“It has to be a coincidence,” Sam said, pacing up and down the hallway.

George followed her with his eyes. Unlike her, he was able to keep his cool and remain seated at the table, a letter cradled between his fingers. He turned back to the title at the very top. ‘The interrogation of Kreig Wiedermann.’ A coincidence. Sure.

“There is no way in the world that that angel is Kreig. Because Kreig is-,” she gave a whining hiccup before continuing, “-dead! That’s what we know, and that’s how it is, and there’s no fucking way that-,”

“What if he is?” George watched quietly as Sam stalled mid-step and turned to him. “What if he actually is Kreig? It would certainly make sense. It’s not as though they found a body.”

Her hands balled into fists. “No, but-,”

“But what?” George asked. “They simply disappeared. Would you rather he was dead?”

“-But you haven’t seen him! He was-, it… That angel was like nothing I’ve ever seen. The things it did… If you were there, then…” She brought up her arms, seemingly trying to grasp for words that just weren’t there. In the end, all she could do was collapse into the chair beside George. She placed her face in her hands, but through the gaps in her fingers, George could see her staring at the letter he held.

It was a simple letter, really. It had been sent out to a select few members of IOCRO or other relevant governments. George, as regional district manager, was an obvious choice. He had every say in the matter of the creature that not only appeared in his own city, but was now also detained in it. Of course, no one who put their life on the line to appear at the interrogation of Kreig Wiedermann would have to do so alone. Each one could bring a single person as accompaniment. In the cases of most, this would likely be a Fighter of some sort.

At the moment, George wasn’t all too sure about who he’d be bringing.

“Are you telling me I should have placed myself in battle?”

“No! No, I just…” She groaned and buried her head further into her hands. “Sometimes, you see a monster and you just know they’re a monster. They don’t have to have fangs, or webbed feet, or even scales. They just are.” She placed her hands on the table. “And the moment they lay their slitted eyes on you, you know you’re dead.”

Silence stretched between them. George turned away from his sister’s intense glare and glanced back down at the letter in his hands. He swallowed. “What if, regardless, it remains him?” He turned back to her. “Ten years here would be a hundred and thirty in the otherworld. You should know that. What if, somehow, he survived all of that? He survived it, and…” George drew a breath. “And he became a monster.”

Sam pulled her lips tight. In a small voice, she said, “A monster is a monster whether it became one or not.”

George watched her carefully. “And if the only way to defeat it is to accept it?”

Her eyes widened. “That’s-,”

“Depending on the situation, the two of us may very well be the most important chains to shackle him.” George let his eyes move over to an old family portrait on the wall. “We can’t know if it really is him, but I’m sure we’ll find out at the interrogation. Considering the situation, Sir Reiker would surely not withhold it from us.”

“‘We,’ ‘us’...” Sam muttered.

“Would you rather stay at home and mope?”

“No! Of course not, I-,” Her words stalled at seeing George’s grin. “Oh, you’re tricking me! Alright, alright. Fine. I’ll come with you. But only because nobody else could possibly protect you!”

“Sure, sure.” George shrugged dismissively. “I’ll trust in your excellent abilities.”

“Heheh, you better!”

Sam’s determination faltered once they actually got there.

The facility had been constructed in a matter of hours, using every available piece of technology. It was large, its walls thicks and doors locked. Fighters and military personnel alike bustled about it, guarding it against stray passersby. Not that there were many. After the city got evacuated a few days back, most people hadn’t expected it to remain standing. Most creatures that warranted a full evacuation of the city so, too, required a nuking to deal with. Unless a number of high-levelled Fighters were there to deal with it.

This case was a bit different. For now, according to what George had told her, it was pretty certain that the angel had no intentions of any further violence and destruction. Of course, it could just be waiting for a chance to do away with as many as possible, but that was still up in the air. For now, the city remained in a state of subdued fear. There hadn’t been any mass-fleeing, but that could just be a matter of time. IOCRO had tried not to cause any panic, but it was hard when the city got attacked by a literal angel.

Sam drew a breath of the cold winter air. For some reason, her armour felt big and stupid on her. Carrying a sword around other people felt wrong.

Even worse, her level was vastly inferior to even the simple guards on stand-by outside the facility. Could she even be considered his guard at all?

Compared to her, he was received with plenty of greetings and light praises, which made sense. Anybody who was anything was there, though Sam couldn’t recognize a single one. Thankfully, her brother had no problem with explaining it all to her.

“-That would be our national director, Lance Faraway. As might be expected, he brought the strongest Fighter under his power. And that over there would be the national director of Europe, Arto Paasilinna. He obviously brought Juha Häkkinen. Showster.” Following George’s gaze, Sam found a very pale man guarding another very pale man. One was well dressed and the other wore an incredibly showy armour-piece.

Most Fighters wore a pretty standard piece of armour that could handle anything from bullets to stabs, but this guy wore something else entirely. In all honesty, he looked more like a knight in shining armour than a Fighter. But that made sense.

Because it was Juha Häkkinen. The so-called Strongest Fighter In The World. To Sam, his level appeared as a triplet of question marks. This was the third such person she had ever seen.

But just looking at him, she got the sense that he somehow wasn’t as strong as the frog-looking guy who had faced the angel the other day. In that same sense, the angel’s ??? had far overshadowed that sorcerer.

Of course, that didn’t make Juha a small presence by any means. As might be expected from the mascot of IOCRO, he was met by wide-eyed looks and open mouths by Fighters and onlookers alike. His mere presence had actually summoned a pretty sizable crowd to the facility. For now, the crowd with their flashing cameras was controlled by a number of guards, always keeping them just a pace or two from the facility. Anyone with the proper authority was allowed inside.

As the national director of Europe started chatting with the national director of their country, George hit up some small talk with a burly man in a suit. At his side, a young woman stood defensively, a small staff clutched in her hands.

-Human, Lv.165-

“Is this seriously the strongest Fighter you could find? I expected no less from a man of your reputation!” the burly man said with a guffaw. Sam suppressed the urge to stab him. Then again, just looking at him, he certainly looked more like a Fighter than the girl at his side. Speaking of that girl, at being mentioned by him, her cheeks grew flushed. Oho?

“Unlike you, Rolf, I enjoy greater reasoning than simply choosing the cutest Fighter you can find. You are aware that you may bring her down with you, no?” George shot back.

Rolf merely laughed again. “Hahah! Is there any shame in bringing one's wife to work? Your compliments aside, the both of us are quite ready to face what lies ahead. Should anything go wrong, your region isn’t the only one faced with atomic fallout, you know.”

“I guess so.” George moved his gaze over the small number of people gathered. “You don’t suppose Irving and Jane have arrived yet?”

“Oh, they’re already inside. Apparently, they’re bringing everyone in party-by-party, so-,” At this point, Rolf got interrupted by a soldier who barely reached up to his shoulders. “Oh, is it-? Alright, I’ll see you on the other side, Georgio!”

“Who are you calling Georgio?...”

With that, the two left. Sam followed the girl with her eyes, watching as the both of them slipped inside the facility. In the corner of her eye, she saw George looking at her strangely. She met his gaze. “What is it?”

He turned away. “...Nothing. Sorry.” A soldier approached them. “Guess our ride’s here.”

“Wait-,” But he was already walking away, and since her job was to guard him, she could hardly remain standing outside. Cursing under her breath, she jogged after him.

The procedure to be granted admission was both long and short. First, their identities were tested by various means. Showing her moped driving licence or her Fighter ID card was far from enough. No, they wanted her blood. It was a little scary, but after a while of having their things checked and everything else tested, they were given the green. And then, before they could even enter the waiting room, a dark-skinned man waved them over to the side.

He began leading them through a hallway as he spoke. “Forgive me for reaching out to you out of the blue. You do not need to introduce yourselves. However, I am Doctor Darius Falk, the head psychologist in charge of observation and research regarding Kreig Wiedermann.” Sam felt like saying something, but she kept quiet. Right now, she was just a guard, nothing more than a shield for George… “I’ll keep this short. According to what we have been able to unearth, there is little doubt that the man you are to meet in an hour is none other than your brother.”

“It is?!” Sam exclaimed before realizing her fault and clasping her hands over her mouth.

Darius turned back to watch her. Nothing on his face showed any hint of anger or upset. “Indeed. Of course, the interrogation is to take place today, but what little we have heard from him has been quite enough. As a matter of fact, only his name was enough.”

He continued, “By questioning the prisoners of the Other Island, we were able to reveal quite a bit of information, though not enough to make any concrete assessments. For one, he has indeed lived in the Otherworld for around 130 years. According to an inmate who arrived approximately nine years ago, Wiedermann was, alongside four others, a warrior representing a church. Another inmate explained that this church later formed a theocracy, which fell.”

“How it came to be that Wiedermann was captured and later became captain of the Yungland Empire’s royal guard is uncertain, and, even worse, the time that followed this switch is uncertain.” Darius opened a door to a small office and welcomed them inside. They each took a seat. “As you might have recalled, Kreig Wiedermann disappeared alongside four classmates. The young inmate that arrived nine years ago was helpful enough to provide us a list of their names. I expect that you will recognize them.”

In quiet revelry, Sam and George listened as Darius listed the names of those other boys.

Then… It was true? That thing out there really was Kreig? That angel of death that descended from the sky and killed in cold blood was her brother?

Sam shook her head, trying to remove the cold tremor that gripped her shoulders.

“You may not like to hear it, but with this, we may actually have a hope of surviving this without any further human casualties,” Darius said smoothly.

Before Sam could reply, George placed his hand before her. “What do you mean?”

“Kreig Wiedermann is, by all accounts, an extremely unstable individual. However, he is not inhuman. He has, by his own accord, chosen to not continue his massacre. Furthermore, he chose to cease by pretending to be captured in order to lower our guards. To give us time to think things through.” Darius trained his eyes on Sam. She felt so small. “This means that he has conscious, logical thought.”

Again, George kept her from speaking. “How can our presence help?”

Darius only looked at him briefly before turning back to Sam. “We have good reason to believe that you two are currently the only things restraining Kreig. Our future movements are yet to be decided, but it is clear that you will have a large role to play. But, of course, we cannot force you to do anything.” His dark eyes burnt like black fire. “Samantha, are you willing to die for the sake of the world?”

She blinked. “Huh?” Looking over at George, she found him equally stupefied. But now Darius wasn’t speaking to him. He was talking to her, and he asked her a question. She gulped. On her lap, her hands curled into fists. “If-, if it will allow a child to survive, or-, or a mother to live one more day, then…” She faced him boldly, meeting his gaze head-on. “I am ready to die.”

He smiled softly. “I am glad to hear it. Whether it comes down to that is uncertain, but, of course, we hope that such things won’t come to pass. For now, however, we must ask one little thing of you both.” Now, he turned to regard George as well. “Lie to Wiedermann.”

George’s brows furrowed. “Lie about what?”

“Kreig Wiedermann reacted to the slightest provocation by killing thousands and causing untold collateral damage. He is not an emotionally stable man. How do you believe he will react, should he hear about his parents’ fate?”

Sam’s mouth felt awfully dry. She glanced at her brother. He slowly closed his eyes and nodded.

“I see. Very well.” Opening his eyes once more, he glared at Darius. “And you are certain that this will not somehow backfire? Should he realize that we lied to him…”

“We are certain that this will not come to pass. For the moment, I hope that you will trust in our judgement.” He turned to look at Sam, his eyes infinitely hard. “And when the moment comes, we hope that you are ready for what’s to come.”

Sam nodded.

For now, she couldn’t possibly understand what this would mean. But one day, she would.