The Weight of Survival
The counseling office now held four corpses. The floor was drenched in blood.
I felt no regret for killing those who deserved it, but the thought of cleaning up left me at a loss.
Should I contact Chief Justin…?
Castalnus was a criminal syndicate with a warrant out from the Public Security Bureau. Killing a few wanted intruders who had drawn their blades first shouldn’t bring any legal consequences.
……The real problem is Gwangrang.
Some people saw Gwangrang as a hero, while others viewed her as a criminal. The Public Security Bureau, however, treated her as a vigilante who took the law into her own hands.
If I reported this incident as it stood, Gwangrang would be arrested and dragged into court. That couldn’t happen.
The counseling isn’t finished yet.
Whether Gwangrang was captured and judged by the law, whether her condition was taken into account for a reduced sentence, or whether she was released… all of that had to come after the counseling was complete.
That was why I wanted to handle this matter as quietly as possible.
I had no choice but to contact him.
Ding—!
I opened the window and rang the small bell hanging from the frame. Moments later, a bird came flying from afar at an unbelievable speed, like a bullet.
Chirp, chirp.
The bird tilted its head and let out a cute cry. It was called a Gipone—a bird whose flight ability and intelligence had been enhanced through magical means. Essentially, it was a carrier pigeon, only faster and more precise.
I wrote down the details and my signature on a note, then handed it to the Gipone. The bird took the note in its beak and shot off like a bullet.
Not even five minutes had passed when I heard a knock.
Knock, knock.
When I opened the door, a familiar face greeted me.
“……Zigmarr.”
“It’s been a while, Kain.”
“I didn’t expect you to come in person.”
“I happened to be passing nearby. Anyway……”
Zigmarr scanned the inside of the counseling office. When he saw the five corpses and the blood pooled on the floor, he chuckled.
“You’ve made quite a mess.”
“They were Castalnus members. They had it coming.”
“I know. They’ve got sock tattoos on their ankles. Scum who deserved to die.”
Zigmarr’s gaze eventually stopped on the corpse with the sword tattoo.
“That sword tattoo marks a Castalnus executive. Name’s Omanthis. What do you want to do?”
“What do you mean?”
“There’s a bounty on him. Hand his head over to the Public Security Bureau and you’ll get the reward. Not a huge amount, but still. Want me to cut it off and deliver it?”
I looked down at Omanthis, the Castalnus executive. Turning him in would net me the bounty, but I didn’t feel like it. Once again, Gwangrang’s presence weighed on my mind.
“……Just handle it however you see fit. I’d rather not get involved with the Public Security Bureau right now. I have my reasons.”
“Then I’ll take Omanthis’s bounty, and we’ll call it even—no cleaning fee.”
“You were planning to charge a cleaning fee?”
“Even between old comrades, business is business. You have to settle accounts properly to avoid future trouble.”
I watched Zigmarr cleaning the office and asked, “How’s the work treating you?”
“Tough. But it suits me, so it’s not bad. What about you?”
“Similar. Hard, but interesting.”
“And Eris? How’s she doing?”
“She’s fine.”
By the time our conversation ended, the cleaning was already finished. As a professional in this field, Zigmarr worked fast. In just a few minutes, the counseling office was spotless. The smell of blood had faded, replaced by a pleasant fragrance.
When Zigmarr finished and prepared to leave, I saw him off.
“Thanks, Zigmarr.”
“No need. I should be the one thanking you.”
There was something unsettling in the way he said it. As expected, Zigmarr soon wore a sly grin.
“That Omanthis you killed is quite the big shot. The bounty on him is actually pretty high.”
“How much?”
“Around 500,000 Leon?”
My jaw dropped. 500,000 Leon was enough to buy a house on the outskirts of Lumière. With that money, I could even purchase the neighboring building I’d been eyeing for the office’s expansion.
“You said it wasn’t much earlier…… You swindler.”
“Heh, sorry. I’ve been a bit short on cash lately. If you need information, call me again. I’ll give you a discount out of respect for our old bond.”
Zigmarr laughed slyly.
“See you around, comrade!”
“Comrade, my foot. You just fleeced me. Get lost.”
“How cold!”
Zigmarr left with those words.
Zigmarr was a comrade who shared the same past as me. He worked in the underworld—information broker, errand runner, cleaner—making full use of his talents. He was especially useful when I needed something handled off the record, just like today.
After finishing the cleanup with his help, I returned to the counseling room where Gwangrang was bound.
From inside came the sound of low growls and the creaking of the restraint chair.
Before opening the door, I found myself thinking about the connection between the Castalnus attack and Gwangrang. It wasn’t something I had deliberately tried to reason out. The accelerated thoughts from Call of the Dawn had started deducing on their own.
Castalnus was chasing Gwangrang.
They had said Gwangrang attacked their organization. Why had she targeted them?
Normally, I would have assumed it was simply part of her “judgment.” After all, Castalnus was an organization that deserved to be judged for its evil deeds.
But Gwangrang said her actions weren’t grand enough to be called “judgment.”
There had to be another reason beyond that justification—something that made her attack Castalnus.
Castalnus is a human trafficking syndicate.
Human trafficking wasn’t limited to organ sales. It also included buying people and selling them to slave traders, circuses, or mercenary groups. Castalnus was involved in all aspects of that trade.
Once I reached that conclusion, I entered the room where Gwangrang waited.
The moment I stepped inside, her red eyes glared at me fiercely. With a low growl, she shook the restraint chair again. The creaking was louder than before, as if the chair might finally break.
Fortunately, it held. The chair itself was sturdy, and Eris had administered the sedative, Lullaby of the Mist, at just the right moment.
I approached Gwangrang, drawing dangerously close. Startled by the sudden proximity, she stopped struggling for a moment. I met her gaze calmly.
“You weren’t carrying out ‘judgment’ all this time, Gwangrang. You were fighting to survive.”
I added that it was only a crude deduction, but her crimson eyes—previously clouded by rage—regained a spark of clarity. She blinked at me, as if asking how I knew.
Feeling the heat in my head from Call of the Dawn, I continued.
“The intruders had sock tattoos on their ankles. That’s the mark of Castalnus. Naikle was originally supposed to be sold to them, wasn’t she?”
Castalnus had likely paid Naikle’s father in advance for her. But when Gwangrang killed him and fled, they lost their chance to sell her to a mercenary group—and they couldn’t recover the money they’d already paid.
“That’s where the bad blood between Naikle, Gwangrang, and Castalnus began.”
Castalnus had tracked Naikle to recover their advance payment. Gwangrang must have fought to protect her from their pursuit, killing several members in the process. Other suspicious groups had probably gotten involved along the way.
“In retaliation for their dead members, Castalnus pursued Gwangrang even more relentlessly. The smaller gangs that got dragged into it would have tried to capture you too. And you wouldn’t have taken it lying down.”
To deal with Castalnus’s revenge and pursuit, Gwangrang had needed to maintain control of Naikle’s body.
“At first, a day or two might have been enough, but later it wasn’t.”
As Castalnus’s retaliation grew fiercer, a day or two was no longer sufficient to shake off their pursuit. Gwangrang had to hold control for a week, sometimes even two.
“Even though it was to protect Naikle, she wouldn’t have understood. She probably thought you were trying to take over her body completely. That’s why she came to me.”
The pieces of information clicked into place like a puzzle, and everything made sense.
“When you realized Castalnus was coming here, that pathological anxiety and explosive rage—it all stems from this. Constant threats make anyone hypersensitive.”
“……How did you……?”
“I can help you, Gwangrang.”
I ignored her clichéd question. Answering it wouldn’t have meant much. Instead, I got straight to the point.
“No—I want to help you.”
Gwangrang stared at me. The restraint chair, which had been creaking loudly until now, fell silent.
* * *
“Gwangrang’s rage is at a pathological level right now. Naikle’s anxiety is the same. In any case, it would be best to prescribe medication. Since Naikle and Gwangrang share the same body despite their separate personalities, the dosage should be roughly……”
I released Gwangrang from the restraint chair. After prescribing the medicine, I explained how and when to take it. Because Naikle and Gwangrang suffered from dissociative identity disorder—more commonly known as multiple personalities—I had to go over the precautions in detail.
Once Gwangrang’s personality fell asleep and Naikle’s awakened, I planned to explain the dosage and schedule again.
“So this medicine will reduce the anxiety?”
“It’s temporary, but it will definitely help.”
Gwangrang eyed the flask I handed her with suspicion. The idea of controlling psychological states with drugs seemed unfamiliar and doubtful to her. I didn’t need to launch into a lengthy explanation or force her to take it. My duty ended at prescribing the medicine. Taking it was up to Naikle and Gwangrang.
Along with the flask, I gave her a recorder the size of a finger.
“I’m also giving you this recorder. With it, Naikle and Gwangrang will finally be able to communicate. It should reduce minor misunderstandings and help ease Naikle’s anxiety to some extent.”
I explained how to use the recorder. Press this button to start recording, that one to play back the voice, and so on.
“But this is only a temporary solution. The root of the problem lies with Castalnus.”
“So, Kain, are you saying you’ll help me get rid of Castalnus?”
She used to call me “Counselor” with a mocking tone, but now she addressed me by name with a hint of familiarity. It seemed some trust had built between us.
I smiled without hiding my satisfaction and nodded.
“Eliminating them completely would be difficult. But I’ll make sure they stop chasing you.”
“I didn’t know counselors did this kind of work.”
“This place is both a counseling office and a resolution office. You would’ve known if you’d looked at the sign when you came in.”
Oh, right—Gwangrang had woken up here.
“Then you’re both a counselor and a resolver?”
“Something like that.”
Gwangrang stared at me. Doubt and distrust lingered in her eyes.
“But how? Even after I killed several of their members, they never stopped chasing me. Over the past few years, I’ve killed dozens—maybe even over a hundred—of them……”
“Killing them won’t solve it. We need to talk.”
“Ha!”
She let out a dry laugh.
“You think you can solve with words what violence couldn’t? You really believe a peaceful method like that will work?”
Gwangrang had spent years evading pursuit from Castalnus and other criminal organizations, locked in a violent struggle. The idea of resolving with dialogue what years of bloodshed had failed to fix must have seemed laughable to her.
Yet some conversations could be more violent than violence itself.
“By tomorrow, Castalnus’s pursuit will be over. I guarantee it.”
There was no need for lengthy explanations. From here on, it was no longer about persuasion—it was about proof.