The Trio
The mission objective was simple.
A tip had come in that one of Abaddon's Spawn might be hiding in the finest childcare facility in the city, and they were to verify whether that information was true. The orphanage had been operating for a long time, and other hunters and heroes visited the place on a regular basis, so the report itself was likely false. Even so, the Management Bureau summoned Chris with the attitude of tapping a stone bridge before crossing it.
"You're searching anyway?"
"It's always darkest at the foot of the lamp."
The name Abaddon was a nightmare itself to humanity. Each of Abaddon's Spawn was a monster with combat power of at least Superior Grade — enough that even veteran hunters lost their lives to them. If one of Abaddon's Spawn truly existed at the orphanage, it had to be dealt with, no quarter given.
And so, anticipating a fight with Abaddon's Spawn, dispatched hunter Chris selected two additional official hunters from the Management Bureau: Emily, a Wandering Hunter who had been making her name across the Areas with her search-type abilities, and Rox, a Shield Hunter still recuperating from injuries taken in an Upper-grade Hazard subjugation. He had no idea that those two had already approached with agendas of their own.
"We'll be at the operation zone shortly. Armed conflict could break out at any moment, so do not let your guard down."
"Don't you worry about me."
"Hehe. Noted."
Will I be able to find them?
Beyond exterminating Abaddon's Spawn if any were hiding here, Chris had been given one more task. It was not a mission from the Management Bureau, but an order from the Secret Society he belonged to.
The Calamity will one day return to this land.
Therefore, we must always remain vigilant and keep ourselves prepared.
Before long, the Child of Prophecy will appear upon this earth.
You are to guide that child to the holy land.
As a member of the Secret Society, his task was to find the Child of Prophecy and secure their identity. Like the other operatives who had infiltrated factions all over the world, dispatched hunter Chris had come all this way in search of that highest priority.
Even if I take a hundred fruitless trips, I have to find them. For the future of humanity.
Chris clenched the Secret Society token he wore around his neck, and steeled himself.
Tense at the thought that a fight might break out from the very start, what entered Chris's eyes was a child who seemed to belong to the orphanage, and the teachers with her. Toward the three who had gone stiff at the unexpected welcome, a child came running and called out.
"Welcome to the orphanage!"
A bright-faced child with green hair approached alongside one of the teachers, smiling as if she meant to show them around herself.
"Hello there, little one. Did you come out to greet us?"
"Yes! My name is Tiss!"
"Oh my, aren't you just the sweetest."
Emily crouched to the child's eye level and offered a greeting.
"I see... Tiss. So your name is Tiss."
Emily took the child's small hand as she said it, but she kept touching that hand for far too long to pass as a casual hello.
"U-um, Hunter?"
"Oh my, sorry. I held on a bit too long, didn't I? Nice to meet you, Tiss!"
"It's okay!"
After that, Tiss walked out in front and began introducing the orphanage to the hunters.
"This is the classroom where we live."
"This is the bathroom. They say we have to wash our hands for at least thirty seconds before meals or snacks!"
"This is the bedroom!"
"Teacher said hunters are super strong, and they can beat up monsters like whoosh, whoosh! Is that true?"
To the hunters' ears, it was the typical chatter of a child that age — long on charm, short on anything useful.
"Is that so."
"Sounds fun."
Since the official reason they had given the orphanage was volunteer work, the three played along with the child's babbling as best they could. After making a full circuit of the grounds, the trio sat down in the reception room and decided to watch how things stood for a while.
"There seem to be rather few children for an orphanage this size."
Chris had been about to put the question to one of the teachers beside him when Tiss popped out again.
"Today's a picnic day, so most of them went to the park!"
"We mixed up the schedule... we're very sorry."
"Well now. Who'd have thought volunteer day and picnic day would overlap."
Emily offered a new suggestion to the flustered teacher. With so few children around, one of them would look after the kids while the other two each took on the kind of work around the orphanage that called for a strong pair of hands. The hunter trio scattered to take care of their respective tasks.
Perfect. Now I could deal with them one at a time.
"Tiss. Ah— can you even tell them apart? To my eyes, all three look like ordinary humans."
"Don't worry."
Unlike Shan, I could tell exactly who was who. The slender young man with the neat beard and the sharp eyes was dispatched hunter Chris. The red-haired young woman with the slit eyes was Emily, who we suspected was a similar case to us. And that big, good-natured-looking man was Rox — the Disguiser we had to watch out for.
They, on the other hand, didn't seem to have noticed at all that Shan was parasitizing my body. Just as you can't tell by the naked eye that a germ has entered someone if it's still sitting latent, with no symptoms showing. Shan had only just come into me, so even a first-rate expert wouldn't have been able to clock it. Maybe that was only natural. They clearly wouldn't make a move unless they actually found proof that one of Abaddon's Spawn was here.
"H-hopefully they won't find any traces, right?"
"No chance of that."
Anything even slightly related to Shan, I had dumped the whole lot into the underground ritual chamber. The teachers had all gathered and cleaned like their lives depended on it. When we scraped it together, we ended up with a whole cartload of Shan's fur — enough to make several little Shan figurines out of what came off her.
Right now, while they were pretending to be at the orphanage for volunteer work, was our chance. First up — the dispatched hunter who would guarantee Siwoo and Sia's safety. Shall we start with him?
Shan and I had already talked through how to handle the trio.
"The one we have to kill for sure is the Disguiser. The hunter and the parasite-type, we win over if we can — or at the very least, we don't make enemies of them. What do you want to do here?"
"U-uh? All of a sudden? Y-you're asking my opinion?"
Shan flustered at my words, as if she'd assumed I would handle everything myself.
"Well, my life is your life too. You might have a better idea, so speak freely."
She hadn't expected to be asked. After a moment's hesitation, Shan struggled to spit out her thoughts.
"Umm... th-then, couldn't we just... team up with the hunter guy? While we're at it — bam! If we expose that the one who came with him is a monster... the hunter would kill the Disguiser, or at least put a serious wound on him... we could fight an enemy with an enemy, right?"
It was the easiest method, I'd give her that. If a hunter found out a monster was posing as a comrade, any decent hunter would clearly shift his priorities to the mutant. But there was one problem with the plan Shan had offered.
"The dispatched hunter incinerates every insect monster he puts down and wipes them out. Safety reasons. If that happens, we'd have nothing left to eat."
Chris volunteering to come to the classroom was probably because one of the children left behind might be the Child of Prophecy. If I just dangled Siwoo and Sia as bait, he would take care of the rest himself.
"Hunter! Hunter!"
"T-Tiss?! How can you just talk to him out of nowhere like that!"
Unlike Shan, who was wound tight as a spring, Chris reacted as if he were used to it — he'd been looking at this child for a while now, after all. The way I was acting was exactly what you'd expect from a little kid seeing a hunter she admired for the first time. Thanks to chattering away beforehand and planting the impression of a lively, impulsive little girl, anything I did would look far more natural.
"Actually, um. I know why you came here, Hunter."
I pattered over with an utterly innocent look, stuck close to the dispatched hunter's side, and whispered into his ear. No need to worry.
"You know why I came, Tiss?"
Chris's reaction was that he ought to play along. The other two hunters treated it as more of the child's antics they'd been watching all morning, and looked away.
"I saw it in a dream. They told me to tell you that you have to guide these children to the holy land."
Pretending not to notice the piercing look I felt from the hunter, I brazenly pulled out a photograph taken with Siwoo and Sia and showed it to him.
"This is...!"
"Ta-da! It's Siwoo and Sia! Cute, right?"
He couldn't help but be stunned. One of the heroes who had defeated Abaddon — grown, these two would be that hero's spitting image. One look at the photo and he would know. These were the children.
The dispatched hunter's face hardened as he stared at the picture, but I whispered into his ear as if I knew nothing at all.
"They're friends who arrived recently, and they're brother and sister! They're super popular at our orphanage too. Right, everyone?"
"That's right! Siwoo and Sia are super smart!"
"They're super pretty and handsome!"
"They can read hard books too!"
"They're super fast at running, and strong too!"
Once Tiss opened her mouth, the children around her poured out praise for Siwoo and Sia as if it were their own business. Like a crane standing among chickens, those who stood out — even among children their own age — became objects of admiration and idolization. Siwoo and Sia were exactly that case.
"Then where are these Siwoo and Sia kids right now?"
"They went on a picnic to the park!"
Like a child who had bragged to her heart's content, I put on a satisfied face, as if that were all I had to say. Then I walked straight out of the classroom, leaving the dispatched hunter behind with that grave look still on his face.