A Night of Paranoia (6)

“Kagami-dono... Why do you look so pale? Has something happened?”

“Ah, well, yadda yadda...”

“Calm down and explain properly, Master. Only manga characters can get away with saying ‘yada yada.’”

After that, Menou and Rex decided it would be awkward to hear the explanation while naked, so they left the bath, got dressed in the changing room, and headed outside with Kagami. Kagami then told them that the secret passage leading outside—the same one they had used to return here—had been destroyed and blocked by someone.

Menou and Rex immediately grasped what this meant and how serious a problem it was. Their expressions darkened. “This is no time to be lounging in a bath.”

“So the enemy already knows everything we’re doing... This is bad. We could be ambushed at any moment. But... this makes it all the more likely that this is the enemy’s base, the one that was dealing in small-scale Messiahs.”

“Master, it’s impressive that you realized what was happening and came to join us so quickly. We’re most vulnerable to an ambush when we’re isolated.”

“But this is the enemy’s base. They might attack even if we aren’t isolated, once our forces are split up... I hope the women are all right.”

Menou looked anxiously toward the entrance to the women’s side, right beside them, worried about Alice’s safety. Rex and Kagami seemed just as concerned, watching the entrance with restless expressions.

Oboromaru hopped down from Kagami’s head and watched them from nearby. “If things weren’t so dire, this would be quite a dangerous sight...” they muttered, sweating from a different kind of concern...