VS Sandstar Raw, Part 6

"...Yup… Although I've only planned to take a nap, I of all people fell into a deep slumber, it seems... We were a lot more tired than I thought…"

Professor, who had been sleeping curled up in the large cavity in the tree, leaned out of the hole and looked down while lightly stretching. With her night vision, she quickly spotted Gray Wolf and American Wild Dog sleeping soundly in the corner. She wondered where the other four could've been sleeping. Professor lightly leapt off the tree and gently fell onto the floor.

"...Mhmm… The Park's… crisis nanoda…"

Relying on the audible sleep talking, she followed the source of the sound and found Common Raccoon curled up alongside the girl who seemed close to her Fennec lying straight, sleeping within a hole in the tree surrounded by bookshelves, just like Professor did.

"Everyone's fast asleep… Can't be helped, it seems…"

Letting out a seemingly surprised and worried voice, she turned her neck. Kaban and Serval were nowhere to be found. Neither was Boss. Suddenly, she found Kaban's hat and bag that were discarded on the floor. However, no matter where Professor looked, the person in question wasn't there. She flew around the Library while flapping her silent wings. Just in case she opened the door to the basement, but that was meaningless.

Gradually, the panic in Professor's heart began to grow stronger.

"Could it have been Assistant…? No, there are no signs of any struggle, and she shouldn't have the strength to take away two people…"

She ran up to Gray Wolf and African Wild Dog with a trot and shook their bodies.

"You two, wake up!"

…

[It appears that you were able to catch up.]

At last, Boss had caught up to the place where Kaban and Serval had restored the tear in their relationship and called out to them, while they were taking a breather.

"Ah! Sorry, Lucky-san…! I had so desperate in chasing after Serval-chan that I ended up leaving you behind…"

[Do not worry. In any case, let us quickly return to the Library. If you stay in the rain for too long, you will catch a cold.]

To support Boss' words, Serval sneezed and shivered.

"Now that you say that… Being all wet feels disgusting."

"Yeah. And with Assistant-san being out there as well, let's go back―"

At that moment…

THUD! RATTLE! CRACK! THUMP!

Mixed in with various other sounds was the sound of something collapsing heavily. A slight tremor of something falling to the ground not too far away could've been felt, and the two reflexively froze.

"What… was that…?"

Serval's voice gained the tone of a whimpering whisper. Kaban strained her eyes towards the source of the sound, but its true form was indiscernible. Meanwhile, under her feet, Boss was making an electronic quick signal-like sound and its eyes lit up in a rainbow.

"Lucky-san?"

[...The destruction of a nearby Lucky Beast has been registered. In order to preserve the security of the Park and its visitors, I will head towards the incident spot and perform an analysis on the source.]

Having said that, Boss began to quickly make its way towards the origin of the sound.

"H-Hold up, Boss…!"

"We've gotta go after him…!"

Having been bewildered by Boss' abrupt actions, Serval and Kaban chased after it.

…

"We did a round around the Library, and in the end, they're gone…"

"No dice here either… Due to the rain, I can't sniff out their smell nor can I catch their footsteps."

African Wild Dog and Gray Wolf had returned to the Library bearing frowns. Professor, who had woken everyone up, lightly bit her lip.

"Pretty worrying, isn't it…?"

"M-Maybe there's someone attacking them in the forest noda! We've gotta split up and search for them!"

"No, that's not a good idea."

Gray Wolf settles Common Raccoon down as the latter panics.

"Within this wicked environment, acting separately will only increase the likelihood of additional casualties. It's a common pattern in mystery manga, so it's worth keeping it in mind."

Although Gray Wolf was kidding to calm her down, anxiety persistently ran through Common Raccoon.

At that moment, it resounded. The sound that happened near the missing group, the sound of something falling had reached the Library.

"Something about that sound didn't feel good to me…" Fennec turned to Professor as the former's ears twitched.

Professor also heard it, a bitter expression showing on her face.

"This is bad… That sound was likely that of the barricade being destroyed."

"You mean that separating wall made further down the path leading to the Library? We climbed over it on our way here…"

Fennec and Common Raccoon nodded, confirming African Wild Dog's answer.

"I figured that sane Friends like you would do that. I raised it while out of Assistant's sight, thinking that it would be troublesome for Friends in a state like her's. It was to defend against frenzied Friends… but also it was to alert against an incoming Friend strong enough to destroy it."

"Wait, so that means…" African Wild Dog responded as if she had guessed something.

Professor looked towards the direction of that sound's source.

"However far gone they may be, Friends who are powerless against the separating wall will turn back, roaming around the forest's entrance. It seems like there are some powerful enough to break through… It wouldn't be an issue if they were sane Friends that found climbing over it too bothersome, but when it comes to the ones in a rampaging state… It becomes rather unsettling."

"Wouldn't those two be in trouble…!?"

"Kaban-san doesn't have her important bag with her noda! She's in serious trouble noda! We've gotta quickly help her!"

Professor cast her eyes down and replied to African Wild Dog and Common Raccoon as they were getting anxious.

"I fully understand that you want to go help her…! But if it won't succeed, then it'll be terrible for us too. ―I don't know if it comes off as cold-hearted, but all we can do is believe in Kaban and wait for them…"

Professor turned to everyone with worry, and had no choice but to suppress her emotions and think rationally.

…

Seeing as Boss had stopped its movement, Kaban and Serval halted as well. Along the path in front of them were the remains of the wall built by Professor scattered about.

"That's the same wall that we had to get off the bus for at the entrance to the forest, isn't it? I wonder if it was also an entrance that connected the Forest to another area…? It seems like we strayed quite far away from the Library, huh?"

"Wasn't that wall pretty sturdy though? Who could've broken it?"

Quietly ignoring the conversation between Kaban and Serval, Boss restlessly surveyed the area and entered a nearby thicket. Serval pushed the greenery aside and froze. Kaban peered in from behind her and stiffened all the same. Before Boss, which stopped in its tracks, laid a wrecked Lucky Beast, which had its face part hollowed out. Since Lucky Beasts' bodies were completely different from what the duo had, rather than flesh and bones they saw an incredibly complex metallic framework when looking into the inside of the mangled body.

"How cruel…"

[Kaban, will you remove that Lucky Beast's belt and show it to me? It is a single-press operation, so to detach it, press the switch and it will easily come off.]

Kaban did as Boss told her, feeling out the belt, looking for the spot to press and pushing on it with her finger. The belt unbuckled with a click. There was some writing on the inner part of the belt. She brought the writing to Boss' eyes.

[H-M029… This appears to be a Lucky Beast overseeing the Plains Area. It is possible that the barricade was destroyed by a Friend from the Plains Area.]

"Wait… Plains Area… isn't that―?"

Kaban's hands froze upon hearing Boss' words while she was putting the Lucky Beast's belt into her pocket. Suddenly, Serval tightly grasped Kaban's hand.

"We have to go back, Kaban-chan."

Both her tone of voice and expression were more serious than usual. Before Kaban could even reply, Serval turned around and began walking. With her free arm, she forcefully grabbed Boss, who was at her feet.

"Serval-chan…!?"

She would take gradually wider strides step by step, quickening pace, going into half-trot. Although Kaban would occasionally slip on the muddy ground, she frantically moved her feet to keep up with Serval. Never had she ever been pulled by her arm with such force. Usually, Serval would occasionally look back while walking in front of Kaban to check up on her, adjusting the speed of her walking. Now, her sight was fixed forward while pulling on Kaban with enough force to drag her.

"H-Hold on, Serval-chan. Wait…" As their speed neared that of running, Kaban asked Serval to stop so she could regain her balance.

Then, within a single moment, Serval sharply inhaled, lifted both Boss and Kaban, and dove into the nearest bush. While confusedly lying on the ground Kaban lightly shook her head and turned it to Serval.

"What's gotten in―"

Although Kaban attempted to speak, this time she stopped. She couldn't comprehend the reasoning behind Serval's sequence of actions. However,

Following Serval's sight from the thicket, Kaban quickly understood it.

*GRRRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrr…*

A roar that quaked the ground had resounded. Sharp golden eyes that Serval's couldn't compare to shined. Bare fangs slowly glintied from the darkness. Murderous intent overflowed from the entire hunched figure. Who could it be? One glance at the splendid mane was more than enough. While Kaban shivered as she tightly covered her mouth with her hands, Serval narrowed her eyes and let out a tiny, tiny squeal.

"―…Lion…"

Hello, this is PoGu. Apologies for being slow this time, exams are a bitch.

Anyway, since FF doesn't like any kind of link anywhere, I'll instead leave directions on how to find the original work.

First method is to search for "「けもの」の本能" and find the link that leads you to a Japanese site called "kakuyomu".

Alternatively, you can go to the kakuyomu site and add "/works/1177354054882921926" to the domain.