Do You Remember? (11)

Two hours later, after passing once again through the escape tunnel Kagami had made, the group returned to the Noah facility. Fortunately, they encountered no other races along the way. They did run into monsters, but Rex and Takako wiped them all out, and the group made it back without being too badly worn out.

“Ow... I’m fine from here, Takako-san. I’ve recovered enough to walk a little.”

“Your legs are shaking like crazy, though.”

At the tent where Kagami had been hiding, beside the outer wall of Noah’s underground facility and far from the central complex, stood the mirror that served as an escape route to the outside. Tina, whom Takako had carried all the way there, finally put her feet on the ground. Seeing Tina’s legs tremble like a newborn lamb’s, Parna sighed and lent Tina a shoulder.

“That’s pathetic, Tina Tina. You think you can face all the hardships that are bound to keep coming with legs like that? This battle isn’t going to be that easy, you know?”

“Kagami-san’s legs are shaking too, though!”

The ‘Auto Revive’ Skill was gradually restoring Kagami’s wounds and stamina, but the backlash from the ‘Limit Release’ Skill, which unlocked 70 percent of Kagami’s full power, was even stronger. Like Tina, Kagami had been supported by Menou all the way back, and the moment Kagami stepped away from Menou, Kagami’s legs began shaking just as badly.

Alice couldn’t help but chuckle at how much Kagami was trembling, and lightly poked Kagami’s leg. “I’m sorry I got carried away,” Kagami said, bowing their head—apparently, even a light touch was painful enough to make Kagami change their tune.

“Dad... funny.”

“No, seriously, stop. That really isn’t funny. Can you hear me? Can you hear me, Pitta-chan? You can’t poke me there, okay? You understand, right? You understand... please understand!”...