Rena yelped in surprise once Sev shot down the monstrous villager that was close on grabbing her. That was... really really close.
❝ Thanks, sir! ❞ She quickly thanks him before going back to leading the way with Keiichi.
The more the group went and followed the pair towards the direction of the safehouse, the more it seemed like the horde of monstrous villagers was beginning to thin out. There were still a few villagers on their trail, even with the combined efforts to keep them from catching up and swarming them.
If the others were putting in the effort to defend the group, Add felt more inclined to save his Dynamo drones the energy of assisting. He did install a self-charging core and all that, but in a place like this, it would still take too long in-between skirmishes to be fully charged. He blinked at Keener's inquiry, must've been asking if he was associated with some group called SHADE or something.
❝ I never heard of it before, so I'm going to assume no on that. ❞ The inventor shook his head, answering bluntly. Looking over, he saw that Kofuku was having trouble keeping up the pace with everyone else. He still felt unsure about his connection to her, but even if she didn't do anything productive, he didn't want to lose the potential help she could give with her powers. Groaning in annoyance, he signals his Dynamos to get into a rectangular formation around her, forming a projected hardlight rectangular container that would carry Kofuku for now. The Particle Prism formation was simple enough, so he didn't need to worry about wasted energy resources at the moment.
Just further through the forest, then there was finally an open clearing.
Given that it was the only building in their vicinity, this school was most definitely the safehouse that Keiichi and Rena were talking about. Passing through the stony playground field in front of the school, something that would stand out was the strange chalky marks on the ground that seemed to circle around the school building completely.
Without a moment wasted, Keiichi urgently knocked at the front doors, calling out,
❝ Mion! Mion, it's us! Keiichi and Rena, we're back! ❞ During this, Add looked back to make sure that there weren't any more stranglers of that earlier horde following them. To his surprise, the scientist tilted his head at how the few remaining villagers that were following them earlier... were now aimlessly walking away as if it just... lost interest?
Soon, the doors open after a few more moments of Keiichi knocking the door. Though, the door only cracks open a bit once whoever was inside realizes that there were more people with the two teenagers.
❝ Oh! Don't worry about them, Mion, they're actually really nice and protected us on her way back here! ❞ Rena quickly explains for the group, not wanting to leave them outside. There was a bit of silence before the door finally opened up wide. A green-haired girl, who seemed to be slightly older than Keiichi and Rena, holstered the pistol that she had at the ready just in case. This was probably the "Mion" that the two teens were talking to.
❝ Alright, everyone get in. Quickly! ❞ Mion ushers the group to come in with a commanding voice. Once everyone was accounted for and inside, Mion wasted no time on closing the front doors shut, immediately bolting the entrance and barricading it with a wooden bookcase. As they were now inside, Add releases Kofuku from the moving hardlight containment cube that he used to safely transport her with the group.
The hallway appeared like a mess, which isn't a surprise considering that this was a makeshift safehouse with the villager overrun by a monstrous horde. One of the classroom doors peered open, and a good handful of children peeked out to see what was going on at the entrance before retreating away from the door.
❝ There's a vacant classroom directly to your right. I guess a couple of you are tired after dealing with... all that shit outside. ❞ Mion points out a classroom that the group could use for the time being. It was only then that Mion notices Rena's arm injury.
❝ I got Rena covered, we should still have some first aid supplies in the infirmary. ❞ Keiichi reassures Mion before he takes Rena over to the infirmary on the far side of the hallway. Left alone with the group, Mion sighs before leading the group to the vacant classroom, where all the windows were boarded up and all they had to light the room was a camping lantern. There, she takes a seat on one of the chairs.
❝ I can tell you're not from around the area, Hinamizawa village and Okinomiya town in particular. I'm going to take an educated guess and say all of you have no idea what's happening here at all. Am I right? ❞
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