The head, which had once belonged to a person, transformed into block pieces and scattered in all directions.

The remaining candles were taken aback by the sight.

“Wh-what!”

“You bitch!”

It seemed they realized too late that she was not a person worth taking hostage.

Without hesitation, one of the candles that had quickly pushed the Undying Woman away drew a dagger and stabbed it right into her head.

“Ah.”

The voice of the Undying Woman echoed.

Although no scars were visible, it was undoubtedly a fatal wound.

Her expression showed not a hint of change.

She simply stared at the candle with an indifferent look.

“W-what’s going on? Why aren’t you dying?”

The candle stepped back, visibly terrified.

But it was already too late.

Annoyed at the disturbance, the Undying Woman lunged at the candles.

From that point on, the situation unfolded unilaterally.

Those candles that dared to charge at the Undying Woman were all struck by her fists, soaring into the air as they split the void, and some, upon receiving a blow to their right chest area, scattered away like feathers.

It was truly an overwhelming assault.

After a series of sounds filled with pain, when the noise finally ceased, all the remaining candles that hadn’t fled lay collapsed.

“Oooh, my head is a complete mess….”

The perpetrator of such terrifying acts casually spoke while pulling out the dagger embedded in her head with a cute “pop.”

I mean, how is a person this strong?

Did the Undying Woman gain power from sharing the cook’s food earlier?

But she performed those skills too adeptly as if they were her own from the start.

It didn’t seem like such a strong being could just be an ordinary character….

“Oh! Her eyes are red!”

The Undying Woman crouched down and fiddled with her eyes.

To me, it merely looked like Lego pieces strewn about, but it must have appeared clearly to her.

Maybe the real psychopath here isn’t me, but this woman?

Yeah, by my standards, I’m quite sane!

Leydan Tanton, it’s just that this guy’s past threw me off.

After finishing my self-rationalization, I approached the Undying Woman.

“Are you okay?”

“What do you mean by ‘okay’?”

“No, you were fighting like that just a moment ago.”

“Fighting? What are you talking about? By the way, who are you?”

She tilted her head, seemingly not understanding my question as she stared blankly.

What is this? Is she really forgetting what just happened?

This is something akin to dementia.

I tried to strike up another conversation, but perhaps because of her curiosity about her ‘red eyes,’ she ignored my words and kept stroking the snowball filled with Legos.

Who was worried about whom?

After all, she was perfectly fine after eating the Outsider’s food.

“Hmmm… so all of this is corpses, huh?”

The scene did not look like a murder site at all.

Would this be how the place looked if kids flipped over a toy box and played?

I gazed at the Lego-infested minefield.

Just piecing together shattered bodies doesn’t bring people back to life, and reviving the dead must be impossible.

I knew all of these were corpses, but seeing it with my own eyes still felt strange.

Especially since they were the same humans who had tried to kill me, and I was the type who observed the exterior rather than understanding the interior.

That’s that.

“I wonder if there are any good items here.”

I might seem a bit heartless, but looting was a must.

If I’m going to take something, shouldn’t I be prepared to lose something as well?

The city and candles were at odds, so bringing back evidence of having defeated a candle would surely help in racking up achievements.

There was a bag lying next to a Lego person.

Nothing special was inside.

Just some leftover jerky pieces, a water bottle that looked like it had been carried for ages, and what resembled firewood.

I see, just a mob-level loot.

“Oh, food!”

Before I knew it, the Undying Woman swooped in, snatched the jerky piece from my hand, and bit into it.

Nom nom nom.

Did she not find it dull even after eating the cook’s food like that?

“Oh…?”

She then tilted her head at the piece of firewood I held in my hand.

“What is this?”

“It’s a human hand.”

This piece of firewood is a human hand?

Looking at its deformed appearance, one might think it’s related to the Outsiders.

“Looks like it dried up and couldn’t even eat. How unfortunate.”

She said that while munching contentedly on the jerky.

Her palate was impressive.

Come to think of it, those candle guys said something about us being sparks or something like that.

Could it be that they were burning city people and using them as firewood?

Bodies of humans blessed by the hearth burn quite well, after all.

Like a kind of small hearth.

That implies all of those candles’ bags were filled with dismembered human body parts.

For now, though, that felt like unnecessary information, so it might be wise to temporarily overlook it.

#

After defeating all the candles, we walked through the blizzard for a while.

Had the footprints we had been following belonged to those candles? They had long since disappeared.

Despite wandering for quite some time, not a single thing was in sight.

One couldn’t help but think we might actually be lost.

“Lia.”

When I called for Lia, perhaps due to the cold outside, she merely poked her head out.

I smiled at Lia, who seemed pleased as I scratched her hair.

“Which way should we go to reach Rondan?”

It seemed she wasn’t keen on coming outside even at my request, as she stuck only one arm out and pointed somewhere.

Hmm.

Could it possibly be in the same direction as the Outsiders?

“Lia.”

Realizing my intent for calling out, Lia shook her head vehemently as if to say no this time.

I felt a bit doubtful.

If there were just one Outsider around to communicate with, I wouldn’t be concerned, but there were those caterpillar-like things that clung to the Gardener’s roses as well.

And I should really question whether those caterpillars were Outsiders in the first place.

Yeah.

No risk, no gain.

If I don’t follow the path Lia points to, how am I going to find Rondan in this vast place?

I couldn’t afford to sulk, so I looked at Lia with a trusting smile.

This time, Lia even gave me a thumbs-up as if to assure me.

Let’s go check it out.

Otherwise, I could simply knock someone out and take them down, couldn’t I?

Now that I’ve become this strong.

…There was indeed a time I thought that way.

“Hunting time!”

A bright, ringing voice of a girl echoed from afar.

The noise I heard was a tremendous rumble.

Vroom, vroom.

The sound was adorable compared to the huge noise, but the appearance that followed was anything but trivial.

A colossal vehicle passed in front of us, and a burst of snow erupted.

“What, what is that?!”

A car that seemed entirely out of place for the times rolled through the blizzard like it belonged on a raging road.

“It’s a horse!”

The Undying Woman jumped up and down excitedly, yelling.

Is that really a horse?

How monstrous must a horse look for a thing that gigantic to exist?

Just because it has a cute cat seal on the car doesn’t mean it’s cute, you darn mode!

The two girls clasping the wheel, oblivious to my thoughts, were laughing.

“He dodged it.”

“He dodged it! This prey is quick!”

With their leather jackets and helmets, it was obvious at a glance.

Those must be the Outsiders!

Outside, where the blessings of the hearth do not protect, the chances of encountering Outsiders exponentially increase.

Given that Outsiders tend to gather around the hearth, the likelihood in adjacent boundaries would be even higher.

I shot a sidelong glance at Lia, who had her head poking out of my pocket.

Lia was frowning, tears streaming down her cheeks as she squirmed about.

Seeing her appear so wronged, it looked like those Outsiders must have popped up suddenly.

A sigh escaped my lips.

Fortunately, it appeared they weren’t causing a major ruckus around here.

Still, judging by their speed and strength, they seemed quite formidable even amongst the Outsiders.

Even if one’s physique has been enhanced, it’d be quite difficult to fight against Outsiders, I thought.

Let’s try talking first.

Especially since being able to communicate with the Outsiders is the greatest weapon.

“Hey! You two over there!”

Did they hear my voice?

“Hey, sis, that human is talking to us!”

“It’s unusual for someone to even try to talk when they see us. How unexpected.”

Normally, even encountering an Outsider requires a roll to resist mental strain, so this was to be expected.

As she said, the Undying Woman was completely out of her mind in real-time.

“Uh huh.”

Wait, wasn’t it always like this?

“Yeah, prey! Can you hear us?”

“Hello~”

Trying not to be drowned out by the noisy car, I yelled.

“Yeah, I can hear you, so let’s have a chat!”

Perhaps my response surprised them.

The two sisters clapped their hands, looking at each other.

“Kaaak! We can communicate!”

“This is the first time there’s an encounter like this.”

They were clearly as giddy as when one encounters the Outcast Gods.

If we play our cards right, we might just have a meaningful conversation.

“We’re not here to fight you! So why don’t we just pretend we never saw each other?”

Up till now, all the Outsiders I’ve encountered have initiated the attack first, which led to reciprocal retaliation.

So I wanted to tell them that if they had no ill intent, we could both go our separate ways.

However, the response I received was far from what I expected.

“I can’t agree to that.”

What?

A calm-seeming girl spoke.

“It’s impossible for a hunter to let prey go. Even if animals can communicate, it’s just a marvel.”

“Ah, that’s not the outstanding line from that candle with a scar on his face, is it?”

“…Shut up.”

The two seemed trapped in their own little world.

“The masked ones enjoyed capturing people. That’s why we do it.”

“Yeah, if it’s okay with big sis, it’s okay with me!”

“But you were on your way to capture someone, weren’t you?”

Ah, darn it.

Given the flow of our conversation, they didn’t seem likely to let us go just like that.

Sensing the danger, I immediately blew my party whistle.

Phew!

But nothing happened.

“…It’s too narrow. I can’t cross over.”

Darn it.

Is it going to end with me having to run away?

But how do I escape from a car?

Lia tugged on my clothing and pointed toward one spot.

The same direction she had pointed at initially.

I wondered why she was pointing there.

“Hunting prey is supposed to come willingly.”

From the direction Lia was pointing, I heard a heavy voice.

I knew of only one person among those I knew who would speak like that.

“…Hunter?!”

“Yeah, it’s me.”

Ah.

Is this why people who are rescued cry tears of joy upon seeing their rescuers?

“You came to save me!”

Normally, that would mean “I got captured too,” but…

Our hunter was different, and there was nothing different, really.

“I didn’t come to save you. I just happened to find you while hunting Outsiders.”

Click.

The heavy sound of a double-barrel shotgun echoed.

“It’s time to hunt.”