Book 14: Chapter 5: The Invisible Enemy, Part 1
About five minutes had passed since Ayanokōji-senpai went running up the slope in pursuit of Ike-senpai.
I gently laid Kinoshita-senpai, who I had been holding in my arms, onto the ground beside Komiya-senpai.
After which, I stood back up and quietly stared into the deep forest behind me.
“Hey, what’s wrong?”
Sudō-senpai spoke up, suspicious of my actions. I felt sorry about not responding to him, but I didn’t have the time to explain anything right now.
Someone was clearly trying to provoke us.
They had been watching over us this entire time, and although they were making their presence known, they had chosen not to approach us.
Though, while their presence was obvious to me, it was no more than a subtle difference in the atmosphere that ordinary people wouldn’t be able to notice.
But how long had they been there? Right, it had been since Ayanokōji-senpai left to run up the slope.