I immediately turned around, walking against the crowd that kept pushing me away from the crying sound.
After a while I finally got out of the crowd and saw the source of the crying sound, a little girl hugging a teddy bear. The teddy bear looked worn out and had many stitches and patches.
The little girl had white hair, her hair was short, loose and looked very straight with a ponytail on the left.
I approached the little girl and greeted her "uhm... Are you okay?" Damn, I don't know how to talk to little kids.
The little girl wiped her tears and started looking at me, her face was so cute, I wanted to kidnap her...
But after she saw my face, her grip on the teddy bear became even tighter, I was really confused, was my face that scary?"
That's right.
Bino must be able to comfort her.
At that moment I realized, Bino was no longer on my shoulder, where did he go?
Looking around which was very quiet and very dark, there were no signs of Bino, other people, or spirit creatures at all, I immediately realized something strange around me.
Where were the SCH officers? Even though there were quite a lot of them on guard earlier, when did they all leave?
This is really strange, I have to quickly evacuate.
But now, how do I gain this little girl's trust?
Well... Maybe I can try to be honest with her?
Hopefully this little girl understands that the situation is dire.
"Look, it's very unsafe to be here now, do you want to come with me to a safe place?" It seemed like that sentence was very suspicious.
Fortunately, the little girl seemed to understand, she nodded slightly even though her grip on the teddy bear was still tight.
"Hold my hand, I'll lead the way." I said that while holding out my hand.
Although she seemed a bit hesitant at first, but in the end she took my hand, her hands felt a bit shaky, but for a little girl she was very calm.
I warned her "We're going to walk quite fast, try not to fall okay?"
Although her voice was small, I seemed to hear her say "y-yes.", her voice was very cute...
"..."
Argh, it's not the time to think about that.
I walked at a fairly fast pace, the girl seemed to be able to keep up without difficulty, so I sped up a little.
The surroundings were very dark, fortunately there was still the moon reflecting a little sunlight, making it not too dark, at least enough to see the road.
The light in the middle of the chicken noodle district that I saw earlier, became brighter, maybe because it was getting darker?
While walking I sometimes looked back to make sure the little girl was okay.
Luckily so far I haven't met any spirit creatures at all.
So as not to be too tense, I asked "Hey, what's your name?"
After maybe two seconds she replied in a very soft, small voice "I-I'm Chloe."
A very classic name.
"Chloe huh?" I confirmed again.
"Yes!" This time she replied faster and with a louder voice, it seemed like she was starting to get brave. Good.
Wait a minute.
Which way am I walking?
As soon as I realized that I was lost, I immediately stopped walking. The surroundings were very dark, I couldn't recognize this place.
In the midst of my confusion, I felt a slight touch on my back.
After looking back, it turned out that it was Chloe who was trying to call me using the touch of her small fingertips.
While a little hesitant and shy, Chloe asked me "w-what's wrong? uhm... Why did we stop walking?"
Honestly I didn't want to make her panic, but I couldn't think of any other better excuse "well... Actually we're lost."
Chloe replied with a somewhat confused "Ehh...?"
Is that her only answer?
Somehow I feel like she's much calmer than me, even though her life is in danger. Is it possible that she doesn't understand our current situation?
When I looked at Chloe, she was looking around, her face seemed to be in deep thought.
She... Is trying to find out where we are?
"Do you know where we are? Or maybe you know the way to the Meatball district?" I know this is strange, but for some reason I really trust Chloe.
With her face facing down, Chloe told me "s-sadly, I don't know either..."
Well, she tried her best.
Unconsciously I stroked her head gently, she looked a little embarrassed and her grip seemed to loosen a little. When I stroked it, it felt really calming...
"Eh!? Sorry, I didn't mean to." At that moment I stopped stroking her and let go of her grip because of reflex. I thought patting the head of someone I just met was very rude.
I really lost control.
"Uhm... I don't really mind it." She said that while grabbing my hand.
She was really cute.
I thought about looking at my cellphone, it was now eleven forty-seven minutes, in thirteen minutes it would be the peak of the midnight zone. There was no signal, because it was the midnight zone, right?
"Y-yeah, for now let's keep walking forward?"
Chloe replied with a slight nod.
Chloe and I walked forward again, without knowing the way. The important thing was that I walked away from the light in the center of the chicken noodle district, that way I would get out of the chicken noodle district.
I kept walking while holding Chloe's hand, occasionally checking the time on my cellphone.
Eleven fifty-one minutes past.
Eleven fifty-four minutes past.
Eleven fifty-six minutes past.
Eleven fifty-seven minutes past.
When I checked again, the minutes hadn't even changed. It felt like time was moving slower and slower.
I don't know what will happen when the midnight zone reaches its peak.
"Chloe... If-"
"WUSH!" Before I could finish my sentence, I was surprised by an object like a pebble that shot past my face very quickly.
With a shocked face, Chloe shouted "Whoa!?"
Luckily the object didn't hurt me or Chloe.
After that I immediately looked in the direction the object came from and saw in the distance a figure like a long-armed monkey with bright red eyes, its fur was jet black, especially because the surroundings were very dark.
Spirit creatures huh!?
He quickly ran this way, what's this!?
For a while I thought about holding him here and letting Chloe escape. But I'm scared... Maybe I'm not afraid of death but I'm afraid of pain, especially after seeing the creature's form, I can't imagine what would happen to me if I got caught.
"Chloe! Let's run!"
I quickly tightened my grip on Chloe and ran as fast as I could.
"Akh..."
"Bruk!"
But unfortunately Chloe was still in shock which caused her to lose her balance and fall.
"SH*T!" I shouted in panic.
The monkey was close, he was preparing to attack Chloe!
I couldn't think anymore.
I quickly lifted Chloe's body and threw her away, instantly making myself hit by the monkey right on my head.
I fell and my head hit a rock... with... very... Har...
"..."