My heart dropped.
She only killed guards, huh….
In that context, it wouldn't have been strange if I died a hundred times over.
I hurriedly pulled myself together.
I needed to get used to seeing people die.
Hadn't I already seen it at the hospital?
Sitri casually wiped the blood left on her fingers against her hood.
It looked like a child wiping dirt from playing in the mud onto their clothes.
“So, that outfit.”
“Ah, ah… yes…! Shall I give it back…?”
“Yeah.”
But—
now that things had reached this point, a question occurred to me.
Simply handing it over didn't seem like the best choice.
If I gave it to her?
What would protect me afterward?
In other words, Sitri was trying to take away the only shield I had.
And I was supposed to just stand here and let her take it?
I couldn't do that.
No matter how terrifying a Serial Killer she was.
So from this point onward, I decided to try making a deal.
Of course, there was no reason for her to accept a deal with me.
Could you call it a ‘trade’ when a human stripped silk from a silkworm?
No.
That was plunder.
But if even that silkworm could produce silk so captivating that it made humans recognize an intense need for it, then humans would preserve its lineage in comfort for hundreds and thousands of years.
If that too could be called a ‘trade,’ then perhaps this was one as well.
The point was simple.
I had to create something, somehow, that would benefit me.
“……Before I give you the clothes, there's something I'd like to ask.”
“Hmm?”
“Forgive me, but who are you?”
“I can't reveal my identity.”
“Why not?”
“Because keeping it secret is an internal rule.”
“May I ask why?”
“No.”
Sitri held out her hand as though telling me to stop talking nonsense.
She meant for me to hand over the clothes.
Damn it.
The first conversation had failed.
I'd found no opening whatsoever in that exchange.
I needed to ask something more fundamental.
“Understood.”
I slowly began taking off the clothes as I spoke again.
“May I ask 1 more question?”
“What?”
“You said earlier that you only kill guards.”
“Yeah.”
“I used to be a guard.”
“What are you now?”
“A-A gangster.”
“Hmm….”
“Both while I was in the Guard and after I left it, I've seen countless members of organizations like ours. But I've never met anyone who says they kill only guards. Why do you?”
“Because guards kill us.”
“Members of organizations kill each other far more often. So why kill only guards?”
“You really don't know anything at all…….”
Sitri raised her golden eyes and looked up at me.
Her voice was calm.
“…….”
The air settled.
Her expression looked almost damp with moisture.
Then, at last, she slowly opened her mouth to reveal what was inside—
“…Actually, I don't know either.”
What?
Did I hear that wrong?
“Pardon?”
“I don't really know either. It's just that it was the conclusion the… smart people reached a long time ago, and I follow it.”
“What basis did those people have for deciding to kill only guards?”
“Basis?”
“Yes. Basis.”
Sitri frowned.
“You're talking about something difficult.”
“No, then are you saying that when it comes to killing people, you simply follow the opinions of those smart people? Not your own thoughts?”
“Yeah.”
“Is that… right?”
Sitri frowned slightly.
“Don't know.”
She scratched the back of her head and continued.
“They're very smart people. And I think the lives of our brothers and sisters are the most important thing. Even if conflict between us is unavoidable, if killing 1 guard means 1 of our brothers and sisters survives, then there's no reason not to do it.”
“…….”
A complicated mixture of emotions passed through me.
There were mainly 2.
Half of it was an indescribable fear.
What the hell kind of person is this?
Even someone deliberately crushing an insect would probably think more about it than this.
She was like a child thoughtlessly tearing apart a dragonfly.
The other half was a suspicion—
perhaps this continent-famous ‘Serial Killer’ was much stupider than I'd expected.
Anyway.
“So you kill them because they harm us.”
“Yeah.”
“Then what about me?”
“What?”
Sitri tilted her head.
“As you can see, I have a disability in my ankle right now. My body is weak too. If I simply give you these clothes, the only thing protecting me, I might die.”
“…….”
“I also fall under the category of ‘our brothers and sisters’ that you mentioned. If you have any pity for me, could you help me just this once?”
My heart pounded.
I was asking her for help.
She could simply twist my neck right now and take the clothes.
But if Sitri was stupider than I'd expected—
and blindly principled precisely because of that—
then I had a small chance.
Sitri stared at me expressionlessly before asking,
“What kind of help?”
“Please take me to Gesenna Seventh Train Station.”
“Hmm.”
“Pardon?”
“I don't have much time.”
“Didn't you say our lives were what mattered? I only have 1 life.”
Silence fell again.
Sitri seemed troubled for a moment.
If she brushed me aside here, she'd contradict herself.
Of course, if she wanted, she could simply say, ‘So what? Want to die? Hand it over!’
But although she was a villain, fortunately, she didn't seem to be that kind of villain.
“……Fine. I'll take you to the Seventh Train Station.”
Thank God.
***
Gesenna was the largest region in the Empire.
Naturally, the distances between its train stations were long as well.
This would be a small-scale adventure.
I needed to prepare before we left.
‘I'm hungry….’
I'd spent several days bedridden.
And even after waking up, I still hadn't eaten properly.
First, I asked Sitri for permission to eat.
She refused.
“I can't?”
“Where are you going to find food? This house has been completely looted.”
“I grew up in the mountains, so I know how to find edible plants, roots, mushrooms, things like that….”
“No. We don't have time.”
“But I can't just starve. I have no strength in my body right now.”
Sitri stood still for a moment before answering.
“I'll give you this.”
Sitri reached her hand into empty space.
Was that 「Inventory」…?
I never imagined I'd actually see one of those incredibly expensive subspace storage boxes.
What she pulled out was a yellowish lump.
It looked a little like bread.
And a little like rice cake.
This is….
“Eat.”
For now, I put it in my mouth.
‘Ugh.’
It tasted horrible.
Dry.
Unpleasantly sweet.
Slightly salty.
The texture was crumbly in places and rubbery in others, and the whole thing felt intensely artificial.
‘Why the hell would anyone eat this?’
Even the smell was awful.
It smelled less like food and more like some kind of chemical product.
“What is this?”
“Corn Cake.”
Good God.
Food from the Republic of Eden.
A cake made from low-quality corn rice.
The thing commonly called ‘human feed’….
I vaguely remembered eating it a very long time ago.
“Why?”
“No, it's, um, delicious. Do you always eat things like this…?”
“Yeah.”
“…….”
“If you're done eating, get up. You'll have strength now.”
And strangely enough—
strength really did begin returning to my body.
It tasted horrible, but apparently it converted into calories almost immediately.
“This way.”
I started walking with my cane.
Through the streets of Gesenna, emptied of people.
We'd been walking for around 10 minutes when Sitri abruptly looked back at me.
“You.”
“Yes?”
“Too slow.”
“Well, I am crippled….”
“At this rate, it'll take another 6 or 7 hours to reach the station. Isn't there another way? A bicycle. A carriage.”
“I don't have either.”
“…….”
Sitri's movements were slow and languid.
She stared at me with a sullen expression for a moment, then bent down and offered me her back.
“Get on.”
“…….”
I am Samael (20, Male).
As a man, I have my pride.
So naturally, I got on.
Honestly, climbing onto her back was awkward.
Her hood was loose, but her body underneath was so small.
And wrapping my arms around her neck felt unnecessarily uncomfortable.
So I cautiously rested my hands on her shoulders.
“Hold tight.”
Then I regretted it.
The moment she started covering 20 meters with every step, I nearly got flung backward.
‘Ugh!’
I grabbed onto whatever I could.
The 「All-Seeing Eye」 caught the movement of Mana.
Sitri was using Mana to reinforce her body.
In moments, she began covering hundreds of meters.
‘Uoooooh.’
The wind shoved against my entire face.
She was moving so quickly that my heart nearly stopped.
If she stumbled while running like this, I'd probably turn into dried squid on the pavement.
Sitri leaped high and landed atop a tall clock tower.
Then she looked around for something.
“There it is.”
What is she looking at?
Still on her back, I was carried for quite a while longer.
Then, at some point—in the middle of the ruined city—she stopped dead.
“What is it?”
“I think I'm going to run low on Mana.”
“Ah….”
“You're heavy. Heavier than I thought.”
“Of course. I'm a man.”
I climbed off her back.
If she wanted, she could probably lift an elephant with both hands or run 100 meters in under 3 seconds.
But all of that strength came from Magical Power.
And because the only way to recover Mana was with time, she couldn't carry me across a long distance at that speed.
In the end, we had no choice but to walk.
“You're annoying….”
I was insulted.
At first, I pretended not to hear.
“Annoying….”
“So annoying….”
“Really annoying….”
Eventually, she started insulting me openly.
I'm annoying?
There was a saying that people only stretched out where there was room to lie down.
She'd been unexpectedly kind to me.
And after being insulted for several hours straight….
I started feeling rebellious for no real reason.
“Don't you have a Magical-Power Car?”
“No.”
“Aren't you rich?”
Sitri pulled a handful of gold coins from her pocket and showed them to me.
“This much.”
Good God.
“…If you have that much money, you should've bought a car first.”
“Is that my fault?”
“Then is it my fault? Honestly, if you had a car, neither of us would have to walk….”
The moment I finished speaking, I realized I'd gone too far.
Had I been too cheeky?
Sure enough, Sitri was staring at me sullenly.
I hurriedly prepared to offer a formal apology—
when Sitri spoke with a slightly gloomy expression.
“I can't drive.”
“Pardon? Ah. You could learn.”
“I tried.”
“You did?”
“Hmm.”
I tried guessing what her next answer would be.
‘Don't know,’ perhaps?
“It was difficult.”
Almost correct.
A triangle instead of a circle.
I was beginning to understand this terrifying person a little.
Anyway, we walked for a long time and climbed a hill almost as high as a mountain.
This direction was slightly off from our destination.
I'd been wondering why we'd come up here, but once we reached the top, I understood.
“This is…. a mine.”
Portrosi Silver Mine.
Even though everything was being destroyed by the Civil War, the facilities here still looked intact.
Probably because it was far from the city center and guarded by soldiers.
“Why did we come here?”
“To ride a cart.”
“Pardon?”
“If we ride a cart, we'll get there faster.”
I looked at the railway tracks stretching down the mountain.
If we rode a freight cart along those rails, we could certainly reach somewhere near Gesenna Seventh Train Station quickly.
But….
“This facility is still operating.”
“Yeah.”
“This belongs to the Southern Count. There are even soldiers with spears guarding the entrance.”
“Yeah.”
“No, not ‘yeah.’ What exactly are you planning to do when we get there?”
Sitri narrowed her eyes.
“I don't understand what you're asking.”
“That's what I should be saying. I don't understand what you're trying to do.”
“…….”
Sitri stopped.
Then turned to face me.
“There are carts.”
“Yes.”
“We'll get there faster if we ride them.”
“That's true.”
“So we ride them.”
“…….”
I couldn't shake the feeling that something had gone terribly wrong.
“But, but those are clearly someone else's freight carts….”
Sitri ignored my answer and approached the mine entrance.
“Halt! Halt!”
“Who goes there?! State your purpose and business!”
The shouts were sharp.
It was the 7th day of the Civil War.
People were dying every day.
Accordingly, there were no fewer than 6 sentries.
They raised spears and crossbows toward Sitri.
Yet Sitri didn't care.
She didn't flinch.
Didn't answer.
She simply continued walking slowly, placing a hand at her waist.
“If you do not stop by the count of 3, we will attack!”
Even an idiot could predict what was about to happen.
But I was a guard.
‘Damn it.’
“3!”
What had I sworn during my appointment ceremony as a guard?
To devote my loyalty and service to the Empire and Imperial Family.
To protect the lives and property of the people.
To make it my duty to preserve public peace and order.
Hadn't I sworn exactly that?
“2!”
I had no confidence that I could actually do anything.
“1!”
But I had to step forward.
“WAIT―!!”
Sitri stopped dead.