Last week, a massive horde of monsters appeared in the western border region.
Fortunately, they managed to stop them without major casualties, but the bodies of the monsters slain by the heroes still remained in the vicinity of the western border.
Monsters are beings born from mana.
While no one knew how such a thing was possible, the bodies of the monsters were composed of mana.
For this reason, if the bodies of the monsters were left as they were, they would decay and release mana again.
If the concentration of mana increased due to its release, it was possible that more monsters could be born from that place, so the disposal of the monster bodies was a very important task.
John, who was in charge of such disposal, sighed as he plunged the needle of the syringe-shaped magical tool he possessed into another monster's body.
"Huh, I've been doing this for almost a week, and there are still so many left. It's ridiculous."
As the needle pierced the body, the corpse, which had been accelerated in decay by magic, eventually turned into mana.
The magical tool, like a vacuum cleaner, sucked up the scattered mana and transferred it through a hose attached to the back into a container on his back.
John's job, which involved using the magical tool to collect the mana that would otherwise spread, and then transferring the collected mana to the purification facility of the main office, was crucial.
Because the bodies of the monsters needed to be processed before they completely decayed, John, who had been busy for several days, complained.
"I've never been this busy doing this job. I don't know why these damn monsters suddenly appeared like this."
"At least you're getting a hefty bonus. When you see the money in your account, you feel energized even when you're tired."
"I wouldn't do this if I didn't get a lot of money. It's already hard enough being looked down upon for working with corpses."
John frowned at his colleague's mention of money.
No matter how much the target was a monster, handling corpses was not a job that would be viewed positively by others.
He had even kept his job a secret from his girlfriend of several years, only confessing about a month ago.
But then, out of the blue, his girlfriend, who had said she could love him no matter what he did, brought up the topic yesterday.
She said his personality had changed recently and suggested he take a break from work.
'You just don't like that I do this job, do you?'
Feeling angry at this thought, he had a big fight with his girlfriend, and now even this job, which he used to do with a sense of mission, felt unpleasant.
John roughly plunged the needle into another monster's body, feeling a burning sensation in his chest.
The corpse collapsed, and the mana was absorbed by the magical tool. Soon, a red light flashed, signaling that the container was full.
"It's already full. I'll go replace it."
John went to the company vehicle parked at the back to replace the container.
In the trunk, a main office employee was sitting, collecting the full containers from subcontractor employees like John and replacing them with new ones.
'While I'm sweating among the corpses, someone else is sitting comfortably doing their job......'
Seeing this, John felt a surge of anger as he detached the full container from his back and glanced at it.
The color of the full container was pitch black.
A container filled with a highly concentrated, toxic energy to humans.
Although it was sealed to prevent the mana from leaking out, he wondered if it could burst if thrown with great force.
'Should I just burst it?'
If this container burst, the main office employee, who was not protected against the mana, would quickly be poisoned and die, unlike John and his colleagues, who wore protective gear for the job.
As he held the container and imagined the scene in his head, he heard a voice.
"Hey, are you okay? You don't look well......"
The main office employee was looking at him with concern.
"If you're not feeling well, you should definitely say something. The main office has been telling us to check on the workers' conditions because the schedule has been quite tight recently."
"Ah... I'm fine. This one is full, so please replace it."
John snapped back to reality and submitted the container he had been thinking about throwing.
'What the hell was I thinking just now?'
Was it because he had been working too hard recently? He had been feeling unusually irritable lately.
Had his personality changed without him noticing because he had been seeing so many corpses recently?
The thought of killing someone made him shudder.
'My body has been feeling a bit strange lately... maybe I should really take a break.'
John thought to himself, scratching his neck, which had been red and inflamed for a few days, as if he had been bitten by a bug.
*
When I returned home from school as usual, my guardian uncle was sitting on the bed.
I had become somewhat used to his sudden visits, so I wasn't too surprised.
Wondering what had brought him here today, I stared at him blankly, and he raised his hand in greeting.
"You decided to get a prosthetic, right? I came by because I need to talk to you about it."
I was slightly taken aback by his words.
How did he know? I never told him.
Maybe the school contacted him.
As if reading my thoughts, he chuckled.
"Did I forget to tell you? The principal of the academy you attend is my brother. He said the prosthetic company would cover the cost, and the invoice for the custom prosthetic came to me yesterday. That's when I found out you were getting a prosthetic. Still, Scarlett, you have quite a big appetite."
I was shocked by the number of zeros on the invoice he showed me.
The price of the prosthetic was far more shocking than the fact that my guardian uncle was the principal's brother.
It made me wonder if Jesse was making a prosthetic that could shoot magic projectiles.
Uncle seemed to think the same and asked me.
"Still, what kind of prosthetic did you order to get such a price? Even if it's top-of-the-line, it doesn't seem like it should cost that much."
Hearing his words, I thought of the black fragment I always carried with me.
I remembered that Uncle had told me not to show it to anyone last time.
Although I didn't know him well, I felt a bit guilty for disobeying my guardian.
Still, I had to say something.
I took out the black fragment from my pocket, set it on fire, and said in a small voice, as if making an excuse.
"Um, this is the thing you told me not to show anyone last time. My ability is to set things on fire, and I found out I could set this on fire at will. So I thought if I used this, I could make the prosthetic emit flames, and that's why I asked for it to be made that way. I showed it when they were measuring my abilities for the custom prosthetic......"
"......Even in that state, it can still emit flames?"
Maybe because I had disobeyed his order, Uncle's face hardened as he looked at the burning black fragment.
He muttered something and then asked me.
"Was the prosthetic company Luthenia? I remember one of the senior researchers...... Was one of the people you showed it to a man with a bald head?"
The mention of a bald man immediately brought Jesse's older brother to mind.
Feeling a bit guilty, I silently apologized and slowly nodded.
Then Uncle muttered with a serious expression.
"......It should be fine, but if it's that guy... you might get into trouble......"
I don't know what he meant, but did I do something wrong?
Feeling a bit uneasy, I looked at him, and Uncle, who seemed to be thinking about something, sighed and relaxed his expression.
"Huh, since you've already shown it, there's nothing to be done. Just be careful not to show it to anyone else. It could lead to a difficult situation if something goes wrong."
Although I didn't understand his words, I nodded and put the black fragment back in my pocket.
Uncle, who had warned me, nodded in return and seemed ready to leave, putting on his coat.
"Anyway, at my brother's request, I'll be the one to perform the surgery to attach your prosthetic. Despite how I look, I specialize in medicine, so I came to tell you that. I'll be going now, see you next time."
After saying that, Uncle turned to leave.
I was about to say goodbye when I suddenly thought I shouldn't let him go again without asking.
"......Um, I have a question."
"Ah, you have a question? Ask away."
Uncle, who had turned back, seemed pleased by my words.
I asked him the question I had been wanting to ask since last time.
"About the fragment I showed you just now. You seem to know something about it. Could you tell me?"
Uncle's face immediately turned sour.
Was it a difficult question?
Since I didn't intend to press him too hard, I said to him.
"......If it's hard to answer, you don't have to."
"......I'm sorry I can't answer. Take care until we meet again."
Uncle said with a troubled expression and left the room.
In the end, I didn't get any useful information.
But looking at Uncle's face, something seemed to come to mind.
I had seen a face similar to his in a recent dream.
They say dreams are a reconstruction of the subconscious, and seeing Uncle's face, which I had only seen a few times, in my dream was quite a curious thing.
After eating dinner and taking a shower, I lay in bed and skimmed through the news on my phone.
Fortunately, there were no major incidents, only an increase in minor crimes.
Wishing that nothing major would happen and that things would continue like this, I fell asleep.
That night, I had a dream again.
In the dream, someone was diligently fixing my left arm, which was covered in blood and dangling.
I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
Ten times. I'm really sorry.
With those words, I saw someone fixing my left arm through a blurry vision.
The man who was saying those words to me,
resembled Uncle in some way.
Author's Note
By the way, I don't have a girlfriend to fight with when I'm angry.
Isn't the person who loves peace more than anyone else like this?
A fan art by 10WonDongjun has been uploaded to the fan art board!