Under the night sky, bleak moonlight fell across Clementine's face, like a faint dawn breaking over her dim and wretched life.
Without alerting the patrolling soldiers, Clementine slipped quietly out through the city gates. After walking several kilometers, she reached a small grove.
"This should be it."
She stopped and carefully surveyed her surroundings, muttering to herself.
It was a forest clearing covered in patches of Luminous Moss. The moss emitted a soft blue glow, breathtaking in its beauty—a natural source of light.
Clementine recalled the location Naohara had told her about. It matched this place exactly.
In the pitch-dark night, the faint glow from the moss allowed her to see the area clearly, making up for the weakness of human night vision.
Being born human in this world was truly unfortunate. Humans could only reach a little over level 30 at best, forever barred from becoming true powerhouses. It was, in a way, a quiet kind of tragedy.
"Naohara?"
As she scanned her surroundings, a figure in the distance caught her eye. Unable to make out who it was, she called out hesitantly.
At the same time, she slowly reached behind her back and drew out two short spikes, gripping them tightly as she stared at the shadow standing in the darkness.
Something wasn't right.
The silhouette ahead gave her a sense of familiarity—but not the kind she associated with Naohara. It was something else. Something she knew far too well.
The figure in the darkness said nothing and began walking toward her.
The air grew heavy in an instant, and that strange, unsettling familiarity in Clementine's chest intensified.
A breeze brushed across her gaunt cheeks, lifting her short golden hair. Under the oppressive silence, her smooth throat shifted as she swallowed.
"We meet again, Clementine-san."
A low, gloomy voice broke the silence. As the figure stepped closer, illuminated by the glow of the Luminous Moss, Clementine finally saw him clearly.
Herohero stood several dozen meters away. The slime that formed his face rippled slightly, shaping itself into what he believed to be a friendly smile.
The moment Clementine recognized him, her body went rigid. A massive, nameless terror crashed over her.
"Impossible… That's impossible… Why are you here…?"
She muttered under her breath, her body trembling uncontrollably. Cold sweat streamed down her forehead. She couldn't understand why she would run into this horrifying monster here.
"Calm down. I came with good intentions this time."
"There was a small unpleasant incident before. It's been bothering me."
"I'm here to clear up the misunderstanding. I even brought you a gift."
Noticing her reaction, Herohero grew nervous and spoke more quickly.
The slime on his face continued to writhe as he tried to make his smile appear gentler.
A dark red gift box materialized in his two pitch-black palms. Holding it out toward Clementine, he gestured lightly, hoping to calm her down.
At the same time, he let out a quiet sigh of relief.
This should work, right?
He had been thinking about what happened the other night. It seemed he had frightened her. And since Naohara still considered this human a friend, he felt he ought to show some sincerity.
Feeling awkward about being watched by his friends, Herohero had sent Naohara and Momonga away in advance and come here alone, hoping to resolve the previous unpleasantness in private.
Naohara and Momonga agreed to arrive a little later, giving Herohero enough space to handle things himself.
"Um… Clementine-san?"
When Clementine gave no response, Herohero called out softly. He was sure he hadn't said anything wrong, so why wasn't she reacting at all?
What he didn't know was that from the moment he appeared, Clementine had already fallen into mental turmoil. She had shut out the outside world entirely, lost in her own spiraling thoughts.
"Why… why is this monster here…"
"What do I do? Run?"
"Yes, run! I have to run. I'll die. I'll definitely die…"
"No… wait. Where's Naohara? Why is it this monster instead of him at this time…"
"Could it be…"
Clementine muttered like someone on the verge of madness, hugging her thin shoulders tightly. She hadn't heard a single word Herohero said.
She had instinctively taken a step to flee, but suddenly stopped.
Her body began trembling violently.
She remembered.
The first time she encountered this monster, it had been feeding…
Naohara was nowhere in sight, and a man-eating monster had appeared here instead. A horrifying thought took root in her mind.
Naohara had been eaten.
Eaten by the monster standing before her…
"Heh… heh…"
"I'll ask you… have you seen any other humans here?"
Forcing down her fear, Clementine stared at Herohero, who stood before her in a demonic posture, and asked in a trembling voice.
A faint trace of hope flickered in her eyes. She prayed things weren't as she feared.
But Herohero's reply crushed that hope completely.
"Humans? We've already cleared out all the humans here. Tonight, it's just the four of us."
Seeing her finally respond, Herohero felt a bit relieved. It seemed like his plan was working. After briefly considering her question, he answered without hesitation.
He wasn't lying. In preparation for laying everything out in the open, all the humans in the area had already been driven back to E-Rantel. Tonight, there would only be one human and the three of them.
If Herohero had been just a little more attentive, he might have noticed something off in Clementine's question. But already nervous, he failed to catch the critical detail.
In Clementine's eyes, Naohara was still human.
And since Naohara hadn't revealed the truth to her yet, everything went horribly wrong.
"Cleared…"
"Heh… hahaha…"
"Another friend gone… Alone… I'm alone again…"
The light in Clementine's eyes faded instantly. She seemed to go slack, like stagnant water, muttering to herself over and over.
Broken laughter mixed with fragmented words. Tears began streaming from the corners of her eyes, dripping onto the glowing Luminous Moss at her feet.
She hadn't heard the latter half of Herohero's sentence. The moment she heard "cleared," her sanity snapped.
"Um… are you okay?"
Seeing Clementine half-kneeling on the ground, shouting and sobbing as tears poured down her face, Herohero froze.
What just happened? How did things turn out like this? This wasn't supposed to happen.
A wave of exhaustion washed over him.
He only wanted to clear up a misunderstanding. Why was this becoming more and more troublesome?
Next time, he was definitely dragging Momonga and Naohara along. Herohero felt a headache coming on.
Feeling embarrassed in front of his friends was nothing compared to this mess.
"Die! Die! Die!"
At the sound of his voice, Clementine suddenly lifted her head. Madness filled her eyes as she charged at Herohero, completely out of control.
"Damn it!"
Seeing her rush at him with a crazed expression, Herohero dropped the gift in his hands and couldn't help but curse.