Watching the fighting footage on the video, Saeko was easily defeated by the other party with little apparent effort, as if the gap between them was enormous.
But the truth was not that simple.
Kain could tell. Saeko was holding back. She was still shackled by ethics and morality, unable to cut down a living person cleanly and decisively—unable to truly commit to killing intent.
Of course, even if she let go completely, there would still be a difference in strength.
The other party was someone who had survived real slaughter. Saeko, though a kendo tournament champion, came from matches that were essentially performance pieces—she had no meaningful, practical combat experience.
Even so, Saeko—someone who had endured so much—should not have fallen that quickly.
So Kain closed the clip recorded from the vehicle's onboard camera, then glanced sideways at the dark-purple-haired girl who sat there in silence.
Further inside, between Saeko and Shizuka Marikawa—who was somewhere between "Saeko Busujima" and "airheaded" as a teacher—Rei Miyamoto was also seated. Her mood was clearly poor, looking equally shaken, as if she had been hit hard.
Yes, there were four people in the cab including the driver, yet it did not feel cramped at all. The cab gave off the impression of an engineering vehicle—spacious.
"Um, everyone, hold on tight, okay."
Shizuka warned them, because the road ahead—where they would turn onto the route toward the hospital—had quite a few "special obstacles."
They were no longer following the river. Instead, they were heading straight for a hospital not far from the waterway to collect medicine again.
Because his wound needed to be treated again. It had split open.
In addition, Saeko and Rei had minor injuries as well. The other party's armored gloves had left a few cuts on them. It was not enough to cause major blood loss, but in this environment, it had to be handled properly—wounds needed to be sealed off from the outside world.
Because the virus could slip in through an open cut and cause infection.
Kain took a deep breath. They were already at the obstacle line.
Don't hesitate.
These were not living people.
They were moving corpses.
Monsters.
Just ram through them.
When they stopped at the hospital's main entrance—
"Turn off the engine. All of you stay in the vehicle."
"Okay."
The engine was killed immediately. Then the mysterious young man—who looked much younger than Saeko—got out of the vehicle and began clearing the area.
Ten minutes later, there were almost no moving "people" left within sight. With night-vision, they could still see scattered limbs farther away.
But at that distance, as long as they did not make too much noise, it would not draw them in.
After that, he entered the hospital, and Saeko was called in to follow.
"Pfft!"
The sound of a blade piercing flesh—yet it was not Kain.
It was the girl beside him.
While pulling her sword back out, Saeko's expression shifted subtly, and then she continued dealing with the approaching corpses.
"When you fought that masked woman, what were you hesitating about, Saeko?"
Saeko's face tightened, but she kept cutting down the next corpse.
"Were you afraid your sadistic side would be exposed?"
"Sadistic… what does that mean?"
She probably understood what he was implying. After all, he knew of the works that told the story of her world—those might have revealed more about her.
But hearing the word "sadistic" used as a label still made Saeko feel strangely unsettled.
"It means someone with a tendency toward cruelty and violence. So, are you?"
Saeko fell silent.
"Yes. You know about that incident too, don't you?"
"You mean back in middle school, when you were stalked by a pervert, and you deliberately let him get close so you could strike back in 'self-defense,' injuring him severely—so severely that it was considered excessive self-defense?"
"There's a problem with that. I didn't use a wooden sword. I used a real blade."
"I noticed his stalking long before that. It wasn't the first day he followed me. He was searching for the right opportunity."
"So that day, I led him to the area where I had already placed a real sword, and then I truly cut him down."
"The way he suffered. The way he bled. It made my blood boil."
"It made me want to watch him suffer longer. To see more blood."
As Saeko said this, her face twisted slightly and her body trembled. She was afraid—and yet excited.
She was struggling.
Especially in this environment—now that the world was collapsing—the violent impulses inside her were stirring more and more.
"Then you really are a sadist. A pervert."
Saeko was caught completely off guard by that remark. It was not comfort, but she did not feel hurt either—she simply went blank for a moment.
"But I like perverts like you, Saeko."
"Because only perverts like that can live better."
"And I'll tell you a secret of mine too."
"A secret?"
"Yes. But before I tell you, I want you to do something for me."
"What?"
"Look at me with an ice-cold gaze—disgusted, contemptuous."
"Then, with absolute loathing, lift your skirt and show me your bare legs. Step on me a little so I can see."
Saeko's mind went chaotic. She almost botched her next swing and nearly let another corpse slip past.
What kind of request was that?
She could not reconcile the man in front of her with those words.
A battle-hardened warrior. Fearless in the face of malice and danger. Someone who seemed serious to the core—hard to imagine joking at all.
And yet now, all of a sudden, he was like this—ferocious, with a crooked grin.
"If you can do it, I'll tell you my secret."
"I… I'll try."
Blushing, Saeko closed her eyes, inhaled deeply, and exhaled.
When she opened her eyes again, she tried her best to summon a look of disgust.
"No. I can't feel the disgust in your eyes."
"Right—imagine I'm the pervert who stalked you that day."
"Yes. That's the look."
After he confirmed her gaze was right, Saeko lifted her skirt—plainly, unmistakably—past the line she should not cross.
He looked utterly delighted, like someone who had been doused with a bucket of cold water in the height of summer—refreshingly, indescribably satisfied.
This—
"Alright. Back to clearing."
"Wait. Didn't you say you'd tell me your secret?"
"Huh?"
Saeko blinked. Tell her a secret?
She froze for a beat, then realized what he meant and looked over with a complicated expression.
"That's right. I like being looked at with disgust by beautiful women—and being 'rewarded' at the same time."
"But don't get the wrong idea."
"I'm only enjoying the feeling. I'm not a masochist. I don't like physical pain."
"I like mental pain."
He confessed his odd kink with shameless directness.
But he emphasized he was not a masochist.
Hearing that, Saeko looked mildly speechless—then suddenly let out a laugh, and the turmoil in her heart dissolved by more than half.
Then his expression changed abruptly. Saeko's guard immediately rose—had he sensed danger within the hospital?
But it was just—
"Is your livestream on?"
(End of Chapter)
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