CHAPTER 26: WON’T YOU LEND HIM A HAND?

Regardless of Mumei's reaction, Fang Li, who was familiar with the original plot, naturally understood why the situation unfolded like this and why someone like Konochi Kurusu wore a sinister expression on his face as he pointed his gun at Ikoma.

As mentioned before, at the beginning of the story, two Hayajiro trains arrived at Aragane Station, one during the daytime and the other at night.

In the daytime Hayajiro train, someone was falsely accused of being a Kabane and was shot dead.

At that time, Ikoma had stood up for this person.

This justice-driven young man, who had always desired to defeat the Kabane, had developed a dislike for the Samurai in the Aragane Station long before, not only due to their lack of courage and confidence but also because they directed their guns at vulnerable fellow humans out of fear of the Kabane.

These Samurai couldn't kill or even defeat the Kabane so they took their frustration and anger out on the local and helpless populace. In Ikoma's eyes, such Samurai were nothing more than cowards.

Therefore, when Ikoma stepped forward at the station, he was also suspected by the Samurai and was considered a potential Kabane, and subsequently imprisoned.

Under such circumstances, logically speaking, Ikoma should have had nowhere to escape and would have been killed by the Kabane.

However, Ikoma appeared here and once again stood up for others.

When a person suspected of being a Kabane suddenly appeared, who wouldn't be on guard? And driven by this sentiment, Konochi Kurusu pointed his gun at Ikoma.

"You should be locked up in prison," Konochi Kurusu said coldly. "Why are you here?"

"…I broke the lock myself and escaped," Ikoma's tone was equally unfriendly, and his expression was extremely unpleasant. "If not for that, I would have been bitten by the Kabane in prison long ago, thanks to all of you."

"Almost bitten by the Kabane?" Konochi Kurusu's gaze became even sterner as he said, "I think you've already been bitten by the Kabane, haven't you?"

The surrounding crowd was instantly startled and instinctively moved away from Ikoma, not daring to approach him.

Even the government official who had encouraged Ikoma to step forward, along with the Samurai from the Yomokawa family, distanced themselves from Ikoma, their eyes filled with fear.

As for Yomokawa Ayame, the kind-hearted Rich Ojou-Sama, she seemed to want to speak up for Ikoma but was held back by Araka Kibito.

"Lady Ayame, please refrain from interfering," Araka Kibito's expression turned serious as he said, "If any Kabane manages to infiltrate among us during the upcoming escape, everyone will likely die."

Yomokawa Ayame was taken aback by Kirito's words and fell silent.

This angered Ikoma, who shouted loudly, "I'm not a Kabane!"

Unfortunately, his overly angered appearance only deepened everyone's suspicions of him.

At that moment, not only Konochi Kurusu but also the Samurai from the Yomokawa family, raised their guns and pointed them at Ikoma one after another.

"You…" Ikoma showed an angered and pained expression on his face as he tried to speak and that was only natural.

This justice-driven young man upheld the idea that the enemy should be the Kabane, not humans themselves, and he strongly detested and rejected internal strife among humans.

However, no matter the era, internal strife among humans is inevitable because humans possess wisdom, emotions, and various complex sentiments. In the absence of mutual understanding and acceptance, internal strife among humans will never cease.

Therefore, fundamentally, Ikoma was indeed a dreamy and passionate young man.

He is someone who is unable to grasp the reality and he solely relies on his passionate actions, it may sound positive, but to put it harshly, it was reckless and thoughtless.

If not for the protagonist's halo, characters like him usually die very early on in such an apocalyptic world.

However, for those people who can see the situation clearly, they would clearly see that such individuals are not necessarily deserving of hate.

Seeing Ikoma become the target of everyone's guns, Fang Li looked at Mumei, who had been watching Ikoma all along, and chuckled softly as he spoke, "What? Aren't you going to help him?"

"Help?" Mumei hesitated before she lowered her head, and said, "Why should I help him?"

"Oh?" Fang Li looked directly at Mumei and spoke with a tone that was filled with hidden meaning. "Are you sure you don't want to help him?"

Listening to Fang Li's meaningful words, Mumei felt as if she had been completely seen through by this person.

This feeling naturally made her uncomfortable.

Mumei glared at Fang Li with some resentment on her face, and shortly afterward, under his teasing gaze, she weakly raised her body and looked ahead.

Immediately, Mumei's voice rang out clearly, breaking the tense atmosphere in the scene.

"Put down your guns," Mumei spoke with a somewhat feeble voice, sounding dejected. "That person is not a Kabane."

Mumei's words brought a glimmer of hope to Ikoma's complexion, while the people around them exchanged glances.

"Not a Kabane?" Konochi Kurusu didn't put down his gun and remained cold in his tone as he spoke. "He may not be a Kabane right now, but who knows if he will become one in the future?"

"We can't rule out the possibility that he has been bitten by a Kabane," Araka Kibito chimed in, his words carrying a bit more compassion compared to Konochi Kurusu's coldness. He continued, "Unless we examine his body and prove that there are no traces of him being bitten by a Kabane."

These words made Ikoma's expression freeze. Fang Li naturally understood why it happened like this and Mumei seemed to understand it too.

"If you want to know whether he has been bitten by a Kabane or not, I can tell you." Mumei slightly lifted her gaze, and her childish voice slowly resounded.

"He has been bitten."

The temperature in the air instantly dropped to a freezing point as they heard Mumei's words.

"————?!"

The samurai with their guns raised were all visibly shocked, their gun muzzles pointed directly at Ikoma, their faces showing expressions of fear.

The surrounding crowd screamed in alarm, creating a pervasive atmosphere of panic.

"W-Wait!" Ikoma involuntarily took two steps back, shaking his head as if unwilling to accept reality, his voice trembling. "I… I'm not a Kabane… I'm not a Kabane!"

However, no one believed him. It is a well-known fact that people who have been bitten by a Kabane will turn into one and only Mumei's expression remained unchanged throughout.

"You're right, you're indeed not a Kabane."

With those words spoken, Mumei approached and stood beside Ikoma, looking directly at him, her every word deliberate.

"But you're no longer human either."