act18d3

Carried by the winds, the sea waves beat the shore ceaselessly, but never reaching her dress.

*pant*... *pant*... Phew... S-Singer, you're too fast...

But not fast enough.

Huh?

You managed to follow me again.

H-Haha... Singer, this is my home... I know this place much better than you.

I should leave.

Leave? What do you mean?

I mean leave this place.

Huh? Did you figure out where to go to find your friend?

At the very least... I should keep my distance from you.

Huh? Why's that?

The Inquisitor was right about one thing.

She talked about a lot of things...

I am a danger to all of you.

Because of what happened last night? You saved us, Singer. We are very thankful of what you did for us.

I saved you? Is that what you think?

If I'd missed even one of the Sea Terrors, it could've torn you to pieces as it marched on.

You would've been killed.

I brought it here. Therefore, I killed you.

No, that's not how it is...

How is it not? This has happened before.

They died because of me. They despised me, they were scared of me, and they blamed me for it.

They... They were wrong!

You didn't mean to do that.

I didn't mean to?

I don't know.

Uhh...

After all that, I'm not sure... anymore.

She thinks back to her dream.

Ever since that final battle, she has had that dream countless of times.

The Abyssal Hunters never stay in one place. They always march forward.

Yet Skadi was trapped there.

She has no idea what is happening to her.

I thought that if I killed it, I would find the answer.

Killing that gigantic monster.

Things would get better for everyone. No one would cry anymore, and no one would scream anymore.

She just had to kill it.

And she killed it...

Yet an even greater problem engulfed her.

The Abyssal Hunters never ask why. They simply do.

But Skadi wants to know why.

She has no idea what is happening to her.

Singer...? You don't look so good.

You are hurt, and you spent so much of your energy. You haven't completely recovered yet, have you?

You should come back with me and get some rest. You will feel much better once you get more sleep.

Why aren't you afraid of me?

Hm?

Your grandmother called me a monster, while your friends all looked at me with animosity.

These kinds of gazes are everywhere... I got used to them long ago.

But what about you? When you look at me, what do you see?

You... You are a singer.

A singer. That's what I told you, and you believed it. That Inquisitor, on the other hand, did not. If I tell you I'm a monster now, will you believe me?

I won't...

Why are you always following me?

Huh?

Anything that I can give you, you are free to take, yet you don't want them.

You don't want to kill me either.

K-Kill you? No, Singer, why would I want to kill you?

When I do something for you, you pay me something in return. It's always either that or the other way around.

Whenever you exchange something, there exists a promise. It's only when promises exist that there's trust.

Promise?

You don't know what that is.

(Shakes head)

Listen up. You helped me, so I will give you what you want. This is what a promise is.

I don't want anything...

You are lying.

I can smell as much with my nose as my eyes can see.

Uhh...

You told me this is your home, and that's how you know how to find me so quickly. That's a lie too.

If you don't tell me the truth, I can't trust you.

No, Singer, don't go!

It's not that I'm not telling the truth. I just... don't understand.

Singer, to all of us... To me, you are still a mystery. You came from the outside, and I've never met anyone like you...

You want to know how I guessed that you are here. It's not that I'm trying to lie. I'm just... embarrassed.

This is... the outskirts. It's as far as it gets from the city.

I know that you are hiding from us, and I thought this is where you would probably come too if you wanted to run away.

'Too?'

I come here often myself. Of course, I don't tell Sheetmetal or anyone. They aren't happy when they find me running this far away.

Look at that chunk over there. It's tall. I climb on there sometimes. The stronger the wind gets, the farther I can see.

You are curious about what's outside.

I don't know. I... I sometimes wonder about how it's like outside. It's pretty pointless, I know, and they kept telling me that too, so all I do is imagine it all by myself here.

This is the furthest I've gone whenever I go outside to scavenge. Outside... There's nothing useful outside.

If you're curious about what's outside, you just have to walk a little further.

I used to go to the west side. Sheetmetal would warn me that there were monsters outside, and we would die if we ever stepped out.

Singer, you are from the outside. I am following you around because I have lots and lots of questions... I want to know if what Sheetmetal said is actually true.

Perhaps.

If you head outside, you will die.

Phew... so it's true...

You aren't disappointed.

Singer, if I have the chance, I think I want to see it for myself.

It doesn't matter if there are monsters there... I don't think I'm scared of them.

Hm?

The Inquisitor said I'm not afraid of monsters because I don't know what they would do to me.

I think she's right about that.

She made that up.

*cough*, *cough*...

I'm not afraid of them either.

Haha... That's gotta be because you know the monsters can't do anything to you.

Not like me. Last night was the first time I got a good look of those monsters. I didn't know what was going to happen to me. My heart was racing like never before.