She knew who was calling, so... Rudolph started running first, then answered the phone.
"Luna ~ what do you think Miss Yayoi is like right now..."
"I'm already at your door."
Their conversation wasn't finished, but Rudolph had already reached the door of one of the only two rooms on the fourth floor.
"Is that so? Well, it seems I should..."
Saying this, Mejiro Sanfeng pressed the phone against Tokai's face.
And Tokai, feeling a slightly hard object against her face, naturally knew what it was.
So, she cried out the words Mejiro Sanfeng wanted Tokai to say.
"...Save me..."
The moment the slightly trembling voice was transmitted, an overwhelmingly loud sound had already reached Tokai's ears, despite her wearing earplugs.
Looking at Rudolph Symboli standing at the door, Mejiro Sanfeng opened her mouth, unsure what to say to Rudolph, but she quickly composed her thoughts: "Rudolph, you came really fast..."
Ignoring Mejiro Sanfeng's greeting, which held a hint of despair, Rudolph, after understanding the situation, finally spoke to Mejiro Sanfeng:
"Put down the knife, and then untie her blindfold."
Rudolph's words didn't mention herself at all, which made Mejiro Sanfeng lower her head slightly, then throw her phone aside, and cut the elastic band of the blindfold with the kitchen knife.
The return to sight came unexpectedly early.
At least for Tokai, it was so.
Tokai's sense of time was not sharp.
This was caused by her imprisonment by the Tokai Family during her pregnancy, so she didn't realize how much time Mejiro Sanfeng meant by "fast."
But the next second, Tokai felt an even greater danger, as the kitchen knife from Mejiro Sanfeng's hand moved to the side of her neck.
Mejiro Sanfeng, who did this, stared intently at Rudolph Symboli; she still had some final matters to handle.
So...
"At this distance, can you save her?"
Even as she said this, Mejiro Sanfeng's kitchen knife was pointed at herself.
Watching this scene, Rudolph merely looked at Mejiro Sanfeng:
"What are you doing?!"
"..."
Mejiro Sanfeng didn't respond. She just smiled at Rudolph:
"I won't ask you to choose who to save, but if you can save me, I'll be very happy."
These words stunned Rudolph. She realized why Mejiro Sanfeng was doing this, and now, only Mejiro Sanfeng was left to be rescued. But… there was no time to think. Mejiro Sanfeng's blade had already moved, so Rudolph Symboli had to do something.
Without any hesitation.
Relying on an Uma Musume's excellent mobility, Rudolph had already covered a distance of less than five meters by the time the blade in Mejiro Sanfeng's hand had only moved a short way.
Her left hand grabbed the kitchen knife in Mejiro Sanfeng's hand. Although doing so would cause her fingers to be severed by the drawing motion of the knife, stopping it for just a moment was enough.
But, only that one moment was needed. The left hand gripping the blade had no intention of letting go.
Her right hand directly struck the kitchen knife.
In the overly powerful struggle between the two Uma Musume, the kitchen knife in Mejiro Sanfeng's hand snapped.
A few fragments of the blade flew past Tokai's face, and the passing blade fragments made Tokai turn her head.
She saw that Rudolph Symboli and Mejiro Sanfeng were both still standing.
Looking at Rudolph Symboli who had made such a move, Mejiro Sanfeng's expression became very sorrowful: "Why? Why, even like this, are you still…"
"Just, to prevent any accidents, whether it's you or Shizen."
Rudolph, having given this explanation, turned around and walked behind Tokai.
After cutting through the restraints on Tokai's body little by little with the already blood-stained blade, Rudolph finally spoke: "I'm sorry."
"This time, it's my fault."
Rudolph, while untying Tokai's restraints, said: "I'll handle what happens next. You can go to my apartment to rest first. Although the apartment isn't big enough, no one will approach, so you can rest there in peace."
Listening to Rudolph's words, Tokai merely turned her head slightly, then saw her undoing the last of the ropes, tied above her elbows, which had completely restrained her.
Looking at Rudolph.
Tokai responded: "Mejiro Sanfeng actually…"
"Originally, she planned to threaten you with Shizen, but…"
Interrupting Tokai's words, Mejiro Sanfeng offered this explanation.
Rudolph did not respond to Mejiro Sanfeng's explanation. She simply placed the broken blade and her apartment key on the table beside Tokai:
"This is the key to my apartment. Feel free to use it."
Hearing Rudolph say this, Tokai merely looked at the kitchen knife that Rudolph had broken with her bare hands and the key she had placed on the table. Only then did Tokai turn her head again to look at Mejiro Sanfeng, who had fallen to the side.
Looking at Mejiro Sanfeng lying on the ground, Tokai merely turned her head to Rudolph: "I still have one more question for you."
"I know. Otherwise, there's no way you would have come to see me."
After saying this, Tokai picked up the key to Rudolph's apartment and quickly left this couple's room with Mejiro Sanfeng, because they needed some time to talk.
After Tokai left the room, Rudolph walked over to Mejiro Sanfeng.
She looked at Mejiro Sanfeng: "Sanfeng, you're not in a good state."
"I know. I didn't intend to do any of this, but…"
Facing Rudolph's question, Mejiro Sanfeng finally turned her head forward and met Rudolph's gaze, who was standing in front of her: "Just thinking that you could choose Tokai without hesitation instead of me, my body just acted on its own."
"That's why I was on the third floor, because I've seen this situation many times."
Rudolph Symboli, saying this, fell silent for a few seconds.
Then she once again repeated the words she had always said to Mejiro Sanfeng: "Regarding the choice, I'm very sorry, I've always only considered you a friend."
Hearing this, Mejiro Sanfeng was silent for a moment, then continued: "Friends, huh… such a nice sentiment. You said the same thing when you called off my engagement, didn't you?"
In her words, Mejiro Sanfeng was already on the verge of tears: "Rudolph, do you like Shizen that much?!"
"Yes."
Without any hesitation, Rudolph responded like this, and then she added another sentence:
"That's why I kept my distance from her, because I didn't want to do something like you did. After all, I've seen too many tragedies born from possessiveness."
She recalled the Trainers she had dealt with in the past, those who had their pelvises fractured or were held captive in basements for extended periods, their mental state clearly abnormal, or those whose limbs were simply destroyed, leaving them unable to leave the basement. Rudolph had seen such cases too many times.
So, Rudolph walked to the door, a great deal of pain in her voice: "If I were to maintain a distance from Tokai where we could meet,"
"Knowing that she was in love with someone else, any Uma Musume would probably do something irreversible,"
"Just like you are now."
Rudolph, having come to this conclusion, turned around:
"Go find Kashimoto Riko. She should be the one in charge of people currently plagued by an Uma Musume's possessiveness."
After giving her childhood friend one last piece of advice, she left the room.
She wouldn't return to the apartment tonight; it was temporarily for Tokai to rest.
Mejiro Sanfeng looked at the empty room and sat back down in the chair where Tokai had just been sitting.
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