The Truth About the Most Annoying Hunter - Part 1

The infiltration had been a success. However, as expected, it wasn’t going to be that simple.

The Bunker’s facilities were enormous and maze-like. On top of that, it was difficult to orient myself since the vast majority of the hallways and rooms looked extremely similar—especially the hallways, which were almost impossible to tell apart.

I wandered all over the place for quite a while, avoiding agents and researchers as I went, finding rooms like laboratories, testing chambers, among others, but nothing resembling the cells.

“How are the subject’s vital signs?”

“Stable. Should we proceed with the tests?”

Suddenly, as I was wandering, the conversation between two researchers caught my attention, and when I peeked into the room they were in, the scene I found left me frozen.

Yu was there, trapped inside what seemed to be a suspension capsule. He was unconscious, floating in a strange blue substance while his limbs were restrained by massive shackles.

I considered the possibility that this might be the standard treatment for prisoners, but I immediately discarded that notion; there was no one else in those conditions besides Yu in that room, and in all the time I had been here, he was the only one I had seen like that.

Why are they treating him that way? Is something so big hidden behind all of this?

Seeing him in that state, being treated like a mere test subject, made me feel awful—sad for having accused him—but I tried to push that aside and kept going. Until everything was clarified, he would remain the Beast King, the one who caused so many tragedies and killed my older sister.

Eventually, I found a heavily secured room with intense vigilance all around. It seemed I had finally found my objective.

Just as I had been doing until now, I avoided the guards thanks to the camouflage device and managed to slip into the cell chamber. It wasn’t a particularly large place, but there were quite a number of cells. There were hunters inside; some looked incredibly emaciated while others shouted desperately, wanting to get out.

It didn’t take me long to find Ms. Takahashi’s cell, located at the very end of the hallway.

Knock, knock.

“Ms. Takahashi.”

I tapped on the glass of the cell and deactivated my camouflage, finally coming face-to-face with my target.

“You… What the hell are you doing here?” she exclaimed in irritation.

“I came for answers. Ms. Usagi and Mr. Kuroki want to know the truth about all this. Why were you imprisoned too?”

“Ha! It’s precisely because of them that I’m here,” she answered cynically. “Leave. I’m not going to tell you anything.”

She was angry, but I could understand why. It was true that it was thanks to Ms. Usagi’s testimony and mine regarding the Beast King’s identity that Yu and she were imprisoned. But things couldn’t remain like this. If there was even a small chance that all of this was a misunderstanding, then I wanted to uncover it.

“Please… if you know anything that could prove you and Yu are innocent, we could help get you out of here.”

I wanted her to talk. I wanted her to explain why she had been so desperate to speak with Yu before they brought them here. Any answer at this point would help immensely.

However, Ms. Takahashi’s expression changed—not into one of hope or calm, but into one of resignation, as if she had finally accepted her cruel fate.

“It doesn’t matter. No matter what they attempt, the government will not let us go. Even if we escape, they will never stop hunting us,” she said sorrowfully. “The problem… is Yu’s very existence.”

Seeing that her answer only gave me more questions, Ms. Takahashi let out a heavy sigh.

“It no longer matters. In any case, they’ll condemn me to be here for life, in the best-case scenario. Besides, despite what you did, Yu truly came to care about you. Out of respect for that, I’ll tell you the truth.”

Hearing such a thing made my heart feel unbearably heavy. I wanted to maintain my stance regarding everything related to the Beast King, but the memories of the moments I spent with Yu began resurfacing.

Is Yu really the Beast King?

It was time to find out.

“Tell me, do you know how it was that hunters started using mana?”

“Oh, yes! Thanks to research, they discovered that the mana in the environment could be manipulated, and from there the techniques were developed into what we know today.”

“Yes, but that’s not the whole truth. You know the story of the fallen dragon, don’t you?”

The fallen dragon. Yes, every student from any hunter academy knows the story. An unprecedented event in which a humanoid figure and a massive dragon fought nearly one hundred years ago. The dragon lost the battle and fell dead in the Kyushu region, causing massive destruction.

It was thanks to the dragon’s corpse that our world became filled with mana. We owe the appearance of monsters to it, but also the ability to use mana to defend ourselves… or at least, those who can use it.

“It’s said that researchers discovered how to manipulate environmental mana, but that is not the entire truth,” she said nervously—yet she remained firm and looked straight at me. “The research was divided into two branches: the one focused on environmental mana, and the so-called Magical Corpse project, which I initially worked on.”

***

According to her, the Magical Corpse project focused on the possibility of humanity generating mana on their own without depending on the mana in the environment, just like magical beasts, and the idea was to create receptacles or magical clones using the remains of the dragon, granting them the innate ability to create and control their own mana. Then, the souls of people would be transferred into their respective receptacles, thus acquiring the ability to use mana.

However, things did not go at all as planned.

Many people died during the cloning process, others during the extraction of their souls, and many of the magical clones died within a few hours. It was a true hell for everyone involved; but given the priority of learning about mana at the time, they had to continue.

“Eventually, the branch researching environmental mana succeeded in its goal, and the Magical Corpse project was cancelled. It was always an extreme secret due to its sinister experiments and results, and they ordered everything to be discarded and completely destroyed.”

“And did you actually do it?”

“… No.”

Continuing her story, she explained that when the project was cancelled, another test subject had recently died during the soul extraction process, leaving around thirty purposeless clones behind.

“They had no souls. They were nothing more than receptacles for humanity, but technically, they were alive. They told me to dispose of them and never speak of it again. However… I couldn’t do it. I set them free.”

“Why? Many people had already died, according to what you’ve told me. Why let them go now?”

“I was tired. I no longer wanted to see anyone die, even if they were just clones. I released them so they could live their own lives… or perhaps to atone for my own soul.”

After finishing her story, she fell silent. I knew there was something behind all this, but I didn’t expect it to be something so huge. However, there was still one question left to ask; the answer was obvious, but I needed to hear it from her directly.

“Yu was one of the clones you released, wasn’t he?”

“… Yes.”

Everything now made sense. Yu’s strength and skill, his remarkable talent for manipulating mana, even the scream-type ability he used against the Priran at the academy. Every strange or out-of-place thing about Yu seemed to fit now.

He wasn’t human—he was a clone created from the base of an incredibly powerful magical beast… the dragon from nearly a century ago.

“If what you and Aizawa said is true, and the Beast King had the same face as Yu, that means he is also one of the receptacles I released. Yu is innocent. I, on the other hand… am the one responsible for everything.”

Hearing those words stirred complex emotions within me. On one hand, I was relieved that I had been wrong—that my tutor had nothing to do with as many deaths as I once thought. But on the other hand, I felt ashamed and horrible; I accused the person who helped me the most and trusted me the most without even allowing him to explain himself or giving him the benefit of the doubt.

I threw away everything he had done for me and pointed to him as the one who ruined the lives of thousands. Now, remembering the confusion in his eyes when I pointed my weapon at him weighed heavier than ever. I… abandoned the only person who trusted me.

Realizing this, my eyes began to well with tears. All I could think about now was his face before he was captured, when I threatened and betrayed him, followed by his expression of resignation.

I had to apologize to him no matter what! I had to free them!

“Just wait, I’ll get you out of here and—huh?”

Then, suddenly, the place began to shake, making me fall to the floor. It seemed like an earthquake, but the irregular rhythm of the tremor made me doubt that.

“I’ll go check. I’ll be right back.”

I activated the optical camouflage device and ran out of the cell room, searching for answers, but what I heard from one of the agents terrified me completely.

“Th-the Beast King! He’s here!”