The 3rd Shelter
Huh?
I was pretty sure I'd taken Kim Hui-seong's commission and was supposed to infiltrate another shelter.
So why was I standing in the middle of a rift zone?
And not alone, either — with this kid?
"Master! I'll close the rift. Just leave it to me."
"…Mao Mei?"
"Yes, Master! Give me your orders."
"What are you doing here… no, what are we doing here?"
"Pardon? What do you mean? You said that once we close this rift, this wretched apocalypse will finally be over. Look — every S-class Awakener in the country has gathered here."
Startled by her words, I turned around.
She wasn't wrong. Dozens of formidable S-class Awakeners were locked in fierce combat at their assigned positions.
And there, red hair streaming behind her, was Hee-su — smiling so brightly it almost hurt to look at.
So she could smile like that after all.
"Huh? You're right. So the war's finally ending?"
"Yes! Exactly. Please rest, Master. No need to use a butcher's cleaver to kill a chicken."
Before long, something vast and crimson began to take shape — a monstrous form coalescing out of the air.
So that's what they call an Otherworldly…
The calamity of this age, no doubt. Even I could feel my hands trembling at the sheer intensity of its aura.
It was fiercer than the one who'd casually dodged my sword strike back in the Central Plains, before my return to this world — the one who'd hurled me off a cliff.
"N-no! Mao! Mao Mei! This isn't your fight. Stand aside. I'll take it."
Right. I still had the Yongcheon Sword. Even without Sword Qi…
I poured my inner power into the blade. Still no Sword Qi, but at least it wouldn't shatter on the first clash.
"A-as expected of you, Master! Facing this thing without even raising Sword Qi? But today, I'll handle it."
Something was off. Her expression, her whole demeanor — far too cheerful.
A faintly cynical look was her default setting, wasn't it?
There was a glint of madness in her eyes that reminded me uncomfortably of Red Fox Lee Hee-su.
Wait. Had Mao Mei's hair always been red? Before I knew it, her face and Hee-su's were overlapping.
"Kyahahaha! I've reached the pinnacle of the Blood Demon Art you taught me, Master!"
B-Blood Demon Art?
What the hell was that?
Regardless of my bewilderment, protective energy erupted from her entire body. And that wasn't all.
She suddenly shot into the sky. V-Void Stepping?
Then she vanished in a blur. Form Displacement? Phantom Shift??? What was it called again?
From her sword burst a massive wave of Sword Qi — no, that was solidified energy. Sword Gang. Her crimson Sword Gang stretched nearly ten feet long.
And not just one — several of them?
"…Wh-what? What is this… At this rate she'll be launching Flying Sword Control next…"
Whoosh.
Red-haired Mao Mei suddenly whipped her head around.
"Of course! I understand. You're telling me to use Flying Sword Control as well, aren't you? Indeed!! Watch this!!"
Her sword, blazing with Sword Gang, shot toward the Otherworldly.
Well, I'll be damned.
What on earth was going on????
"What the hell is this!!!!!!"
"…I-it's dumplings I packed for a snack. M-Master. They've gone cold, haven't they?"
Huh? Dumplings?
The surroundings slowly shifted. Mao Mei hurling Sword Gang vanished, replaced by Mao Mei holding out dumplings.
"Oh? Raven? You're awake. As expected of you. Everyone else is wound tight because this area's so close to the rift zone, and here you are taking a nap?"
Kim Hui-seong.
Right. I remembered now — he'd suggested we head to the Hounds first today, and I'd gotten in the car. Must have dozed off for a bit.
Mao Mei was watching me with a faintly worried expression, and only her.
"Ah, no, just a quick dream…"
A ridiculous one, at that.
Mao Mei kept glancing around, clearly startled.
Hound Headquarters was a place where civilians were strictly controlled. Roughly three hundred troops were stationed here, and the base was properly equipped with every kind of amenity.
It couldn't compare to the world before the collapse, but at this point in time, nowhere else in the region had facilities like these.
"Well? Not a bad place, is it?"
Kim Hui-seong was being unctuously gentle with Mao Mei, that greasy smile plastered on his face.
I didn't know why. But the feeling it gave me?
Irritation.
"I see. You Hound people live rather comfortably, don't you?"
The surprise on her face had been replaced by a thin, bitter smile.
She'd always carried a cynical edge, but this was closer to contempt.
Kim Hui-seong just kept smiling, unbothered as ever.
"Right? Well, we do our best, but what can you do. We're the ones dealing with the zombies and magical beasts pouring out of the rift zones around here — stress management is important."
Mao Mei stopped short.
She was staring at one particular stretch of the base — a row of glass windows that left the interiors completely visible, unlike everywhere else.
"…What's that place?"
"………"
Kim Hui-seong didn't answer.
Hard to blame him. That was the red-light district. And not the kind with drinking and dancing — the kind that sold nothing but physical entertainment.
A brothel, plain and simple.
They'd built it with a distinctly twentieth-century flavor. Since it wasn't evening yet, the windows were empty. Come nightfall, the flowers of the dark would start waiting for customers one by one.
"Nothing a kid needs to know about. Hui-seong, that's not a place for Mao to see. Let's move on."
Mao Mei seemed to figure it out from what I'd said. Her expression grew complicated.
If she hadn't found a place at Eclipse, she might well have ended up waiting behind one of those windows herself.
"…A bit much for Miss Mao to look at, isn't it? But what can you do? Even in peacetime, places like this never went away…"
Miss Mao? Ha.
Even I usually called her Mao Mei. When had this guy gotten familiar enough to shorten her name?
Next he'd be calling her Xiao Mao.
"My name… is Mao Mei. Don't shorten it."
"…Ah? S-sorry about that. Hahaha."
That's my disciple.
Red Fox Hee-su was nowhere to be seen.
"Where's Commander Hee-su?"
"Ah? She's at division headquarters right now. Probably won't be back for a few days. Anyway, I was thinking we run the operation tomorrow or so. Raven — how do you want to play this?"
At first I'd considered just slipping in alone and taking the boss's head, but I couldn't very well end a life based solely on these people's word.
"The easy way would be to go in, kill him, and come back. But I'd like to observe first. You don't take a human life lightly."
"Of course. That's Raven for you. So what's the plan?"
"We'll infiltrate disguised as survivors. That way we can naturally determine whether that place is a faction that would side with the government forces — or whether the whole concern is just paranoia."
Kim Hui-seong nodded.
"Good. I was hoping for an option that didn't involve bloodshed anyway. Among people I can trust, the only one whose face isn't already known is you, Raven. Still… we can't go in looking like this, can we?"
He had a point.
People from that shelter might recognize both our faces.
Shelters traded with each other at least once or twice a month, so some of them had almost certainly visited ours. That meant there was a real chance they'd seen me — the shelter chief. And Mao Mei, with that grotesque disguise of hers, would have left an impression for all the wrong reasons.
As for her, a simple wash would take care of it.
"Mao?"
"Yes, Master."
"Go wash up, would you?"
"Understood. I'll fix you up with a different look as well, Master."
"Alright. Thanks."
Mao Mei quietly disappeared toward somewhere she could clean up.
"…About Miss Mao… Miss Mao Mei's facial scars — we'd be happy to take a look at them."
"No need. That kid doesn't care much about her face."
"…Is that so? Hmm. I can't promise perfection, but we could improve things considerably from how they are now. There's a healing-type Awakener over at the division. Once this job is done, why not stop by?"
So he didn't know what she really looked like.
Fair enough. If I hadn't stumbled across her true face by accident, I still wouldn't know either.
It wasn't simple makeup. She'd mixed medicinal herbs into a paste and affixed it to her face so it looked like old scarring.
Look closely enough and you'd spot the fake — but nobody stares that hard at someone else's ugly wounds.
We passed the time with idle conversation. A while went by.
Why was she taking so long?
"…What's keeping her? Is the layout confusing around here?"
"Ah, no? The women's officers' showers are right up ahead. How long has it been?"
I checked the clock on the wall. About fifteen minutes.
"Fifteen minutes or so."
"Huh? That's too long. She might have gotten lost on the way. I'll go look for her."
"I'll come with you."
For some reason, this guy just rubbed me the wrong way. I'd already taken the knife from him once — might as well keep disliking him.
Either way, a fifteen-minute shower? Something might have gone wrong.
Kim Hui-seong seemed to share the thought. Wasn't a proper shower supposed to be a five-minute job?
"A-attention!"
Some female soldier came out of the showers and snapped a salute at Kim Hui-seong.
Why was her face so red?
"Oh! Sergeant Kim? Long time no see. By the way — was there a rather small young lady in the showers? Not one of ours."
"…Hmm? Ah, there was one. Who is she?"
Sergeant Kim asked with a distinctly uneasy look.
"A guest. Someone sent over from the division."
"Ahhh, I see. She'll probably be out soon. U-um, by any chance…"
"By any chance?"
"N-never mind. I-I'll be going!"
Sergeant Kim fled, trying to hide her flushed face.
"The hot water must run pretty well here?"
"Well, more or less. Private showers are still hard to come by, though, and the hot water only runs at set hours."
"Figures. Must be awfully hot if that young lady's face is the color of a tomato."
Click.
The door opened, and she stepped out.
Bare-faced, of course. I'd only glimpsed it under moonlight before — nearly months ago. I could barely tell it was the same person.
Sure enough, Kim Hui-seong was staring at Mao Mei like a man under a spell.
This bastard…
"…Ah, s-so it was a disguise? Miss Mao Mei won't need any further work. Nobody would recognize her."
She gave a small nod.
"M-Master! The water is wonderfully warm. You should shower too. It'll wash away today's fatigue."
Why was her face red too?
The hot water, I supposed?
"Right, thank you. I'll wash up in a bit. You go rest in your room. I need to talk over tomorrow's infiltration with this fellow first."
"Yeees. I'll see you later, then."
Once she was gone, Kim Hui-seong muttered like a man still dazed.
"…Wow. Holy hell…"
I decided to stuff the rising irritation back down where it belonged.
"Get a grip. That kid's still a child. Don't get any stupid ideas."
"What? W-wait — a m-minor?"
Not actually, but.
"Yes. That's right. She's a minor."
Who knew? If her birthday hadn't passed yet, maybe she still was.
Come to think of it, when was her birthday?
I left the thoroughly devastated man behind and went to shower myself.
How long had it been since a hot shower? Maybe I'd take my time today.
I let the steaming water run over my head.
I showered for a good long while. When I checked the clock — a full ten minutes?
In the end, Mao Mei went bare-faced.
I settled on a light disguise.
Thanks to that, anyone looking at us would have sworn she was my daughter.
Was this roughly what I'd look like in my forties? With a bit of fake beard, glasses, and my hair combed back, I passed for middle-aged well enough.
We stated our intention to join the shelter and waited.
They told us someone would be out shortly and wouldn't let us take a single step inside. Fair enough — that was how it should be.
At Eclipse, as long as you weren't armed with firearms, outsiders were free to come and go.
That was why people from shelters all over the region flocked to us to trade goods.
All thanks to me diligently smashing zombies and magical beasts.
Mao Mei looked up at me with round eyes.
"As expected of you, Master. You have a distinguished, mature charm."
"R-right…"
Come to think of it, ever since she'd formed her dantian, she'd been admiring me with zero critical thought.
Praising me for just about everything?
At this rate she'd congratulate me for coming back from the bathroom.
"…Um… Master? I have a question."
"Hm?"
"…It took me about two months to form my dantian, didn't it? How long did it take you, Master?"
Her eyes had gone all bright and catlike with anticipation.
In my case, it had taken five years.
"Huh? Me? Five…"
"Five weeks?"
"…Five days. Ahem. At two months, you've got real talent yourself, so don't get discouraged — keep pushing forward."
"Yes, yes! Thank you. I'll work even harder."
I pushed aside a twinge of embarrassment and went back to waiting for someone to show up — and then a figure finally appeared outside.
Huh? Not quite what I'd expected.