Dark Fantasy’s Extra

A week after the city attack incident, Jarkoff visited Hilde’s hospital room.

He wanted to visit earlier but couldn’t due to his schedule right after the incident.

Even when his work finished, the Heresy Inquisition Department suddenly restricted all access, so he had to wait. As soon as visits were finally allowed today, he rushed over.

“I didn’t want to meet like this.” 

Hilde said in an uncertain voice.

She had bandages wrapped around various parts of her body, covered in medicinal herbs.

Though her injuries were less severe than Eugene’s, her recovery was slow since magical power hadn’t fully permeated her body yet.

But more than anything, her lifeless eyes and deflated demeanor made her appear even weaker.

“Should I leave now if this is uncomfortable?” 

Jarkoff asked carefully as he placed a fruit basket, his get-well gift, on the table.

“No, it’s fine. Just… I’m ashamed that I’m in this state after talking so big before.”

“I heard the details from Father. How did you end up caught in something like that?”

“Senior said he would teach me urban warfare. We were learning various things on a city rooftop when they suddenly attacked. Quite the coincidence, right?”

“There’s such a coincidence? That’s bad luck.”

“I don’t think it was bad luck. If anything, it was fortunate we were there.”

“What?”

“Senior sniped their commander right away. Thanks to that, civilian casualties were reduced.”

“Ah, right. That’s true. But teaching urban warfare? What does that have to do with hunting Beasts?”

“There must have been some meaning to it.”

“Huh?”

“Nothing Senior teaches is useless. We literally ended up fighting Beasts in the city after all.”

“Oh, um. That’s true…”

Jarkoff felt a slight sense of dissonance.

“Anyway, I heard you’re quitting being a hunter… Can you tell me why? Ah, don’t misunderstand. I’m on your side. Even if you say it was too hard now…”

“That’s not it…” 

Hilde’s expression darkened.

“I… just thought I wasn’t qualified after all.”

“Qualified?”

“I couldn’t fight together until the end.”

“Together?”

“At the final moment, Senior got up and fought. Even in that terrible state, until the very end… but I couldn’t do anything.”

The sense of dissonance grew stronger.

“So I think I’m not qualified. I’m just holding Senior back…”

“Um…” 

Jarkoff said carefully.

“Your Senior, that 9th-rank hunter Eugene we met before, right?”

“Yes.”

“But you have exceptional aptitude. Then shouldn’t you not worry so much about someone like him? If you found a better teacher…”

“There isn’t one.”

The words were so cold and sharp that Jarkoff’s heart sank.

“Such a person doesn’t exist.”

“I-I…”

Words wouldn’t come easily.

A creepy and strange something emanating from his childhood friend sent chills down his spine.

But Jarkoff steeled his resolve.

He was the legitimate heir to the Bluebeard marquis family and Hilde Grimm’s childhood friend.

“I-I understand you respect that person. But as a noble, you must understand the innate difference in status. I understand thinking of him as special since he’s a comrade you’ve fought alongside until now. But realistically…”

“Jacob.”

Hilde’s voice pierced his ears like a needle.

What he felt from her now was no mere dissonance.

It was clear hostility, something he never imagined would be directed at him.

Though they had fought before, this was on a completely different level.

“Why are you saying such things?”

Hilde’s eyes were fixed clearly on him.

What he once thought were bright and sky-blue like sapphires now felt as dark and eerie as an unfathomable deep sea.

A fear of being swallowed whole without leaving a trace.

He never imagined feeling this way from Hilde.

This wasn’t the Hilde that Jarkoff knew.

Words his respected father occasionally said flashed through his mind.

Regret always comes too late.

Had he perhaps been too late about something regarding Hilde?

Had his cherished childhood friend whom he secretly admired become seriously twisted beyond return while he wasn’t aware?

“I… well…” 

After a few seconds of silence, Jarkoff made an awkward excuse and left Hilde’s hospital room.

* * *

I examined my face in a hand mirror.

Unfortunately, the scar on my cheek would likely remain faintly visible.

Though I’d been injured in the face many times over the past 10 years, it had been my small pride that I never had any scars, so this was quite regrettable.

While I’m not particularly handsome, I still care about becoming disfigured.

But right now, there was a man with so many scars on his face that I couldn’t even worry about mine.

He was one of the Heresy Inquisition officers who had interrogated me with Sephira last time.

“…Understood. Then get some rest now.”

As he stood up, I inwardly sighed in relief.

Not content with the Judge Dominic visit just yesterday, three Heresy Inquisition officers came in succession today to interrogate me the same way.

Of course, my answers were exactly the same as what I told Dominic.

Though it might seem tedious, thorough and repetitive investigation is important.

It’s quite common for someone to find something that others before them missed.

For better or worse, they focused more on my sighting of Snow White than why and how I was there.

Though I didn’t say a word about her name or title, I explained in as much detail as possible about how events unfolded.

I could speak comfortably since I was confident I wouldn’t be buried for contacting an existence erased from history, as the whole city had seen Snow White’s appearance.

But conversely, I also felt anxious about what would happen next.

The story of Blue Paper Moon changed dramatically after that city invasion.

The Deep Sea Folk captured humans and piled their corpses in the carriages.

And they reportedly poured whale oil over those piles of corpses.

Just like how hunters pour holy oil on Beast corpses and burn them.

The meaning is a provocation against the Hunting Order, and by extension, Belle.

Though most people wouldn’t notice the meaning, the Order’s core personnel would understand.

The game is truly beginning now.

And Hilde was also a problem.

Four days had already passed since I heard news that she was quitting being a hunter.

If persuasion had worked, even Hera would have come to tell me, but no one brought good news.

“Should I step in after all…”

Though I feel bad for Hera, I’ve recovered enough that she might forgive me.

I left my hospital room and went to find Hilde’s room.

When I knocked and entered, I saw Hilde blankly staring out the window alone.

Seeing the fruit basket on the table, it seems someone had already visited.

Though the contents were untouched.

Hilde slowly turned her head toward me.

I flinched when our eyes met.

She looked the weakest I’d ever seen her.

“…Huh?”

And it seems Hilde was surprised too.

“S-Senior?”

“Have you been resting well?” 

I tried to speak as naturally as possible to dispel the awkward atmosphere.

“Did all your muscles disappear from skipping training? Why do you look so lifeless?”

I approached her while mixing in some light jokes.

“Don’t come closer!”

But Hilde shouted and turned her head away again.

“Huh?”

I was so surprised by this unexpected reaction that my feet stopped without me realizing.

“Please… I don’t want to see you right now, Senior…”

“…I heard you’re quitting being a hunter.”

But I can’t just back down.

“You didn’t think I wouldn’t come, did you?”

“…”

“Sigh… You know, I’ve never once tried to stop a colleague considering retirement.”

“What…?”

Hilde turned to look at me again, seeming somewhat surprised.

“Being a hunter is a job anyone could quit anytime without it being strange. You know too. How dirty and difficult this work is.”

“…”

“So if you really want to quit because it’s too hard, I won’t stop you.”

Hilde’s demeanor didn’t particularly change.

“But… if that’s not the case, won’t you stay as a hunter a bit longer?”

“…I.”

“Yes?”

“I… don’t deserve to.”

“Deserve?”

Why would she think that?

“I couldn’t fight properly.”

Ah, so that was the issue after all.

I eliminated Hilde’s opportunity to step up in order to reduce civilian casualties.

Of course the protagonist couldn’t develop properly when I created a situation so different from the game.

“Sigh, right… It’s my responsibility after all.”

Whatever the reason, I severely twisted the normal situation by Blue Paper Moon standards.

So of course the protagonist couldn’t develop properly.

“W-what?”

“You thinking that way is my responsibility. Of course it is. I was in charge of your training after all.”

“N-no! It’s not Senior’s responsibility at all! If anything, I just held you back…”

Held me back?

…So that’s what it was.

Now I fully understand why Hilde said she would quit.

“What’s wrong with that?”

“What?”

“Have you already forgotten? Remember that time at the temple when you hurt your leg and I carried you on my back? What did I say then?”

“…Ah.”

“Helping resolve your mistakes and failures is also something I should naturally do as your senior. It’s completely natural.”

This isn’t just empty words to persuade her.

I too once agonized terribly like Hilde, saying I was just holding my seniors back.

I even felt self-loathing, thinking someone like me was no help and should just quit.

And there were words my senior said to raise me up again.

Now it’s my turn to say those words to Hilde.

“If you really feel sorry toward me, then instead of quitting, help me properly. Pay me back as much help as you received. That’s what I’m saying.”

That gentle ultimatum asking me to repay my debt rather than just encouraging me to do my best – that’s what made me abandon thoughts of giving up and stand again.

So what about Hilde?

Would this world’s protagonist, with her righteous and kind nature, really ignore that debt?

Hilde got down from the bed.

Seeing her face, I smiled in relief.

* * *

Jarkoff went back to Hilde’s hospital room.

Though he had fled earlier in confusion at her sudden change, after much contemplation he could only conclude that he couldn’t leave her like this.

If Hilde had become strange, he just needed to return her to normal.

Jarkoff thought that was his duty as someone who understood her.

And when he arrived at Hilde’s hospital room, the door was slightly open.

He could hear someone’s voice and presence inside, suggesting someone had arrived before him.

Since Jarkoff wanted to talk quietly with Hilde alone, he carefully peeked through the door gap to gauge when the earlier visitor would leave.

Hilde was embracing some man, and that man was stroking her head.

After watching for a few seconds, Jarkoff turned around and left just like that.

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