Side: Horii Asuka

What a strange place this was.

There was no air moving, and I couldn't imagine there was any ventilation. And yet the air wasn't stale.

"Horii-san?"

When I touched the ground, Amahashi-kun called out to me, as unruffled as ever. Of all of us, he was the calmest.

"There's no dust piled up."

In a space this size, if no one came in for a long stretch, dust would accumulate. But there was none here. Not just along the walking paths. Not in the corners either.

Was someone cleaning it, maybe?

Still, the most unnatural thing of all was these blazing torches. Things that should burn out in a few hours, set up at regular intervals.

If you used torches in an underground space with no ventilation, I'd think the oxygen would thin out. And on top of that, there weren't any burnt-out cinders or ash fallen on the ground beneath them, which was nothing short of unnatural.

"Maybe it's something of the school's?"

True. What Kitamura-kun said was the most plausible. There was an underground space, and someone was trying to put it to use—something like that, perhaps?

There was no end to the unnatural things if I started listing them, though.

"Hey, let's hurry up and get out."

"You're right. Let's do that."

Aizawa-san seemed to want out as fast as possible. There was the earthquake to consider, too. She was right—getting out of here was the wiser move.

Once that was decided, it meant moving. Right or left, which way to go.

"Let's head this way."

When Amahashi-kun started walking off without hesitation, I followed. There was no real reason. The way he'd reacted earlier—saving me on the spot and calling out for everyone to run—his decisiveness was something to behold.

If either way was fine, then I might as well trust him. That was all.

"You think they built a maze in here? There's not a single room."

Kitamura-kun was the mood-maker, I supposed. Even in a situation like this, he was keeping everyone's spirits up.

"Like a prewar air-raid shelter?"

"If it were that, wouldn't it be even weirder for there to be no rooms?"

Thanks to Kitamura-kun, Aizawa-san had calmed down quite a bit too. If there was one fortunate thing, it was that nothing looked likely to collapse from the earthquake, I supposed.

Just then, Amahashi-kun stopped.

"Amahashi?"

"There's something."

To Kitamura-kun, who'd spoken up, and to the rest of us, Amahashi-kun gestured to move over to the right.

"Isn't it one of the people who fell?"

"Probably not."

Amahashi-kun's expression, certain of something, turned grim. He was right—a classmate would be making more noise than this. An adult come to rescue us, even more so.

Had some animal gotten in, maybe?

"Gyi, gyi-gyi."

An eerie cry reached us.

What appeared before us as we lay in wait at the corner was—

"...What is that?"

"It reeks!!"

Aizawa-san shrank back at the sight of it, and Kitamura-kun clamped a hand over his nose at the overwhelming stench.

What in the world was that...

A small man about a meter tall. No—that wasn't right.

"A creature..."

Pointed ears and big, murky eyes. Its body was a grubby green, with a ragged cloth wrapped around its waist. A creature straight out of a fantasy film.

"Gyiii!!"

Spotting us, the creature swung the club-like thing in its hand around as if in delight.

It couldn't be...

Just like that, the creature reared the club back and came charging at us!

Side: Amahashi Kakeru

A Lesser Goblin. That was what they'd been called over there—a monster. The lowest-ranked goblin, with no intelligence to speak of. And there was one of them.

Sure enough, this place wasn't normal.

Still... the fact that the first monster I'd run into was a Lesser Goblin, something that shouldn't even exist in this world, might be a stroke of luck. At the very least, if it had been an animal-type monster, taking it down in front of my classmates would've been difficult.

Even if it came at you with hostility, just hitting an unfamiliar animal could get you accused of cruelty.

"Gyiii!"

All a Lesser Goblin had was enemy or ally. Strong or weak. That was it—or so I'd been taught. There was only one reason it had launched an attack at us. It had judged us weak.

Without a thought in its head, it swung its club down at me, standing at the very front.

"Kyaaa!!"

I could hear Aizawa-san's scream, but I couldn't afford to let it distract me. If I watched it calmly, this wasn't an attack I couldn't dodge.

Keeping within counterattack range, I slipped past the Lesser Goblin's strike and drove a kick into it.

"Gukyaaa!"

The kick landed cleanly around its gut. But...

Tch. Couldn't finish it in one hit, huh. Over there this was the kind of monster a beginner would hunt as prey.

Part of it was not having a weapon, but that just went to show how weak I was in this restricted state. Then again, in this world, where there was no danger close at hand, that was only natural, I supposed.

I wanted to finish it off right away, but I was worried about the psychological effect on Horii-san and Aizawa-san.

"It... ran."

Oops—looked like Kitamura was pretty shaken too. Being a guy, I'd have liked him to tough it out, but... then again, I'd been a mess when I first got over there, myself. Not something I could laugh at, not by a long shot.

"You okay?"

"...What is that? That thing..."

"Yeah! What the hell is it?!"

The danger had passed, so the fear must have hit them for real. Out of a desperate wish for me to take their unease away, Horii-san and Aizawa-san hurled harsh words at me.

"Ah—wait. Sorry. It's not like asking Amahashi-kun helps, is it."

"Oh, right. I'm sorry."

I was at a loss for an answer, but I didn't need one. The two of them seemed to have calmed down on their own.

"For now, let's get out of here. If something else comes at us, it'd help if you could stay still like just now, if you can."

"Yeah, got it."

"Amahashi-kun, that was amazing. Did you do martial arts or something?"

Horii-san and Aizawa-san seemed to be all right.

"You can count on me next time too! Leave it to me!"

Yeah, Kitamura. You hold yourself back. If you want to look good for the two of them, you'll have plenty of chances once we're out of here.

"My grandpa taught me a bit of self-defense."

Of course, I didn't know any self-defense. And my grandpa was just an ordinary grandpa. But there was nothing else I could say. Sorry, Grandpa.

After that, we walked for maybe thirty minutes. Thanks to walking while avoiding the monsters, we managed to head toward what seemed to be the exit without running into any.

"Anyone there!"

A human voice came from far off.

"Help's here?!"

"Wait!!"

Aizawa-san started to call back, but Horii-san hurriedly covered her mouth.

"Horii-san, why?!"

"This place is wrong. What if we answer carelessly and it's not a rescue?"

Kitamura seemed to have thought it was a rescue too, and looked bewildered, but the calmest one right now was Horii-san, it seemed.

Just like that, Horii-san was looking at me.

"Amahashi-kun, what do we do?"

My Danger Sense Skill wasn't reacting to the direction of the voice. From the feel of my Presence Detection Skill, I thought it was a person. Still, it never hurt to be careful.

"Let's get a little closer. Either way, I think the exit's that way."

"Got it. You two, don't carelessly make a sound, and don't go near them even if it's someone you know."

It must have been because it was Horii-san saying it. When she said it, both Aizawa-san and Kitamura obediently listened.

Before I'd noticed it, my palms had broken into a sweat. Ready to release the cap on my physical abilities, I touched the magic item bracelet as I walked toward the voice.

"Oh! You kids!!"

The one who appeared was the PE teacher.

"Amahashi-kun..."

"Yeah, it's the teacher, no doubt about it."

At Horii-san's and my words, Aizawa-san and Kitamura must have felt relieved. They slumped down where they stood, all but collapsing to the floor.

"You all right?! Any injuries?!"

"Yes. No one's hurt."

Watching Horii-san answer on our behalf, I felt genuinely relieved myself. If I'd run into a strong enemy in this dungeon-knockoff of unknown origin, I had no confidence I could've fought it properly.

A monster with even a little intelligence went after the weak ones. Fighting while protecting all three of them would've been near impossible.

"The exit's right over there."

"Sensei, what is this place?"

"I don't know either. Probably some old facility. A wartime air-raid shelter, maybe."

It was fine now. Led by the teacher, we headed for the exit. Along the way Kitamura, looking worn out, asked about this place, but there was no lie in the teacher's answers.

What in the world was this place?

That, and that alone, remained a lingering question.