Chapter 106 The Ogre’s Regret
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
It wasn’t my place to judge, reflecting on my own failures.
I’d also caused unnecessary trouble for everyone around me, selfishly dragging kind people who cherished me through hardship. Not a day went by where I didn’t wonder if I could’ve handled things better. But Himawari’s actions were on a completely different scale. She had lured over three thousand people to this dungeon floor, and terrifyingly for the women, three of them were men.
It seemed Himawari had finally realized the magnitude of her mistake.
The days she’d spent desperately trying to protect her famine-stricken hometown, unflinching even after her appearance became one that men feared—it had all been a sham. She’d put her false hope in the dungeon, and she’d paid the price with the lives of others.
All the tension had bled out of Himawari’s body. She stood there, quietly stock-still.
”Truthfully, I knew something was off. It was just too convenient, wasn’t it?”
It sounded so ordinary, like the continuation of a casual conversation. She was like a little girl admitting to a minor indiscretion, professing regret.
”Then why, why did it hurt?” I asked, the surprise audible in my voice.
Himawari’s reply was a small, quiet gasp.
”It hurt so much to be spoken ill of by a man.”
I was still holding her white arm. She placed her free hand against her own chest. Her body, despite the monstrous aberration of her features, was still thin and frail, possessing an innocent, unworldly slightness.
”My heart would clench up, and I couldn’t sleep. The cruel words made me so miserable, I swore I’d never speak to them again. I loved them, but I also hated them so fiercely! The feelings were so agonizing I thought I’d rather just die. But then morning would come, and I’d love them all over again.”
She then looked at me and inquired,
”Do you think that’ll happen to you too?”
”What are you even saying?” I muttered, utterly lost.
”Ugh, don’t you see?”
As I remained silent, her voice grew wetter, heavy with unshed tears.
”I’m still thinking about myself, aren’t I?”
It was a soliloquy. Himawari wasn’t looking at me, but at herself from above.
”Even after all this, all I concern myself with is whether or not *I* am in pain.”
Her shoulders were trembling. Her words were small, on the verge of fading away.
”I… I… I’ve hurt everyone…”
She didn’t finish the thought. Instead, she wordlessly reached up and, with an utterly deliberate gesture, grasped her own oni horn. The pull dragged my body slightly.
That single, stark white horn protruding from her forehead was about fifteen centimeters long; she gripped it firmly with both hands. With a clean, unwavering motion, she simply twisted it.
”Die.”
The shockwave traveled through the arm she was clutching.
A large, dull *crack* reverberated.
The horn didn’t break; Himawari had snapped her own neck. The strength left her body, causing me to release her hand, and her corpse tumbled to the faintly stained ground. Foam-flecked drool hung from her lips, and the soft, youthful face was streaked with tears.
She wasn’t instantly killed. Her neck bent at a bizarre angle, her gaze unfocused, and she whispered,
”I’m sorry.”
Finally, her breathing ceased with only the faintest sound of wind. The light vanished from her eyes, and her eyelids became completely still. It was a clean death, like a fall off a stage. Himawari hadn’t struggled; she’d merely fled to a place no one could reach or question.
The moment she was definitively dead, a long, red arm tore through the flesh and kimono on her back. Next, an adulthood female emerged from the despair-soaked corpse.
She stared blankly at her new body.
”I… can’t die…?”
Himawari was reborn.
It was like a mature Maggot piercing the pupa to emerge.
She had returned to the Red Ogre form, but her appearance had changed. The formerly girlish physique had matured into that of an adult female. She now had a curvy, twenty-something body, and the shape of the horn on her forehead was different.
”Himawari, what are you do–” I began.
”Die now!”
Her voice, now softer and slightly lower, ignored me as her hand went back to the horn.
A sickening *crack* of breaking bone snapped out.
Only moments after her death, a Blue Ogre with the exact same appearance was born again.
”Still can’t die! Die, immediately, just die already!”
Immediately after her rebirth, she continued to snap her own neck, repeatedly committing suicide. With each attempt, more corpses of various colors piled up. They multiplied like Maggots. It was as though pressing on the stomach of a mashed Maggot caused a larva to emerge, and crushing that larva would cause more larvae to spring forth from its body. Shoving the dead bodies aside forcefully, as if batting them away, Himawari broke her neck and killed herself.
But there was no escape for her Psionic Power. When the cycle completed, she became the Red Ogre once more, slightly older in appearance, and a scream like ripping silk tore through the air.
”Ah, aahh! …Aaaahhh! Why… why did I do this?!”
Himawari clawed desperately at her own body. Droplets of blood welled up on her skin. She kept scratching herself relentlessly.
”It was clearly wrong! There were so many obvious clues! Why didn’t I notice?! Aaaahh, aaaaahhh!”
The air itself trembled with her room-shaking lamentation.
”No! Someone help me, like you always do, come here! Aaaah!”
She scattered raw, inarticulate emotion as if she’d just lost the one she loved most right before her eyes. It was a terrible sound, something no sane person could bear to listen to.
She began to carve up her own face with her fingernails. Her screams were ceaseless, a constant wail of sorrow.
”No one is left. I killed them all! Taki-na, Miyuki, Urume, and Shouko… they all believed in me!”
She wept as if broken. Great, heavy tears gushed forth, refusing to stop. It was like an infant’s tantrum.
”How could I be such an idiot? This is all my fault!”
There was no one left to blame her but herself. She knelt, surrounded by her own corpses, her self-injurious act pointless.
Then, a creature approached with gentle care. A pupa human being—one of the monsters—scuttled up anxiously, standing beside the crouching Himawari as if it were a human friend.
However, the creature was utterly lost, panicking and shuffling about, not knowing what to say. Its distressed confusion, unable even to reach out for a hug, made it seem genuinely alive and possessed of a personality.
When it finally managed to touch Himawari with a soft gesture, her reaction was violent.
”Don’t touch me! You monster! I’ll kill you!”
”Ssu-u, ss-u-u! [distorted]”
”Ngh, ugh… give them back! Change them back!”
Himawari tore off the arm of the pleading pupa human being with her clawed hand, weeping meaninglessly. No blood emerged from the monster’s body; it was already physically dead. Yet it writhed on the ground as if in pain.
Himawari didn’t even glance at it as she staggered to her feet and leaned against the edge of the bed.
”‘You’ll come to love the dungeon,’ they said. ‘Love,’ they said. I was an idiot, wasn’t I? I finally get it. I’m just a fool.”
Her beautiful, long silver hair swayed carelessly.
”That’s it, I can end this. My Psionic Power just needs to disappear. I always hated this disgusting ogre form anyway. I was just enduring it.”
She spoke as if it were an obviously good proposal.
Beneath her tears lay the vengeful beauty of the aberration. She looked demonically beautiful, slick with her own blood, tears and blood dripping down her cheeks. After a bout of crying and groaning, she let out a dry, self-lacerating laugh.
”I’ve always hated myself. Every time I looked in the mirror, I felt irritated and frustrated. A form like this, one men won’t love, isn’t worth living in. If no one can love me, I don’t want to live.”
Himawari’s hand reached for the throat of the bedridden master.
He was utterly emaciated, stripped of all human dignity. The man’s body, robbed even of its five senses, showed no reaction. That thin neck would snap easier than a chopstick.
If her master died, even the strongest Psionic Power would vanish. Then she could die. Killing all three would guarantee her passage.
The five colors of the ogre form seemed to loop, and with each loop, she aged. Perhaps after many cycles, her Psionic Power would hit its limit, and she could die of old age.
But she wasn’t capable of rational thought now.
”Sugaya-sama and the others are gone anyway…. Please forgive me. I’ll follow you immediately.”
She looked regretful, like a small child, her advanced age making her seem even more infantile.
”I’m the one who left you in this state, unable to even leave a final will. In the end, I was just a fool, a monster who hurt my master.”
Himawari’s grip tightened.
They were still alive. But their lives were worthless, merely being kept alive. Killing them now seemed like an act of mercy. Their brains were intertwined with the flesh of the Blue Maggots. They required the monster to sustain their life.
I couldn’t help but think that ending their lives might be better than letting them be used as living bait for monsters to lure people into the dungeon. Being kept alive as a monster’s seedbed was hardly living at all.
”I can’t do it!”
Himawari remained motionless, her hands still wrapped around her master’s neck.
”No, I don’t want to kill him! No, please… ugh, …nnh!”
She was caught, unable to advance or retreat.
Yet, a pulse of red blood—unlike the pupa human being—continued through the man’s throat, transmitting its rhythm to her palm.
Finally, she covered her face with both hands, collapsing onto the floor in wrenching sobs. She lay there, unmoving, tears still falling.
”Please, help me. I don’t know what to do anymore.”
”Himawari, I was the one who shattered your illusion. You have every right to hate me,” I spoke to her, a sense of guilt weighing on me.
There was no reply from the sobbing ogre. Instead, her long silver hair shook a few times in denial.
I wasn’t a doctor. But I had studied a bit about Kujukuri’s medical treatment drugs, and I knew of no case that had cured symptoms this severe. The brain is different from other organs. Once the central nervous system is damaged, the formation of scar tissue during regeneration causes interference, severing neural circuits. And these minute scars are incredibly difficult to remove once they’re formed. In short, medical treatment drugs that boost regenerative power would be counterproductive.
Moreover, even if the head could be physically regenerated, there was no guarantee that the personality or memories would return intact.
Himawari was trapped, unable to commit suicide and yet unable to kill her master.
At that moment, an unnaturally cheerful voice echoed through the room. It was my flighty older sister, Flatty-chan.
”Alright, let’s go! Done!”
She had been steadily working on constructing a small shack all while this dramatic event unfolded. She hadn’t spared a single thought for what was happening over here.
In the center of the room stood a two-meter-tall, double-doored shack cobbled together from various pieces of furniture. She had built it in about five minutes.
”Flatty-chan…. What about Himawari? It doesn’t look like she has the will to fight anymore. She’s got no strength left.” I wondered aloud.
When I asked, Flatty-chan finally noticed Himawari’s state—or rather, deigned to pay attention to her—and made an indifferent expression.
”Just ditch her.”
She was utterly unconcerned.
She strode toward me with long steps.
”Alright, move aside! You’ve been making a racket next to me this whole time! I thought some traveling huckster was putting on a show!”
”…Please. Kill me.” Himawari pleaded.
”Die on your own time! And why are you whining anyway? All of Flatty-chan’s childhood friends are long dead, starved to death!”
Flatty-chan then gave Himawari a light kick.
”We’re taking your Masters for protection, so scram! Shoo, shoo!”
Himawari rolled weakly onto the ground, her long hair spreading across the floor. The grieving ogre was being treated as nothing more than an obstacle. It was understandable, as she was the one who had led me into this dangerous dungeon—a hateful enemy.
”Young Master, over here, this way!”
”You’ve built a shack, but what’s it for?” I asked.
”We’re going to use *this*,” she answered, and then pulled out a pencil-case-sized device she’d been carrying all along.
She slapped it onto the side of the shack’s front door. Then, she pressed a triangular, translucent, plastic-like button on its surface. The moment she did, the formerly ragged shack began to vibrate slightly. Looking up, I saw a triangular button had also appeared and lit up on the upper part of the double doors.
”Is it… an elevator after all?” I mused, confused to suddenly see something from my previous life.
No similar electrical facility existed in this world. They only had dangerous, steam-powered precursors in mines.
”What is this? Some kind of mystical object?”
”No. It’s a Psionic Power that turns a laid-out shack into an ascender. The control panel was created by a specific Psionic Power user—a unique, rare power even in Kazusa Province, capable of moving between dungeons.”
The triangular button glowed orange. I wondered if the person who created this had reincarnation knowledge, too. The row of pilot lights moving from left to right looked exactly like an Earth elevator.
”That’s certainly a strange kind of Psionic Power…” I commented.
”They say a facility just like this exists on an alien ship. The only catch is that you can’t summon it unless someone’s already at the destination.”
It seemed to be a Psionic Power modeled after a local facility. That user must be quite the machine facility enthusiast, maybe even a master craftsman. It was a Psionic Power that could create an elevator control panel and operate it as a transport device that could be handed over to anyone.
Finally, the elevator’s vibration stopped.
—*Ping*—
A strangely comical sound.
”Invasion!”
A familiar voice shouted. The elevator doors slowly opened, and nearly ten females simultaneously poured out.
Clad in full metal gear and visors, they wore the recognizable white uniform. A fully armed Kujukuri squad moved with precise movements, surrounding me and cautiously pointing white guns at the surroundings. I was the core of a defensive hedgehog formation.
I was sealed within that ring in an instant.
They even pointed a gun at Flatty-chan. It was likely because the stain obscured half her face. Facing countless gun barrels like spears, she held up both hands, unmoving. This all happened in a few seconds.
Before I could clear up the misunderstanding, they lifted my chin, questioning my companion’s identity.
”She’s my Imperial Guard, so please don’t attack her,” I told them.
At my words, the surrounding females all looked at me at once. They were the Psionic Power users from Kujukuri Town. The rescue squad had arrived.
Though the females tried to remain focused on their mission, the sight of me covered in wounds undoubtedly caused them distress. The ripple of agitation spread unintentionally. Even these disciplined females couldn’t escape the wave of emotion that came from interacting with a male.
In lieu of a reply, the circle of people parted, and the female I recognized as the captain approached. There was no danger; their caution around Flatty-chan was purely to ensure my safety.
”Lower your weapons. Our deepest apologies. We are relieved to see you unharmed, Your Lordship. We sincerely apologize for the delay in the rescue. To think that Your Lordship should suffer such a fate…” she stated, her voice low and formal.
”You know who I am?” I wondered.
”Yes. I believe you addressed me in town previously,” she replied.
I could see her looking at me through the tinted visor. I couldn’t place who she was, though. Behind her, the medical treatment personnel were hastily preparing their supplies.
The captain turned to Flatty-chan, who had been spared the gun barrels, and lifted her chin, issuing a single, curt command.
”Situation report.”
Flatty-chan, receiving the order, lowered both hands and, uncharacteristically, straightened her back, speaking clearly and briskly. It was a surprisingly un-Flatty-chanlike demeanor.
”The Young Master has defeated the monster believed to be the primary target of this floor. The floor has been conquered. The three individuals from Isumi town are all alive. They are on the beds over there.”
The females checking on the three parallel beds, following Flatty-chan’s gaze, froze. They must have seen the state they were in.
Beside them, Himawari continued to sob quietly. The squad members quickly applied what appeared to be mystical object restraints to her body. She was tightly bound from head to toe, guarded heavily so they could shoot her instantly if she moved. Himawari didn’t resist in the slightest.
”The Ogre Woman has lost the will to fight. It appears a large number of human-parasitized monsters remain on the floor. While their power is only equivalent to that of unarmed townsfolk, their numbers likely reach into the thousands.”
”What? The male went in directly?” the captain murmured, surprised.
”Yes. Shameful as it is, this mechanism was likely only conquerable by a male,” Flatty-chan replied, clasping her hands behind her back, succinctly laying out the key points like a soldier. She *could* be proper when she wanted to.
The captain then glanced up at the high ceiling where a red mist still lingered. The sky looked as though Maggots might start raining down instead of light drizzle.
”What’s the situation with the mist above?”
”From the look of it, it’s the same as the first and second floors. Consistent with the reports,” Flatty-chan said.
”Well done. Standby until return,” the captain ordered.
”Understood…. God, I’m exhausted. May I have some medical treatment drug?” Flatty-chan sighed, slumping her posture.
”Affirmative.”
The captain threw her a small bottle, glancing back at me as she passed.
”Target is secured. No, the noble person has been protected,” the captain corrected herself, giving me a brief look.
”The first team will enter from the second floor in half an hour. We don’t need any survivors here. Deal with the VIPs on the manifest and the townsfolk appropriately—kill… treat them appropriately.”
She was softening her words for my sake. One shouldn’t speak of cruel things in a space shared with a male. Following her instruction, the squad members dispersed. The elevator began its second cycle, bringing in more personnel. Since not everyone could fit, more people in mystical object armor were constantly being sent up.
The sound of the captain’s voice made me realize I’d seen her before—she was one of the people who had watched me playing badminton in the Kujukuri Town practice room.
”Finally, I can rest. Ouch!” Flatty-chan groaned, then swayed and sank to her knees.
”Ah, Flatty-chan! Are you okay?” I rushed to her side.
Looking closely, I saw she had numerous injuries besides the one on her head. Her body, weary with fatigue, trembled as she struggled to open the sturdily sealed bottle she’d been given.
She could finally treat the hole in her head. The bandage was Psionically fused to fill the side of her head. I wondered if she should just use the drug like this. It seemed better to surgically remove the blockage first and *then* heal it. Surely there was time for that.
But I was wrong. She was starting to treat the cuts on *my* hands.
”Wasn’t that for you? My hand cuts will heal fast anyway; I want you to treat yourself first.”
”Young Master takes priority. Please hold out your hand,” she insisted.
The remaining ‘older sister’ element in her personality still hadn’t completely worn off. My palm was lavishly washed with the medical treatment drug.
As she did this, one of the rescue squad members maintaining the defensive perimeter around us abruptly turned our way. She pushed up her visor, swept her long bangs diagonally across her forehead, and called out in a familiar, friendly voice.
Hearing the voice, Flatty-chan turned back with a look of utter disgust.
”You’re here, aren’t you?”
”What, does that hurt worse than a broken finger?”
”Shut up! Do you know how much trouble Flatty-chan had because you weren’t here?”
It was Trash-san. My reliable Elder Sister had come to my aid. I hadn’t noticed her mixed in with the other squad members.
”My apologies. I’ll hear your grievances later,” Trash-san murmured.
”This is all your fault and…! Hey, that hurts! I’m injured!”
Trash-san pushed the sitting Flatty-chan aside and knelt before me. She gently cleaned the cuts on my palms, which Flatty-chan had coated with the medical treatment drug, with a small handkerchief. She even offered me water. Her exhausted expression melted away, replaced by the profound relief of seeing me, the living me.
She then pulled a new medical treatment drug from her pocket and handed it to Flatty-chan.
She deeply regretted not being by my side during my ordeal. Even though we’d kept in constant contact, leaving me in such a dangerous place must have been agonizing for her.
She noticed blood on my lips, forced my mouth open, and looked inside.
”What a tragedy…. Your back tooth is chipped. Who did this to you?” Trash-san gasped.
”I don’t know. It just broke.”
”‘It just broke’ is not an acceptable reply. Who did this to you?” she demanded.
”A person who was being controlled by a monster. That monster has been defeated now.”
My jaw ached when I opened my mouth, and it was a little embarrassing to have Trash-san examining my mouth like a dentist.
”I am overwhelmed with shame for not being at your side during your hour of need. Frankly, the responsibility is mine,” she said, overcome by guilt.
”I told you before, someone had to stay back there anyway.”
She looked at me with a face full of concern and deep guilt. Now that I thought about it, the journey had been incredibly reckless. It was a mystery how I’d even survived.
”I’m home,” I whispered, and then hugged her.
Trash-san didn’t return the embrace, but she let me hold her for a moment before gently pulling away.
”Young Master, there are witnesses. Could we please wait until later? I entrust you to this person,” she pleaded.
She must be worried about people calling her ‘vulgar’ for being so affectionate with her master. She hated any scandal about me.
While the surrounding squad members looked on enviously, I was immediately handed over to a medic-like person.
”Please lie down here,” the medic instructed.
”That hurts. I might have a broken rib.”
”Then sitting is fine. Due to the urgency, please forgive me for touching Your person,” the sanitary officer apologized profusely.
”It’s fine. You don’t need those thick gloves. Also, please don’t examine me while squinting with fear.”
It was an extreme consideration for the man, but it wasn’t necessary for me.
”We never perform a diagnosis on a male during a standard mission, so I beg your patience for my bad manners…” the medic stammered.
”Don’t worry about it. I’ll lift my shirt now.”
As I went to take off my shirt as if for a routine check-up, she frantically stopped me. The medic older sister was beet-red.
I waited, having rolled my shirt up to my side. The nervous sanitary officer carefully slipped her hand inside my clothing and began a cautious palpation. Everyone around was red-faced, looking away. Right, this was that kind of world. Maybe I should try to have a little more sense of shame.
Watching Trash-san slightly perplexed by me, and Flatty-chan still smiling groggily, a sense of realization crept into my heart—I was safe.
*Ah*, I could go back to the surface alive.
”We should collect samples of that mist later. God, there were hardly any decent mystical objects here. I was planning on looting some houses while everyone was distracted, but there were no valuables anyway. This land isn’t worth selling,” Flatty-chan grumbled, taking a swig of medicine.
”Why do you keep sinking your reputation every time you speak? What did you think you were coming here for?”
”A pleasure trip. Wasn’t that the plan?” she shot back.
”It was… supposed to be. Well, leave the rest to them and rest now. The ascender is fixed. We can go home on the next trip,” Trash-san intervened softly.
*We can go home.* Trash-san had spoken those words.
When I heard that, I felt my shoulders slump with relief, as if I couldn’t sit up straight anymore. If she declared it, it was a fact. There was only one small thing left to do.
Flatty-chan, who had downed her medical treatment drug, gave Trash-san a look of annoyance at being told off. Then, she looked at my face once, and fell asleep as if she’d been knocked out.
I was truly grateful to Flatty-chan. As soon as my own medical treatment was done, I would let my Imperial Guards know I was safe.
At that moment, the pupa human being that had been lying on the ground stood up. It was the monster whose arm Himawari had clawed off.
At first, I thought it was an attack from a monster. But it was wrong. She shoved aside the Psionic Power user who was restraining Himawari. She wedged herself between them, clinging with one hand, desperately trying to undo the restraint mystical object that bound Himawari’s body.
Lying over her, it looked as though she was trying to protect Himawari.
”S-s-houko [distorted] is here to help [distorted]…”
Her voice, full of noise, carried a note of urgency.
”P-please get away [distorted]!”
A breath escaped the pupa. She leaned in close to Himawari’s ear, continuously emitting strange sounds that didn’t form a recognizable language.
”Shoot it!” the captain commanded.
”Pl-ease [distorted]!”
The pupa human being collapsed onto Himawari. Even as her body was riddled with holes, she forced her trembling form to desperately try to tear off the metal locks. But the pupa human being’s strength wasn’t enough to remove such an object.
”…Shouko. Is that… Shouko?”
The light returned to the immobile Himawari’s eyes. She looked at the dying pupa human being clinging to her.
”You’re still alive. You remember me, even in that state.”
The pupa human being was pulled away by the scruff of its neck. The girl’s body, which still tried to cling to Himawari in its longing, was thrown onto the floor and held down by the foot of a rescue squad member.
Himawari’s restraints rattled.
”Stop it, please! Don’t kill Shouko!” she screamed.
”Dispose of it. Is this the effect of the illusion from the report? That’s strange, it should have dissolved already. Or is this a different kind of illusion? The Ogre Woman is still brainwashed and believes this monster is a human being,” the captain theorized to her squad.
Following the instruction, a female crushed the head of the pupa human being.
Then, from a distance, the electronic sound of photon rifles and the noise-filled screams of monsters could be heard. Several dying pupa human beings arrived and became targets for the guns at the doorway, collapsing one after another.
Their faces were unrecognizable. But judging by the clothing, Himawari seemed to know who they were. Did she know of someone who would rush to her aid if something happened here? Maybe they were coming to rescue her.
The monsters here hadn’t died even after the core Blue Maggot was destroyed. They each lived individually. Even though the illusion had broken and their faces and speech were gone, their habit of clinging to people seemed unchanged.
But they were, ultimately, monsters with no ability or weapon. They gathered one after another, only to become fodder for the bullets.
Himawari was screaming and crying as she watched. The restraint mystical object creaked. The binding was warping under her immense Psionic Power-driven strength.
”Don’t come here! You’ll be killed! Forget about me! Save yourselves instead!”
But her screams were in vain, and the restraints wouldn’t break. She tried to crawl toward the monsters that were collapsing one after another, like a mashed Maggot on the ground.
”Forgive me! Stop it! Don’t kill them! They’re my precious comrades! Please! I’ll do anything!”
As she began to struggle violently, the light from a photon rifle burned her eyes.
”Agh…!?”
Her eyes glazed over. The pupils weren’t as tough as her skin. They were vulnerable to attacks targeting the five senses or by using chemicals. It would take a while for her to recover.
But an atmosphere of dread began to spread. The pressure of a deep, dark, desperate mystery.
”Aaaahhh! Nooo! Stop it already!” Himawari screamed, thrashing.
Gone was the dignity she had maintained as the acting town mayor, and the pride she had desperately clung to for her goal. She was just slowly crawling on the ground, even as the fighting monsters had ceased to move. Her destination was the room’s exit.
”That’s right, I have to save them! They’re still alive! They need my help!”
”Stop now. Resistance is pointless,” the rescue squad members admonished, pinning down the revitalized Himawari. She lay on the ground, immobilized, yet I could feel a palpable sense of furious anger radiating from her.
”At least… the Child! Our hope! I must save the Child! I won’t let you take anything else from me!”
”You mean the primary target of this floor? I’m afraid that infant you saw was just a monster. It has already been disposed of,” the captain retorted flatly.
Himawari’s movements stopped instantly upon hearing that.
By the time I realized it, Psionic Power fists were floating, motionless, all around her. Ethereal, terrifying demon hands with the presence to turn everything in the room to mincemeat the moment they were unleashed.
Even without sight, she only needed to flail. The bodies of ordinary Psionic Power users would be no obstacle to her.
The scene was chaos. A swirling, black-red world of dead bodies. Men parasitized by monsters. A piled-up mountain of the ogre woman’s lifeless husks. A thickening fog world where monsters began to call out from a distance.
Himawari wanted to be killed. With the resettlement plan failed, there was nothing left to bind her. Her comrades were gone, and her townsfolk had no one to lead.
There was no reason for them to hold back. I didn’t know if a hellish fight would begin, where she’d be repeatedly shredded by continuous, charged blasts and brought back to life, or if this rescue squad had a special countermeasure.
”Excuse me for a moment. Could you step aside?”
…No, it wasn’t a big deal. She really didn’t need a single rope to restrain her.
Ultimately, no matter how much she lost her reason, she never once directly hurt me. No matter how much she acted maliciously, no matter how much she harbored hatred for men in her heart, she couldn’t bring herself to fully hate.
Those Psionic Power fists would likely never have been cast. No one would dare to lash out in a space where four males were present.
That’s why *I* was the strongest restraint in the world.
”Do you have any anesthetic? Could I borrow it?” I asked the nearby guard.
I forcefully took a syringe from the hand of a squad member who was holding her weapon at the ready. The tip of the needle had an edge like a mono-molecular blade. It might have been a sleeping drug or a tranquilizer, but if it was in their hand right now, the intended purpose was similar.
Before anyone could react, I caught Trash-san’s eye to hold her back, walked over to Himawari, and sat down next to her.
Himawari looked up at me in shock, lying on her side. She hadn’t expected anyone to approach her in this state.
”Don’t come closer. Don’t look at me.”
Her cloudy eyes were painful to see. But she recognized me by my presence.
”I’m sorry. I was an idiot. I put you in danger. I’m so sorry, forgive me. Please don’t say anything cruel. I can’t bear to hear any harsh words.”
”Can you inject this yourself?”
”I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…” Himawari’s voice was miserable with continuous apology. The bright, slightly annoying girl was completely gone. She just kept apologizing.
With an uncertain expression, she continued to give excuses, seeking an unknown forgiveness from an unknown entity.
”I thought it was strange. No one was ever injured here. No one ever died. Everyone, including me, was acting weird. But I wanted validation for my efforts. I didn’t want to go back to a life where men hated my appearance. I wanted to save the people who were starving to death.”
”It’s okay now. Just rest.”
I rested her head on my knee.
She tried to pull away, hating to be touched, but she was more terrified of accidentally hurting me by moving.
”I wanted to be loved by someone, just like normal people. I just wanted to be normal. I wanted people not to be afraid of me.”
She continued to speak incoherently to me. My knee was getting wet and cold with her tears.
I pressed the anesthetic into her neck. But the blade wouldn’t pierce her skin. The mystery-infused skin was too tough, and the needle just slid off.
”I killed everyone. It’s all my fault. I should just die. But I can’t.”
”It’s alright. There was nothing you could do. It’s my fault for waking you up from your dream, Himawari.”
”No, that’s wrong. You’re not the one who’s wrong. *I* was the coward. My heart ached whenever a man spoke ill of me. I don’t deserve to live. I wish I’d never been born.”
As I struggled, Trash-san came to my side to assist. She held Himawari’s lips apart, and taking the syringe, injected the drug into the ogre’s tongue. The blade finally penetrated there.
”I wish this monster had never existed in the first place…”
Her eyelids slowly closed. Himawari began to sleep on my knee as if she were dead. She was now breathing quietly. Her eyes, swollen from crying, were terribly noticeable.
”This is dangerous, please move away from the Ogre Woman,” the surrounding squad members urged.
”No. I’ll stay like this for a while. She’s sleeping so peacefully. I don’t want to wake her up. I’m sorry,” I replied, but I didn’t move her from my lap for a long time.
Himawari had tried to save even those who were now the seedbeds of her former dream-sharers, but failed. Being an aberration hadn’t created distance for her.
”The pupa human beings are gathering here. Is it to help Himawari? Or just because there’s lots of food?” I wondered.
But things were different now from when the illusion made them harmless. The Kujukuri Town rescue squad would now slaughter every living thing here. That would include the monsters who held the memories of Neiko, who had been kind to me.
I didn’t need to force myself to watch what I hated. That’s why I was going to leave. But Himawari didn’t need to force herself to witness the fate of her residents either. That’s why I put her to sleep.
Unlike the tense people around me, I felt no fear of this ogre woman. Everyone else might be seeing a horrible sight, but to me, she was no more dangerous than the neighborhood cat.
The silky feeling of her combed hair and the coldness of the tears soaking my knee were tangible, and her breath tickled me slightly. I couldn’t think of anything else, so I remained there for a while. I kept stroking her head. I didn’t know what else to do.
After a little while longer, I asked the people in the room to pass on a message and make it known to others.
”If you secure any townsfolk who are still alive, I will grant them the right to spend a night with me a few years from now, separate from the town’s normal distribution. Try to save as many people as possible who haven’t become monsters.”
I had seen uninfected people during my escape. Not many townsfolk would be left alive. Even if they survived, they might face capital punishment later, but that was a problem for the future. I had to pull out as many residents as I could.
Himawari slept peacefully. She was an aberration-type Psionic Power user who had always craved a male who would treat her without fear. My brief time with her might have fulfilled her wish just a little.
It was I, not her master, who had answered her personal wish, not her wish as a town mayor. That was something no mystical object or Psionic Power could grant.
I never saw her as a monster, nor was I afraid of her.
Notes:
• Himawari – A one-eyed black oni girl/aberration-type psionic; town leader/face; asks for promotion help; apologizes for killings; sets 2‑day deadline.
• Psionic Power – Mental energy concept in Chapter 35’s lecture. Trash-san teaches it to strengthen the protagonist’s mind after dungeon ordeals.
• Sugaya – A branch-family noble in his twenties living in the forest sanctuary, he is physically weak and bedridden, loves this floor, and brightens when speaking with another male.
• Kazusa Province – A region cited in Chapter 29 dungeon records defining unreturnable dungeons. Serves as a geographic and academic reference for explorers.
• Neiko – A Psionic Power user from the Satomi family who previously kidnapped the narrator. Believed dead, she reappears as a seemingly normal townsperson, claiming Himawari ‘wished’ her back to ‘rest.’ She has lost her powers and name but appears content and harmless. Vibe similar to a mysterious, resurrected figure like Yūko Ichihara (xxxHolic), calm and enigmatic.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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