Kyle Has Gone Missing
Before we set out for the Calor Outpost, something utterly unbelievable happened. After commissioning a weapon from Matillo, I had thought nothing was amiss right through the following morning.
From early morning the branch manager had summoned me, and he wore a grave expression.
He broke the silence.
"Would you read this letter?"
I nodded and read the letter placed before me.
The contents were simple yet shocking. Master Hunter Kyle had gone missing. I looked at the branch manager with half-lidded eyes.
"Kyle was at the Calor Outpost?"
The branch manager nodded.
"Yes. He was by the river of flowing lava. It's been well over a month since he left on an expedition, and there's still no word. No—they say he can't be found anywhere."
There were rules for hunters exploring the anomalies.
The same rules applied to those expanding into uncharted lands.
When setting out on an expedition, the goal was to return within two weeks at the earliest, four weeks at the latest. Of course that was only the theory; in practice they usually prepared enough supplies for about a week of comfortable travel.
Exploring unknown territory, lingering outside too long brought nothing but danger and no real benefit.
Kyle could not have been unaware of that. Exceeding a full month meant something had definitely gone wrong.
"……Is there a problem at Calor right now?"
The branch manager answered my question.
"Yes. According to recent reports, anomalies have appeared in various places. Angolo and Lacrima, which you visited, are fine, but the other three are not. Somewhat irregular earthquakes have been occurring by the river of flowing lava. It used to be quiet land, but the atmosphere has turned ominous."
I leaned back comfortably in the chair and nodded.
As the branch manager said, things were unfolding strangely. Was it because a Supreme-grade monster had moved? Had Kyle perhaps encountered it?
Was the monster waiting for us really Gangcheol?
What scheme was Miteraos plotting?
Worries chained one after another.
"What do you think?"
The branch manager asked, but I shook my head, having no certainty of my own.
"I don't know. Either a Supreme-grade monster moved and caused this, or Miteraos did something."
"……You said you're going to Calor this time, right?"
"Yeah."
After meeting Nicoletta, the destination had been set, and I had reported it at once.
The branch manager clutched his head and sighed. Maybe because I did not see him often, his forehead seemed broader than before.
Suddenly the bald association president's smile floated into my mind.
"We have no way of finding out ourselves, but perhaps you might. Will you go to Calor and help the hunters? It would be good if you could also learn Kyle's whereabouts…… but not knowing where he is, and being told to search that vast land at random must be bewildering."
"It's fine. Leave it to me."
I answered with full confidence.
The branch manager paused for a moment. Then, sighing and touching the corner of his mouth, he took a sip of the water beside him.
"Even if we've gained one more Master Hunter, we cannot afford to lose another. A person's place cannot simply be filled by someone else. We must not lose anyone. So I ask this of you."
He spoke to me with genuine sincerity.
I looked at him in mild surprise. His words truly struck a chord. That determination not to let a single person die matched my own.
"Got it. I'll move with the goal of finding Kyle."
The branch manager nodded.
"Yes. I trust you."
I left the branch manager's office and exited the association.
This time Pina, who had come out with me, stuck close and asked. Since she also had to go to Calor, she needed to know.
"What did he say?"
I lowered my voice to a barely audible murmur so as not to cause unnecessary confusion, and relayed the conversation with the branch manager to Pina exactly as it had been.
"Kyle went missing by the river of flowing lava. He hasn't returned for over a month."
"M-Master Hunter Kyle-nim?"
"Yeah."
"What on earth is happening in that land right now? A Master Hunter……"
"Be careful what you say."
"Ah, yes."
Pina pressed her lips shut and nodded.
"Is Calor… that dangerous a place?"
"Dangerous if you call it dangerous, I suppose."
With a Master Hunter already vanished without a trace, it could hardly be called safe.
Pina clenched her fists tightly.
"It's all because of that dragon… Miteraos, right?"
I nodded in silence.
Pina walked with anxious eyes fixed on the ground.
"If it's to the point that even Kyle-ssi is like that…… other people must be in huge danger too."
Many people were dying off because of the anomalies all the time.
In Lacrima, General Gero had controlled things so thoroughly that casualties had been few. Even those had only poured out in bulk at the end when they faced Neveumano.
But Angolo was different. Besides the hunters eaten by Schiagua midway, many had died and disappeared, and they had repeatedly filled the vacancies. It would not be Angolo's problem alone.
"It feels like all of Cartadia is under threat."
Pina's thought was by no means an exaggeration.
The lands of the anomalies were teeming with monsters, and so far they were holding out well with the combined strength of hunters and the kingdom's army.
But if the outposts collapsed, and the monsters living in those anomaly lands poured out into the rest of the kingdom—
They would suffer a loss of life beyond anything imaginable now.
Of course, with me here, that was no problem.
"Don't worry too much."
I carefully placed my hand on top of Pina's head.
"As long as I'm here, that will never happen."
At my words, Pina looked up at me with slightly relieved eyes. Then, lowering her gaze, she spoke in a regretful tone.
"……At least while Alice-nim is here, that is."
I blinked, then suddenly grasped the meaning of those words.
If I ended the anomalies with my own hands and brought peace, all the flow of time would return to its original state, and I myself would disappear as well—wouldn't I?
"Hmm, Pina."
"Yes."
I spoke bluntly.
"Even if I kill Miteraos, I'll be here forever."
"……You're so stubborn. If time rewinds, won't Alice-nim disappear too? Even if you remain, what about Alice-nim's future?"
"It'll be fine without just me."
"Alice-nim was quite an important person in the future too……"
I smiled faintly as I looked at Pina.
"To me, this world right now is precious. So I'll go to Calor, save Kyle, end the anomalies, and protect the people. Because that's for the future. So that our future doesn't become a wasteland, I'll hold on tightly from the past."
Pina stared at me fixedly.
"Even if I disappear, I have friends like you, Pina, who will remember me. In my place, you'll make the future better. And I'll live in a world like that."
To be precise, not me, but the owner of this body.
"So help me well from the side. As you know, Pina, I'm really clumsy at everything except hunting."
"……Alright."
At my words, Pina nodded with a thin smile as if she had no choice.
"But at least practice cooking."
"Ugh."
"If I have to stop by home, what will you eat alone?"
"I'll eat out……"
"Alice-nim has been eating the same thing for months. Don't you get tired of that meat set meal?"
"Never get tired. That's always new."
Pina shook her head side to side.
"This won't do. Today we'll manage your hair, and until we return, you'll learn cooking too."
Uh… Mom?
I am the hand of minus.
Meaning a hand that turns every dish I touch into a sewer. Adding spices or mixing anything simply refused to go the way I wanted.
I seemed to possess not a shred of talent for cooking, yet Pina refused to give up on me.
It was pure torment for me.
So one day I escaped the lodging, ate lunch on my own, and received punishment from Pina.
The punishment was nothing more than combing my tangled hair, but for me it was an extremely awkward ordeal.
That kind of thing was only until today. I raised both hands in triumph and looked out at the world.
Pina, who had been moving luggage behind me, tilted her head.
"……Alice-nim?"
"Stretching."
The day of departure for Calor dawned.
Just as with Angolo and Lacrima, we borrowed a cart provided by the association. We stacked the luggage neatly in the rear compartment and loaded a weapon case for a change of pace.
Of course, because the Famine Sword was my precious cherished weapon, I decided to seat it right beside me.
Famine Sword is my baby. I have to protect it.
Actually, seeing the tusk-like teeth move from time to time, I sometimes wondered whether it possessed some kind of self-awareness.
But if it was Disastro's consciousness, wouldn't it only have thoughts like Hungry, give food, scratch scratch? Since it was a creature that had starved to death without ever eating its fill, its quality was not exactly refined either, so that seemed about right.
Once the loading was finished, Pina and I sat facing each other in the cart.
Pina remarked casually.
"Calor… I'm not really looking forward to it."
I felt the same.
Cold was not great, but heat was not great either.
When it was cold, layering clothes made the body sluggish; in summer, sweat pouring down and soaking everything was truly the height of unpleasantness.
Even naked it would still be hot—yet you could not exactly peel off your own skin.
For people like us, Cooling Powder had been prepared. This time as well the branch manager had packed a generous amount. Since it had been purchased with association funds, I had not spent a single coin. For the record, Pina had been extremely happy that it was free.
That same Pina was now wearing a thoroughly miserable expression.
"Ugh, how far is it this time?"
"It's a monster-drawn cart so it's fast, but still it'll easily take a day or two."
"I packed cushions this time, so it'll be okay, right?"
"Well……"
Drawing on past experiences of nearly having our backsides shattered while riding carts, we had brought cushions.
They might feel a little uncomfortable, yet better a bit of discomfort than enduring the constant shocks to the rear from rattling the whole way.
Just then the cart jolted. The coachman seemed to have started leading the monsters.
And we immediately realized that even these cushions could not fully cushion the impact.
Pina, face drained of color, leaned her forehead against the window and whispered something.
"W-why am I on this road again…… Kill me……"
It was such a bitterly resentful voice that I simply closed my eyes without answering.