The Berserker opened her eyes. Was she alive? How? That was the first question that came to mind before she even grasped her surroundings.

SHIFT.

The next thing she felt was a presence on her stomach.

She relaxed her stiff body while loosening her arm muscles as much as possible, then pulled open her ragged clothes. As all the layers of fabric were lifted, her bare skin was revealed.

The black veins and bumpy, swollen protrusions had all vanished, leaving clean skin. Even though the scars she had gotten in the past were still there.

SQUEEZE.

"……?"

She would correct herself. Aside from the scars, there was also a turtle smaller than the surface area of her stomach.

Whether to call them fins or webbed feet. It was a turtle clinging tightly to human skin with what would be the arms and legs on a person.

"What is this?"

Could a turtle even do this? More importantly, when did it get inside my clothes?

She lifted the turtle and expressed her puzzlement. It was an act done while picturing someone who would soon respond to her—even if it was somewhat unconscious.

But no matter how long she waited, there was no voice to be heard. It was only natural. The lie she had created vanished into bubbles the moment she acknowledged it. Or rather, it returned to where it belonged.

The bonfire she had held onto because she missed her lost sun was no longer there.

The moment the Berserker realized that fact, she felt miserable. She would have been better off dead; it was the misery of surviving without even knowing the reason.

"... How sad."

Would it have been a bit better if I had died in that place instead of facing this?

Just as her sister had perished in a place where the sun didn't even rise, would it have been better if she too had met a gruesome end where not even her remains could be recovered?

"Our beginnings were different, but I wanted our ends to be alike."

If she had just died following the method of mourning she had decided on in her youth, she might not have had any lingering regrets left...

"Was even that impossible for me?"

She set the flapping turtle down on the ground.

Because she put it down without thinking, the little guy touched the ground upside down, struggling and flailing its limbs.

Feeling a little pity for it, the Berserker tapped its shell with her finger. The turtle, flipped over by the momentum, began to crawl sluggishly across the ground. The soft dirt was pushed away by the turtle's webbed feet, leaving slight tracks.

"Are you awake?"

"……?"

After watching that for a moment. Someone tending to a person's wounds a few meters away spoke up. It was a man who looked extremely exhausted.

"If you're awake, go find the Archmage. I've delivered the message."

The man's attitude was similar. He was as sharp as his impression.

Well, whether that was his true nature was questionable. Rather than that, she figured he had become irritable due to a lack of leeway.

"Doctor! We're all out of bandages!"

"We boiled cloth earlier! Tear that up and use it!"

"We used all of that too!"

"This is driving me crazy!"

"Medic, patient with an open leg fracture!!"

Just looking around proved as much.

The Berserker glanced at the patients swarming everywhere, the people constantly flocking in, and those going back and forth among them to treat the wounded.

Her intention had been to find the Demon Knight, the young Hunter, or the red-haired Priest, but something else caught her eye instead.

For instance, the fact that there were quite a few medics running around, but the number of people requiring their manpower was overwhelmingly greater than the medics.

"Medic?! Medic?! Is anyone free!?"

In the midst of this, someone carrying a newly arrived patient shouted. The one who responded to that was the man who had spoken to the Berserker.

"I really want to cry..." He looked incredibly exhausted, forced to treat another person without even a moment to catch his breath.

"Over here... over here!"

"Open leg fracture! You heard, right?!"

"Yes...!"

The man somehow made space in the cramped area to lay the patient down, then shouted to a young girl who was running errands back and forth—she seemed to have been mobilized because they were short-handed.

"Painkillers here! And bandages to stop the bleeding, bandages..."

"U-Um, we just ran out of painkillers, so I don't have any to give..."

"What?"

"I went to get some too, but they said there are no more painkillers."

But the situation only seemed to be getting worse. Painkillers and bandages were the most basic of basics for treatment, especially trauma treatment, and both of them were out.

At the very least, they could get by without painkillers if the patients just endured it a bit more, but without bandages, it meant giving up on all the bleeding patients.

The Berserker, who possessed a certain amount of basic knowledge about treatment as a warrior, clicked her tongue.

"What about the Priests, the Priests? Are you saying there's no free manpower there either? We need to at least stop the bleeding..."

"I'll go ask. But probably..."

"Yeah, no way that'd work..."

That explained why there were no Temple people to be seen. They just weren't visible from here, but it seemed they were already working too. Furthermore, it seemed they were just as lacking in leeway.

"Bandages, even leftover bandages..."

Then again, since divine power could hold onto a person's life, the Temple tended to take charge of those among the critically injured who were on the verge of dying today or tomorrow.

So, considering only that point, they might actually have even less leeway over there than here.

Here, it was only the lightly injured or the critically injured with less risk of dying, but over there, people would die the moment they became short-handed.

If the red-haired Priest that the Berserker knew was at least present, the situation might be a bit better... but was the Hero really in a condition to treat others?

The battle in the city that she remembered was at a level where one could never afford to think about the aftermath.

SQUAWK.

Suddenly, the turtle cried out strangely. At the same time, a question that made the Berserker puzzled came to mind.

Right. It was a battle where one couldn't afford to think about the aftermath. But why was she herself in such perfectly fine condition? Being alive was one thing, but shouldn't there be some injuries left?

Was that young Priest perhaps still awake, and gave her special treatment—healing—for being a comrade who traveled with him?

No, before that, who in the world had brought her from the turtle's shell? To say the Hero did it, that young Priest seemed like he'd have his hands full just with that Pandemonium whatever... not to mention getting the timing right.

TAP.

Just then, a lukewarm warmth touched the Berserker's hand. It was the warmth felt from the sluggishly crawling turtle climbing onto the back of her hand.

"What is it."

Go away. She casually rolled the turtle away. SQUAWK. The flipped-over turtle struggled, then turned its body over with its own strength this time. Then, it sluggishly crawled back toward her again.

It seemed to recognize her as its mother.

"... Good grief."

Was there any need for this tiny turtle to cling to her so desperately? She debated whether to abandon it and leave, but decided to just take it along.

Indeed, she only disliked the weak; she wasn't someone who disliked the young. Even more so if it was a young thing displaying fierce tenacity to survive.

Even if she had no intention of carrying it around with her forever, she was willing to take care of it until she could release it into the sea.

"Hold on tight. If you fall off, I'm leaving you behind."

She placed the turtle on her broad shoulder and stood up. Since the people she had wanted to find were nowhere to be seen, and she had gotten the word that the Great Sage was calling for her, she figured it was about time to leave.

However, as she stood up like that, the clothes she had pulled open earlier fluttered around her waist. It was quite bothersome. Yet, it was too much of a rag to put back on.

"Hmm."

It was too dirty to even be used as a bandage anyway, so tearing it wouldn't matter. Making that judgment, she tore it off as she stripped it away.

The clothes discarded on the ground were crushed under her leather boots.

SQUEAK.

The turtle, which had nearly gone flying along with the clothes, cried out as if in protest.

"Do all turtles cry like you?"

SQUAWK?

Before looking for the Archmage, she first left the chaotic clinic. Indeed, the clinic was far too busy for her to ask for the Great Sage's location. Nor did they seem like they would know the situation outside the clinic.

SQUAWK.

"It's complete chaos..."

But was the area around the clinic any better? It wasn't.

The Berserker let out a long breath as she looked at the people sprawled out everywhere like defeated soldiers.

It wasn't that there were no people moving about in their right minds, but there were far more people huddled on the ground in despair. It was a sight she truly disliked.

"What the hell were the soldiers doing? Why did demons appear in the city...?"

"Fuck... This is all because of the nobles. We're being punished because the nobles and the Temple colluded to kill the guardian deity..."

To think they were even babbling such bullshit on top of that.

"How weak."

She understood the shock of having to abandon the city and evacuate. But so what?

It was absurd how they were blaming others, unable to overcome the shock of losing the city, when they had safely evacuated under the protection of the soldiers. The soldiers who died for them were a waste.

Contemptuous of those who despaired over losing their bags instead of being grateful for being saved, she continued walking. In the distance, she saw soldiers moving.

"Let go, let go...!"

"Stop before I break your arm!"

Getting closer, she saw what the soldiers were doing. They were subduing someone who was causing a disturbance.

"Hey, soldier."

"It's already a shitty situation, so— what?"

"Where is the Archmage?"

"Hey, can't you see what we're do... who are you?"

The soldier, who had irritably twisted the rioter's arm and turned his head, flinched. It was plainly obvious that he had corrected his tone upon seeing the Berserker's vicious muscles and fierce impression.

Even though there was still a prickly edge left on his face.

"I'm an adventurer who was hired by the Archmage. I received instructions to come, but I'm asking because I don't know the location."

"... If you're really an adventurer, show your token—"

"Oh! You!"

Just then, a loud shout rang out from a little distance away.

"You were alive!"

"Do you know me?"

"You fought the Sirens at the castle walls."

Ah, so it was a soldier who saw that. She scratched her neck. Unfortunately, she had no memory of seeing that soldier.

"I lost my Adventurer's Token."

Furthermore, she really didn't have her Adventurer's Token. It was certain she had lost it during the battle—since she hadn't seen it when throwing away her clothes earlier—but as for where she lost it, well. She couldn't even guess, considering there were broadly three types of battlefields she had roamed around in.

"Then I can't tell you. How could I just tell anyone without knowing who you are..."

But it seemed the soldier she had caught right now was a bit of a stickler. The Berserker narrowed her eyes, thinking this had become annoying.

"If it's the Archmage, you just need to head that way. I saw her earlier."

"Hey!"

"I know what you're worried about, but just let it go. Who else would the person who fought at the walls be if not a soldier or an adventurer?"

"Even so, she's saying out of her own mouth that she was hired by the Great Sage! Do you believe that?"

"Well, that's true, but... if she's a skilled fighter who hunted dozens of Sirens, wouldn't she be worthy of being hired by the Great Sage? I think it's fine."

"Ugh..."

However, luck ultimately favored her. The Berserker positively judged the soldier who had been helpful, even if she couldn't remember him, and moved again in the direction he had indicated.

Fortunately, the group of mages was over there.

They were together with the Temple people.

"Are there any free hands?!"

"Priest!"

"... Give up on that person! We can't save them in this situation!"

Ah, right. Mages could use healing magic too. She looked at the mages mixed in with the Temple people—those emitting golden light from their hands were Priests, and those emitting pale blue light were mages—and observed a situation even worse than the clinic from earlier for a moment.

"Priest! The people who evacuated to the west are starting to join us one by one! But according to the survivors, there are wounded over there...!"

"... We're short-handed here too! Did they say there were no surviving Priests over there?!"

"They said most were killed in the process of protecting the citizens from the demons... So there's no one who can heal..."

"Damn it!"

The Archmage was located where the most severely injured among them were gathered.

Even if it was less effective than divine power, she, who was treating multiple people at the same time, was already holding onto the lifelines of five people.

"Are you here? Then start from over there..."

"I heard you were looking for me."

"Hmm? Ah, ah. It was you."

The Berserker approached only as far as it wouldn't disturb the Archmage, then shifted her gaze around again.

It was to see if the Hero might be moving around, but unfortunately, the young Priest was nowhere to be seen.

"First... I must express my gratitude for your active role. If it hadn't been for you, the damage would have been much greater. Thank you truly."

"I didn't stay behind to hear words of gratitude. So there is no need for that."

"Is that so."

"More importantly, what is the situation?"

"... How much do you know?"

"Almost nothing. Discovering that there was a Merman nest inside the turtle's shell, and going inside to fight is my last memory."

It was the same for Deathbringer and the Demon Knight. She didn't know where they were, but it seemed they were at least not among the ranks of the wounded.

"Furthermore, I also remember that my condition back then was at a level where there was almost no hope of survival, even if reinforcements had arrived in time."

"... I see."

"Therefore, I ask. How did I survive?"

Then where in the world were those three? Could they have added their names to the ranks of the dead, which not even she had joined? Could they really?

"... I don't really know either. However... according to Deathbringer's testimony, perhaps... a demon saved you."

"... A demon?"

The Berserker closely observed the face of the only one who held the answer. It didn't seem like they were dead. If they were dead, her expression would have been completely filled with sorrow.

However...

"Or the Demon Knight did."

In this world, there are lives more miserable than death.

The Berserker, intuiting that the story would be a long one, took a seat.

SQUAWK.

The turtle on her shoulder cried out.