Because No One Asked (1)
My breath burned all the way up to my throat.
This damned black forest had no end in sight.
Uselessly vast, and to hell with it.
Tree roots snagged at my ankles, fog blotted out everything ahead, and the damp earth dragged at my feet with every stride. Still, I couldn't stop. Behind me, I could still hear the cry of the Apocalypse Bird.
Nova...
She has to still be alive.
No — she has to be alive.
No matter how much of a pain she is, she's precious to me. And even if she doesn't look it, she's the kind of person who quietly looks out for us. So I can't go back. Not now. Nova is buying me time. That same senior who, with her usual sly grin, had shoved me forward like it was nothing. I couldn't let that time go to waste.
I had to find the Mercenary before the Hunter arrived. More precisely — before the Hunter finished staining her completely, before the Mercenary was swallowed whole by her own revenge.
I tightened my grip on Repentance and ran harder.
From up ahead came the sound of branches snapping underfoot.
The Hunter.
That fake wearing the exact same face as Team Leader Mir was running just a little ahead of me. She vaulted lightly between the branches and glanced back over her shoulder.
"Still following, huh?"
"..."
"More stubborn than I expected."
I didn't answer. I needed to save my breath. I had neither the time nor the luxury to trade words with that counterfeit. But the Hunter kept smiling, as if she could read every thought in my head — or as if she couldn't care less.
"You'll still be too late, though."
"People are like that, you know."
"Or maybe Abnormalities are the same?"
"The really fun part is how easily they fall apart the moment you touch their most painful memory."
"...Shut up."
"Oh... got a reaction."
The Hunter snickered.
"It's fine. Don't worry."
"It's not completely too late yet."
She planted a foot on a branch and launched herself high into the air. Her black cloak billowed through the fog.
"More precisely — it's about to become too late starting now."
In that moment, a faint light appeared in the distance.
The cabin. The cabin where the Mercenary was.
A single weathered wooden house sat embedded in the forest, as if it had always belonged there. The Hunter landed in front of it. I skidded to a stop a few paces behind, breath tearing out of me in ragged gasps, sweat slick on my palms.
The Hunter stood at the door and turned to look at me. The same brown hair as Team Leader Mir. The same face, the same smile, watching me. And yet nothing about her was the same. No — she couldn't be the same. That smile didn't put anyone at ease. Those eyes didn't look at people. The corners of her mouth twisted into a sneer, and her pupils held only a hollow void pretending at warmth.
So I was certain. That thing was nothing more than a mockery wearing Mir's face. To call it the same kind of being as the warm, good person she actually was — that alone was an insult.
"You're late."
"You looked so desperate, too. Guess you weren't much after all?"
I raised Repentance.
"Move."
"And if I don't?"
"I'll cut you down and go in."
"Wow~ scary.... But can you actually do it?"
The Hunter smiled with a face that held not a shred of fear. Then she set her hand on the doorknob.
"But what can you do? The guest is already waiting."
The door clicked open. The Hunter stepped inside first.
"Come on in~"
"Time to meet the protagonist of Act Two."
I clenched my teeth. From behind, the cry of the Apocalypse Bird rose again.
KRAAAAAAAK—!!
Nova. Just a little longer... hold on a little longer.
I threw myself into the cabin.
Inside, it was unnaturally quiet. A fireplace still held dying embers in one corner, and an old chair sat lonely before it. Hunting tools hung haphazardly on the walls, and animal bones dangled from the ceiling like trophies. And standing in the center of the room — one person. A red hood, an axe in one hand, a long gun in the other.
The Blood-Scarred Mercenary looked almost exactly as she had in Lobotomy. And yet she was different. The Mercenary standing here did not know me. The relationship built over weeks in Lobotomy, the hours spent talking through the glass of the containment chamber — none of it existed for the Mercenary of this play.
She raised the long gun slowly. Eyes full of wariness fixed on me. If I'd been a wolf, she would have pulled the trigger without asking a single question. The muzzle settled on my chest.
"...Who are you."
Of course. To her, I was nothing but a stranger who'd broken in. An unnamed obstacle come to interfere with her revenge.
The Hunter walked slowly around behind her.
"An interrupter."
"An audience member who came to ruin your story."
The Hunter smiled at me.
"Or not? Not even an audience member."
"The audience is supposed to stay in their seats."
The corner of her mouth twisted further.
"That thing is a foreign body that crawled up onto the stage."
The Mercenary's eyes narrowed.
"An interrupter?"
"..."
"Get out of the way."
There was clear anger in that low voice. I did not lower Repentance.
"And if I don't?"
The Mercenary's finger settled on the trigger.
"I'll shoot."
"I figured."
I let out a short breath.
"But before that, let me ask one thing."
"Why are you so desperate to kill it."
Her eyes narrowed further.
"...What do you know?"
"Nothing. Of course I don't."
"I don't know your family. I don't know your village."
"That's why I'm asking."
"..."
"Why?"
Silence hung for a moment. Strength gathered in the Mercenary's hands.
"You don't know anything."
"How I've lived since that day."
"How much I've resented."
"How much I've wanted to kill."
"How many nights I've endured thinking of nothing but revenge."
"You don't know any of it."
The Hunter smiled with satisfaction.
"Yes. That's right."
"You have to kill that wolf."
"...Yeah."
The Mercenary clenched her teeth.
"I have to kill it."
"The wolf. No matter what."
The Hunter smiled gently.
"Yes. Well done."
"That's your story."
"You were a florist's daughter, but the wolf took everything from you."
"So of course you should learn from a hunter, right?"
"And once you've learned, you go kill the wolf."
"A wonderful story, isn't it?"
"Simple, clear — and the path leading to revenge is even beautiful."
"Yeah...."
I murmured quietly.
"I'll give you that. I don't know those memories. I don't know your pain or your grief."
"But I do know how far you fall."
"...What?"
"I've seen it."
"How far you break."
The Mercenary's eyes narrowed.
"Useless talk. What does it matter if I break."
"What's going to happen to me is already decided."
"I kill the wolf and take my revenge."
"That's the end. That's what I have to do."
I looked at her.
"The end?"
"Yeah. The end."
"Once I get revenge, everything ends."
"The wounds, the rage, the pain — all of it."
"You really think revenge will end it?"
"Yeah."
"Then something's strange."
"That person."
I pointed at the Hunter.
"She's strong."
"She lives in a black, dark forest."
"She fights the Apocalypse Bird."
"She taught you how to fight."
"..."
"So why is the wolf still alive?"
"Why is she just leaving your suffering alone."
The cabin went quiet. The fire in the hearth popped once.
"That's..... that's....."
"Because... because it's something I have to do."
"Because revenge is something I have to carry out myself."
The Hunter smiled softly.
"That's right. Revenge isn't something someone else does for you."
"It only means something if you do it yourself."
I nodded.
"Fine. Let's say that's true."
"Revenge is yours to take."
"But if revenge matters that much — do you remember the family that was the reason for it?"
"Of course! I remember.. them......? W...ait..?"
"You don't remember their names, do you?"
"People so precious you were willing to stake your life on revenge for them."
"Shouldn't you at least remember their names? Doesn't that seem strange?"
"Your father's name?"
"Or your mother's?"
"Did you have any sisters?"
"—"
"The grandmother who took care of you after that day — what's her name?"
"..."
"Do you remember?"
The Mercenary tried to answer immediately. She clearly meant to. Her lips moved. But no words came out.
"Father..."
Her voice grew small.
"Mother..."
She remembered. They had been there. They had been precious. She had loved them. And the wolf had killed them. That much she knew. She knew it with certainty. And yet she could not remember their names. Their faces were blurred. Their voices were blurred. The warmth of their hands, the food they had shared, the conversations in the flower shop — all of it had gone hazy, as if lost beyond the fog.
What remained vivid was blood, fire, the wolf, and revenge. As if those were the only things that mattered to her — only those burned clear.
"...Why."
The Mercenary's breath trembled.
"Why can't I remember?"
In that moment, a strange memory flashed through her mind. A white containment chamber. Thick glass, and she was on the inside. And beyond the glass stood a black-haired boy.
"...Mercenary."
A familiar voice.
"You doing okay today?"
"..."
"...Thinking about the wolf again?"
"...I'll kill it."
"Yeah."
The boy nodded without much expression.
"But eat first, then kill it."
"..."
"If you don't eat, your management score drops."
"..."
"...That comes first. I'll be coming in for Instinct work soon, so wait for me."
The memory cut off. The Mercenary's eyes wavered.
What is this....
Her family was a blur. But that voice was sharp and clear.
Another memory flickered past.
"...Mercenary."
"..."
"How are you feeling today?"
"...Not great."
"Then today's a not-great day."
"Still, hang in there."
"..."
"Even if you kill it someday."
"Until then — stay alive."
The memory broke. Then another.
"Hi. Starting today, I'm your assigned agent — Han."
"You.... the one from yesterday? So you lived."
The Mercenary's breathing grew rough.
"...Hunter."
"Hm?"
The Hunter smiled as usual. But for the first time, that smile felt unfamiliar to the Mercenary.
"My head hurts. And... that person."
"I don't think this is the first time I've seen them. The name.... I remember the name."
"Han."
At the same time, the Hunter's eyes narrowed.
"...What are you talking about?"
"I don't know."
"But I remember."
"My family's faces are blurry."
"But that person's voice — I remember it."
"It's strange... that shouldn't be possible. I'm sure I met them for the first time today... so why is the memory clearer than my own family..? My head... my head feels like it's going to split."
The cabin fell unnaturally silent. The only sound was the Mercenary's groan as she clutched her head in agony.
"...Hunter."
"Please tell me. You're... so strong, and you showed me the path of revenge — you should know, right?"
The Hunter's hand slowly settled on the Mercenary's shoulder.
"It doesn't matter."
"..."
"What matters is that they died, and that you have to take revenge."
"That's enough. And along the way, shouldn't we just ignore the minor problems?"
In a brief gap, the Mercenary looked at me. It was a familiar look. The same eyes from management — cold and murderous on the surface, but glad to see me underneath.
"...Hunter."
"Hm?"
"...You know my family's names, don't you?"
The Hunter did not answer.
"...I don't know them."
"..."
"So why do you know them?"
In that instant, the Hunter's smile stopped. That twisted grin vanished completely. The air inside the cabin went cold.
"...Ha."
A short sigh. And then the Hunter smiled again. This time there was no warmth. No playful mockery. It was a cold, mechanical, empty smile. I had never known Team Leader Mir could smile like that.
Fucking terrifying.
"Another error."
"..."
"The actor."
The Hunter slowly raised the long gun.
"Has started questioning the script."
A metallic click of the chamber loading. I immediately tightened my grip on Repentance.
"Hunter...?"
In that instant the Mercenary's eyes changed, and her hand closed around the axe.
"Never mind. Ha.... I'm sick of acting now."
"Han — get ready. And the detailed explanation... save it for later."
"Everything from the Aberration you mentioned before coming here, to all the countless things you told me when I had no memories after I arrived."
"You... you remembered."
The Mercenary pressed her fingers to her brow.
"Not everything, damn it."
"But it's connecting, piece by piece."
"The things you said."
"And—"
She glared at the Hunter.
"Whatever that bitch is hiding."
"Still, I wanted to confirm one last thing."
"Whether that bitch could actually answer me — and whether I was still on the right path."
"Doesn't look like it."
"At least not with her."
"Are you two done talking? That error is ruining the lead of our play."
"But don't worry. It might hurt a little, but it'll be fixed soon enough."
The muzzle turned. Not just at me this time — at the Mercenary as well.
"Errors can be corrected, after all. Close your eyes and let's start over."
BANG—!!