Dark Fantasy’s Extra – Chapter 46

Author: Dawn

I slowly opened my eyes.

The first thing that came into view was a grayish-white ceiling.

When I tried to move my body, it wouldn’t budge.

Terror crept up as I wondered if my body had been irreparably damaged, but it turned out I was just tightly bound in bandages.

“Ah… Is anyone there?”

My voice came out completely hoarse.

Just how many days had I been asleep…?

I tried to speak again since my voice was too weak, but fortunately someone approached immediately.

“…You’re awake?”

A boy who looked just over 10 years old came over and spoke.

“I’ll go call the doctor.”

“Oh, okay…”

The boy went outside.

Ah, I should have asked for water.

He must be an errand boy.

I know well since I did the same work 15 years ago.

I used to go around between injured people, changing wet towels and bandages.

What particularly stands out in my memory is a girl about my age who had severe burns all over her body, including her face.

Her lips, eyelids, nose – everything was burned away, and fluid constantly seeped from her skin in a horrific state.

She was one of the most pitiful cases I saw in my 15 years at the Order.

I wonder how she’s doing.

I was so worried when she suddenly disappeared.

If only I had known her name.

As I found myself recalling the past, I looked around my surroundings more.

Usually when lower-ranked hunters get injured, they’re treated together in a large ward with small beds stuffed with dried rice straw packed tightly together.

But the bed I was lying on felt soft without the characteristic stiff stem feeling of rice straw.

Could this be one of those wool or cotton beds I’d only heard about?

Though my memories of the cheap mattress from my studio apartment in my past life were already hazy, this must surely be more comfortable.

It definitely must be.

Just as I was about to drift back to sleep from the cozy feeling, someone opened the door and entered.

“Ah, Doctor. I’ve been lying here for…”

I stopped mid-sentence.

The person who entered the room wasn’t the doctor I knew.

What caught my eye first was the uniform – black with red patterns, and a medal bearing the insignia of the Heresy Inquisition Department.

In contrast to the uniform, he had messy white hair with a reddish tinge and bright red eyes.

He looked about my age or slightly younger, but the large scar across his face and sharp features gave off an intimidating aura.

While his appearance would make anyone flinch, I felt chills down my spine for a different reason.

“Uh…”

He was undoubtedly Dominic, one of the characters from Blue Paper Moon.

Though he’d worked at the Order about as long as I had, this was my first time meeting him in person.

“8th-rank hunter Eugene.”

Dominic said.

“Y-yes! …Huh?”

“Is there a problem?”

“Well, that… I’m still a 9th-rank hunter though.”

“You were promoted to 8th-rank hunter two days ago.” (+) ^[1]

“Ah, I see. Two days ago… Two days ago?”

“You’ve been asleep for three days straight, so you wouldn’t have known.”

I was unconscious for three whole days?

“The promotion was originally scheduled for a few days later, but I heard it was moved up due to internal procedural matters. I don’t know the details of the procedure myself, so ask the relevant personnel later.” (+) ^[2]

“Ah, yes…”

He poured water from a teapot on the table and held it out to me.

“Your throat must be very dry. Let’s talk after you drink first.”

Though it was clearly a considerate gesture, his gloomy and ominous atmosphere made even simple actions feel excessively eerie.

I barely managed to control my trembling hand as I took the cup of water.

When our fingertips briefly touched, I couldn’t help but flinch, but he showed no sign of noticing.

I first took a sip of water.

As it moistened my parched mouth and throat, my head started to clear a bit.

I hope they didn’t mix anything strange in here.

Like truth serum, or drugs that mess with your mind…

“Pardon my late introduction. I am Dominic.”

He spoke again after I emptied the cup.

“I belong to the Heresy Inquisition Department and my position is Judge. I ask for your cooperation with the investigation.”

Heresy Inquisition Department Judge.

Normally, one would almost never meet such a being.

Their scale and membership are strictly confidential, and they don’t even appear at official occasions.

Their job is to hunt hunters.

Even lower-ranked hunters are incomparably stronger than ordinary people, but the reason retired hunters don’t cause chaos in society is because of them.

Judges are beings trained specifically to track down, subdue, and kill humans, not Beasts.

If a retired hunter commits a crime that might tarnish the Order’s honor, a Judge steps in as soon as they receive that information.

And if their investigation confirms the hunter’s guilt, they capture them alive if possible and make them pay for their crimes.

That punishment is, of course, not a swift death.

Stripped of even the minimum dignity as a human, they become consumed in the darkest corners of the Order for the most brutal and horrific experiments, or become ingredients for something, truly degraded into consumable materials in the truest sense.

Of course, only a tiny minority of people know this truth, and I only know it from my knowledge of the game from my past life.

But anyone can guess that something terrible must happen, making Judges the most dreaded and uncomfortable figures even within the Heresy Inquisition Department.

“Whew… yes.”

I took a deep breath to compose myself before speaking.

My opponent is a Judge.

Even a small verbal mistake could lead to irreversible consequences, so I need to stay extremely alert.

“First, I’d like to ask how much you remember. What’s the last thing you recall?”

“…”

Snow White’s avatars.

I definitely charged at them.

I ran without any regrets, thinking that would be where I died.

But suddenly everything went black, and when I opened my eyes, I was here.

Just what happened?

“Even if you can’t explain well, speak anyway. However, it would be better not to lie.”

Though his voice was indifferent, I could sense subtle suspicion and pressure within it.

“Uh, well… I saw… those things that looked exactly like the Beast disguised as a human that I saw before in Lasso Village.”

I swallowed dryly as I spoke.

At least this wasn’t a lie.

Though I hadn’t expected Judge Dominic to come personally at all, I had prepared excuses from before the city invasion.

Snow White’s large-scale intrusion was completely unexpected though.

“Where did you see them?”

“I saw them on the main road in the center of Cranion city.”

“Did you see any other Beasts before that?”

“Groups of Deep Sea Folk…”

“You know what Deep Sea Folk are?”

Deep Sea Folk are rarely sighted creatures that appear very occasionally on some coasts, so few people know about them.

It might seem strange for a lower-ranked hunter to know about them.

“W-what? Ah, yes. I read about them in a book before…”

But I have the library as an alibi.

I never expected that reading books in the library from time to time would help in this way.

“Hmm, I see. Please continue.”

The small suspicion and pressure I had felt from Dominic disappeared again.

Though his voice and manner still felt numb.

I then explained the events in Cranion in reverse order.

My explanation ended with saying I had taken Hilde to the rooftop of a tall building in Cranion to teach her urban warfare.

“…Then one last question. What did you feel when you saw that Beast disguised as human?”

At that moment, I felt like my heart was being squeezed.

The pressure Dominic was emitting was not normal.

It was a different kind of pressure from killing intent or fighting spirit – something that instinctively evoked fear.

I felt like a mouse in a snake’s mouth.

I had already been involved deeply with a behemoth once before and been investigated by a Heresy Inquisition officer.

Though I was judged not to be a Beast then, there was no guarantee it would be the same this time.

And if the Heresy Inquisition Department found out about Snow White’s existence…

No, after three days they must definitely know.

She revealed herself to the entire city to be revered by humans.

I’m a lower-ranked hunter who has encountered both a behemoth and a witch.

Since I’m extremely suspicious, they probably sent a Judge this time instead of an interrogator.

Judges have the right of summary execution.

If by any chance he judges me to be a dangerous being, that’s the end.

No, being quietly killed might actually be fortunate compared to the outcome that could be waiting.

“…Rage.”

After contemplating, I spoke that single word.

“Rage?”

“Yes. I felt rage at having my pride insulted.”

I’m not certain, but Margarete probably manipulated my mind when trying to recruit me.

But that actually made me feel intense anger.

I am a hunter.

If I die, I’ll die as a hunter.

I felt like that resolve had been insulted.

“Pride…”

Dominic’s killing intent vanished instantly, and I sensed something ineffably human from him.

While some Heresy Inquisition officers are fanatics and others retain their humanity, Judges have most of their emotions stripped away during training.

However, in Blue Paper Moon, there were repeated descriptions that Dominic hadn’t lost all his emotions.

Moreover, he constantly agonized over himself.

Though it didn’t always end well.

“…I understand. Thank you for your cooperation.”

Dominic returned to his initial mechanical demeanor and spoke.

“But this isn’t over yet. The doctor said you need to stay here for at least another week. During that time, I may visit again or conduct additional investigations.”

“Yes.”

Fortunately, he doesn’t seem to have judged me as a heretic.

“Then I’ll take my leave…”

Dominic turned his back.

“Ah, wait a moment. There’s something I’d like to ask.”

I stopped him.

“What is it?”

“Where is Hilde… the trainee hunter who fought with me? Is she injured somewhere?”

“I don’t know the details, but it seems she’s planning to leave the Order.”