After receiving word from Fukuyama Shoichi, Hino Kaoru arrived outside the mental hospital.
For an existence like hers, there was naturally no need to use the front entrance. She was currently at the back of the hospital. Though there was a high protective fence here, she could leap over it whenever she wished.
‘Tsukiyomi Ruri, Izumi Shirayuki, Mizuhashi Yuzuki, Inoue Keiko. Four Mid-Level Reincarnators, right? If it’s just four people, they won’t be my match at all.’
Kaoru thought to herself as she vaulted over the fence.
“Huh?”
Just as Kaoru landed, she heard a surprised sound. Her heart clenched tight, and she looked up toward the source of the voice.
There was a tree there.
It was a thick tree, and someone was actually perched in it. So much so that when Kaoru had first arrived, she hadn’t noticed anyone was there.
Under Kaoru’s watchful gaze, a man with long hair and wearing headphones dropped down from the tree.
This person was, naturally, Alkaid.
“Who are you?” Alkaid asked, sizing Kaoru up.
Kaoru narrowed her eyes. “Who I am is none of your business, right?”
Alkaid smiled. “Of course it’s my business. The way you hopped over that fence so easily, you’re clearly a Reincarnator. How could a Reincarnator visiting this place be none of my business?”
‘As expected, he’s also a Reincarnator.’
A thought flashed through Kaoru’s mind, and she asked in a low voice, “Are you one of Izumi Shirayuki’s people?”
Because Shirayuki was the Club President of the Urban Legend Club, Kaoru, believing the club to be a Reincarnator team, had naturally assumed Shirayuki was the Commander.
“Izumi Shirayuki? Who’s that?” Alkaid asked, puzzled.
“It seems you’re not connected to the person I’m looking for. In that case, you have no reason to stop me,” Kaoru said coldly.
Alkaid shook his head, however. “No. Currently, no Reincarnator outside of my plan can enter this place. But from what you’re saying, there are other Reincarnators inside this mental hospital? I’ll be sure to thoroughly clean them out.”
He was still smiling, but the words he spoke were exceptionally cold.
At this, blazing flames flickered to life on Kaoru’s right hand. “My path is not something just anyone can block.”
“If you’ve got a problem, you can try me,” Alkaid said, showing no intention of backing down. He crooked his finger at Kaoru, the gesture utterly provocative.
Kaoru didn’t waste any more words. With a flick of her hand, the flame in her palm instantly transformed into a fiery bird that shot swiftly toward Alkaid to attack.
Almost simultaneously, the air before Alkaid trembled. Rings of sound waves materialized out of nowhere, colliding with the incoming firebird and slowly grinding it out of existence.
‘He’s actually a Senior Reincarnator?’
Kaoru couldn’t help but frown.
Alkaid also became serious, scrutinizing Kaoru carefully.
For the two of them, if the opponent was a Senior Reincarnator, fighting was extremely inconvenient. Battles between Senior Reincarnators were hard to end quickly, and the commotion they caused was particularly large, easily drawing the attention of ordinary people, which would bring even bigger trouble.
Just as Kaoru was hesitating, Alkaid laughed. “Hero, you can stop hiding now.”
As soon as he spoke, another person dropped from the tree: it was Gounon, still wearing his hospital gown, the one who called himself a Hero.
Gounon stared at Kaoru but spoke to Alkaid. “Is this woman a servant of the Great Devil God? If she is, should we kill her?”
Alkaid didn’t answer, but said to Kaoru, “He’s a Senior Reincarnator too. Still want to fight?”
Kaoru didn’t waste any more words. She turned around and left immediately.
She wasn’t so naive as to truly believe Gounon was a Senior Reincarnator just like that, but she saw the probability as quite high. There was no need to risk it.
And even without Gounon, it was inconvenient for her to fight Alkaid to begin with. Leaving first to find another way was her only option.
Watching Kaoru depart like that, Gounon looked at Alkaid with confusion.
Alkaid reassured him, “Don’t worry, she’s not a servant of the Devil God. Just a passerby who accidentally disturbed us. We don’t need to concern ourselves with her.”
Gounon nodded.
Alkaid continued, “But it seems there are still other Reincarnators in this hospital. Whether their presence will cause trouble for our plan is hard to predict. So let’s go back inside, find these people, and do a little clean-up.”
Gounon still had no objections. Although in his mind, Alkaid was someone who had come to serve him—basically his underling—he was, after all, a mental patient, easily manipulated by Alkaid, and in fact followed his every word.
After leaving, Kaoru quickly sent a message to Fukuyama Shoichi’s Smartphone. “If you can leave this hospital, leave as soon as possible. There are two Senior Reincarnators inside. I don’t know what their objective is, but it shouldn’t be related to us.”
After sending the message, she got no reply.
Clearly, Shoichi’s Smartphone wasn’t in his hand. Faced with this situation, Kaoru couldn’t do anything more. She could only hope Shoichi could protect himself.
In their room, the three Reincarnators—Izumi Shirayuki, Yuzuki, and Keiko—were doing their best to communicate while avoiding Tsukiyomi Ruri’s notice.
For Reincarnators, it was possible to communicate without being detected, even right beside an ordinary person. However, Ruri was no ordinary person.
Ruri naturally noticed Shirayuki and the others’ furtive behavior, but she didn’t know the specific content of their communications.
‘If they keep communicating by passing notes, it’s hard for me to know what they’re talking about. In that case…’
Ruri quickly had an idea. She deliberately yawned and said, “I’m feeling a bit sleepy. I’ll go nap in the next room for half an hour.”
Shirayuki’s eyes lit up. “You want to sleep? You definitely should get good sleep then. Lack of sleep is bad for a girl’s skin.”
At this moment, Shirayuki and the other two had many things they wanted to discuss. If Ruri wasn’t there, it would be much more convenient for them. Naturally, they were quite happy.
Ruri waved her hand, walked out of the room, chose an empty one, went inside, and sat on the bed. Then, through the Faceless, she began to eavesdrop on Shirayuki’s side.
“Yuzuki, how’s the soundproofing of the walls here?” Shirayuki asked in a low voice.
“Don’t worry about that, the soundproofing here is especially good. After all, mental patients tend to get noisy easily,” Mizuhashi Yuzuki replied.
“That’s good,” Shirayuki relaxed.
