Chapter 28

Episode 28. Cosmos, Kairos

***

The Returnee looked out the window. The sound of the wind, the insects, even the sound of doors opening and closing—it all felt like it was coming from those who were targeting her.

And it wasn’t impossible that it was true.

“That’s the sound of a plane.”

“Don’t worry. It’ll pass soon.”

“……”

“I don’t know anything.”

“That’s not true.”

The ones who rescued the Returnee.

Cosmos and Kairos. The one who looked like a young girl was Cosmos, and the man who seemed to be her father was Kairos.

Kairos didn’t speak to anyone other than Cosmos. He was always by his daughter’s…? side.

Cosmos looked at the Returnee.

“The Foundation is strong, but we’ve been dealing with them for quite some time.”

“The Foundation?”

“The group that kidnapped you, Returnee—no, Hero—and conducted experiments. The ones who stole magic from this world and shrouded the truth in ignorance.”

“Ah.”

The Returnee couldn’t find an appropriate response.

“Even the Foundation won’t be able to locate this place and plan an extermination within 30 minutes. We crossed the country using teleportation.”

“Really?”

“We’ll move again in an hour. I can’t use my abilities recklessly. Did you know the Foundation attached three types of tracking devices to you? Aren’t they insane?”

The Returnee frowned.

Something felt off. She had escaped the Foundation’s isolation room, but she wasn’t sure if these people were good or not. She wasn’t even sure if escaping this way was the right thing.

“But, where are we going?”

“There aren’t many places free from the Foundation’s eyes. There are only a few under the sun.”

Cosmos stood up.

“There seems to be a problem. I’ll check if we can escape earlier. The Foundation couldn’t have already arrived here—”

Kairos let out a sigh.

***

“Alright. Let’s move in.”

Nanami entered the building with the Foundation’s special pistol. The body cam captured the scene inside the abandoned school. It was messy due to dust and debris, but there were traces of recent human activity.

[No people here.]

Nanami kept talking, perhaps to ease her own anxiety.

“There are just some books here. I don’t know if they were left when the school was abandoned or brought here at another time. Probably the latter.”

“Confirm the location of hostile entities.”

Nanami closed her eyes.

“There seem to be 15 people inside the building. It doesn’t look like they’ve evacuated yet.”

Is this also a supernatural sense?

Well, regardless of personal relationships, no one really knows what Nanami is. She’s probably some kind of experiment or super soldier from the Foundation.

“We’ve located Miss Ahn Yuri, but there’s no height data, so we can’t confirm the floor. Nanami, can you check on-site?”

[Miss Ahn Yuri is on the first floor.]

Bang!

Nanami kicked open the elevator door and descended through the elevator shaft. It took her 25 seconds to reach the first floor.

Too short a time for the enemy to properly respond. Unless they’re professionally trained.

Click.

[Hostile entity detected.]

Nanaim aimed her pistol forward. The body cam didn’t show the enemy, but the two pistols in Nanami’s hands spat fire.

[Something’s coming. Looks like a person.]

What the hell is that?

Nanami nudged the fallen entity with her foot. A black, humanoid shape. It had legs, but it moved as if floating. At least until it was shot and fell.

Click.

Nanami reloaded her pistol.

***

This is frustrating.

I’m not even on the scene, and it’s hard to deploy additional resources. At least not within a few hours.

In the end, all I can do is pace around the command center and watch Nanami’s body cam.

Sigh.

Whatever kind of pistol that is, wherever the bullets hit, the concrete crumbled. That must be a supernatural weapon, or at least an Overtech weapon.

I turned to the people in the command center.

“Can anyone identify what kind of hostile entity Nanami is enthusiastically shooting?”

“Supernatural groups usually create something to do their work. Like wooden dolls. Hmm. Can’t think of any other examples.”

“So, it’s not human?”

“It might have been human.”

Nanami’s body cam captured the corpse of the hostile entity. A black mass of tentacles in human form.

“Manager Kang. Do you know what that is?”

The Humanoid Research Department’s Manager Kang frowned.

“Hmm, it’s a Librarian. Not particularly dangerous. But if you shoot it, it’ll get back up after a while.”

I don’t exactly know what a Librarian is, but by now, I’m used to not understanding the situation. At least it’s not dangerous.

Wait a minute.

“Uh, Nanami. Why did you draw your sword?”

“No, I was just using the gun—”

The body cam captured a chaotic scene. Nanami’s greatsword dragged across the building floor, making a metallic sound.

[Miss Ahn Yuri.]

[Miss Ahn Yuri. You probably don’t know how much the Foundation has cared for you.]

The situation was strange, but I couldn’t yell at Nanami during combat. We stared at the body cam, and the people in the command center held their breath.

Thud.

Nanami’s body cam fell to the floor, and a moment later, it was crushed under her boot.

“Communication lost!”

Well, that’s that.

“What did you just do?”

“Nanami threw the body cam.”

“What—”

“I think she’s planning to kill everyone.”

I raised my hand, and the command center fell silent.

“Arguing now won’t solve anything. Prepare a helicopter. I’m heading to the scene.”

I don’t know why Nanami destroyed the body cam, but it can’t be good. I need to get to the scene as quickly as possible.

“We’re moving now.”

I stood up.

“Director. Before you go, orders.”

“No matter how well the situation turns out, we’ll need to recover the bodies of several humanoid supernatural phenomena. Even if it’s not Nanami’s problem, we need to mobilize a recovery team to the scene immediately.”

“Understood.”

“Does anyone have any objections?”

There were none. I hurriedly left the command center.

***

Nanami’s greatsword dragged across the dirty concrete floor, making an unpleasant metallic sound. All the targets were hiding inside this auditorium.

But. What’s important now is that today’s most important target has come to Nanami on her own. The escaped Returnee, Miss Ahn Yuri.

Concrete dust flew along the path of Nanami’s greatsword. But the Returnee just glared at Nanami.

“Miss Ahn Yuri.”

“These people saved me. If you want to harm them, you’ll have to go through me.”

“Miss Ahn Yuri. You probably don’t know how much the Foundation has cared for you.”

Not shooting her with a drone in the apartment, isolating her without invasive safety measures, letting her live when she broke the isolation room door, not killing her when she was found in the abandoned school. All of it was the Foundation’s care.

Dr. Kim’s care.

Nanami sighed and threw the body cam to the floor. I don’t know about the Foundation or the Director’s Office, but Nanami’s patience has run out.

Nanami swung her sword, and the baseball bat the Returnee was holding shattered in one strike.

The Returnee was pushed to the floor.

Nanami’s greatsword pointed at the Returnee’s neck as she slumped on the ground. It wasn’t a fair fight. The Returnee didn’t even have a proper weapon.

“This is the end, Miss Ahn Yuri.”

Clang, roll roll roll.

A can fell to the floor. A moment later, a crushed can rolled to the Returnee’s feet.

“What is this?”

“Weaponized anthrax. The can is broken, so everyone in this building will die within 12 hours if they don’t receive treatment from the Foundation.”

“……”

“Now. If you want to live, guide us.”

Nanami walked up to the Returnee with one hand in her pocket. The Returnee stared at Nanami with a dumbfounded expression.

“You’re a terrible villain till the end.”

“My superiors are kinder than me.”

Nanami turned her head.

She could hear people’s breathing beyond this wall.

“Here.”

Swoosh. Nanami moved her greatsword. The concrete wall of the building crumbled like tofu.

***

Nanami dragged her greatsword and slowly walked into the temporary shelter inside the abandoned school. Dozens of people were staring at Nanami.

Please attack me, Nanami thought.

It would be simpler to just kill them all.

“Move and I’ll shoot.”

Nanami hesitated for a moment after speaking. I’m not shooting, I’m holding a sword.

“This is the Foundation. We’re here to help you. Weaponized anthrax has been released in the building, and you need immediate treatment at a Foundation facility.”

Fear is a weapon. Nanami’s sword, her armor, the gas mask and night vision goggles covering her face—all of it.

Nanami sighed.

“I won’t struggle anymore. If you want to fight, come at me quickly. I’ll kill you all and go home. If not, sit there and wait.”

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