Rina. That's My Name.
I've gone socially awkward...!
The strength slid right out of my hands. The box was about to go—
Thud.
"......"
—Except it didn't.
If I wrecked even a single component in here, our guild would be well and truly finished. So I just stood there, still holding the box at this awkward half-turn.
"Ah... y-you're that person from last time."
"We meet again, friend."
The height difference sent my gaze stretching way, way up.
"Yep.... I got in just fine."
Only after answering did I realize. What I'd practiced in front of the mirror yesterday was a greeting, not a reply. The greeting I'd so carefully prepared was completely useless the moment the other person spoke first.
What do I do with this awkwardness. I need to say something...!
"F-food!"
"Pardon?"
"Food... I ate food too. Mhehehe...."
I've gone socially awkward...!
That's what came out after all that thinking? Was I always this much of a wimp? No. No, no, no. Do you even know how much raw testosterone I've got packed in here? If it just wasn't this particular person, I would've been fine...!
"...Yes. Food is... important."
She's actually answering me seriously. Maybe she's just going along with it because a little kid said it.
"......"
It wasn't even a high mountain, but I was running out of oxygen. My breath was already catching in my throat.
Should I put the box down? No. If I put it down, the conversation might drag on. It'd look like I actually want to have a real conversation.
It was right after that her gaze dropped a little lower. My waist. More precisely, the rope wrapped around it.
"Hm?"
Her eyes followed the line. Past me, along the rope... all the way to Nayeon, standing about ten meters off, holding the other end and keeping watch.
Their eyes met, and Nayeon flinched, freezing in place. Still not letting go of the rope.
"...That, um. That rope."
She asked in a small voice.
"Is it for safety? Because of... what happened last time."
"Ah. This?"
It probably looked a little weird. Even slaves back in the Joseon dynasty didn't get walked around on a neck leash... wait, a waist leash? Anyway, they didn't get tied up and led around like this.
"Well... something like that! Hunters are dangerous, you know!"
"Dangerous......"
She muttered something under her breath, then tightened her grip on her sword, her expression going hard.
Why? Was my explanation not enough? No, how am I supposed to explain more than that. I don't know.
If we'd been close, I would've asked. What just bothered you? Why are you gripping your sword again?
"That box looks heavy."
She changed the subject. It was a strangely abrupt shift.
"You've been carrying things this whole time. Aren't you tired?"
"It's light, though? This much is nothing."
"...I see. You're an impressive friend."
And then she just stared at me again. I wished she'd keep throwing questions at me, but of course this person was a hardcore introvert.
The silence was about to stretch out again when, with a splat, the rope yanked taut. My stomach went squish.
"Ghk."
I went sliding backward, still clutching the box. I thought it was some kind of bolt from the blue, but it looked like Nayeon had stepped in a puddle and slipped.
Why is this person so clumsy when she's supposed to be an Awakened? I almost ate dirt!
"Are you alri—"
She reached a hand toward me as I got back up, then stopped in midair.
"I'm fine. This happens a lot."
Her expression turned strange.
"A lot...? Does... your stomach not hurt?"
"Ah, the rope is surprisingly soft. It presses into my lower belly here, but it doesn't hurt."
"...I see."
She nodded. She looked down at the ground for a moment, then after a while, added:
"Be careful, friend. Even if you're a hunter, don't go to dangerous places. And if you don't want to go, if you're scared, make sure you say so."
That was what she'd said in the chat window. A tiny little thing like me going in and out of those deathtrap rifts must have really weighed on her mind.
"Yep. You too."
The moment I said it, I realized. Sure, my mental age was way up there! But on the outside she was far more of an adult than me, and I'd just called her you? In the land of Eastern courtesy, what kind of rudeness was that!
She blinked once.
"Hehe. Thank you."
Thankfully, she didn't make an issue of how I'd addressed her.
She turned around. And after walking a few steps:
"Byeori... Kang Byeori, was it? Your name."
"Uh... yes."
"It feels like cheating if I'm the only one who knows a name, so I'll tell you mine too."
She looked back with a gentle smile.
Rina walked south, giving her head a small shake.
In the end, she'd said nothing but weird things again. Still, the conversation hadn't actually died, and the kid had seemed to enjoy it, so... that was fine, right?
There had been one strange thing, though.
The rope at the child's waist. Saetbyeol Guild, was it? That place's guild leader had been gripping the line around the kid's waist and holding on tight. Like they'd tied her up so she couldn't run away.
Maybe it was part of a roleplay. That kid liked playing knight, after all.
But what if it wasn't? This was a world of rifts and gates, a nasty world. What if that guild leader had taken a girl who didn't know any better and—
Rina barely managed to cut the thought off before it wandered somewhere she couldn't name.
Her steps were a little faster than usual. And because of that, so were her thoughts.
She looked down at the sword clanking at her hip.
"...Why do I keep doing this lately."
Was it really just a condition problem?
She muttered it too quietly for anyone to hear, then took hold of the scabbard. Adjusted her grip. Twice.
There was no reason.
The first day's assignment wrapped up with almost disappointing speed.
Evening. The guild office.
"What did you talk about?!"
Nayeon sat me on the sofa and convened a full hearing. Jihyeon pushed her glasses up beside her. Neither of them looked ready to let me off easy.
"She asked if I got in all right last time?"
"And?"
"I said I did."
"And?!"
"...She told me to be careful. That hunter work is dangerous."
"Excuse me?"
Nayeon banged the desk.
"Oh, for crying out loud! Be careful? She's one to talk!"
"Nayeon?"
"Am I wrong?! That person is the one who named Byeori! She sold our Byeori off before any time had even passed, and now she has the nerve to—"
Nayeon stopped.
"Ah. That's..."
Sold me off, huh.
She had. She'd sold me off. Without even a last goodbye, just packing me into a case like it was nothing.
"I'm sorry, Byeori. I shouldn't have said it like that..."
"Huh? No, it's fine. I don't care. I mean, I was actually really expensive back then."
I snorted and shrugged.
I meant it. I really didn't care.
She was a knight and I was a sword. It wasn't like we'd signed a contract to stay together for life. There was no reason for her to cling to me once a better blade came along.
Smartphones were the same way. When a new one showed up with a pile of extra features and a much nicer face, there was no reason to keep lugging the old brick around.
I didn't... at all...
Yeah. If it were me, I'd obviously...
"......Mhehehe. Lots of people wanted me, and my sword-spirit was pretty cool too... ah, I was pretty popular. And, um..."
I trailed off as the room went quiet and snuck a look around. Nayeon had been working her mouth like she had something to say. Instead she swallowed hard, then shot to her feet.
"...Food! Let's eat! It's curry tonight!"
...She really was the type who worried about the dumbest things.
It was clearly eating at her. The one who'd pulled me out of that rift, and the one who'd given me a name and then thrown me away, were the same person. She couldn't decide whether to thank Rina or tear into her.
I had a vague idea what Nayeon had swallowed back instead of spitting out.
"S-so, hehe. Byeori, this is your first time having curry, right? Curry is this yellow sauce you go whoosh-whoosh over the rice—"
"Ah. The Association records just came through. Even after we came down, the readings spiked in sequence."
Right as Nayeon was awkwardly changing the subject, Jihyeon, who'd been quietly clicking her mouse, cut in.
I went up on my toes to look at the monitor.
"Huh..."
She was right. Readings were jumping all over the place again, completely at random.
That rift.... Why was it looking for me this hard? What did that thing even want?
The idea that a rift could want anything in the first place was already nonsense....
"Hmm..."
It was just prowling around the observation posts, and at least it hadn't gone berserk like last time. That was something. Then again, you never knew. It might get angry, go ah, forget it, and try to smash everything again.
Not a great hypothesis. But you always planned for the worst case.
...I really needed to find some kind of lead tomorrow, though.
I ate the mild curry (it had actually been a little spicy, but I'd started wheezing so hard that Nayeon watered it down), patted my stuffed belly, and flopped onto the sofa.
I glanced toward the computer. My eyes drifted to the power button, then quietly drifted away again.
I was taking the night off. No gallery-scrolling, no chatting.
If I logged on, she'd be there. And if she started talking about the blue-haired kid she'd met today... what was I supposed to say?
That was me. That was my story. And I'd have to pretend it wasn't, pretend I didn't even care.
"......"
Hiding it didn't sit right with me. It had never really bothered me before, but today of all days, I couldn't stop thinking about it.
Rina. I'm Rina. That's my name.
Was it the name? Was that why my heart was this restless?
Her true feelings. The words she'd said to her first sword, Byeori. I'd heard all of it. And I didn't have a single thing I could say back.
...I'd thought it was all in the past. But was I still living inside the memories of that day?
"......"
I watched Nayeon and Jihyeon trading their usual nothing-special conversation, then quietly buried my face in a cushion.
...Still, before I fell asleep, I snuck back in front of the mirror.
I'd failed today. Tomorrow I needed to handle it a little more naturally.
"Um... hello?"
Hello?
"...Miss Rina!"
My first master.
Morning came. The reception desk clerk checked the roster, then opened a separate box.
"For the little hunter... please wear this. We stocked these this time."
...It was my vest!
Fluorescent orange. And on the back:
I took it and tried it on.
It was nothing like that baggy vest from last time. The zipper went all the way up. It didn't slide off my shoulders. It actually fit.
This was it... this was it...! Do you know how annoying it had been, constantly hiking up a vest that kept slipping off my shoulders?
"Mhehehe."
I twisted this way and that, looking myself over, giggling. It wasn't much, but it kind of felt like Kang Byeori had gotten a new skin.
"There's only one, so don't lose it."
"Heheh, good for you, Byeori. You've even got your own dedicated vest now."
...I wasn't sure this was something I was supposed to be this happy about, but my mouth was smiling anyway.
I wrote my name on the receipt confirmation.
Kang Byeori. Three characters that were starting to sit pretty comfortably in my hand.
Jihyeon checked the vest's tag first.
"Official Association order... oho, the material's pretty good too..."
"Is that what matters to you?"
"Of course. It's a vest Byeori's going to wear. What if it scratches her skin?"
Well... my skin was extremely soft, after all.
"So cute...! Hehehe...! Byeori, strike a pose...! Like this, lift one leg... that's it!"
Click, click, click. While I threw together a few poses for my hopeless owner, who was firing off photos without pause, Jihyeon took the assignment chart and spoke up.
"Our sector today... is the south side."
"The south side...!"
I'd thought she was too busy taking pictures to hear anything, but Nayeon's reaction was faster than expected.
"That person, you know... S-rank Rina! Isn't Rina on the south side too? She was heading that way yesterday!"
"Why does that matter?"
"No, just! We should greet her properly. I mean... she is a benefactor, after all."
What greeting. Who was going to believe that with that shifty look on her face.
"You two are not allowed to fight."
"Sheesh, we won't fight! What do you take me for?"
Jihyeon looked at me. A look that seemed to ask whether today would pass uneventfully like yesterday.
...I couldn't guarantee that either. If I knew that, I'd be a fortune teller, not an Ego Sword.
Instead of answering, I just fidgeted with the vest zipper.
The south side. The direction that person had walked yesterday.
I snuck a glance that way, and, well.
"Hm."
Why was it packed with dark clouds. Ominous, like something was about to happen.