What I Want to Protect
Ah, I was already exhausted.
The kids were more relentless and vicious than I'd expected. They wanted to touch my hair because it was pretty, and that wasn't enough—they whined about wanting to braid it, too.
Was this what people meant by pure evil?
I had no talent for handling children. So I just sat there, helpless, and got thoroughly tormented. Midway through, Pina stepped in to mediate, and the kids' parents showed up, so I managed to muddle through somehow.
Pina laughed looking at me, completely drained.
"Alice, you can't flop out already. We haven't even started yet."
"I'm tired."
"The kids were a bit mischievous, weren't they?"
I gave the side of my head a light tap. A cute little girl had carefully braided it, stitch by careful stitch. I never did anything decorative, so this felt awkward. But if I undid the braid right away, she might be disappointed if we ran into each other later—so I left it.
Pina looked at my hair and said,
"Do you like it?"
I shook my head, fiddling with the braid.
"I'm undoing it the second we get back."
"Why don't you try dressing up a little more, Alice?"
"Not really."
Pina made a face like she couldn't understand.
"Why not? Not dressing up is a waste when you look like that."
"Doesn't help with hunting."
At my blunt reply, Pina's mouth flapped open and shut.
"...Th-that doesn't seem like the important part."
"Huh? What are you talking about? It is important."
"R-right. Of course it is..."
Pina was the one who backed down first.
Let's not forget we're hunters.
The place Pina led me to was a cozy little house. A woman stood at the entrance, gently sweeping the yard with a broom. Seeing her, Pina waved and called out,
"Mom!"
It was Pina's mother. Pina ran ahead, and I stood behind them blankly watching mother and daughter.
Family, huh...
In that moment, an unbearable loneliness washed over me. It doubled when Pina and her mother embraced. Even as I liked this world, I still had attachments left behind. Every time this happened, I felt how thoroughly lost and conflicted I was.
As I sank into that turmoil, Pina's mother spotted me and her eyes went wide.
"Ah, is this the person you told me about, Pina?"
"Yeah, that's her."
I just nodded silently in greeting. Her mother smiled and said,
"Pina's been in your debt quite a bit. I... thank you, for everything."
Her words brought back something from not long ago.
I had killed someone.
It wasn't a memory that lingered long. By now it was just something that had happened—something I could brush past lightly. It hadn't been anything special. Still, I couldn't bring myself to say anything. Mostly because I was afraid my careless mouth might spit something out too easily.
Pina spoke up for me.
"Ah, she's just a bit shy..."
She was dressing it up for me like that.
"Please don't feel too uncomfortable."
"Mom, Alice is going to hang out with us today—that's okay, right?"
"Of course."
I looked at Pina's mother's kind smile. A quiet nod was the best I could manage.
Pina's mother ducked inside for a moment, and then four different kids came tumbling out. Two a bit older than Pina, and two younger. Pina, the eldest daughter, sat in the middle of the birth order.
Among the four, a cheerful-looking little girl gazed at me with sparkling eyes.
"You're Alice Unnie, right?"
I couldn't stay silent even with a little kid, so I bent my knees a little and waved.
"...Yeah. Nice to meet you."
"I've heard so much from Pina Unnie. You're really, really pretty—. I've never seen a hunter unnie this pretty."
"Sena—"
So your name is Sena.
I watched Sena dash off into her mother's arms as she was called. The sight of the family gathered like that stirred a small nostalgia in me.
I painted my family's faces in my mind. I could still recall them easily. And thinking that made me terribly sad again. The longer I spent in this place, the longer it would take to call up their faces. Someday their images would grow hazy and drift away from me.
No—even in this very moment, those memories were slowly slipping further away.
...It wasn't a pleasant thought.
I cut off the reverie and looked at Pina. She was talking with her family, her face full of happiness.
Focus on the happiness of now, I told myself. There was no need to think bad thoughts. Everything would start looking negative if I did.
Finished talking with her family, Pina looked at me and said,
"Let's go!"
"Alright."
Pulling free of her family's embrace, Pina trotted over to me, took hold of me, and walked ahead.
"This is your first time, right, Alice?"
"Yeah."
"Then you'll have fun. The atmosphere, the people—all of it. Even if you don't join in, just watching is nice."
Saying that, Pina pulled me into the gradually thickening crowd. Technically we were with the family, but Pina stuck with me while her mother looked after the rest of the kids. It felt like they were being considerate of how awkward I was, and I was grateful for that.
We ate first. Because of the festival, every shop had opened a special menu—and the moment I walked in, chaos erupted.
"Ah, the hero who saved Antico!"
"Ohh, it's that hunter!"
It felt like I'd received countless handshake requests. People whispered quietly among themselves, and sometimes tossed comments right at me. Nobody actually asked for a handshake, but the heated gazes and cheers were enough to make even my still face flush red.
Pina just grinned at my reactions, clearly enjoying herself.
"You're a real hero."
It was the kind of statement I couldn't argue with. But I found myself thinking that maybe this atmosphere wasn't so bad. I was a long way from getting used to it, but just as Pina said, watching alone was enjoyable enough.
We ate the festival limited menu at the restaurant, each took a berry drink in hand, and headed out. The festival was already in full swing. People recognized me, thanked me, greeted me, and pressed all sorts of gifts into my hands. It was hard to refuse, and taking them one by one left my hands completely full. Most of it was snacks I wouldn't even eat. Still, I didn't throw them away—I shared them with Pina's younger siblings.
Dolls caricaturing monsters stood all over the village. Even after everything that had happened, these monsters weren't objects of hatred to the people. They were simply beings to coexist with.
We played at hitting the dolls with toy repeating crossbows, and watched fish that hunters had risked their lives to catch from swamps and riversides. I ate green cotton candy that reminded me of a Pienos—not popular, but better than expected—and bought toast sweet-pickled with maniberries.
We stopped by to see Matillo midway, but he'd shut his workshop door tight and wouldn't open it. From the hammering sounds inside, he seemed busy with work. That was a little disappointing.
Time flows fast. I'd thought there was nothing much to do, but the time that flew by in an instant proved me wrong.
Pina and I climbed the stairs to a rest area up in the trees and looked out over Antico. Pina's mother and siblings headed home, saying they were getting tired. The festival would run for about seven days anyway, so they could always come back out if they wanted more.
Leaning against the rest area's railing, Pina looked at the setting sun and asked,
"How was today?"
"Your family—they're good people."
The whole time we were out, Pina's mother had been considerate of me. I found her kindness deeply grateful and warm.
"Right?"
"...And I get a clear picture of what kind of image I have now."
So many people had recognized me. It was almost strange that no one had acknowledged me until now. Maybe they'd been holding back all this time, and this whole affair had been the trigger. And the gift offensive was a first in my life—extremely overwhelming.
Pina stared at me blankly, then broke into a cold sweat.
"C-can you see in front of you?"
"Someone just gave me another one."
Layer upon layer of flower leis weighed so heavily on my shoulders they were blocking my vision. With Pina's help, I took the flower leis off and slung them over my shoulder like a rope. I picked flower petals and leaves off my hair.
"The festival was nice, right?"
"Yeah."
At first I hadn't had any real interest. I'd only followed Pina because of her voice I'd heard last night, out of nowhere.
While I was lost in thought, Pina asked again,
"You did have fun, right, Alice? Honestly, it's hard to tell just from your face... You don't smile much."
I nodded.
"I had fun too."
It was the first time I'd properly enjoyed a festival like this. In that crowded atmosphere, I hadn't felt lonely at all. There was none of the loneliness-in-a-crowd I'd imagined. The crowd looked at me and liked me—me, who had nothing but hunting. And I liked those people too. I liked that they accepted me. That atmosphere had won me over.
Pina said with a small smile,
"I'm glad. It seemed like you were enjoying it."
Looking at Pina saying that, I must have been smiling. Thanks to that, I could hold my goal even more clearly.
I had to end the Anomalies. It wasn't just the request from the "me" who had called me to this world. To calm the monsters, so they wouldn't attack where people lived. I wanted to protect the smiles of the people here.
I stood up, stood beside Pina, leaned against the railing, and said,
"Pina."
"Yes? What is it?"
"I'm going to explore the Anomalies now. I got the branch chief's permission."
Pina's eyes went round with surprise.
"Already? Ah, that man from last time..."
"Yeah, that's right."
"...Then what about me?"
"If you want, you can stay here."
If we went around all over the place, it'd be hard to see her family. Of course it wasn't that we'd never come to Antico, but the days we stopped by would definitely grow fewer. That was a bit of a shame for me too. I was a little worried about Matillo, who'd be staying here.
Pina thought for a moment, then said to me,
"Alice, what's the reason you're going so far as to explore the Anomalies?"
"...Me?"
"Yes."
It was a question that cut through everything. I mumbled for a bit before answering belatedly.
"Because I want to protect."
"Protect?"
"Yeah."
"...People?"
At Pina's question, I looked down at the people below. Watching them smile, I recalled the hunters who'd died before my eyes fighting the ancient species. Something like that must never happen again. And I wanted to restore the smile of that pitiful avenger trying to reclaim the future, too.
"That's right."
"Alice... you keep living for others. Even though you're so full of wounds yourself."
"...Huh?"
"Ah, never mind."
Pina muttered quietly and glanced down. Lifting her gaze, she asked me again,
"Can I come along on the Anomaly exploration too?"
"If you go as my supporter, it should be possible."
"Then I'll go with you."
Pina swallowed hard, then continued,
"And when the Anomalies are over... want to quit being hunters together?"
I turned my head to look at Pina. She was quite serious.
"You don't have to work that hard. You can live a little more easily, Alice. You can."
Huh? Uh... well, yeah...
Taking it slow would be fine, I guess.
I nodded clumsily at Pina's words.
"Try other things too. Not just hunting—pick up other hobbies, meet people, live while smiling a little more."
"That would... be nice."
"Make sure you do."
"Yeah..."
Pina was talking about the future. But I couldn't give her words a confident answer.
What would happen to me when I killed Miteraos? Would I go back? But even if I did go back, I had to finish this story with my own hands.
Only after the sun had fully set did we return to the lodging. Pina must have been thoroughly exhausted from the day—she conked out almost immediately. I couldn't sleep again tonight, so I drank coffee until sleep came.
Just as you wanted, I mixed with a lot of people. Were you satisfied?
But unlike last time, tonight was quiet. And I only managed to fall asleep comfortably once the moon had risen high overhead.
Thank you—.
In that half-asleep haze, I thought I heard those words.