My youth story cannot be a knight war

"Zaimokuza-san...how is he doing???"

"Where are you usually sent after you get injured? Setting that aside for now—you don't have a protector right now, you know?"

[Baruba's fingers slid along the rim of the cup, and Akiyama Mio lowered her head again in response to her words.]

"So, that's why you chose this time to come to me... What on earth are you planning to do?"

[Hearing this, Baruba's lips curled up slightly, then disappeared in an instant.]

She knew the fish had finally taken the bait.

"I should be the one asking you, what do you want to do?"

【"well?"】

Baruba's words were profound, yet devoid of any malicious intent. Akiyama Mio couldn't help but look up as she listened to her words—was this Gurongi before her truly not out to kill her?

"I'll just be frank and blunt."

[His fingers stopped moving, and Baruba looked at the nervous Akiyama Mio before him and spoke softly.]

"Do you want to save Kuuga?"

……

"Do you want to save Kuuga?"

Baruba once again posed the same question to Makishima Saori and Yukinoshita Yukino, who were standing before him, and the two immediately responded.

[“——Yukinoshita!?”]

Makishima immediately reached for her phone to call Kousaka Kyousuke, but just as she pulled the phone halfway out of her pocket, a hand tightly grasped her wrist. Makishima looked up in surprise, only to see Yukinoshita's gloomy face.

"Yukinoshita, what are you doing?! She's a Gurongi! We need to get Kousaka-kun here immediately—"

[“——But before that, we would have already died... if the other party really wanted to kill us.”]

Yukinoshita stared at Baruba and spoke solemnly, a faint hint of hope lurking in her voice.

"Besides, I think what she just said...maybe she really meant it."

"Are you crazy!? Yukinoshita! What the hell are you thinking?!"

Makishima was stunned by Yukinoshita's words. She looked at the woman in front of her in disbelief, as if she were looking at a lunatic who had lost his mind.

"That girl is Gurongi! She's in cahoots with Number 37, who beat Zaimokuza into this state! How could she possibly come to Zaimokuza's rescue!??? Wake up, please!"

[“…Of course I know this, and I know more than you.”]

"Of course I don't trust other Gurongi, but if it's B1... maybe she really wants to save Zaimokuza-san."

Yukinoshita took a deep breath, suppressing her inner struggle, and spoke in a complicated tone.

"But we have no other options now. Since there's no other way, let's take a gamble. Even if the opponent is Gurongi... I'm sorry, I just can't sit by and watch my friend die."

"Don't you want to save Zaimokuza-san, Makishima?"

【"I--"】

Makishima was speechless for a moment. Holding her phone, she glanced at Yukinoshita in front of her and Baruba, who had been watching silently since she finished speaking. Then, she glanced at Zaimokuza and Akiyama Mio behind her, her eyes filled with confusion.

"A wise choice."

Seeing Yukinoshita remain calm even after recognizing him, Baruba nodded and praised him with some surprise.

"I never thought there was someone as rational as you in Lindori. It's really surprising."

"So you Gurongi can also compliment people? This is even more surprising to me."

Yukinoshita stared directly into Baruba's deep eyes without giving in, and spoke calmly:

“B1… No.”

"——Ra-Baruba-De, you said you could save Zaimokuza-san, is that true?"

【“…”】

When Yukinoshita said her full name, Baruba's expression remained unchanged, but the light and shadow cast by the overhead spotlight on her face seemed to dim at that moment, and a cold and chilling look passed through her eyes.

Sensing this change in atmosphere, Makishima behind Yukinoshita nervously gripped her phone. Although she wanted to save Zaimokuza, she clearly found it hard to believe what Baruba, a Gurongi, was saying.

But Yukinoshita's hand still held her wrist tightly, and while stopping Makishima from making the call, she kept her gaze fixed on Baruba's eyes, without a flicker of a glance, even though she had noticed the change in the atmosphere around Baruba.

[…I have to say, this really surprised me.]

Baruba spoke slowly, and this time her words came from the heart.

"I never thought you could know this name. It's not something an ordinary person can do... It seems that you are the wise man who told Daguber the truth about our clan, right?"

"Not only that, I probably know more than you imagine... I truly didn't expect the name on the stone tablet to actually be yours. It seems the rest of the contents are also true."

Yukinoshita said, her eyes moving upwards at this moment, gazing at the white rose totem on Baruba's forehead.

[Looking at this strange totem, Yukinoshita's eyes were very strange, and then she turned her gaze back to Baruba.]

"The Gurongi, who were once at odds with Lindo in the ancient times, actually had such a relationship with humans. Even... I have to say, my three views on you have been completely overturned by the contents of that stone tablet."

[…It seems that Rindori, who was in charge of compiling history, was also the type to meddle in other people’s affairs.]

Having said that, Baruba had already guessed who had compiled the stone tablet Yukinoshita was talking about. A figure then emerged in his mind, and Baruba gently closed his eyes.

【You really like to meddle in other people's affairs. 】

【——Miou. 】

"Can you answer my question? Can you really save Zaimokuza-san?"

Seeing Baruba lost in some memories, Yukinoshita spoke again.

[“You seem to have misunderstood some premise, wise man of Lindo.”]

Baruba opened her eyes, her expression returning to its previous calm demeanor as she spoke calmly.

"I never said I could save Kuuga."

【"and you--!?"】

Yukinoshita's heart skipped a beat at this answer, and Baruba interrupted her before she could finish her words.

"But I know how to save him—even though I can't save Kuuga, there are still people who can."

Baruba pointed behind Yukinoshita. Yukinoshita turned around and met Makishima's stunned gaze. She immediately pointed at herself.

【"I?"】

[“…Behind you, get out of my way. Don’t get in the way.”]

Baruba said this indifferently. This time, Yukinoshita and Makishima both looked behind them and met a pair of panicked eyes.

【"I???"】

Akiyama Mio watched as the three of them focused their gazes on her, and pointed at herself with a hint of disbelief.

"I, I can save Zaimokuza-san???"

“Ah~ That’s right.”

Baruba put down his hand and looked at the innocent-looking Akiyama Mio with a gaze so deep that it was hard to describe.

"In this world right now, the only person who can save Kuuga is... probably you."

【"Mio."】

29.mio（6K)

boom--

The black light tore through everything, and meteorites burning with flames fell from the sky, leaving trails of blazing flames. The flaming star streams that covered the entire sky perfectly reproduced the words of destruction in the Bible.

“Then the Lord rained burning sulfur from the Lord out of heaven on Sodom and Gomorrah. It destroyed those cities and all the plain, along with all the people in the cities and all the grass on the ground.”

——The Bible, Genesis 19:15-29.

"hateful……"

Gazing at the horrific scene before him, a sight that defied all disaster movie special effects, Hikigaya Hachiman finally fell into complete despair. He hugged the unconscious girl tightly, gritting his teeth and closing his eyes, using his body as a shield to hold her tightly in his arms. This was the only resistance he could offer, even though his frail flesh and blood seemed insignificant in the face of the current scene.

"Why did it turn out like this... Damn it!"

The flames of the falling flames illuminated his body. Even with his eyelids tightly closed, he could still feel the light and heat. His skin felt an intense burning pain, and Hikigaya's hands, which were holding the girl, turned white from the exertion.

"Komachi..."

Anyone is fine, please, whether it is God or the devil, anyone is fine!

——Someone come and save my sister.

……

"……really."

Hikigaya watched Baruba's name appear on the screen again, and his suspicions were finally confirmed. There was indeed a reason why the other party had targeted "Akiyama Mio."

Although the spelling of the name was certainly very different, Hikigaya remembered clearly that Baruba had pronounced the name "Akiyama Mio" exactly the same way in front of the "Alpha Obelisk".

The Japanese pronunciation of the names "Mio" and "Miou" is "mio".

When Hikigaya heard this name, he really thought it was just a coincidence, but now Baruba's series of actions against "Akiyama Mio" told him that this was not just a coincidence, but there was another reason.

No, wasn't this whole thing fraught with perverseness from the beginning? He had only just now confirmed it, Hikigaya rested his chin on his hand, thinking hard.

Apart from anything else, in fact, "Akiyama Mio" itself has a lot of doubts. As an ordinary person, she has had so many contacts with Gurongi. Her luck can no longer be described as unlucky. Everything happens no more than three times. If it exceeds this number, there is basically a certain problem.

After all, many so-called coincidences in the world are inevitable when the true appearance is revealed after the veil is lifted.

According to known information, there is a high probability that the "Alpha Obelisk" contains a Gulindo who has survived from the ancient times. Baruba knows this Gulindo and also knows his name, which means that the two should have known each other.

The life story of "Akiyama Mio" is well-documented; she is a thoroughly modern person. Logically, it's impossible for her to have had any connection with Baruba in the decade before Gurongi was resurrected from Kuroyama, yet Baruba acts as if he knows her perfectly well, and even calls her "Akiyama Mio" upon their first meeting...

No, that was undoubtedly another person's name.

——"Your name...?"

——"...As expected, the shape is exactly the same."

——"Can Linduo's soul really be resurrected from death? Then he..."

The words Baruba said when he first met "Akiyama Mio" replayed in his mind one by one. Hikigaya's brain extracted the key words at the fastest speed and then deduced the conclusion.

"Name", "soul", "death", "again"... "reincarnation"?

“……!???”

An electric shock-like feeling ran through Hikigaya's cervical spine. His breathing rhythm couldn't help but pause because of this speculation, and his eyes narrowed slightly.

Can the human soul truly be reincarnated? Are past lives and present lives not just false religious concepts, but real phenomena?

If this speculation is true, it would represent a monumental shift in current scientific research. Spiritualism would no longer be a subject of ridicule, sometimes lumped together with theology, but a truly established scientific discipline at universities. The impact on all sectors of society would be unimaginable, enough to alter the beliefs and worldviews of many.

"……Ah."

A pair of eyes passed through the obstruction of all the figures and cast on Hikigaya's back. In a place where no one noticed, someone smiled.

It was because he saw what Hikigaya was thinking at the moment that he laughed.

The laughter was full of self-mockery, disdain and loneliness.

"Are you kidding me, B1?"

Makishima refused to believe a single word Baruba said. Even though Yukinoshita dissuaded her from speaking, this didn't mean she would be kind to Gurongi. The look she gave him was filled with undisguised hostility.

Over the past year, she had seen countless patients who had lost their lives to Gurongi, and their grief-stricken families. Her hatred for these monsters was no less than Kousaka Kyousuke's. Furthermore, this Gurongi had once severely injured Kousaka, leaving him near death. With so many new and old grudges stacked against them, it was impossible for them to find common ground.

"How could an ordinary girl with no medical experience possibly have the ability to heal Zaimokuza? It seems that you Gurongi are not only heartless beasts, but also a bunch of liars who only know how to talk big!"

"Whatever you say, I have no interest in your anger. I suggest you learn from the wise people around you."

Baruba paid no attention to Makishima's dislike and hatred for her. She glanced at him calmly and then looked away, gazing at Zaimokuza lying on the operating table.

"Similarly, believe it or not, but right now, the only person in this world who can possibly save Kuuga is this girl."

[“…Can you tell me what happened?”]