ting such a group.

But Alicia then continued in a vague way.

“Of course I’ll give my best in that too, but... That’s not what I meant... Uhh...”

“What?”

“...Sheryl, do you think it’s okay to let Erio rejoin once we get some more members?”

Alicia was worried about Erio. She did try to stop him back then but Erio said that he did not have any other choice as he set off to the Kuzusuhara ruins.

Although Alicia understood that Sheryl might even banish her if Sheryl came to know that she gave one of the gang’s gun to Erio without permission, Alicia still gave it to Erio, hoping that he would be able to return back safely.

The reason why Alicia volunteered herself to help Sheryl manage the gang was also because it would make it easier for her to give some of the gang’s guns to Erio. Moreover, she thought that if she became useful to Sheryl, she might be able to change Sheryl’s opinion bit by bit.

But Sheryl’s face turned sour.

“No.”

Although Alicia was staring at Sheryl with pleading eyes, Sheryl did not soften back at all as she continued.

“Just no, it hasn’t even been a month since that happened, you know? There’s no way I would let him join back in such a short time! Akira would visit this place regularly from now on, you know. So if he catches the sight of Erio, it might end up worse than having to banish him. And he might even get angry at the other kids too. Don’t you even understand that?!”

There was silence between them. Although she said that, both of them did not yield back. Sheryl then said coldly.

“If that’s all, then get back to work and cool your head off.”

“...Alright.”

Alicia then exited the room while hanging her head low.

Sheryl let out a sigh and stood up as she was about to head back to her work, but suddenly Alicia came running back to her.

“Sheryl! Erio is here.”

Sheryl glared at Alicia and said coldly.

“Kick him out. Alicia, you’re so obstinate. Just give it a rest already or...”

But then Alicia added to her report.

“...He has come here with Akira.”

Sheryl suddenly stiffened.

She then hurried to the room where Akira was waiting for her, but before she entered the room, she stopped near the door to check Akira’s mood. She then hid her sour feelings and entered the room. As she stepped into the room, she smiled at Akira while ignoring Erio who was sitting beside Akira and awkwardly looking at her.

“Welcome. Thank you very much for visiting us again today... Uhh, did Erio bother you again? Umm, please let me say this beforehand, Erio was banished from the gang since that happened. So if he did something to you, we have nothing to do with him anymore...”

In contrast to Sheryl who was trying to be as polite as possible in order not to ruin Akira’s mood, Akira replied to her casually.

“Yeah, that’s what I heard too. If it’s okay with you, can you let him rejoin the gang? Although, I’m totally fine if you’re not okay with it. After all, you’re the boss here.”

Sheryl was surprised when she heard Akira.

“Well... I don’t really mind if you say so, but... Are you really okay with that?”

“Yeah, after all, he helped me a bit with my work today.”

Sheryl was in no position to reject Akira. If Akira told her to banish someone, she would do it without any hesitation. It also meant that she would accept anyone to her gang if Akira told her to do so. Even if she found it strange or shocking, or even if she actually had some qualms in doing so, she would not do anything to ruin Akira’s mood. Sheryl then smiled fondly at Akira as she said.

“I understand. If that is the case, then I’ll accept him.”

Erio looked relieved as he let out a sigh. Alicia looked very happy when she heard that. While Sheryl was at a loss as to whether or not she should ask for the details. Akira then turned to Erio and said with a serious look.

“Erio, don’t say anything unnecessary to Sheryl. And Sheryl, don’t ask anything unnecessary to Erio. Okay?”

“I-I understand.”

“Okay.”

After hearing Erio answer back nervously and Sheryl who was smiling, Akira lightly nodded and said.

“That’s all for today. Later then.”

Akira then left the building.

Sheryl who was smiling all the time immediately changed to a puzzled look as she turned to Erio.

“So, what happened?”

Erio thought of telling Sheryl what happened, but he knew that he had to be careful not to tell her the complete details of the story. So Erio tried to be very careful with his words.

“...Things happened and Akira ended up saving my life. Then after that... Well, I had to help Akira... After I helped him, I begged him to help me talk with you to rejoin the gang. That’s all.”

Erio then recalled back what he just said to make sure that he did not say anything unnecessary.

“He saved your life, huh... How exactly did he...?”

Sheryl was about to ask for further details but stopped midway as she saw Erio desperately shaking his head.

“Please stop here. I don’t know what I should not reveal when Akira told me not to say anything unnecessary. If you ask me to tell you everything, I’ll just tell you everything from the start. But if Akira comes to know of it, I’ll tell him that you coerced me into telling the details, you know.”

Erio looked scared when he said that. It was so different compared to when he was trying to punch Akira.

Sheryl then asked Erio with a serious look.

“At least tell me this, Akira is not angry at you anymore, right?”

Erio went silent for a while as he seriously thought about the answer before opening his mouth.

“...I think it’s okay. If he wanted me dead, he would have left me to die.”

“I see. In that case, I’ll have you work right away. Make sure to watch over other kids so that they won’t do anything stupid like you. We have guns this time, so if that event repeats again, I’m afraid it won’t just end with Akira punching back.”

Erio replied back with a nod and a serious face.

“Roger that. After all, I don’t want to get into any more trouble too.”

Looking at how Erio’s behaviour changed 180 degrees, Sheryl really wanted to know what happened, but she just shut that feeling off for now. Alicia was so happy that Erio was back in the gang. And with Erio watching around, it was unlikely for anyone to do anything stupid like what he did back then. He could also be useful for telling the new members of his experience as he was someone who did it. That was what Sheryl thought as she stopped herself from digging any deeper into Erio’s story.

Sheryl thought that the same thing happened to Erio back then might also happen to her if she tried to pry further, so she closed the lid tightly on this matter.

Alicia smiled happily as she walked beside Erio.

“I’m really glad that you came back alive, Erio. Not to mention that you got to return back to the gang too. I don’t really understand what happened, but it’s all thanks to Akira, right?”

“Yeah, you’re right, he saved me back in the ruins.”

“I have to thank him properly myself later...”

As Erio looked at Alicia who was talking in such a happy mood, he remembered what happened to him back in the ruins. He was puzzled and thought.

[Now that I think about it, Akira was fighting the monsters back then as if he knew the location of those monsters from the start. He also sometimes turned to a direction where nothing was present... as if someone was beside him...]

Erio then remembered that Akira told him not to say anything unnecessary. Right when he remembered that, he suddenly felt an unknown terror as he shivered and froze.

Alicia looked puzzled when she saw that Erio suddenly stopped walking.

“Erio, what’s wrong?”

“Nah, it’s nothing.”

“Are you sure? Well, if you say so. By the way, you said that Akira saved you, so you were in danger, right? As I thought, did you get attacked by monsters and then get saved by Akira or something like-“

“Alicia.”

Erio cut her mid-way then looked at her with a serious face. While looking genuinely scared of something, he begged to Alicia who was surprised by his behaviour.

“I beg you. Please don’t ask me anything about that.”

“O-okay.”

Alicia flinched as she answered back and nodded firmly.

Erio finally realized what Akira meant when Akira warned him not to say anything unnecessary.

Erio shivered as he thought about the consequences if he said anything about that to other people. Then he thought about what would happen to Alicia if he told her about Akira. But just thinking about that made a chill run down his spine.

Looking at how Erio was behaving, Alicia worriedly asked him.

“Erio, are you really okay?”

Erio smiled to clear up Alicia’s worry as he replied back.

“...I’m okay.”

Erio then swore to himself to never reveal anything about Akira.