Chapter 25 : Withdrawal

The girl was not what the boy had thought she was.

She was not strong.

She was not aloof. She was just desperately trying to be

that way. Just like his former self.

A girl chasing an ideal that was out of reach. The boy saw her struggling miserably. He thought

it was beautiful after all. So he decided to follow through. What he believed was best. The choice that was most valuable to the whole. To others, it may have seemed like the boy was sacrificing himself. But the boy was simply prioritizing efficiency. He knew that if he didn't act, someone else would be unhappy. If that person was more than one , he should act. If it was just him who was unhappy, then the total amount of happiness would be greater. Based on that judgment, the boy got his hands dirty many times. He turned a blind eye to the fact that it was a deception that he himself hated.

It falls into the garbage dump with a loud thud.

The impact wasn't so bad because the pile of garbage bags cushioned the impact, but instead, he lost his balance and fell.

Fortunately, the contents of the garbage bag were not food waste but scraps of cloth and plastic bags, so it wasn't too unpleasant.

"Ah, hi, hiiiiiii!"

With that scream, the Rider's Master ran off.

The neon lights and the sound of the crowds of people seemed to bring him back to his senses. He crawled away from me, got up, and ran unsteadily towards the main street.

...The way he looked, he might be taken into custody by the police, but that's not my concern. In any case, it's better than being killed.

I decided to leave the Rider's Master there. But the bigger problem is this.

I put my sports bag back on my shoulder and ran in the opposite direction from Wakame.

Berserker is being held back by Hikigaya Hachiman. However, it goes without saying that he won't last long. It would be a blessing if he could buy himself a minute. In the meantime, he needs to put some distance between them, even if just a little.

However, there were some points to be careful of here as well.

This sports bag contains one of the trump cards: a substitute bomb doll invented by Hikigaya Hachiman.

It's a powerful insurance that will allow you to withdraw from the front lines with almost certainty, but of course it's not an all-purpose solution, as its effective range is short.

I didn't measure it exactly, but it was only a few dozen meters in a straight line. It couldn't have reached a hundred meters at the very least. That's why I have to carry the doll around with me when I go out like this time.

It's possible to extend the range with support from the field, but that's useless in encounters like this. However, since it's not affected by walls or anything, you can make use of height differences and obstacles to achieve an effect that goes beyond the simple numerical value.

However, in this case, it would be impossible to get out of range in the first place, so I would just run as fast as I could.

It happened when I broke a few corners between the buildings.

Suddenly, the bag became heavy. If it weren't for the physical strengthening, I would have dropped it. Then, a short time later, an explosion rang out from behind me.

Apparently, the Reverse Doll started up without any problems. I would have liked to have prepared several, but due to material and production time issues, I was only able to make one. Because of this, I was not able to test it in operation, which actually made me a little worried.

And now, I have used up all the magical cards I prepared during the preparation period. I have recovered some of the mud of the apocalypse, but I don't think there will be any other situations where I can use it.

I stopped after making a sneaking motion. I put my sports bag on the ground and opened the zipper, and my eyes met those rotten eyes that I was already familiar with. If I made this into a jack-in-the-box or something... No, that's not good. If a child saw something like this, they would definitely cry.

I called out to the zombie face on my sports bag.

"Please be safe."

"Yeah. Can you just open it for now? I can't get out."

I tried to unzip it in response to the request, but it got stuck and wouldn't open.

"……Hey?"

"It seems to be broken. I thought I had chosen a larger one, but it seems it was still too small for a person to fit inside."

"It's not like that. Do something about it."

"Should we carry it like this since we've come all the way here? It looks like a misguided mascot character, but it's cute, you know?"

"I told you it was wrong. And don't be shaking your shoulders trying to hold back your laughter. Seriously, come on..."

Hikigaya Hachiman, who had been folded up and placed inside the bag, forced himself to move. The zipper broke with a crackling sound. It looked like it would be useless. It was cheap, so it was fine.

Hikigaya Hachiman pulled out a laptop from the depths of his broken bag and handed it to me.

"... Open the PC. Do you know how to operate it?"

"I understand, but if you did it yourself... what happened?"

Something seems strange. His expression hasn't changed, but he is sweating profusely. He appears to be protecting his left arm.

"Let me see your arm."

"It's just broken. Anyway, let's find out what Berserker and the others are up to. I screwed a microphone into the back of the locker while they were hiding. How are your familiars?"

"But... that's terrible! I need treatment right away!"

The timing of when Reverse Doll activates is actually quite difficult to set.

If the sensitivity is set too high, it will react to minor everyday injuries, but if it's set too low, it will be slow to activate at crucial times, and you may end up suffering serious injury before it can be switched over.

In this setting, it was set to be effective if the skin was damaged more than 2cm at a time. And it worked correctly. This means that Berserker's attack had reached the bone during the very short time lag before the Reverse Doll was activated.

As expected of the strongest Servant. If it hadn't been on his arm, it could have been quite a disaster, if not fatal.

Hikigaya Hachiman rejected my offer with a stern expression.

"We need to check on them first. Saber is exhausted. If they attack now it will be bad. We need to come up with a countermeasure."

...Even at a time like this, this guy...!

"...My familiar was killed in the explosion. Please give me detailed instructions."

I suppress the urge to resist and agree.

The functions you need are basically set up to work right out of the box, so all you have to do is wait for it to wake up from sleep and click.

The microphone was damaged in the explosion, so the sound was distorted badly, but it still seemed to function somehow.

"...It appears that Berserker's master is planning to retire."

"... I guess the bomb worked. Did you get hurt?"

"No, I don't see that happening."

"...Do you sense any suspicion that you're being eavesdropped on?"

"I don't think that's the case either."

"Is she moody? Well, I'm grateful that she's retreating. Let's leave Emiya and the others to Tohsaka and move away. It would be bad if we ran into Berserker."

He says and stands up.

I called out to stop it.

"Hachiman-sama, let's get started on treatment."

"Yes, please. But we need to move first."

"...I understand. Let's hurry."

That was the right decision. Even if he healed her, it would be of no use if he was caught by Berserker. This place was still far from a safe zone.

That being said, isn't this a bit too calm? Even though it's been adjusted to be that way, it's hard to deny that it's a bit over the top.

In any case, the first thing to do now is to run away.

I stuffed my laptop and the props I had spread out into my broken bag and started running after Hikigaya Hachiman, who was jogged ahead of me.