The day after their dinner party, Flamm was just finishing her request for harvesting ingredients from monsters and exited the guild after making her final report .

Perhaps because she proved herself by taking out the Anzu, her adventurer rank had raised to D before long and her income also increased .
Flamm thought that since she had to support two people, she had to earn more, so she couldn’t take it easy just yet .

“Or rather…is Eternsan going to work…?”

She had been staying inside her room doing something, but she didn’t know what it is that she’s doing .
But since she taught Flamm about medicinal herbs and magic during her free time, it was hard for her to bring up the question of “are you going to work?”
They can still manage their expenses for now, so Flamm decided to see how it would go from now on .

The sky is turning dark .
It’s not like she’s taking her sweet time in the guild .
It was simply because her mission was a hard one .
She thought that the monster wasn’t really strong, but it turns out that the small animal was a tad too quick on its feet .
Eventually she managed to take it down and obtained its hide, but she was a lot more tired than usual .
With that, she won’t be surprised if she was attacked by the receptionist Iira or the fools from Dain’s group .
But fortunately, those group seems dispirited today .
It also looks like their leader Dain is also having a meeting with his boys in such a heavy atmosphere .
It was simply a blessing that they’re not picking a fight with her .
But at the same time, she grew impatient knowing that there are no ways for her to repay their debts .

“It would’ve been great if I could take them out when they’re looking at their lowest . ”

Muttering her wish, her boots kicked a pebble away .
But then the pebble hit something big fallen on the ground .
…it was a girl .
The girl that was lying down as the cold pebble hit her perhaps was just about Sarah’s age .
Her black hair was tied up into a ponytail, and both her white top and bottom are dirtied by dirt .

“…This feels like trouble is brewing up”, Flamm complained .

To be fair, the figure of someone collapsed on the streets was not a rare sight in the Western District .
Some drunken men usually lie unconscious just over there, and after living around here for several years, you’re guaranteed to have seen a dead body or two .
But it might be a rare sight for it to be a girl, especially in such a young age .
Obviously, as night falls, public safety will get even worse, so if a girl like her is walking around, a lot of men would swarm her .
Obviously, only to sate their l.u.s.t .
Which means—It’s possible that someone noticed her but pretended not to way before Flamm caught sight of her .
She couldn’t possibly just leave her lying there .
So she squats down, put her hand to her shoulder and shook her up .

“Hey, are you alright? You’ll get attacked by perverts if you sleep here, you know?”
“Nn…uu…”

The girl flopped over, and as Flamm saw her face—or rather, her eyes—she was startled .
They were st.i.tched shut .
It was so cleanly done that it has no fester, so it’s possible that it was done by the hands of a doctor .
But what’s even more strange was,

“You can’t see, but…how did you get here?”

She still had a volume in her body, so it seems like she’s been eating properly .
Her hair wasn’t rough, so someone has been properly cutting her hair .
There are no signs of abuse, and she didn’t smell bad, which means she’s been taking baths .
It doesn’t feel like she escaped her confinement, but as Flamm continued shaking her shoulder, she listlessly said “Who is iit?”

“Just a normal person pa.s.sing by . If you need to go somewhere, should I send you there?”

The girl was quiet for a while, but then she exclaimed with a bright tone;

“Ink!”
“Huh?”
“My name is Ink . Nice to meet you . ”
“Eh, uhh…nice to meet you . ”

She was caught by the girl’s flow and ended up saying “nice to meet you”, but what’s so nice about all this?
While Flamm was having a hard time grasping the situation, the girl rattled on .

“I lost my memories . I don’t really know who I am . ”
“But you remember your name?”
“Yeah! By coincidence!”

It was such a convenient coincidence .
Flamm heaved a sigh in admiration, and for now, she pulled the girl’s hand to let her stand .
After patting the dust from the girl’s clothes off, she bid farewell, saying “See you, Ink,” and waved her hand calmly as she left the place .
But the sitting duck that is the girl couldn’t let her go, so both of her hands tightly grabbed onto Flamm’s clothes and stopped her .

“You see, I don’t have a place to sleep . ”
“R, right…”
“I don’t have a place to return, and I don’t have money…I have nothing!”

She can imagine what the girl wanted .
Basically, the blind runaway girl wants to stay in her place .
She even blatantly lied all the way and said she lost her memories .
If she were to take care of this kid, she didn’t want to imagine what sort of complications she’ll get involved in, and on top of that, doing that didn’t benefit her in any form .
But if she leaves her alone…it’s easy to figure out what’ll happen to a young girl on her lonesome in the West District .
But the moment she started thinking like that was the moment when Flamm lost .
She heaved a heavy sigh once more and took Ink’s hand .

“I’ll bring you to my place for now . That’s fine with you, right?”
“I know nothing! I lost my memories after all!”

Are there some people in the world who can be so cheerful if they lost their memory?
The tired Flamm quickly heaved her third sigh of the day and started walking with the girl in tow .

On the way home, Flamm asked Ink a lot of questions, but she was adamant in not answering anything .
Her lie had been exposed long ago, but it doesn’t seem like she’s planning to retract her story about her amnesia .
She won’t be able to deal with this on her own, so aiming to seek help from Milkit and Eterna, Flamm’s pace quickened .
Ink, too, didn’t mind that and followed suit .
There aren’t any problems with her physical strength—so what does her status look like?
She felt bad for checking without the person’s permission, but it was Ink’s fault for not retracting her statement .

——————————————————————————

Ink Riesekraft

Attribute: Water
Strength: 18
Intelligence: 43
Endurance: 28
Agility: 23
Intuition: 49

——————————————————————————

Her Intelligence and Intuition are somewhat high, but they are the numbers of a healthy girl .
It seems like she wasn’t lying about her name as well .

“Riesekraft, huh…I wonder which family is that . ”
“Did you Scan me?”
“I did . ”
“Perv . ”

Flamm clenched her fists as her arms trembled, but she managed to keep it down .
She’s just a child, and as a 16 year-old, Flamm needs to be the mature one .

“By the way, how old are you, Ink?”
“Ten!”

As expected, she’s the same age as Sarah .

“You said you had amnesia but you remembered that, huh . ”
“Ah…um, I remembered about my body . ”
“Such clever body . ”
“Don’t you think the way you say it is also perverted?”
“Nope . ”

What a very convenient amnesia .
Either way, it’s such a reckless behavior for a blind 10-year-old to run from home in the night at the West District .
It’s such a drag, but I’m glad I found her first, thought Flamm from the bottom of her heart .

After a short walk, the two arrived at Flamm’s house .
She opened the door and said “I’m back~”, and a set of footsteps could be heard rushing toward her from the kitchen .
Milkit showed her smile from behind her bandages at her master as she said “Welcome home, mas…ter?” but as she saw the girl next to her, she showed a puzzled expression .

“I’ll explain it to you later, so can I go up first?”
“Y-Yes . I prepared your meal as well . ”
“Yeah, thanks . ”

As she said that, she petted Milkit on her head and Milkit turned bashful in turn .
Right behind them, Ink held onto Flamm’s clothes and followed after her .

“The delicious smell even got this far . Just smelling it makes me feel hungry . ”

With perfect timing, Flamm’s stomach grumbled .
It wasn’t loud, but it seems like it was captured by Milkit’s ears, and her cute yet stiff cheeks slackened .

“Fufu, this is the first time I tried this ingredient, so I hope master likes it…Ah, by the way, should I prepare a meal for this child too?”
“Aah…How about it, Ink? Do you want to eat?”
“Of course!”

She was truly a child without modesty .
Flamm dropped her shoulders in exasperation, while Milkit showed a bitter smile .
As the three entered the living room, the one waiting inside was Eterna, holding her fork and knife as if she’s waiting impatiently for dinner .
She looked over at Flamm, and then to Milkit, and finally to the girl, before saying—”Flamm brought home a girl!” with a blank expression .

“That’s not it! I just picked her up by chance, I can’t possibly leave her behind . ”
“She brought me here!”

One idiot raised her hand up cheerfully .

“I’m telling you…”
“Ahaha, what a cheerful girl . There is some other things I need to do to prepare dinner, so please have a seat first, Master . ”
“Ah, it’s alright, I’ll help too . Sit down over here, Ink . ”
“Okaay!”

Ink raised her arms again and replied cheerfully before searching for the chair by her hand and sitting down after finding it .
They thought she’d need help because she’s blind, but it turns out that she can be independent to a certain extent .

Flamm headed for the kitchen along with Milkit to finish her cooking .
For an instance, Milkit looked like she felt bad for having her help, but she didn’t put it into words anymore .
It wasn’t as if she’s ungrateful, and Flamm helping out with cooking is an everyday thing, and even when she apologized, Flamm would say “You don’t have to say that, I’m just doing what’s obvious”
The master Milkit is living with right now is different from those she served under in the past .
As if it’s the natural thing, Flamm is someone who would devote herself to a lowly slave that Milkit thought of herself as .
If Flamm wants to pamper her, then it is also the duty of a slave to follow through, but Milkit herself also wished for that .

Her eyes met with Flamm’s .
There aren’t any deep meaning behind it, but when Flamm smiled, Milkit replied with her own smile .
She was happy with just that, and even if she’s scared of losing her, she wants to deepen this relationship that they have .

“I took a shower ahead~”

When Flamm brought the food to the dining table, Sarah entered the room while scrubbing her head with a towel .

“You’re here too, Sarah-chan?”

Preparing food for 3 people might be a bit too much, but it turns out that Sarah that had stopped by yesterday had stopped by today as well .

“Ah, I’m sorry, Master . I forgot to tell you that Sarah-chan is coming . ”
“Evening, Onee-san! Milkit onee-san’s cooking is so delicious that I want to keep coming back!”
“Are you okay with the church?”
“When I told my friends I’m going to eat at a friend’s place, they ended up laughing and sending me out you know?”

The church’s is a bit more lenient than Flamm had expected .
Well, despite the bad public safety of the West District, there shouldn’t be any idiots who are stupid enough to attack a nun, and if it’s Sarah, she would be able to turn the table if she did .

“By the way, who’s that girl?”
“I’m Ink!”
“Ink-chan, huh? Nice to meet you . ”
“Nice to meet you!”

The cheerful Ink flapped her hands as she said that .

Perhaps because their age is close to each other, the two clicked together and got even more hyped up, giving each other high fives while yelling “Yaa~aay!”
During such bustle, the foods are lined up on the table .
Perhaps because Eterna is nearing her limit of hunger, she glared at the Candy Boar Stew with bloodshot eyes .

“Oh, by the way, Candy Boars are C-rank monsters, right? Aren’t these quite expensive?”
“It was half-off since it’s near its expiry date . It’s still wasn’t cheap though…is it too luxurious?”
“No, isn’t it fine? If it’s half-priced it’s going to be cheaper than Goat or Buffalo meat, and Candy Boar meats are delicious anyways . I’m hungry now . ”

Flamm put the vegetable salad on top of a large plate on the middle of the table and took a seat .

Candy Boars are large-bodied C-rank boar-type monster .
Just like its name, it has high strength, and it has high agility despite its enormous body, so its subjugation difficulty is quite high .
Its weakness is the fact that it could only move in a straight line, but it also had a wide range of Earth-Attribute magic .
The name “candy” comes from how it tends to ruin the sugarcane fields, a raw material for sugar .
The Candy Boar likes all sorts of sweet things and not only sugar, so there were witnesses of candy boars charging into trees to knock down beehives and lick its honey .
Perhaps because of that, the sweetness of the fat of its meat made it into such a delicacy in the pork category .
Thoroughly cooked and soaked in demi-glace sauce, the diced meat can get so soft that you won’t need utensils to cut them, so anyone could understand how Eterna feels right now as she salivated just by looking at the dish .
The sauce itself was a ready-made one bought by Milkit from a store, but she had added some of her own secret ingredients .
And once she added her secret ingredient, there would definitely be a step-up on the flavor, so that too is something that the girls look forward to .
The flavor also permeates into the potatoes that are cooked together, so the soft and flaky potatoes are looking delicious .
It would definitely go well with the baguette that they also prepared .

After everybody confirmed that everyone had sat down on their seats, everyone said “Itadakimasu“, while Ink followed after albeit slightly late .
Thus, dinner is served .
The first thing Eterna did was to scoop up bite-sized meat, mix it with the stew sauce and ate it .
Just by moving her tongue slightly melted the meat in her mouth, and the sweetness of the meat and the rich demi-glace sauce spreads across her mouth .
The moment she bites into the fatty meat, the fat that oozes out from it further enhanced its sweetness .
With a satisfied sigh of “Nfuu~” and a smile, this time, she tore a piece of the baguette and dipped it into the stew .
With the meat on top of that, she had to open her mouth wide to stuff her cheeks with it as it wasn’t so small anymore .
The sauce soaks into the piece of bread, and as her teeth sinks into it, it flows back out and floods her mouth .
And that was added on top of the baguette’s savoriness and a tinge of saltiness, giving a completely different sensation than when eaten alone .

Seeing everyone enjoying their foods, Milkit looked happy as she smiled .
She felt happier seeing other people eating the food that she made rather than eating it herself .
That seems to be the type of person she is .
Flamm looked at Milkit being happy, and in turn she became happy herself .
Suddenly, their eyes met .

“Is it tasty?”
“Yep, it’s the best . You’ll be a splendid wife, Milkit . ”
“Rather than a wife, I’ll be happier if master and the others eat my food . ”

After exchanging those words, Flamm scooped up more of the stew with her spoon .
Seems like Ink was satisfied with Milkit’s home cooking, so she said “It tastes better than the food on my house…”, while somewhat surprised .
So Flamm though to herself for the third time; what happened to your memory loss story?

After dinner and the cleanup of the table, what comes next is the questioning time .
As expected, the girl isn’t fooling anyone with her amnesia story .
To begin with, they started with simple introductions .

“I’m Ink Riesekraft, 10 years old . I’m an amnesia¹!”
“Even if you say it like that…”

Flamm looked tired .
And then, Ink faced toward her .
Seems like it’s Flamm’s turn to introduce herself next, and thus she was paying attention to her .

“I’m Flamm Apricot, 16 years old…oh, I haven’t really introduced myself, have I?”
“You haven’t . ”

As they exchanged their introductions, perhaps now they had clear ideas about each other’s ident.i.ties .
Flamm honestly lowered her head .

“Sorry about that, I completely forgot . My occupation right now an adventurer for now . ”

Ink nodded her head a lot of times as she mumbled “hm, hm,” as she listened to Flamm .
Afterwards, Milkit, Sarah and Eterna continued in order .

“Eterna Lynnbow²…you mean, the Hero?”

Well, it was expected that she’d be surprised on Eterna’s introduction .
And thus, the woman who made the girl surprised puffed her chest as she looked somewhat proud of herself .

“Which means…Flamm Apricot is too? I just thought you’re just someone with the same name . ”
“Yeah that’s the case…somewhat . ”
“A lot of important people are gathered…It’s unexpected . No, should I say lucky instead . Looks like they have good economic power . ”

Flamm looked at the girl with a suspicious gaze as she looked like she’s in it for the money .
Including that statement of hers, they need to know her true character .
If she’s just a runaway girl then that’s fine . They can just send her back the next day .

“Alright, now you’ve to spit the truth . ”
“I lost my memories so I might not be able to answer you know?”
“You’re sorely mistaken if you think you can slip away with that . We couldn’t possibly take a child in whose background we don’t know . ”
“W-Why do you say I’m lying about my memory loss?”

She’s seriously shaking .
She was a child after all .

“I’m more surprised that you didn’t think that we haven’t found out yet . ”

She gave too much hints .
She does act childish, but that was dangerous .
If she planned for this runaway, her parents would have been looking for her by now .
If it gets serious, they might even mobilize the soldiers or the church knights .
They want to quickly hear about where she belongs before the officials treated the case as an abduction .

“Well…the memory loss was a lie, but I don’t know where I came from . ”
“No no, there’s no way that could happen . ”
“I’m serious . I was just running around wildly, and then I didn’t know . ”
“You weren’t at your home?”
“I think I was in some sort of facility . ”
“Then do you know what facility—”
“I never heard about it . ”

They were about to say no way, but it doesn’t seem like Ink is playing around .
It seems like she truly didn’t know where in the capital she lived in .
Would that even be possible?
Was she raised where her guardians were too overprotective?

“But you see, there were also other children in that place . Fuwys, Rook, Nect, and even Mute!”

She revealed that there was at least 4 children the same age as Ink in that facility .
Which means the place that she described could be narrowed down to several choices .

“Is it perhaps the Orphanage in the West District?”
“I don’t know . But anyways, there are other children too . ”

A place within a limit of a 10-year-old’s walking range where other children are also present .
Thinking that way, there’s no other place but the orphanage .

“Do you remember the name of your guardian?”
“About Mother³?”
“That’s not a name now is it?”
“But everybody calls her Mother though?”

There’s quite the possibility that the nun taking care of the children in the orphanage is called Mother .
…Even still . Is it even possible for her to not know the real name of her Mother?
Or is her name truly is Mother?

“I know some people from the orphanage, so I could ask around in the West Church tomorrow . If I can get to see the name register we could know right away too . ”
“Sorry to involve you in this, but thank you . ”

Flamm bowed her head to Sarah .
Flamm doesn’t know anyone from the church, and if possible she doesn’t want to get close with anyone from the church save for Sarah .
And it was obvious since just several days ago they were just about to be killed by a beast that they made .

Even after that, they couldn’t find any decent information about Ink .
She said that she climbed the stairs as she escaped, that their food there was delicious, or that Mother was very kind .
It was questionable, however, to judge if Ink was speaking without hiding anything .
Either way, if they know that she is from the orphanage, everything would be resolved .
For now, there are no other choices but to wait for a contact from Sarah that would come tomorrow at the earliest .

To send Sarah all the way to the church in the Central District, Flamm was about to go out of the house together with her .
As they were, Eterna silently walked up to them .
Speaking of which, she was mostly silent during the questioning earlier .
Milkit was quiet too, but she tends to not partic.i.p.ate much in their conversation .
In other words, Eterna was the only one to act different than usual .
She stood right in front of the two, and with a serious expression, she spoke in a low tone to make sure Ink couldn’t hear her;

“There’s still a lot that the girl’s hiding . ”
“I thought so too . We couldn’t get any information as of why she ran away from that place anyways . ”
“Well, that too, but…it was faint, but she smelled a bit like me . ”
“Smelled like you?”

Flamm approached Eterna and took a whiff, but she received a sharp chop on the top of the head as she said “Not that!”

“Ow…then what did you mean by smell?”

Flamm asked as she rubbed her head, and Eterna answered as her eyes peered off into the distance .

“It’s like…she’s not normal, or there’s something unnatural about her . ”
“I don’t think you’re unnatural though, Eternsan . ”
“You’re such a blockhead so it’s obvious that you don’t notice . ”
“Why do you have to be so mean…”
“I think I understand . I think she felt a bit off, and she feels like she’s got a different feel than other children, right?”

The description is too abstract that Flamm’s head is now full of question marks .
But Eterna agreed that the feeling is indescribable by words, which only irritates her .

“Anyways, let’s quickly find her home and send her back as soon as possible before we get too deeply involved with her . ”
“I’ll come and tell you tomorrow, so I think we can get it done by then . ”

Everyone thought that most likely she’s a child from the orphanage .
Even if she’s not a child from the orphanage,  there aren’t many orphanages in the capital .
Sarah will look into it tomorrow, and they will know which orphanage Ink belongs to by then .

The next morning, Sarah immediately departed from the church in the Central District, sent by her fellow nun .
Her destination was the church of the West District .
It wasn’t a place you could go casually, so she doesn’t have many people she knows there, but since some of the Church Knights posted there had been to the Central church, they had been acquainted then .
They were the two knights that took away Dain’s underlings when Rich’s bag was stolen .
The men who were on standby in the guardroom near the church saw Sarah approaching and stood up and said “Yo, glad you could come” with a friendly tone .
And then one of the two approached Sarah and pet her head as if playing around with her .

“Wa, stop that, Ed! My hair’s gonna be a mess!”
“Oh, so you’ve paid attention to your hair now eh? You’ve grown up now haven’t you?”

Despite that, the man called Ed still continues to ruffle her hair with his hand .
His face showed a smile that could only be described as a teasing smile .

“Let her go, she always hated that since long ago, didn’t she?”
“Well I can’t really help it Johnny . The moment I see this girl I just wanna touch her . You know, like when an owner sees his dog or something . You know that feeling right?”
“I’d be troubled if you’re asking me to agree . ”

Johnny showed a bitter smile .
In the meantime, Sarah who still had her hair mixed around yelled “I’m not a dog!” as she tried to shook Ed’s hand off, and Ed said “sorry, sorry” as he let her head go as he laughed it off .
Combing her disheveled hair with her fingers, Sarah glared at the men while holding back the urge to yell at them and started asking about Ink .

“Yesterday someone I know took care of a lost girl, so are there any issues about children going missing in the orphanage?”
“No, I don’t think there’s anything . ”
“Yeah, everything is the definition of a peaceful day . We had nothing to do that we got so bored . ”

Peeking behind the two into the guard room, she could see card-like things scattered on top of the table .
It turned out that they truly didn’t have anything to do, so Ed and Johnny are betting or some sort .

“Her name is Ink Riesekraft, ten years old . Nothing comes to mind?”
“Nope, not a thing . I didn’t hear any requests from other orphanages looking for a lost child either”, Ed said .

And then when Johnny who takes his job seriously agreed to him, then that’s the truth .

“Then how about Fuwys, Rook, Nect or Mute? Have you heard of these names before?”
“I couldn’t possibly remember all of their names…”
“Should I bring out the name register?”
“Please!”

Johnny went to the orphanage in double time .
He got back when Ed and Sarah was partly arguing with each other and handed over the name register .

“Let’s see…Ink…Ink…”

They started by searching for Ink’s name, but they couldn’t find it .
Afterwards they looked for Fuwys, Rook, Nect and Mute letter by letter, but even after going through it one by one with their fingers, they couldn’t find them either .

“So they don’t belong to this orphanage huh…Then what’s next is…”
“A child that doesn’t exist…looks like that, isn’t it?”

Ed grinned toward Johnny as he said that .
Johnny also laughed with his nose to the sudden change of topics .

“Aah, that .  Every night there are weird sounds echoing around the orphanage, and a child that doesn’t exist appears . ”
“What’s that about?”
“It’s a rumor that’s been spreading around us Knights . It has became out of topic though . ”
“But Johnny probably doesn’t know . There’s a continuation to that topic . ”

Perhaps because Ed likes this type of gossip, he started talking .

“There’s actually a secret facility below the church in the West District, and they’re doing experiments using the children from the facility down there…!”
“No that’s not gonna be possible . Even if just one child went missing, there will  be a huge uproar . Also if the rumors are true, the church would be the bad guys, won’t they? The people at the top won’t stand for that . ”
“Johnny’s no fun . How about you, Sarah? You’re interested, right?”
“……it really is interesting . ”

Though her interest was beyond just the interest of occult .
Perhaps the rumor Ed told her was more than just a rumor .
There’s no smoke without a fire .
Someone who knows about the existence of the facility accidentally leaks it out, and now it’s being concealed as a rumor spread across the knights—It wouldn’t be unthinkable for that to be the case .

“It seems like an experiment ascend to the domain of G.o.d . ”
“You mean Origin?”
“No I don’t know if the plot is that detailed, but just…G.o.d . And with that, they’re planning to implant G.o.d’s power into the human body . ”

Could it possibly be resulting in the monster she found in the research facility in the cave?
She swallowed the saliva that had built up in her mouth nervously .

“And then the children are made to wield the power that can only be described as the power of G.o.ds . They’re also said to have the ability to communicate with G.o.d . Man, even the Saints are going to lose out to them if they do exist . ”

You could hear a divination from Maria too, but it’s not like you can do it at any time you wish .
But she had a revered position of a Saint, if there is a child that can constantly communicate with G.o.d, they will definitely be treated as a G.o.d in human form .

“And the name of that plan is—!”

The man swiftly pointed his index finger toward Sarah, and as if it’s his signature, he said,

“The Helical——”

But he stopped before he could finish his sentence .

“Co…r……e?”

And then, with his mouth hanging half open, a weird word flows out of his mouth .

“Ed?”

Worried, Johnny came close to Ed whose condition turned weird .
And then, he put his hand on Ed’s shoulder, and Ed’s head jumped .

“A…Aah…the Helical…Children…?”
“The…first…”
“Oy, Ed, what…happen—ed!?”

What was reflected on Johnny’s eyes was—another one of Ed’s head growing out of his neck .
It grew just like a branch of a tree, and its mouth are opening and closing repeatedly .

“Ed…Ed! What’s going on…!”

Johnny felt something weird from his right thigh, so he turned his gaze there .
As he did, a sphere of black, white and red sinks itself into his thigh .

“UWAAAA!! GET AWAY! DON’T GET INN!!”

He desperately tried to gouge it out with his hand, but it was too late .
The eyeball had already sunk in, and then—he grew another leg .
He shed cold sweat on his forehead, and after feeling the sensation again, he looked up toward the station ceiling .
As he did, he saw countless eyeb.a.l.l.s looking down on him .
He felt death approaching—no, perhaps it’s something even worse than that .
His blood froze, his face twitched, and he felt a cold chill running up his spine .
But he couldn’t run away, thinking that his third leg would be dragging him down .
So he drew his sword,
and started swinging at the eyeb.a.l.l.s raining down from the ceiling .
Fortunately, those eyeb.a.l.l.s doesn’t seem to be very tough .
The only problems are its number and the fact that it’ll be dangerous the moment he comes in contact with it—but at least he could stop it on its tracks .

“S-Sarah, run away!”
“B-But…”
“It’s fine, just run! I don’t know what the h.e.l.l this is but it’s not something we can take on!”
“U…Uu……”
“That’s what Ed would want too!”

Johnny yelled at Sarah with a pale face .
She accepted the man’s resolution, bit her lip and ran away, biting her lips as she said “I’m sorry”, with a pained expression .

Ed had lost himself long ago, degraded into something non-human .
Meanwhile the eyeb.a.l.l.s are entering Johnny’s body one by one .
His consciousness is fading .
His body is gradually turning into something that is not human .
It was truly scary, but he’s already resigned himself . What’s more important is—Sarah’s figure that was already far away, disappeared as she turned the corner .
Confirming that, Johnny heaved a sigh, and with a smile, drew his last breath .