Chapter 3

“Listen to what I say…” Nygglatho beamed a brilliant smile like a blooming flower. “…Or I’ll eat you.” Her voice was a gentle, like a mother cooing to her baby. The girls vanished from the room in an instant. It was actually impressive how quickly they left; not a whiff of hesitation. “Well then, let’s go.” Nygglatho whirled around and called out to Willem. “…Okay.” He answered and, overwhelmed by the situation, slipped out of his chair. As they ate, Nygglatho kept a bright, happy smile on her face. Thanks to that, Willem didn’t feel very alive. The manager’s room was almost completely empty. The room itself wasn’t that small, but the only things inside were a bed and an empty closet. There was also a wall lamp. That was all. Nothing covered the wooden floorboards. Willem couldn’t even find curtains to cover the window or anything sensible like that. The view outside the window was an inky-black darkness. It was an overwhelming blackness that seemed it might consume him if he just stared at it—or crush him completely. “Phew.” It’s not a bad room, Willem thought. He had lived in apartments meant for working boggards up until then. Even ignoring the problems of cleanliness and such, he and boggards differed vastly when it came to their bodies. He had a terrible time sleeping on the beds provided, so every night, he wrapped himself up in a blanket and slept on the floor. Most rooms were heaven compared to that. He threw his things on the ground and lay on the bed. The mattress was soft, and the sheets smelled faintly of the sun. The tiredness in his body slowly began seeping out of him, and his consciousness faded. “…But first.” He tore himself away from the bed before he truly fell asleep. First, he had to take off his stuffy military uniform. He also wanted to stow his few casual clothes in the closet. There didn’t seem to be any place to put his belongings, but he didn’t have many of those in the first place so would simply leave them in his bag. It was quiet. His body, used to the hustle and bustle of Island No. 28, welcomed the comfortable silence. Then— “What do you think? Is he asleep already?” “I—I dunno. It’s my first time seeing a boy.” “Keep your voice down a little more. The target will hear us.” —the small presences and whispers beyond the door marred the silence. It must have been the kids that Nygglatho had chased away earlier. They could be called tough or not easily discouraged, but they were definitely energetic. Willem stepped quietly and approached the door. He held his breath, put his hand on the doorknob, and after counting to three, whipped the door open. Again, the girls fell in an avalanche, tumbling into his room. “Wh-what?!” “I-I’m sorry, I’m sorry!!” “Hey, manager. Nice night out, ain’t it?” Willem leaned over, and when his eyes met with theirs, he placed a finger to his lips. After they looked at him with wide eyes, they, too, put their fingers on their lips, as though they understood what he was trying to say. “Nygglatho’s gonna eat us.” The shared glances of everyone assembled there whispered the same sentiment. It was standard practice throughout the world to threaten children into behaving by citing the existence of demons, no matter the era. He motioned for the girls to enter his room. There was no time for him to casually consider the lack of chairs. When the girls entered, they cornered Willem. “Hey, hey, where are you from?! What are you?!” “Why do you know Nygglatho? The stuff you were talking about sounded really important!” “Do you have a girlfriend?! What’s your type?!” “Um, what’s your favorite kind of food? And what don’t you like?” “Of all the questions we just asked, which are you gonna answer first?” They showered him with questions, like a forceful rain of arrows. Willem raised his hand lightly to stop any further interrogation. “The first question I’m going to answer is yours. I don’t have a girlfriend, and my type is kind, dependable older women. My absolute favorite food is any kind of spicy meat dish. There’s nothing I don’t like—well, that’s what I thought for a while, but the other day I saw a lizardfolk’s lunch, and yeah, I don’t think I’d enjoy that. My relationship with Nygglatho is like a farmer and a runaway sheep. This morning I was on Island No. 28. I’m a lot of races mixed together, so even I’m not really sure what I am.” He pointed to each one who’d asked as he doled out his replies. “Oohhh.” Wonder spilled from the girls’ mouths. He’d impressed them and displayed a fearless smile. That was a trick he’d learned dealing with small children at the orphanage. Incidentally, whenever his daughter, whom he’d grown up alongside, saw him acting like that, she would only mutter, “Ew.” —Man, kids are great. Unlike adults, and especially those wicked trolls, children didn’t act with ulterior motives in an attempt to deceive him. He didn’t have to question what was behind the friendliness or malice they exhibited toward him. What excellent creatures they were. “My name’s Willem. I’ll be here for a while.” “You’re gonna live here?” “That’s my job.” “Oohhh,” the girls once again murmured in wonder. From what he could tell from all the whispering, it sounded like it was incredibly unexpected for someone to come and stay here. He could see that because this was Island No. 68, just as he had experienced earlier in the day, it was not somewhere was easy to come and go. So when someone was around who typically wasn’t, that individual would be treated like an attraction. As he thought about that, he heard a slightly reproachful voice coming from the open door. “Hey. What are you guys doing?” The little ones froze. It—wasn’t Nygglatho. The girl with the sky-blue hair was standing there. “Didn’t Nygglatho tell you that he’s tired after traveling such a long way?” “Um, um, she, um…,” said peach. “My curiosity never dies!” said purple. “Yeah, that! This is ear-re-sistable!” said pink. There was a chorus of excuses. “Didn’t she?” “Yeeeessss!!” Once more, the girls executed a fantastic exit. He could hear their voices growing more distant down the hall—“Byeee, Williieeee, see you tomorroooowww!” “I swear, they never listen.” She sniffed lightly, as though expressing her stress. She then noticed his gaze and looked up. “I’m sorry the little ones are so loud,” she said coolly. “I don’t mind. I’m used to dealing with kids… I mean, I was, at least.” “I appreciate you saying that, but don’t be too easy on them. They’ll carry on like that forever if you leave them be.” “Ha-ha, okay. I’ll be more careful,” he laughed, and for some reason, the girl gulped. A short silence fell between them. He thought she would leave soon after, but she didn’t move. “And…I’m sorry about earlier, too—about Pannibal. She has a lot of energy, but she didn’t do that out of spite,” she said, as though having just remembered. “I’m not mad. My bath was nice and hot, so I’m not gonna get sick or anything.” “R-really? Um, then, well…” And again, she fell silent. She didn’t seem able to articulate herself well. “…Chtholly.” “Hmm?” “That’s…my name. I mean, it feels a little late for that, and it’s hard to say after telling you to forget about me, and really I don’t care if you did forget, but it’s all ended up like this, so I thought I should at least tell you my name…” “…Okay.” Now that she mentioned it, she was right. They didn’t know each other’s names. “I’m Willem. Nice to meet you, Chtholly.” For a second, her breath caught in her throat. “Then, um, well…” She searched for her words. “…Never mind. Sorry for bothering you. Have a good rest.” She went to take her leave. The second he saw her turn away, Willem remembered something. He’d forgotten about it since he’d been so flustered after his unexpected reunion with Nygglatho, but there had been a question hiding in the back of his mind ever since he arrived. “Hold on a second. I remembered there’s something I want to ask.” “Huh?” Just as the door was about to close, it slowly opened again. “I came here as manager of the Alliance’s weaponry.” “Right.” The girl nodded casually. “And this is the warehouse designated for storing those weapons.” “Right.” She nodded again. “…But no matter how much I look around, this doesn’t come off like a warehouse. Where are these supposed weapons?” He glanced around the room. He also peered out the window. No matter how he looked at it, these were normal living quarters. He couldn’t see anything exaggerated that resembled a warehouse. When he’d first heard that these weapons would be used in battle against the Seventeen Beasts, he’d vaguely imagined something like a giant golem, but there probably wasn’t anything that big stored around here. Of course, it was possible they were all stuffed in a room or closet somewhere in this dorm-like complex. But no, even then, another mystery remained. “And…I don’t think I should be asking you personally, but what are all of you? Why are you in a military facility?” After a few beats of silence, she looked at Willem with expressionless eyes. “…You came here without knowing even that much?” she muttered, her eyes narrowing. “And you spoke with those children without knowing? Don’t tell me you’re the kind of person who just goes with the flow without giving any deep thought to anything?” “Ngh—” It wasn’t that he himself wasn’t aware. He couldn’t find the words to respond. “Well, whatever. It’s not something to hide, so I’ll tell you. The answer to your first question is your second question. The answer to your second question is your first.” “Huh?” It was a puzzling answer. “What is that supposed to mean? “You don’t need to think too hard about it. It’s just as I said. We are the supposed weapons, as you call them.” —What? It took time for the meaning of those words to travel from his ears to his brain. Chtholly waved her hand slightly. “—Well then, I’ll see you around, Mr. Manager,” she said, and this time, she closed the door behind her.