In The End - ✿ dusk blossoms ✿

Ethan sat If down and began to retrain her.

“Don’t get hurt – that’s the rule.”

Of course, this time too, part of the blame lay with Ethan himself. He still wasn’t used to fighting to protect someone. His instincts, honed by surviving countless battlefields, would always make him dodge without thinking.

Ethan absentmindedly brushed his uninjured shoulder.

Instead of dodging, he had to deflect.

He needed to stand as a shield, his body forward, parrying attacks with his sword or some kind of solid guard.

Though he had done the same as a human shield for nobles, he had never willingly put his own body on the line.

“Ethan, how much hurt counts as getting hurt?”

“Anything that makes you bleed.”

“Why is it bad if I bleed?”

“Because bleeding is a sign that you’re dying.”

“But I don’t die even if I bleed, you know?”

For her, there was no such thing as hemorrhage. Even if she got hurt, her body would keep healing itself over and over.

At her continued questioning, Ethan furrowed his brows.

“Normally, people die.”

“Well, yes. Because you’re weak.”

Seriously, who’s calling who weak here?

Ethan swallowed the wave of frustration that rose in his chest.

“Besides, it doesn’t have to be blood that heals the wound anyway.”

As if steeling herself for something monumental, she clenched both hands tightly.

Seeing this, Ethan reached out and pulled her around the waist. Her small body, now familiar, settled easily into his arms.

Tap, tap – when he lightly tapped her lips with his fingertips, her mouth opened without resistance.

It made him wonder if she knew exactly what he was going to do and that’s why she was so compliant.

“But Ethan.”

“What now?”

“You said you’re a condemned criminal. That you’re being hunted.”

“Yeah.”

“Someone came in. So… should we run away?”

“…What?”

Ethan quickly got to his feet, sharpening his senses.

Rustle.

All he could hear close to his ears was the sound of a beast’s footsteps passing by.

“Hmm, I think it’s all right now.”

“What’s all right now?”

If murmured quietly, tilting her head slowly.

Ethan glanced around, then began to tidy up the scattered belongings, preparing for a possible ambush.

“They’re infected, so they’ll die soon.”

“What?”

What the hell did she mean?

Ethan set the bundled rucksack down beside him and crouched down, resting on his knees.

“What do you mean?”

“Six people came in, but only two went out the entrance.”

The entrance… Six people – including the convict, some messengers and soldiers.

If two soldiers went out, that would leave three messengers, not counting the convict.

“But the entrance is quite far from here. How would you even know who’s there?”

“When someone enters this place, they are scanned.”

Other viruses could get in, and besides, there should be an immigration check at the entrance.

When humanity was small, this was a useless function, but now the situation has changed.

With people coming in from the outside all the time, there’s no choice but to check them.

Although, to be honest, most of them end up dead before there’s any need to check.

“Scan?”

“Yes. It’s like turning a person into a file and feeding it into a computer.

Simply put, the information of whoever comes in is stored directly in my mind – automatically.”

She tapped her own head lightly with her fingers.

Since she was connected to the system here, it wasn’t exactly a lie.

“Huh… What the hell does that mean…”

“So I can see who comes in, who goes out and who disappears.

At least that much. I can also tell what kind of disease they’re carrying.”

Of course, to treat them properly would require a larger scanner – like the one used to heal Ethan’s body.

“And what exactly do you mean by infected?”

Right. Ancient people, ancient cities. They made weapons, even built and fitted their own – what was there to be surprised about? Ethan gave up trying to make sense of it.

“There’s a virus, you know. Like the beasts you mentioned, Ethan. It affects humans too.”

A single word immediately came to Ethan’s mind – Belphirn’s Curse.

“How bad?”

“Pretty bad? Beasts are originally based on animals, so they have a short lifespan, right? That means their generations change quickly. Their genes have evolved quickly enough to adapt to the virus. But humans are a species that evolves slowly, genetically speaking. So they’re much more affected.”

“Like their body parts change or they die quickly. And I’m sure it also spreads.”

“Yes.”

“For something like that, my body seems fine though.”

“Because I treated you.”

That treatment really had saved him in more ways than one.

“So basically, another condemned criminal has been brought here.”

Judging by the fact that no soldiers had come all the way to this place, it seemed they hadn’t realised he was still alive.

And it looked like this place was still being used as an execution site.

Then, as long as he covered his tracks well, there wouldn’t be any pursuers.

***

When If opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was an empty space.

Rising from the pile of furs under which she had been buried, she looked around.

Not to the left.

Not to the right.

The campfire, now just a glowing embers, was still warm.

But the man who should have been beside her was nowhere to be found.

“……”

Had he left her behind?

Her rolling eyes finally landed on the fur in her hand.

It was different from the one she had used to cover herself –

the one Ethan usually wore around his shoulders.

Her sluggish, half-asleep mind slowly arrived at a likely answer.

Whatever the reason for his absence, it probably meant he was coming back.

With a soft rustle, her body sank back into the furs.

The room without Ethan was so quiet it was almost boring.

It hadn’t even been a few minutes and she was already growing restless.

She had spent far more time alone than she ever had with Ethan –

and yet, now that he was gone for just this short time, she had no idea what to do with herself.

It’s strange.

Sure, she had never spent this much time with another person before.
She had always been with android robots.
But that never felt like being with someone.

If she had to point out the difference, it was that now she felt uncomfortable, whereas before she had felt at ease.

When she weighed the pros and cons, having an android at her side was actually better.

They never nagged, let her do what she wanted and solved everything she needed.

So why was it more fun?

Was it because androids weren’t human?

She buried her face in the fur, which held only a faint trace of warmth.

She rarely had any reason to interact with humans.

Even when she did, it was just that –

faces as expressionless as her own.

Sometimes there were slight changes in her expression, but never anything as drastic as what she was showing now.

“Hm.”

She still didn’t quite understand.

The only thing she understood was Ethan – someone different from her.

A completely normal person without any body modifications.

And yet he was special.

There were still many things about him that were hard to understand, but even trying to figure them out was fun.

Ethan’s actions, the way his expression changed.

If blinked slowly.

Then she replayed the scene that had come to her mind.

***

All of If’s standards now revolved around Ethan.

It was inevitable – after all, he was the first person she had met in this place.

So, even though he found it annoying, Ethan would always answer her questions.

Because the thought that someone’s whole way of looking at the world could change because of him felt like a heavy burden.

Even if it wasn’t the right way.

Whether it was the back streets, the battlefield or the prison, Ethan had never been in a decent place, no matter how kindly you put it.

What right had a man like him to teach anyone else?

Ethan crouched by the stream, cleaning the flesh of a beast he had just killed.

Slice, slice.

The neatly cut entrails were carried away by the current, drifting far downstream.

The meat, cut into small pieces and washed clean of blood, was laid out on large leaves.

Some for the barbecue, some for the stew – he carefully sorted and piled them on the leaves.

He had hunted at a distance from the cave, afraid that the scent might attract beasts or that a trail might lead pursuers to them.

Still, an uneasy feeling gnawed at him.

He had covered his tracks perfectly, leaving no footprints or traces.

But the thought of her being alone made him more uneasy than anything else.

Hopefully she hadn’t gotten up and caused trouble while he was gone.

Common sense was just a word – that woman had a way of turning things that should be obvious into something completely unpredictable, causing all kinds of trouble.

Still, even if he didn’t know much else, he could at least teach her basic common sense.

Come to think of it, that shouldn’t have been too hard.

But that wasn’t the kind of thing he wanted her to ask about.

“…”

The piece of meat wrapped in leaves slipped from Ethan’s hand.

“Ethan, this feels different than before. Why is it different?”

He had only stepped away for a moment.

Just far enough that he could run back in a moment if anything seemed wrong.

always on the alert for any beasts that might approach.

Still, who’d have thought he’d be up to something bizarre in the cave?

After carefully cleaning all the guts and blood from today’s catch, Ethan returned to find the cave in complete chaos.

Unaware of Ethan’s inner turmoil, If sat there with a sullen expression on her face and legs spread.