#pleaspleplspleasepl-

[DILAPIDATED BUILDING - DOUBLE DOORED CLOSET]

Nica, his complexion pale, had collapsed onto me from losing consciousness.

Kate: Nica, Nica— wake up...!

But no matter how much I called his name, he showed no signs of waking.

(I’ve got to take him to a doctor, and quickly...!)

But I couldn’t pull up his body with my own strength.

And even when I tried to go to call for help, I couldn’t move due to Nica’s hand tightly grasping my backside, despite having lost consciousness.

(Oh, no, what should I do? At this rate Nica will—)

A sudden and intense bout of uncertainty and panic bubbled up, when I heard a creaking sound coming from the corridor.

The sound gradually approached, and I realized with a start they were the sound of footsteps.

(The police? Or did Monica have others working with her?)

If police showed up here, we would without a doubt be arrested as suspects of murder.

And if Monica’s accomplices showed up, we would for sure be killed.

Either way, it wouldn’t spell out anything good, and at a loss for what to do, I hugged him tightly.

When I did, I caught sight of Nica’s pistol, lying on the floor.

(If an enemy comes in here, I’ve got to protect Nica.)

Steeling my resolve, I reached my hand out toward it.

I had never once shot a gun before.

So, even if I had a gun at my disposal, I probably would not be able to hit a target.

(But I can’t say that.)

I grabbed onto it still, even if just to resist, before taking aim toward the corridor beyond the door some ways away.

My hands were trembling.

(Please, I’m begging, let this be someone who can help...!)

I held him with one arm while gripping the pistol.

The footsteps resounded from just outside, and just when I could no longer breathe from the anxiety—

Ring: Nica, Kate, are you guys there—?

The one who came in was Ring, his forehead beaded with sweat.

Kate: Ring, Nica, he’s...!

Though struck with relief, blood drained from Ring’s face upon noticing Nica’s current state.

Ring: Nica...!

Ring called out his name, looking on the verge of tears, and tried to shake Nica’s shoulders, but I stopped him in a panic.

Kate: He said he felt dizzy before he lost consciousness, so don’t move his head!

Ring came to then, and I realized at the same time Nica’s hand that had been grasping my backside had loosened.

Kate: We’ve got to take him to a doctor, and quickly!

Ring: O-okay!

[BLACK]

Ring carried Nica with me by his side to keep his head still as we ran out.

[CROWN CASTLE - BASEMENT LABORATORY]

Kate: Please help, Roger!

[BLACK]

By the time we made it to the basement, it was already past midnight.

[CROWN CASTLE - LOUNGE - NIGHT]

Nica, who had received treatment, was now soundly sleeping atop white sheets.

He still looked slightly pale, but nonetheless compared to when he had first collapsed, he looked much better.

Kate: ...

A bed had been placed in the lounge.

I sat beside him, stroking his left hand, when Ring walked up to me.

Ring: I reported everything to Dari.

Kate: Welcome back. Thanks for making the report.

Ring: Sure...

——Flashback——

[CROWN CASTLE - BASEMENT LABORATORY]

Two hours prior, when Roger saw us storm in the basement, he immediately got a read on the situation and started treatment.

It turned out he had lost consciousness due to a mild concussion from having been hit.

Aside from that, there were wounds that seemed painful, but fortunately there were no life-threatening wounds.

(Roger praised me for having kept his head steady...)

[BLACK]

Even if he acknowledged I had made the right judgment, I couldn’t bring myself to feel happy about it.

[CROWN CASTLE - LOUNGE - NIGHT]

The basement held a lot of documents concerning the Cursed ones, so reasonably so, they couldn’t let Nica stay there long.

As an emergency they set up a bed in the lounge to let him sleep there.

Ring, who seemed unable to maintain his composure, paced back and forth around the room,

and Roger, having noticed this, told Ring to tell Darius about Nica’s situation, to give him something else to do.

——End flashback——

[CROWN CASTLE - LOUNGE - NIGHT]

Ring: ...I didn’t know Crown Castle had a room like this.

Looking at him now, it seemed that task had worked its magic, as he had regained his composure,

and he looked around the lounge in curiosity.

(Come to think of it, Vogel can’t enter Crown Castle without permission, right?)

I had forgotten about that when we stormed in, but Crown Castle forbade entry to all aside from personnel.

And Vogel was no exception: as long as they did not have permission, they couldn’t enter these premises.

Perhaps because he was in an unfamiliar place, Ring looked at many things here with a deep interest.

But when his gaze returned to Nica, his face scrunched in pain as he murmured.

Ring: ...It’s not like this is the first time I’ve seen Nica get hurt.

Ring: I’ve seen it happen so much long ago, I hated it...and even after joining Vogel, it happened over and over.

When he said “long ago”, he was likely referring to his time at Haus.

Ring: I didn’t want Nica to get hurt, though, so I picked up a sword. I hoped it would help Nica, even just a little bit...and yet...

I couldn’t say anything in return.

(While Nica continued to protect Ring, Ring had resolved himself to become stronger to support Nica.)

They had both done what they could to protect each other, who they considered their one and only family.

One could probably say this was a beautiful brotherly love. Perhaps that would be true.

(But...somehow I feel like they’re clashing in a way...or is it just me?)

It was like they both cared deeply for each other, but there was still some friction as well, or maybe conflict.

But I had no proof, even if I felt that way, so I swallowed my words and turned my gaze back.

(He’s still not waking up...)

I gently pushed the bangs covering his eyes out of the way, staring at his clear-cut features as he slept, when the door to the lounge opened.

Roger: Still not up?

Kate: Yes...wait, Victor, you’re here too?

Victor: Hello hellooo, you two have really been through it. Are you guys hurt anywhere?

Victor gave a cheerful wave before approaching me.

Victor: Darius filled me in. He said this was the work of humans who held a personal grudge against Nica and whatnot.

(He’s...not really wrong, but...)

I glanced at Ring, and he gave a slight nod in response.

It seemed that somehow the things that happened right in the middle of the mission had been covered up.

Victor: Ahh, and you guys are not going to be suspected of anything, so you can relax.

Roger: We heard the police concluded it was from a squabble of jealousy.

I remembered the rumors surrounding Nica at the pub then.

(I see, so that’s how the public perceived it.)

Feeling something I couldn’t put into words, I averted my gaze.

[DILAPIDATED BUILDING - CORRIDOR - MONOCHROME]

The three had been shot by Nica’s gun, but because we took his gun with us, it wasn’t left at the scene.

But, whether out of good or bad luck, they had found a different gun in the room,

and that was how the police came to that conclusion.

Blood was pooling out from Monica’s temple; there was no doubt she had been shot in the head.

[CROWN CASTLE - LOUNGE - NIGHT]

(But...)

Thinking about her corpse, the location of the gun laying on the ground, and the angle, it was hard to think Nica shot her himself.

(Maybe she chose death herself.)

The few hours of fun memories ran through my head, and I pursed my lips tight.

The way she talked so animatedly wasn’t so different from myself, so she seemed like another normal woman...

(But in reality, she held a deep-seated hatred for Nica.)

The wounds from when she was young had festered in her heart, never to heal, as she continued to hate and fueled herself with revenge.

So, if it really was a suicide, that would be too sad.

Seeing me like this, Victor and Roger exchanged a look.

Roger: There’s something we wanna talk to you about.

[BLACK]

After that, they took me out of the lounge.

[CROWN CASTLE - BASEMENT LABORATORY]

Kate: What did you want to talk about?

I left Nica in Ring’s care, and faced the two of them with a serious expression.

Roger took a document from the shelf before pushing them to me.

Kate: This is...

Roger: A document summarizing the case with Haus, the facility those two were raised in.

Kate: Wha...

Roger: That said, it’s nothing official. It’s just something I did some digging on, with the help of Victor’s connections.

“Haus’ Goal” and “Unjust Human Experimentation”, among others, were written on the table of contents.

Roger: A long time ago, I went to Germany, attending my father’s business. That’s when I visited Haus.

Roger: Now I was young at the time, so I didn’t get a full grasp on what was happening, but there was no doubt the experiments there were inhumane.

I ran my eyes through one page at a time. And then, my hands stopped when I saw a certain word.

Roger, having noticed, pointed at that word and continued.

Roger: A lot of human experiments went down in Haus, but what’s most of note is this here.

Roger: —“Experiments to birth the Cursed”.

Kate: To...birth the Cursed...!

Victor: ...Have you figured it out now?

The moment I realized, I felt blood drain from my entire body as my vision blurred.

The place those two were born and raised in, the repeated experimentation, and special twins.

I wasn’t so dull as to not know what these implied.

Kate: ...So Nica and Ring were children born from these experiments, I take it.

Roger nodded slowly.

Roger: And that would probably make Monica...a child who couldn’t become Cursed.

Roger: I mean, you probably got an idea, from having seen them in person, too.

I placed my hand on my neck, which was wrapped in bandages.

(They had enough strength to leave a mark, and speed to reach the end of the corridor in a matter of seconds.)

That harsh sword fight that had made Ring struggle seemed to be beyond a normal human’s capabilities.

Roger: Apparently, they tried to use unnatural means to make Cursed people so they could increase their numbers.

Roger: In reality, it seemed the experiments that took place would make the body stronger.

Roger: Also, Haus never gave their subjects names. They were managed using numbers.

(Oh, now I see.)

My sense of unease gradually loosened.

Monica and the others who were subjects of experiments that tried to artificially make Cursed ones,

and the reason she had said Nica and Ring were special was because they weren’t able to become Cursed.

And the fact that when I had asked Nica about Monica’s name, he couldn’t remember her...

(...was because at Haus, they were managed by numbers.)

────────୨ৎ────────

[1] I can’t believe how cruel this is.

[2] What of the other subjects...

[3] ...That facility’s the worst. (+4/+4)

────────୨ৎ────────

Kate: ...That facility’s the worst.

Roger: Yeah, they were full of greed and killed people relentlessly. There’s absolutely no facility worse than that.

Victor: And that was something the country oversaw in secret...so these experiments were done on the basis of mutual consent.

Roger: Fortunately, though, Haus had been destroyed a long while ago.

Roger: I heard it’s basically just ruins now.

Though I felt a bit of relief, Roger’s expression turned grim as he opened his mouth.

Roger: And now, this is where the main issue is.

Kate: Huh?

Roger took the document from my hands before returning it to the shelf.

Victor: Nica and Ring are twins, and they bear the same Curse. This, you know about them, yes?

Kate: Right, but the effects are different...

(And also the things they need to do to activate their ability is also diffe— wait, what?)

The moment I realized something was off, Victor opened his mouth.

Victor: They bear the same Curse, and yet their abilities are different. Twins they may be, but I have never heard of such a phenomenon before.

Victor: Now, I can’t fully deny that this may be a new Curse we don’t yet know of, but that wouldn’t change the fact that only one person can bear one Curse.

(The Cursed ones I’ve met up until now each had their own Curse.)

Victor: So, this doesn’t go beyond speculation. But...

(If that’s the case, then what does that make him—?)

Victor: Nica and Ring bear two separate Curses.

[OUTDOORS CORRIDOR - MORNING]

I walked down the corridor, which had started to become light, like I was wandering about.

I had been rendered speechless from the shock that Victor’s words hit me with,

and out of consideration, the two had said, “We’ll let you know as soon as Nica wakes up, so go rest for now.”

So now, I was walking down the path to my room, but my mind was somewhere else.

(How did I not realize it until now?)

I should have realized with a little bit of thought that something was off at least,

and yet I hadn’t felt the slightest bit of unease, perhaps because Nica was just that good at talking.

(...Could him wanting to bring Ring in also be connected to that?)

I didn’t know what Nica meant at the time when he had said he wanted to bring his brother into his happy fate.

But realizing that this may be the key to unraveling everything, I stopped in my tracks.

When I did, I saw Darius appear before me—

Darius: Ah, look, it’s miss fairytale keeper. You’re going back now?

Kate: ...Yes.

Honey-colored eyes bore into me, and unable to take it anymore, I turned away.

But still Darius peeked through my face...

Darius: So you learned about Haus and found out about Nica and Ring’s pasts, I take it?

Kate: ! How did...

Darius: I was just trying to fish out the truth, but it looks like I hit the bull’s eye, didn’t I. (˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶)

Darius had a full smile on his face.

Darius: And from the looks of it, you also realized Nica and Ring do not have the same Curse.

Unable to say anything, I closed my mouth. But the silence was enough of an affirmation.

Darius: That Nica, isn’t he just so interesting? You know, with how he’ll drag his little brother into his own fate and whatnot.

Darius: Even though there likely isn’t another Cursed one up until now who could do such a thing, too.

Seeing Darius laugh in amusement, I felt displeasure as I questioned him.

Kate: Why are you laughing...

At that moment, a white bird flew between us.

A few soft feathers fell, fluttering through the air.

Darius gave a faint smile.

Darius: Nica’s actual Curse is that of the White Swan.

Darius: And he bears the fate that, in the end, he is the only one who will find happiness.

[BLACK]

A single feather then fell onto the muddy earth.

t. b. c ⸝⸝

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