Creak, creak.

The sound of someone quietly cleaning the double-barrel shotgun’s barrel with a cloth echoed through the air, followed by the sound of it being restored to its original state.

It was the action of a Hunter checking the condition of his weapon after just taking down an Outsider that had appeared on the outskirts of Rondan.

“Whooo…”

He had heard the news.

Leydan Tanton had stopped the Watcher trying to break through the dimensional rift and ended up falling into the void along with that Outsider.

Glancing at the corpse of the Outsider lying in front of him, he lit a cigarette and brought it to his lips.

This meant he had crossed over into the Outsider’s world.

Even if the Hunter himself went there, there was no guarantee his mind would remain intact, given the implications of space itself.

So, it seemed the Knights had deemed Leydan Tanton dead.

“…These clueless fools.”

The Hunter knew.

He had seen with his own two eyes the kinds of deeds Leydan Tanton had committed until now.

Even in that space he had just entered, Leydan was likely analyzing what needed to be done and might have already figured out a way to escape.

At least the Leydan Tanton he knew was a person who could pull off such feats without a care.

“…I wonder if I should go greet him.”

The Hunter made his way to the main gate of Rondan.

If he had entered a twisted timeline, it was unlikely he would land in a normal place.

This trip was a mere repayment for those who had tried to help him; he certainly didn’t want to help that man outright.

“…Just try being dead.”

That was the quiet mutter of the Hunter.

#

The warmth from the Americano given by the Cook lasted longer than expected.

At first, it seemed it wouldn’t last long, but for some reason, every time it started to cool down, the warmth returned even stronger.

Was someone watching over me from somewhere?

Ah, could it be that they were worried?

He cooks well and has a nice personality.

He was like a mother.

…Well, anyway.

“…Hehehe, is it snow? Is it snow or salt?”

For now, I was still dragging her along, but what kind of person was she really?

From the continuous babbling, it seemed her intelligence was so pitiful she couldn’t even reach the level of a kindergarten kid.

Perhaps she was like a three-year-old who could only speak clearly.

I don’t know…

For now, she seemed human, which is why I was taking her along, but honestly, the urge to just leave her behind was overwhelming.

At first, I had hoped she’d turn out to be an Outsider, so I asked Lia, but since she clearly said she was a person…

“Ah, this is bad.”

I had been following the footprints imprinted on the snow, but with time passing, those footprints were getting fainter and fainter.

At this point, not having found a bright place yet was becoming a bit dangerous.

Even if the threat of freezing to death disappears, there’s still the matter of food.

Ah, wait.

Maybe I could just call the Cook for some food.

Well, anyway.

I had no idea what could happen if I didn’t return to the main stage of the incident at Rondan.

If this world followed the scenario of a game, challenges would keep piling on.

As a player who was stuck midway in a clean water quest, I didn’t know what lay ahead, and I needed to prepare.

“Excuse me.”

“Hmm? Huh?”

“Do you not remember who you are at all?”

The Undying Woman looked at me with her pale eyes.

Her gaze was utterly abnormal for a normal human.

Spinning, as if hypnotized, her pupils seemed to spiral like a whirlwind.

“What are you talking about? Say something.”

“I was thinking because I don’t know who I am.”

“Yeah, yeah, not that. Do you perhaps have a home or somewhere to go?”

“I was thinking about that too; I don’t know.”

“So, do you have somewhere to go?”

“I don’t know that, so I’m following you.”

Alright then.

I decided to give up on the conversation.

Feeling a throbbing headache, I relied on the now almost invisible footprints as I moved forward, and something started coming into view from a distance.

Squinting to see what it was, my gloomy mood seemed to lift considerably.

“Finally! Finally, we’ve arrived!”

I grabbed the Undying Woman by the collar and sprinted wildly toward the bright spot.

If something so bright could be seen in this blizzard, it’s probably a person, right?

With that thought, I finally made it to right in front of the light.

“Hey!”

As I shouted at the people walking against us, one turned to look at us.

At that moment, I felt something odd.

If they were indeed the Knights of Rondan, they should have been wearing bear suits.

Sure, there were those like Muyun who didn’t don the Outsider armor, but their appearances were just too strange.

They were wearing extremely thick armor made of animal skin, and their faces were not in the form of bear suits but rather strange metal plates.

Still, since he appears to be a person, I thought he might be of some help while quietly observing.

“…Are they from the Hearth City?”

The moment I heard that, I realized these guys were certainly not on my side.

“Sniff, sniff. Oh, the smell of fire. They must be from the capital, Rondan!”

I immediately tried to back away, but hearing one of them, their group surrounded us in a circle.

One of the group spoke up.

“You’re good at sniffing out scents, I see. Must be from working with those pathetic Hunter followers. Can you smell the Hearth’s fire?”

“I’m not great at it. Hunters have a different spectrum of scents they pick up.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m tired of hearing your praises for Hunters. Well, whatever. It’s about time to snuff out a fire or two anyway. The folks from Rondan are among the best of them.”

Upon hearing that line, I knew what kind of characters these guys were.

They were the Candles that Muyun had mentioned before.

Ruffians who had abandoned the grace of the Hearth to live by pillaging outside the city.

According to Muyun, they even raided the city’s fire.

So, were they heading towards Rondan?

In this pouring snowstorm, the ability to distinguish paths could only mean they were adept at finding their way.

This also meant that if I had just one of them with me, I might be able to find the way.

“By the way, that woman next to you looks familiar.”

“Who knows. It’s probably just your imagination.”

Still, can it be that such looks are common?

Could she perhaps be a famous person by any chance?

Well, whatever the case may be, I would have to return to figure it all out.

“Hey! What are you doing, ignoring us? It’d be smart to surrender and follow us while there’s still time…”

I casually ignored the Candle’s words.

Because I was concentrating on the voice I could hear in my head.

“Oh! Has the hole gotten bigger? I can go see a human now!”

I carefully took out the party whistle I had in my pocket and brought it to my lips.

Peeep!

A ridiculous sound filled the area, and while it might just seem like a mere noise to your ears, it wasn’t to the Candles.

“My ears! What the hell is that?! You bastard!”

They must have been looking down on us without any protective gear.

They probably thought they could enslave us or at least obtain something useful if they were lucky.

Or perhaps, since they had an obsession with the Hearth City, they might believe that we received something special as they claimed to be from the capital, Rondan.

Regardless, from their perspective, I was nothing but a valuable target holding a treasure.

Yeah.

At a glance, it’s only natural for them to think so.

The smell of death.

Although I wasn’t as keen as a Hunter, the pupils of the Candle, sensitive to smells, began to tremble at last.

“What the hell is this…”

If it had been a Hunter, he would have realized it by now and gotten ready for a fight.

Or perhaps this was just my limited imagination, and they were readying something even worse.

However, these guys were not the Outsiders who captured other beings, but mere predators who hunted and devoured humans.

“Hey, what’s wrong? What did that jerk do?”

“You idiot, can’t you tell? Get out of here, no, even if it’s just me—”

“We just need to take that guy down! I’ll do it myself…”

In a way, it could have been a wise choice.

But that statement never came to fruition.

Suddenly, there was a sound as if the world was cracking.

Despite being a thief, I saw one approaching me, wielding a weapon belonging to an Outsider they must have taken from somewhere.

Um…

A child’s knife with a cat pattern was not scary at all.

Speaking of which, the Watcher had also asked for a name.

In such dire circumstances, it would be better to give her a short name that suits a female.

I quietly looked at the Candle and softly shouted.

“Bell.”

As soon as my voice echoed, the weapon came right up to my neck.

But the blade would never touch my throat.

Because the owner holding that weapon had vanished entirely.

Since it wasn’t near the Hearth, the Watcher had casually opened a space and appeared, devouring the jerk who was trying to slice my throat.

It was a cleanliness as if she had bit through space itself.

The odd feeling of being in the underground prison with Agartha and the Hunter— and no one else— was now clear.

The Watcher, flicking its tongue over the boundary, looked up at me with a bright expression.

“My name! Is that my name?”

“Yep, that’s right. Do you like it?”

“I love it!”

The Watcher, now named Bell, then knocked me over and began to lick my cheek furiously.

“Y-you, Bell. Stop licking me.”

“Yep!”

As a good dog should, Bell immediately obeyed and started panting softly.