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Editor’s Note: Oni-girl sounds like Onigiri to me, but I can’t think of another name T_T Help! The accurate term should be Ogre-girl but I don’t think it sounds nice… >.<
The stench of those ragged street brats had seeped into my very skin.
Mixed with the sour tang of milk was a cloying sweetness, layered with a distinct animal reek—sweat, blood, excrement.
This sewer, where all the world’s filth flowed, was their den.
“Di. You awake?”
In the darkness, Abby stood, and the brats who had been stirring woke up.
Clinging to the left side of my body was a rabbit-eared girl, about four or five years old. On my right was a cat-eared girl, twelve or thirteen. For convenience, I’ll call them Rabbit-girl and Cat-girl.
Straddling me from the front, hugging me without hesitation, was a dwarf girl. Her age was unclear. Despite her small stature, her build was sturdy.
On my right leg was a girl with bluish, cold, scale-like skin.
She’ll be Lizard-girl.
On my left leg was a larger girl. Smaller than Abby but bigger than the others. A horn-like protrusion jabbed painfully against my hip. She looked twelve or thirteen, older than most of her peers. Oni-girl.
Six or seven more lingered nearby, but I neither knew nor cared about them.
“Time to move.”
Abby jerked her chin, leading us down the sewer-like path.
“Careful. Hold my hand,” Lizard-girl said, gripping mine tightly.
It was so dark I could barely see. Beneath the smell of rotting water came the faint trickle of liquid. It really was a sewer.
Led by Lizard-girl, I followed the winding labyrinth of tunnels. Even if someone told me to return, I couldn’t have found my way back alone.
Eventually, a biting cold blew through, hinting at daylight. Lizard-girl reluctantly let go of my hand.
“Thanks. You helped me.”
“It’s fine. Di helps us, so this much is nothing.”
“What do you mean by that?”
The sewer stretched impossibly wide, like a tunnel carved for infrastructure. If so, we must be in a fairly large, civilized city.
Lost in thought, I felt Oni-girl poke me with her finger.
“Move. You’re blocking the way.”
Her nails scratched me—sharp enough to sting.
Looking again, Oni-girl stood a full head taller than me, muscular and imposing. A single horn protruded from the right side of her forehead. Her slanted eyes were sharp. She looked ready to fight at the drop of a hat.
“You’re just a weakling human. But you’re warm. I’ll give you a little special treatment.”
“Well… thanks, I guess.”
Perhaps Lizard-girl and Oni-girl have trouble regulating their body temperature…
“But when the dog-men, the War Dogs, come, you’ll be useless. Don’t get cocky,” Oni-girl added irritably before I could form a thought.
“Tch.”
What a brat.
We reached the sewer exit. Cold wind cut through, but the stench dulled against it.
The dwarf girl, smiling far too brightly, grabbed my hand. I let her. Her stocky build suggested strength, and her large, acorn-shaped eyes gave her a spoiled look.
We trudged on. Across the drainage ditch ran another narrow walkway.
“That’s Frankie’s turf. Never go over there,” Cat-girl said curtly, poking me with a clawed finger. Not as sharp as Oni-girl’s, but enough to sting.
Cat-girl was thin but carried herself with natural poise. The sway of her hips and the movement of her long tail stood out.
She and Oni-girl seemed close, walking side by side. From the way they regarded me, neither liked me much.
Then stop clinging to me, damn it.
A hunch told me they might even be intimately close. Well, with only girls around, that sort of thing happened.
Behind me, the others trailed. I didn’t care. If they wanted to be friendly, fine, but I wasn’t going to force it.
Oni-girl shoved past me and whispered something to Abby at the front.
“No, we’ll leave it to Zoë first. I won’t listen to you, Ashita.”
“But—!”
“Sui’s life’s at stake. And who was it that said Eva’s too skinny and uncomfortable to cuddle? You slept fine last night, didn’t you? How’s the new guy, Ashita, hmm?”
Abby teased, and Oni-girl—Ashita—clicked her tongue and backed off.
“Outta the way!”
She shoved me aside and rejoined Cat-girl.
…What a pain.
I hid my irritation. I didn’t want to cause trouble as the “newcomer.” I tightened my grip on the dwarf girl’s hand, and she squeezed back with a small, reassuring smile.
We kept walking. A rope ladder dangling from a distant wall appeared. Abby turned to check behind her.
Like leading a kindergarten field trip, she had her hands full.
She wasn’t a bad sort, I guessed, but there was a coldness about her. In the light, I could see she was dressed differently. The kids wore filthy rags, but Abby had a leather breastplate and two large knives at her belt.
Clearly, the leader. Queen Bee.
“You’re keeping up, I see. But I haven’t asked yet. Di, what can you do?”
“…? If you tell me to do something, I’ll do it. But I guess that’s not what you mean.”
Abby raised a brow, scratching her chin in thought.
“Haven’t you gone to the church yet?”
“Church? There’s a church here?”
“Hah?”
For a moment, Abby looked exasperated and ruffled her short, neatly cut hair. Animal ears poked out from it. Her sharp face and slitted eyes gave her the air of a fox.
They all walked on two legs, with two hands, like me. But they weren’t human.
Abby snorted.
“After we eat, we’ll head to the church. Just in case, I gotta confirm something with Granny Ada first…”
Her muttered words were almost to herself.
Something smelled fishy. Abby was scheming for her own purposes, not mine. I was about to press her when I saw it.
“No way…”
The words slipped out. Abby followed my gaze, puzzled.
“What’s wrong, Di? Hm? A corpse. That’s what got you?”
“…”
I was speechless. From Abby’s calm face, this wasn’t unusual.
A child’s corpse drifted along in the sewer.
The face looked startled, mouth half-open. For a second, I thought he might blink, notice me. But his eyes were empty, void of light. A bloodstain spread over his chest, pierced in a single strike. He was likely dead before he even realized what happened.
It was the first dead body—especially a child—I’d ever seen.
“—!”
My throat tightened. I turned away, forcing myself not to think.
“What’s wrong, Di? Sick? Hmmm.”
Abby squinted at me, then grinned.
“That’s great!”
The hell it is, you brat.
Maybe this kind of scene wasn’t unusual in this world. But I was Japanese. I was from a peaceful country. And now, reality showed how fortunate I’d been.
“What a weak stomach. Wait—isn’t that one of Frankie’s lackeys?”
Oni-girl mocked me, and Abby looked back at the corpse. She nodded.
“Yeah. I vaguely remember. Frankie’s little tagalong.”
And with that, Abby lost interest, turning back to the rope ladder.
“Doesn’t matter. Let’s go.”
Like hell it doesn’t.
I swallowed my disgust and nodded.
That’s a kid!
And you brats talk about it like nothing happened.
Give me a break…
A shitty environment. A shitty situation.
This was the reality I was stuck in.