A Gentle Touch in the Spore Storm
The air inside the building was thick and stagnant, heavy with the bitter stench of decay.
Red and gray spores drifted lazily through the hazy atmosphere.
It looked absolutely disgusting.
Parched bloodstains clung to the walls as if someone had been brutally devoured.
Bone fragments whose origins were impossible to determine littered the floor.
The foul odor pierced my nostrils.
If Makahina was still inside this building, he should have been safely tucked away in one of the reinforced rooms.
If I discovered an orphaned child wandering helplessly through this contaminated hallway, I would have to leave him behind.
After all, he was already infected.
Just let this wretched spore storm pass.
Only then could I safely locate him, rescue him, or slip away unharmed myself.
I was immune to the spores thanks to my false body, but I could not escape the wretched sensation they left behind.
It was deeply unpleasant.
I scanned the surroundings.
The power had long since failed, and the elevators were inoperative.
I would have to climb the emergency stairwell to the upper floors.
That was when I heard it.
“P-please help me…!”
A survivor?
Why was a human voice echoing here?
Could it really be… Makahina?
That would be the absolute worst-case scenario.
I turned my head toward the source of the sound.
“…!”
Thankfully, it wasn’t him.
Instead, a man who had already lost almost half his human form crawled toward me.
His body had swollen grotesquely. Gray spores had erupted in clusters, bursting from ruptured veins.
This was far more advanced than what the storm today had swept through.
He was a survivor who had been infected long ago and had reached the end of his limit.
“H-help me… Please, I’m still… Aaaah! No, don’t come any closer…!”
The man begged for help even as he screamed in agony.
His mind had been completely consumed by the spores.
He stretched out his blood-soaked hand toward me, trembling.
“Save me… Please…”
“The infection has already reached your brain. I have no way to help you. You already know there’s no cure…,”
I started to tell him the truth, then clamped my mouth shut.
After all, I was completely alone here.
No one was watching.
There was no need to play the villain even to a dying man.
He was on his last breath anyway.
I slowly lowered myself to one knee and met his gaze.
“…!”
I gently clasped both of his bloodied hands in mine.
Whether it was the pain of the spores digging into his flesh or the disbelief that someone’s warmth had reached him even at the end of his life, his body trembled.
I carefully pulled his shoulder closer, supporting him so he could lean against the wall.
“Come this way.”
My voice sounded unexpectedly gentle. I had long since forgotten how to speak with such kindness after years of villainous behavior.
I helped him lean comfortably against the wall.
“Just sit here for a moment. Breathing will be much easier.”
The man leaned heavily against the wall, gasping for breath.
Sticky black blood smeared his cheeks. I gently wiped it away with the sleeve of my own shirt.
“If you’re in pain, you can let everything go. You don’t have to hold on anymore.”
The man stared up at me blankly. He didn’t seem to expect anyone to comfort him with such warmth. His eyes were filled with surprise.
“You… g-gurgle! H-hic…!”
The man coughed up a mouthful of black blood.
He alternately looked at me, the spore-filled building interior, and my unmasked face.
“You’re not wearing a mask… or are you infected too…? Like me…?”
I squeezed his hand reassuringly. He shook his head with a faint smile.
“My body isn’t infected. I’m fine even in the middle of a spore storm.”
“Ah… That’s a relief…”
“Relief about what?”
“People like you… and monsters like me… never becoming the same…,”
He accepted my words without question, even though they made no logical sense.
It was the last moment. There was no need to think too deeply. He didn’t have the strength for it anymore.
The man’s head suddenly jerked.
A faint spasm ran through the hands I held, then they went limp.
He had lost consciousness. Or perhaps the expression was more accurate: his human consciousness had finally severed.
Kind… Like…
The word felt unfamiliar and strange after so long.
I carefully lowered his hands to the floor.
After all, he was a dying man. If left like this, he would turn into a monster within tens of minutes, consumed entirely by the spores that had been devouring his brain.
I picked up the knife I had set down on the floor.
This is the final act of mercy.
I knelt beside him and drove the knife into his neck.
Thud.
It pierced cleanly. His body twitched once before sinking back down. It was a merciful, painless end.
Black blood sprayed from the blade, splattering across his cheek and jaw. It even stained my sleeve. The metallic stench filled my nostrils, but I simply wiped my cheek with the back of my hand.
“Rest well.”
With a quiet farewell, I stood up without hesitation.
I brushed the blood from the knife, then turned and walked away without looking back.
Now, let’s find Makahina.
I climbed the stairs one floor at a time, knife dripping with blood in my hand.
Monsters and infected creatures burst from the shadows, but as soon as I swung the blade, they collapsed into shapeless meat.
Slaughtering monsters was trivial, but locating a human was surprisingly difficult.
Especially since they were hiding. They would fight desperately to avoid being found.
Maybe I won’t find him after all.
How many floors had I climbed?
Bang! Bang! Crash!
Sounds of something being smashed echoed through the corridor.
A monster had thrown its entire body against the door, trying to break in.
It had probably caught my scent.
“Krrroar! Kyaaaaah!”
I didn’t bother hiding my presence. I approached from behind and raised the knife high.
I was moving too fast for it to react.
Before it could turn, I slashed its throat.
“Kyah…!”
The severed head rolled across the floor while the body slumped against the metal door, blood pouring out in thick streams.
I kicked the corpse aside and tapped the blood-smeared door handle with the knife.
“If there’s someone inside, answer me.”
Nothing. Silence.
“I can break the door down. Then the spores will flood in. Answer me. Think carefully.”
Rustling came from beyond the door.
“P-please… is someone there?”
A frightened child’s voice.
“Well, for now, it’s a person.”
“…A person?”
Puzzlement colored the boy’s voice.
I didn’t have time for idle chatter. I cut to the chase.
“What’s your name?”
A moment of hesitation.
“M-Makahina… My name is Makahina.”
Oh. I had found him.
I had avoided the worst-case scenario.
“Mm. Makahina, I’ve been looking for you.”
“…Me? Who are you?”
“Maya… No, your mother is extremely worried about you. She asked me to find you.”
Long silence followed. Then a hiccup. The boy’s voice cracked with injustice.
“Mom’s so dumb… I’m not a kid anymore. I can do everything by myself… but every time like this…”
He leaned against the door covered in blood.
“Were you fighting and running away?”
Makahina grew indignant.
“I wasn’t fighting. I was just doing what I wanted.”
“What happened?”
“Normally I would have returned on schedule, but I deliberately stayed away.”
“Why?”
“I wanted to find my father’s mementos. I heard there are things in this city…”
Mementos…
Tap-tap sounds echoed from beyond the door, as if he was kicking the floor.
“I didn’t just barge in anywhere. I avoided dangerous places and came to this ruined city where people gather. I thought I could safely handle my share. But…”
The spore storm must have hit at the worst possible time.
When you’re in a ruined city, you never know when the spores will strike. Many have been left helpless.
That’s why they don’t accept refugees.
Even without the storm, if infected people from other groups infect the city from within, what happens? The sight before me answered that question.
“After my dad passed, Mom treated me like a flower in a greenhouse. I know she’s scared I’ll disappear too… but I wanted to become strong enough to protect Mom.”
“So?”
“That’s why I wanted to find the mementos. Then maybe I could do something… Hic.”
I listened silently as the hiccuping boy told his story.
“…”
I could roughly guess what had happened.
I slowly lowered myself to one knee on the blood-soaked floor.
“Makahina.”
Even I was surprised at how calm my voice sounded.
“I understand the heart that made you try to prove yourself. You grew up so well that you wanted to protect your mother.”
“How do you know that?”
“Just the fact that you thought that way is enough. But this I must say. Families are destined to part in some way.”
I sensed the boy focusing on my words.
“It’s certainly admirable, but it could frighten your mother. Like when your father died, she might fear you would vanish forever.”
“Mom’s afraid?”
“Because you’re family. I hope you stay safe. Don’t blame yourself. You’ve surely learned enough from this.”
The boy’s voice trembled.
“…You’re really kind. Mom must have asked for a good person.”
It was the second time today I had heard the word “kind.”
Since I started playing the villain, it had been a long time.
“Don’t open the door yet.”
I slowly stood up from my spot.
“This hallway is filled with spores. If you open this door now, spores will pour in and infect you.”
“Ah… T-that side is safe, right?”
I replied casually, adjusting my grip on the bloodied knife.
“It is, which is why I came this far.”