Like I'd Actually Done Something
I spent only a single day in Ampianura.
After that, I had a little free time on my hands.
I'd thought it before, but there was something about Ampianura's wide-open landscape that truly made the chest swell. I walked the paths, picked an Uvaberry and ate it — then paid the owner back — and stood still in the fields, simply watching nature.
In a world without games or phones, those were about the only things worth doing. Even so, I was happy.
Standing face-to-face with the plains' sunset, I found myself suddenly recalling an old memory. It was a memory from before I entered this world — a memory of when I was still myself.
Why had I poured myself into this game without end?
I had been running from a life that amounted to nothing, a life that never filled. Yes. In my previous life, I had been dying. Not a physical death — a spiritual one, slowly crushing my body under its weight. The burning passion of youth was a distant thing. Battered this way and that by society, I had collapsed from exhaustion. In the middle of it all, there was nothing I could do.
I was a candle. So many other candles burned around me that no one would notice if mine went out. When a candle burns itself down to nothing of its own accord, nothing remains. The light was already abundant — there was no need to light me again.
…That was an extremely sentimental metaphor.
Anyway, what caught hold of me was a game. A beautiful open world. Freedom so complete it barely had limits. The image of a frail human standing against something vast. A structure that always demanded total focus on the play itself, never letting the mind wander, that stirred the competitive hunger inside a person. Those things had once made me happy.
And when I heard the news of the final update, I felt a desperate grief. Hunter Land had been that special to me. I could firmly mock myself for over-immersion. I had been that desperate a person. Unlike now, my heart had no room to spare back then.
"Alice-nim, Alice-nim."
"…Yeah?"
"Look at those monsters over there."
Pina slipped into the gaps of my thoughts and spoke. I turned my head in the direction she pointed.
There was a herd of herbivorous monsters. The gentle creatures that lived by grazing grass were of one mind, walking somewhere together. The sight of them moving with the sunset at their backs was like a painting.
"…They're heading for Brivido Plains."
"It seems so."
Word of the Broken Horn's death must have spread among the monsters without my noticing. The thought that Brivido Plains would reclaim its original form stirred an unnameable whirlpool in my chest. It was a strange sense of fulfillment. A heart I had believed would never be filled rippled unevenly.
"…Alice-nim?"
"What?"
"Why are you crying?"
Pina asked with pure innocence.
"I don't know either."
I touched the corners of my eyes. I had felt like crying, but I hadn't expected actual tears to well up. Shedding tears in front of Pina was embarrassing.
"…Just… it felt like I actually did something."
Perhaps I had felt an old longing. The sensation that I could do something had drawn a thrill through me. This was exactly why I was a hunter.
I am alive here.
My world was gradually changing.
It was time to return to the capital. The carriage the royal family had provided was still waiting for us in Ampianura. The coachman pressed down his straw hat.
"Shall we return to the capital, then?"
I nodded.
We went back to the capital. The road had been novel the first time; on the return journey I didn't particularly look outside. I simply sat still in the cart and sank into long contemplation. Pina, worn out, dozed with her head bobbing.
Only after the cart had run hard for a full day did we reach the capital. A monster-drawn cart was fast, but the rough roads still left my backside aching. When I climbed down, my body staggered of its own accord.
I'm seriously going to die.
It wasn't the time to whine about being tired. Pina and I unloaded our baggage from the cart and walked toward the royal castle.
The capital was as noisy and bustling as ever. Crowds of people moved this way and that. I felt a few gazes gathering on us as well. That sort of thing had rarely happened before, but after becoming this body it was a familiar sight. Still, no one casually called out to me. My clothes and general appearance made it obvious I was a hunter. To the ordinary people of the capital, who lived as gently as flowers, hunters were rough and frightening creatures.
"Halt."
We were stopped by the guards in front of the royal castle. I had thought we could simply walk in, but a guard blocked our path with a sharp look in his eyes.
"What business do two women have at the royal castle?"
I considered how to answer, then opened my mouth.
"We completed the princess's commission."
"…Ah! Hunters, then. Wait."
With a reluctant expression, the guard undid the latch and rolled the gate open. I started to walk past them — until a spear shaft appeared in front of me.
"Hold."
"…Yeah?"
"Leave your weapons here and wait a moment."
It was a completely different treatment from when the princess had been present. I shrugged. My weapons were only a staff, a sword, and a shield. We handed them over to the castle guards and waited in front of the gate for a while. Pina stuck close behind me and grumbled.
"We completed the commission and this is how they treat us."
"Can't be helped."
I looked up at the castle. Outside the kingdom, being a hunter was a good profession — but that only applied to the outskirts. In the cities around the capital, hunters were mostly treated like this: butchers who killed monsters for money. No wonder hunters only operated out beyond the borders. I shook my head.
"…Ahem. Sorry to keep you waiting."
After a long wait, the castle steward appeared.
"Her Highness the Princess is waiting. This way…"
We followed the steward. Past the castle gardens and into the main keep, we were led not to the princess's chambers but to a balcony. Adelaide was there. Leaning against the railing, she was looking down below.
"…Princess Adelaide, I have brought them."
"Good. You may leave."
"Yes."
With a bow, the steward withdrew. Only the three of us remained on the balcony. Pina set her bag down in a corner. The princess did not move from the railing. From the way her back shook, she might have been laughing…
"Heh heh. Don't just stand there staring, both of you. Sit and rest."
She spoke without turning around. I sat in one of the balcony chairs, rested my hands on the table, and briefly slumped. A full day of rattling cart travel had left my body stiff and sore. Pina put her hands on my shoulders and kneaded them gently.
I was stretching out comfortably when the princess turned and looked at us.
"I've heard about the commission. Quite the successful conclusion, I understand."
Adelaide smiled. Her fresh, bright smile was enough to captivate the heart.
"Thanks to you, Melchior has been so furious he's been living with sweets in his mouth."
"Melchior…?"
"Ah, my older brother's name. That irritatingly handsome fellow."
Irritatingly handsome. I nodded at Adelaide's description. Even from the perspective of someone who used to be a man, he was good-looking enough that "irritating" was fair. What it would feel like to live with a face like that was something I would never know in this lifetime.
"He kept stuffing candy into his mouth, so the palace chef scolded him. What a sight it was. Still feels good just thinking about it. And he even smacked his forehead right in front of me! You two should have seen the look on his face then!"
Adelaide laughed heartily. It was the first time I had seen her laugh hard enough to squeeze out tears.
"All thanks to you two. I'll take the commission reward from my personal treasury."
Adelaide wiped the corners of her eyes with a finger as she spoke.
"If something like this comes up again, I'll actively recommend you."
"Uh… Princess, do things like this happen often?"
Pina tilted her head at the mention of a next time.
"Not often. Truly rare even in the records. But it seems related to the strange things happening of late."
"Strange things of late?"
"Hmm. I suppose I can tell you two. Don't go talking about it elsewhere. The Association is investigating in secret as well."
Adelaide stroked her chin.
"Lately, strange monsters have begun to appear."
"Strange monsters?"
"Yes. They are monsters, true enough. Monsters, but…"
Adelaide paused. She hesitated for a while, then finally spoke.
"Would you believe me if I said those monsters came from beyond time?"
"…What?"
Pina blinked. I, on the other hand, looked at Adelaide calmly.
"The Association carefully selected hunters, captured the suddenly appearing monsters, and studied them. And they reached the conclusion that the monsters come from an entirely different time than ours."
"…That's the Anomalies, right?"
"Correct. Had you heard of them?"
"No, just roughly that there was some kind of problem."
Pina was probably thinking of Fiore. She was right. The Anomalies Fiore had spoken of were exactly this problem.
"Neither the Association nor the kingdom knows the details yet. We can't tell why this is happening. It's a headache. The reason I commissioned you was because, in that urgent situation, an anomalous individual like Kespilatos appeared. Until every cause is found, the army must protect this place."
Adelaide's words stabbed me sharply. I could not say that I was the cause of the twisted time. That would require explaining far too much. I preferred acting with my body over laying out tedious explanations.
"…We're going to investigate the Anomalies too."
"I thought as much. It would be stranger if you didn't. Still low-ranked, are you?"
"Yeah."
"Well, I'd like to use some princess privilege for you, but the world isn't that convenient. I don't have that kind of influence over the Association. Still, the Association will be watching you. Sorry, but work hard. If you end the Anomalies with your own hands, you'll surely become a hero."
A hero? What a ridiculous story.
Strictly speaking, this body was a failed hero. I had been called into this world to solve that problem. It was not of my own will, but the failed hero's goal and mine had overlapped.
Kill Miteraos, and watch over the end of this world I loved.
That was my unchanging role in this world.