With Hans lying unconscious on her, Emily perspired as she anxiously gazed at the ceiling, fearful of their uncertain fate.
After all, how was she going to explain the seriousness of the situation without exposing their clandestine arrangement? She couldn't just tell the truth, the penalty for raiding a gate illegally would entail facing years of prison, and hefty fines, which could obliterate her hard-earned career.
For the moment, she escorted Hans to the hospital to get him treated and decided to wait until he regained consciousness before making any rash decisions.
It took a couple of days for the young man to open his eyes.
He was already getting sick and tired of looking at the hospital ceiling as the first thing after he woke up every time.
"I… survived," he muttered to himself, his gaze drifting to his bandaged hands.
Without adding anything, an unfamiliar sensation engulfed his hands, it was water… no, they were tears.
His eyes couldn't hold them and let them trickle down his cheeks before his hands slowly became drenched.
One after the other, the tears continued to fall without a hint of coming to a stop, akin to the leaves in autumn, relentless and unyielding, until his eyes were swollen and turned crimson.
In his mind, the same thoughts looped over and over again.
'I killed them.'
'My selfishness cost their lives.'
'Their family, their friends and children must be waiting for their return.'
'I'm sorry.'
'If only I hadn't rushed it'
'If only I had ventured into that gate alone to inspect it before.'
'If only… if only I hadn't been so selfish and foolish.'
'If only I could have protected them.'
'If only I were stronger.'
The facade he had maintained, the Hans who was nothing but a child acting like a grown-up, shattered the moment he realized what he had done, giving way for the true Hans to emerge, the rest of the kind-hearted child he once was now influenced his actions, prompting Hans to weep his soul out.
Meanwhile, Emily hurried from the association upon receiving the hospital's call regarding Hans waking up.
Just when she reached the ground floor, walked out of the lift, and was making her way toward the entrance, a young boy blocked her path, his arms outstretched.
Pausing, she glanced at him for a second before asking, "What do you want, kid? I'm in a hurry." Her tone wasn't particularly friendly but neither was it rude, more like annoyed.
The kid replied eagerly, "You are going to see brother Hans, aren't you?! Please, take me with you."
"What? No wa-"
"I saw you the day before yesterday, you brought him aw-" Emily silenced the kid with a tap on her lips before grabbing his wrist and striding away with him.
"Okay okay enough. You are coming too."
Aiden beamed, satisfied with his persuasive tactics.
They hailed a taxi and arrived at the hospital, walking briskly inside.
On their way, Aiden inquired if Hans was sick to be brought to a hospital, to which Emily responded, "He's not sick, kid. He's injured. His last raid didn't go well."
"Gasp! Brother Hans is a hunter? That's so cool, I want to become one too. What do you mean, 'didn't go well'?"
"You dear brother risked his life along with all of his comrades."
Aiden's expressions and tone changed, and an insecure voice came out of his throat as his eyes widened, "What?"
By now, Hans had regained some clarity and the only way he managed to do that was by promising himself that he would never involve anyone else in his affairs.
Those people's lives and hopes…
All of that disappeared because of him, and he vowed to himself that something like that should never happen again.
As soon as Emily and Aiden entered the room and the boy saw Hans's condition, he rushed over to him, asking what had happened.
Meanwhile, Hans pondered how he could have approached such a naive guy just to make use of his powers.
After reassuring Aiden that everything would turn out just fine, the two crime colleagues grappled with a pressing dilemma.
What would they disclose to the public?
There wasn't a way for them to let the public know of the gate's danger without avoiding revealing their secret deal. Plus, explaining the deaths of all the other participants other than him posed another challenge. But foremost on Emily's mind was one question: "What the hell exactly happened in there?"
Hans, visibly pained, glanced down before recounting: "After you went away, we were all set to enter the gate.
Once inside, the air in the gate felt strange while the mana there seemed thicker than usual. Many of us dismissed it as a special circumstance and didn't give it any thought until a window appeared in front of us, revealing the gate's true rank.
[B-Rank gate: Machine's Paradise]
The moment the message appeared, something cast a vast shadow over us, akin to a skyscraper.
We all raised our heads to see what it was, only to see a colossal stone quickly descending upon us, later on, I discovered that it was just the leg of the boss monster, a giant golem.
It must've been at least a hundred meters tall, and even if it wasn't emitting any mana, its sheer physical strength was enough to reduce everyone to dust in an instant.
I barely managed to evade the golem's stomp, but as you saw, not unscathed."
"The situation isn't good," Emily remarked, well aware of the catastrophe they had unleashed.
"I'll take care of it," Hans reassured her.
"How will you do that?" Emily inquired.
"The gate–you said it only appeared recently," he noted.
"That's right, I confirmed that it appeared two days ago," Emily nodded.
"Then I'll take care of it."
"Take care of it?! Did you lose your mind or something after getting hit that hard?! That's a fricking B-Rank gate!! Even the major guilds will lose many of its members to clear it out and you want to take care of it alone?!"
"EMILY!! I told you I'll take care of it! It is also my way of paying respect to those who perished at that bastard's hands. This is what I'll do, I'll diligently try to increase my level as much as possible in the next three weeks before challenging the gate again. Since the association is in disarray after losing its branch leader, I'm sure you should be able to keep the gate hidden for that long."
Hans then continued, "If I manage to come out alive, then we'll recreate the death of those people and give their families proper compensation, I'll do so even if it's out of my pocket."
Then with a serious gaze, he looked into Emily's eyes and said, "But if my body were to remain rotting inside that gate, tell the world that you discovered my illegal raid, and that those people died because of me."
"Try to get compensation for them from the government and use my money to support my family. Also, I'll entrust you with this. Open it only in case I won't come back from the gate. I trust you."
Saying that he handed her a closed mail with a written paper inside.
It held the secret to curing the endless slumber patients– a secret he didn't want to reveal to anyone because he wouldn't know how to answer its validation or in case someone asked the origin of this information.
But if he were to perish, it would be right for the world to know a way to break the curse.
After all, just like him, many were still anxiously waiting for their loved ones to wake up, clinging to the slightest hope that someday something would change.
Emily accepted the envelope, sliding it into her bag, and nodded before thanking Hans, and promising him that she would do her best for his family if he were to fail.
"Though I might do what you have asked for, it might be better if you take care of them yourself. So try your best not to die" she added before leaving Hans alone, letting him drown in his silent thoughts once again.