Ant Hell (1)
We reached the village.
A few more assassins were lying in wait for us along the northern road. But this time was different.
With a philosophy of the sword now behind it, Lebetri's blade cut sharper and faster than ever. Bitch's honey attacks swallowed the battlefield whole. And Sapi orchestrated every thread of it.
The fight didn't drag on — though I'll admit, Lebetri and Bitch's combat rhythm was so out of sync that the two of them slammed into each other plenty along the way.
"Shall we eat first, then?"
Sapi said, sliding his pistol away.
It was true we hadn't managed a proper meal, what with fending off assassins. So I expected us to head for some shabby diner, same as always.
But lo and behold — the place Sapi walked into was an upscale restaurant.
"Here?"
Bitch's antennae shot straight up.
"Whoa..."
Chandeliers hung from the ceiling. The floor was marble. The staff wore tailored suits, and by the windows sat customers who looked like nobility. I had never set foot anywhere like it in my life.
"Sapi."
"Yeah?"
"Did we take a wrong turn?"
"No."
"What was it you said before?"
I spread my fingers, then folded them down one at a time as I spoke.
"Never skimp on weapons."
"Hmm... did I say that?"
"Food only has to fill the belly..."
"Hmmm..."
Sapi dodged my eyes, doing his best not to answer. I pressed on anyway.
"Lodging only has to keep the rain out."
"That's all true, I suppose."
"...But?"
Sapi smiled as he pushed open the restaurant door.
"Today, there's a special purpose."
"...Purpose?"
"There's someone I need to meet here."
"A person?"
"That's right."
Sapi's answer was short.
"Someone who knows the road we're meant to take from here."
At that, I asked nothing more. I knew there had to be a reason Sapi was spending money like this.
"So that means we can eat, right?"
Bitch's eyes were sparkling.
"Eat till you burst."
"What about the money?"
"Don't worry about it."
"Whoaaaa!"
Bitch flung the door open and dove straight inside. All I could offer was a sigh.
"...She's really something else..."
"Let's go in."
Sapi held out his hand. I hesitated a moment, then took it.
To give you the conclusion first: it was a meal I would never forget as long as I lived. Bitch ordered every dish on the menu that came with honey.
Honey bread. Honeycomb dessert. Meat cured in honey. Honey ice cream.
"This is the best! This one's the best too! This one's even better!!"
Smiling, the staff kept bringing out plate after plate.
Meanwhile, I had gone still in front of my own order. Bread thoroughly soaked in cream sauce. Warm, creamy pasta. One bite in, and my eyes went wide all on their own.
"..."
"Is it really that good?"
When Sapi asked, I answered by taking another bite instead. Then I quietly raised my hand.
"...One more, please."
Whatever it was about the sight, Bitch found it hilarious and cackled at me.
"A rabbit that loves bread, huh."
"...Shut up."
When the meal was over, Sapi headed for a hotel as naturally as if it were routine. Two enormous fountains stood out front. Bitch's jaw hung open.
"We're really sleeping here?"
"Yep."
"Isn't this where only rich people come?"
"Just for today."
The moment we were inside the room, Bitch launched herself at the bed.
"Whoaaa!"
Fwoomp!
The mattress sank deep beneath her.
"It's sooo soft!"
"Hey."
Honestly, it was a pathetic sight. So I decided to say my piece.
"It's going to break."
"It won't."
-Fwoomp!
"..."
-Fwoomp!
"..."
-Fwoomp!
"..."
"...Don't come crying to me if we get thrown out tomorrow."
"We won't get thrown out."
Bitch flopped back onto the bed and rolled around.
"This is heaven..."
Lebetri sat at the edge of the bed, her mind on Sapi.
Something's off.
Sapi was not the kind of man who spent money like this. There was a reason — there had to be. But she didn't ask. If he wasn't telling, there would be a reason for that, too.
Then sleep came crashing over her.
Finally... that fate has arrived.
The fate where everyone dies.
This time, I didn't run away to survive alone.
Lebetri can change fate.
But she was far too weak to beat them.
So I made her grasp the philosophy of the sword. I filled the gap in our strength by bringing in Bitch. I did everything that could be done.
And still...
It isn't enough.
This time...
I truly did everything in my power.
There are no variables left to change. All that remains is this: whether fate breaks first — or Lebetri does.
All that's left is to bet on it.
Cold. I groped around for a blanket. But there was no warm blanket to be found — just tree leaves... tree leaves?
"Wake up, Lebetri. This is an emergency."
For someone announcing an emergency, he sounded remarkably calm. Even so, I got up. And the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was—
"A forest?"
"Yep, a forest. It'd be nice if it were an ordinary one."
My body... my instincts were screaming at me to run from this place. And the reason why came out of Sapi's mouth soon enough.
"This is a Domain."
"What? A Domain? We didn't do anything!"
"Right — that's what caught me off guard, I mean it. This one seems to have sucked in everyone nearby... no, everyone across a whole stretch of space, into the Domain."
"What?"
As if that made any sense. Before I could get a grip on the situation, Sapi was already moving — waking Bitch, who'd been asleep beside me.
"Nghh... five more minutes..."
"Up. On your feet."
"Wha—?!"
The instant she heard the granite in Sapi's voice, Bitch bolted upright.
"What the—? A forest?"
"Yep, a forest... It'd be nice if it were an ordinary one..."
"The assassins again? Or..."
"Quiet while I'm talking..."
"Or were we conned from the very start? I did wonder why that notorious cheapskate Sapi was suddenly throwing money around — if this was all an illusion..."
-Smack!
Sapi rapped her on the forehead.
And that was how we learned we had been pulled into a Domain where nothing could be known.
Sapi sent Ether seeping into the ground and swept our surroundings. After a moment, he pointed down one path.
"We head for the center first."
"Why the center, of all places?"
I asked, unable to hold back my curiosity.
"In a Domain, the pressure usually weakens toward the core."
"Okay?"
"Think back to where the master taught us the sword. Hardly any monsters ever came near that place, right?"
"Oh."
Only then did it click. Sapi started walking again, eyes forward.
"Normally, I'd make straight for an exit. But this time, countless people besides us were dragged in here."
"So?"
"In a situation this abnormal, it's better to gather everyone at the safe zone in the center and hunt for a way out together."
We moved in the direction Sapi had pointed. It was a forest that light barely touched. Black trees grew dense and close, and the ground lay buried under a thick, damp carpet of dead leaves.
How long had we been walking? From up ahead came the sound of metal cleaving the air.
-Whish!
-Whiish!
A man with two swords stood alone, cutting at empty air. The moment he spotted us, his grin stretched wide.
"Well, well, well! Fresh new toys!"
Crossing his blades in front of him, he barred our way.
"See, I took a commission. Kill everyone who gets pulled into this Domain."
The man drew a blade close to his tongue.
"And this sword is coated with a very lethal poison—"
"Hold it."
I cut him off.
"Didn't you just say it's covered in poison?"
"Huh?"
"Then why are you licking it?"
"..."
The man's face froze. A moment later, his whole body swayed hard.
"Urk!"
Foaming at the mouth, he dropped flat to the ground.
"...It really was poison?"
It was almost too pathetic to watch. I sheathed my sword and moved to step past him — and Sapi caught my shoulder.
"Stop."
"Why?"
"We confirm the kill first."
Sapi drew his pistol and leveled it at the fallen man's head. Without a flicker of hesitation, he pulled the trigger.
-Bang!
At the same instant, the man's body sprang off the ground.
-Clang!
A blade batted the bullet aside. Twisting in midair, the man landed on his feet.
"Are you serious?! Why would you go for a confirmation kill!"
He howled like a man genuinely wronged.
"The whole plan was to skewer whoever came close to check the body!"
"That's exactly why I shot."
Sapi answered flatly.
"And the poison was a lie, then."
"Yep. There's no poison."
The man spread his two swords wide to either side.
"So let's do this properly, shall we!"
He vanished from my sight. Fast. But it was a straight-line charge, boring in without a single feint.
I drew my sword and planted myself in front of Sapi and Bitch.
-Clang!
I caught the first blade. The second came for my throat almost immediately; I snapped my head back to dodge. The tip grazed the skin of my neck — a sting of pain, and blood. The man didn't stop.
Left. Right. Throat again. Every single strike aimed for the neck and nothing else.
Why only the neck?
Was he trying to end this in one blow? Fine. Then I'd end it in one exchange, too. A wound at the neck was something Sapi could heal. But the consequences of making that call would be mine to carry.
His sword came for my throat once more. I didn't dodge. The instant the edge bit shallow into my neck, I stepped inside his reach.
-Shk!
My sword sheared through his right arm.
"Gwah! My arm!"
The man shrieked. But a moment later, his grin curled upward, grotesque.
"And yet... I got you, didn't I?"
He swung his sword with his remaining left hand. This time, the blow wasn't aimed at me. He cut the empty air.
-Whish!
In that same instant, the wound on my neck tore itself open again.
"...!"
Blood spilled down my throat. I couldn't breathe. The man laughed like a madman.
"My ability is Slash Engraving! Every wound my blade carves gets remembered, see!"
He moved to cut the air again.
"Whenever I want, the exact same slash, over and—"
"Bitch!"
Sapi's shout. Bitch was already moving.
"Okay!"
Golden honey flooded the ground. The man tried to leap clear — too late. The sticky mass coiled around his ankles.
"What is this stuff!"
The honey hardened in seconds, pinning both feet to the earth. In that window, Sapi sprinted to me. A warm hand closed over the wound on my neck. Golden light spread, and the torn flesh knit shut almost at once. My blocked breath came flooding back.
"Hahh..."
Even as he healed me, Sapi never took his eyes off the man. The man slashed the air again. Nothing happened this time.
"So when the wound vanishes, the engraving goes with it."
"Huh?"
"Your ability is strong."
Sapi rose to his feet.
"But it can't bring back a wound that's already been healed."
Bitch rapped her knuckles against the hardened honey.
"And you can't so much as move right now."
The man's face twisted. Then, just as quickly, he grinned again.
"Don't you dare think this is where it ends!"
He looked down at his own pinned ankle. He reversed his grip on his sword.
No way.
-Shk!
Without a moment's hesitation, the man cut through his own ankle. Abandoning the foot the honey held, he hurled his body forward.
"You're insane—!"
Even missing a leg, the bastard was still smiling. Wielding his last sword, he threw himself at Sapi.
"I only need to drag one of you down with me!"
But Sapi didn't so much as flinch.
"Thought you'd try something like that."
The pistol's shape collapsed and rebuilt itself into a long, thick barrel. A shotgun. A heartbeat before the man's sword could fall—
-BANG!!
The colossal roar shook the forest. The man's body was flung backward into a tree. This time, he didn't get up.
Bitch tilted her head.
"Aww... Bitch never even got to show off her signature finisher."
"Don't worry, Bitch. Someday I'll gift you a stage big enough to rampage on."
"Well then, thanks a bunch, friend."
I ran a hand over my healed neck. There had definitely been a wound mere moments ago; now there wasn't even a scar.
"Let's go."
Sapi started walking toward the center of the forest again. Bitch trailed after him like nothing at all had happened. I gave the fallen man one last glance, then sheathed my sword.
We hadn't been inside the Domain all that long. And already a man hired to kill us had come at us. Just how many enemies were hiding in this forest?
And — who were the people who had reached the center ahead of all those enemies?
Feeling an unease I couldn't name, I followed behind the two of them.
Right now, I'm leading Lebetri and Bitch on foot toward the center. Guided by the future-reading ability I've never told them about, I'm taking the best route there is.
A route that runs us into as few enemies as possible, while putting us in the path of allies worth having...
It's just... on that route, she'll be there.
"Who's there!!!"
Four figures kept their guard trained on us, not loosening it an inch. Lebetri started to raise her guard to match theirs — I stopped her.
"We're victims, same as all of you. Swept up into this Domain just the same."
The woman with red hair — the one covered head to toe in burn-like scars — stared holes through me.
"So it's true. They're victims like us."
"In that case, might you consider traveling with us?"
"Are you all also making for the center?"
"Yes, that's right."
Hearing my words, the red-haired woman held out her hand. But I know this woman. And not from any glimpse of the future.
"My name is Jeanne."
The red-haired woman extended her hand toward me.
"Let's make sure every one of us survives and gets out of here."
I looked down at the hand. It was a hand covered in burn scars.
This was a wound I had left on her. To be exact, I never set the fire myself. But the incident that branded those scars into her, and the affair that cost her father his life — all of it began with my choice.
Jeanne didn't recognize me. Back then, both my name and my face were different from what they are now. Knowing nothing, Jeanne kept her hand outstretched.
For a heartbeat, I faltered. Then I arranged my face into its usual expression.
"I'm Sapi."
I took her hand. Jeanne's hand was warm. That warmth felt, if anything, like fire against my skin.
"It's a pleasure to be working with you."
"Yes. We survive this together — no matter what."
Jeanne smiled. Facing that smile, I thought:
This time, too, I can't tell her the truth.
At least... not yet.