"Look Erika, this is my homeland! The great Adrasia Kingdom! Beautiful scenery, is it not!?"

Spreading her arms wide, Nemusia said proudly.

The scenery itself is certainly beautiful.

But honestly, I don't have the leeway to appreciate it.

"It's not like we got outside."

Inoue san said.

By the way, on both sides of her, Hiiro san and Ushizawa san are clinging to her arms as if hugging her.

Perhaps because they hadn't quite realized they couldn't go outside yet, they aren't that shaken.

But the survivors brought from the second floor all wear uniformly anxious expressions.

"Since Nemusia is saying that, it must be so. It's probably the space corresponding to the third floor of Hikarinomiya Academy."

When I said that, Marin pointed to the right and said,

"There's a building over there that looks like a classroom."

Looking in that direction, there is indeed a perfectly square building sitting right in the middle of the grass.

The architectural style is completely different, totally ruining the atmosphere of the world.

"Just like the other floors, it seems this place also merged with the third floor of the school."

Hiyami san analyzed calmly while resting her hand on her chin.

Seeing our reactions, Nemusia puffed out her cheeks in dissatisfaction.

"You all could be a little more excited, couldn't you? My Adrasia Kingdom exists here, unruined and maintaining its beautiful appearance, you know?"

I understand why she's happy.

However—I am extremely anxious that it might just be a false hope.

Because if you look up at the sky, there is a clear anomaly.

Is Nemusia so happy to be back in her homeland that she hasn't noticed yet?

Rea, who must have noticed long ago, is looking up at the sky with a face clouded by fear, gripping my fingers.

"That 'hole'... I wonder what it is."

What Rea was looking at was a pitch-black hole gaping open in the blue sky.

There isn't a starry universe beyond it; it's just pure black.

"There's a white object floating over there too."

"There is no way such a thing should be floating in the sky of the Kingdom—wh-what is that."

Nemusia shows a textbook reaction.

Setting the hole aside, I had an idea about the white object.

"Kaigyo's fang."

"Eh? Ah, the thing the first-year student mentioned when we were on the 1st floor!"

The first-year students who were out on the athletic field for PE class when the academy was swallowed by Kaigyo.

One of them had said they saw a giant white fang falling from the sky.

It's probably the same thing.

"Why is such a thing in the Kingdom..."

Nemusia's voice trembled, and her eyes wavered.

I lightly patted her head.

Then a single teardrop spilled from her eye.

"Erika, did you make her cry?"

Gii said that with a straight face, not teasingly.

No, if you followed the flow of events you'd know why she cried—though I suppose that's just like Gii.

"It's not like that. umm... Nemusia, if it's tough, you can use my chest or something."

"There is no need for—"

The moment she tried to say 'that', the next tear overflowed and fell.

Perhaps deciding it was impossible to cover it up, she turned around to face me and hugged me tightly with both arms.

"...I apologize. My chest hurts more than I thought."

I slowly stroked her back as she buried her face in my chest and let out sobs.

Kaigyo's fang is pierced through—that is nothing other than proof that this kingdom has perished.

And Nemusia must have noticed too.

That not even a breeze is blowing here.

The grassland is certainly beautiful, but the scenery is stopped, like a painting.

Suddenly, Hiyami san crouched down and touched the grass.

The moment her fingertips touched it, the grass crumbled to pieces.

Seeing that, Gii kicked a nearby tree.

Then, with just that light impact, the trunk collapsed.

"You can't tell from the appearance, but it's all rotten."

Gii said.

Nemusia's body twitched.

And she began to speak in a small voice that only I could hear.

"To tell the truth... my memories had returned just a little..."

"While we were on the 2nd floor?"

"Umu. I could not remember the final destruction... but I remember Gangrene, monsters, attacking various parts of the Kingdom. Even so, at that time, there should still have been people coming and going on the highway... there should have been vitality..."

As far as we can see, there are no people on this highway other than us.

At that point, Nemusia had probably realized the anomaly that occurred here.

"Hey Erika, why don't we move to a place where we can settle down for now? In a place like this, we don't know when a monster might attack."

"Right... Nemusia, is that okay?"

"I might be able to calm down more that way too..."

Hugging her like this might provide some temporary first aid.

But to truly heal her wounds, she also needs to rest her body.

Although, I don't know if a place like that is left.

Nemusia raises her face.

With red, swollen eyes, she proposed this:

"There should be a church not far from here. It's spacious enough for the number of people here to sleep."

"Thanks. Let's move there, then."

Leading everyone, I head for the church Nemusia knows.

During that time, the area was abnormally quiet, and there was no sign of humans, let alone zombies.

◇◇◇

The church was located outside, slightly away from the castle.

The building was quite magnificent, even utilizing stained glass for the walls.

On the other hand, just like the plants outside, the rot itself seemed to have progressed, and the bricks crumbled to pieces just from lightly touching the wall.

The interior was the same.

"This is unusable."

"Yeah... we don't know when it might collapse."

Hearing my conversation with Rea, Nemusia looked down.

"So this church will not remain either..."

"Nemusia... did you have some memories here?"

"Umu, my father brought me here when I was young. Because of our positions, my older brother and I could not play freely, so the bishop often played with us."

Nemusia touched a long bench while recalling the past.

Then the bench shattered to pieces, and I hurriedly caught her as she lost her balance.

"I apologize."

"It doesn't look rotten from the outside, so it can't be helped. But be careful, probably... everything seems to be ruined."

"It seems so."

This church is long dead.

It's tough to use it as a base, so it seems better to move to a classroom lying nearby.

"To think it would rot even stone buildings."

"It's strange, isn't it. It doesn't look like that from the outside, but the inside is completely destroyed."

"Guu... maybe soon the world itself will rot and collapse."

"The Adrasia Kingdom too, is the same as those worlds we saw on the 1st floor... I suppose."

Hearing that, Inoue san tilted her head.

"What is this world you saw on the 1st floor?"

"You were on the 2nd floor, Inoue san, so you wouldn't know. On the 1st floor, when you opened a classroom door, the other side connected to an alternate world completely unrelated to the school. I think those were probably worlds that Kaigyo has destroyed so far."

"To think there was such a thing... But if so, that means Kaigyo is an existence far stronger than Giraiguu, doesn't it. Giraiguu is strictly just the god of this world we live in."

"No matter how excellent the Adrasia Kingdom was, there was no way we could resist an existence that devours an entire world and rots even gods."

That's probably why there were people granted "power" like us.

But currently, even that power can only have the effect of postponing death.

...Our circumstances seem to be different, though.

"Looking at it calmly again, this world is extremely creepy. Just looking outside from the window gives me chills."

"Can you see something?"

At Rea's words, Nemusia shook her head from side to side.

"It's opposite. Things that should be there cannot be seen."

I direct my eyes outside the window.

There, I could see the blue sky and distortedly shaped mountains.

"To the north, there was a very, very tall tower where the sages lived. To the east, mountains should have been visible in the distance. But both have disappeared without a trace. Furthermore, the mountain that was in the west has become considerably smaller."

Even if you tell me North, South, East, and West, I don't really get it here, but in short, it seems the topography has also changed due to the world itself collapsing.

This area still retains its appearance from when it was "alive," but places far away probably haven't retained their original forms for a long time.

"...Ah, perfect timing. Look, it is about to collapse right now."

Beyond the window, an unstable mountain was falling.

"A mountain falling and being swallowed by the ground—that's not a sight you see very often."

"It's not exactly something you'd be happy to see, Ruka. Can we assume that the same phenomenon as the amusement park earlier is occurring?"

"Even I do not know for sure. A mountain collapsing means the earth supporting it has vanished. Along with the lives residing there—no, the lives might have vanished a long time ago."

There's no sign of people even near the royal castle, which should have been bustling.

Humans are much more fragile existences than the earth.

The fact that their figures cannot be seen anywhere means—that's probably how it is.

◇◇◇

We left the church and moved to a nearby classroom.

It seemed to be a third-year classroom, and there were neither humans nor zombies inside.

There's no sign of anyone having lived there either, so it's probably been abandoned since getting caught up in the anomaly.

Unlike the Adrasia Kingdom, perhaps unaffected by the rot, the chairs and desks here could be used normally.

Perhaps because of the familiar interior, the survivors seemed more relaxed than when they were outside, resting their bodies respectively.

Nemusia was also leaning against me as I sat on the floor, looking exhausted.

"The moment I saw the condition of that school building, I understood it in my head. I just felt like my heart would break if I didn't pretend not to see it."

"I thought as much. You're smart, Nemusia."

"However, being confronted with reality like this, I cannot continue to escape."

"Considering it's collapsing from the edges, I think that castle is the least affected. Maybe there are survivors there?"

"You do not need to offer poor consolation. There are no flags raised, and no soldiers can be seen. Even if they survived, there is no guarantee they are human."

If we're talking about possibilities, the creatures most likely to exist here are Kaigyo's Gangrene—monsters.

Since even their figures can't be seen, it's unreasonable to expect human survivors, I guess.

"Just having you lend me your shoulder is enough. It puts my mind at ease."

"Yeah..."

"Of course, feeling this way is largely due to Ikuna Yumemi's influence. However, recently, I have come to understand the boundary between myself and not-myself. Even as Nemusia Adrak, I trust you, who fought alongside me, to a certain extent."

"You said I resembled your older brother, after all."

"Umu. That smiling face of yours, I like it."

She still doesn't have energy, but it seems she's gained enough leeway to tell jokes and make a smiling face.

If I could be of help just by lending my shoulder, well, I'm fairly happy.

Rea and Gii, perhaps being considerate, aren't approaching us.

Only the surviving girls gathered, seemingly exchanging rambling conversations.

Come to think of it, Ushizawa san, Mitsurugi san, and Akabane san were also added as party members before the battle, so their levels should have gone up.

I need to allocate their points later.

Since the number of people has increased and we can't expect to find food, agriculture-related skills might be good.

"Older brother... older brother, huh..."

"Did something happen?"

"My memories have not returned perfectly yet, but... looking at nostalgic scenery, they are reviving little by little. Ah, is this my final memory? I was... meeting... my older brother...?"

The country has already perished.

Even if she remembers, it won't yield any useful information, and will probably just thrust a harsh reality upon her.

But if Nemusia wants to remember, I want to help her in some way.

As I was thinking that, I suddenly heard the sound of the door opening.

Marin and Hiyami san were about to go outside.

"Where are you going?"

"There is something I must confirm."

"It might take some time, so don't worry if we don't come back for a while."

Leaving behind such unsettling words, the two left the room, with only Hiyami san waving her hand.

"Was that okay?"

"That Marin, it seems she's still hiding something."

The third-year homeroom teacher, Setaguchi sensei—the fact that he was the homeroom teacher for Tatsuoka senpai, Shimakawa Yuya, and Nanase Asami already confirms he's a scumbag, but they're saying that man and I also have some connection.

I'm curious... but this vibe doesn't feel like Marin would just tell me easily.

Since her senses are unnecessarily sharp, she'd probably notice immediately if I tailed them.

"Well, we have no choice but to leave them be for now."

"You two are quite the complicated sisters, aren't you."

"Not complicated, I was just unilaterally hated by my family. Ah, right, should we go for a walk or something too?"

"A walk, huh. Seeing familiar scenery might revive my memories further."

Saying that, Nemusia showed a gesture as if thinking for a bit.

"...Right, standing still will not change anything. I will accompany you."

"I'd be happy if you could guide me to famous spots or something."

"Sightseeing?"

"There might be enemies lurking in important facilities, right."

"Haha, I see, you have a point."

I do think I'd be happy to see beautiful scenery while it still remains.

And so, we said a few words to the others and decided to go outside.

Rea, Gii, and Inoue san are there, so even if they are attacked by something, they should be fine.

◇◇◇

"I wonder how much time has passed since I disappeared."

We walked, crushing the grass and widening the path connecting the classroom and the highway.

"Probably not that much, right? It looks like there's still time before the castle collapses."

"For that to be the case, not a single corpse can be seen."

"The corpses are... well, they were being blown to the school as zombies."

"Ah, that is right. However, for everyone to have turned into monsters... I wonder if they were eaten by Kaigyo the moment their physical bodies rotted."

I thought she would slowly talk about what she remembered—but it suddenly turned into a disturbing topic.

Well, given the situation, it can't be helped.

"Come to think of it, the Adrasia Kingdom didn't have Kaisei kyou or any religion similar to it, right?"

"Umu, I have never heard of a god that delights in eating human hatred. Even if there were, shouldn't it be treated as a demon?"

"I thought so too. Well, as Inoue san also said, Giraiguu is definitely a god exclusive to our world."

"However, the summoning ritual and Kaigyo might not be unrelated."

"Oh, did you remember something already?"

Once back on the highway, Nemusia stopped and turned her eyes to the royal castle ahead.

"'Kaigyo acknowledged my hatred.'"

"'My' means... did your older brother say that?"

"After our father and his fiancée were killed, my older brother went missing... and I had not seen him for a long time."

"You mentioned that before too. You said you reunited after that, but didn't remember the content of the conversation."

"Umu, but little by little... ah, the memories have revived. That was around the time the offensive by Kaigyo's Gangrene had intensified considerably."

Nemusia placed her hand on her head, opening the door to her memories.

"One day suddenly, my older brother appeared in the throne room. He slaughtered the guarding knights and went out of his way to show his face to me. Although his form remained human, my instinct perceived that he had turned into something else... a very terrifying existence."

"You mean he had turned into a monster?"

"Right, I suppose so. That must have been it. However, we could hold a conversation. My older brother told me the words I mentioned earlier... and then he told me that he would definitely destroy this defiled world. And he reached out his hand, asking me to cooperate with him too. Saying that I must also hate this world."

"He was trying to gather comrades? Or rather, Nemusia hating the world too..."

"The Adrasia Kingdom certainly unified the continent and seized hegemony. Thanks to that, conflicts between countries disappeared, but what followed was an ugly struggle for power among relatives."

No matter how far humans go, they cannot stop fighting.

I don't intend to act cool and call that foolish or anything.

Everyone probably wants to gain something, and sometimes they even risk their lives for it.

But if it goes too far, they will suffer retaliation somewhere, someday.

"When I was still young, my mother was the first to be killed. The culprit remained unknown, but my father was enraged by it, and several relatives were executed. Then hatred was born again, and ultimately my father was killed. Certainly, I also hated this country. Because my parents, and the close relatives of my age, all died."

"And amidst all that, you were propped up as the King, Nemusia."

"After his fiancée was killed to curtail his power, my older brother's heart broke. Since he disappeared and I became the only person who could inherit the throne, I had no choice but to become the sacrifice."

Sacrifice—that must be Nemusia's true feeling.

Even if a girl just in her teens became Queen, there's no way she would be given any significant decision-making power.

In reality, it must have been a puppet government run by her close aides.

"However, I was lucky in a sense. Triggered by a certain event, the ugly power struggle subsided."

Nemusia walks straight down the highway towards the castle.

I matched her pace and walked beside her.

"Could it be, Kaigyo's Gangrene?"

"Exactly, Erika. The birth of humans with the Hero's power temporarily brought confusion to our country. Their power truly matched a thousand. They were existences more than sufficient to disrupt the balance of military power among the nobles—however."

"The Gangrene appeared, and it was no longer a situation for infighting."

"A short while after the birth of the Heroes, monsters that turned humans into monsters were discovered. So I gave the Heroes the duty to defeat the monsters, and a corresponding reward. The people became engrossed in the existence of Heroes who slaughtered evil and enacted justice, and I successfully rode that wave and gained the support of the people."

"You played it smart."

"Thanks to that, I no longer needed to listen to the sarcastic ministers and became able to move freely. I think it was a brilliant idea even if I say so myself. However, that was only at the beginning. Back then, I had not yet realized. That gathering the people's support and power means nothing in a perishing world."

The first Gangrene humanity encountered were probably Zombies or Zombie Wolves.

They can be defeated without problems if it's just that.

But unlike that school building, if two weeks or a month passes from there—powerful Gangrene that even I have never encountered should be roaming around.

"Kaigyo's Gangrene increased their power and numbers in the blink of an eye. In addition, our world was divided, making it difficult even for humans to cooperate with each other."

"This continent is connected by land, couldn't you just cooperate normally?"

"'Barriers' that humans could not pass through generated in various places, dividing humanity."

"Like the floor exits being blocked in the school?"

"It must be the same thing. I think the skill called Sanctuary Deployment was created based on these barriers used by Kaigyo."

The power we obtained is Kaigyo's rot purified so humans can handle it.

In short, it could be said to be a copy of Kaigyo.

Right now, a reversal phenomenon is occurring where the Kaigyo side makes copies of us and gives power to Ooki and the others, though.

"To erase the barriers, it was necessary to defeat an exceptionally powerful Gangrene rooted in each region. The Heroes bravely challenged those 'masters', but during that time, humanity was overwhelmed by the violence of numbers, eroded by Gangrene, and..."

"Perished?"

Nemusia lets out a heavy breath.

"That crucial event when it perished is what I cannot remember. Towards the end, we had no choice but to hole up in the castle and fight a siege battle, so I think I could probably remember if we went inside."

"I see... Come to think of it, that big hole in the sky. Was that there from before?"

"No, I have no recollection of it. But if that is a fang, I can guess. Because there is no need to thrust two fangs into the same world."

"Ah, so it's a scar from when Kaigyo pulled it out when it merged with our world."

"And the other fang visible over there is likely Kaigyo's fang that is eroding Erika's world right now."

The fang is high in the sky, still out of reach.

But considering it couldn't be seen from the 1st or 2nd floor, it seems to have come quite close.

"If this is the result of our world being bitten by Kaigyo... will it go back to normal if we destroy that?"

"It will not return. Lost lives do not return—Inoue Yoshino is an exception."

"Right. But well, it serves as a clue for escape, so reaching a place where we can attack that is probably our immediate goal."

"You said this was the top floor of the academy, Erika."

"Yeah, it's a 3-story building. But technically, there's a roof above it."

"Oh, so you mean there might be an 'exit' here as well."

I have absolutely no idea where the stairs are, but right now, having not defeated the master, there should be an obvious "landmark" in front of the stairs—that is, a wall blocking the path.

If we find that, we'll know where we can get out.

"Do you happen to know where Yumemi chan is, Nemusia?"

"I am sorry, but I do not feel that kind of connection."

"I see, I guess we have no choice but to search steadily on foot."

While walking and talking about such things, we arrived in front of the castle.

"We haven't seen Marin and her group up to here, I wonder where they went."

"I think the only places they would head to are the castle or the church, though."

"They shouldn't have any sense of the area in the first place. I wonder if they know where Setaguchi sensei is."

"So that teacher named Setaguchi holds something Kuragane Marin is hiding. Hmph, I do not trust him at all just by being a teacher at Hikarinomiya Academy."

"Well, being alive in a place like this pretty much confirms he was involved in the ritual to summon Giraiguu."

"One of your enemies."

"Yeah, that's why I want to kill him."

When I said that and smiled, Nemusia looked slightly happy.

Older brother face... doing that in the Adrasia Kingdom makes me feel embarrassed, like I'm doing an impression in front of the person themself.

Feeling my face get a little hot, we passed through the castle gate.

"The drawbridge is lowered."

"Is it normally raised?"

"During a siege, yes. Which means someone entered here after we were defeated."

At the time the anomaly occurred, third-year students besides the teachers should have been on this third floor.

Looking at the condition of the other completely rotten buildings, this castle is about the only place for them to take shelter.

They can cross the drawbridge safely, and touching the walls doesn't make it crumble like the church.

And as we stepped into the castle, Nemusia suddenly stopped.

Looking up at the whole area from the entrance, she let out a sad voice, "Ah..."

"To not welcome the Queen, what undisciplined soldiers."

Nemusia laughed feebly.

Haah... I can't bear to watch.

I reflexively pulled her body close, forcefully buried her face in my chest, and ruffled her head with my hands.

"Messing up the Queen's hair is disrespectful."

"I'll fix it up nicely later."

"...Umu."

In reality, how old was Nemusia when she became Queen?

Perhaps she was much younger than Yumemi chan's body.

Even so, she wasn't in a position where she could lean on or rely on anyone.

Now that "everything" that supported her has vanished, she looked very small and fragile.

So much so that it felt like if I didn't hold onto her tightly, she might rot and crumble away along with this world.

To make a person like me think that, it's quite something.

As I was encouraging Nemusia like that, I heard footsteps in the distance.

"Someone's here."

The two of us quickly hide in the shadow of a pillar.

Then a ball rolled out from inside the building.

Chasing it, a man clad in rags came running.

"Oopsie. Geez, you threw it too far! Hiyah!"

The middle-aged man picked up the ball and threw it towards the inside of the building.

"Hahaha, sorry sorry. I just ended up having too much fun!"

It seems someone on the other side caught what was thrown.

"Who is that? What are they doing in a place like this."

"...A school teacher."

"What did you say?"

I peeked my face out slightly from the pillar and observed the situation in the back.

There, several full-grown adults were throwing a ball at each other, frolicking like children.

"They're playing dodgeball while frolicking like kids..."

"Dodge... Hm, it is in Ikuna Yumemi's memories. A game using a ball, is it."

"They look like they're having an awful lot of fun."

"Foolish, are they joking? Full-grown adults playing in a perishing world like this!"

"Shh, your voice is too loud."

"S-Sorry..."

Nemusia's emotional voice echoed slightly inside the building.

As expected, they seemed to notice it, and their gazes all turned this way at once.

"Someone is over there."

"Is it Giraiguu sama?"

"No, it might be an angel!"

"How auspicious, let's meet them. Let's meet them!"

With glaring eyes, the adults come running.

"Crap, we're spotted."

"I am deeply sorry!"

"Is there anywhere we can hide?"

"Come this way!"

Guided by the hand by Nemusia, I step into the castle.

Fortunately, the speed of the pursuing adults wasn't that fast, and we were able to shake them off quickly.

However, it seems there are more humans in the castle than expected, and slipping past their presence, we slip into a certain room to hide for the time being.

"It's full of books... Hey Nemusia, is this a library or something?"

"It is a reference room. History books of the Adrasia Kingdom and such are stored here."

"It's a magnificent room. But with all this dust, it doesn't feel like a place someone would use on a daily basis."

In other words, the possibility of accidentally encountering someone is low.

I have to calm my feelings here for now and think about how to move from here on.

I sat down on a nearby chair.

Then, a book placed on the desk suddenly opened.

"Erika, what did you do!?"

"No, it opened on its own."

Then, just as I thought the pages of the book bulged up, a man's face slowly appeared.

"Whoa, gross..."

I reflexively said that out loud.

Then the man's eyebrows bent into an inverted V.

"You are a rude person. Even though I showed my face knowing the danger because I heard Her Majesty's name."

"Moreover, it spoke."

"Y-You, don't tell me... Librio!?"

"Could it be that you are Nemusia sama? It seems you have changed your image quite a bit."

It seems Nemusia and this book are acquaintances.

"Who?"

"The Prime Minister who assisted me."

"In other words, a survivor of the Adrasia Kingdom?"

"If you can call being in this state 'living', then I have no objection to being called that."

The man called Librio says with a slightly arrogant tone.

Honestly, even if I was told he's Kaigyo's Gangrene I couldn't argue based on his appearance, but—if he says he's a survivor, he might know why Nemusia appeared in our world.