Chapter 13

After Agartha spoke, there was silence for a few minutes.

The first thought that came to mind when I heard her words was "...What?"

It wasn't that I couldn't speak because I didn't know what to say, but rather that I was at a loss for words due to the shockingly unexpected story.

After making a statement as shocking as "I am your father," Agartha tilted her head and spoke nonchalantly.

"Why aren't you saying anything?"

"What... did you... just say?"

Hoping she would take back the story, I tried a slightly playful joke, but Agartha just repeated herself with an expressionless face.

"I mean, my mother..."

"We've already heard, so don't talk about it like it's something to be proud of."

The Hunter, seemingly as dumbfounded, frowned and stopped Agartha's words.

I thought the Hunter and I had normal reactions, but Agartha burst into hearty laughter for some reason.

"If you've heard, please react a bit."

Then suddenly, with a refreshed expression, she shivered and stretched.

"Really, I thought I was going to die of boredom because neither of you were talking!"

"No! Even so, to say such things..."

What kind of person suddenly throws out their trauma so casually as if it's nothing, just because they're bored?

As I made an expression like I'd seen a mutant, Agartha just looked displeased.

"Well, I don't really care about it. They died after the Outer Gods invaded.

If anything, it's for the best. To be honest, my mother wasn't that great of a person either."

Umm.

In a way, that's true, but...

She was talking so nonchalantly that I wondered if this person was really talking about someone she knew.

After joking around, Agartha looked at me with a wistful smile.

"So I'm not really bothered by Tanton's crime either. It's fortunate that it was just an attempt. It's not like you actually did it.

If anything, if you were trying to intimidate an Outer God, isn't that a righteous act? Kekeke."

Ah.

Could it be that she thought I'd become less talkative because of that crime, and was trying to lighten the mood in her own way?

...It was problematic because it was too extreme, but it was something only Agartha could say.

Come to think of it, we used to occasionally exchange jokes with the Hunter, but we hadn't had any conversation on the way here.

Even now, when there are only three of us left.

...The intention is good, but I couldn't give any answer as the words that followed were too much to respond to.

The Hunter was just quietly listening to those words as well.

As if reminiscing about something.

"Hmm. So if I had to say, my crime was being born. This was all I learned to survive.

I don't know, maybe there could have been other ways for me to make a living.

But a frog's child is still a frog. With parents like that, I only knew how to survive this way."

At first glance, it seemed like she was blaming her circumstances on others, but it was understandable in the context of the Snow Castle world.

That's how hopeless it was to become an orphan in this world.

People were too unhappy themselves to be in a position to take care of others.

That was the current situation of the dark fantasy, Snow Castle.

So you had to survive on your own.

Whether by stealing, becoming a killer in the dark world, or something even more sinister...

"Surviving like that, I eventually got caught and ended up here. Thinking about it now, if I had escaped alone back then, I might have died alone. There was such a powerful Outer God.

I'm grateful for that. Thanks to you, I survived."

She was surprisingly quick with self-reflection.

No, it's because she's quick with self-reflection that she's been able to survive as a thief until now.

After talking at length, Agartha suddenly seemed to fall into reminiscence, staring blankly with an uncharacteristic expressionless face for a moment, then quickly returned to a smiling face and pointed at the Hunter.

"Come on, read the room! When my story is over, you should jump in, pababak!"

At Agartha's words, the Hunter just blinked his eyes.

Surely she doesn't think the Hunter will talk willingly?

Even in the original game, he was set up as a mysterious character, so surely...

"A family of four including me. We were living an ordinary life thanks to my father who made a living by hunting."

...He's actually talking, huh.

Well, I guess the Hunter is human too, so he might be weak to this kind of atmosphere.

The Hunter's voice, which started out calm, gradually began to mix with emotion, and then became enveloped in anger, scraping his vocal cords.

"My father was happy that he could catch a moose and have enough left over for us to eat.

That night, the man who was so happy was killed by an Outer God that attacked at night, without even being able to scream.

I could only watch it happen!"

Realizing that he had unknowingly become emotional, the Hunter took a breath and spoke again in a calm tone.

"...That's all. After that, I just killed, killed, and killed more Outer Gods.

Even today, I came to that underground prison to smash the Outer God I smelled."

Hearing the story, Agartha exclaimed in admiration.

"W-wow, are you really crazy?"

While spitting in her own face.

"I don't think you're one to talk."

And the Hunter's eyes turned to me.

Seeing that look in his eyes, I finally understood why he had spoken honestly about himself.

It could be said that it was a process to learn about me.

You're still curious about me, huh.

I thought the crime of 'attempted rape of an Outer God' might give the impression of having an affinity for Outer Gods, so I expected to be immediately 'cut' by the Hunter.

Maybe he's trying to completely determine his perception of me based on this story.

Well, that's fortunate, but...

The problem was that I didn't know anything about the character 'Laydan Tanton'.

He didn't appear in the original game, and seemed to have been suddenly introduced into this prison as if a special character had been created just to make a place for me.

At least, I don't remember there being a character with the crime of 'attempted rape of an Outer God' in this game.

Maybe there was and I just didn't know about it, but if it was such a strong setting, I thought it would have been circulating quite a bit in the community.

In the end, it didn't change the fact that I knew nothing.

So I had no choice but to explain about myself.

I spoke slowly, carefully choosing my words.

"Just... I should say I'm not me... First of all, I'm not 'Laydan Tanton'."

It hasn't even been a day since I came to this world.

I was just temporarily forgetting it to deal with the immediate events, but everything was confusing.

"Actually, I don't even know why I ended up like this. When I opened my eyes, I was in prison."

In that state, it was just a series of bewildering events.

Why do I have to go through this?

With such a sense of injustice, emotion gradually mixed into my voice.

"I didn't commit any crime."

If it weren't for the Super Chicken Mod, I might have collapsed long ago.

"I was just a chicken who liked games, and now my head is a mess."

It's something that could be laughed off lightly, but in the end, for someone who has lost everything in an instant, only despair remains.

That it's an unavoidable process.

To me, who was rambling, Agartha said:

"Multiple personality? Schizophrenia? Amnesia? Anyway, something like that? A symptom where you don't feel like yourself."

Agartha made a "Hmm" sound while resting her chin on her finger, as if trying to think along with me.

If you were in my situation, you'd know exactly what it's like right away.

At that moment, the Hunter got up and started approaching me.

He wasn't just coming close, but bringing his face right up to mine.

I stepped back slightly and said:

"W-what are you trying to do?"

I mean, getting it from a man isn't my preference...

While I was lost in my own thoughts, the Hunter brought his nose to my neck.

Suddenly, he sniffed a few times, and I stepped back in shock.

"No, really, what are you doing!"

Ignoring my protests, he seemed to focus on something, then nodded and said:

"This time, it's not the smell of telling a lie."

"...What?"

"I'll believe you. You must have some circumstances."

I knew he had a good sense of smell, but he can determine truth from smell?

No, is such a thing even possible in the first place?

But then I suddenly remembered how the Hunter had believed my nonsense without any hesitation.

The Hunter doesn't easily trust anyone.

He acts and thinks only with solid grounds and evidence.

"Until now, the smell I've been getting was ambiguous, neither clearly true nor false. But in the end, we survived."

I couldn't help but get goosebumps as I recalled what happened in the prison.

Does this mean he had seen through all my shallow tricks from the beginning?

"So I'll pretend to believe you this time too."

The Hunter said this while pointing at my pocket with his finger.

"Even the thing you've hidden in that pocket."

Feeling that its presence had been noticed, the Lesser Outer God trembled.

Ah.

It would have been strange if it hadn't been discovered.

"You probably can't do anything alone, so I don't mind even if it's disgusting.

It helped in defeating that eyeball monster too. Do whatever you want with it."

After whispering this in my ear, he suddenly grabbed my shoulders and shook them hard.

"Ububup."

...Huh?

Why does this feel familiar?

"But just know that I can hunt you down anytime."

As I faced the Hunter with a dumbfounded expression, he looked at me quietly for a moment, then snorted and just returned to his place. That's when it hit me.

...Is this revenge for shaking his shoulder when we left the prison?

Wait, the Hunter is playing this kind of prank?

I couldn't hide my bewilderment, as if I had eaten meat but tasted candy.

What kind of change of heart did he experience?

What made it even more confusing was that he was letting it slide even though he knew about the Lesser Outer God.

Why would someone who wanted to destroy any Outer God on sight do this?

Just everything about the Hunter's current behavior was so contrary to what I knew about him that it felt like my spinning brain was about to come to a complete stop.

...I don't get it.

For now, it seemed easier to think that he had softened up due to a sense of camaraderie, as thinking about anything else would probably give me a headache.

Thinking about it now, it seems the Hunter didn't believe the knights' words.

It would be more accurate to say that he felt the Lesser Outer God in my possession and felt disgust.

A human who acts solely according to his own judgment.

That's why he's a superhuman capable of hunting Outer Gods.

I felt that this was the protagonist of this world.

Damn, that's cool.

"Mr. Tanton, what's in your pocket? Let me see, let me see!

Eek! Are you crazy? Why did you bring this!"

Agartha, who thoughtlessly reached out and felt the Lesser God, was startled.

And so, surrounded by a slightly improved atmosphere, I ended my first day in Snow Castle.