape from up there.”

The ceiling wreckage was above him but he could see the sky. Hiiro concentrated magic power onto his fingertip.

『Flight飛』

He activated it while feeling dubious at the results. Then his body floated.

“Ooh ~!”

He had never tried this character before but he was able to fly through the sky, as expected of the unique cheat 《Word Magic》.

Hiiro flew up into the sky.

He wasn’t flying very fast. The fastest he could fly, even though he had put all his power into it, was as fast as a jog. No matter how omnipotent his magic was, a consumption of 30 MP could only get him so far.

Since he was stingy about his MP consumption he had written the character on his hand. If he had written the character in the air and activated it, it might have been possible for him to fly a little faster.

Right now flying in the sky was enough. The results would likely disappear in a minute so he had to hurry up. He headed towards the entrance of B Building.

Hiiro flew a little higher and confirmed his surrounding, he saw something astonishing. It was still far away but there were several carriages headed towards the facility.

He remembered the white robe that the person holding the reins, was wearing.

(Whoa! That’s probably the liaison people they mentioned a while ago…)

Hiiro remembered what Nagnala had said. If so then it was as Hiiro had thought, it was dangerous for him to go out alone.

(… Anyway I need to join up with Old Man and the others as soon as possible.)

Hiiro slowly landed at the entrance of B Building, he saw a crater that wasn’t there before and tilted his head.

(Now that I think about it, there was an awful sound a while ago. Did the Old Man do this?)

He didn’t receive an answer and concluded to himself that it didn’t matter. He entered B Building.

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[Hiiro]

When Hiiro entered B Building, Arnold and co were looking for an antidote for Winger’s child. If there was a researcher around then they could have threatened him to get the location of the antidote but there was no researcher in sight and their expectations went down the drain.

“Dammit! I don’t know what’s what!”

They had found the room. There were various medicine-like items on the shelves but Arnold and co didn’t have any medicine knowledge.

Winka and Winger’s child weren’t feeling well so they were sitting on the chair and Arnold and Muir were searching for the medicine.

“… Whine…”

They felt that Winger’s child’s life was fading away very fast.

“What should we do, Uncle?”

“Even if you ask me…”

The door opened with a click. Arnold and co put up their guard and it was ———

“I thought I heard voices but why are you still here?”

It was Hiiro with a big wrapping cloth on his back.

 

“Hi-Hiiro, why do you look like that?”

It wasn’t just Arnold, Muir was also surprised because Hiiro looked like he was going to flee into the night.

“Why? Because there are books in there of course.”

“Books? You…”

“I wanted to take all of them with me but there wasn’t enough time. I only took the ones that looked interesting.”

Arnold and co knew what Hiiro was like but they didn’t think he would falter in this situation and sighed.

“So? What are you guys doing, Old Man?”

“You can tell can’t you? We’re looking for medicine!”

“Medicine?”

Hiiro grasped the situation when he saw Winger’s child completely exhausted on the chair.

“I see. But if you search for it here…”

Hiiro also looked around at items on the shelves and knew that there was no way he could find it since he didn’t have any medical knowledge.

“Ah, that’s right, Hiiro. You can do something about it with your magic right?”

“…”

“You know, if you say something like I have no obligation to, in this kind of situation I’ll beat you up.”

“… That’s right. There’s nothing I can’t do.”

“Alright, then hurry up!”

“Do you have MP potions?”

“What?”

Arnold’s eyes widened at Hiiro’s unexpected question.

“I’m asking you if you have any MP potions.”

“Yo-you know Hiiro-san, I am sure we gave all the MP potions that we brought to Hiiro-san, did we not…?”

Hiiro remembered what he had forgotten when he heard those words, “Ah!”

That reminded him, the last time when they stopped at the shop, they talked about Hiiro holding the MP potions because Arnold and Muir didn’t need them.

“H-hey don’t tell me… Can I ask you something, Hiiro?”

“… What is it?”

“Don’t tell me that you used all the potions we had and now you don’t have any left, right? And don’t tell me that you want to use your magic but you’re low on MP, alright?”

Arnold asked two questions in a row. Hiiro admired him for being a little sharp.

“Ooh, you have good intuition, Old Man.”

“Seriously?!”

“Well to be more exact, the bag containing the potions dropped somewhere.”

“That’s worse, Idiot!”

Arnold held his head.

“Hi-Hiiro-san, then you cannot use magic?”

“No, I can use it about two more times. But it’s over when we go outside and we’re surrounded by enemies.”

Muir was flabbergasted at Hiiro who had calmly said something dangerous. Arnold responded to the word enemy.

“En-enemy? What’re you on about?”

Hiiro talked about what he saw when he was flying. Arnold and Muir both paled.

“… Are you seriously, Hiiro?”

“Yeah, that’s why I won’t recklessly use my magic.”

He could rest here until his MP recovered but he didn’t know when the ceiling would collapse. They had to get out of here as soon as possible.

“It’s like Hiiro said, it’d be seriously bad if we encounter those guys outside… But…”

Arnold looked at Winger’s child who had difficulty breathing.

“Hey Hiiro. Please heal this guy.”

“… You understand the meaning of your words, right?”

“Yeah.”

If Hiiro used his magic here then he could only use his magic once more. Arnold understood that the tactics they could use were getting smaller and smaller and yet he still asked.

The two continued to stare at each other for a while and then Hiiro sighed and gazed at Winger’s child.

He had difficulty breathing. If they left him for a few more minutes then he would probably get colder and colder.

He was moved when he first met Winger and healed her wound and his heart prickled thinking about how Winger’s child would die here.

“Well, I also don’t intend to look at that Wolf’s child die before my eyes. But I can only use my magic once more after this.”

“I got it. If we left him like this he’ll die.”

Hiiro wouldn’t feel good if he saw Winger’s child die right in front of his eyes. Besides he got his hands on the books he wanted so he was in a good mood and thought that it would be okay to heal it.

Hiiro approached Winger’s child.

(He’s poisoned, right? What character should I use…?)

Hiiro put his hand to his chin as he pondered, then he said “Alright!”

『Purify浄』

Hiiro wrote the character onto Winger’s child’s body and imagined that the poison invading his body was being purified.

Then a bluish-white light emitted from the character and wrapped around Winger’s child.

“Oh!”

Arnold unconsciously said. Muir also looked happy and tears were dripping from her eyes.

Winger’s child whose eyes were closed due to the pain, was now quietly opening them.

Hiiro met Winger’s child’s eyes.

“Woof.”

It was as if it was saying thank you to Hiiro.

“Thank… You… Hiiro…”

Hiiro thought Winger’s child had talked and was surprised but the person who had talked was the completely exhausted, Winka.

“You don’t have to thank me. Let’s quickly get out of here.”

When Hiiro said that a large explosion resounded again as if it was timed and a crack ran through the ceiling.

“This is bad! We have to hurry!”

Everyone knew that they didn’t have any more time. Hiiro also tried to move his legs but he was on the verge of collapsing.

“Hiiro?!”

Arnold held onto Winka and shouted when he saw Hiiro’s appearance.

“Are you alright, Hiiro-san?”

Muir was also holding Winger’s child in her arms.

“Puh, Ah, I can only use magic once more so I’m feeling a bit sluggish.”

Hiiro had been constantly using his magic on top of fighting Winka, so he was considerably exhausted.

“Leave the wrapping cloth if it’s hard for you to move ———.”

Arnold left his sentence hanging and Hiiro glared at him. It wasn’t an exaggeration that Hiiro had came here for the books and there was no way that he could escape without them.

“I, I got it. You don’t have glare at me like that. Let’s go.”

Hiiro followed behind Arnold, desperately trying to keep up even though the books on his back felt heavier and heavier. After walking for a while, they saw a door that looked like the exit.

“Alright! We managed to make ———.”

Arnold spoke in a cheerful voice when they found the exit and,

“Uncle, up!”

Muir shrieked nearby and then a horrible crack ran down the ceiling.

“Uoh?!”

Arnold exclaimed in surprised, stopped and jumped back.

“Dammit! Run away! This place is gonna collapse!”

Everyone retracted their steps when they heard Arnold shout but they were stuck.

“If it’s like this then let’s head towards A Building?”

Arnold suggested while running but it was hopeless.

The road leading to A Building was blocked because the ceiling had collapsed. Hiiro knew that there was no way to enter A Building but even if he said it out loud nothing could be done, so he remained silent.

“Hey, hey are you serious…? Are all the exits blocked…?”

Arnold’s feelings were similar to Hiiro’s.

(This is a real pinch. Should I prepare myself and use up all my MP to escape through the wall…?)

But then Hiiro would become a complete burden. They were still in a rough situation and Hiiro was worried about whether he could protect the wrapping cloth in that state.

Hiiro really wanted to protect the books but if they went out right now and encountered the enemy then they would definitely be unable to escape.

Quite a lot of time had already passed so it was highly likely they were surrounded by enemies.

(What should I do…? What should I do…?)

He grinded his teeth while his mind was spinning then he felt his clothes being pulled by something.

“Mhm?”

It was Winger’s child who had been in Muir’s arms. He was scratching Hiiro’s clothes with his small paws.

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