Giovanni loved the sea.

The sun was warm, but it was hot.

The sea was cold, but it was cool.

Everything in the world had its strengths and weaknesses, and this world was not only land, but sea as well.

The wind over the sea had a clear current.

So it was only natural that he came to hold a mermaid in his heart.

"Aria."

On familiar bare feet, Jio walked across the surface of the water.

"You know this, but I cannot swim."

"Teacher, you really are a strange human."

SPLASH...

The mermaid's fin lightly kicked at the water.

"Humans who couldn't swim were truly rare on that planet."

"For some strange reason, I kept doing nothing but sinking."

"You have to relax your body.

"Only then can you speak with the sea."

"Perhaps I was already satisfied with just all of you."

"You say such embarrassingly sweet things."

Aria asked.

"Will you be all right coming this far out?"

A pale, slender hand wrapped around Jio's leg.

"A mermaid might eat you."

"Ahaha..."

Giovanni took that cold hand in his.

"That would be nice, too."

"..."

"Would you teach me how to swim?"

"... Yes."

Aria, too, took that cool hand in hers.

"Let's do that."

SPLASH!

Led by the mermaid, the priest fell into the sea.

"There was a time like this before, too."

With that lukewarm body heat in her arms, Aria continued speaking.

"You, who seemed to have been made from the sun, looked like a prince.

"I thought there could be no one nobler than you among the children of the sun."

"..."

"I was terribly interested in what I did not have, and that light glittering even beneath the water's surface felt as though it would last forever.

"I may have wanted to hold you and go all the way down to my home in the deep sea."

"..."

"Even now... I still do."

Even in this dark night, Jio's platinum-blond hair was as warm as spring sunlight.

Aria raised a hand and carefully stroked Giovanni's cheek as he floated above her.

Whether the dawn sea had stolen his body heat, or he had always been this cold, unlike how he looked, he was not warm.

But he was smiling.

"..."

"... Teacher."

Holding that cheek, Aria smiled and cried.

Pearls streamed down.

"I love you."

The child of the land I first wanted to possess after I was born.

My one and only Teacher, who taught me the world, taught me the heart, and taught me daily life.

The one and only human in all those dimensions.

"I love you, Teacher.

"I missed you for an uncountable length of time.

"Without you, the whole world looked repulsive.

"Ah, and it was a world you loved so much..."

"..."

"I tried to love it with you, but it was not easy.

"When you were there, it was easier than swimming, but without you, it was so hard.

"Why did the sun not save you?

"Why did the deep sea not punish them?"

"... Aria."

"I know you will not forgive me.

"The only forgiveness my brother and I need is yours, but you have no forgiveness to give us, Teacher.

"It was never yours to begin with."

For the first and last time, the mermaid regretted.

"I regret it."

If I had known you would truly return to my arms, I would have waited more quietly.

"And my regret is not for the poor lives that died at my hands."

"I know."

"Nor is this the regret you wanted, Teacher.

"But what can I do?

"I am such a selfish, wicked monster..."

If a monster regretted its sins, how could it be a monster?

"After all this, am I human?"

"Is there any reason you would not be?"

"..."

"Humans can become endlessly selfish and wicked."

"... You're right."

Aria hugged her Teacher to her chest again.

"You would know that best."

The one who had died from the most horrific selfishness and wickedness was his own teacher.

If Giovanni did not know humanity's ugliness, then who could?

"I am simply a little cold, and good at swimming..."

"And a human who drops pearls when she cries."

"Everything you say is right, Teacher."

"I see."

"If only our grave had been the sea that day..."

Aria imagined herself suffocating to death in the sea.

Even though only "humans" could do that.

"Nothing can be undone."

Even if she revived everyone she had killed, restored the families she had ruined to how they had been at first, and returned the sun to the planets she had trapped in the sea, that day could never come again.

Aria's self-reproach was itself selfish.

"There are only two choices left to me now."

"What are they?"

"I can become an evil god and be with you forever."

"And?"

"... Or I can take responsibility for my own actions and wait to be accepted someday."

"Your own responsibility."

A warm voice.

"What will you do?"

"Teacher."

Aria asked like the young student from that day.

"... Do you love us?"

"Of course."

Jio did not know how to abandon something he had once loved.

"I will love you forever."

In that, the mermaid found her answer.

"..."

"When will I be able to see you again?"

"... Once I have finished preparing."

Letting Jio go from her arms, Aria smiled.

"I will invite the humans."

And so Aria vanished into the deep sea.

Into a darkness Giovanni could not reach, very deep down.

"...??"

Ju-hyeon was dumbfounded.

"Wasn't that a declaration of war?"

"It was."

"... I see!"

Yu Seongun gave a hollow laugh at the sight of Ju-hyeon trying so hard.

"Monsters these days sure make romantic declarations of war."

"Was it romantic?"

"Yes, romantic.

"An embrace in the dawn sea, huh..."

"She must have missed her Teacher's warmth."

"The fact that that doesn't seem entirely wrong makes me feel very strange."

Yu Seongun asked another question.

"How long do you think the preparations will take?"

"Are you asking me, an insignificant portrait?"

"Still, out of all of us, you're the one who knows mermaids best."

"Aria is an excellent doctor and researcher.

"It should not take that long."

"So can you not guess roughly how long that would be?"

"Hm... approximately one month?"

"Good grief."

After his hearty exclamation, Yu Seongun asked back.

"You're saying we only have one month left to prepare for an attack from an S-class dungeon?"

"In truth, what they need is effectively only mental preparation, so it may take even less time than that."

"At last, the time has come for Earth to end..."

"I am here, so I do not think it will go as far as ending."

"I did think a day like this would come eventually."

"It will not end."

Ju-hyeon asked, looking incredulous.

"Then shouldn't we not be sitting around like this?"

"Come on, Ju-hyeon.

"Do you know how long it's been since I've had a vacation?"

"If I may be honest, I believe the fate of Earth is more important than one person's vacation."

"Do you really have to be this cold about it?"

Yu Seongun let out a deep sigh.

"... First, I'll inform our Guild Master."

"If possible... I think it would be best to inform the Association as well."

"We don't know how they will use the sea, so it would be right to give the coastal areas a heads-up."

"In any case, once Collector and the Association learn of this, the other Symbols of Eternity will learn of it too."

"Even so, I doubt all of them will step in.

"Well, maybe Justitia might..."

Jio, who did not know guild affairs well, asked.

"What is Justitia?"

"It is the name of South Korea's top-ranked guild."

As always, Ju-hyeon explained.

"They say it was named after the statue of Lady Justice."

"If the Association handles South Korea's overall administration, and our Collector takes care of the funding, then Justitia is in charge of the country's public-safety issues, large and small."

"Justitia's Guild Master is one of the Symbols of Eternity and works to protect lives and eradicate crime.

"They do that much small-scale volunteer work as well, and they often take on major raids too."

"Their Guild Master leads by example, so if a national disaster occurs, they will take action, but..."

Yu Seongun rubbed his neck.

"They will probably be protecting ordinary civilians, so I don't think they will participate directly in the raid."

Justitia had always had the strong feel of a "last line of defense."

"Unless the country is in danger of being completely overturned, we probably can't expect too much from them."

"Still, isn't it reassuring that they can prevent casualties that might occur just in case?"

"They are certainly reliable in that regard."

But it was difficult to expect them to participate in the raid.

"An Sclass dungeon does not necessarily require a Hunter of the same class.

"There are plenty of parts that can be handled with numbers, and Korea in particular is a country that succeeded through manpower, so Hunters are precious."

"Above all, an S-class moving carries great symbolic meaning.

"If those people step forward personally, many people will actually become anxious.

"Even the Hunter Association President, who pays close attention to administrative management... will avoid stepping forward if possible."

"The times when the Symbols of Eternity stepped forward were usually when the aftermath of the Great Catastrophe was severe.

"Considering that many people are still afraid of the Great Catastrophe, they won't step forward easily."

Jio tilted his head.

"What happens if a bigger problem occurs because they do not step forward in order to avoid stimulating people's fear?

"If they are going to leave a dangerous possibility alone, I think it would be better to move thoroughly from the beginning."

"That is the orthodox answer, but..."

After thinking for a moment, Yu Seongun continued.

"It can be explained this way, too.

"The Symbols of Eternity are very busy to step forward every single time a problem occurs on Earth.

"You could think of it as a kind of weight that comes with their names; to move those people, at the very least, all of Korea has to be shaken once."

"Do you mean there is a heavy burden in using that manpower?"

"It may seem a little strange to you.

"But a nation is originally entangled in an extremely large number of interests.

"You can think of it as a case where someone has risen to a high position and their body has become heavy."

"Is it a matter of status?"

"Hm... if I had to summarize it, yes."

This was not only a problem of the Symbols of Eternity.

"Most importantly, if everyone relies on the handful of S-class Hunters every time a problem occurs, this planet is guaranteed to perish before long.

"Even now, this is a world being sustained by mercy bestowed by a small number of the strong.

"If the S-classes personally handle every single thing, it will spoil humanity rotten."

This matter had been decided long ago at a summit where the world's S-classes gathered.

Unless the fate of a nation or a dimension was at stake, the S-classes would avoid stepping forward as much as possible.

"The rest of humanity has to adapt to this environment in advance while the S-class Hunters are looking after them so things don't reach the worst possible point.

"You never know when those people might change their minds."

"They are being given the chance to adapt."

"No matter how capable the S-classes are, that small number of people cannot resolve every affair, big and small, on Earth.

"Even if they could, they shouldn't.

"So it is difficult to expect the S-classes to step forward."

They would likely be watching this side closely, but they would not intervene from the beginning.

"So for this part... it would be better to form an alliance with other guilds."

"Will you not cooperate with the religious orders?"

"That depends on the situation.

"We could end up provoking the mermaids for no good reason."

At that, Ju-hyeon nodded.

"Then shall we go back for now?"

"I can't even go on vacation in peace.

"In my next life, I swear I'm going to be born Unawakened."

"I am not sure whether that is something that happens just because you want it."

Jio cut in.

"Would you like me to help?"

"When I die, please."

"I will try."

"I don't know what you're going to try, but all right for now."

"From now on, even after death, you will all be my friends."

"..."

Yu Seongun hesitated, then asked.

"... Did we just make some kind of contract?"

"If I am going to live this long, you have to be friends with me in your next lives too."

"You're so positive it's scary."

"You flatter me."

Perhaps he sensed the mood stiffening.

With Giovanni's face, he put on a gentle smile.

"It was a joke, so stop looking like that."

"How is that a joke?"

"Why do you think it would not be?"

"Ju-hyeon, say something."

Ju-hyeon smiled.

"It would be nice to be friends with Jio in the next life too."

"No, at this rate, you might end up being friends with Jio in the life after that too."

"A friend who stays by your side even after you die and come back sounds reliable."

"... Right."

Yu Seongun accepted it.

'He's already given up.'

That was a smile of resignation.

"I told you, it was a joke."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it."

No one took Jio's words seriously.