"So, first of all, let's cooperate... How are you going to find Master? There's no need to send people to overlapping places, isn't there much difference from what you've been doing?"

"Let's put a bounty on him."

"... Are you crazy? He's the one who hid from our eyes until now. If he hides better after looking at the wanted place, we might never find him."

"Don't spread to many places, but only inns and restaurants. As you said, he's been hiding from our eyes, so shouldn't we borrow other people's eyes now? We have a limit on our own."

"......."

"Of course, you don't have an objection, do you?"

*****

Kaw, Kaw.

Flap.

Blackbirds covered the sky. It obscures the sun as if announcing the end, and flaps its wings while making ominous noises.

In the midst of the unusual and ominous phenomenon, a man standing silently alone raises his head. Unlike his narrowed eyes as if to find the source of the sound, his cloudy gray eyes are shaking back and forth, unable to focus.

For a moment, a dry voice cut through the sound of the wings and resonated in the air.

"...... Stop teasing me and come out."

"......."

"I know everything here."

It takes a long time for him to come all the way here, so he is sure they won't pretend unnoticed. The sound of the wings fading quieted down as if responding to a muttering he didn't know who it was directed at.

Blackbirds gather in one place in front of a man who cannot see anything and a man walks out from among them. Then a low, eerie voice rings out.

"I am wondering if someone is looking for me—."

Birds with ominous energy fly around the man who walks calmly or sits on his shoulders. The man took another step forward and narrowed the distance, scanning the other person's face thoroughly and narrowing his eyes.

"I never thought it would be you."

At first glance, it seemed like a smile.

"The one who brought chaos to the world and increased my work.  It's so funny that you shamelessly seek me out on a topic like that."

"..."

"Well, since I'm still interested, let's move on for now. The fact that you found me and called me like this means that you are related to 'her' in some way, so I'm curious about that too..." 

"This is not important right now, so let's skip it."

He suddenly took on the appearance of a woman, folding the corners of "her" eyes and pulling up the corners of "her" mouth. A smile bloomed on "her" face.

The dreamy yet decadent atmosphere is enough to captivate anyone regardless of gender, but the man's gray eyes toward 'her' are just blurred, unable to contain anything.

Regardless, the woman stretched out "her" hand.

".....!"

The man shivers at the cool touch touching his eyes. "He," who smiled low as if he was quite satisfied with the pulpit and did not back down despite instinctive surge in rejection, said as if he is reciting a poem.

"Those who gave up life call me, and those who crave life seek me. But you found me even with the eyes that gave up life."

He changed his appearance and became an old woman, a young boy, and then a grown man when he first appeared again.

His voice changes throughout the conversation. He changes his appearance as if he is joking, and he immediately takes a step closer, revealing his interest, and whispers lowly in the ear of the other person.

"What do you want?"

A sweet, gentle voice as if it are honey on it.

Apart from that, the cool energy that touches the ear touches the instinct of life, causing a strong sense of rejection and fear.

The man slowly closes his eyes as if trying to control his emotions. His quivering eyelids show fear and hesitation, but there is no spirit left to control it.

After some hesitation, he spat out the words that had been hovering at the tip of his tongue.

"An extension of life."

****

There was once a being who made an uproar in the world. No, should it be more accurately called 'rumors'?

There are rumors about 'the Messenger of Death.'

As it is an interesting subject, there were originally many rumors about it. He is not a human being, or he is the same person as the high traitor of humanity who caused the 'Gate Incident'? There are rumors that he is an awakened person or a shaman who broke taboos.

If we are to sift through all the rumors and pick out only the common features, it would be that he has long black hair and strange green eyes that are somewhat distant from those of an ordinary human being.

It appears with flashing green eyes and reaps the souls that death could not reap.

He sometimes appears to close the gate, but in the end, where he appears, someone is sure to die, and even though there are many eyewitness accounts, the fact that no one actually remembers it is an ominous thing to see.

People called him Raven, the ominous crow.

However, rumors can only be maintained if there is continuous fuel.

It's been 10 years since the frequent eyewitness accounts disappeared. The rumors about 'Raven', which no one knew about, are neatly forgotten and buried, and mankind, who had even forgotten the 'existence of the rumor' at some point, now treats it as a folktale containing small rumors that are floating around in any rural area whenever a record related to it is found.

Now, only records from 10 years ago remain, and no one remembers.

The party to that existence is now,

"...I had a bad dream."

Raven was closing the gate that is formed out of reach of people.

[What is your dream?]

"The dream when I first signed a contract with Death."

[.......]

"The dream of a competent shaman can't have been just a dream, and today, I keep getting chills down my spine and feeling uncomfortable... Do you want a guest to come? black customer."

[Guardian spirit ??? tells you not to say anything ominous.]

"Well, what do you say?"

Raven giggled lowly and stabbed a dagger between the eyes of the last monster.

"I didn't even refer to it directly."

It dried the seeds of nearby monsters, so there will be some time before another monster arrives. Now it is solved by finding and breaking the core of the gate from this giant body.

'This gate is also a kind of monster that swallowed the nucleus.'

At this level, you can consider yourself lucky.

It's a little annoying to have to find and kill monsters one by one in this wide area, but it's better than having to hold out for a certain period of time against the monsters that come with your hand on the core. A lot of people didn't rush in just to close a gate for no reason.

Rather, where is the nucleus hiding? After skillfully twirling the dagger, he settled down and began the dismantling process.

"...But I really feel uncomfortable. It feels like there's a tail attached to me that he doesn't even know about."

[Guardian spirit ??? says there is no one chasing them.]

"Not like that. What should I say about this... I feel like my past is following me closely."

Did anyone even think of him?

No, it's impossible to remember him for over 10 years, so it looks like they found a record related to him. He guesses someone is doing some research out of curiosity.

He's been feeling that way for a long time, but it is so minor that he ignored it.

'It suddenly got stronger.'

After briefly frowning at the incomprehensible situation, Raven easily found the core of the gate and took it out.

He rolls a stone with an unpleasant energy in my hand and is about to break it when a message comes.

[Guardian spirit ??? has spoken, and he carefully asks if he is really not going to meet anyone.]

He flinched.

Raven's shoulders trembled once. His bright green eyes wander back and forth like a child with a prick and then fall down into his furrowed eyes.

If the other person had been someone else, he would have been able to silence them in a variety of ways, but after all, he is a guardian spirit who had been with the other person even before he gained immortality. His descendants, who could not treat him so carelessly, chose to remain silent and ignore him.

There is no way the guardian spirit would just ignore this.

[Guardian spirit ??? says it has been 10 years since he cut off all ties and went into hiding.]

"... I know."

[He carefully adds that he is worried that his baby's social skills, which are otherwise lacking, will hit rock bottom.]

"No, what's wrong with my social skills..."

If you've said everything that needs to be said and then carefully added it, you'll think it's sweet. But that's really just too much.

"And please stop calling me baby."

Of course, it may seem that way to the eyes of the guardian spirit, the ancestor, but for someone who is well over 100 years old and looking to be 200 years old, it is an embarrassing title to hear.

[Guardian Spirit ??? says that's not the point and tells you not to change the subject.]

"..."

Raven kept his mouth shut.

The truth that he is forced to ignore makes it even more painful. There was no additional message, but it felt as if the gap was urging him on again, and after a moment of silence, he slowly blinked his downcast eyes and answered as if muttering.

"...I'm going to be forgotten again anyway."

[....]

Green eyes, strangely burning but not at all lifelike, looked at the blood-soaked dirt floor.

"And even if he stubbornly stays out of sight and holds on, what if the same thing happens again?"

He doesn't have the confidence to endure that twice.

Also, it's better not to make kites at all than to suffer from being betrayed of faith.

[.....]

As if he couldn't find anything to say, the guardian spirit didn't send any more messages.

Just as Raven, who had put an end to the conversation, is rubbing his eyes and trying to turn his attention to closing the gate again.

Another voice chimed in.

"But it would be difficult to continue like this."

"...!"

"To me and to you."

... That's not what he said. It isn't even the voice of the guardian spirit that he used to hear from time to time.

An unforgettable, cool voice.

Raven jumped out of his spot.

Holding a dagger in one hand, he moved his eyes to the place where he heard the sound. As the eerie and heavy energy wafts in, the green eye light flickers like a candle in the wind, taking on a dull gray color and then returning again and again. At the same time, his vision darkened and recovered repeatedly, but there was no problem in identifying the opponent.

"For some reason, out of nowhere, he is having an old dream..."

Kaw!

The cool, calm air sharpens all my senses. Wherever the calm background had gone, the eerie cries of crows brought the atmosphere down to the bottom.

Haha, a cold smile escaped his lips.

"Really... there's a guest."

"......."

"Long time no see."

Raven put a smile on his face and chewed and called out his opponent.

"Death."

What's up with this bloody abyss if you're busy?

"At least you should have come after I left the gate. I knew about it before, but you really have no sense."

"Is there any reason you should care about that?"

"What if a monster comes like this?"

"You can catch it again."

"... who?"

"You."

... Ha, you speak nicely.

Sigh. As if to vent his anger, he plunged the dagger into the corpse of another nearby monster. With an expressionless face, he slowly moved the dagger and cut its skin, thinking.

'...I can't wait too long.'

Maybe it's because this is inside the gate, but he can feel himself getting nervous.

The background of the abyss and the unique energy of death that hardens the body. Moreover, this situation is getting on his nerves, so if he lets his guard down even a little, he will make a mistake.

He couldn't make the ridiculous mistake of making a mistake in the face of death, so he diligently played with his hands to collect at least a magic stone while he had the dagger in his hand, and pretended not to notice with a calm face and changed the subject.

"Are you here for 'errand'-related matters? "If that are the case, we could have contacted you via crow as usual."

"I think you know better than that."

"... ... ."

"10 years."

Death said with an emotionless face.

"You extended your life indefinitely and listed 10 years. Isn't that enough for you to tolerate a lot?"

".. It's a waste of time, that's too harsh to say. The contract is definitely fulfilled."

A calm voice cut through the air as if confronting a cold and stern voice.

"Did I do something that went against the 'contract'?"

─Why.

Raven sneered and tilted his head. With his bloody fingertips, he brushes off the black necklace that clings tightly to his neck, which he has now become accustomed to.

A trace of blood remained where his finger passed.

"You even put the dog on a leash, but you still feel anxious, don't you?"