Faraway Survivor

Farah's POV

I ponder on my spot for a moment before turning to ask sister Theresa about the monster.

-The locals usually refer to this monster as the reaper. I never had a chance to witness it by myself, but I have seen its appearance in the book.

Sister Theresa puts her hands behind her head and tries to make a scary face.

-It's a big giant crab that will devour people that dare to enter their territory.

I can't help but smile at how realistic sister Theresa's actions used to describe the monster. When I was Tina, she would also do something like this to make me smile.

Sister Theresa scratches her face as she stares at me.

-What's wrong, sister? (Farah)

-Uhm...I'm just afraid that you won't like that...

-What do you mean, sister? (Farah)

I give sister Theresa a warm hug.

-It does not matter how long I have been separated from everyone. I am still your Tina. (Farah)

-Tina...

As we finish our conversation, the maid leader has already transformed the safe room into its original form. On the way we head to the place marked on the mark, we encounter many weird monsters.

-How come this place has so many monsters...? (Farah)

-...

Sister Theresa looks at the scenery outside and doesn't seem to pay attention to my question.

-Sister Theresa! (Farah)

-Ehhh...

Sister Theresa only snaps out after I call her name out loud many times.

-I'm sorry, Tina...

I shake my head and try to question sister Theresa's weird action.

-What's wrong, sister Theresa? (Farah)

I can only see that sister Theresa pays too much attention to the monster that appears outside the vehicle.

-Have you ever questioned the origin of the monster, Tina? Where did they come from? And what are they?

-I never thought about that problem... (Farah)

Because from what I have learned in school, most monsters are born from the mana. And I don't know what is so special about that, so I don't study the issue in depth.

-What is wrong with it, sister Theresa?

There must be some problem with how they were born, so sister Theresa had to say something like that. Otherwise, sister Theresa won't start on a topic like that.

-You know, Farah. We started to investigate a lot about the soul since our part away. Because of that, we come to discover many unexpected things.

-... (Farah)

-I don't know if those discoveries are good things or not. But...

-But...what, sister? (Farah)

I see sister Theresa pauses for a long time and not continue.

-That we can make a monster from a human soul.

-Ehh? (Farah)

-After a human's soul comes into contact with different mana, the soul will start to mutate. The more frequently the human soul comes in contact with mana, the stronger the mutation is. Somehow, the soul will be able to gain a physical body shortly after the mutation start.

-Is that a good thing instead, sister Theresa? (Farah)

For the dead to be able to regain their physical body, is that a good thing? Sister Theresa seems to understand my thought and smiles wryly.

-It's not something positive like what you thought, Tina. Those souls won't be able to gain their original bodies.

-Ehh? (Farah)

That statement of her startles me. Right... I think about this problem so simply.

-There won't be any significant change at first. And for some reason, those people become more and more violent. It becomes worse as time pass. Those victims will never lose their violent tendency, too.

-... Sister Theresa. (Farah)

-Yes, Tina?

-Did you experiment with those people...? (Farah)

-...

Sister Theresa looks away from me with a dark face. This reaction of her indicates that what I said is true.

-Sister... (Farah)

Sister Theresa smiles wryly and continues.

-I know that you would hate us for doing all those inhumane actions. But...

Sister Theresa looks at me in the eyes.

-I don't want to hide the truth from you. I don't want to be a liar in front of you.

-... (Farah)

-It's inhuman for me to do all those things...But even if you give me a second chance, I would do that again. As for why...

Sister Theresa gives me a glance and then stops talking.

-I... (Farah)

At this moment, the maid from outside calls out to me.

-Master! 

I have no choice but to stop our conversation to answer the maid outside.

-What's wrong? (Farah)

The maid looks me in the eye and answers.

-We just found an underground passage.