Shizuka Nanami

I couldn’t stop him.

No matter how much I wanted to follow him, I knew I would only get in the way.

All I could do was stare silently after him as he departed. The tears didn’t come until much later.

“Instead of moping around, you could’ve just tagged along.”

I looked up to see Chika standing at the entrance of the cave.

“You like Ryo, don’t you?”

“H-huh?! It’s not like that!”

“Oh, please, it’s so obvious.”

Chika said bluntly, and I fell silent, defeated.

Although she acted all cutesy in front of guys, she did a 180 when there were only girls around.

“Why don’t you go after him? You can probably still catch up. I would if I were you, especially since the Uzattoki trio’s probably after Ryo too.”

“No way!”

“Come on, you can tell by looking at them.”

I was totally clueless. Chika’s observation skills astounded me.

“We could die anytime in this place. Might as well spend your final moments with the person you love, doncha think?”

“But I...”

Chika sighed deeply as I trailed off.

“What about you, Chika? Don’t you have a crush on anyone?”

“I kinda fancy Ryo, too, actually.”

“WHAT?!”

I yelped, taken aback at the unbelievably fierce competition.

“But I’ll pass. I don’t like him enough to risk joining the rescue unit. I think I’ll settle for Kyoya or Saburo instead. You won’t ever catch me with Hironobu, though.”

“I-I see.”

I felt myself smiling at Chika’s ability to joke despite our circumstances.

“Now, there’s a smile! Let’s try to enjoy ourselves and make the most of it, okay?”

“O-okay. Thanks, Chika.”

Did she notice I was feeling down and try to cheer me up?

Chika and I had never really talked until we came here.

If we hadn’t ended up in this place, I doubt we’d ever have become friends.

Even though this world was like something out of a nightmare, I guessed it wasn’t all bad.

Chika’s right. I should try to keep my spirits up.

“Oh, it’s almost time to feed Pochisuke and Tamami. Wanna join me?”

“Sure, let’s go.”

There was plenty of food for the lizardmen.

Saburo had shown an incredible aptitude for fishing and been saving the fish he caught from the river each day.

At first, I was hesitant to try them, but the fish turned out to be delicious, with a similar taste to freshwater trout. I had no problems eating them now.

We chopped the fish into tiny pieces and put them onto long skewers, which we then poked through the small opening in the lizardmen’s muzzles.

Itsuko was probably the only person brave (or stupid) enough to try to remove their gags and feed them.

“If the others return hurt, you’ll heal them again, won’t you?”

“Huh? No way, I’m done with that. I’m not taking care of Pochisuke and Tamami so we can use them for another round of injury swapping!”

Despite her reluctance, I knew that Chika would use her skill again if needed.

If only I’d gotten a skill that could heal people instead of an offensive skill like a bazooka.

As we chatted and made our way towards the tree where the lizardmen were tied up, we realized someone else had arrived before us.

“...Charlotte.”

The woman who was responsible for our situation.

However, her expression as she gazed at the lizardmen was full of tenderness, wholly unlike anything we’d seen so far.

It was almost as if she were a different person.

She didn’t seem to notice us approaching her and was saying something to the lizardmen.

“Talk to you later, Adachi and Ikeda.”

Charlotte said fondly.

Was that their names? Had she given them nicknames as well, like Itsuko did?

For a split second, the lizardmen looked human.

I quickly rubbed my eyes and stared at them again. All I saw were two lizards tied to a tree.

“Oh, hello. When did you get here?”

As Charlotte turned around, her face wore her usual cold expression devoid of kindness.