I wondered how long I had been waiting.
Soon, the reception room door opened, and someone entered.
“I heard you were looking for me, is that right?”
“Ah, yes. I'm Cracker, Team Leader of the Security Processing Team.”
“You’ll know as you come in, but I'm Pagos, Director of Zone 03.”
I exchanged a light handshake with the Director and took a seat.
“I heard you've brought quite an interesting question with you.”
“Yes, I was hoping to learn a thing or two about Graver.”
“Ha, from what I heard, it raided a facility in the rear.”
“Yes, I went to the scene on a neutralization mission.”
“Ah, then you're a veteran? You mean to say you saw it and fought it with your own eyes?”
“Well, yes.”
Pagos began to laugh, clapping his hands as if delighted.
I couldn’t know the exact meaning behind that laughter, but.
“I’m glad, you see. Virtually all humans who faced that thing directly have died.”
“They all died, you say?”
“The documents you brought, they're security documents related to Graver, yes?”
“Yes, you know your stuff.”
“May I see them?”
I handed over the Graver documents I had brought to Pagos.
Pagos read through them one by one, then shook his head as if exasperated,
his face scrunched into a frown.
“They've put real effort into writing bullshit, those idiots.”
“What do you mean?”
Pagos tore the documents to pieces right before my eyes.
As if that wasn't enough, he stomped on them and even kicked them aside.
“This is no help. It's like a college student trying to study from a middle school textbook.”
“Then.”
Pagos thrust his face close to mine and flashed a toothy grin.
“I'll tell you myself. That those documents are nothing but trash, as one who has faced Graver,
an eyewitness who confronted it!”
+++
“Team Leader Pagos, let's head back now.”
“Ah, Seora, I can't go back empty-handed like this. It's unjust.”
“Didn't HQ already say you may return? You'll just stir up trouble for nothing if you keep poking around.”
“You worry too much. Are you looking down on me now that I'm of retirement age?”
“That was never my intention.”
“You dull punk, fine. Let's look around for five more minutes.”
“Understood.”
The sound of a ship's horn echoed from the warship.
It was about time to prepare to return.
Of course, I couldn't just pass by after seeing it.
“Hey, hey, what's that?”
“What are you referring to?”
“Over there, don't you see something huge on the island?”
“If you're going to say that, at least hand me the binoculars.”
“Tch, picky bastard.”
The operative who received the binoculars checked the surroundings.
I could tell right away that my eyes hadn't deceived me.
Because the hands of the operative holding the binoculars were trembling.
“How in the world did you see that? It's invisible because of the fog.”
“You think I bought my team leader position with money? Now, let's go!”
“Agh, there goes leaving on time.”
The warship's cannons quietly began targeting their mark.
From the looks of it, the other side didn't seem to know the situation yet.
“Shall we test the waters? Or else.”
“Fire everything you've got, to the point where you'd question if it's even allowed.”
“I don't think that's a very good idea.”
“Ha, you punk. If it bothers you that much, you be the team leader.”
“Yes, yes, I'll do as HQ says.”
I really wanted to see it.
A creature that remained alive even after being struck by cannon fire.
Because until now, only an extreme few entities had remained unscathed after receiving the baptism of fire from this warship.
“Ready, awaiting orders.”
“Fire.”
“Reconfirming.”
“Fire, fire! Let's give it one satisfying sweep!”
At the order, the cannons began firing.
Smoke billowed out with tremendous noise, and soon began turning the island into a wasteland.
“Hand me the binoculars! Let's see the results!”
I snatched the binoculars and checked the island's condition.
Black rising smoke.
Ground set ablaze.
A section of the island collapsing.
It seemed no living creature remained on the island after such tremendous bombardment.
Until one looked closely.
“Damn, just as I thought, it was alive.”
Pushing aside the smoke, the bastard began glaring in the direction of the warship.
“Steer properly. My temper's flaring so much I might start throwing whatever's at hand.”
“Aren't you showing a little too much that you're enjoying this?”
“You'll know when you reach my age. How wonderful the joy of watching is.”
“I'm still far from that.”
“It'll happen soon enough, you disrespectful brat. This time, we're going continuous!”
The warship's cannons began firing once more.
Thunderous roars and the smell of burning filled the air.
“I think the island won't hold out before that.”
“Even better, don't you think it'd be hilarious to see it floundering in the water?”
“Do as you please, I don't know anything.”
No more thunderous roars came from the cannons.
Only smoke rose quietly.
I checked the bastard's condition once more.
“Well, well.”
The bastard raised its head and began extinguishing the flames clinging to its body.
It had looked sturdy, but I hadn't expected it to be *that* sturdy.
“Team Leader, that thing. Isn't it perfectly fine?”
“What, it took all that and it's still perfectly fine like that?”
“You were so confident, but what kind of state is this?”
“Shut up, call in the recon team. We're taking it down no matter what.”
“If you're going to charge ahead like this, you should at least inform HQ.”
“Would they just sit by and watch me do something crazy? I can't go back like this.”
The recon team's helicopter squad arrived immediately after receiving the radio call.
They couldn't help but be surprised twice—once at the island being in shambles, and again at the creature still living on that island.
“Recon team, we'll provide artillery support. Subdue the bastard.”
“Roger that.”
But the helicopter squad alone didn't set my mind at ease.
No, to be exact, I wanted to see the bastard up close.
“Everyone except essential personnel, get on the landing craft! We're going to catch the bastard!”
“Team Leader, I really don't think that's a good idea.”
“Ugh, this punk talks too much. I don't take cowards. You stay here.”
“If you get yourself killed, I had nothing to do with it.”
Loading the operatives onto the landing craft, I charged recklessly toward the island.
The desire to see the bastard up close was genuine.
Of course, my head knew it was dangerous.
But my heart was screaming to go to the island.
“Now, let's see how great this bastard is, that thick-faced prick!!”
+++
“So, you went to that island personally?”
“I wanted to see the bastard with my own two eyes, of course.”
“You're truly amazing in a different sense, sir.”
“I'm saying this because you're still young—it's good to show off in moderation.”
Pagos rolled up his right sleeve.
Looking closely, it was something that could not be called a human arm.
“What happened to your arm?”
“The recklessness of my youth, let's just call it the price for that.”
Noticing the mood had grown heavy, Pagos immediately began to laugh.
“I think I got off cheap with just one arm, don't you agree, young friend?”
“Even so, an arm is a bit...”
“Ha, I was quite fond of it because it fit me so well. What a shame.”
“So, what happened after that is...”
“Sleep here tonight.”
“Yes?”
Pagos rose from his seat and pointed at the scenery outside the window.
“This place, Zone 03, is where storms love to gather. It's rare to see a clear day like today,
so you could say you were lucky.”
The energy of the sky was unusual.
Before long, an enormous amount of rain began to fall.
“Sleep here. In this weather, neither helicopters nor warships can launch anyway. I'll tell you the rest tomorrow, if you don't mind a rather unpleasant story.”
“Understood, and with the rain, Graver won't be able to show itself either.”
Pagos began laughing like a madman, as if he'd heard a joke.
Just as I was about to ask the reason, Pagos approached me.
“If you knew that Graver's weakness wasn't water, you'd be shocked senseless, wouldn't you?”
“What do you mean...”
The storm grew stronger and stronger.
Perhaps because of the terrible weather, a guest who had yet to visit turned their back.
Promising to return next time.
+++
These days, the time I spent with Hugmon had increased noticeably.
It wasn't like there was a particularly good way to pass the time,
and the days when it came voluntarily all the way to the front of the isolation room had increased.
Holding Hugmon in one arm and stroking its head had become part of my daily routine.
Of course, there were more than a few disapproving gazes.
'It comes in because it likes me, but I'm the one getting scolded?'
It was vexing, but I decided to set that feeling aside for now.
Once you pet a squishy being like this, you become someone overflowing with mercy of your own accord, to the point where the gazes of those around you don't even enter your eyes.
Of course, the downside was that if you thought of it as a cat-like pet, there was still an unfamiliar sense of disparity.
For some reason, today seemed especially noisy.
+++
“Director, something seems to have entered the island.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, a small boat is sitting right there near the island's outer edge.”
“A small boat, you say?”
“Yes, do you know something about it?”
When he radioed the watchtower personnel, a reply came immediately.
“Director, is something the matter?”
“There's an intruder on the island, maintain perimeter watch and report anything strange immediately.”
“Ah, understood.”
“Keep this in mind, absolutely no preemptive response. Don't threaten it either. Don't forget to radio the moment you see anything,
understood?”
“Understood, don't worry.”
Once the radio cut off, the adjutant looked this way with an expression asking if something was wrong.
“It's not certain, but there's a high chance it's him.”
“Who in the world is he that you're acting this way? Isn't he an Unknown?”
“If it's him, any response from our side is meaningless anyway. We'd only be getting on its nerves,
nothing more.”
“Stop speaking as if you're the only one who knows and tell me. What is it?”
“Wait and see. It'll come here itself.”
A deafening siren began to echo throughout the facility.
“Prepare to receive our guest! Don't forget to be ready to respond immediately if things go south!”