ch1-ch20 · 010-ch10

Chapter 10: A Cliché Kidnapping

"Come with me"—I mean, if someone just springs that on you, it's obviously suspicious, right?

But Yamanai-kun is our classmate, you know? And he's not some delinquent, he's an athlete.

Even after what happened before, I wasn't that on guard. I figured at worst, he'd take us somewhere out of sight and bow his head to Sumi—and by extension, to us.

Well, the part about "somewhere out of sight" with fewer people around was right on the money.

But who expects a van to pull up with sketchy-looking guys getting out and grinning at you?

When I turned around to run, there was another guy with the same sketchy vibe standing behind us.

We've been surrounded! ...Ugh, this isn't funny at all.

"Yamanai! I'm never forgiving you for this, you hear me!"

Sumi yelled and glared at him, but this was way beyond that now.

But panicking won't help. This is exactly when you need to stay calm and use your safety gear. It's not like I've been learning how to use this stuff every year since elementary school for nothing.

I pulled the buzzer hanging from my backpack—the one that goes beeep.

　　　Beeeeeeeeeeep...

I was thinking "so loud!" when it stopped after like two seconds.

"No way, is it broken?"

Kiri looked at me with a desperate expression. I probably had the same look on my face.

"Just stay quiet. We ain't gonna eat ya or nothin'."

The guy on the van side walked right up to us. Like I could believe such an obviously villainous line like that?

"Don't come near us, you creeps!"

Sumi boldly raised her fists, but she froze in that position.

"Sumi!?"

"Wh-what is this... I can't move my arms..."

Looking closely, the guy was making a grabbing gesture with his right hand extended toward us.

Then, marks like someone grabbing her wrists appeared on Sumi's raised hands.

"W-wait, isn't this like, a whole other world situation!?"

"Do something, Melkid!"

"........."

Melkid, who had only stuck his face out of Kiri's bag, didn't move an inch.

...No response. He was just like an ordinary stuffed animal.

This jerk—he realized he couldn't win and committed fully to playing dead as a plushie! The absolute worst!

While I was thinking that, Kiri and I also got our wrists grabbed by the strange power of the guy behind us.

Seriously... These are definitely the bad bandits, right? Finding the bandits before the knight we're looking for—is that even a thing?

　　―　◆　―

The three of us got thrown into the back of the van.

In the driver's seat was a young man with a totally different vibe from the sketchy guys—he looked normal. But when I caught a glimpse of him while being led in, his eyes seemed kind of hollow.

With that young man driving, the car started moving. He wasn't speeding or anything—just normal, safe driving.

We weren't tied up or gagged or anything. We were just put in the flat space made by folding down the seats.

Yamanai-kun was in the passenger seat, and behind him in the middle seats—or whatever you call them—the two sketchy guys were sitting side by side.

"Hey Yamanai! You better remember this, you're gonna get it later!"

Sumi was fuming, but Yamanai-kun didn't react at all.

"He's completely ignoring you."

"No, he cannot hear your voice."

Having stopped moving and taken on his stuffed animal form, Melkid started talking.

"He can't hear us?"

"It is a technique using eiyōso. An invisible membrane surrounds us."

When he said that, I reached out a bit and touched something like a squishy, gelatinous wall of air.

"It not only blocks sound, but only the caster can freely enter or exit."

"Ah, so that's why they didn't tie us up. They figured we couldn't escape anyway."

"The buzzer stopping earlier was probably because of this too."

They surrounded just the buzzer with a tiny barrier. How dexterous.

...Wait, this isn't the time to be impressed!

"Hey Melkid, are those guys the bandits?"

"Yes, most likely. I did not recognize their faces, but the fact that they're using eiyōso means it can only be them."

"Hey, hey, isn't it amazing that they're driving a car when they just got to this world?"

Having learned that her anger couldn't reach him, Sumi returned to her usual demeanor.

"No, the one driving this car is probably someone from this world. I believe they are being controlled by techniques."

"Huh, so Yamanai-kun is being controlled too?"

Melkid nodded slightly. Hey, you'll give yourself away if you move.

Well, if he's being controlled, then Yamanai-kun deserves some sympathy. Though whether Sumi will forgive him is questionable.

"Hey, hey, why did they go through the trouble of using Yamanai to kidnap us? I don't get it."

Kiri's question. Come to think of it, yeah.

We're just high schoolers. There's no reason for people from another world to kidnap us. ...Ah, except for this guy.

"Did they find out about Melkid?"

"No, with my wonderful acting skills, they don't suspect a thing. Besides, if I were the target, they would have separated me from all of you and captured me in that smelly seat with the old men... Ah, just imagining it makes my nose wrinkle..."

Well, putting aside the body odor that would damage Melkid's sense of smell, what he's saying makes sense.

So that makes it even more confusing.

They probably are looking for the knight too, just like us.

We're looking for the knight too, but we're not acquaintances of the knight, so we wouldn't make good hostages. And of course we don't know where he is.

What gives? Why go through all the trouble to kidnap three girls from this world?

As I tilted my head, Sumi was casually taking out her smartphone.

Ah, right. Since they're from another world, they don't know about smartphones, so they didn't take it.

"Hmmm, no signal out here."

"No way, we haven't even been driving that long?"

The back seats had the curtains closed so we couldn't see outside, but we hadn't been driving long enough to leave town.

"Maybe this barrier blocks smartphone signals too?"

Kiri was touching the transparent squishy barrier with interest. Blocking signals from this world too—isn't that too convenient?

"What about that, Melkid?"

".........Hmmmmm."

I asked, but Melkid just made a difficult face and fell silent.

Well, I guess Melkid doesn't understand what a smartphone is either.

I took out my own smartphone too, but sure enough, no signal.

Since I can't use location services, I don't even know where we're driving. ...Hmm?

"What's wrong, Ai~"

"N-nothing."

For a second, I thought the little charm attached to my phone lit up, but I guess it was just my imagination.