"Uwegh... I think I’m going to throw up."
Flowers were in full bloom everywhere.
Their fragrance bloomed too, stabbing into my nose.
Where the hell are we now...?
A lot had happened to bring us here.
It had been all well and good when I entered the Mindscape Dungeon with Nova, but after getting tossed around like hell in a storm of space-time, I opened my eyes to find this mess in front of me.
Inside the Mindscape Dungeon was a flower field—an endlessly sprawling field of flowers.
Whenever the wind blew, flowers of every color swayed like waves. It felt as though a sea made of flowers were crashing over us.
"..."
Nova nudged one of the flowers with the tip of her shoe.
"She sure has a very definite taste."
"Who does?"
"The Mercenary. This is her Mindscape Dungeon, isn’t it? She must really like flowers~ Oh, and here! A K Corp ampule."
"Thank you."
The wounds I’d suffered at the Mercenary’s hands vanished in an instant.
It was still amazing to watch wounds that had definitely been severe injuries disappear like that.
"...Nova, I appreciate it, but could you be at least a little serious now that we’ve come this far? This is a Mindscape Dungeon that hasn’t even been discovered yet, you know?"
I said that, but I agreed with her a little too.
The scenery before us was beautiful to an excessive degree.
Beautiful, beautiful, far too beautiful.
Like a set somebody had deliberately constructed.
Then a clear bell rang out.
In an instant, the entire flower field trembled.
Far away, an enormous curtain rose.
There was a stage.
There were seats for an audience.
There were lights.
There was a masked emcee(?).
What? Why was that thing here?
"Welcome, dear audience, to our performance."
Nova immediately frowned.
"How unpleasant~ That isn’t human."
"For once, I agree completely."
The emcee raised a hand.
"Act One: The Flower Shop, now opening."
The scenery changed in an instant.
There was a village, a small flower shop, and a little girl in a cute red hood.
The Mercenary, as a child.
"..."
The Mercenary wore a blank expression.
Like someone walking through a dream, she walked down the road holding a basket of flowers.
Then someone approached her.
"Huh? What the fuck..."
Why was that person here?
It was a familiar face. He absolutely could not be here. He should have been getting worked to the bone day after day managing ALEPHs and keeping watch over that wild Team Captain...
Nova wore the same expression. Slightly dazed—the look you got when something that couldn’t possibly be here was standing right in front of you.
We turned to look at each other at the same time.
"...The Vice Captain?"
"Isn’t that Doyoon...?"
Honestly, seeing the Vice Captain in a straw hat and apron, carrying a bouquet, made me want to throw up.
The outfit was completely unlike him. Seeing that extremely by-the-book senior wearing something like that was just...
That was why I was certain. That was not the Vice Captain. More precisely, it was likely something that looked like Doyoon, something maintaining this world.
"Ah! Allow me to introduce our precious actors, the ones who sustain our play. Please give them a rousing round of applause!!"
That Vice Captain—no, that thing—smiled.
"Do you like flowers?"
Fuck... isn’t that CENSORED? Just hearing it felt like it was draining my sanity. Fuck.
"..."
"Do you like flowers?"
"..."
"Do you like flowers?"
Nova poked my side.
"Hey~ that isn’t Doyoon, right~?"
"Of course it isn’t, Nova. There’s no way the Vice Captain would be standing there like that, is there?"
"True~ I was just asking~"
"It has to be something impersonating Doyoon."
It continued to smile.
"Do you like flowers?"
"Han? I think it’s calling for us~?"
"Ha... let’s say I do."
Only then did it nod, as though satisfied.
"That’s a relief."
"Our village has lots of flowers, you see."
Then it pointed at the young Mercenary.
"That child likes flowers too."
"Very much."
It gestured, and we followed after it.
It showed us around the village.
The village was peaceful, and its residents were smiling.
They planted flowers, sold flowers, and talked about flowers.
But no normal village would go around selling nothing but flowers.
After we walked a little farther—
"Hello."
One of the villagers spoke.
"Do you like flowers?"
Another villager.
"Do you like flowers?"
Another.
"Do you like flowers?"
Another.
"Do you like flowers?"
Nova’s expression was gradually turning sour. Apparently, she hated this too.
"..."
"..."
"...Ah~"
"What?"
"I hate this so much~~~"
"Right? It’s bizarre, isn’t it?"
Every villager said the same thing.
They wore the same expression, smiled the same smile, and spoke in the same voice.
Like actors doing nothing but reciting a script.
Meanwhile, the young Mercenary continued walking.
Holding her flower basket, following a prescribed road in a prescribed direction.
Watching her, Nova spoke.
"She can’t see us, can she~?"
"Probably not. She’s likely the lead actor."
"Ha..."
Nova sighed.
"I want to get this over with and leave already..."
A little while later, the young Mercenary stopped in front of the flower shop.
Doyoon—no, that thing—approached her.
"You’re going to your grandmother’s house again today, right?"
"Yeah."
"What a good child."
Doyoon smiled.
"Such a very good child."
"..."
I didn’t like those words. They kept grating on me.
I walked forward.
Nova raised an eyebrow.
"What are you doing~? Don’t make trouble... Don’t we need to watch some more~~?"
"There’s something I need to check."
I stood in front of the young Mercenary.
She might not be able to see me, but still... I needed to be sure. I had to confirm whether she was truly accepting this life.
"Hey."
The Mercenary did not react.
Of course she didn’t. She was the lead actor of this act, while we were probably just intruding audience members—nothing at all.
Still, I kept talking.
"Do you like flowers?"
At the same time, the Mercenary stopped moving.
Nova’s eyes widened.
"...Huh? She reacted~ She kept ignoring us before~"
The Mercenary slowly lifted her head.
"Yeah."
Her answer came immediately, without hesitation, as though it were obvious.
"I do."
"Why?"
"Because they’re pretty."
I nodded.
"I see... then what kind of flowers?"
"..."
The Mercenary froze.
"Huh?"
"What flowers do you like?"
"Roses?"
"Why?"
"...They’re pretty."
"That’s strange... You said you hated roses last time. Remember?"
"...What?"
"You said you hated them because they had thorns."
"..."
Her red eyes wavered slightly.
"That’s..."
"That’s..."
Her words trailed off.
I kept questioning her.
"Then what flowers do you like besides roses?"
"Tulips...?"
"Why?"
"..."
"Sunflowers?"
"Why?"
"..."
Nova muttered beside me.
"Hey~ is this really okay~? Aren’t you provoking her for no reason?"
I didn’t answer.
Nova, please stay quiet for a moment.
The Mercenary just kept moving her lips.
She said she liked them, but she could not explain why.
Like she was reading an answer somebody had written down for her, telling her that she liked them.
"Because you’re the flower shop’s daughter?"
I asked.
"...Yeah. Because I’m the flower shop’s daughter."
"Then what did you like most about working at the flower shop?"
"Watering them?"
"Selling flowers?"
"Or... arranging flowers?"
"..."
The Mercenary’s face gradually stiffened.
Because she could not answer.
She knew that she liked flowers. But she did not know why she liked them. She did not know what she had liked about them.
She called herself the flower shop’s daughter, yet she could not say a single thing about the flower shop.
There were holes in her memories, gaps here and there as though they were empty.
It was as if everything had been determined beneath the grand premise that she was a flower shop’s daughter who liked flowers.
"...Huh?"
For the first time—
Confusion appeared in the Mercenary’s eyes.
"Why..."
"Why can’t I remember? I definitely did it..."
"Did you really like them?"
"..."
"Or do you just know that you like them? Is that simply how you perceive yourself?"
The Mercenary’s mouth opened, closed, then opened again.
"...Huh?"
Her blue eyes, the color of the sky, shook.
"Why... why is that? I’m the flower shop’s daughter, and I like flowers..."
At that moment, the village fell silent.
Completely silent.
The wind, birdsong, and human voices all vanished.
I could feel eyes on us. The villagers’ voices that had filled the town had died away, and countless gazes bore down on me.
Nova muttered.
"So you did cause trouble after all~"
Doyoon stood before me.
The smile had vanished from the face that had been smiling only moments ago.
Neither his eyes nor his mouth moved. He was emotionless, like a doll.
Though honestly, that was more familiar... It was the expression I always saw on him.
"A flower shop’s daughter likes flowers. It is only natural."
"And naturally, an actor must carry out their role."
At the same time, the surrounding villagers all turned their heads.
Dozens—no, hundreds of them. Every last one looked at us.
"An actor must carry out their role."
"An actor must carry out their role."
"An actor must carry out their role."
"An actor must carry out their role."
They repeated it. Again and again.
The young Mercenary stepped backward.
"...What? Why?"
Doyoon walked toward her.
"A flower shop’s daughter must like flowers. She must be a good child. She must love her grandmother."
"Therefore, an actor must carry out their role."
Nova drew Abraxas.
"Wow~ this doesn’t look good~"
"Right? It’s even creepier because it has Doyoon’s face."
I drew Repentance as well.
The black longsword appeared.
At the same time, petals began pouring down from the sky.
Thousands—no, tens of thousands—of red petals fell like scattered blossoms.
And a pair of enormous shears appeared in Doyoon’s hand.
Shears for cutting flower branches.
Except they were the size of a person.
Getting sliced by that would not end well.
Crunch. The blades of the shears clamped together.
"The audience may not interfere with the story. And foreign substances that are not even audience members... must be removed."
The entire village began to distort.
The flower shop crumbled, the roads split apart, and the sky tore open.
The emcee’s voice rang out.
"Act One will continue."
Doyoon slowly raised the shears.
And revealed his hostility.
That was not the real Vice Captain Doyoon.
Still, the fact that it possessed such overwhelming presence—and killing intent—meant the Doyoon it had imitated was strong.
"The flower shop’s daughter... must be the flower shop’s daughter."
Booom—!
The enormous shears came crashing down toward the ground.
Comments (0)
Please log in to leave a comment. Login or Register