Anime Girls are Moist

A roar of thunder—

A torrential downpour.

Sawae looked through the window, rain drumming violently on the glass, her thoughts drifting.

"So…did they end up at a hotel?"

Contemplating Sumika's personality:

"Hmm, knowing her, she might've run away halfway."

Worried, she picked up her phone to send a message. The reply came quickly but was short:

Fujimiya Sumika: "Going to bed now. Talk tomorrow!"

"Huh?"

Sawae pursed her lips.

"Looks like Sumika got cold feet."

"Well, at least they held hands, I guess? That's progress."

She'd grill Sumika for the details tomorrow. At the very least, as her good friend, she wanted to strategize together. Sighing, she turned and lay down to rest.

Outside, torrential rain continued to batter the window, accompanied by fierce gusts of wind—much like the storm Fujimiya Sumika was weathering herself…

...

Late Night – Elsewhere

"Ah!!!"

Waking with a jolt from another nightmare, Marcille sat bolt upright in bed. Cold sweat drenched her thin nightclothes; golden hair clung to her pale cheeks.

Beyond the window, moonlight glinted on the stone paving. From afar came a watchman's dull call, marking 3 AM.

"Falin…"

Marcille trembled, hugging her arms. Her fingernails dug deep into her own skin, yet she felt no pain. In her dream, she again saw the instant when the Fire Dragon swallowed Falin—Falin's outstretched hand, that hopeless stare, her voice urging them to flee, drowned in flames.

A magical lamp on the desk automatically lit up, its warm glow pushing back some of the bedroom's darkness. Marcille walked barefoot to the window and pushed it open. The night wind swept away some of her lingering cold sweat. This was her first night out of the labyrinth—sleep simply wouldn't come.

Tomorrow, they'd return to the dungeon to find that Fire Dragon. They just had to locate it, kill it, then retrieve Falin's undigested remains to use resurrection magic. Death wasn't necessarily final in that labyrinth's rules. Yet Marcille couldn't feel calm.

"If only I'd reacted faster…if my magic had been stronger…"

Such self-recrimination gnawed at her mind like a parasite.

At that moment, Marcille noticed a faintly translucent screen materialize in front of her.

"This is…"

She'd barely paid attention to the so-called "chat group" earlier because of everything that happened, but here it was again—a strange phenomenon, outside the labyrinth no less. It was hard not to think it might be dangerous. She instinctively reached for her wand.

"Is this some new type of curse magic or some monster?" she muttered warily. On the screen, lines of text flashed. The instant she clicked to read them, bizarre knowledge poured into her mind.

"A Trade Chat linking different worlds?"

Her fingers trembled mid-air.

"This isn't…some form of magic?" she whispered. After a moment's hesitation, she tried tapping out words on the screen.

Marcille: "Who…are you people? What is this?"

Akame: "This is the Trade Chat Group. We're all from different worlds."

Frieren: "It's so late, Akame. You're not sleeping?"

Akame: "No, I have a mission tonight."

Marcille: "Different worlds…can that really exist?"

Yatogami Tohka: "Hard to prove, but we can each mention unique things from our world."

Hiiragi Shinoa: "Mine's at war with vampires."

Marcille: "Vampires?! Blood Clan?"

Shinoa: "Oh, so your world has them too?"

Marcille: "I've never met one—only heard legends."

Shinoa: "Gotcha."

Frieren: "Looks like this newcomer's world is no ordinary place, either. By the way, I'm an elf; do you know about elves?"

Sui: "I'm also an elf."

Marcille: "Eh? You're elves?"

Frieren: "Yes…so there are two elves in this chat group now."

Tohru: "Oh, our new friend's talking, huh? Hmph, by the way, I'm a dragon. That's special enough, right?"

Tohru: "[Image]" (a photo of her green dragon form)

Seeing that, Marcille's reaction was anything but calm.

"Dragon!!!"

She clenched her wand, reflexively preparing a spell.

Akame: "Um, she seems really agitated."

Frieren: "Something's off here."

Marcille: "A dragon right here! How can you all be so calm?! Dragons are extremely dangerous!"

Tohru: "Ehhh, I won't deny it. Dragons are formidable."

Frieren: "But Tohru's our friend—she won't hurt anyone. Besides, we're in different worlds."

Shinoa: "Please calm down, Marcille-san."

Marcille: "Calm down? My friend Falin was devoured by a Fire Dragon!"

Sui: "Eh?!"

Frieren: "I get it. Probably that's why she could join the chat—there's something she wants. Then she should talk to the group admin. @Rei Ao, you awake?"

Rei Ao: "I was going to sleep… guess not now."

Fujimiya Sumika was already asleep. Having no further interest in "analysis or teasing," Rei Ao found himself intrigued by Marcille's words: Falin was eaten by a Fire Dragon. That likely marked the beginning of it all.

Rei Ao: "@Marcille, first, stay calm. We're indeed from different worlds, so Tohru, though a dragon, can't hurt you."

Rei Ao: "And I'm sorry about your friend Falin's fate."

Frieren: "Rei Ao, you can resurrect the dead, right? Maybe a direct deal will solve it?"

Marcille: "Resurrection…"

She showed no special enthusiasm at the idea.

Rei Ao: "Heh, maybe that alone won't settle it."

Rei Ao: "Because in her world's labyrinth, the dead can be revived anyway."

Bibi Dong: "There's a labyrinth that allows for resurrection? That newbie's world is indeed unusual."

Bibi Dong: "But it sounds like her friend hasn't been revived yet, so something's in the way."

Marcille didn't get how a so-called "otherworlder" like Rei Ao knew about her situation. Her expression turned grim.

Marcille: "Because…to revive Falin, we need her body. But she was…already devoured by a Fire Dragon!"

~~~

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