Hatsuko's POV
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About 28 days have passed ever since I started helping Ichika and Hina improve their abilities.
Both of them have improved a lot more than I had expected.
They have gotten much faster and now, they have more confidence in facing a monster on their own without my help.
This was going well besides becoming really boring from the same daily routine.
But something kept bothering me.
Sometimes I could feel Ichika's or Hina's gaze directed at me.
Well, it's no surprise if they start showing hate towards me after gaining confidence in their strength.
They think that they can beat me after managing to kill some weak monsters.
But it's okay...
They can come to me anytime they want!
I will crush their confidence in one go!
...
Today, just like usual we were on our way outside of this city to continue with Ichika's training.
Even though it's her training, Hina also was participating in improving herself. She also was doing me a favor by helping Ichika in some aspects in my stead.
I don't know for how long I'm gonna help Ichika train but I'm planning on ending it soon.
It feels like I have been wasting my time helping her.
...
Even Hina has been the same as always, except her powers.
She is now many times stronger than Haruto and the other girls.
A day later after Haruto found out that Hina was living with me, he asked me to meet up.
At first, I thought he had some kind of plan to beat me up!
But instead, he apologized to me for involving me in this kind of thing.
He wasn't crying like I thought he would, but instead, he was just sad.
I also told him that I didn't care about Hina and wanted her to go back with him.
He showed a happy face and thanked me!
[ I will try my best to get her back!! ] ( Haruto )
He said to me with confidence.
The next day when I, Ichika, Hina, and Akemi were on our way to our daily training, we encountered Haruto again.
But he wasn't alone, with him was the pink-haired girl named Ren.
They were sitting on a bench nearby here.
That girl started rubbing his stomach. She closed her face near him and she looked straight into his eyes. Ren slightly raised Haruto's shirt, showing off his abs while she was rubbing her face on his chest.
Haruto looked happy but why did they start doing those things here?
Doesn't he have a whole mansion?
Is he trying to make Hina jealous by doing this?
As we were walking, Hina didn't even bother looking at them.
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Was this Haruto's plan to seduce Hina?
Showing off his abs?
We passed by without a care.
I noticed Ichika averting her eyes away from them, and she looked at me with a slightly red face.
...
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We were already outside of the city.
After walking for some time in the forest, I noticed something strange...
I couldn't sense any monster!!
It was weird because I would usually sense more than 50 different monsters wandering around.
Did something happen?
[ Something's weird... ] ( Akemi )
It seems like even Akemi noticed this.
Hina was somehow calm while Ichika was nervous about something.
I already understood why Hina was calm but why was Ichika acting this way?
Is she scared of the monsters just like in the beginning? Was all of her training pointless?
Anyway, now it's not the time to worry about that!
[ What is weird? ] ( Hina )
Hina asked.
[ This place doesn't have any monsters at all! ] ( Akemi )
Akemi calmly responded while looking around.
[ What do you mean there are no monsters?! ] ( Hina )
Hina asked Akemi. She looked at her, waiting for a response.
After a second of silence...
[ I'm not sure but I can't sense them anywhere here! ] ( Akemi )
Akemi seemed kind of uneasy like something was bothering her.
[ She is right, I can't sense any monsters as well! ] ( Hatsuko )
I couldn't stay quiet anymore. It's not that I'm glad there aren't any monsters, but when this happens either it means there is a powerful monster or something had caused them to leave.
[ D-don't tell me... we actually killed all the remaining monsters in the world!!? ] ( Ichika )
Ichika started freaking out a little.
Is she turning into a battle maniac just like her father?
We kept walking until we found a human-sized pile of rocks gathered together in the same place.
[ Where have I seen this before? ] ( Akemi )
Those rocks were stuck together as if someone had done it.
Did humans do this?
From those rocks, I noticed some black things coming out.
Are those ants?
They had the same size as normal ants, but the thing is I couldn't sense their presence!
[ Ants? ] ( Ichika )
[ Are those monsters? ] ( Hina )
No, I don't think those are monsters.
I've been trying to look at their status since the moment they came out but nothing is showing.
More ants were coming out!
100, 1000, 10000!!
No, I'm sure there were even more of them!!
There was no end to those ants!
And those ants were coming towards us.
The ground was becoming darker as those ants were filling it with their bodies.
[ G-gross!! ] ( Hina )
It seems like Hina couldn't stand bugs, but right now, in front of her were thousands of ants coming to us.
Anyway, I should probably clear the way.
I directed the palm of my hand towards the ants. I created multiple fireballs and shot them.
[ S-so many fireballs at the same time!!!!! ] ( Hina )
All the ants, together with the grass were completely gone!
But more ants were filling it up! They were coming out of those rocks.
[ Oh, now I remember! You need to kill their queen to make them stop! ] ( Akemi )
Akemi pointed towards the pile of rocks when she said that.
I created the biggest fireball I could make.
[ Everyone, back away! ] ( Hatsuko )
As they noticed the size of the Fireball, they started running away so they could take distance away from me.
After I confirmed their position, I shot the fireball which was above me towards those rocks.
*BOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!*
I created a barrier around my body so my clothes wouldn't burn away. Everyone else was fine from the blast.
Now what was left was a small crater created by that attack.
Ichika and everyone else came back here.
[ Amazing... ] ( Ichika )
[ You never cease to impress me! ] ( Hina )
[ That's expected of my mas— I mean Hatsuko! ] ( Akemi )
There were no signs of any more ants.
Shiro got out of my hood again and jumped down.
Is she going to wander around again?
Shiro went toward the girls.
[ Hm? What is that nois— ] ( Hina )
Hina turned around and saw more ants that were coming towards them.
But before the ants could get any closer to them...
Shiro charged past the girls and opened her mouth.
And in an instant, all of the ants were sliced and crushed.
Was that "Wind blade"? Did Shiro do that?
[ Sh-Shiro? ] ( Ichika )
[ So that creature can do that as well? ] ( Akemi )
[ Did Shiro kill those ants? ] ( Hina )
But Shiro isn't a monster, so how can she use skills?
As far as I know, there aren't any animals that can use an ability.
Shiro rushed back to me and jumped back into my hood.
I will look at Shiro's status later.
[ Hatsuko, is...Shiro a monster? ] ( Hina )
So it comes to this huh...
Of course, no one is going to accept an animal that can use a skill because they are mostly considered as monsters. But monsters have significant changes in their body, and their whole eyes are red.
[ What are you saying about a small cat like her? Shiro saved our lives! ] ( Ichika )
[ Right... I'm sorry Shiro! And thank you! ] ( Hina )
She apologized to Shiro.
...
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Hm? At the center of the crater, I noticed something shining.
I started walking close to it.
As the closer I was getting to it I noticed that it was some kind of red rock.
[ What is that? ] ( Hatsuko )
I reached out my hand to touch it.
[ W-Wait! Hatsuko! Don't touch that thing!!!! ] ( Akemi )
Akemi called out to me.
Hm, what is she talking about?
But my finger had already touched that rock. At that moment, that red rock broke into pieces.
And before I could notice...
Everyone was gone!
No!
My surroundings had changed!
I was in a different place.
Everything around me was a dense jungle.
Did I get teleported somewhere else?
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