Bullets are Katja’s limit. Surrounded by an army of wooden soldiers, she tried to deflect a bullet coming her way, and… The result wasn’t great.

  Narumi and I ran as soon as we heard the gun’s bang and peeked around the corner to find her in an unfortunate situation.

  Katja was surrounded, unarmed, and injured. She couldn’t get her sword into position in time, and it flew out of her hands when the bullet hit. It was completely out of reach. The sword flew for a few seconds and hit the ground behind Ayumu’s front line. Nothing she could do at this point. It was her own shortcoming that led to this. The limit she found absolutely unsurpassable.

  But losing her sword wasn’t all. The bullet was diverted enough to miss her vitals, but not enough to miss her completely. It hit her right shoulder. Which she clutched with her other hand. The outfit she wore had the same protective cloth as mine and prevented the worst, but with the shockwave it’d be hard for her to do much with her arm.

  “She’s in trouble… Let’s go, Narumi!” I tried to run off from behind the pillar when a pair of strong arms squeezed my belly. “Guaah!!”

  “You’re gonna charge into all those monsters? Is that really gonna work?”

  “Y- yeah? Why not…?” I fell when she pulled me back, and we sat behind the pillar. When she let go, we both peeked out again. “What else can we do? We need to save Katja, right?”

  At this point, I’m pretty sure I’m stronger than Katja… I’ll kill all those puppets and get her out of there… Although… Katja’s not exactly weak. If Ayumu’s soldiers managed to corner her, things might not go that well… And if she uses her as a hostage…

  “…” Narumi didn’t agree nor disagree. She just stared at me. She wanted to save Katja too, no doubt. But she held back. She was being cautious. Something Katja and I should have considered. Narumi was right…

  Back in the dorm, before we even left, she was the one who said we should wait for Hecate and Carol. If only we listened to her… Katja was eager to leave right away, and I went along with it like a fool… Seriously, if only I had listened to her… I should have stopped Katja. Like Narumi asked me to.

  “Do we have any other choice?” I looked at her. We were too rash. Too reckless. That’s why we’re in this situation. Forced to fight a losing battle… I might need to force Narumi to fight with me, which wouldn’t be good for her, but… “We have to save Katja…”

  “Wait… Just watch…”

  Narumi’s hand remained firmly on my shoulder, and we focused our attention on Katja. The soldiers became a lot less aggressive now that Katja had lost her weapon.

  One of the soldiers dropped his saber and charged forward to grapple her. But he was slow. Katja gritted her teeth, dodged, and grabbed his arms. She pulled and twisted her body, lifting the puppet before slamming it on the ground.

  “What’s wrong? Did you lose the will to fight? You’re not winning against me with that attitude.” Katja faced the army with a confident smile, secretly biting her lip.

  “It’s not that… There’s just a lot I don’t understand.” The soldiers opened a path for Ayumu to get close. She had the upper hand and stepped forward at a mockingly calm pace. “Who are you? You seem used to fighting… What’s the deal?”

  “That’s what I should be asking you!” Katja lowered her stance, and the nearby armed soldiers immediately closed the gaps in their formation, protecting Ayumu. “Aren’t you human?! Why are you able to make monsters like that? And don’t try to trick me with that other world nonsense from before…”

  “It’s not nonsense…” Ayumu rolled her eyes. “I… Well… It’s complicated. But long story short, I went to another world and got the ability you see now. I’m still human.”

  “A human capable of using supernatural powers…?”

  “See, this is what I don’t get. I thought that House you mentioned could be one of those funny, secret organizations, fighting monsters behind the scenes. You would be a secret agent of sorts, but that doesn’t seem to match up. How come you don’t know anything about the other world?”

  It’s a cover-up. It wouldn’t be long until both of them found out. Katja stared at Ayumu dead in the eye, and Narumi was listening intently while grabbing my shoulders.

  “Heh… You’re not completely wrong… It’s just as you imagine… The House is one of those ‘funny’ organizations you mentioned. One whose job is to protect civilians from people like you… Going into another world is not possible. The portals are dangerous and will kill you if you get too close.”

  “Really? Maybe I just got lucky…” Ayumu crossed her arms. “Wait… how far up on the totem pole are you? Have you ever personally seen one of your… soldiers…? Comrades? Whatever you called them, have you ever seen any of them die from touching a portal? Sounds to me like there’s a liar in your midst… A very dirty liar…”

  “…” Katja couldn’t deny it. “It has nothing to do with you. This is our business, and I have no reason to tell you anything. If you’re really human, I’d recommend you surrender. Otherwise, we’ll have no choice but to treat you like a monster and eliminate you.”

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  “Oh yeah?” Ayumu shot her a sideways glance and snapped her fingers. “Let’s see you try.”

  Three unarmed puppets immediately rushed forward and attacked with their fists. Katja did her best to withstand their blows, blocking, dodging, and even enduring some of the strikes.

  She retaliated with her own punches and kicks and knocked them back. But she was left in an even worse state than before. Panting and on one knee.

  “Don’t you understand your own situation here? Who else is part of that organization? I’m assuming Carol. You two have been suspiciously tight since I first met you. Some girl with a big chest I saw you coming into the mall with. And Iroha, right…?” Katja didn’t answer, but Ayumu didn’t need confirmation. “It hasn’t been that long since she joined you, has it? She wasn’t like that before…”

  We need to do something… The longer we just watch, the worse things are gonna get. “Say something, Katja. Am I wrong? I’m not, am I? You can’t even deny it.”

  “Narumi… Let’s go.” The situation is bad, but we’re not getting out of this by doing nothing. “We charge in, kill all the monsters, and get Katja out of there. Can’t be sitting around any longer.”

  Narumi held up her axe, and with the click of a button, the handle extended into the big, two-handed axe she uses. “A- alright… I guess you’re right… I’m ready!”

  “Really?” I know what I said, but I could see her forcing herself. Is this right? “Can you handle fighting those puppets? With how human they look?”

  She forced out a smile. “It’s fine… If I don’t think about it, I’ll be fine… I just need to not think about it… Forever and ever…”

  “That’s clearly not fine!” Was that meant to be a joke?

  “There’s no other choice. And we have no time. It’s worth it to save Katja.”

  There’s no other choice… There really isn’t, is there? Could I fight them off by myself? Not without my skills, but with Narumi and Katja around… Maybe it’s time to let them know… Ayumu already set the stage… Maybe I can go all out… It may cause some trouble, but that’s nothing compared to saving Katja.

  Even then, I’m not completely confident… What if the puppets are stronger than they look? What if Ayumu uses Katja as a hostage? We’d have to be really fast… Beat them all before she could even react…

  I need Narumi, but if she joins, she will be hurt… I’m so stupid… I really was convinced everything would always work out somehow, wasn’t I?

  “Narumi, listen… I know I said there’s no other choice, but there’s no way that’s true. The only way I can see is charging, but you’re different. For how goofy you are, you’re actually really smart, aren’t you? There has to be a better way. You thought of something better, didn’t you?”

  “No… I can’t… My ideas are bad. I don’t wanna think about them. Just tell me what to do…”

  “Now’s not the time for that! There’s no way they’re worse than mine. Think about it and tell me!”

  I grabbed her shoulder and looked her straight in the eye. Narumi averted her gaze and hung her head.

  “No… I can’t…” Narumi’s voice cracked. “I’ve done a lot of terrible things in the past. If I start thinking now, I won’t be able to take it. I’ll overthink everything… All the monsters—the living beings—I’ve killed… Was it really okay? Is there a reason they were attacking people? They probably had families to feed… Families left behind because of us… Because of me… Do they attack on instinct? Is it something they can control? Can we really call them evil?”

  Narumi muttered to herself nonstop. Pouring out everything that had troubled her for so long.

  “Ayumu’s puppets too… They probably don’t have families, friends, or even anyone who cares about them, so they probably won’t leave anyone behind if we kill them… Their lives were just given to them not that long ago, but… They’re still alive… They’re being created to fight… Forced to fight… And forced to die… at our hands… Is that fair? Is it fair for me to be fine about killing them? Is it fair for me to live after killing them?”

  I see now… No matter how she looks at things, thinking will fill her with guilt. But her thinking can also save Katja. If I can only get her to realize that…

  What this proves, though, is not that Narumi is smart. It’s that she’s very kind. Empathizing with others… even monsters… And if that’s the case, then her feelings are very natural… Especially to a girl like her, I bet… And they’re very beautiful…

  “Narumi…” But I can’t let her lose track of what really matters… After all…

  I’m practically a demon.

  “What do you care more about? Some monsters who’ll kill you if they can, or Katja?”

  Narumi stared.

  “You don’t need to feel guilty for protecting the people you care about… You don’t need to show mercy…”

  She’s finally looking me in the eyes. But her expression’s looking strained… This is not what I wanted…

  “Better yet, I don’t care if you feel guilty for killing monsters… In fact, I think it’s great that you care about that, but you can’t let that stop you from thinking. If you don’t wanna kill ever again, I’ll do whatever I can to help you with that, but that’s not what this is about… It’s not what I’m asking you. If you have an idea to save Katja, I want to hear it! That’s all that matters right now!”

  “Ahahaha… You think I don’t know that…? I’ve had a lot of opportunities like these… Where I could help the others… and I’ve even helped them with ideas before on accident. But if I do it intentionally, then I can’t justify looking away from the bad things I’ve done… I’ll have to think about them properly. They’ll force their way into my head. I can’t take that…”

  I should have seen this coming… She has crossed this bridge before. What I’m saying is not some new revelation to her. It’s not gonna change anything. In that case…

  “But you can just ignore it… I mean, what’s there even to think about? No matter how many monsters you may have killed, it’s all in the past. Thinking about it isn’t going to change anything, and it’s much better than forcing yourself not to think…” I brushed my hand on her face. “I don’t wanna see you do that.”

  “Deep down, you don’t wanna shut off your brain, do you? You would have probably done so by now if you really did, but you haven’t. You haven’t shut down all thought. That’s why you’re constantly looking for things to keep you distracted, isn’t it? You don’t need to do that anymore… Live how you want to live. I’ll do whatever I can to help you.”

  “You will…?” She meekly asked.

  “I promise… Think about whatever makes you happy. And if you ever get stuck with bad thoughts, you can always tell me about it. Just don’t hold yourself back anymore. Not at times like this… When your ideas can help protect what really matters…”

  “…” Narumi thought about it, in silence. Her eyes glanced at Katja. I think I understand her a bit better now. If she starts thinking, thoughts about the past will haunt her. She’s not blind. She clearly knows what going and what she should be doing. She just can’t bring herself to do it.

  “I’ll try, Iroha… Let me think about our plan for a bit…” Her eyes flew all over the place, and in a few seconds, she was done with her analysis. “A pincer attack… Iroha, you should charge in and draw Ayumu’s attention without being too much of a threat. At the same time, I’ll drop down next to Katja from the hole in the ceiling. We can fight them from both sides and clear a way to escape.”

  But that’s not all… Fighting and killing puts a spotlight on those thoughts… That’s why Katja and the others always try to cover for her in these situations. No matter how hard she tries, it’s still gonna make her uncomfortable. And in that case…

  “Did you forget what I said? Is this really the plan you want? You don’t like killing, so don’t come up with a plan that forces you to kill… Denied! Try again.”

  “Ehhh…” Narumi was caught by surprise. “If I can’t fight, the only other option is for you to clear us a path on your own, and then I just bolt it out of there as soon as I grab Katja… But then you’d have to fight the whole army on your own…”

  “Can I do that?” I’m pretty sure it’s impossible unless I use my skills… If she’s suggesting that, perhaps that assessment is wrong. “I was sure that was beyond me.”

  “Under normal circumstances… But I don’t think it’s impossible… If my suspicions are correct…” Narumi looked at me with a knowing look. Suspicions of what? Of me?! Did she figure something out from hearing Ayumu?

  “Hmm… Okay. That’s a good idea! Let’s do that, just… don’t say anything else…” I don’t need to worry if she figured out my secret right now. “Just do me a favor and don’t look at me while I fight, okay?”

  Narumi stood up, ready to leave so she could go to the roof from the outside. “I won’t. I promise…” Then she added with a smile. “By the way, you got cameras there, there, and there. Take them out first. Good luck!”

  Narumi ran off with her axe in hand. I can’t believe it… She really figured it out…

  “Well… Time to do my part.” I stepped out from behind the pillar with my sword ready. “Hang in there, Katja… It won’t be long now…”