Chapter 46
Chapter 46
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter Title: Grief in the Rain
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As we arrived near the shelter, the first thing that caught my eye was the crowd gathered in front of it.
About ten people or so. Some wore academy uniforms while others didn't, suggesting a mix of Acamedy Academy students and the heroes who'd originally been in the central area.
Like us, they looked exhausted from battling the magic beasts, and a few had minor injuries.
"Kids! You're safe!"
"Teacher?"
As we drew closer, a woman spotted us from within the group and called out. It was Teacher Silbi Bell.
"Were you the ones fighting around here by any chance?"
Teacher Silbi pointed at the traces of battle left around the shelter.
"Ah, yes. There was a Cerberus attacking the shelter, and..."
Han U-sol gave a brief rundown of the Cerberus fight, and Teacher Silbi reacted with astonishment.
"You four took down two high-rank magic beasts!?"
The students and heroes behind her had similar reactions. Whispers of surprise and disbelief rippled through them, eyes wide.
Honestly, even I could hardly believe that four students had pulled it off.
"We took down one Cerberus too."
According to Teacher Silbi, after arriving in B Zone and scattering, they'd come across heroes fighting a Cerberus and joined in. They'd started with about twenty people, but by the time they killed it, half were dead, leaving just ten.
I could understand the reactions from the people in the back. If it took twenty lives halved just to kill one Cerberus, no wonder they couldn't believe four kids took down two.
After slaying the Cerberus and mopping up the lower- and mid-rank magic beasts, they'd thought things were wrapping up—until they saw black flames rising from the shelter and rushed over, running right into us.
"So, all the magic beasts are cleared out?"
"No more in sight, so probably."
All those magic beasts had been wiped out after all. With the end finally in sight, the pent-up fatigue crashed over me.
"Haa..."
I let out a weary breath and slumped my shoulders.
"Were there any survivors?"
"......No. You?"
"......Yeah."
That meant, excluding those who'd fled to the shelter, the odds were high everyone else was dead. Han U-sol and Teacher Silbi bowed their heads.
"......"
Silence fell. The dozen or so people seemed lost in their own thoughts.
Some were probably blaming themselves for failing to save everyone, others relieved just to have survived the ordeal. Some might feel anxiety about what was coming next.
"Anis, you okay?"
"I'm fine."
I gave Yoon Na-rin a slight smile, and then a voice emanated from the speakers on the building rooftop.
Like the other zones, B Zone had more than one shelter. Each zone had ten buildings total, with a shelter in each. B-1 Building was the largest shelter and closest to A Zone.
The announcement was likely gathering people there to tally survivors and transport the injured to A Zone's hospital.
"...For now, we need to take these citizens to the B-1 Building shelter."
Teacher Silbi headed to the shelter door as she spoke. She shouted for those inside to open up, and about a hundred people unlatched the barred door and emerged. Some looked relatively fine, others bandaged from injuries.
"We'll guide them to the B-1 Building shelter first. More injured than expected, so we'll need help supporting them. ...You all search for survivors."
"...Got it."
"W-Wait!"
A middle-aged woman burst from the crowd, yelling.
"My husband... please find my husband! Please... please find him! He must've escaped and hidden somewhere!"
The woman's trembling hands grabbed me. Tears streamed from eyes red and bloodshot from burst vessels.
Starting with her, others rushed forward. Their pleas were much the same as hers.
Find my family. Save my lover. They cried out for their loved ones with quivering voices.
Mothers and fathers, wives, siblings, friends, partners, sons and daughters.
Those bonds intertwined, sharpening into something piercing and heavy. The honed words stabbed straight into my eardrums.
All we could do for their desperate pleas was nod. Nothing more.
While some shouted for their families, others wept silently. They'd witnessed their own loved ones die before their eyes to the magic beasts.
Tears flowed from their eyes too. But it wasn't just tears.
Revenge against the magic beasts that tore away their precious connections.
Resentment toward the center for not deploying high-rank heroes.
Rage at us for arriving far too late.
"......"
Their stares were unbearable. We'd risked our lives fighting the magic beasts, yet all that returned were cold corpses and muddy tears.
I looked up at the sky.
Waaah—
A child's wail echoed,
and dark clouds began gathering overhead.
#
Teacher Silbi soothed the citizens, calming them.
Some vented their resentment at her in the process. She bore it all and set off toward B-1 Building.
"...Let's go look for survivors too."
Han U-sol said. Slim chance, but we set out anyway, searching for any who might've made it.
We wandered the streets in silence. Probably the longest we'd four ever gone without chatter.
Instead of lively talk, a somber mood filled the void.
Maybe from the citizens' tears earlier,
or the streets lined only with corpses,
or the dark clouds blanketing the sky.
We kept searching for survivors.
But our mana-enhanced senses picked up no signs of life.
With every step, all we saw were corpses sprawled on the hard concrete.
Occasionally, bodies in Acamedy Academy uniforms.
Yoon Na-rin's voice pierced the heavy air.
"Anis."
"Yeah?"
"It's okay."
"...Yeah."
Every time a body came into view, Yoon Na-rin told me it was okay.
Whether she meant it for me or herself,
I didn't know what was okay or for whom.
But that one word from her was enough to pull me from the mire.
In our search, we occasionally ran into other students or heroes. Most, like us, had found no survivors.
But some had found people hiding from the magic beasts who'd heard the broadcast and come out, escorting them to B-1 Building.
Survivors found. That alone lifted our gloomy mood.
We resumed searching the city. Farther out, deeper in, more thoroughly. Clutching that sliver of hope that more might be out there.
Senses sharpened by mana made it somewhat redundant, but we occasionally shouted into buildings: "Anyone in there?!"
During one such search, Han U-sol, leading the way, suddenly stopped.
"......"
"What's up?"
Yoon Na-rin and Reisi Hearts approached with puzzled looks, then
"......"
they too halted, mouths shut, just like Han U-sol.
"Why?"
Feeling uneasy, I hurried over and stood beside them. Then I looked where their gazes were fixed: on a corpse.
There lay Rockbell's body, half his body blown away.
Our 1-A Class's main practical instructor, the balding old geezer with the eyepatch.
The guy who only ever yelled about excellence or disappointment.
—Excellent! Anis Harper!
My chest ached. He'd always preached hero doctrine, a stubborn pain, but undeniably a good man.
He'd stressed that heroes must stake their lives to protect citizens.
"...Teacher Rockbell."
His eyes, body half gone, stared vacantly. He'd died leaning against an old container. The door hung wide open, and inside, red blood had pooled and congealed.
"...Did he try to protect the people inside?"
Rockbell gave no answer. The dead speak not.
The container's interior was too dark to see well. I stepped closer.
Thud. Han U-sol entered first. Seeing the bodies inside, his eyes widened.
"...Anis. Don't come in."
He blocked me as I tried to follow.
"...Why?"
"...The bodies are gruesome. Better not to look."
"...Okay?"
"Yeah. Let's go."
As I nodded and turned at Han U-sol's words, a familiar ash-gray hair color caught my eye in my peripheral vision.
That hair...
—Big sis! Thank you so much!
Thump.
My heart raced.
No.
No way.
It can't be.
Please, no.
"Anis!"
I shook off Han U-sol's restraining hand and plunged into the container.
Deeper, deeper in.
Finally, at the far back. What greeted me there
was the cold body of a child dead in her mother's arms.
The ominous premonition hadn't been wrong.
"...Rena."
I clutched my chest. Black, sticky emotions constricted it, breath coming in mad gasps.
Why.
Why are you here.
"Why... why..."
The child said nothing.
Corpses don't speak, after all.
I clawed my way out, gripping the container wall. Staying inside any longer, I couldn't bear it.
"Hng... ugh..."
Breath caught in my throat. Chest so tight, breathing hurt.
"......Anis."
Han U-sol looked at me with a pained face. Yoon Na-rin and Reisi too.
"Ha, haha..."
I knew. Tons of people had died.
After seeing all those corpses, I couldn't not know.
Even kids among them.
I knew. Death is equal to all.
But.
Even so.
—Big sis! Thank you so much!
This was too cruel to me.
Plip. A raindrop from the sky hit my cheek. The clouds blanketing the heavens began pouring clear water.
My phone buzzed in my uniform's inner pocket. New chapters of the novel had updated, ringing madly for attention.
I trembled. Reaching for it terrified me.
Ah.
——Kiiiiiik.
The sound of a spring winding.
And the moment the clock hand twitched to move.
"Anis."
Yoon Na-rin hugged me tightly from behind.
"......It's okay."
Yoon Na-rin kept repeating that it was okay.
Still,
whether for me or herself,
I didn't know what was okay or for whom.
But the phone's frantic notifications quieted in the girl's embrace.
Whoosh— Torrential rain poured down, engulfing the city.