Chapter 9: Chapter 8 – Empty World

After I calmed down, Hinako let go of me. She patted me for the last time and put down the DI42 she was holding. She went into the grotesque sight of a deceased winged snake corpse. She looked around the winged snake's stomach that was blown away by the DI42 bullets. Hinako's eyes were squirming in disgust, however she continued to look for something. 

"There it is!" Hinako moved her soft hand towards the gross stomach filled with green blood of the winged snake as she grabbed something, it was a beautiful looking magical staff you could see in anime and movies. She moved it around with a bittersweet eyes. 

"What's that?" I asked curiously. 

Hinako answered weakly, "it's a magic staff," as the staff glowed a bright ocean color with a hint of purple around it, the same color as the staff itself. Until a few moments later, the light disappeared. 

I had a lot of questions, but the stench coming out from the blood of the winged snake grew stronger, so we hurriedly walked towards my house to take a shower and breakfast. 

As we finally arrived at my house, Hinako had an unnerving feeling in her expression. Unable to hold back, she finally asked, "Sayoko, are you really okay?" 

I tried my best to smile as I answered, "I told you, I'm fine, don't worry about me."

My legs and arms were still a bit shaking, but I told myself to not let any negative emotions and words leak out. Hinako looked unconvinced with my answer, nevertheless she tried to look playful as before, however I could tell she was trying a little bit too hard. 

"We're home!" I busted the door open as Chloe greeted us with its usual robotic voice. I gestured to Hinako to take a shower first before me, however she was a bit hesitant. 

"Wh-what if ghosts appear?" Stuttered Hinako with a rather flat tone. 

I couldn't tell whether she was being serious or not, nevertheless I finally ended up joining Hinako taking a shower while letting Chloe cook us breakfast. We rinsed off our stench from the blood of the winged snake while letting Chloe take care of the stained clothes. After we were done showering, we wore casual outfits and immediately went to the dining room and sat down to eat breakfast.

"Thanks for the food," We spoke at the same time. 

Hinako fidgeted her fingers in a shy motion. Her eyes were glancing at all kinds of different motions, until suddenly she took a deep sigh and faced me. 

"Umm, Sayoko, I think you should notify this kingdom's king and knights, with how things are going on right now, I had a feeling the demon invasion would appear here," Hinako suggested. 

"Stay there," I took a moment before standing up from my chair, and leaving Hinako behind. 

I ran into my room and searched for a secret cabinet. I took a deep breath before opening it. I smiled bitterly at the sight of hundreds and hundreds of folded papers, as I grabbed all of them back towards the dining room. 

Hinako was surprised to see me covered with a bunch of folded papers, and rushed towards me to help. I thanked Hinako and asked her to put all of the papers into the floor. 

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"What's with all of these paintings?" Hinako asked curiously as she looked over a few pictures of empty cities and villages. 

I took a deep breath before replying, "This world doesn't have kings or soldiers anymore."

Hinako tilted her head in confusion, she looked at me impatiently waiting for an answer. I sighed once more as I tried to form a coherent sentence. 

"Not just king, this world doesn't have humans anymore," I continued. 

Hinako took a step back, "What… Do you mean?"

"I mean what I said, humanity no longer existed."

Hinako took a moment to comprehend my answer. Her eyes were flickering with confusion, until finally she grasped something. 

"Ah, does… Does that mean beastkin took over? Maybe the dwarves? Perhaps the elves? Or did demons invade this country? What about the monsters and witches?" Hinako asked with a barrage of questions. 

I simply unfold the remaining papers, revealing famous places around the earth. There were hundreds and hundreds more pictures of empty streets, busy traffic cars with no drivers, burning skyscrapers, and famous monuments without a single person in the picture. 

"There were simply… no more humans, or demons, or anything. These pictures were all the remains of humanity," I said, with a weak voice. 

Hinako stared at me blankly. Her eyes were flabbergasted. She stared at me with disbelief and confusion. Reflexively, she took one more step back. 

"On 22th September 2048, when I woke up… there was no one, not a single human life could be found… I tried everything, I mapped out the entire earth using Artificial Intelligence satellites, however as you can see in the pictures I printed here, not a single human life was detected. I tried to fly over to other countries, learned how to fly an airplane without a license. Even then… I still couldn't find anyone. I searched the mountains, forests, and even the most remote islands I could find. I went into caves in hopes to find anyone. I tried to find any bunker I could find. I tried everything… everything! Until I finally couldn't take it anymore, and gave up. I simply led an ordinary life, without anyone else… alone. it was, suffocating… I didn't know what to do…" I cried out. 

Perhaps I didn't try hard enough. Perhaps there were still people around, living their life aimlessly as they played around with each other. However, I couldn't be bothered to do anything anymore; I was too tired.

Hinako looked at me with a concerned expression. Her brunette hair was beautiful, I couldn't help but look at her sparkly light blue eyes, and the clothes I lended it to her. She was the epitome of gorgeous. 

Clueless on what to do, Hinako threw her entire body against me with a full force. 

"Look! There's me, I exist. I'm not just your imagination. I'm real! I can touch your boobs, see? You can feel me, and I also can feel you, you're no longer alone," Hinako said with a panic tone, however I could feel her genuine feeling trying to reach me. She awkwardly tried to smile and gave me a pat. 

Seeing her attempt at cheering me up, I smiled, "Thank you, Hinako."