After Agartha spoke, a few minutes of silence fell.
The thought that crossed my mind the moment I heard her words was '...What?'
My inability to speak wasn't so much not knowing what to say, but more accurately, being utterly speechless from such a shocking statement coming out of nowhere.
After making a statement almost as shocking as 'I am your father,' Agartha looked at us with a question mark and spoke nonchalantly.
"Why isn't anyone saying anything?"
"What did you... just say?"
Hoping she might take it back, I tried a slightly playful joke, but Agartha just repeated it with an impassive expression.
"So, my mother..."
"I heard you the first time, so don't say it like you're boasting."
The Hunter, seemingly just as baffled, frowned and cut Agartha off.
I thought our reactions were natural, but Agartha burst into hearty laughter for some reason.
"If you heard, then give me a reaction, please."
Then, suddenly looking refreshed, she stretched, her body trembling slightly.
"Really, I thought I was going to die of boredom with you two not talking!"
"No! Even so, to say something like that..."
What kind of person just casually throws out their trauma like it's nothing just because they're bored?
Seeing the look on my face, like I'd seen a mutant, Agartha just made a displeased expression.
"Well, I don't really care about it. They died after the Outer Gods attacked."
"In a way, it's for the best. My mother wasn't really a good person anyway."
Hmm.
In a way, she's right...
But she's talking about it so calmly that I'm starting to wonder if she's talking about an acquaintance.
After her rambling, Agartha looked at me with a faint, distant smile.
"So, I don't really care about your charge either, Mr. Tanton. If it was just an attempt, that's fortunate. It's not like you actually did it."
"If anything, trying to threaten an Outer God is a righteous act, isn't it? Kekek."
Ah.
Could it be that she thought we'd become quiet because of that charge earlier and was trying to lighten the mood by bringing this up?
...The problem is it's too extreme, but it's a statement fitting for Agartha.
Thinking about it, she at least occasionally traded barbs with the Hunter, but we hadn't had any conversation on the way here.
Not even now, at this moment when only the three of us remain.
...Her intentions are good, but with such unanswerable statements coming one after another, I couldn't give any response.
The Hunter also just listened quietly.
He had a look as if he was reminiscing about something.
"Hmm. So, strictly speaking, my crime was the mistake of being born. This was the only thing I learned to survive."
"I don't know, maybe there was another way for me to make a living."
"But a frog's child is a frog anyway. My parents were like that, so I only knew how to survive this way."
At a glance, it sounded like she was blaming her circumstances on others, but at least within the Snow Castle worldview, it was an understandable story.
That's how hopeless it was to become an orphan in this world.
They were so unfortunate themselves that they couldn't afford to look after others.
That was the current situation of this dark fantasy, Snow Castle.
So, you had to survive on your own.
Whether by stealing, becoming an assassin in the underworld, or something even darker...
"Living like that, I eventually got caught and ended up here. Thinking about it now, if I had run away alone back then, I might have died alone. There was such a powerful Outer God, after all."
"I'm grateful for that. Thanks to you, I'm alive."
Surprisingly, she was quite self-aware.
No, because she's self-aware, she was able to survive as a thief until now.
After talking so much, she seemed to fall into recollection. Agartha stared blankly for a moment with an uncharacteristically expressionless face, then soon returned to her smiling face and pointed at the Hunter.
"Agh, read the mood! If my story is over, you should jump in with a 'Bam!'"
At Agartha's words, the Hunter just blinked slowly.
Did she really think the Hunter would talk willingly?
His character in the original game was shrouded in mystery, so surely...
"My family of four, including me. Thanks to my father, who made hunting his livelihood, we were living an ordinary life."
...He's actually saying it. Huh.
Well, the Hunter is human too, so maybe he's susceptible to this kind of atmosphere.
The Hunter's voice, which had started impassively, gradually began to mix with emotion until it was gripped by anger, scratching his vocal cords.
"Father was happy, saying he could catch a single 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 ambushed us in the night, without even letting out a single scream."
"I could only watch it happen, powerless!"
Realizing his emotions had gotten the better of him, the Hunter took a breath and continued in a flat tone.
"...That's all. After that, I just kill, kill, and kill Outer Gods."
"Even today, I came to that underground prison just to smell the scent of an Outer God and smash it."
After hearing the story, Agartha exclaimed in admiration.
"W-wow, are you actually a psycho?"
She said this while practically spitting in his face.
"That's not something you should be saying."
Then, the Hunter's eyes turned to me.
Seeing that look, I finally understood why he had been so honest about himself.
It was a process to learn about me.
He's still curious about me.
You'd think a crime like 'Attempted Rape of an Outer God' would make me seem like someone with a liking for Outer Gods, warranting an immediate 'cut' from the Hunter.
Maybe he's trying to completely finalize his perception of me starting from this conversation.
Well, that's fortunate, but...
The problem is, I know absolutely nothing about the character 'Raydan Tanton.'
He didn't appear in the original game either; it seems he was a special character created just to give me a place, abruptly introduced by being in this prison.
I don't recall any character in this game having the charge 'Attempted Rape of an Outer God.'
Maybe there was and I didn't know, but with such a striking setting, I think it would have been talked about quite a bit in the community.
Ultimately, the fact that I know nothing remains unchanged.
So, I had no choice but to explain myself.
Haltingly, choosing my words, I spoke slowly.
"It's just... I guess I should say I'm not myself?... First of all, I'm not 'Raydan Tanton.'"
It hasn't even been a day since I came to this world.
I had just been temporarily forgetting it to deal with immediate problems, but it's all just been a series of confusing events.
"I don't even know how I ended up like this. I woke up and I was in a prison cell."
In that state, it's just been one bewildering thing after another.
Why do I have to go through this?
Frustration seeped into my voice.
"I haven't committed any crime."
If it weren't for Super Coward Mode, I might have collapsed long ago.
"I was just a coward who liked games. My head is just a mess."
It might be something you could laugh off lightly, but for someone who has lost everything in an instant, only despair remains.
It's an unavoidable process.
As I rambled, Agartha spoke.
"Split personality? Schizophrenia? Amnesia? So, something like that? A symptom where you don't feel like yourself."
Agartha made a 'Hmm.' sound, resting her chin on her finger as if trying to ponder it with me.
If you were in my situation, you'd know exactly what it's like.
Then, the Hunter stood up and started approaching me.
And he wasn't just coming close; he was bringing his face right up to mine.
I subtly leaned back.
"Wh-what are you trying to do?"
No matter what, being done by a guy isn't my taste...
While I was having strange thoughts, the Hunter brought his nose to my neck.
He suddenly sniffed a few times, making me startle and pull back.
"Hey, what are you really doing!"
He seemed focused on something, completely ignoring my protests, then nodded and said,
"This time, it doesn't smell like a lie."
"...Huh?"
"I'll believe you. You must have some circumstances."
I knew he had a good sense of smell, but he can distinguish truth from falsehood by scent?
Wait, is that even possible?
Thinking that, I suddenly remembered the Hunter's actions, how he readily believed my nonsense before.
The Hunter doesn't trust people easily.
He only acts and thinks based on solid evidence and proof.
"Until now, the scent I picked up from you was ambiguous, unclear whether it was truth or lies. But in the end, we survived."
Remembering what happened in the prison cell sent chills down my spine.
Does that mean he saw right through all the shallow tricks I'd been using until now?
"So, I'll let myself be fooled this time too."
As he said that, the Hunter pointed a finger at my pocket.
"Including what you've hidden in that pocket."
As if sensing its presence had been noticed, the Lesser Outer God trembled.
Ah.
It would have been strange if it hadn't been discovered.
"You can't do anything alone, so I suppose it doesn't matter, even if it's disgusting."
"It also helped take down that eyeball creature. Do with it as you wish, or handle it yourself."
After whispering that in my ear, he suddenly grabbed my shoulders and shook them vigorously.
"Urblegh."
...Huh?
Why does this feel familiar?
"But just remember, I can hunt you down anytime."
I faced the Hunter with a dumbfounded expression. Seeing him just look at me, snort, and return to his spot, it hit me.
...Is this payback for when I shook his shoulders when we were leaving the prison?
Wait, this Hunter is playing a prank like that?
I couldn't hide my bewilderment, like eating meat but tasting candy.
What kind of change of heart did he have?
What made it even more confusing was that he knew about the Lesser Outer God but was letting it slide.
Why would the guy who wanted to smash any Outer God he saw on sight do that?
Everything about the Hunter's actions so far was so contrary to what I knew about him that my spinning brain felt like it was about to stall completely.
...I don't get it.
If I think about anything else right now, my head might start throbbing, so it's probably easier to just think he's gone easy on me because he felt a sense of camaraderie.
Thinking about it now, it seems the Hunter didn't believe the Knight Order's words.
It's more accurate to say he felt the Lesser Outer God in my pocket and felt disgusted.
A man who acts solely based on his own judgment.
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!"
"Gah! Are you crazy? Why did you bring this!"
Reaching out tactlessly and feeling the Lesser Outer God's texture, Agartha was startled. And so, surrounded by a slightly improved atmosphere, we ended our first day in Snow Castle.
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