Prison Agreement

Ugh…

Just pretend I didn’t say anything.

When she swallowed the porridge and mushrooms on the table that looked okay, Eileen’s brows twitched — for the first time in her life she felt that a cobbled-together meal could actually be tasty.

Not to mention the porridge was so oily it looked like the entire Meria Federation might come and attack for it;
the pickled mushrooms were as dry as plastic sheets, making one wonder whether this experienced hunter had dug up some toy plastic mushrooms from somebody’s house.

Eileen didn’t feel as hungry anymore.

She watched Utoya lick her plate clean and slowly pushed the plate away…

“You not eating?”

“I’m not hungry…”

“Then give it to me.”

Utoya took the plate and swallowed greedily.

Eileen watched her face in silence… she really was quite pretty — how could someone like that be willing to be a hunter in the irradiated forest?

“Why did you save me?”

After a moment’s hesitation — even if the answer might be one she didn’t want to hear — Eileen asked the question she cared about most.

Utoya, whose cheeks had puffed a little, froze, swallowed her food quickly, and like a puppy, lifted her head but didn’t dare meet Eileen’s eyes.

Her voice was low as she began:

“…I don’t know.”

“‘I don’t know’ isn’t an answer. Are you, Hunter Miss, one of those perverts who sees a pretty girl and just grabs her to take home?”

Eileen smiled, but her eyes fixed on Utoya’s face.

If there were even the slightest hint of a lie, she thought, she wouldn’t have hesitated when she ran.

“No, no… That’s not it… People often get lost here, but I usually lead them out…”

Utoya hesitated, stammering as she explained.

“So then, Hunter Miss was moved by looks?”

Eileen narrowed her eyes, feeling inexplicably proud… her body really was decent-looking, huh.

But if that was the only reason…

“Love at first sight, maybe?”

Utoya suddenly lifted her eyes then; they met Eileen’s slightly shocked gaze. So… she could say things like that too.

Unfortunately, Eileen never believed in it.

Not knowing your pain, not knowing your desires, not knowing what kind of person you really are — falling in love at first sight is just liking someone’s appearance, isn’t it?

Eileen had seen too many people like that.

Still… it was an acceptable answer, perhaps.

She was very lonely.

Eileen could see it: this hunter alone in a monster-filled irradiated zone for who knew how long — she must have suffered a lot.

Eileen understood why she’d acted the way she did; if there’s a pretty vase at home, it can ease loneliness.

But understanding didn’t mean approval.

Why should Eileen bear her life? Yet… Eileen couldn’t bear to let her remain truly alone.

“Heh… fine. But you want me to leave, right? If so, when will you let me go? I promise I’ll come back to see you…”

Eileen spoke softly. This was the outskirts of the irradiated zone too — it wouldn’t be hard to come back. Having a friend like that wasn’t a bad thing…

“No!”

Utoya’s voice rose suddenly, startling Eileen. This time her voice flowed more smoothly. Her eyes suddenly reddened:

“I guessed you’d leave, so I deliberately left so you could go back and pay your debts, work, calm down — and what I did then was wrong to you… But after that I would take you, protect you, so you could live more peacefully with me. I’m a hunter, you… you can only be my prey!”

“But you didn’t leave, so… so, I won’t do that. I will treat you well, like you didn’t resist me then, so I won’t lock you in a cage. If you try to leave… I’d rather you stay inside forever…”

…

Heh.

“Can I take that as a threat?”

Eileen narrowed her eyes; a suppressed flame burned deep in her purple irises.

“…Yes.”

Utoya’s golden eyes didn’t flinch at all; her calmness was almost cruel.

Her voice trembled, but was filled with unquestionable force:

“I can get you whatever you want — \*, love, money, a place to live, but here… you cannot leave this line.”

She drew an invisible line on the ground with the tip of her boot:

“This is the boundary, and it’s my bottom line. Cross it, and I’ll use chains, collars, cages… or anything necessary to bring you back. I will find you.”

The air in the cabin froze; only the crackling of the fireplace remained.

Eileen felt the hair on her tail stand on end, her throat tightened, and she had the urge to show her fangs.

But Utoya’s gaze was terrifyingly calm — not fanatic, only the certainty of stating an inevitable result.

That calmness was more suffocating than a roar… she wasn’t threatening; she was laying down her rule.

This woman in front of her was strong but twisted, her expression of possession disturbingly sick… yet Eileen felt a similarly twisted… happiness rise inside her.

Someone cared about her? Wanted to protect her? This… was a burning heat she hadn’t felt, not even in a past life…

Eileen didn’t want to perform anymore.

She could put on a thousand masks to face the prosecutor, Riebe, and the others to survive, but in front of this creature who declared possession with inhuman force and clumsily tried to feed her, Eileen felt an inexplicable emotion well up.

This time, it was real… love at first sight, perhaps?

Eileen couldn’t find any way to explain why she felt like this; she could only admit she might really be going soft in the head for love, but…

“Who wants your \*! I’m not that kind of person… But I can’t stay here forever. I have family, a younger sister still in school, and I have to attend classes… Souvier people can’t just come across borders to grab me; those mercenaries won’t come to my school… unless there’s another war for me, and that’s impossible.”

Eileen rattled off her reasons in one breath: family and studies… Of course, she didn’t care about school itself — what she cared about was the identity of “student.”

When facing others, if she said she was a student, people would lower their guard and refrain from other improper thoughts; others would know teachers and classmates would come looking for her.

Without that identity, she’d be a wandering orphan… and then many things wouldn’t be up to her.

So, no matter how much Eileen disliked going to school, she’d have to keep her enrollment.

“In short, I can stay here… but you must give me space. I can’t stay forever. At least give me one day, okay?”

Saying that made Eileen feel a little ashamed, as if she were being a bit selfish… like one of those wives who brazenly accept a cuckolded husband’s excuse.

After all, the hunter really was protecting her, and she needed that protection.

No — she wasn’t her girlfriend, right? She hadn’t agreed to that… and in the future… it was unlikely she would agree.

“One day… only one day…”

Utoya pondered for a moment, then silently took out an electronic watch from her waist.

She gently held Eileen’s flawless white hand, and, as if putting on a ring, carefully fastened the watch onto it, setting a twenty-four-hour countdown.

“If you don’t come back within a day, I’ll come to find you myself. I’m serious. You’re already in my trap — there’s no escaping.”

It felt like a… collar…

Eileen frowned slightly, but still didn’t take it off.

“Wait… I never said I was leaving yet. It’s still vacation, I’m not in a hurry to go back. It’s just… I have some money stashed at home… and I still need to earn more, which takes time.”

At the mention of money, Eileen started to feel a headache again.

Her hard-earned savings were all gone, and every month she had to hand over four thousand, with that greedy old hag always demanding more.

Converted into Detlan’s economy, it was about the same as her previous life — this was already a full month’s salary for many working-class people.

Eileen had no choice but to fight hard to scrape it together. The warning from earlier was clearly a sign of serious dissatisfaction with her…

“I have money. How much do you want?”

Utoya, without hesitation, pulled out her little fur pouch and took out a few large-denomination bills.

There were Detlan’s, Meria’s, Suvir’s… currencies from almost every major country in the world, and in decent amounts — enough to make Eileen a little shocked.

Good grief, a rich lady too.

“I don’t need your money… I can earn my own. But, Hunter Miss, do you really earn money just by hunting? Could you… teach me?”

Eileen tilted her head, twitching her cat ears. Hunting could be that profitable? It’s not like she couldn’t shoot a gun…

“Hunting… the ones I hunt are mutants — creatures born from radiation fused with supernatural forces. Scientists from various countries pay huge sums on the black market to buy them, in cash. Things like bloodsucking, invisible vampires, or giant flesh masses that like to skin people. I don’t think you’d want to go after those, right, Eileen?”

Seeing Utoya’s hesitant look, Eileen shrank her neck.

Good grief, those kinds of monsters… yeah, better not. But from the sound of it, Utoya was an expert in supernatural matters.

Perfect — this body of hers was way too hard to show people.

“Mm… Hunter Miss, then you should know my cat-like appearance isn’t normal, right? Could you… remove it? Or tell me the rules of how fusion with supernatural beings works?”

Eileen had never found reliable info about this online.

On supernatural entities, the government’s stance was always shrouded in secrecy.

Of course, something so strange had its fanatics, but Eileen still hadn’t found a single trustworthy forum.

Most of what’s online now was no different from rumors.

“Cat ears? I thought you liked them… They’re cute.”

“Don’t dodge my question!”

“Well… humans can fuse with supernatural beings. Fusing one or two isn’t a big problem, but if you add too many, it’ll exceed the body’s tolerance for radiation, leading to radiation sickness. Every supernatural being carries a certain level of radiation, and stacking them multiplies the exposure.”

“I’ve never personally fused with one… I’ve heard the cost is high. But from those who’ve risked it, they say supernatural beings need to recharge. Once their power runs out, they go dormant — then things like ears and tails would recede.”

Utoya spoke thoughtfully, even reaching out as if to touch Eileen’s tail — only to have Eileen slap her hand away quickly.

As expected of a professional, those few words already sounded convincing…

If Eileen’s senses weren’t wrong, this cat-being had given her heightened reflexes and body coordination. She hadn’t yet tested her limits.

If that’s the case…

“Meow!”

For the first time, Eileen gathered all her strength, focusing her senses into her ears.

In an instant, everything around her slowed — dust, sunlight, even the twitch of Utoya’s lip.

Whoa, Sandevistan!

Eileen’s eyes widened as the world seemed to freeze around her, time slowed.

Curious, she nudged a water bottle off the table — and it fell, inch by inch, at an impossible speed for normal time.

But just as she was enjoying the strange power, sharp pain stabbed her head.

The sensation was familiar, though, so she wasn’t too scared.

She reached up to her head and tail base — sure enough, they were gone.

The slowed-time state lasted about five seconds… and when it ended, even her agility and coordination vanished, leaving her body empty.

As expected of a supernatural being — powerful indeed.

From Eileen’s guess, this cat-being normally boosted her senses and speed, but if overloaded, it could drastically slow down time itself — with her unaffected.

If so… maybe she could earn money much faster.

Clatter.

The bottle still hit the floor.

Eileen quickly picked it up, pretending nothing happened, and set it back on the table.

This must be… the “Breath Field”!

Sounded cool enough.

This world didn’t have that dumb meme, so others would only be impressed at the self-made name.

She quietly gave herself that silly title.

“Just now… did you turn into a cat…”

Utoya looked at her in shock — at her meow, and then the bottle falling — clearly unsure what had just happened.

“N-no, nothing… Anyway! I have to go back. Hunter Miss, just take care of yourself!”

With new power, even the frustration of captivity faded a little.

Eileen felt cheerful, her voice light.

If she couldn’t even stay optimistic at this level, she’d have gone mad long ago in this world.

“I’ll wait for you to come back… Will you return tonight?”

Utoya suddenly looked downcast, though she didn’t show it openly.

“…Yes. I’ll go back just to grab a few things.”

Eileen only felt strange… She was the one who’d been captured, so why did it feel like she was the one in the wrong?

Was this woman’s skill really that high?

Had she manipulated her into this?

“Be careful on the road.”

A few loaves of black bread, two or three bottles of water, a small flask of vodka, her Makarov pistol with thirty-some rounds, and a hundred Detlan Republic bills Utoya had insisted on giving her — stuffed in a schoolbag.

It made Eileen feel oddly like she was just heading to class.

But it was time to go home…

Biting into a chunk of bread, she touched the cat ears that had regrown within the hour, and waved toward Utoya, who sat gloomily on a stump at the doorway.

Then she turned and walked into the wilderness, toward the edge of the city.