The arrival of the Hunter brought a tense silence.

While I was dragged along, it seemed the Hunter had already taken down a few Outsiders, with an overwhelming bloodlust radiating from him.

But the opponent were Twin Outsiders after all.

Even if the Hunter might have better combat skills, the momentum they had was on a whole other level.

“Oh my, another human has appeared?”

The Youngest Outsider giggled, looking at the Hunter.

“Look at those eyes! He seems to be underestimating us, sis.”

“That’s a pretty vicious expression for a human. Cute, actually.”

Just as I expected, the Twin Outsiders were mocking the Hunter while looking down on him.

For an ordinary person, their voices would be dangerously unsettling enough to trigger a mental breakdown.

“What are those fools babbling about?”

However, the Hunter merely clicked his tongue dismissively.

“Loud ones compared to anything I’ve encountered so far.”

Click-clack, bang!

With lightning speed, he loaded two BB pellets soaring through the air, barely perceptible to the naked eye.

Then he pulled out a lollipop from his pocket and popped it into his mouth.

Crunch.

Now he truly resembled a character from a game.

The Hunter cocked his shotgun at the Twin Outsiders and signaled me with his eyes.

“Have you just been toying with those pathetic guys all along? Well, I suppose anything less than a powerful Outsider must seem boring to you. Hmm…” (Hunter)

His gaze turned towards the Undying Woman.

As if realizing something, he closed his eyes for a moment and then refocused on the Outsiders.

“You’re just too nice, it’s your downfall.”

With that last word, the Hunter began to move quickly.

Rather than creating distance, he actually drew closer to them, making the two Outsiders laugh at his audacity.

“Haha! Wow, just how underestimated are we?”

“Let’s take care of this loser quickly…”

Just like she did with me, the Youngest Outsider was saying something when her mouth suddenly snapped shut.

Well, it was understandable.

Bang!

Most of the Hunter’s bullets were blocked by the car, but one lone shot grazed the Youngest Outsider’s face, slicing through her hair.

This kind of thing must be a first for them.

To my eyes, it might look that way, but their hair was likely perceived as part of their body, and it just got torn right through.

“Uh, what?”

“Is it because of the blizzard? The scent is getting buried.”

In the rough storm, visibility was obscured.

This guy must be the main character, the Hunter.

The fact that he could pinpoint this level of accuracy based solely on scent is impressive.

The Hunter clicked his tongue once more before aiming his shotgun at them again.

Did his rough demeanor make them feel like he was treating them like a joke?

“W-What is that human doing!”

“I’ll make him pay!”

Honk honk!

With a loud honk, a car sped towards the Hunter at high speed.

But for the Hunter, it wasn’t speed that mattered; what really counted was how close the target was.

So…

“Thank you for getting closer; now it’s easier to smell you.”

They’d essentially dug their own graves.

Just before the Twins could reach the Hunter, the car, which was about to smash into him, was forced to back off after being thoroughly blasted by his shotgun.

“Gah!”

“What, what is this!”

Finally, the expressions of the Twin Outsiders darkened as they retreated further.

They must have finally understood.

In this fight, the one doing the plundering was not them, but the Hunter himself.

“I-I can’t accept this!”

At that moment, the Older Outsider lifted her gun from inside the car.

I feel like I’ve seen that before…

It looked similar to the one Candle was holding, but with a lot of pointless accessories.

There were fake jewels and seals that looked like something a girl would like.

“…Did they clone the body parts of those they killed? Pathetic.”

So that’s how the Hunter saw it.

They had indeed claimed they were hunting humans.

Does that mean they copied what Candle carried?

The Older Outsider pointed what looked like a pistol at the Hunter.

“It’s us who are hunting!”

Beep!

The Older Outsider shouted loudly and fired, and maybe it was luck, but that bullet hit the Hunter’s double-barrel shotgun, shattering it.

It seemed that the shotgun was indeed the only weapon capable of matching against the Hunter.

“Y-Yes! Now to deal with this pathetic human!”

Pio bang!

However, unfortunately for them…

“What…?”

The Hunter wasn’t an idiot.

A sound filled the air that sounded nothing like an Outsider meat bullet firing, and the Older Outsider’s eyes widened in shock.

Soon, she could realize.

The Hunter had tossed aside the broken shotgun and drew a revolver.

“…It was about time for a change since that damaged weapon from the underground prison was getting old. Damn those things, forcing me to spend money earlier than expected.”

Grumbling in his usual manner, the Hunter brought the revolver to his mouth and lit the lollipop.

“I’m glad I made some extra bullets with their corpses.”

Smoke twisted out from the revolver.

“Oi, sis!”

“What’s going on? Why does a normal bullet hurt…?”

It seemed she hadn’t figured out what the bullets were made of.

The Older Outsider couldn’t continue her sentence.

That was because the Hunter fired four more shots at her.

Pio! Pio! Pio! Pio!

The absurd firing sounds almost mocked their defeat.

With each gunshot, I clearly saw the Older Outsider’s body sway violently.

“Sis!!!”

Maybe because one side had lost power,

The car they were in split in two, completely losing its form, and the Youngest Outsider ended up catching the Older Outsider with her arms.

Thinking it was all over, the Hunter gestured for me to come closer, and feeling a bit empty, I followed.

The closer I got, the more I could see the lifeless expression on the Older Outsider’s face.

Perhaps it was due to the gunshot wound.

While the injury wasn’t visible, it was clear she was on the verge of death.

“If you’re going to die anyway, just don’t make a fuss. I can’t deal with noisy fools.”

The Hunter said as he aimed his revolver at the Older Outsider to finish her.

“Don’t do it! No!”

At that moment, the Youngest Outsider rushed in front of her.

The Hunter, annoyed by the desperate sight, frowned.

“What now?”

“W-Wait, the temperature of my sister is dropping… if Candles get too cold, it’ll be a big deal… we can’t let this happen…”

Hearing the Youngest Outsider’s anxious words made me realize.

This Outsider had such a naïve mind that she didn’t even understand the concept of ‘death.’

Damn it, she must know better than to be this oblivious.

They were definitely the ones trying to kill me, yet why did I feel so sympathetic towards them?

But as I’ve pondered before, there are Outsiders that aren’t friendly towards humans.

Those Outsiders don’t converse, so there’s no choice but to eliminate them.

So, I decided to ignore her words and pretend not to hear.

“…So this is how it ends.”

With shaking hands, the Older Outsider grasped her sister’s arm.

“Sis…”

“It can’t be helped… A certain Candle said… if you’re going to shoot, be prepared to take a bullet yourself.”

“Don’t say that… Your hands are getting colder…”

“And you’ve already seen…?”

The Older Outsider forced a smile as she spoke.

“We saw that Candle we admired get hunted down and buried in the snow. We’re not the only ones wanting to survive; the humans trying to live are the same…”

“B-But I don’t want that!”

“Sorry, I only know this much. I’ve made you sad by dragging you along.”

I wanted to cover my ears.

But it was impossible to block it all out.

The moment I heard her words, I couldn’t help but doubt whether this situation was right.

It could very well be an attempt to deceive me to survive.

But every Outsider I’d met up till now hadn’t been inherently bad.

A strong clash of identities was taking place.

“…Outsiders aren’t as perfect as you think. Most of them are just fragments supposedly strong enough to exert some control over this world, just like me.”

The Gardener coldly continued to speak.

“There are those who care for their kind, just as there are neglectful parents. Or do you think they even consider those kids to be family?”

Her tone carried a hint of loneliness.

She had originally descended into this world to protect her friends.

That’s just unfair.

To possess such a childish mind without even grasping the concept of death, only to learn this as the only way to survive.

They had simply learned the wrong methods.

I looked at the Hunter.

His previously cold gaze seemed set to shoot the two Outsiders at any moment.

“What are you blabbering about?”

With that, the Hunter pulled the trigger.

The Twin Outsiders seemed to have accepted their fate, closing their eyes.

Pio!

And so the gun fired.

But it wasn’t the final strike.

“What the hell are you doing?”

It was then that my hand grabbed the Hunter’s wrist, diverting the aim.

“W-wait!”