Golden light ripples in as it enters.
Just as Dante stepped forward upon seeing the [Golden Bough], the apple began to convulse.
"Are you perhaps... the people from Limbus Company...?"
Was he alive?
I stared at the split-open crack with a flicker of expectation.
"...When you go back to the bus, could you... tell Charon..."
...Ha. Hahaha.
No matter how you looked at it, this was too much.
From among the maggots in the rotting, collapsing apple, Yuri's face was dragged out, hanging from a wooden stalk.
The extracted head of Yuri was staring quietly at Gregor.
"...Yeah. I think so too."
Gregor calmly agreed.
Then his arm stretched out long and lunged toward Yuri.
And stopped just short of touching the stalk.
"I didn't want to die."
"....."
What a rotten world this is.
Disgustingly so.
"No one wanted to die."
...Yeah. Who would want to die?
Even the prisoners who keep reviving right now hate dying.
My strength drained away.
A crushing helplessness pressed down on my body.
What was I supposed to do?
An empty question wrapped around me.
Dante's voice reached me.
But Gregor still wore only a confused expression.
"U, uaaah!!!"
"I d-don't want to die!"
"Th-this is..."
The insect's arm stopped just before piercing the citizen's neck.
Gregor, sprawled on the floor, tried to yank it back with all his strength, but it wouldn't budge.
"P-please, save me... I'll give you all the money I have."
By then, the subway security had arrived.
"Let the woman go! Or we'll counterattack!"
"Cut off my arm... my arm! Hurry!"
"I said, if you don't let her go..."
"Cut it off!"
-Snatch
Only then did the guard cut the arm off.
As the severed arm hit the floor, the citizen who had just been under threat of death slumped against the wall.
But with a spasm, the severed area began regenerating the arm again.
"Are you all right?"
"D-don't come near me! Don't come near me!"
As if determined not to forget the pain from before, the regenerated arm shot forward violently.
And soon, someone's memory vanished.
"....."
"Manager Gregor, I've always respected you!"
"Don't respect me... I didn't even join this war because I wanted to..."
"....."
"Then what am I supposed to do? Is surviving a crime?"
"Just live, please... None of us fell into this tragedy because we wanted to."
"....."
And then someone unknown approached.
"To stop at the very end, with the fruit right before your eyes, is truly lamentable."
"Well, it's fine by us. An opportunity not seized is simply forfeited."
-Crack
Thud
Yuri's head fell to the floor.
Gregor had not been the one to cut it down.
"U... ah..."
With a pained groan, Yuri's mouth opened and laboriously spat something out.
A brilliantly shining golden branch. It seemed to be the thing called the [Golden Bough].
The one who seemed to be the leader of the intruding group opened her mouth at the sight of it.
"Were you looking for the branch?"
The moment I heard that voice, my mind snapped awake.
Who was it?
"You..."
Gregor seemed to recognize her.
"Smaller than I expected. Right?"
"I'm Hermann. We'll be seeing each other often from now on. Because..."
Hermann. It was a name I felt I had heard before.
Not from the world before, but a name this body seemed to remember.
"We... need the branch, and you... can find the branch."
"You... don't die, but we'll... kill you."
The woman who introduced herself as Hermann nudged Yuri's head on the floor with her foot.
"....."
Gregor glared at her, but she paid it no mind and continued speaking.
"Of course, not now."
"We'll safely collect the [Golden Bough] on our side."
I wanted to stop Hermann, but my body wouldn't move as I wished.
Just like when I first came to this world.
Yi Sang looked at the one wearing red-lensed glasses, as if he had recognized him, and spoke.
"Gubo... my friend. Is this the path you chose?"
"That's right. There are only a few of us left now."
...What was he talking about?
It was a story I couldn't understand.
Come to think of it, Hong Lu also seemed to recognize someone.
If Yi Sang had a friend, what was this relationship over here?
"...Long time no see, brother."
"You know there's a filthy smell on your clothes? Your family should've seen you like this."
Someone with a face similar to Hong Lu's, but a sharper impression, mocked him.
"This is quite the meeting place."
...This was the first time I'd ever agreed with Otis.
A meeting place, huh... Maybe that was an apt description.
"Are you keeping the gift I gave you well, son?"
"I didn't give it to you so you could end up looking like this."
"I never wanted it... not once..."
Surprisingly, it was Gregor who reacted to the word "son."
Family? Seriously?
"That ability wasn't all I gave you."
"And..."
Hermann, having said that, suddenly turned toward me.
"Looking at that expression, you're still not there yet, are you?"
What?
I wanted to speak at her words, as if she knew something about me, but my body refused to move an inch.
Then Hong Lu's brother brought the situation to a close.
"Now, enough introductions."
With that, he clapped twice.
-Clap clap
Our vision went black.
By the time we woke up, there was already no one left in the underground.
Neither Hermann, nor the one called Gubo, nor Hong Lu's brother... all of them were gone.
All that remained was Yuri's head rolling on the floor.
"...Let's go back."
At someone's words, we returned to the bus.
On the way back, no one opened their mouth.
Everyone simply kept their mouths shut and thought about something.
Of course, I had plenty of questions too, but...
Without the memories of two years, there was too much I couldn't understand, and all I felt was frustration.
Yuri was dead.
We had split open the apple with vain expectations, but what came out was not Yuri.
Only a monster wearing Yuri's shell...
It was a fact I didn't want to accept, but one I couldn't deny no matter what.
And so, in that dazed state, we walked for a long while,
and returned to the bus.
Once we arrived, Faust explained the situation to Vergilius.
"I thought it would be an easy mission."
"You had the [Golden Bough] snatched right before your eyes, and still returned with such dignity."
"Was that my overestimation?"
...I had plenty to be wronged about, but nothing to say.
In the end, the [Golden Bough] really had been stolen right in front of us.
<.....>
"Faust, perhaps you should try making an excuse."
"Immortality is not the only answer, it seems."
"...Hmph."
With nothing left to say, Vergilius turned his arrows toward Dante.
"Do you have nothing to say, Dante?"
"He is asking about the other faction that came after the [Golden Bough]."
Faust calmly translated Dante's words.
"...So you're blaming me."
"I'll ask in return, Dante. Why would you send thirteen people into a place with no threat at all?"
"Especially while additionally hiring a Fixer."
Dante seemed to have something to say, but an unexpected person cut him off.
"Enough, Manager."
"That's my fault. If you're going to blame anyone, blame me..."
Vergilius cut off Gregor's words as he spoke.
"A masterpiece."
"How long have you known each other, and you're already reeking of comradeship."
"Well, I wouldn't say it's bad to cover for those tied to the same boat..."
"But don't mistake covering up your flaws for hiding incompetence."
Faust seemed to hear something, then informed us of it.
"...A message has arrived. The Special Operations Section 4 of the after-team is entering the underground. They say they will carry out the operation."
"Yes, that would be for the best. They'll need to recover the remaining E.G.O and [Abnormality], at least."
"...Though the crucial core has already been lost."
Honestly, did he have to end every sentence like that?
"You're holding onto that grudge for a long time."
"Failure on the battlefield is only natural. If the objective wasn't achieved, we simply devise a new plan and redeploy."
"Isn't it asking too much from the first operation? The Manager showed results that are hard to believe came from a first command, after all."
"....."
After hearing Otis's words, Vergilius let out a brief sigh and then continued, as if giving up on something.
"Let's leave it there. Well, it's not as if you were entirely wrong."
"Indeed."
With Faust's words, the bus fell silent.
Even with the stench of blood mixed with congealed flesh filling the air, no one thought to open a window.
Nor did anyone think to change out of clothes stained and dirtied with blood and flesh.
Everyone simply sat in silence, thinking about something.
I was no different.
"Still not there yet," huh...
What did those words mean?
What was my connection to that bastard Hermann?
Strangely enough, even while thinking this, I didn't feel much of a headache.
No, rather, it felt like I might be able to grasp a little of my past memories.
Why was that?
It was still information I couldn't know.
-Rustle
Gregor suddenly pulled something from inside his coat and hung it near the front window of the bus.
"Bug man. What did you hang on Mephi's head?"
"...A keepsake."
"A keepsake from two people."
"I had a younger sister who looked just like Yuri."
"I just... did."
...I thought I should say something to him, but then gave up.
Right now, I wasn't in a mental state fit to comfort anyone like that.
Trying to recover from sending Yuri off, and trying to recover two years of memories.
I wasn't prepared for any of it, but the things I had to do were piling up.
Should I start by getting my mind together first?
"Charon, will that obstruct your view?"
"Mm, Charon is okay."
"...Right. Let's depart."
"Vroom vroom."
The bus moved forward with a slow vibration,
and the gas mask hanging from the window swayed quietly, like some kind of ornament.