The Saintess Has Fallen [05]
“…I don't want to go in. I never thought I'd have to come here.”
Before the lingering dread of that nightmarish expedition had even faded, there was already so much to do. The list of the dead, the string of incidents that had unfolded inside the Tower — everything I knew had to be explained. And so I found myself standing at Guild Headquarters.
Maybe if it had been a branch office, but I'd almost never had reason to come to the main headquarters. Exactly twice, in fact — when I registered as a hunter, and when I sat for my A-rank promotion review. If things had gone according to procedure, I never would have had to set foot in this place.
“…Honestly, I should've just let myself get badly hurt too.”
I'd been told that Commander Han Yujin was currently receiving emergency treatment in the intensive care unit, and that Taeho was staying at a military hospital. He'd apparently been struggling to get through daily life without sedatives.
Given the circumstances, I was the only one who could come here. As the sole survivor still able to walk, I had no choice but to do my duty.
When I gripped my staff tighter, my palms came away damp.
Thump, thump. My heart was pounding so hard I thought I'd lose my mind.
What kind of face was I supposed to walk in with? It was all so complicated.
“Hunter Song Eunhye, please come in.”
“Y-yes, ma'am! Just, just one second. I'm coming!”
“No need to worry so much. Fufu.”
“R-right. Understood. Uuuugh…”
The staff member opened the door. I swallowed once and stepped forward. The time had come to face reality. I couldn't run forever.
The conference hall was vast. A long oval table sat on a marble floor, and around it sat ten people. The Guild Masters of every region — every single one S-rank or above. The heroes who had saved a South Korea on the brink of collapse.
A few of them were famous enough to appear in textbooks. For an ordinary A-rank like me, it was hard just to keep my neck stiff and my head raised. I really want to run away.
At the far end of the table, a middle-aged man stood, not seated, gazing out the window. White hair, a short trimmed beard, a scar near his eye, an immaculate black suit.
It was the Hunter Association President, the man I'd only ever seen on the news. Someone known by title rather than name. I'd only ever glimpsed his face in photographs, and even that vaguely. Well, it had been thirty years since a mass-casualty event like the last one.
“Have a seat, Hunter Song Eunhye.”
A Guild Master at the center of the table offered me a chair, but I didn't take it. Ridiculously enough, it was out of pride. If I sat down, I knew I'd spend the entire meeting cowed and shrinking. At the very least, I wanted to avoid that.
“I'll stand. It's more comfortable for me.”
A few eyebrows lifted, but that was all.
Thank goodness. Somehow I'd made it through that unscathed.
But there was no time to relax and breathe easy.
The questions came pouring from the Guild Masters' mouths.
“First, tell us the exact time of the Tower entry.”
“What about the internal structure? Floor layout, method of movement?”
“What precisely did the monsters look like?”
“How did the deaths occur?”
I steadied my scattered thoughts and answered.
My hands trembled the entire time I spoke. Still, I left nothing out. If I omitted anything, I'd never be able to face the dead again. Just hold on a little longer.
“…After that, we were transferred through a rift. By a stroke of luck, we met a guide in a cavern, and under her direction we reached the exit safely.”
“A guide? What kind of person was she?”
One of the Guild Masters pressed. An old man with gray hair and sharp, hawk-like eyes. A first-generation hunter — a grandmaster who had once soothed a world in chaos.
“An NPC. They've been reported in the higher-ranked Towers.”
“The thing the Americans found?”
“Yes. As long as you don't act hostile, it's safe.”
“Everything changes so fast these days, it's hard to keep up.”
When the old man fell silent, a brief hush settled over the hall. Some made calls with ashen faces; others spat out curses. Quite a few, on the other hand, listened as if it were nothing at all.
Then the doors opened and someone from the government entered, carrying documents of unknown contents. The Association President looked away from the window for the first time.
“You're late. Well? Did the results come through?”
“They did. Exactly as you feared.”
“The world's about to be thrown into chaos again. Tch!”
The government official laid the documents on the table. The Guild Masters, who had been lost in thought, all turned their eyes to them at once.
“This is a joint assessment by the Hunter Association and the government's Disaster Management Headquarters. The estimated difficulty rating of the Tower in question has been confirmed as EX. The fifth Calamity has now emerged. International agencies are also showing…”
A heavy silence fell.
EX? It was that dangerous?
We were lucky to come back alive at all.
But then… what happens now?
There's no way to deal with that thing. Not a single one.
Only four Towers in the entire world had ever been declared impossible to clear — in Germany, Brazil, India, and Russia. And Russia's Tower had recently swallowed an entire neighboring city whole, leaving countless victims in its wake.
Voices around the table tangled together all at once.
They put their heads together and threw out opinions on what the best course of action might be. What on earth did this even look like? It didn't feel real in the slightest. It wasn't a dream, though. Unfortunately.
“…This is insane. Do we just leave it alone for now?”
“Shouldn't we impose a quarantine first?”
“And what happens when the monsters come marching out?”
“Then what do you want us to do? Do you have a solution?”
“What about a military bombardment?”
“Look at Russia. That accomplished nothing.”
The murmuring swelled. The aimless debate began to flare up like sparks catching fire. I stood in the middle of it all, clutching my staff. Isn't there something? Any way to turn this situation around? Mmm, this is a tough one.
“What about cooperating with the NPC?”
A calm voice drifted in from the window.
At his words, every mouth in the room shut.
NPC? Oh! Right! Of course — that was an option!
Why didn't I ever think of that?
“Mr. President. What exactly did you just say?”
“Didn't Hunter Song Eunhye herself tell us? That this NPC has no intention of attacking humanity indiscriminately. Am I wrong?”
“…No. She is different from the monsters.”
“If she can speak, then she can be negotiated with.”
“Yes. In theory, there's no problem at all!”
“Good. Then we arrange a meeting with her.”
A man with an axe slung over his shoulder sprang to his feet. His face was covered in a coarse, bristling beard. He was the one who ruled over the Busan region, and I'd heard he was notoriously touchy about anything monster-related. There's not going to be a fight, right?
“Mr. President, this is dangerous. Those things are still monsters created by the Tower. There's no telling when or where they'll bare their fangs!”
“And I suppose you have a plan for breaking through the Tower yourself?”
“Th-that's… we simply lack the manpower at the moment.”
“What we truly need, then, is time.”
The axe-wielding man was struck speechless.
The President still stood at the window.
He spoke quietly, without a single crack in his composure.
“'NPC' is a name we slapped on them ourselves. Nobody has the faintest idea what they actually are. The only thing we know for certain is that she is the sole being in that Tower who showed no hostility toward humans. What do you say to that?”
He was right. But most of the hall still wore expressions of unconvinced doubt. And then it struck me — this was why I was here. I couldn't just stand there, intimidated, listening in silence.
I planted my staff upright against the table, pressed my palm flat against the marble, and opened my mouth. Honestly, I couldn't have told you the logical reasoning. I simply wanted to speak the feelings I was carrying, exactly as they were. Starting with what was right in front of me.
“The President is right.”
I knew that speaking first in a setting like this was a breach of protocol, but I didn't care. Those things were nothing but ink on paper anyway. Frankly, I was sick of them by now. To hell with it. I'm doing this.
“…I saw her with my own eyes.”
“Hunter Song Eunhye! Mind your place!”
“Hohoho. How adorable. Let her speak.”
“She's a valuable source of information. We will hear her out.”
The room dissolved into commotion again.
…Sigh. How on earth did it come to this?
Well, in for a penny. Might as well go all the way.
“Her name is Violet. She called herself the guide of the Tower — and the Saintess. Yes, she bore the form of a demon, but her heart was no different from a saint's. I know it's hard to believe, but I experienced it firsthand!”
The hall stirred.
Ah! That felt good.
Should've done this from the start.
“This NPC claimed to be a saintess, did she?”
“Yes. While smiling, no less. I couldn't tell you whether it was a joke or the truth. But there's been no precedent like this in any other Tower. She was no puppet on strings — she was a being with a distinct self.”
I drew a breath. My voice wavered.
Still, I kept going. She is kind.
And the most noble being in all the world.
I wanted them to understand that, too.
“Doesn't that make her all the more suspicious, then?”
One of the Guild Masters spoke up — the one who'd been touching up her makeup with a hand mirror. I turned toward her. Until very recently she'd been an ordinary high school girl, but the Tower expedition had catapulted her all the way to Guild Master.
“Suspicious? Of course she is. But do we have any other option right now? Let's be honest with ourselves. We cannot clear that Tower on our own strength.”
When no one answered, the axe-slinging Guild Master spoke up again. His bearing was so menacing it looked as if he might swing that weapon at any moment.
“You're telling me that thing is a safe monster?”
“She is not a monster. I'd stake my life on it.”
“What makes you so sure? Did she charm you?”
“No. This is a hunter's instinct.”
I pressed my hand harder against the table.
“I believe that forming an alliance with her is the fastest and most certain path we have. Feel free to rebut me — as much as you like.”
When I finished, my legs nearly buckled, but I straightened my back anyway. Would they actually accept my proposal? My head ached wondering whether I'd just stuck my nose in for nothing and made things worse.
It was the President who broke the silence.
For the first time, he rose from his place and walked toward me. I gulped. So this is what humanity's strongest hero looks like.
“Effective today, we begin collecting every scrap of information on the being known as Violet. Her identity, her purpose, her abilities, what she wants — once we've established all of it, we will assemble a negotiation team. Move quickly.”
And just like that, the meeting came to an anticlimactic end.
The attendees rose from their seats one by one. The Guild Master who'd been dragging his axe behind him shot me one last glare, then stormed out through the doors.
I was grumbling that I'd rather just run away right then and there when someone stopped in front of me. It was her — the youngest Guild Master, the former high schooler.
“You did well. Reckless, but still.”
I didn't have the energy to answer.
All I wanted was to go home.
Maybe I should shut myself in for a month or so.
Yeah. Let's do that. That sounds nice.
The President walked back to the window and gazed up at the Tower of crimson tentacles. It was tall enough that its peak was visible even from here. Who on earth is watching over that place? He found himself curious.
“Song Eunhye. A-rank hunter, was it?”
“Yes. That's correct. Though I'm hardly anything special.”
“That's an order. You will join the negotiation team.”
My heart plummeted. Wh-what did he just say?
N-no, that can't be. I must have misheard.
This isn't what I wanted. It's not, I swear!
Every fiber of me wanted to refuse — but I couldn't. The chance to meet her again had finally arrived. I wanted to see that sweet fragrance that had bloomed from her, that haughtily beautiful smile. Please. Please, please…
Have I truly lost my mind?
Ah… I want to be held by her.
How wonderful would that be? What bliss it would be…