10 Years Earlier,

July 14 th , 2014,

Undisclosed Location.

At a particular location non-existent in any known maps, a certain number of man-made structures disturbed what should have been a dense forest untainted by man’s hand. Several buildings, some reaching seven stories high, populated a compound large enough to be considered a town or village of its own.

The compound was sectioned off from the surrounding forests by perimeter walls that reached up to fifteen feet high, discouraging the local wildlife from scaling it. The few that managed to climb the wall would find themselves within a narrow road that split the outer perimeter wall from a much smaller one, which only stood at about nine feet tall. Unlike the first, this wall employed a more aggressive defensive approach with electrified barbed wires and smart, A.I. controlled guns atop it. The combination of the two was enough to eliminate any external threat from entering the compound.

Unlike the dense forests outside, the town within the walls was much more civilized, with several paved, networking roads. Sections of the compound were dedicated to agriculture, recreation, and factory production. At the center of the compound stood a towering dome-like structure with large block characters spelling out REBIRTH on its side.

This place’s inhabitants did not expect to leave in the short term, so a lot of thought had gone into ensuring it was not only self-sufficient but was comfortable enough to live in over a long period.

Most days, men and women walked into the dome early in the morning and did not come out until way past late into the night.

But today was different.

Despite the blazing midday sun, many men and women stood at the heliport with excitement in their eyes as if awaiting a luxurious gift. Who could blame them? They could finally put everything they had been working on for the past five years to the test! As much as scientists enjoyed delving into theoretical debates, nothing could ever beat seeing their theories pass the test and come to fruition.

Dududu~

The tell-tale sounds of a helicopter’s rotors drew the scientists’ attention to the skies where several dots began to appear on the horizon. Within a few dozen seconds, those dots revealed themselves to be five of the latest in VTOL choppers, which even the mouths of significant governments would water over.

The scientists shielded their eyes from fierce winds kicked up by the landing VTOLs as the magnificent metal beasts lightly made contact with the landing zone. Several men in military vests hopped out of their bellies before the propellers could come to a halt. Splitting into two, they formed makeshift walls on either side of the helicopter doorway, simultaneously creating a road for whoever was inside.

The scientists perked up as men in suits descended from the crafts, followed closely by the day’s actual celebrities. A middle-aged man could not hold back his excitement any longer and cheered loudly as the first child stepped down from the aircraft. Some others joined his cheers, infected by his toxicity, as more children stepped down from the beast’s belly.

The children, stunned by the reception, had looks of puzzlements and shock plastered over their faces. Some scratched their heads with embarrassment, obviously never expecting to receive such treatment after their ‘abduction.’

However, it was a pity.

If relief did not blind these children after imagining the worst, they might have noticed something quite odd about the scientists’ twisted expressions.

Ah, no, wait. There was one child who noticed. Hidden from the bustling clamor made by the scientists who ran over to the children to talk and introduce themselves, a silver-haired child alighted from the rearmost VTOL then just stood at the mouth of the beast, paying close attention to the disgusting expressions on the scientists’ faces.

These bastards were cheering, alright! Just not cheering for the children. In fact, they currently did not see these children as ‘children.’ But instead, valuable research materials that had finally been delivered after a long, torturous wait.

The child, Taiga, was all too familiar with that debased laughter. It was one he often heard from predators and gang bosses in the town. Of course, most of them never laughed again after he finished with them. With his thoughts running in a weird direction, he unconsciously leaked a dense amount of bloodlust that caused the guards to tighten their grip around their weapons.

Taiga glared at the guards, silently calculating his chances when— Grab! Taiga nearly fell over when an arm forcefully wrapped round over his shoulder. The young boy turned pale, not from the hand around his shoulder, but the presence he had not felt until it had already got him in his grasp.

The child, who had honed his instincts in various blood-soaked battlegrounds, could not comprehend what kind of transcended being could invade his personal space so easily without alerting him. He looked to the side, and his expression instantly darkened when he understood what had happened.

There was one blind spot to Taiga’s instinctual perception. And that was when a person with no sliver of ill-intent approached him. After all, he would get mentally worn out if his senses flared against every Tom, Dick, and Harry he passed on the street. The blond, blue-eyed girl whose right arm was hooked securely around his neck held no ill-intent, her pure wide smile eradicating all thoughts of violence from all who saw her.

Seeing that smile, Taiga could not help but admit she was lucky to be brought here. Otherwise, she would definitely have become a plaything for some gang leader in at most two years.

Taiga, however, did not pity her plight. He had long accepted that some people were just destined to suffer. So, he only raised his right hand to grip the girl’s wrist forcefully. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Seemingly not feeling the increasing pressure on her wrist, the girl said with a sweet smile, “Their eyes are disgusting, right?”

Taiga hesitated, slightly stunned by her words. Did she notice too? His interest piqued somewhat, and he softened the grip on her wrist. “What do you want, er-?”

“Henri,” the girl re-introduced herself, her expression lighting up with a brilliant smile. “I introduced myself back at Hadet.”

“Ah,” Taiga muttered as he recalled the little girl he met inside the minivan. The sleeping gas had temporarily blotted out that brief moment. “It’s you.” Despite confirming her identity, he still did not release his hand from her wrist. The scowl returning to his face as he questioned, “So, Henri, what do you think you are doing?”

“Just saving your life,” Henri gently stated. “Unless you have a death wish, I suggest you simmer down.” When Taiga did not respond, she sighed and jerked her chin towards the left. “You are not the only one who noticed the abnormality, you know? But they are smart enough not to reveal their hostility. At least not in the open.”

Taiga turned his gaze to the direction she pointed out. Just as Henri said, out of the roughly one hundred children present, about twenty of them stood back, staring at the clamoring scientists with hard or wary gazes.

Taiga’s left hand traveled to the back of his shirt, his fingers stiffening when he did not feel the familiar metal bulge that should have been there. He once again cast a glance at the guards before letting out a deep breath. Although he did not have any particular desire to live, neither did he have any particular desire to die. So, he decided not to force an issue where only he would emerge the loser.

With a slight nod, Taiga removed Henri’s arm from his neck. “I won’t attack.” With that, he placed his hand in his pockets, and calmly followed the flock of sheep as the soldiers guided them out of the landing zone.

Left behind, Henri looked at her right arm, then up at the receding back, a playful smile on her lips. “Like I thought. He’s different.” Placing the arm behind her back, she lightly skipped after the procession, never once paying attention to the stern-looking guards who had attentively monitored the entire exchange.

Taiga and the other children followed the doctors to a convoy of vehicles. The young child feigned an uninterested look as he watched the streets pass by through the window while also memorizing every turn. Judging from the simplistic route, he could tell the convoy did not purposely meander in an attempt to throw off those who were confident in tracking their course.

Taiga’s neck stiffened as he was sure this was due to the security team’s confidence and not something they had overlooked.

Taiga was not left to his thoughts for long, though, as the convoy quickly came to a stop before the largest building the child had ever seen. His lips could not help but part in shock and awe at the magnificent dome structure. However, he quickly fixed his expression when someone pulled open the vehicle’s door from the outside.

Regaining his indifferent attitude, Taiga stepped down from the vehicle and joined the other children at the building’s entrance.

A familiar face stood at the entrance, regarding the children with a warm smile, his hands habitually fixing the glasses on the bridge of his nose.

Akari Seki gave the gathered children a once-over with conflicting emotions. He knew the following years would be anything but easy for these children considering all they were about to go through. However, at the same time, most of these children would have perished before they ended their teenage years.

That was just how low the company had gone to find candidates no one would care about. At least, with this project, although the children would suffer hardships, most, if not all, would live to adulthood and live much better lives than the average humans.

Akari grimly shook his head. No. In the end, he was just making excuses and justifications for the horrors they were about to inflict on these children.

But it was already too late.

The ball had been set rolling, and fate would not care if the human race was ready or not. Some sacrifices had to be made to ensure the species’ continued survival. Many would agree that some toddlers' happiness was a fair price to pay for the entire race's safety.

STOP!

Akari berated himself . ‘Stop justifying it! Just live with the sin and move on.’ That was the only way he could treat these children with respect befitting their sacrifice. The second he stopped seeing his actions as ‘sin’ but instead as ‘justified sacrifices,’ he would lose what little humanity he had left.

Having worked out his inner demons, Akari let out a brilliant, if slightly awkward smile at the children. “Hello, children, my name is Akari Seki. On behalf of all of us at Genaco Incorporated, we welcome you to Fantasia. We here at Fantasia are a division of Genaco with the sole mission of making the dreams of humanity into reality.”

Akari did not need to worry about language barriers. The security team injected the children with universal translator chips during their trip.

Akari’s voice gradually turned firmer. “We are currently working on a project we call Rebirth, and it is for the sake of this project we have brought you all here today.” Dark-gray eyes turned increasingly solemn as he warned the kids of the upcoming dangers. “I will not lie to you. The task ahead will be difficult, and we will have to bear some pain along the way. However, in return for your efforts, I can promise that not only will you be properly fed every day with the highest level of cuisines, but you will have plenty of free time to yourselves to do what you wish. Of course, we have libraries for those who like to read and the latest video games for those into gaming. This compound is quite large, and there are hundreds of activities you can participate in during your free time.”

A sharp gleam shot out of Taiga’s eyes as he listened to the man’s words. Shit! Ninety percent of the kids here most likely bought into his bullshit at the mention of food. Pain? If these kids’ lives were anything like his, then the last thing they feared was pain.

The children’s greatest fear was not waking up the next morning due to an empty stomach. Yet this guy just said he would give them food of the highest cuisine all day! Looking at the wide-eyed kids around him, Taiga finally understood that story the crazy bat at Drow Street kept spewing about the guy who sold his birthright for some soup.

‘Sorry, Old Bat. Some children are selling their ‘souls’ for some soup over here. Don’t think that birthright thing has much weight, does it?’

Shuffling feet drew Taiga’s attention back to Akari just in time to hear him say something about going to freshen up in their rooms. Unsurprisingly, the guards began to marshal the children into the building, leaving the scientists with forlorn looks in their eyes like they were forced to give up their favorite possessions.

Taiga followed the soldier silently as he led them through a series of hallways till they reached a set of elevators. The group was then split into four parties of twenty-six and herded into the elevators. Taiga had to force himself to suppress a groan as a familiar face grinned at him, apparently pretty pleased with herself that she managed to get into the same group as him.

The young man had to force himself from doing even worse when he found out he had one roommate. Who was it? Who else would it be if not the grinning blond-haired beauty opposite?

“Hehe, looks like we’ll be sharing a room from now on,” Henri said with a hugely satisfied grin as she strolled into the room.

It wasn’t large by any means, with just enough space for two beds, wardrobes, and reading desks without it feeling too cramped. The bathroom was large as well, so there was no discomfort there. For all intents and purposes, the room was quite perfect. Well, having a boy and girl in the same room was kinda weird, but at their age, who really gave a shit?

Taiga massaged his forehead, feeling a headache coming on as he imagined living in the same room as this hyperactive rabbit for God knew how long. Choosing to live in firm denial of reality, he ignored Henri and turned to examine the wardrobe on the room's right side. He opened it, looked at the contents within, and then calmly shut it. Turning to Henri, he said, “This is yours.”

“For real?” Henri bounded over excitedly and yanked the doors open. She could not help but squeal in delight as she ogled the multitude of clothes carefully lined in the wardrobe. Having lived in the slums all her life, her only choice of clothes were old or torn T-shirts.

To see so many different clothing, some of which she recognized from the Madam’s magazines laid out before her… Words could not begin to describe her excitement.

Despite her excitement, Henri still made sure to examine every nook and cranny of the wardrobe for anything she might have missed. She spotted some shoes, socks and… underwear. A leery grin spread on her face as she muttered, “Hehe, did this tickle your fancy?” She looked up from the wardrobe only to see Taiga, with some clothes in his hand, firmly shut the bathroom door behind him.

The little girl stamped her feet in anger at the figure, annoyed she didn’t get to tease him on time. But more importantly, “What kind of gentleman are you!? Never heard of Ladies First!?”

Of course, Henri knew that such concepts did not exist to someone like Taiga. No one in Hadet held such lofty ideas.

Uncaring of the thoughts of the girl outside, Taiga wordlessly stared at his reflection in the mirror. How long had it been since he last studied his reflection? Ah, it was that mission where he drowned the daughter of a local crime boss. The lake had been exceptionally clear that day. Snorting slightly, he turned away from the sunken-cheeked ghoul within the mirror and stripped down.

Roughly thirty minutes later, a pouting Henri shot off the bed as soon as the bathroom door swung open. “What took you so long!? You giving birth in the— eukk! ”

A strange sound escaped Henri’s lips as she stared at the silver-haired boy in shock. After getting the treatment of a good washing, complete with high-class shampoo and everything, the silver hair glistened under the room light. She could only imagine how brightly it would shine under sunlight.

Furthermore, with the grime and dirt scrubbed off his face, Taiga’s fair skin caused his bright yellow eyes to shine even brighter. Unfortunately, his stern glare made it akin to the sun that burned anything that got too close.

Taiga noticed the girl’s awkward expression but only attributed it to her craziness. Walking past her, he said, “You can go now. There’s a free towel in there.” Without waiting for an answer, he threw his old clothes into the bin, determined to cut off all ties to his old life, and then plopped onto the bed.

Henri chewed her lips as she watched Taiga’s carefree attitude. Immediately, the competitive spirit within her welled up. She swiftly ran to the wardrobe, picked out a set of clothes, then dashed into the bathroom.

Taiga watched her out of the corner of his eyes, once again attributing it to the young girl’s madness. After Henri entered the bathroom, he shut his eyes, intent on getting some sleep before the scientists called them.

Unfortunately, although Taiga resolutely tossed away his past, it did not mean the past was willing to let go of him.

No sooner had Taiga’s eyes shut did the nightmares start up once again. Soon Taiga was standing within a void with no control over his limbs. All around him, grotesque figures began to rise from within the void. Disfigured and dismembered, the remains of all those he had killed stretched out their arms as they shambled towards him.

If that were the end of it, Taiga, who had long since lost all remorse, would have been fine with it.

But this was only the beginning.

Unable to move, Taiga’s rapidly pounding heart cried out with fear as the first figure clasped its hand around his neck. Despite the pale blue skin and sunken eyes, Taiga recognized her as the girl he had drowned.

Despite his struggles, Taiga’s lips were pried open by the girl’s bony fingers. His eyes went wide as her entire body turned into a thick stream of water and forced its way down his throat and nose. Searing pain seized Taiga as his lungs felt like they exploded, expanded beyond control by the large mass of water. The child had nearly drowned himself during the mission to drown the girl, and he was forced to relive that pain endlessly.

While Taiga continuously drowned, another body reached him. This time, it was a middle-aged man with both eyes missing. Taiga was explicitly tasked with puncturing his eyes before killing him. As if recalling the pain he suffered, the man placed his fingers upon Taiga’s open eyes and pressed down hard.

Taiga, unable to withstand the sharp pain that erupted, screamed with all his might, but his cries were cut short as even more water forced down his throat. The child’s frantic desperation only grew worse as more and more ghouls stepped forward, grabbing a piece of him before proceeding to exact punishment for his crimes against them.

Even though Taiga knew it was fake. Even though he knew this was only a dream, Taiga could not block out the all too real pain. He frantically struggled, hoping he woke up as soon as possible. But he knew it would not happen—not before every last ghoul had punished him. Even worse, today’s punishment seemed even more severe. Was it because he had chosen to abandon his past? Would they not accept his leaving them behind?

Taiga did not know how long he fought for, but eventually, he began to tire out. Resigned to the inevitable pain, he was about to surrender himself, promising not to forget when…

“TAIGA!”

A single ray of light tore through the void smashing onto the ghoul who pressed onto Taiga’s eyes. With a shrill cry, the ghoul rapidly retreated into the void, black eyes glaring at the ray of light with rage.

“TAIGA! TAIGA! Wake up! It’s only a dream! Wake up!”

With each call, another ray of light tore into the void and shooed the ghouls away.

Released from his attackers, Taiga violently coughed, warily watching the zombies who had gathered around him, kept at bay by a circular radius created by the rays of light. The zombies’ burning gaze let him know that the second the light was gone, they would descend upon him with an even worse ferocity.

Taiga inwardly shivered, but he reached out to the source of the ray of light, the voice that was calling out to him.

Luckily, this seemed to do the trick.

Taiga shot up from the bed, breath rapid and ragged as he struggled to come to terms with what just happened. He had never managed to escape the zombies before. Like that Crazy Old Bat said, the souls and spirits of all those he had murdered would haunt him for the rest of his life. He had tried many times, but these zombies were impossible to kill, which meant he had to suffer their torment whenever he closed his eyes.

“Hey, Taiga,” Henri tentatively called from beside the bed. “Are you alright?”

Taiga stiffened at the obvious concern in her tone. “I'm fine.” He turned to look at her, “More importantly, are you d—” This time, it was Taiga’s turn to lose the ability to speak.

Squatting awkwardly at the side of the bed was the most beautiful creature Taiga had ever laid his eyes on. Like scraping dirt off gold, Henri’s bath had scrubbed off the layers of dirt on her skin and in her hair, revealing an enchanting fairy that would tempt the world once she was fully grown. Her skin was much fairer than he had thought, long golden locks shining brightly in the light.

Henri, having heard Taiga’s screams, did not have enough time to get fully dressed. She had no choice to dash out of the bathroom with only her shirt and then woke him up. Even now, she was not aware of the severely compromising situation she was in, her watery-blue eyes filled only with concern and pity.

Taiga looked away, unable to take the sudden stimulus rush. He had a lot of things he wanted to say, but in the end, he decided to go with, “Go get dressed.”

Henri cocked her head to the side, then looked down at herself. Her cheeks instantly turned red as she shot to her feet. Luckily she’d had enough sense to put on her underwear, or there would be a real disaster. She was about to run into the bathroom when she spotted Taiga’s uncomfortable expression. Recalling the scene from a moment ago, she suddenly put her hands on her hips, a leery smile plastered on her face as she swayed like she had seen Madam’s girls do. “Oh-ho. What’s the matter? Is this more than you can handle?”

“You have zero sex appeal!” Taiga instantly shot back, stunning even himself. He opened his mouth, then closed it, unsure of where the hell that came from. Forming a newfound interest in the wall textures, he muttered, “Just put something on already.”

“Peh, what do you know?” Henri spat with an angry pout as she stomped to the bathroom. “A baby shouldn’t talk about sex appeal.” She glanced at him, a hidden smile curling up her lips as she examined the profile staring intently at the wall. Although he still had an uncomfortable expression, it was different. That much was fine. She entered the bathroom, soon emerging in shorts, just in time to see a guard walk into their room.

“It’s time for lunch,” the guard crassly announced. “You two, follow.”

Taiga and Henri obeyed, maintaining an odd silence between them as the guard guided them out of their room. They met up with several other kids who had taken advantage of the break to freshen up and try out the new clothes. Of course, new clothes alone were not enough to change the sunken hollow cheeks and bony appearances, but at least the air about the children no longer held desolation. A lot of them were looking forward to their stay here.

Taiga did not care what the other children thought as he followed the guard to the elevator. A few floors down and a hallway later, Taiga and the other children entered a large buffet-style dining hall, their bodies bursting with delight as several rich aromas entered their nostrils. If there was one thing that spoiled the mood, it was the numerous guards who stood menacingly around the dining hall.

Taiga’s eyes narrowed as a familiar face popped up once again. ‘Of course that bastard Akari would be here.’

Akari warmly smiled at the children. “You guys certainly look a lot better compared to when you came in. Do you have any complaints about your rooms?” When no one answered, he continued, “This is the cafeteria. Your meals will be served here regularly. Once we start giving you allowances, you can also come here to eat outside of standard meal-times.” Pointing at the servers standing by the buffet table, he explained, “Normally, we use a buffet-style system here, meaning you can eat whatever you want, however you want, no matter the quantity. But because most of you are quite malnourished, overeating will do more harm than good, especially with food as rich as ours. Over the next week, you will have to eat as we say to put some strength back in your bodies. After that, you will be free to eat as you want.”

Finished with his long speech, Akari waved his hand, “Alright, go pick up your food. If you need to talk to me, let one of the guards know. They will bring you to my office.” He then gave some instructions to one of the guards and walked away.

Taiga’s gaze followed the man’s back for a while, but a hard pinch at the back of his hand forcefully broke his attention. “What was that for!?” Taiga shout-whispered at his belligerent roommate.

“You’re drawing too much attention to yourself,” Henri replied with a slight roll of her eyes. “Cool it down a little.”

Taiga snorted but did indeed calm his gaze as he walked over to a server. He grabbed a tray and accepted the bowl of soup and carrot handed to him. The server, a pretty lady, said he could come back for seconds if he was still hungry. Taiga nodded as he dragged his tray and searched for a seat.

It seemed the dining hall had been made just for the kids. There were just about enough chairs for everyone, with most of them placed in groups of two around a single table. Taiga spotted a free table at a corner and made his way towards it. He put his tray on the table and was about to take a seat when—

Clang! Crash!

Taiga looked at the chair that had been kicked against the wall and then up at the child that kicked it.

A tall kid, probably twelve or thirteen, glared down at Taiga, black eyes bursting with a large amount of irritation. “Get the fuck out!” Interestingly, the kid spoke English of all things. “I'm sitting here.”

The dining hall descended into absolute silence. Several pairs of eyes riveted to the small, silver-haired boy, curious about how he would react.

Contrary to all their expectations, Taiga completely ignored the tall child. He simply picked up the chair, repositioned it, and then once more took a seat. He lifted the spoon, taking a sip out of the delicious soup.

Mm, Taiga could not help but admit the taste was better than anything he’d ever had. He could feel all the cells in his body practically bursting with joy.

The ignored boy flared up upon seeing Taiga’s carefree attitude. BAM! Clatter! Enraged, he slapped Taiga’s scalding hot soup to the ground, and some of its contents spilled onto Taiga. “Do you know who I am!?” The twelve-year-old roared. “You dare ignore me!?”

Taiga once again ignored the boy, his attention on the wasted soup before him. Below his breath, he silently muttered, “The cost of wasting food is death.”

The guards suddenly tensed, their hands simultaneously rushing to their side holsters as an enormous pressure, not unlike that only found on the battlefield, crashed onto them,. Luckily, the tension dissipated just as quickly as it accumulated. They looked at the pressure’s source, only to see a young girl standing between the tall kid and the silver-haired boy.

Taiga, whose killing intent had solidified, suddenly found himself unable to summon even the slightest hostility when he felt the tiny hand clutching his from behind. Closing his eyes, he let the spoon drop onto the table. He had lost the desire to go through with the deed now that she had interfered. Still, he would be damned if he let her know how she affected him. “What’re you doing?”

“How dumb can the both of you get?” Ignoring Taiga’s question, Henri scolded the two boys.

“HAH!? What did you say!?” The tall kid had been getting antsy ever since some strange man forcefully brought to the middle of nowhere. Now, this girl was pissing him off even more.

“Idiot. If you two want the guards to make you an example, be my guest.”

Taiga and the tall boy turned to look at the men in black standing around the dining hall. Although their helmet visors hid their eyes, the two could tell they were paying particular attention to both of them.

“Within every group, there’ll always be the stubborn ones,” Henri said with a biting tone. “Smack ‘em up a little, and the rest fall in line. Do you guys wanna get smacked?” When they both kept silent, she shrugged and pointed at the tall boy. “You, if you wanna sit here, grab a chair and come over. It’s not like there’s a rule saying only two people can sit at a table. And you…” She slightly faltered as she looked into Taiga’s hardened gaze.

As a fellow resident of Hadet, she knew how Taiga felt about wasted food. However, “We are no longer in Hadet. Violence doesn’t solve everything. Why don’t you try using your head to find new ways to solve your problems?”

‘New ways?’ Taiga had never been so confused. In Hadet, there was no problem a well-placed bullet could not solve. Why the hell did he need to think of some new method?

The tall boy, on the other hand, was immensely grateful for Henri’s intervention. For someone like him, the last thing he wanted was to be humiliated before other people. He placed his tray on the table and then pushed it towards Taiga. “Name’s Ford. Sorry about earlier. Haven’t been myself lately.”

Taiga only grunted in reply. Despite that, he did not hesitate to start eating the soup. After all, the soup was not the one that sinned. And he was quite hungry.

Henri only rolled her eyes as she handed her tray to Ford and then went back to grab an extra one for herself. The trio was soon seated around the corner table, with Ford and Henri instantly hitting it off once the unpleasantness wore off.

By the side, Taiga listened to their loud conversation as they compared their different hometowns. Nothing was much different, really. The two of them grew up in slums. The only difference was Henri grew up in a brothel while Ford was part of a gang.

Like Henri, Ford had not reached the age to get into the real business and was still just about an errand boy and courier. One or two more years, and he would have blood on his hands. In Henri’s case, she would have shed some ‘other’ blood.

Taiga apathetically listened to the duo. Although he was not particularly interested in their conversation, it served to distract him from his head, which was a plus. Back in Hadet, he did not have anyone to talk to, so he was always lost in his thoughts, which would, in turn, summon the nightmares.

“So what about you, Taiga, what’s your story?” Ford asked, in a blatant attempt to bring Taiga into the discussion.

“Me?” Dozens of faces crossed the young boy’s mind. His lips curled up in a self-deprecating smile. “I am the Grim Reaper.’

Ford’s face instantly went pale.

Later That Night,

“Was that necessary?” Seated atop her bed, Henri stared at the rough silhouette across from her. “You scared Ford half to death.”

Lying on his bed with his back to Henri, Taiga muttered, “He asked. I answered. It’s not my fault he couldn’t handle the truth.”

“You weren’t completely truthful,” Henri challenged. “You’re no longer the Grim Reaper, right? That was your identity in Hadet. You can start brand new.”

Taiga went silent for a couple of seconds before stating, “It doesn’t work that way. I can’t start afresh.” ‘They won’t let me start afresh.’ Taiga tightly tugged the covers over his body. “Get some rest. I have a feeling the real thing starts tomorrow.”

“Mm...”

Moments passed, and just as Taiga was no longer able to stop his droopy eyes from closing, they shot open of their own volition in shock, responding to the being that had invaded his private space.

Taiga was about to scream at the little girl who had snuck under his covers when he felt something shaking against his back. Soon, the tell-tale wetness followed, and the young boy’s face slackened.

Indeed, what had he been expecting? Henri might have acted tough and sensible throughout the whole day, with more nerves of steel than all the boys put together, but in the end, she was still a little girl forced to go to an unknown place to be the toys of people who did not see her as a human.

In this case, Henri’s intelligence had worked against her. It would be weirder if she were completely fine despite all this.

Taiga did not react as the little girl’s arm curled around his waist, and she buried her head against his back.

After Henri had wept herself to sleep, Taiga finally succumbed to the void that had been calling him.

Surprisingly, Taiga slept peacefully for the first time, protected from the zombies by a beautifully bright ray of sunshine within the never-ending void.