Risk Level 2: Harpy
"Hah... hah...!"
It was already past eight in the evening. I stood in front of the closed art museum, desperately pleading with the security guard to open the door, when the Team Leader appeared after hearing the commotion.
"Hmm? I thought you'd already gone home."
"Hah, Team Leader... hah... Team Leader..."
"Did you forget something?"
"No, no... it's not that. Whew..."
I'd rushed straight out of the house, flagged down a taxi, and sprinted from the main gate without stopping, so it took me a while to catch my breath before I could speak again.
"...Team Leader, can I see Harpy right now?"
I had come for one reason only—to meet Harpy again.
"That might be difficult. Harpy hasn't touched her dinner since counseling ended. She's been hiding under the covers ever since."
The reply wasn't encouraging.
"That's... because of me."
"Don't worry too much. She'll be fine in a week. Besides, you've already achieved your goal with Harpy during counseling, haven't you?"
"What do you mean..."
"You uncovered the secret she was hiding so carefully. From here on, you can leave the rest to me."
Ah... right. That had been the goal.
"But..."
"Why? You already ran away once. That choice can't be undone."
Her tone wasn't accusatory, yet the words easily pierced my chest. When I'd heard Harpy's story, I'd only tried to judge right and wrong with my clumsy sense of conscience and morality. I hadn't considered how much courage it had taken for her to tell me. She must have worried I would hate her after confessing she'd once hurt someone. Even so, she'd gathered the courage to answer me—to try getting a little closer. And I had run away with some ridiculous excuse she could never understand.
I had been the one to knock on the firmly closed door first, only to flee pathetically. Even Nero's advice had ultimately been a sharp rebuke of my failure to respond to her sincerity.
"It's true I ran away, just like you said... but I still want to apologize to Harpy."
"...Hmm."
The Team Leader exhaled deeply, looking troubled, then asked again.
"I could handle this smoothly if you left it to me... but you insist on stepping in?"
As the head of the management team, her words meant she didn't trust me right now. And she was right—I had been terrified and fled without excuse.
But for the sake of the future—for both me and Harpy—I had to do this.
"I... have to."
"Harpy isn't human like you, Ung-ssi. That's why I showed you the sirens first—to teach you to stay tense and deeply afraid in front of non-human beings."
"..."
"Your reaction today isn't something to be ashamed of."
Her words matched exactly what I'd thought right after hearing Harpy's story, so I couldn't deny them immediately. But the reason I'd come here to see Harpy was because I possessed the ability to read others' hearts. If I was going to call myself a counselor, then above all else, I had to listen to their inner voices rather than their outward appearances.
The Harpy I'd come to know through counseling was purer and more beautiful inside than anyone I'd ever met. Wasn't that enough?
People judge others by appearances because they lack the time to truly understand one another and because of the social masks we all wear. But I, who can hear the most honest voices of others, should never define someone based only on what I see. I realized this far too late—after I'd already given Harpy a new wound.
"...Please trust me just one more time, Team Leader."
"..."
I bowed politely and waited for my superior's decision. After a brief silence, her answer came.
"...Very well. How could I refuse when our newest recruit who's still on probation is begging so earnestly?"
"Thank you!"
"But be prepared to take responsibility for your own words. That includes keeping your promise to maintain a consistent attitude from now on."
"Yes, Team Leader. I won't disappoint you."
Once I received her confirmation, I tried to pass her, but a calmer voice than usual reached my ears.
"...The responsibility will be heavy."
That voice carried a warning, a hint of anxiety, and even a trace of concern, but I didn't stop. I headed straight toward Harpy.
For the first time, my legs didn't tremble during the identity check with the gun pointed at me. My mind was too full of regret over my immature actions and worry for Harpy.
Creak...!
"...Harpy!"
The moment I opened the iron gate and stepped into the garden, I called her name, but the interior remained silent, as expected.
"..."
On the table I'd reached after running over sat the nail care kit the Field Team Leader had left behind, untouched. In front of it, her dinner had gone cold. Seeing that, regret flooded through me again. I slowed my steps and carefully made my way toward her bedroom.
There was no sound from inside, but I could still hear something.
'Hic... sob...'
Harpy's sorrowful weeping echoed clearly in my mind, unable to be hidden from me.
"Harpy..."
Unable to call out loudly, I murmured her name under my breath and quietly stepped inside before stopping. I couldn't bring myself to approach any closer than the distance where she might hear my voice.
...I could feel it. The distance between us had grown much wider than when we'd first met.
"Harpy..."
"..."
"I know it's selfish to say this after running away once, but I want to talk to you again, even if only for a moment."
Harpy, buried under the blanket and sobbing, didn't respond even in her heart, but I continued speaking.
"Honestly... yes, I was scared. Even knowing Harpy isn't the kind of person who would do bad things out of malice, it would be a lie to say I felt nothing after hearing that story."
But that couldn't excuse my running away.
"Even so... I have nothing to say but that I'm sorry for leaving without a word after Harpy mustered the courage for my sake."
I conveyed my sincere apology, but the figure under the blanket gave no reaction.
"Harpy... I'm truly sorry for hurting you because of my cowardice."
"..."
"But every word I've said to Harpy until now was genuine. It wasn't a lie meant to please you. I hope you know that."
"...."
Still no reaction. Then... I had no choice but to ask directly.
"Harpy... are you afraid you'll hurt me or someone else again, like in the past?"
She was afraid, too.
"...And that I'll leave just like this."
It was an arrogant thing to say after wounding her and running away only hours earlier, but—
Twitch.
For the first time, she reacted.
"I know now that I was wrong. That I acted wrongly. So... even though I'm late, I came back."
"...I'm... not special..."
Her trembling, fragile voice slipped out from under the blanket. I thought there might be some hope in her answer, but then Harpy continued.
"I'm... I'm just a monster..."
Once again, I sank into a swamp of guilt while glimpsing her kind heart that blamed herself even in this situation.
"...Others might see you that way. But I know how gentle and considerate Harpy really is."
"No... no, you don't... Counselor... you don't know...!"
Scratch!
When she clutched the blanket, her sharp talons easily tore through the thick fabric, revealing their pointed tips. I flinched for a moment, but it no longer frightened me.
"I'm coming over there now."
"...!"
Step.
I took one step forward.
"...If Harpy really were just a monster—one that bewitches and harms people—then I'd be torn to shreds by those sharp talons right now."
"That's right...! So... don't come. D-don't come any closer!"
Her desperate, pleading cry rang out, and the silhouette under the blanket began to tremble violently. The distance between us hadn't even closed to two meters yet, so there was still time, but she'd reacted more sensitively than ever to just one step. Of course she had—because moving forward now wasn't just approaching her physically. It meant approaching her heart directly.
Step.
Another step.
"Even so, it doesn't matter. It would simply mean I misjudged you."
"Ah... aah..."
Step.
One more step.
"...Even if Harpy attacks me, it's my own fault. This isn't a counseling session, so whatever happens is entirely my responsibility for making the wrong judgment."
Step.
One step.
"The reason I'm still approaching Harpy like this is to express my apology and reflection for my mistake..."
Step... The final step brought me to the bedside.
"...And above all, because I trust and respect Harpy as an equal person."
Her labored breathing was now audible. The two-meter distance had long since been crossed. Even if she couldn't see me yet because of the blanket, I wasn't going to stop here. Running away was the last thing on my mind.
"I think it would be better to talk while looking at each other."
"..."
Even I could tell my voice was trembling badly from tension, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't calm it down. I could only hope she wouldn't misunderstand.
"..."
I looked at her hands clutching the blanket tightly, her talons gripping the edge as if she'd never let go.
...There was no reason to hesitate.
Swish.
"..!!"
The blanket shook violently. Because—even through the fabric—my hand had come to rest on the back of hers. The contact was so clear I could feel its shape beneath my palm.
"...Ah... uwaah..."
"Harpy."
I gently stroked her hand, smoothing her curved talons together, then grasped the edge of the blanket. Though her hand had been tense, it relaxed as if by magic when I stroked it softly. I was able to take the blanket from her more easily than expected.
Slide...
Kneeling on one knee beside the bed, I slowly lifted the blanket.
"..."
Beneath the shadowed covers, her moist amber eyes glowed softly as she gazed at me. The distance was close enough that I could reach out and touch her beautiful face, yet she didn't run or hide behind her wings. She simply looked at me quietly.
"...This is the first time we've seen each other this close, isn't it?"