Last week, a massive horde of monster beasts appeared in the western border region.

Luckily, they were stopped just in time without causing major damage, but the corpses of the monsters defeated by the heroes were still scattered around the border area.

Monsters are beings born from magic energy (magi).

No one knew exactly how this was possible, but the bodies of the monsters were made up of magi.

Perhaps because of this, if left unattended, the corpses of the monsters would rot and produce more magi.

If the concentration of magi became too thick, more monsters might be born in that place again, making corpse disposal extremely important.

And as such, John, an employee of the contractor responsible for handling these corpses, sighed as he plunged the needle of his syringe-shaped magical tool into the corpse of a monster.

Huff, “I’ve been doing this for almost a week now, and there are still so many left to go!”

As the needle pierced the corpse, the magic accelerated the decomposition, and it ultimately turned into magi.

The magical tool acted like a vacuum cleaner, sucking up the wafting magi and transferring it through a hose into the container strapped to John’s back.

Collecting magi that would otherwise spread around was the task of the contractor firm John belonged to, and the collected magi was then moved to a purification facility operated by the main company.

Since they had to deal with the corpses of the monsters before they completely decomposed, John had been working busily for several days now, grumbling under his breath.

Ugh, “I’ve never been this busy at this job. Why the heck did these damned monsters suddenly show up?”

“Still, thanks to it, you’re getting a hefty bonus. Even when it’s tough, just looking at the money in your bank account somehow gives you more strength!”

“If I wasn’t paid well, there’s no way I’d be doing this. Just the idea of working with corpses has a really poor reputation as it is.”

John frowned at his colleague’s mention of money.

Even though they were just monster corpses, working with dead bodies was not viewed kindly by others.

Therefore, he had hidden what he did from his girlfriend for years, only managing to confess about a month ago.

At that time, she had said she could love him no matter what job he had, but just yesterday, she suggested he take a break, saying he seemed to have changed too much lately.

Ugh, ‘She just can’t stand the idea of me doing this work.’

That thought made him angry, and after having a huge fight with his girlfriend, the job he once found fulfilling now felt just like an unpleasant chore.

With a burst of irritation, John jabbed the needle roughly into another monster’s corpse.

The body crumbled, the magi were absorbed into the magical tool, and soon enough, a beep sounded, with a red light flashing to indicate the container was full.

“It’s already full. I’ll go change it.”

John lined up at the back of the contractor’s vehicle to swap out the container.

In the trunk, an employee from the main company sat, collecting the full magi containers from subcontractor employees like John and replacing them with empty ones.

‘Some are sitting comfortably while subcontractors like us are sweating it out among the cadavers…’

Feeling annoyed, John glanced over at the main company employee while detaching the heavy container of magi from his back.

The container was pitch black, filled with concentrated energy almost toxic as poison.

Although it was sealed to prevent leaks, John wondered if it would explode if thrown hard enough.

Hmm, ‘What if I just let it explode?’

If that happened, the main company employee, unprotected, would quickly be poisoned by the magi and drop dead.

Imagining that scene, John heard a voice interrupting his thoughts.

“Hey, are you okay? You don’t look so good…”

The main company employee was looking at him with a worried expression.

“If you’re not feeling well, please, let someone know. They told us to check everyone’s condition as the schedule has been pretty tight lately.”

“Oh… I’m fine. Just change this container, please.”

John snapped back to reality and handed over the container he was about to throw.

Crazy, ‘What on earth was I just thinking?’

Lately, he had been feeling irrationally angry more often, probably due to the heavy workload.

Maybe staring at so many corpses recently had somehow changed his personality.

The thought of killing someone sent chills down his spine.

‘Maybe my health’s been a bit weird lately… Should I really take a break?’

Thinking thus, John scratched at his red, inflamed neck, which he had been itching ever since he got bitten by an insect a few days ago.

—

After school, I returned home to find my guardian sitting on my bed.

I had gradually become accustomed to his unexpected visits, so I wasn’t overly surprised.

Wondering what brought him here today, I stared blankly as he raised his hand slightly to greet me.

“I heard you decided to get a prosthetic arm. I need to talk to you about that.”

I was a bit taken aback by his words.

How did he know about that?

I figured as my guardian, maybe he got some notice.

As that thought crossed my mind, the uncle chuckled, as if he could read my thoughts.

“I didn’t tell you? The principal of the academy you attend is my older brother. He said he’d cover the cost of the prosthetic arm. That’s how I found out about it. By the way, the invoice for the custom prosthesis arrived yesterday. Also, Scarlet, you’re more extravagant than I thought.”

He then showed me the invoice on his phone, and I was taken aback by the number of zeros listed.

The fact that my guardian was the brother of the principal was less shocking than the prosthetic price itself.

With that amount, how many packs of instant noodles could I have bought?

“Don’t feel burdened; what you’ve done deserves that amount. Besides, my brother has plenty of money, so it’s not a big deal.”

Although he said that, it was hard for me to keep calm after seeing that outrageous price.

It felt as though Jessie was making a prosthetic that could actually fire magical cannons or something.

My guardian seemed to think the same since he asked, “By the way, what kind of prosthesis did you order that costs this much? Even for the best, I can’t see how it would add up to that.”

His words reminded me of the black fragment I always kept with me.

Thinking back, he had told me not to show it to anyone.

Although he was just my guardian and I didn’t know him well, I felt a twinge of guilt for disobeying.

But I had to speak up.

I pulled out the black fragment and ignited it, speaking in a small, defensive voice.

“Well, about this… You told me not to show it to anyone. My ability allows me to ignite things, and I discovered I could set this on fire too. So, I thought that with this, I could get a prosthetic that would emit flames. I showed it to them when they were testing my abilities for the custom prosthesis…”

“…It can produce flames even in that state?”

Did I break the rule of not showing it to anyone? My guardian’s expression hardened as he gazed at the blazing black fragment.

He murmured something to himself before asking me,

“Did you say the prosthesis is being made by Ruthenia… Was there a slightly balding man among the people you showed it to?”

The mention of a balding man immediately made me think of Jessie’s big brother. Feeling a bit guilty, I slowly nodded.

My guardian’s face turned serious as he muttered,

“…It should be fine, but if it’s him… there might be trouble…”

I had no idea what he was talking about, but I felt like I had done something wrong.

Noticing my discomfort, my guardian sighed, relaxed his expression, and spoke to me.

“Well, it’s already shown, so there’s nothing we can do about it. Just be careful not to show it to others. Otherwise, you might end up in a tricky situation.”

Although I didn’t fully understand what he meant, I nodded and put the black fragment back into my pocket.

He nodded again and seemed ready to leave, standing up and putting on his jacket.

“Well, anyway, once your prosthesis is finished by my brother’s request, I’ll be the one handling the surgery for it. Believe it or not, I have a degree in the medical field. I came to tell you that. See you next time.”

With that, he said goodbye and headed for the door.

Just as he was about to leave, I felt an urge to stop him, thinking I shouldn’t let him go without asking something.

“Um, I have something to ask.”

“Oh, you have a question? Go ahead, ask anything.”

Turning back, the guardian’s face lit up with interest.

I asked the question I had been wanting to pose for a while.

“That fragment I showed you earlier… You seem to know something about it. Could you tell me what it is?”

Right then, his expression darkened instantly.

Was it a difficult question?

I didn’t want to press him too hard, so I said,

“You don’t have to answer if it’s too hard.”

“I’m… sorry I can’t tell you. Take care until we meet again.”

With a troubled expression, he offered his farewell and exited the room.

In the end, I hadn’t gained anything.

Still, seeing his face, I felt something was lingering in the back of my mind.

I thought I had seen someone resembling him in my recent dreams.

They say dreams are a reconstruction of the subconscious, so it was curious that the face of someone I had hardly seen appeared in my dreams.

After eating dinner and taking a shower, I lay down in bed and browsed through news articles on my phone.

Luckily, there were no major incidents, just reports of a recent uptick in petty crimes.

Hoping for peaceful days ahead, I fell asleep.

That night, I dreamed once again.

A dream where someone was diligently fixing my bloodied, dangling left arm.

I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.

Ten times. I’m truly sorry.

Through my hazy vision, I saw someone working on fixing my arm.

The man speaking to me bore a faint resemblance to my guardian.