*Siwoo POV

I stared blankly at the two figures disappearing in the distance, scattering screams and laughter.

That family definitely isn’t right in the head.

The dad is like that, and the daughter is like that.

I was convinced the mom’s side I hadn’t seen wasn’t normal either.

Because of what I heard on the plane.

“What should we do now…”

“Who knows? Since they brought us here and told us to rest, I guess it’s okay to rest?”

Since they told us to rest, maybe we should rest well today.

I answered with that thought, but I was also half in doubt of the situation.

There was a strange atmosphere inside the accommodation.

It clearly was a comfortable room. One presumably made for two people to stay in.

Two beds, two desks. It’s probably certain.

There’s no one in the room.

Still, there’s only one reason we’re hesitant to go in.

“It seems like a place where people were living. Are you sure it’s okay to enter…?”

“I don’t know.”

It was because there were traces of people living there.

Items presumed to be for personal use stood out, although they were organized as if someone had been living there.

“…What the, who are these kids?”

“Hello.”

“Oh, yeah. Have you seen a yellow-haired man around here?”

“Yes. He ran over there.”

“I knew it was that jerk. I thought so.”

He suddenly appeared and asked about Amelia’s father, then started badmouthing him while grumbling.

“I told him to be quiet, but he just won’t listen, seriously.”

“Ahaha…”

“I was glad he said he’d call people to help, but why did they come so soon?”

His treatment of his own daughter was curt, so is he like that to his colleagues too?

Seeing him being treated as a nuisance, I felt a bit sorry for him.

“Since you’re unfamiliar faces, you must be the helpers? Why are you here? I thought the operation starts tomorrow.”

“Ah, about that…”

It seemed like good timing.

Dorothy started explaining our situation.

They brought us here, but we were hesitating about whether we could really go in.

There were traces of people living here, so we wondered if they had brought us to the wrong place.

“…That jerk didn’t even explain this before leaving?”

Sighing lightly, he told us the truth.

“Well, it’s a place where people lived, so of course it feels that way. You can throw it away if it’s uncomfortable.”

“What? B-but someone else’s belongings…”

“No, I said ‘were living.’ They died.”

“…Ah.”

After hearing those words, the accommodation I looked at felt quite different from a moment ago.

The only thing that changed was my prior knowledge.

I thought someone was living here, so there was still human warmth.

But looking at it again after hearing that, it only felt chilling.

“…Since you’re here, you heard about the search target?”

“Ah, yes.”

“This is where the guys who were done in by that thing stayed.”

“…”

“You guys are aspiring heroes, right? Still students.”

“That’s right.”

“Just in time. Don’t hesitate and come in.”

“…”

“Well, you’ll be staying here anyway.”

Muttering like that, he rummaged through a desk a bit and then returned with two pieces of paper as if he had found them.

“…What are these?”

“Wills. Read them.”

Is it okay to read these?

As I hesitated, he nodded as if telling me to read them quickly.

“…”

Unable to resist that urging, I read the wills and found common stories written on them.

If someone is reading this will, I’m probably already dead.

I’m sorry to my family. I was always grateful to my friends and colleagues. Those kinds of stories.

Normally, they would be stories I could lightly pass over as unfortunate, but thinking that this was the place of the person who wrote these wills, my heart felt heavy.

“How is it?”

“… It’s a bit… I feel a certain way. Why are you showing these to us?”

“It’s nothing much. I thought I should tell you since you’re still young.”

“Tell us?”

“If you came with a light heart, go back now.”

Saying that, he advised us.

“As you can see, people die frequently here. You can go back now, forget the confidential matters, and focus on defeating villains.”

“But…!”

“You’re still young, right? You might regret it. The owners of this room were also people who worked here for several years. They were elite. But now they’re like this. Do you think heroes are invincible?”

I’ve seen quite a lot of people dying.

I’ve seen dead bodies too. There are villains I’ve killed myself.

…But it was my first time seeing the aftermath of a hero’s death.

I understood it in my head. The fact that heroes aren’t invincible and can die at any time.

But maybe I was thinking too lightly.

The arrogant thought that we won’t die, that we’ll be different.

Perhaps I had been harboring such thoughts without realizing it.

Suddenly, I had those thoughts.

“Of course, defeating villains is dangerous too, but… Not as much as this place. It’s not too late. It’s okay to go back. I’ll convince that wily old man.”

“…No. It’s okay.”

“Why?”

As I quietly listened to the story with those thoughts, Arte refuted him.

“Because we won’t die.”

“That’s…”

“It’s not like arrogance or anything. That’s how it will be.”

There was conviction in Arte’s eyes.

It’s a statement with no basis, but as if it’s certain.

“…Sigh, okay. I warned you, alright?”

“Thank you for your concern. But it’s really okay.”

“Alright, rest well. See you tomorrow.”

I watched his back as he left, waving his hand.

Maybe it was because of the atmosphere up until now that I belatedly realized we were in a dangerous place.

The kind and benevolent commander, the companions who came out with me.

Investigator Lee, whom we see every day at school.

Amelia’s father with a bright atmosphere.

…But this was a battlefield. A place where you never know when someone might die.

Was he trying to let us know that fact?

“He’s quite a worrywart. There’s no way we’ll die.”

Right? Arte looked at me.

At that face with a hint of a smile, I nodded.

“Yeah. Of course.”

But as Arte said, he was worrying unnecessarily.

That’s how it will be.

Because I’ll protect everyone.

So that Arte won’t be sad.

She clearly thinks of other people as dolls and thinks I’m the only human.

But is that really the case?

Without realizing it herself, her attitude changes when she looks at Amelia and Dorothy.

She would definitely be hurt if those two got injured.

So that Arte won’t get hurt. So that my friends won’t get hurt.

Protecting everyone was my purpose.

“…Where did Lionel go?”

“Ah, teacher. He went over there. With Amelia.”

“No wonder there was a loud noise…”

There was a faint smile on investigator Lee’s face as he sighed.

“It really feels like he’s back, I miss seeing that troublemaker.”

“Troublemaker?”

“As if he hates this place being quiet, he causes incidents every day.”

… He’s really just like Amelia.

I can roughly guess the content too.

Actually doing absurd thoughts, and as a result, minor incidents become huge.

Something like that, right?

“There was a time he tried to grill and eat monster meat, wondering what it tastes like.”

“…How was it?”

“He spit it out, saying it’s tough because it’s all muscle.”

As if old memories were coming back, investigator Lee kept looking around.

As if realizing we were there, he faked a cough and continued speaking.

“I will inform you of the operation details tomorrow. Please rest well in this room today. It may feel icky, but there are no spare rooms right now.”

“It’s alright.”

“Dorothy and I will stay in this room, so you two, please use that room.”

“…What?”

Huh?

What did he say?

“Excuse me, I think I misheard…”

“No, you heard correctly. Dorothy and I will take this room. Arte and Siwoo, please use that room.”

“…?”

What is this?

As if the heavy atmosphere from a moment ago was a lie, it all vanished instantly.

Did I hear that right?

Uh, two rooms… Arte and I use one room, and Dorothy and the teacher use the other…?

“B-but…”

“No need for excuses. I’m well aware that you two are living together.”

“Ack.”

I looked at Arte, at a loss for words, and her face was flushed red.

She was also moving her mouth, trying to say something.

She was just trembling, unable to refute anything.

“…What about Amelia? Put Amelia with Arte and I…”

“Her father requested to spend time together since it’s been a while. It was approved.”

“…”

The gazes around me are sharp.

They’re probably people I’m seeing for the first time.

As if roughly guessing the situation, they were looking at us meaningfully.

“Wh-what…”

“Isn’t it a reasonable room assignment? Since you two live together, it doesn’t seem like a problem.”

“No, that’s…”

“Alright then…You should go to bed early at night. Because we have to begin the operation starting tomorrow.”

“…”

That’s not it.

I couldn’t refute that either. Because it was true that we were living together.

I started feeling strange as people around us seemed to view us as a couple who did everything except date.

Translator’s Corner

Special thing under. Will update the rest when the site works smoother.

-Ruminas

 

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Author’s Notes

Monsters… No. Never (No clue what it means, but it’s back.)