“Ha…! Haha.”
Hoaphilen burst into hollow laughter the moment she heard the woman’s words.
Yes, in the end.
In the end, this is what it came down to.
“Hee hee… Hehehe… Hahahaha…!”
She kept laughing as if she had lost her mind.
After all, this was the insurance for this outcome.
The final bastion for the very end, the one piece of insurance in case she failed.
Perhaps the failure of the drug was a deliberate arrangement to lead her down this path from the start.
“The spark that will throw you into the fire pit of hell.”
“Ahaha!”
She didn’t care what happened next. All she wanted was for Roilnia Ranilgref to die.
The lock on the bag was made to open only with a specific person’s biological information.
Initially, it was Hoaphilen’s information, but after Haimar’s interference, she had remotely changed the person who would be the key to the bag.
It was set up so that the bag could only be opened by entering the biological information of a person who was alive—it would not open with dead biological cells.
Hoaphilen thought of the man who shone brightly in front of her.
She had been skeptical that the dying monster would find its color after meeting a Guide, but thanks to him, she was lucky to have created this insurance.
If Haimar had no intention of hunting, she would force him into a position where he had to hunt this woman.
Roilnia, who wanted to recover her arm, would undoubtedly make the man’s Guide her first target in order to open the bag.
There was no way Haimar wouldn’t move when his most precious Guide was in danger.
This was Hoaphilen’s final gamble, her throw of the dice.
Crack—!!
“Aargh!!”
As Roilnia straightened her bent waist and moved her finger, Hoaphilen’s leg broke grotesquely.
The ultimate move left by a pathetic old woman was merely borrowing someone else’s help, which was quite boring.
Hoaphilen might have wanted to guide Roilnia to the man, but the outcome was what Roilnia wanted anyway.
Inflicting despair upon Hoaphilen that was exponentially greater than her struggles was far more entertaining.
Hoaphilen, who had collapsed onto the floor in excruciating pain, barely managed to lift her head and glared at the woman.
The woman, who thrillingly enjoyed the gaze filled with hatred, turned her back without regret, giving a wink with her bright red eyes.
“It is my wish. Watch with your eyes wide open. Watch as everything you struggled for turns to dust and kneels before my perfect victory. I’m letting you live for that very reason. When your eyes are filled with despair, I will happily take your life, more delighted than anyone else in the world.”
The woman’s shadow receded beyond the faint light.
She disappeared as if dancing, her footsteps lighter than anyone else, leaving behind countless corpses.
The collapsed Hoaphilen watched the woman until she vanished into some space beyond.
What remained were deep feelings of defeat and desolation, and the numerous lives struck down by the witch.
She couldn’t know whether the end of her own fleeting life would witness Roilnia’s death or the end of the world.
What was clear was that there was not a single speck of dust left for her to grasp.
And there was nothing left for her to choose at the end of it all.
If there is a God, please—.
Hoaphilen murmured, sending off the dilemma that her own hands could no longer solve.
“…Since she loved cursing others, may that curse be brought upon herself.
Since she disliked blessing others, may that blessing depart from her.
May the curse be wrapped around her like a garment, may it penetrate her flesh like boiling water, and her bones like hot oil.
May the curse cover her like a robe, and never come loose, like a belt tied around her waist.
Help me.
…Save me.
“Ben, so when are you going to invite Penka and Pinka over?!”
“Penka and Pinka want to go play quickly!”
Thick, pinkish-blonde hair floated around Ben’s chest.
The two twins, whose youthful looks were fully accentuated, were identically dressed in thick winter outfits with sailor collars.
Each holding one of Ben’s hands, they shook them up and down restlessly.
The two little birds, chattering incessantly and twinkling their amber eyes, were anxious to pester Ben.
It was exactly like the scene of nephews pestering their uncle during a holiday visit.
Of course, Ben didn’t have nephews, or even young children he knew nearby, but he felt a similar sentiment.
Despite the officetel being not much different from any other place, the twins persistently demanded an invitation, wondering what was so interesting about it, even though they had visited before.
They claimed that the previous visit didn’t count because it wasn’t a formal invitation.
There was no winning against their stubborn insistence, and since there was no reason to flat-out refuse, despite the awkwardness, Ben offered a plausible alternative.
“How about after Haimar’s adaptation issue is resolved?”
“When will it be resolved?!”
“What month, what day, what hour, what minute, what second?! Tomorrow?”
The twins, who let go of Ben’s hand and puffed out their cheeks in dissatisfaction, started circling Ben.
The sight of them waving their hands and stamping their feet was very cute and lovable, but it also felt like some strange ritual they were performing around him.
It was understandable why Haimar always had to scold them.
It was chaotic enough with one of them, but with a second one doing the same thing, it was twice as distracting, and Haimar couldn’t tolerate it.
Taking the twins to Haimar, who was currently somewhat sensitive due to his sleep issues, was no different from saying, ‘Please punish these rascals!’
Furthermore, the thought of the Dream Espers, the twins, messing with Haimar because they couldn’t contain their overflowing energy conjured an image Ben didn’t even want to imagine.
Ben had a responsibility to prevent this clear future for his own well-being.
“It’s hard to wait that long. Penka and Pinka will be quiet and well-behaved!”
“That’s right. You know it doesn’t work well on Haimar anyway.”
“Hmm, that is true.”
Ben’s heart slightly swayed, his ears pricked by the twins’ subtle persuasion.
The absence of at least one of the many potential worries they could cause meant they were one step closer to the officetel invitation they so desired.
Penka and Pinka, emboldened, continued chattering.
“Yeah. Haimar is a mental Esper, and his rank is high, too. It’s a one or two in a hundred chance it would work.”
“A long time ago, we sometimes helped him fall asleep, but it’s become less effective over time. It’ll be even harder now that some of his control devices are off.”
“But that doesn’t mean Penka won’t try!”
“Pinka doesn’t like getting scolded… but I guess I’ll try it!”
I knew it. Just don’t do it, please.
“Is ‘not doing it’ not an option?”
“No! Giving up easily is unappealing!”
“Right, it’s unappealing! So, invite us! Invite us!”
Ben pressed a hand to his temple, annoyed by the escalating clamor.
It seemed he had expected too much from the twins, who had suddenly veered off course.
It was hard to tell if behaving exactly as they wished was the fundamental quality of [Integra] Espers, or if they just took after Haimar’s personality since he was the strongest person they looked up to.
“Don’t whine. If you do this, I won’t invite you.”
“Hmph! How mean! Penka is shocked! How could you!”
“Pinka is shocked, too! Don’t be like Haimar, Ben!”
The twins, who abruptly stopped moving, now squawked like angry ducks with protruding lips.
Ben understood their anticipation, but there was no end to it if he kept giving in.
Despite their childish looks and behavior, the twins were respectable adults.
Especially regarding matters of sex, they boasted surprisingly vast knowledge and experience.
“Alright, alright, let’s all go home quietly today. If you go home nicely, I’ll give you a reward next time we meet.”
“Wow! Really? What are you going to give Penka and Pinka?”
“I feel like Penka and Pinka are being trained! How exciting!”
The twins, whose mood instantly improved at the carrot Ben dangled, abruptly hugged him.
Ben momentarily swayed with two of them clinging to him but barely managed not to fall, gently stroking the heads of the continuously chirping Penka and Pinka.
He couldn’t deny that he was influenced by Haimar to use the carrot and stick approach appropriately, but training?
That was absurd.
He was closer to a kindergarten teacher just now.
“Then, shall we go now?”
“Yes. Penka will be looking forward to it—!”
“Pinka will be counting the days.”
About two hours had passed since he arrived at Central, so it was time to prepare to return home.
Before running into the twins, he had a brief conversation with Vice-Director Enten, which was his original purpose for the visit.
The conversation didn’t end cleanly, though.
As he suspected, Enten’s words were a continuous stream of unsettling stories for Ben.
He was promised that a solution would be sought, but the meeting concluded with lingering uneasiness, as no specific solution was found.
In any case, since the problem wouldn’t be solved immediately, Ben put his worries aside and thought of Haimar, who was still at home.
He couldn’t just wait around to be ambushed, so he planned to go back and ask for Haimar’s opinion as well.
