White Shigaraki ∇

Cold air met my skin as I came through a wide, open door.

I noticed the faint thicket of mist adrift in the air, making it difficult to make out the outlines of its interior. As I rubbed my shoulders frigidly, I advanced through while trying my best to take in my surroundings.

This section of the backstage seemed to resemble an engine room. Vents and various tanks coated in copper were installed at the side of the walls. However, it didn’t look like anyone was around.

My caution heightened gradually with each step I took.

Something about this place felt strangely unsettling.

It was probably the same exact feeling I had back when I had entered the burrows of the horned rabbits. 

The looming feeling of tension at that time, was slowly returning to me. I realized that I had entered unfamiliar territory completely unprepared; my usual equipment was left back in the apartment collecting dust. 

I started to regret my decision to prioritize convenience over practicality. My reaction towards danger hadn’t been sharpened for a long time, especially since nothing particularly life-threatening had happened ever since that incident a month ago.

Of course, the Fighter class doesn't require a weapon for me to maintain a practical approach to any potential enemies in here. However, I thought that I needed an insurance, even if it might not mean anything against that monster. Carelessness is a common bane of adventurers after all; there might be other monsters that had snuck their way into the city. My mind was no longer focused on how it happened, but rather what I should do about it. 

I started to look around conscientiously for anything that I could use. 

When I saw a broken piece of pipe half-dangling on a side wall, I came over and grabbed it. With a little bit of strength, I pulled on the pipe—Psshhha— The pipe snapped and came off cleanly as a burst of steam expelled from the detached ends of the tube. Its ends are sharp in such a way where it is evident that the metal had been severed off with quick precision. It looked like it would work well as a makeshift weapon. 

“Alright…” I clenched my fist tightly while holding onto the sharp iron rod. 

Let’s keep going.

… … ...

I continued to search for the slave girl while making sure to stay on the lookout for anyone who could still be breathing. But as time passed, I became more convinced that any signs of the living were already drowned out in this eerie silence.

I began to feel like all that earlier tension had been for nothing, draining my stamina needlessly.

My grip on the crowbar tightened. Perhaps I should pick up the pace.

… … ...

I slowly started to search for places where she might possibly be. The backstage was sectioned off in a straightforward manner, and I soon learnt of the locations for the rooms which likely contained the auction’s valuables. I was getting close.

As I kept advancing through the backstage, it led to a narrow corridor. And then, I saw them—Various light-blue 'orbs' drifting in the air. When I approached them, they seemed to stick with me briefly like dandelions. They were most likely spirits, but to show up in a place like this...

—It was then, that my nose had begun to pick up a faint discomfort in the stagnant air. And the realization of what that revolting stench was surely became clearer as time passed: The fleshy smell of iron.

…

—Coming to the horrific realization of what the wet surface I had been stepping was, my footsteps unconsciously hastened. I already had a sickening feeling ever since I felt the stickiness on the ground, but I just hadn’t thought of truly fleshing out that possibility. 

My eyes gradually adjusted to the dark. I began to see the ground more clearly, and then… I instantly stifled a scream with both my hands on my mouth.

 

—Everyone here was already dead.

 

Littered with dead bodies, a scene of carnage greeted me in the vicinity. 

Some were missing their limbs; most likely dying from an irrecoverable loss of blood. But there were also those that were dismantled in the most hideous of ways possible.

The remaining piles of meat splattered about horrendously, forming an unidentifiable, bloodied mess. They painted a gruesome sight on the walls with their pinks of guts strewn all over like some kind of morbid graffiti. 

As it was near impossible to avoid stepping on all of them, I cringed repeatedly as I crossed my way through this corridor. The squishing noises beneath my feet merely elevated that sickening aversion in me. 

“Don’t look… Don’t look… Don’t look…” I chanted as I maintained my line of sight straight ahead. I tried not to retch up, repeating these words in my head.

Every second continued to feel like an eternity in this hellish darkness, and I understood that the fatigue in my body was already catching up to me ever so slowly.

I had passed the corridor, but it seems like the strain of that earlier tension had now caught up to me. In order to calm down my unstable breathing, I leaned against a wall and took a small break temporarily.

“Haah… haah…” I panted, as sweat fell profusely from my forehead.

Now that the adrenaline in my blood had subsided, my body was feeling sharply sapped of stamina. Had it not been my newly enhanced stamina trait as a Fighter, I probably would have already passed out by now. 

—Now, I have been in this kind of situation before. Can I really say that I have grown at all, if I didn’t learn to take measures against it? 

In an effort to make sure I didn’t lose concentration, I bit my tongue hard just enough to make it hurt. A little bit of pain wouldn’t hinder me as much as it did before since my 「Pain Reduction」is already level 5, so I had chewed on it harder. To make it really hurt, I used the metal rod to slit my wrists. The effects were almost instant, and my drowsy eyes jolted wide open again.

As soon as I got the stimulation that I was looking for, the taste of iron started to spread throughout my mouth. That’s right, as long as I did this in intervals, I wouldn’t run the risk of accidentally falling unconscious. I can heal these minor injuries with a HP potion after this, so I didn’t worry about it. Besides that, I also made sure that my blood wouldn’t escape easily from the wounds that I created.

Naturally, I can’t falter yet. I won't tap out so easily like before. I learn from my experiences, and become better. That is the spirit… of a true adventurer!

At the very least, I wanted to find that girl and confirm it. However slim the chance of her surviving in this lair of massacre was, I needed to know for certain. I knew that my conscience would haunt me in the future if I gave up now. 

I continued opening every single waiting room, never leaving a single corner unchecked. 

Two rooms remaining.

I entered the one to the left, and was immediately suffocated by the stench of the dead. I wrapped my nose with my shirt, and squinted my eyes to peer into this room.

“...Hello…? Is… anyone… still alive…?” I tried my hardest to call out to any survivors.

It was then that I noticed that in the center of this room, there was the exact, identical cage that I had seen keeping the slaves in the carriage from earlier. But... I couldn’t say the same about how it looked like now. 

The metal bars around the cage had been torn wide open in between, and claw marks could be seen on them. It was almost as if the people who were once in that cage had tried their hardest in a frenzy to get out. Using their nails, they clawed desperately at them, trying to make a dent in. As a result, the metal had been pried wide open. 

They had probably succeeded, but something told me that this still wasn’t enough. They still didn’t escape; the cage was obscured by shadows at an angle, but I could tell that there were bodies in there. And I was honestly a little unnerved from how silent it was. 

—I took in a deep breath and exhaled, bracing myself for the worst. I squatted down to get a better view inside. But it turned out to be a mistake—

The incarcerated slaves inside were already…

At that moment, I finally lost it. 

“Uuerghh!” A wave of nausea caught me off guard, and I threw up on the spot. 

When I settled my eyes on where I had barfed onto, I fell flat on my butt and retreated a few steps backwards. He was a person that I recognized from not too long ago.

“N...o… way…”

He was that famous collector... “Amos...-san!” 

The old man’s suit was completely drenched in red. His monocle had fallen off to one side, its frame crushed. It seemed like he had died with his eyes still wide open. I recognized him, even in that blood-soaked state. He was also d— 

“...Huh?” I noticed something peculiar. As I laid my eyes on Amos’ body, I started to see that it wasn’t what I expected; no disembodied limbs, no strewn-out guts and flesh. The condition of his body was veritably left intact. Was he still alive then?

“Oji-san… Oji-san! Please wake up… wake up, Amos-san…!” I tried to call out to him in a slightly tense whisper.

“He’s not waking up...” I checked for any form of cuts on his body, but it really didn’t seem like he was one of the many butchered victims.

Why was he here? I saw him leaving with the crowd during that wave of panic. 

Unless— He was here for something else in the auction...?

...

...Who am I kidding, I shook my head at that foolish thought. With Amos’ wealth, he could’ve bought anything he wanted. Why would he try to risk his life for something, even if there was a possibility that he could nab it during the chaos?

When I inspected his body more closely, some of my doubts were cleared away, and were replaced with a cold realization; a thin needle was stuck at the side of his neck. 

From the foam that was still stuck around the corner of his agape mouth, I inferred that the needle was probably laced with some type of lethal poison. I checked for a pulse on his wrist and any heartbeat, but to no avail. I was talking to a dead person all this time.

It was highly plausible that he had killed himself out of despair. Rather than giving his life to that monster, this old man would prefer to die honorably in this way.

 I shook my head sadly, and shut his eyes gently. 

No matter what intentions he had, I didn’t bear any kind of grudge towards him as a person. I believe that the dead should be respected.

“...Rest in peace.” I placed my hands together and prayed. I staggered back up, and ruffled my hair. 

I guess that other room is next.

...Was the plan.

But before I left this room, I suddenly recalled the words of that flyer boy.

‘That old guy over there, he’s a famous gem collector.’

 

Gem collector… gem collector…

That’s right… Amos-san… was sort of rich, wasn’t he?

Taking a deep gulp, I stopped my feet from reaching the exit. 

...Yeah.

In the end, I couldn’t resist the temptation. I turned my back around and decided to search Amos’ body for a bit.

“Since the authorities would confiscate them anyway, I might as well take some with me before they come…” I muttered self-convincingly to lessen the guilt.

I wasn’t a greedy person by nature. I was satisfied with the simple things, but I wasn’t exactly someone who didn’t understand reality either. Money was a very valuable resource, especially in this world defined by the existence of monsters and ascendants. With my current funds that were only accumulated recently, I was still unable to fulfil many requirements that constituted a comfortable lifestyle.

Now that a free meal presented itself before me on a silver platter, I wasn’t naive enough not to take it. I learnt of hardship in the most bitter way for an entire month. When I recalled the times when I was desperate enough to claw my way to live on multiple occasions, I reasoned that this little thing wasn’t something that I should be too conscious about. 

—It turned out that Amos had quite a few valuables in his suit, and I pocketed all of them, though I left only his expensive-looking suit alone. 

After all, it would obviously take too much time. But the main reason was that I wanted to maintain Amos’ dignity when he would be eventually found. Besides, I had already gotten more than I expected.

After I put everything else into my backpack, I laid Amos’ body down properly at the least dirtiest corner, and then I left the room.

I’ve checked. The girl wasn’t amongst the slaves in this room. 

Then that leaves only...

When I approached the other room, I immediately noticed the two corpses missing their heads. And a pale yellow spirit that floated before the door. It was the same one that I had seen on top of the girl's head at that time.

For some reason, this gave me a really bad premonition.

The door was left half open, so I hastily rushed inside without hesitation.

 

---

 

—The first thing that caught my attention as usual, were those wolf ears and long furry tail. 

Ah, I thought.

I'd found her. A deep sense of relief washed over me, as I slowly entered the room.

She's just like how I'd remembered her before when I saved her. ...Only, she'd grown just a bit skinnier.

Her body was veiled by a thin fabric, yet it was only barely able to cover only her most important parts. The girl's teal-tinted hair was long and messy which covered her eyes completely, and her arms and legs were all still locked by iron cuffs chained to the cage.

Not anymore. I'll set you free.

I came up to that metal prison, and squatted down in front of her. She was definitely okay, because I saw her chest moving. That’s great, that means she was properly breathing...

These were all positive signs. But my smile faded away in the next moment.

...Wait.

Even though her face appeared painless at first glance, I soon caught sight of the sweat beads on her forehead. Her occasional frowns, dry coughs would be accompanied by a splatter of blood onto the ground. 

No way... Internal... injuries?!

Throwing aside the metal pipe in my hands, I extended my palms forward and concentrated on the mana in my body.

The black current crackled and discharged from my hands as I touched the iron bars. It broke down after a few seconds longer than usual, and I leaned into the cage to get the girl out.

With her body as light as a feather, it was easy to pull her into my embrace. I then tapped a few times on her cheeks strongly to get her to regain her consciousness. 

“Wake up… hey, wake up!”

But no matter how much I called out to her, the girl gave no response. 

Thinking that the cause might have been the collar, I reached out to it and dismantled it as well. However, her deteriorating state didn’t seem to be getting any better!

Broken ribs, cracked spine, cut tendons and veins, and the weakening beats of her heart; I could tell now as I held her body, her vital signs were quickly weakening greatly. Had I learnt how to appraise a person’s inner body structure, now that I became a Fighter? 

“...She’s… endured this much!” I grit my teeth in frustration, the culprits clear in my head. Just how long had she been enduring this inhumane torture?! My stomach felt sick just thinking about her painful experiences thus far.

No, this wasn’t important now!

She was surely not over that crucial stage yet, and I should have noticed sooner. 

 What horrible timing for me to not have a potion in this kind of situation. To make things worse— 

I heard gathering footsteps filling the silence.

“Graphe, you, you and you, come with me. The rest of you, search the other rooms!”

“Acknowledged!” “Let’s move out!”  

The voices shouted in unison a distance away, and I was suddenly reminded of the fact that the city soldiers would arrive eventually. My body froze, as I understood that I shouldn’t be in a place like this for any longer.

If they saw me in this state, how do I explain myself! 

They were approaching fast, opening each room quickly while searching for survivors. 

“Over there…!” “Hurry!” “Check that one!” I heard their voices clearer now, as they came closer to the end of this corridor.

What should I do, what should I do…?! I bit my lower lip, as I imagined the implications of a Stray being seen in this sort of situation. Being kept on a close watch in this country already, the laws that pertained to Strays included the fact that I wasn’t supposed to cause, or be involved in any kind of trouble! What would I do if Heinesia-san hears about this?!

As time ticked on the clock, my thoughts ran frantically trying to find a way out of this mess. I looked around me again, hoping to find something I could use again. 

If possible, I needed a way that could allow me to take this girl along too. I didn’t consider entrusting her to the city soldiers in the slightest. I knew that it was highly likely that they wouldn’t even use a single potion on a ‘beast-kin’. Because morals in this country were kind of messed up when it came to demihumans, I took it upon myself to keep her away from humanity’s hands. After all, it was a clear, common fact that humans despised beast-kins to a frightening degree. If this girl were to show up in the streets, it wouldn't be strange for her to be pelted with stones immediately.

...So the only one who could, and was willing to help this girl was me. I wasn’t thinking too hard about the future, but at the very least, in this moment right now, I needed to think of a good method. As her temporary guardian right now, I bore the responsibility of treating her injuries as soon as possible, or it might be too late!

The overwhelming sense of urgency shocked my mind for a good moment, and then the solution finally came to mind.

“...Don’t worry anymore, you’re going to be safe now.” I muttered. “I'll definitely get us out of here.”

As if she had heard me in her sleep, her unconscious expression naturally rested upon a relaxed simper like she was pleased by my words. Her erratic breaths had calmed down as she nestled her body closely in my arms.

When I saw that, a daring smile gradually formed on my face. It feels like it was worth it, as long as I could continue to preserve her smile this way.

I looked straight at the door before me, having decided on my next course of action. There was no longer any more doubt in my mind, that I would save this girl. 

I will protect her until she can leave the city safely, and before that happens she will be safe in my hands.

I guarantee it. Just like how I've been helped by others, I would reciprocate that gratitude this time.