I blankly watched the two figures disappear into the distance, their screams and laughter trailing behind them.
Yep, that family is definitely not right in the head.
The dad, the daughter—all of them.
And I was pretty sure the mom, who I’d never even seen, wasn’t normal either.
Not after what I’d heard on the plane.
"So… what do we do now…?"
"Beats me. They told us to rest and brought us here, so maybe we *should* just rest?"
That was my answer, but honestly, even I wasn’t convinced.
The atmosphere inside the lodging was… off.
It was definitely a place meant for two people to stay. Two beds, two desks—probably safe to assume that.
And there was no one inside.
But the reason we hesitated to go in was simple.
"It looks like someone was living here. Are we *sure* it’s okay to go in…?"
"No idea."
Because there *were* signs someone had lived there.
Everything was tidied up, but personal items—things that must’ve belonged to the previous occupant—were still scattered around.
"…Who the hell are you kids?"
"Hello."
"Oh, hey. You wouldn’t happen to have seen a guy with yellow hair around here, would you?"
"Yes. He ran off that way."
"Of course it was *him*. Should’ve known."
Out of nowhere, a man appeared and started asking about Amelia’s father, then immediately launched into complaining about him.
"I tell him to keep it down, but does he listen? Nope. Not at all."
"Ahaha…"
"He said he’d call for backup, but why’d they have to get here *this* fast?"
So even his own daughter treats him like a nuisance. Does he get the same from his colleagues too?
Watching him get brushed off like that almost made me feel a little bad for him.
"Never seen you two before. You must be the reinforcements he mentioned? But why are you here? I thought the operation starts tomorrow."
"Ah, well…"
Maybe it was perfect timing.
Dorothy started explaining our situation.
That someone had brought us here, but we were still debating whether it was really okay to go inside.
That there were signs people had been living here, so we were worried we’d been taken to the wrong place.
"…That bastard didn’t even *bother* explaining this part?"
With a shallow sigh, the man finally told us the truth.
"Well, yeah, it *was* someone’s living space. If it bothers you, you can just toss everything."
"Huh? But it’s someone else’s—"
"No, it was someone’s *living* space. They’re *dead*."
"…Oh."
After hearing that, the lodging looked completely different from how it had just moments before.
Nothing had changed—except my prior knowledge.
I’d assumed someone was still living here, that the warmth of their presence lingered.
But now, knowing the truth, all I felt was a cold chill.
"…Since you’re here, I take it you’ve heard about the search target?"
"Ah, yes."
"This was one of the places his victims used."
"…"
"You two are aspiring heroes, right? Still students?"
"That’s right."
"Perfect timing, then. Don’t just stand there—get inside."
Well, we were going to stay here anyway.
Muttering to himself, he rummaged through a desk before pulling out two pieces of paper with a satisfied look.
"…What are these?"
"Siwoo, Siwoo. Read it."
Was it okay to read something like this?
As I hesitated, he gave a small nod, as if urging me to read it quickly.
"···."
Unable to resist his prompting, I read the will. It contained the usual sort of things.
If someone is reading this will, I am already dead.
I’m sorry to my family. I was always grateful to my friends and colleagues. That kind of thing.
Normally, I would have just sighed and moved on, but knowing this was written by someone who had been in this very place made my heart heavy.
"What do you think?"
"···It’s a little, unsettling. Why are you showing us this?"
"It’s nothing. I just thought I should tell you since you’re still young."
"Tell us?"
"If you came here lightly, turn back now."
With that, he gave us some advice.
"As you can see, people die here all the time. You can still go back, forget the classified information, and just focus on defeating Villains. That’s fine."
"But···!"
"You’re still young, aren’t you? You might regret it. The owners of this room worked here for several years. They were elites. But look at them now. Do you think heroes are invincible?"
I’ve seen people die many times before.
I’ve seen corpses. I’ve even killed Villains myself.
···But this was the first time I’d seen what became of a hero after death.
Intellectually, I understood. Heroes weren’t invincible. They could die at any time.
But maybe I’d been too careless in my thinking.
We wouldn’t die. Not us.
Had I unconsciously been harboring such arrogant thoughts?
Suddenly, that thought crossed my mind.
"Of course, defeating Villains is dangerous too··· but not as much as here. It’s not too late. You can still go back. I’ll convince that old fox."
"···No. It’s fine."
"Why?"
As that thought lingered, I listened quietly, and then Arte rebutted him.
"Well, because we won’t die."
"That’s···."
"It’s not arrogance. It’s just how it will be."
Arte’s eyes were filled with certainty.
There was no basis for her words, yet she spoke as if it were absolute truth.
"···Sigh. Fine. I warned you."
"We appreciate your concern. But really, it’s fine."
"Alright, get some rest. See you tomorrow."
Waving his hand, he walked away. I watched his retreating figure.
Maybe it was because of the atmosphere up until now that I was only just realizing we were in a dangerous place.
The kind and gentle Commander.
My classmates, just like me.
The teacher, Ha-yul, whom I saw every day at school.
Amelia’s bright and cheerful father.
···But this was a battlefield. A place where people could die at any moment.
Had he been trying to make us understand that?
"He worries too much. There’s no way we’ll die."
Arte looked at me, as if asking, Right?
With a hint of a smile on her face, I nodded.
"Yeah. Of course."
But as Arte said, his worry was unnecessary.
That’s how it would be.
Because I would protect everyone.
So Arte wouldn’t have to be sad.
Arte probably thought of other people as dolls, and only I was human to her.
But was that really the case?
Without realizing it, her attitude changed whenever she looked at Amelia and Dorothy.
If those two got hurt, she’d definitely be upset.
So, to keep Arte from getting hurt. To keep my friends from getting hurt.
Protecting everyone—that was my goal.
"...Where did Lionel go?"
"Ah, Teacher. He went that way. With Amelia."
"No wonder I heard all that noise..."
Hayu let out a sigh, a faint smile lingering on his face.
"It really does feel like he’s back. Seeing that troublemaker again, I mean."
"Troublemaker?"
"As if he hates it when things are quiet, he stirs up some kind of mess every single day."
...He really is just like Amelia.
I could more or less guess what had happened.
Some absurd idea he’d actually tried to put into action, only for a minor incident to spiral out of control.
Something like that, probably.
"Once, he even roasted a Demon Beast’s meat just to see what it tasted like."
"...How was it?"
"All muscle, so tough he ended up spitting it out."
As if lost in the memory, Hayu kept glancing around.
Then, as if suddenly remembering we were there, he cleared his throat and continued.
"I’ll brief you on the operation tomorrow. For now, get some rest in this room. It’s a bit awkward, but we’re short on available rooms at the moment."
"That’s fine."
"Dorothy and I will take this room, so the two of you can use the other one."
"...Huh?"
Wait.
What?
"Uh, I think I misheard..."
"No, you heard correctly. Dorothy and I will take this room. Arte and Siwoo, you two can use the other one."
"...?"
What the hell.
The heavy atmosphere from just moments ago had vanished in an instant, as if it had never existed.
Did I really hear that right?
Wait, there are two rooms... So Arte and I share one, and Dorothy and Teacher take the other...?
"Ha, but..."
"No excuses needed. We’re well aware you two live together."
"Eh."
At a loss for words, I turned to Arte—her face was bright red.
She opened and closed her mouth, as if trying to say something, but no words came out.
She just stood there, trembling, unable to argue.
"...What about Amelia? Can’t we put Amelia in with Arte, and I—"
"Her father requested some quality time with her after so long. Got approved, too."
"..."
The stares from everyone around us were burning.
They were all strangers, yet...
They seemed to have pieced together the situation, because they were all looking at us with knowing expressions.
"W-What...?"
"Seems like a reasonable room assignment, doesn’t it? Since you two already live together, I don’t see the issue."
"No, it’s not that—"
"Well, then. ...Make sure to get to bed early. We start the operation tomorrow."
"..."
That wasn’t the problem.
But I couldn’t argue. It was true we lived together.
Still, the way everyone was looking at us—like we were basically a couple doing everything but the title—made my skin crawl.