~ First Person POV ~

“Ugh…”

I opened my eyes slowly while groaning because of the acute pain I felt when slowly regaining my consciousness.

“… What happened…?”

Since I just woke up, everything in my head was fuzzy. I let a few seconds pass in order to get used to the pain in my body as well as my head.

“Now I remember…”

After killing the Gang leaders, I was assaulted by a terrible pain, followed by intense bleeding. When I took a look at my body, I saw that I was bandaged all around. My clothes that were once bloodied, as well as smelly, were nowhere to be seen.

“After that…”

I saw Mari running towards me with a horrified expression. That was the last thing I saw.

“… Damn it…”

I worried her once again… Just when I vowed to make her live her life in happiness, here I am, adding more to her worries…

“Change… I need to change…”

In my heart, I vowed for myself to change. Since the revenge I had in my mind was already done, nothing was left in my path for change.

‘No… There is still one more…’

“Karo… Why am I remembering that Minotaur now…?”

I trembled at the memory of Drake being filled with nothing but dread and fear, as he had no other choice but be beheaded by Karo’s blade.

‘We must find him… And then, kill him…’

“… What do you mean by ‘We’…?”

A voice in my head kept appearing. It all had the same tone, the same feel, and all of it felt very familiar.

“Drake…”

Ever since I awoke in Gren’s body, I wasn’t really sure of who was in control. Was it Gren, or was it Drake? But now, it felt like I was able to get to the truth closer than ever before.

“Gren was the one who was in control during the time I spent in Garjo…”

I did not notice, but most of the things I did when stalking through the alleys, caring for Mari, or even killing those Gang leaders, were the things that Gren would do. If Drake was the one to do it, then instead of caring deeply for Mari like he would a lover, he would just treat her as his daughter or niece. And instead of killing the Gang leaders while yelling like a psychopath, he instead kill them in one swift go, then confirm whether they were really dead and leave.

‘Two personalities cannot live in the same body…’

“… Only one must remain…”

Where have I heard this before…? It sounded so strange, yet so familiar… This line wasn’t in any of the memories Gren and Drake had before their deaths, and this was most likely one that had not been forgotten by either.

‘Devour, and consume the other…’

“Or combine and meld together…”

“‘Only then, will you find the answer…’”

I trembled in fright at the words that I and the voice were saying in unison. Just then, I heard the voice speak the same line it said to me before once more before vanishing.

‘We must find him… And then, kill him…’

“… What the fuck is happening…?”

I was confused, lost, and terrified at what was just happening. I shivered ever so slightly at the thought of losing my own being. My breathing got disturbed as I gasped for air, maybe because of paranoia.

“Gren…?”

Just then, I heard a voice from the other side of the door. The door clicked and open, and behind it, a worried Mari appeared holding a bucket full of water.

“Are you alright…?”

Her beady eyes looked at me closely, as if trying to find the reason why I was in so much mental pain. Even though I was already physically hurt, to be mentally injured as swell was not a good sign for me.

“… Huu… Fuu…”

I breathed in a large amount of air, and let out a huge sigh. After that, I grabbed Mari and drew her close to my embrace.

“Huh!?”

Feeling the warmth of her body in mine helped me calmed down. After a few seconds of cuddling the stiff Mari, I let her go and then gave her a smile.

“I’m alright now.”

“…”

“You know, thank you…”

“… Why are you thanking me…?”

“… Just… Thank you… For being here… And taking care of me…”

“… I’m the one who should be thankful.”

She placed the bucket full of water on the floor and took a cloth out. She then slowly proceeded to take off the bandages that were wrapped around my body while checking if there were still any wounds.

“If not for you, then I would’ve already died in the slums.”

“That’s the same for me too.”

Once she was done taking off the bandages, dipped the cloth in the water then squeezed it, then wiped it on my body.

“When I saw this place for the first time, and when I learned that you were a , I had a thought that we could live here forever without being chased by the Gang leaders.”

“…”

She gently wiped the cloth on my body in order to make sure that I won’t get hurt.

“But when I saw you bleeding on the ground after running up there when I heard a scream, I thought that it was over…”

Tears were gathering in the corner of her eyes as she wiped the cloth on my body. She then stopped and tightly clenched the cloth that she was using to wipe my back.

“I thought that you might die… I don’t want that to happen…”

She was crying.

Mari, the person Gren owed, I owed my life to, was heartbroken. My heart experienced a sharp pain, making me clench the bedsheets.

“… You know Mari…”

I turned my gaze to her teary eyes and then opened my mouth.

“If you weren’t there, if you weren’t by my side when we were in the slums, I didn’t know how I could continue…”

I brought my hand on top of her free hand that was resting on the bed. She settled her gaze on that hand for a moment before returning it back to my eyes.

“The reason why I could continue, was because of you… If you weren’t there, I might’ve already died in a corner of the slums a long time ago.”

My voice that was completely fine just a moment ago was now shaking. It was as if something was clogging up my throat as I continued to speak.

“That’s why please, don’t leave me…”

I hung my head down and felt the corner of my eyes heat up. There were even droplets of liquid falling down.

“Gren…”

When she called my name, I flinched. I then slowly brought my head back up and stared at her eyes. Her face, that was full of worry and fright awhile ago, was now full of joy.

“Mari…”

I had also realized just now, but my voice that was clogging up a moment ago, was now very clear.

“I love you… Will you please, stay by my side, forever…?”

Mari’s eyes teared up once more. She then slowly brought her face close to mine. The next moment, out foreheads touched.

“Yes…”

In the perspective of adults, a couple of kids doing this might be cute to watch, since to them, children still didn’t know about love. But for us, for Mari, who lived in the slums, she who had to do anything she can just to survive, she was already mature than most children her age.

The same could said about Gren. Even if he didn’t die and the memories of Drake didn’t go inside his mind, he could already be called an adult.

That was why, the moment I and Mari had… Everything here, our feelings, our hearts, even our entire beings, was connected.

“I won’t let you go…”

“And I’ll do the same…”

We both broke into a hug. Even if both of us were children on the outside, on the inside, adults that have experienced hardships and sometimes, even hell, lived.

“… But as expected, we can’t kiss yet… Let’s do it when we’re older…”

“… You may be right…”

The both of us, still realizing that we were still kids at heart, broke the hug with an awkward expression. The room was silent for a few seconds before I decided to break the ice.

“Ahem… So, how were you not attacked by the monster next to me in the .”

Once I said that, a frown appeared on her face. Realizing that I dropped a bombshell out of nowhere, I quickly shut myself up. But one could not help but question if it was regarding the safety of one’s loved one.

“… It’s okay…”

Seeing that she also knew the reason why I asked her that question made me sigh in relief.

“I went into the basement because I wanted to explore the place. Once I got there though, I saw a pathway going to another room with a blue crystal on it. I touched the crystal because of how it looked and suddenly…”

I was tense because of how she was relaying what she experienced.

‘Jelly donut…?’

I recalled a food back in Drake’s homeworld where the outside was just bread while the inside was filling, and you had to eat from the outside just to get to the filling, that’s what I was experiencing right now.

“A voice in my head appeared, saying that I met the criteria.”

“Hm? Criteria for what?”

“Criteria for a .”

“… What…?”