"...A hunter, from Londan?"

"That's right."

The gatekeepers of Garen alternated between looking at the black-clad man standing before them and the identification card he had presented.

Their curiosity was clear—why would a Londan hunter come here, when there were already so many Foreign Entities to hunt around Londan? The thought that this outsider might be here to take their resources didn't sit well with them.

"State your business."

"Has a man named Raydan Tanton come here?"

As soon as the hunter uttered those five syllables, the gatekeepers instinctively wanted to reveal his location. But then, they remembered what Tanton had told them during their initial conversation when he first set foot in Garen.

"The only ones you can truly trust are the knights of Londan."

Suddenly, they understood why Tanton had warned them not to delve too deeply into rumors about him. It became clear why he had ended up in this place—he was being pursued by this hunter.

Despite the unfortunate situation, Tanton had still managed to save them from crisis.

The gatekeepers felt a shiver run through them as they realized this.

They exchanged glances, nodding subtly to each other without the hunter noticing. Then, with firm expressions, they turned to face him.

"No, we haven't seen him."

The hunter felt a surge of frustration at their words.

They were blatantly lying, standing there with an illegal Candle train right in front of them, yet they had the audacity to say such things with a straight face.

"Then, what’s that?"

"Candles have been sneaking around this area lately, so we caught them today."

"...Does that even make sense? The Candles were nearly wiped out in the large-scale war with Londan!"

The hunter's voice trembled with anger, but the gatekeepers wore mocking smiles.

"We’re just telling you the truth. Even if we were lying, what could you possibly do about it?"

"...You damned fools."

The hunter growled lowly and grabbed one of the gatekeepers by the collar. His grip was so powerful that the gatekeeper, who had been standing calmly, couldn’t muster any resistance.

"W-what...!"

"Enough with your petty word games. Where is he? If you don’t talk soon, those pretty little teeth of yours won’t stay intact."

"This is official obstruction of duty! If you don’t let go, I’ll have no choice but to report you to the Duke!"

The gatekeeper tried to use his authority to threaten the hunter, but the hunter merely scoffed, finding it amusing.

"We’ll see which happens faster—whether your authority stops me, or whether I turn you into a cripple."

"...!"

The gatekeeper's eyes widened in fear as the hunter's expression twisted into a sneer, his eyes narrowing. Yet, despite the terror surging within, the gatekeeper couldn’t bring himself to speak. They couldn’t betray their savior so easily.

The hunter grimaced, clearly fed up with the situation.

"Do you even know what’s going on right now?"

"W-what do you mean?"

"That man is a Foreign Entity sympathizer! He stands with those monsters, mocking humanity. He’s a traitor to our time!"

"Don't make me laugh! Why should we believe a word you say? The only ones we trust are the knights of Londan, who saved our territory from destruction!"

Saved the territory?

So, that fool had meddled again, trying to be the hero.

Grinding his teeth, the hunter’s grip on the gatekeeper’s collar tightened even more, causing the gatekeeper’s neck to constrict. His face began turning blue, and the other gatekeeper, who had been standing by, could no longer hold back and was about to intervene.

Suddenly, a loud hiss of steam echoed through the air.

At the same time, there was a heavy sound from the railway tracks, as if something large was passing over them.

The gatekeepers paled at the sound, while the hunter’s face twisted into a near-maniacal grin.

"...So, that’s where he is."

To the gatekeepers, those words felt like a death sentence for Raydan Tanton.

The hunter let go of the gatekeeper and turned away, but the two men clung to his ankles, refusing to let him go. The hunter, thoroughly annoyed, mercilessly stomped down on their hands with his heel.

Though the gatekeepers were used to enduring pain, the sheer force of his stomp was something they couldn’t withstand.

"Aaagh!"

They screamed in agony, ultimately letting go, and the hunter, freed from their grasp, started the engine to pursue the already departing train.

Watching the train recede into the distance, the gatekeepers cursed their own helplessness.

"...Sir Tanton, please survive."

We decided to use a train for a quick patrol around the area.

Interestingly, the Garen Domain was overflowing with coal, so the trains here were provided for free, as Hunter explained.

"So, you’re only asking for some coal mixed with Foreign Entity flesh? Is Londan in such a dire state?"

"...No, well, it’s not that bad."

I couldn’t exactly say, "It’s just that the bandit here wants to run a little personal business." So, I just laughed it off.

For some reason, both Agarta and Asti were unusually silent.

Especially Agarta—though she met my gaze, she forced a smile, making me feel like there was something more behind it. But I didn’t bother to ask, knowing she’d just make up some excuse.

Asti, on the other hand, was usually quiet, so that was nothing new.

So, the conversation between Hunter and I was all that filled the train car.

"Come to think of it, I heard you used to be close with the hunter. Why are you two apart now?"

Haha.

Touching on a sore spot, aren’t we?

I couldn’t just leave it hanging, so I gave an awkward smile.

"Haha, we had a bit of a disagreement. I’ve been... avoiding him, I guess?"

"A disagreement, huh? What did you do to cause that?"

"Oh, you know... just some stuff."

"Hmm, sounds like something that’s hard to explain."

Unlike the hunter, though, this guy was more considerate, which made the conversation easier.

Not that I’m saying the hunter is stubborn or lacks consideration...

"By the way, why do you offer the things you hunt to the domain?"

"...It wasn’t always like this. But if I didn’t, the domain would suffer. It’s something I have to do. Even so, because of my inexperience, things like today’s failure happen. I can’t thank you enough."

Suddenly, Hunter bowed his head to me.

"Thank you, Raydan Tanton. I will repay this debt."

"Haha, no need to be so formal. We all help each other, right?"

"...That humility of yours is something worth learning as well."

His politeness was starting to make me feel uncomfortable.

A person could stand to be a little more prideful, you know?

「Woof! Human, we’re busy! You haven’t paid any attention to us lately!」

...Just as I was getting lost in thought, Bell’s voice suddenly rang out in my mind, sounding extremely annoyed!

It’s true, I hadn’t been playing with them much recently due to all the things happening, but...

Though, now that I think about it, I had taken a good week off before everything went down, so I couldn’t really defend myself.

「Exactly. Now that you’ve had your fun with us, are we no longer useful?」

Uh, wait. That’s not it...

「Beloved, it’s alright. As long as you keep the promises you made to us, I will forgive anything you do.」

A promise?

Haha, oh yeah, that was a thing...

「Hmph, I guess I was just a passing amusement for you too, wasn’t I?」

Ack!

This is when the Record Keeper should step in to mediate! Where’s the Record Keeper?!

Despite my desperate call, the Record Keeper didn’t respond.

Why?!

Okay, I get it. They’re a busy Foreign Entity, so maybe they can’t always be around, but still!

「...Sigh. Idiot.」

...Just as I was wracking my brain for a way out, the Gardener, sounding slightly more cheerful, spoke up.

「I can sense the presence of a Foreign Entity nearby. Be careful.」

It seemed she was trying to warn me, considering that I couldn’t use Ria in this situation.

I appreciated the helpful information, but was it necessary to mess with me like that before?

「That was no joke, woof.」

Yes, ma’am.

"Be careful. It seems a Foreign Entity might show up soon."

"...Already? We’ve barely traveled any distance."

I relayed the Gardener’s warning to Hunter. Judging by his reaction, it seemed he hadn’t encountered many Foreign Entities lately.

After the train moved a bit further, Hunter suddenly began sniffing the air, as if he’d caught a scent. Then he nodded and began reducing the train’s speed.

"Looks like you were right, Sir Tanton. There’s a foul stench nearby, worse than the smell of rotting corpses."

As Hunter spoke, the train came to a gradual halt.

Agarta, too, wiped away any traces of awkwardness and stood up with a serious expression.

"Let’s just take care of this Foreign Entity and get back quickly."

"Alright."

Smiling at Agarta, I steadied myself and stepped off the train.

I hoped things would go smoothly, but I knew there was a chance we’d have to kill the Foreign Entity if it came down to it.

As I moved forward, I reminded myself not to repeat the same mistakes I made during the fight with the twin Foreign Entities.

"Let’s go gather some firewood for the hearth."