As he stared at the bloody hall, 'Pe' had to try his best not to let his attention be caught by the lifeless corpses scattered across the ground. He had to think of a way to get out of this situation, even if it was worse than he imagined at first.
"Those are mostly new students," commented the woman, making the boy glare at her. "They probably graduated today, like you. Hm…"
"Uh… Miss… Could you not… talk about them now? Please?" he pleaded.
"WHEN, was I supposed to do it then? We might be next, your sensibilities be damned."
Again, the woman's reasoning was sound. He had to keep calm and coldly analyze the situation if he wanted to survive.
"What did she say we should do if we found a corpse again?" he thought. "Ah yes… we must try to determine the cause of the death. Yes, that was it."
The boy breathed in and out, trying to calm himself as he walked toward one of the victims.
"Calm down. Disconnect your feelings. This is for work. This is for work. This is for work!" he repeated to himself, hoping to silence the fear and disgust surging from his stomach.
And, in a sense, it worked. His eyes were now focused on his destination, his nose grew used to the stench of death around him, and his ears were deaf to his teacher's desperate calls.
"—T DOWN!!!"
"Huh?"
"I SAID GET DOWN!!!"
The boy suddenly felt someone grabbing him and yanking him sideways. They tumbled to the ground just as a deafening crash echoed through the hall. In his confusion, he only registered the giant nail embedded in the floor where he'd been standing seconds ago.
"STOP DREAMING! WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!" the woman yelled, dragging him to his feet.
The boy stumbled for a moment but quickly recovered his footing. He knew he had to stay alert—his life depended on it.
"Did you see where the attack came from?" he asked, pushing his back against the woman.
"Second floor," she replied, pressing her back against his. "Didn't see who or what attacked but…"
She didn't need to finish her sentence. What they took for corpses earlier rose from the ground. From beneath their bodies, they pulled weapons and strange masks. Coming from the entrance were the two guards from earlier, now wearing the same masks as the others and carrying firearms.
"Well, well, well. Who would've thought that?" one guard said, pointing his revolver at the two. "Didn't you two hear? The town is currently under attack by beasts. All investigators have orders to subdue them, yet…"
The two were quickly surrounded by people wearing white bull masks and wielding all sorts of weapons.
"Well, it's a good thing to have you here nonetheless. Allow me to introduce myself…"
He fired a shot into the air, the sound resonating in the large hall.
"My name is Popoloco, member of Noah's Hand, North Section. I hope you'll appreciate the little spectacle we prepared for yo—Argh!"
Before he could finish, the woman had already drawn her revolver from her coat. It took less than a second, and before anyone could react, the man was on the ground, his shoulder bleeding profusely.
"Next time, I'll aim for the head," she said coldly.
Popoloco clutched his shoulder, staring at the woman in horror. There were other members of the Hand between him and her—a normal person couldn't possibly have shot him without hitting anyone else.
But she wasn't a normal person. A normal person didn't have glowing blue eyes.
"K-Kill them!" he yelled, prompting the masked figures to rush forward.
The boy furrowed his brows, preparing for the fight to come. As the first attacker swung a sword horizontally, he dodged by crouching and rolling across the ground. The assailant tried to follow his movements but suddenly collapsed, his upper half mysteriously severed from his lower half.
Behind him, others suffered similar fates: detached arms, severed legs, even one body sliced cleanly down the middle. None of them could understand what had happened. They just remembered seeing the boy run past them before noticing their separated limbs on the ground.
And yet, the strangest thing was that they felt no pain. There was no blood. They could still feel their severed parts.
Those on the woman's side couldn't say they were so lucky.
At first they tried to overwhelm her knowing she had a limited number of bullets available. Those in front could take the blow for the team and then they would finish her once they were enough. As long as they didn't allow her to talk, they had their shot at winning.
However they greatly miscalculated.
To their surprise, the woman's revolver never ran out of shots no matter how often she fired it. And even when they succeeded to get close and personal, she just dodged their strikes like nothing and immediately sent them on the floor.
Soon, the relentless attacks stopped, fear growing in their foes' rank.
"Now then…" said the boy as he grabbed one of his strands of hair. "I kinda want to go home now. I don't really like physical activities…"
"Think I want to do THIS kind of overtime? I can almost feel… Come Tears! Rolling down my cheeks!" the woman replied, scratching her head.
"I feel cheeks rolling down my tears," replied the boy.
"Sadness is upon us my disciple…"
As they watched the two banter, the remaining masked people, Popoloco included, developed a mix of wrath and fear. Only people who are absolutely sure of their victory would act that way. They probably didn't even see them as a true opponent.
"Investigators are supposed to fight monsters…" said Popoloco as the other guard helped him to stand up. "But… YOU! YOU PEOPLE ARE THE REAL MONSTERS!!!"
His words carried far across the hallway. The air trembled, or rather, carried with it his conviction. His remaining valid companions seemed to regain their courage and brandished their weapons again.
"Monsters!"
"Yes, you are the monsters! We will cleanse the world of you people!"
They approached again, menacingly, and this time, the two investigators seemed worried.
With a little laugh, Popoloco pointed his gun at the woman. He was proud of his talent as a marksman, something that came out of his own effort and not some strange power. That woman made an error—she shot his right shoulder when his dominant hand was the left one.
He could still shoot and he was going to make sure she would regret her carelessness before her death.
"Die!" he yelled as he shot.
But there was no gun noise, no floating gunpowder. The only sound he could hear was the terrified yell of his fellow mask bearers and the sound of metal falling on a wooden floor.
As he looked at the ground in front of him, he saw an arm holding a gun. A familiar arm. It wasn't like the limbs detached by the boy though—it was bleeding profusely just like his wrist.
He didn't even have the time to yell. A gun shot was heard and after that, the silence.
"... I did say the next one would be for the head."
***
Far away, in an airship flying above the town, a masked woman wearing a fancy red robe with roses raised from her seat. From under her bull mask, tears rolled down her cheeks.
"What is it, Empress?" asked the man in white costume sitting at the same table as her.
"*sniffle* Mandolin, Popoloco, Susan, everyone *sniffle* they… they…"
The man nodded, his eyes closing themselves behind his mask.
"They fought well. How did they die?" he asked.
The woman struggled to find her words amongst her flows of tears. "They… They were killed by an investigator and her beast… they didn't have the time to see it…"
"So one of them managed to get there. Did they suspect something?"
"I… I don't know. It appears that they weren't aware of the situation in town. But… How is such a thing possible? Did we not make sure to pass the information on every TV and radio station?"
"Hmm… They weren't the only one to not hear it, Empress. Only the first to survive once inside."
The man sighed loudly, crossing his legs.
"Well, there's nothing to worry about. Is Polendina still alive?"
The woman nodded. "I… I think so but… what if they get her too? Ah, Emperor! I am so afraid!"
The woman held the table, a breath away from fainting. The man on the other hand kept his calm and raised a cup of tea with a gentle smile.
"There's only one thing I wish for them," he said. "It is to have known a beautiful death."
He sipped at the tea letting the words penetrate the woman's head.
"Beautiful?" she asked, her tone dry.
She lifted her cup and threw it on the ground.
"What could possibly be beautiful in being killed by a beast have you lost your mind Emperor yes you have you wouldn't say such as this unless your head was not fogged by those low-quality brand of the you consume nowadays your tastes have have lost in finesse and beauty has left your body maybe I should force back into you yes I have just the mean for that I just need to—"
"If they didn't have a beautiful dead. Why not give them one?" the man asked.
"..."
The woman's hands which were slowly making their way to the man's neck abruptly stopped. She suddenly stood up, in the middle of an epiphany.
"You… You are right. Ah! You are right, Emperor! That is it! I just need to weave this tale in the way which suits me!"
Pulling up the sides of her dress, Empress galloped merrily toward the bound and gagged passengers heaped behind them.
"Excuse-me everyone! I really didn't want to do this!"
She pulled out a kitchen knife and stabbed the first man she came across.
"But do not worry! You will be reborn! Stronger! Sturdier! More beautiful than everyone!"
As the sound of muffled cries and dying breaths filled the room, the man took a sip of his tea, watching the vast orange sky.
"Ah… What a beautiful sunset."