A Reason to Live
Lee Are showed me her phone.
On the screen was a slightly younger Are, wearing a shy smile — and beside her, people I had never seen before.
Six people in the photograph in total.
But the others, everyone except Are…
I could tell at a glance that those brightly smiling faces carried features different from hers.
Unlike Are, who was Asian, the rest had Western appearances.
Blonde hair. Blue eyes. Fair skin. They were Caucasian.
"These are my family from America. The large man next to me is my father, and the woman smiling beside him is my mother. And… the three little ones are all my younger siblings."
"Ah…"
Hearing that, I finally understood Are's past with perfect clarity.
Why she had only appeared two years ago despite being sisters with Suyoung noona.
Why she used a different surname from Suyoung noona.
Are had been adopted to America almost immediately after she was born.
"At the time, my parents had been married for five years without a child. Believing they could not conceive, they adopted me. They never imagined they would go on to have so many children of their own later…"
"I see. Looking at the photo, though, it seems your siblings were quite attached to you, Are."
Watching them pressed snugly against her, smiling so brightly, I spoke in a cheerful voice.
Ordinarily, even within a family, one might expect a trace of racial prejudice toward an Asian who looked different from the rest — but these people showed no such thing.
If anything, it looked as though they were the ones comforting Are, who seemed a little awkward herself.
But.
At my words, Are began to wear a somewhat heavy smile.
"Yes… that's right. They were a truly… undeservedly good family to me. Even though they are no longer in this world."
At her words, I realized I had unintentionally touched a painful place, and a deep sense of apology settled over me.
"…I'm… sorry."
"No… it's fine. There is no need to apologize."
Are answered with her usual expressionless face.
Then she took the phone back, unable for a moment to tear her eyes from the 'family' still remaining on the screen…
"It was an accident… Completely by chance… truly by chance, Abysses that had been smuggled in through a shipping container. My family, who happened to be nearby, lost their lives without being able to put up any resistance. Leaving only me behind."
"…"
With those words, her emotions seemed to surge; she paused, composing herself.
Watching her, I felt a pain rise in my own chest.
I was similar to her — I had lost my parents in an accident as a child.
The sorrow from that time still lingered in a corner of my heart, so in this moment I could understand, at least a little, the pain she was feeling.
"Right after that happened… I was not in my right mind for a long while. By the time I had somewhat pulled myself together, I was already a U.S. military hunter, aiming a gun at the Abysses pushing into the Middle East."
With that, Are put her phone away again.
In that instant, I watched the sorrow still on her face transform into flames of pure hatred.
"Taking revenge on the enemies who took my family from me… At that time, that was all I had left. There was a period when the sound of them screaming and dying before my eyes felt like a prayer offered up to my family… Whether I was eating… or sleeping, the only thought in my head was one thing — to cast even one more Abyss into the depths of hell. That was all."
"…"
Are spoke, radiating flames of hatred.
Through her words, I finally understood what had been contained in that expressionless face she usually wore.
It was… the remnant of a woman who, prepared to burn herself to ash, had been slowly killing her enemies on the battlefield — and herself — while consumed by vengeance.
But after telling me that much, Are calmed the emotions she had briefly shown and began to regain her composure.
And within that composure… I could sense an emotion different from before.
Neither sorrow nor hatred. A single thread of feeling, small but unmistakably clear.
It was…
"Then, that person appeared in my life. Completely by chance… along with a single photograph sent by a colleague who had transferred to Korea…"
With those words, Are carefully showed me the pendant hanging around her neck.
I recognized at once who was inside it.
"Suyoung noona…"
"Yes. The sister who shared my blood, from whom I was separated when we were young. When I learned that such a person still remained, I flew to Korea as if possessed and met her. And… you probably know the rest. That my sister is a truly good person."
"…Yes. I know that very well."
The only person who had become family to me after I lost my parents.
The only sanctuary in a life that had been a thorny path of hardship.
I could easily imagine how Suyoung noona would have reacted when she met the younger sister she had lost long ago…
Especially a sister suffering under the grief of losing her family.
"After meeting my sister… and meeting my adorable niece, I gained a goal. I decided I would live… that I must survive. That I would protect the precious people I still had left."
With those words, Are showed a faintly resolute will.
Then, as if her throat had gone dry, she downed the drink beside her in one go.
And opened her mouth again.
From this point on her tension seemed to ease a little, and she began to look slightly more tipsy than before.
"But… everything was going so well up to that point… then my proud USA Hunter Guild refused to let me go to Korea. Said the positions over there were already full, or something of the sort? I begged and pleaded that my only family was there, but they would not listen to the end."
Are spoke in a voice thick with dissatisfaction.
Apparently she felt a deep disappointment toward the American Hunter Guild for flatly rejecting the request of someone who had worked so hard for them.
"With them being like that, I eventually had no choice but to apply for discharge. After that, well, as you know… I have been living as a Black Hunter. Watching over my sister and Ran from close by. Living happily."
"I see… It couldn't have been easy to talk about. Thank you for telling me."
"It's fine… As I said, this was a story I was going to have to tell you eventually anyway."
With those words, Are once more etched the image of her precious family inside the pendant into her eyes.
Though her gaze was slightly unfocused from the alcohol, I could still feel something like resolute determination in her.
"And… even though there were bad things, I think this story has a happy ending of sorts… Because in the end… I found my precious family again. And… you…"
—Thud!—
"Huh?"
At that moment, Are suddenly collapsed face-first onto the table.
Startled by her abrupt blackout, I rose from my seat.
Then Gwon-sun raised a hand slightly to stop me and checked on Are's condition.
"It's fine. She just passed out from drinking, so no need to make a fuss."
"Ah… okay."
"Honestly, both of you can barely hold your liquor and still push yourselves…"
Looking at Are, who had fallen asleep from the alcohol, Gwon-sun clicked her tongue,
and only then did I realize that Glass, who had been sitting beside us, had long since entered deep-sleep mode as well.