Editing HEAVY OBJECT:EX Chapter 8 (section)

===Part 2===

It had originally been a small wooden village built in the gaps between the trees of the thick jungle. It would have maybe had 100 residents. But due to the flooding at certain times of year, all of the buildings were built high off the ground and they were connected by wooden bridges.

The land was entirely flooded. It was strange seeing tree trunks sticking straight out of the water. The animals were quite noisy, but that may have been because the squirrels and monkeys were fighting over the branches now that the land was not an option.

“…”

Skuld’s slender hands clung to one of the legs supporting a wooden bridge between two small buildings.

The serial killer had finally arrived at her hunting ground.

A young man had come out into the pouring rain because he was worried the gusts of wind were affecting the satellite antenna. When he noticed the (seemingly) drowning twintail girl, he quickly ran over.

“H-hey, are you okay!? Are you crazy!? I don’t know what happened, but why would you go outside today!?”

She clung to the strong arm he reached out to her and he dragged her up onto the bridge.

Meanwhile, everything’s outlines blurred psychedelically in Skuld’s vision. She could sense a human’s body heat, breathing, pulse, and creaking joints and cartilage from so close. She could torment, lick, toy with, and finally break him. That was all it would take for her to experience his invisible and inaudible life.

It was like a tightly closed bivalve.

Its breaking was not a sad thing.

Nothing was more wasteful than refusing to pry open the shell and letting the contents rot away.

“Those clothes… Are you a soldier?”

“No, um, I’m more like an important mascot made to look like one…”

Not even Skuld knew why she had lied. But it did not really matter if this young man realized she was lying. If that happened, she would just have to enjoy her meal without any preparation.

And when she took a closer look, she realized this young man was a little too muscular for her liking. He lost some points for the beard as well. That slightly reduced the psychedelic coloring of her vision. She was calming down.

Yes, she was starving, but that was no reason to gorge herself on bad food.

Anything would taste great to her now, but that was exactly why she had to start with the most exquisite dish.

After running and running to exhaustion, no one would want to drink a cup of lukewarm water smelling of chlorine. There were so many better options: ice-cold champagne, 100% orange juice, mineral water that made a brand name out of water, etc.

“I would like to contact my tour company, so do you have a phone I can use?”

“Oh, yes, don’t worry. We have a satellite line. This way. You must be chilled, so you’d probably love a heater and some warm soup, right?”

The young man really did seem to be worried about Skuld. He did not seem to be luring the young girl back home as an unexpected treat. Then again, this had been so unexpected that those wicked thoughts might start growing once he calmed down.

It did not matter either way to Skuld.

He was not her preference, but she could always find a greater feast after enjoying a nice little snack.

And a hunt was best when it was somewhat thrilling.

It was a desire for that sort of spice that had led her to start choosing her prey from the soldiers in her unit instead of the civilians she had previously targeted. A target that did not put up a fight and simply begged for its life was fine every once in a while, but it got old fast. Someone who would fight back however they could was much more enjoyable.

She was taken to a small house.

But this one doubled as a shop.

“I run a leisure shop. It’s mostly for hunting, though,” said the young man. “It might seem wrong in this treasure trove of rare animals, but if we don’t establish some rules and set some limits, the tourists will kill everything in no time. By telling them what animals they can hunt, how many they can kill, and what tools they can use, we can control things enough to keep the animals from going extinct.”

“Oh?”

She had thought they would have nothing in common, but he had a decent sense of aesthetics. Skuld somewhat understood the way he thought about controlling lives. Although her prey was far from endangered. The planet was teeming with that species of primate.

“What about this life jacket and fishing pole? I don’t see how you could use those in the forest.”

“What do you think it was that swept you here? The jungle tends to flood during the rainy season, so I’ve expanded to cover marine sports as well. I also have diving equipment and spearguns.”

“…”

Skuld looked interested and traced her fingers across the speargun set up next to the counter.

It was a strangely shaped gun. It looked like a small plastic handgun had been stretched out to 70cm. And instead of lead bullets, it contained a metal spear longer than an umbrella. The end had a sinister barb just like a fishing hook.

“Big Game Hunter?”

Skuld curiously read aloud the words printed on it.

“That’s its name,” said the young man. “That’s one I customized myself, so it isn’t for sale.”

“?”

“Spearguns for fishing normally use gas or rubber to launch the shaft, but that one uses a blank rifle cartridge. Then again, that blank cartridge is also custom made. It’s packed full of gunpowder, so your gun will explode if you use it in a normal hunting rifle.” The shop manager shrugged. “It’s for emergencies only, like when a crocodile approaches the flooded village. It has a range of 20m in the water and 100 in the air. With a range like that, the risk of accidentally hitting someone is too great for use in marine sports.”

Four meters was normally enough for a speargun, so it was obvious how extraordinary the Big Game Hunter was.

“Everyone always says it’s too dangerous, but this is the only thing that does the trick when it really counts. You need something to protect your family, you know?”

“Your family…”

Skuld slowly narrowed her eyes, but the young man failed to notice the slight change.

“Then…do you have a wife and child?”

“Yeah, they’re in the back. My son is normally getting himself into trouble, but he always curls up and trembles in a corner of the room when a storm blows in. But that’s part of what makes him so adorable. Want to see a picture?”

The young man pulled out his wallet.

The spot for a subway pass had a photo of a smiling family of three, including the young man.

“Oh?”

Skuld’s eyes were drawn to one of them in particular.

The child was even younger than Skuld and his frame had yet to fill out.

He appeared androgynous, but he was likely the son the young man had mentioned.

He lacked the muscles of a man, but his bodylines were too pointed to be a girl.

Skuld’s eyes glanced elsewhere. The Big Game Hunter speargun was casually placed next to the counter, putting it well within arm’s reach.

And this wonderful life was in the residential area behind the shop. That bivalve was waiting to be pried open by Skuld’s hands. If someone stabbed a blade into it and used the principle of leverage to split it apart from the outside, the shellfish could not survive. But people were most attracted to the soft flesh within, and that only showed itself once the shell was opened.

In other words…

There was an attractive prey here.

There was an attractive weapon here.

She gulped. She felt like sweet poison was flowing through her veins as her heart pounded. Her nerves forgot all heat and pain as they specialized themselves to feel only pleasure. She could tell her entire body – from the most vital organs to the tiniest hair – was being alluringly remade. Skuld Silent-Third naturally repeated herself while a strange sensation spiraled through her mind.

The defenseless shop manager had his back turned as he messed with the phone on the counter.

And she said the same thing once more.

“Oh?”