He spun around.
Again, the man came to a stop roughly three paces away from him, and stood there doing nothing but staring silently in his direction.
“If you don’t have any business with me, shall we go our separate ways?”
“…….”
He tried a polite brush-off, but the man under the curtain gave no answer and didn’t move a muscle.
Is he observing some kind of vow of silence or something. He let out a small sigh and continued.
“I’m also rather shaken myself, so. Pardon me, but I’d like to rest alone—”
“Mm, so the thing is, my dog.”
“I’d like to rest… pardon?”
“I lost my dog.”
A dog, out of nowhere?
“Your dog… you mean a puppy? Where?”
“Over there.”
In front of him, bewildered as he was, the man made his first real movement.
The man’s long arm stretched out to point at something. Jun narrowed his eyes and followed the direction he was pointing.
No matter how he looked at it, over there was…
“…the forest.”
The area around the curtain’s head shifted slightly. It seemed the man had nodded.
He recalled the eerie scenery of the forest he’d passed through the night before. He felt goosebumps prickling up along his forearms.
You lost your puppy in the forest. How unfortunate. But what exactly are you hoping for from me, that you’ve been following me this persistently.
Shall I help you look? Or do I need to pour you a drink and offer some comfort? I’d honestly like to do either, but I only have 21 minutes left until I’m teleported out of here.
“…Shall I walk you there? To the edge of the forest.”
After turning over every option he could think of within his remaining time, he offered the compromise he’d managed to land on.
The curtain gave another small, bobbing tilt.
“You have a dog. How old?”
“Probably around twenty-eight.”
“…I see. And how old is the puppy?”
The man seemed to realize what Jun had meant a beat late and let out a small “Ah.”
“I’m not sure.”
“Is that so? What’s the dog’s name?”
“That I’m also not entirely…”
You say it’s your dog, but there’s quite a lot you don’t know about it. A quiet laugh escaped him at the strange situation.
In the corner of his vision, the curtain beside him suddenly billowed out largely. He turned with a “Hm?” but the man was walking along as calmly as ever. Did I imagine it.
Since the forest didn’t seem that far, he strolled along and kept up the conversation — about what it had been like when the mannequins came charging at him, whether the spreading fire had been hot, things like that.
Reading between the lines, it seemed the man had been caught up in the ‘penalty world’ by virtue of being near Jun when it triggered.
He said that before meeting Jun, he’d barely managed to flee from the mannequins, and thanked him sincerely for saving him.
“I’d like to repay you.”
“Not at all. It was thanks to you for following along so well.”
Hearing the gratitude felt good, but he was the reason the man had gotten swept up in it to begin with.
He pushed down the twinge of conscience and waved his hand. Well, whatever. In the end, they both made it out fine — all’s well that ends well.
The man’s voice was deeper and lower than expected. It was completely at odds with the shy, reserved impression his curtain-wrapped appearance gave. In the world before I got pulled in here, I might have told him to try radio or the internet.
As they talked, the conversation grew steadily more enjoyable. A voice that was deeply attractive even to another man, a calm manner of speaking and demeanor, and yet a way with words and choice of topics that never once got dull.
He found himself thinking that getting closer to him might lead to quite a good friendship.
Before he noticed, he had already walked to the edge of the forest.
He glanced at the status window. Seven minutes remaining, fortunately. He calmly took in the view of the forest interior.
I’d thought it was especially frightening last night because it was dark, but… even in the bright morning sunlight, the forest was just as dim and damp as before. Is it really alright to send him in alone.
“The forest is very dark. Will you be alright going in by yourself?”
“Yes.”
The curtain swayed gently alongside the answer.
If I’d had more time, I would have helped look for the dog. He clicked his tongue with mild regret and stepped back.
I’m not exactly in a position to be worrying about others right now. The automatic return was imminent.
It was time for goodbyes. He was about to speak first when the man suddenly drew in close. Jun’s shoulders jumped in surprise.
“I really do want to repay you.”
“Pardon? Ah, please don’t worry about—”
“Would it not be possible to treat you to a meal sometime?”
He wavered. Would it be alright to leave the manor again? From what he could tell, as long as he didn’t exceed twenty hours, staying outside the manor seemed to be permitted.
He’d also need to prepare weapons and supplies, so spending a day in town looking for useful items wasn’t a bad idea.
And honestly — the man had asked so many times now that it was becoming difficult to refuse.
The time they’d spent talking was brief, but the atmosphere hadn’t been bad at all. Meeting again once or twice wouldn’t be the end of the world.
“Alright. When shall we meet?”
“Tomorrow at noon — would that work?”
“That works. I’ll see you here again then.”
When Jun agreed, the curtain fluttered as if pleased. The sight of it drew a laugh out of him.
“By the way — are you fond of that curtain? You’ve been wearing it this whole time.”
“…Ah, my appearance today isn’t very presentable.”
“Pardon?”
“I look a little… unkempt.”
The smile at the corner of Jun’s mouth grew wider. And here I thought he was keeping himself all bundled up out of fright. Had his hair gotten completely disheveled or something?
The sight of a man who stood considerably taller than Jun — who was already on the tall side — hesitating self-consciously over his appearance was both funny and, somehow, a little endearing.
“It’s fine. I don’t mind things like that.”
“Even so.”
“We’re going to see each other again tomorrow. What if I don’t recognize you?”
He gave the man a subtle nudge, partly out of genuine curiosity about what he looked like.
The man hesitated for a moment, and then finally pulled the curtain down.
And Jun’s jaw dropped.
“Is it strange?”
Where on earth…
He doubted his own eyes at the face of unrealistic, almost otherworldly beauty — in sharp contrast to the man’s tall, imposing frame.
A face so pale and slender it looked as though fine veins might show through the skin. Beneath eyes beautifully shaped like a painting, a beauty mark on the right side stood out clearly. His nose bridge was so high it cast a shadow over half of his face.
…A sculpture?
His hair, parted and swept to one side, was the same dull, muted black as his eyes.
That much, at least, was fortunate. If someone that breathtakingly beautiful had vivid coloring on top of it all, there was no telling how many stalkers would lose their minds and trail after him — Jun couldn’t even begin to imagine.
He was playing coy — that was a bluff. What a deceiver. Why do I suddenly have a bitter taste in my mouth….
He must have let a wry smile slip out without realizing it, because the man was quietly studying his expression. He smoothed his face and waved a hand.
“Not at all — you’re striking? I can’t imagine why you’d think it was strange.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, truly — I’ve never met anyone so beauti— well. So handsome.”
Even so, calling a man beautiful would be rude. He swallowed the torrent of praise threatening to pour out like a waterfall and let only the lightly revised version leave his mouth.
The man gave a soft smile and murmured quietly, 「Thank goodness.」 His heart thumped again at the sight.
Am I losing it. He’s a man, why is— He felt flustered for a moment, then looked at the face in front of him again and understood. At that level, the heart would race regardless of gender.
Either way, now it was really time to part. He pulled his scattered thoughts back together and offered his parting words.
“I’ll be off then. I hope you find your dog safely.”
「Until tomorrow.」
“Yes. At noon, here.”
The man reminded him once more, and Jun dipped his head to show he remembered, then turned to go.
Two minutes remaining. That was cutting it close. I’ll have to hide behind a tree trunk and wait out the automatic return, he thought, scanning the nearby trees with his eyes.
At that moment, he felt a hand catch his collar and pull him to a stop. It was the man.
「Your name — what is it?」
He grinned and answered in a word.
“Jun.”
At hearing the answer, the man’s eyes curved faintly.
A slender silhouette cut a straight line through the dark forest.
Where the irregularly grown branches of trees and densely tangled undergrowth cast ink-black shadows.
The darkness was deep enough to make even one step ahead indistinguishable, yet he moved through it without hesitation, as though he knew the path perfectly. His eyes — sharp and luminous, at odds with his elegant appearance — gleamed in the darkness with something chillingly feral.
Rustle —
A small sound stirred in the undergrowth.
It was an almost imperceptibly faint noise — the kind that would be easy to miss even with vision blocked and hearing alone in full concentration.
Yet his eyes spun and locked onto the source immediately. A supernaturally swift precision, like a machine acquiring a target. His long arm shot through the undergrowth like an arrow.
「Were you here?」
It was a speed no naked eye could follow. By the time the voice’s target registered the sound, its scruff had already been seized without mercy.
“Gaaack!”
The ‘creature’ caught in that merciless grip was dragged out of the undergrowth.
The being, which had entirely lost its human form below the neck, thrashed in terror. Its four or five limbs clawed at tree trunks in frantic resistance, but it was completely useless.
「You mustn’t escape. I even gave you new legs just yesterday.」
“Hh, hh… hieek!”
「Didn’t you like the legs?」
Don’t be fooled by that man’s gentle voice. The ‘creature’ shook its head vigorously, recalling the lesson it had learned when it lost its left arm.
「Is that so. Then explain how you managed to escape. If there was a reasonable cause, I won’t punish you.」
The ‘creature,’ trembling and about to open its mouth, stiffened completely.
It could no longer produce human speech. That saintly-smiling man waiting for an answer as though he expected one surely already knew that perfectly well.
Because the one who had personally altered the creature’s oral cavity — was none other than him.
