< 19 Poisoned Apples scour the Forest of Eversting Envy >

  After the removal of the Sweet Thorn and its horde of Bitter Thorns, they turned their attention to the corpses of the Fodders.

  “Insect humans. The whole bunch of them. Their innards don’t look right!”

  Red rummaged through body cavities, peeling away warped metal and cloth that were fused into the flesh.

  “Unusable. Bummer. I wanted to try out their getups.”

  She inspected the apparel of the deceased Veteran Fodder and groaned with disappointment.

  Scarlet Logic Fodder Uniform (Torn)

  ATT DEF : 500 < Mass produced bodysuits made from Quality VI Cloth >MAG DEF : 500

  < [Appraise Object] Has Gained a Level! >

  < [Appraise Object] [9/10] >

  The cloth had the same texture as wet paper, hence why she decred it as unusable. It appeared that Scarlet Logic’s uniforms were designed to degrade upon the wearer’s death.

  This was confirmed by Snow.

  “A lot of Artefacts designed by Kingdoms or clothes made by Tailors are a one and done deal. The whole point is to ensure that it doesn’t fall into the hands of an enemy. You can’t stockpile what can’t be used. What they do is they create patents.”

  “Patents? Oh, I know that word! Like a type of invention that no one else can make?”

  “No… I’ve never heard of anyone describing a patent like that.” Snow said, staring down at Red with uneasy eyes. “I mean the way they’re designed. When you patent an Artefact, you control who can and can’t use it. Often than not, they’ll work like countermeasures.”

  “Uhuh. Sounds like a weird thing to do.”

  It was silly to Red, but in saying that, she’d hate it if someone else were to use her Fairytale’s Bane. However, in the context of mass-produced weapons? That didn’t make much sense

  “Two hearts. Three lungs on this one! Or does this belong to another body? I’ve never seen an organ like this before. Hey Snow. They’re supposed to be humans.”

  Red took the head of the Veteran Fodder, turning to Snow with a vibrant smile on her face.

  “Right!?”

  “Urgh… R-Red. Please don’t smile while you’re holding that…”

  “Huh? So you’re ok with rummaging through bodies, but when a whole severed head is presented to you, you get all queasy?”

  “The trick is not looking at the face… And please don’t make it sound like I do it because I like it.”

  “Well, aren’t you curious? They are dead.” Red said, sifting through the bodies again. “Unless it’s a bad thing to go through a dead body?”

  “… In this situation… it doesn’t matter what happens to them. We don’t have to worry about burying their bodies.”

  “Phew! I was worried we’d have to!”

  She picked apart body parts that did not belong to a human. Mandibles, spinnerets, compound eyes, stingers – these organs were better suited to an insect rather than a human.

  But why do they have them?

  “Half of them are Insectids. The others are mutated humans. It’s the price of reviving.” Snow answered as though reading her mind. “Insectids are just humanoid Insects. Natural born killers. All they know is war.”

  “What made them that way?”

  Snow expined that Insectids came from the northwestern Region of Elysia called Gnawer. Millions upon millions of Insectids found fruitless wars for the sake of their Queens. Their very existence revolved around war.

  Their limbs were designed to inflict maximum damage, and were either serrated or capable of crushing tough carapace.

  Their eyes were compounded not to hunt for prey like Insects, but to observe an ever-changing battlefield.

  And their nguage was spoken in the tongue of violence.

  “Perfect fit for Scarlet Logic. That, and their ability to replicate. They can die as many times as they want, and they’ll come back even stronger.” Snow clicked her tongue. “Let’s finish up here. It’s better that we don’t take anything with us.”

  “But what about this?” Red was about to reach for the handle of a nearby Mana Repeater.

  Mana Repeater F-I

  < A standard issue low-quality Repeater manufactured by ImpulseWorks. Uses Mana as ammunition >

  But before she could grab it –

  “Hands off!”

  –Snow swooped in just in time to kick it away.

  “Huh!? Why!? We can use that!”

  “Please just look!”

  What could have caused her to react in such a way? Red heeded her words and stared at the spinning weapon.

  Her confusion was then resolved moments ter.

  Bdes flicked outwards from the handle. They were hidden within the handle and operated on a spring-loaded mechanism. The force was so violent that it tore the weapon in half, rendering it useless.

  Had she been holding that, then she would have lost her hand.

  “Patents. They have countermeasures built in to prevent them from ending up in other people’s hands. I should’ve told you earlier. You’re not a Scarlet Logic Personnel. You can’t use them.”

  Just when Red thought she’d be getting a new firearm to supplement her Fairytale’s Bane, her hopes and dreams were crushed.

  “Woah. I should implement a hand’s off system too.” She hummed, amused by the situation despite this.

  Meanwhile, Snow was furious at herself for failing to consider her companion’s fatal fw.

  “I didn’t think you’d go touching it after I warned you about the patents.” She deeply sighed. “Red…”

  “That’s me!”

  “… I’m going to have to start handholding you. Haaah.”

  Red had no idea what she meant by this. So, she held out her hand, expecting Snow to take it.

  “I didn’t mean it like that, but… Alright.” The woman put on a defeated smile, taking her hand with grace. “I can’t tell if you were always this reckless before we met, or if finding out that you can revive has made you like this. Red.”

  She squeezed her hand and brought it close to her face. Her eyes trembled with sadness, brimming with the unforgettable memories of people close to her.

  The loss of Mister Huntsman haunted her.

  The prospect of losing Red as well weighed on her mind.

  “Even if you’re immortal, don’t throw your life away. Humans only get one life. Ever. No exceptions.”

  Red wanted to ask: “But what about Scarlet Logic?”, however, their constant revival had turned them into monsters that gradually lost their humanity.

  If reviving did the same thing to Red, then Snow was right. She had to limit how many times she died. Five deaths had significantly reduced her Sanity as well.

  It was strange. Red always knew that she should value her life in a survival sense.

  But hearing it directly from another person caused her to become giddy.

  “Hehehe.”

  “Common Sense Lesson 25: Cherish yourself.”

  “Will do~!”

  * * *

  Before they could leave, Snow stuck around for a short moment. She gazed down upon the bodies of Scarlet Logic with a grimace. They had everything they needed. Moving on was a priority.

  But still, Snow remained, her eyes locked on their shattered skulls.

  “Snow? What are you standing around for?”

  “It’s nothing.” She turned to Red with a motherly smile.

  “Then let’s keep going! Only nineteen more to go!”

  “We’ll burn through them in no time. Or I should say, you will.”

  “One day you’re gonna fight alongside me for real!”

  She ughed at that prospect. If she truly could fight alongside Red, then she’d take that opportunity in a heartbeat rather than having to walk the line of being a Healer and an Honored One.

  She couldn’t help but imagine how liberating it would be to get rid of the intangible forces that suppressed her emotions. Or if possible, just remain a Healer and only a Healer rather than a monster.

  One can only dream.

  Red took her hand and moved into the forest, following the distant light of a Poisoned Apple. In the meantime, the crack of gunfire echoed around them. There were more Scarlet Logic Fodder here, and in mere minutes, the number of gunfire dropped by half.

  They’d have to push through both Scarlet Logic and the Queen of Sweet and Bitter Thorns if they wanted to get out of here alive.

  Suddenly, an exuberant voice pulled her out of her dark thoughts.

  “That reminds me! Doesn’t your diary have a patent too? I got a prompt telling me I’d undergo Ego Death or whatever that was. If I get turned into a Shell, does that mean I’ll grow one like Rockie?”

  She giggled, then, burst out ughing at Red’s silly interpretation of becoming a Shell.

  “It… Ahaha… Does. It’s a patent.” Snow said, wiping her tears away. “It binds the book to me, so that it can never be used in the wrong hands.”

  “What exactly is it?”

  She raised her head towards the nonexistent stars again and faintly whispered:

  “I’d like to know too.”

  * * *

  < 17 Poisoned Apples scour the Forest of Eversting Envy >

  < 13 Poisoned Apples scour the Forest of Eversting Envy >

  < 10 Poisoned Apples scour the Forest of Eversting Envy >

  < 8 Poisoned Apples scour the Forest of Eversting Envy >

  Only eight more Poisoned Apples remained.

  And these apples were coincidentally where Scarlet Logic Fodders were the most concentrated.

  Syringe