Mob Yandere

[Part 3/4]

And then threw it.

...Behind me.

'''◼️◼️◼️!!?'''

The tantō easily pierced through the wall of worms.

After slicing through dozens of them, its trajectory unchanged, the blade flew straight toward its destination──which was...

"...Exactly. That's fine. Household Member Coordinator-dono. My apologies for the trouble."

Even amidst the squirming noise of worms, the mummy's apologetic words somehow reached me clearly from afar.

The vine puppet spell handling the worms let the blade pass through effortlessly.

"Hah, didn't see that coming, did you!?"

Then, mustering my last shred of sanity, I shoved the stupid spider deep down my throat.

And with a distant booming sound, everything turned to light...

* * *

Everyone, including Hotoya Tamaki, reflexively looked towards that powerful feeling, that amazing sign.

The ground rumbled a little while later.

An earthquake.

The ground was shaking.

A flock of birds took off all at once, scared.

And then... right after, the mountains they could see in front of them started to glow.

"Eh...!!?"

They closed their eyes, because the light was so bright it was like their vision was being destroyed.

They ducked down, because of the shock that was shaking everything.

A huge roar, like it was going to burst their eardrums, filled the area a little later.

While being totally confused, Tamaki covered her ears, but she still lifted up her head.

A tsunami of dust and dirt was coming towards them, and she could see it.

"...!!??"

Right away, Tamaki curled up again to protect herself.

The wave of dust and dirt swallowed up everyone there, including the people from Juuyaku, Onitsuki, and Takemika, who were behind Onitsuki.

"Whoa!!? It's shak, ing...!!?"

"Get down, keep ducking! You'll fall...!!?"

There were all kinds of screams, as they were swallowed by the dust and dirt.

Screaming.

Shouting warnings.

Crying out in fear.

And the earthquake... it wouldn't stop.

Again and again, the ground roared beneath us.

Echoing. Repeating. Resounding deep into our bones.

"Ugh...!!?"

Even though she was scared, Tamaki couldn't keep an eye on it.

It was impossible to open her eyes in all that dust and dirt.

Even if she forced them open, she wouldn't have been able to see anything.

"Gah, gah...!!? What the heck!?"

"Is it a volcanic eruption!?"

"No way, there aren't any active volcanoes around here...!!?"

"Damn it, my eyes hurt... I can't hear anything!!"

They must have breathed in the dust and dirt.

Coughing sounds echoed all around.

They were confused, mixed up, and chaotic.

They had lost their sight and hearing, and nobody knew what had happened.

"Ta, ma, ki... Are you okay?"

"Eh, uh... y-yeah!! Th, thanks...!!"

Tamaki, who had been stunned by the shock, realized that she was being protected by Iruka, who was lying on top of her.

A little late, but she said thank you to her friend.

"It's no big deal... really. Damn, my ears are ringing...!!"

Iruka, folding her wolf ears down weakly while holding her head, spat out bitterly.

It seemed that her excellent hearing made her more affected by the loud noise than others.

"Iruka..."

"Ugh... How about Suzune? Please, I can't move much right now...!!"

"O-Okay!!"

Hearing Iruka's request as she slumped down, Tamaki's thoughts turned to the safety of another friend in the rear line.

Tamaki slipped out from Iruka's arm and ran off.

The view was swirling, with dust flying around, making it hard to see even a few inches ahead.

With a shaky sense of balance from the shock, she desperately took steps forward, slumping down like Iruka, towards the Onitsuki's dispatch team who was kneeling and lying down.

"I found you...!! Everyone, are you okay!?"

Tamaki called out to her subordinates she found in the dust.

She checked each of their faces.

Some of them had minor injuries.

It seemed they were blown away by the shock of the loud noise.

"Tamaki, sama... we are fine. What about you, Tamaki-sama?"

"Iruka protected me. ...Where is the cart?"

Responding to one of the servants calling out, Tamaki asked about the ox cart's location.

The young servant silently pointed while covering their ears.

Ahead of them was the overturned ox cart.

"Wha...!? Suzune! Suzune, are you okay!!? Suzune!!"

There was no longer any room to pretend to be calm at the sight of the wrecked ox cart.

She staggered as she ran closer.

She stepped inside.

She found a shadow crouching down.

"Suzune!?"

"Ugh... P-Princess?"

The reaction came immediately.

Seeing her friend lift herself slightly, Tamaki felt a little relief.

At the same time, she became aware of the presence her friend was holding.

"Mari-san... Suzune!?"

"Quickly... Mari-san, please wake up. Are you hurt?"

Suzune shook the blind girl, who was probably unconscious.

There was an immediate response.

With a groan, she turned her face towards Suzune, eyes still closed.

"Suzune-sama? ...What is happening...?! My ears... they hurt!"

"Mari! Are you okay!?"

A loud voice echoed, overlapping with Mari's voice.

A man appeared from behind Tamaki, passed Tamaki, and got into the car.

She had scratches and was bleeding, but she didn't care at all as Magoroku rushed over to Mari.

"Elder Brother? ...Are you injured?"

"It's nothing serious! More importantly, you!!"

Responding immediately to Mari's concern, Magoroku checked his sister's body.

He checked to see if she had any injuries, bruises, or broken bones.

"I'm fine. Suzune-sama... protected me, didn't she?"

Still not understanding what was happening, Mari speculated about the situation and asked about a likely fact.

Magoroku also turned an indescribable gaze towards Suzune.

"No, I didn't do much. I just happened to cover you at the last moment. I'm glad the cart was sturdy. Princess... what exactly happened?"

"Um... that..."

And then, everyone in the place turned their faces towards Tamaki.

They were looking for an answer, but Tamaki didn't have any words to say either.

Tamaki herself wanted to ask someone.

Like, maybe, the young man who was her benefactor, who was much more used to this kind of situation....

"...Huh?"

Tamaki let out a bewildered murmur as her thoughts went that far.

Confusion clouded everything.

Then—stillness.

Her thoughts stopped. Everything inside her went quiet.

And... like a gushing spring, a torrent of memories overflowed in her mind, and Tamaki couldn't do anything and froze on the spot.

"..."

Opening her mouth like an idiot, Tamaki looked.

Her eyes met Suzune's.

Just like a mirror image, Suzune's mouth was open in the same way, and she was stunned.

It looked foolish, and Tamaki understood the reason painfully.

She couldn't understand how to recognize those memories, and she was at a loss....

"Boss..."

Breaking the silence was the voice of the only man present.

"Brother...? Could it be, you remembered..."

"Boss, Boss!? Could it be, could it really be that!?"

Magoroku was so worked up that he didn't even have time to respond to Mari's calls; he jumped out of the ox-cart.

"Boss, Boss," he shouted.

Tamaki and Suzune exchanged glances at Magoroku's somewhat odd behavior.

"...Could it be?"

...And then, a bit late, Tamaki arrived at the same worry as Magoroku.

"Huh? Could it be, no, that... ha, could it be, right?"

But—

She understood.

And then she kept understanding.

No, she was being forced to understand.

She remembered.

She reexamined.

She was being made to remember.

That's right.

Why had she forgotten?

He said it, didn't he?

And she agreed, didn't she?

He did the groundwork. She made contact with the district magistrate.

It was all set up. That was the plan.

So then why—

Why had she completely, utterly forgotten...?