Hidden Crack

Once Luna and I dealt with our side, I went to check on Shiro's. However what I saw was something quite different to what I expected.

What was in front of me was Shiro, mercilessly swinging an axe around, not even knowing how to properly wield it as she slices through another two grobbes, but what was disturbing was her face...

She had a massive grin on her face, the biggest one I've seen, with her eyes wide open, almost as if she's deranged in a way.

"Shiro!"

Lisa ends up not dealing with the remaining grobbes and instead tries to get Shiro to settle down. But with Shiro darting around the place, swinging the axe recklessly, Lisa struggles to do anything as she simply watches Shiro finish off the remaining grobbes, laughing as she does so.

"Shiro!"

I try to call out her name this time, but the moment I do, Shiro looks in my direction, and in the next moment, I felt a massive amount of pressure force itself upon me, almost making it hard to even breathe. Is this Shiro's aura? This- isn't her...

But right as it was about to get too much to handle, Lisa manages to step in, using the window of opportunity I've given to pull the mask that was resting above her head back over her eyes.

"H-huh?" Shiro seems to have regain consciousness, but that only lasts for a couple seconds as her body almost immediately goes limp as Lisa ends up carrying her in her arms.

Luna and I rush over to them as I look over Shiro's body just in case. Her body's covered in blood but I can tell that none of it's from hers as I quickly use blood magic to clean her off.

"You alright?" Luna asks me that question as I quickly pick up that Luna also seems to be out of breathe. Was Shiro attacking both of us just now?

"I- I'm fine."

I had not expected this. Wait... No. I've seen Shiro like this before. it was only for a moment before I started losing consciousness, but I do remember seeing that same look in her eyes back at those abandoned warehouses during my fight with those people.

"I never expected Shiro to-" Lisa ends up speaking, but cuts her sentence short as we all look around us.

Every single grobbe Shiro killed was all split in half, some even cut into quarters with arms and legs sliced clean off from it's body. It's not too difficult to do, but with such a crude axe like the one she used, I'm honestly surprised...

"I- I'll handle the harvesting. You two take Shiro out." Luna says as she begins collecting the grobbe heads before storing them inside her bag. Just like my bag, Luna's bag is enchanted with magic that allows a infinite amount of storage as long as the item can fit inside the opening. I simply call is the bottomless bag.

After Luna finished up with the collection of the heads, she joins us outside the cave, but nothing much has changed as Shiro is still unconscious in Lisa's arms. At least now we've all calmed down by that sudden surprise as we take shade under a tree.

"So, what happened back there?" Luna asks Lisa as she rests Shiro up against the base of the tree.

"I don't know. Everything was fine until she killed the first one. Then it was like she couldn't hear me..."

It is quite alarming... But what I'm struggling with dealing with is the fact that Shiro actually tried to attack us. I know Shiro didn't do that intentionally, not after how much I've lived with her and gotten to know her. No, she was a completely different person back in that cave...

"I think we should stop with the jobs for now." Luna says as both Lisa and I nod in agreement.

"Nn. We might need to figure out a way around this in case it happens again. We're lucky we had the mask with us."

Yeah... Without the mask, Shiro wouldn't have fallen unconscious like this. If we had left the mask behind, who knows what would've happened...

"...I don't want Shiro to know about this." I finally speak up, which seems to have caught both Lisa and Luna's attention. "I don't want her feeling stressed for what she done."

"Agreed. I'll try and figure something out."

"Same here. I'll try and get in contact with Mell, see if she can help as well."

So, with our plans coming to an unexpected end, we end up moving back to the guild, only this time, I choose to carry Shiro back, holding her behind her back and legs; princess carry.

With our speed, we make it back in under an hour. Of course people were curious as to why Shiro was unconscious, and when the staff wanted to give aid, I simply dismissed them, saying that I'll handle it. We turned in the job, leaving it there for today as we return to Luna's place where I gently laid Shiro down on the couch.

"You guys can rest here if you like?" Luna suggests us to stay, which I think is best.

"Thanks, auntie."

"You two can stay. I'll report back to HQ." Lisa however chooses to leave a she already begins making her way to the magic crest.

"Okay."

With Lisa having now gone back, Luna carries over a blanket to pull over Shiro. It's not cold in this world at the moment like it is in the human world, but I think it's still good to keep warm in a situation like this.

"Let's just hope she wakes up."

"Nn..."