Esper's eyes widened, her voice faltering.
"What… what kind of soul was that? The stories never mentioned anything like this."
Hana's expression remained calm, her tone edged with dry humor.
"If the old stories told the truth, do you really think anyone would want to become a Grim Reaper?"
Esper blinked, the weight of that reality sinking in.
"Well… no, I guess not," she admitted softly.
"If it's that dangerous, then nobody would ever join."
"Correct," Hana replied without hesitation. Her stride lengthened. "Now, let's get back to business."
Esper hurried to follow close behind, her footsteps quickening.
"Where… where exactly are we going?"
"To the hospital," Hana answered curtly.
Esper tilted her head, confusion evident.
"Hospital? What's a hospital?"
Hana slowed just a fraction, sliding her glasses back up the bridge of her nose before explaining.
"A hospital is a place created by humans to repair the vessel of a soul. In simple terms—they heal the body so the soul can stay within it a little longer. They've learned how to extend life without magic. They call this advancement… science."
Esper's eyes lit up with genuine wonder.
"Really? That's incredible! Humans are so clever… to do all of this without magic… Science is amazing!"
But her curiosity wasn't done yet.
"Vice President Hana," Esper continued, her voice tentative, "can you tell me how we actually… extract a soul from its vessel? I've read the stories, I've heard the tales, and they all say the Reaper must touch the vessel… but they never explain how the soul is truly released."
"You'll see soon enough," Hana's reply was curt, but layered with something heavier. She didn't stop walking.
A few moments later, they arrived. The sight of the towering building made Esper's mouth fall open slightly.
"So tall…" she whispered in awe, craning her neck to take it all in.
Hana paused to jot something into her ever-present diary, her hand moving swiftly across the page. Meanwhile, Esper hesitantly waved at the humans passing by, watching them carefully to see if they even noticed her.
When Hana glanced up, her eyes narrowed.
"…What are you doing?"
Esper flinched, hands snapping back to her sides.
"W-well, I was just checking… to see if they really can't see us."
A sigh escaped Hana, but she shook her head lightly. "Honestly… unbelievable." She turned and gestured sharply. "Enough games. Ready your weapon. We're heading to the fourth floor, room 405. That's where we'll find our vessel."
Esper blinked, tilting her head.
"Weapon? You mean… the scythe? But… isn't it just a tool to create portals?"
Hana stopped briefly, her crimson gaze flicking toward Esper. Her reply was cutting, yet calm.
"Explaining every little detail to you will waste precious time. Instead, we'll be practical. You'll learn when you see it."
Without waiting for a response, Hana pushed through the hospital's entrance.
"W-wait for me, Vice President!" Esper called out, clutching her makeshift scythe as she scurried in after her mentor.
The iron doors of the lift closed with a heavy echo before rising toward the fourth floor. Hana's dark-blaze scythe materialized in her hand, its flames licking the steel walls with an ominous glow. Her eyes hardened, cold and resolute.
Esper noticed but dared not ask further.
"Esper," Hana's voice cut sharply through the silence, "remember this. A Reaper must never let emotions cloud their work. Compassion, fear, anger—any of these can cost you your life. Control them, or they will control you."
Esper nodded quickly, feeling the weight of every word.
"Be ready," Hana continued, her scythe humming with energy. "It's your first time, so listen carefully. On the fourth floor, corrupted souls will be waiting. Hungry ones. They will try to kill us."
Esper swallowed hard.
"I see… but… why here, of all places?"
Hana's crimson gaze flicked toward her, silencing the question. Still, she explained with measured calm.
"Corrupted souls linger near the dying. If a vessel expires before a Reaper extracts its soul, the corrupted swarm for the feast. Hospitals are graveyards waiting to happen."
The lift doors opened with a metallic sigh. Immediately, a cloud of malice pressed against them.
Esper's breath caught in her throat.
"Th-there's so many…"
More than ten corrupted souls prowled the corridor before Room 405, their twisted forms clutching crude weapons—knives, rusted bats, blades of broken scissors.
"Let's go," Hana commanded, stepping forward with absolute authority. "And Esper…" Her tone sharpened like the edge of her blade, "if you cannot fight, then at least… do not die."
Before Esper could respond, Hana surged forward in a blur. With one swift arc, her scythe cleaved a corrupted soul clean in half. Shadows screeched as the others turned, rushing toward her all at once.
A dagger spun through the air. Hana's scythe whirled like a shield, knocking it aside in an explosion of sparks. Another ambushed her from behind, but she crouched low and drove a brutal kick upward, sending the creature's body crashing into the ceiling before slicing it apart mid-air. One after another, their black forms lunged. With precise movements, Hana dodged, carved, and dismantled them in a relentless dance of death.
On the other side of the hallway, chaos swallowed Esper.
She ran, tears streaming as shadows chased her with knives raised high.
"D-don't come near me! Ahhh! President Hana, help meee!"
Hana's voice rang out sharply amidst the clash.
"Stop running, you fool! Use your scythe!"
Esper stumbled, clutching her wooden weapon desperately.
"B-but… h-how?!"
"Think!" Hana barked, blocking another strike with a powerful swing. "The scythe responds to will. Pour your intent into it. Want to kill the enemy—and it will answer you. That's how you awaken it!"
Esper gulped, heart racing as she whispered in panic.
"I… I want to defeat him… I want to survive… I—I want to kill him! Please, please work!"
But nothing. Her crude log remained just wood in her trembling grip.
"Aaahhh it's not working!" she shrieked, hot tears spilling down her face.
One corrupted soul slashed forward, its knife cutting across Esper's shoulder. She cried out in pain and collapsed in the corner, clutching the wound.
"Esper!" Hana snarled, her eyes narrowing as she kicked the attacker away and tried rushing to her apprentice. But another swung between them, blocking Hana's scythe from striking without risking Esper's life in the crossfire.
The corrupted soul raised its blade above Esper's chest.
Time slowed.
"No… no…!" Esper screamed, her voice breaking.
In that instant, her wooden scythe ignited—flaring violently into a blazing weapon of purple and blue flames. The flames roared, the weapon reshaping itself into a magnificent true scythe, alive with otherworldly radiance. Its blade cut effortlessly into the corrupted soul, the creature's shriek torn apart by the inferno.
But Esper's mind… was somewhere else.
In a realm of endless white, she stood transfixed before a flickering vision.
A man's life played like a reel upon a grand, invisible screen—his birth, his childhood, his awkward teenage years, his first job… until his final moment.
Esper's eyes widened in horror as the man tied a bedsheet into a noose.
"N-no… please don't…" she whispered, her feet carrying her forward.
The stool kicked away. His body struggled, legs trembling, eyes bulging. Esper screamed, rushing to stop him, to hold him, but the image shattered like glass, scattering into dissolving particles of memory.
The foundations under her feet collapsed into blackness. She fell, her arms reaching desperately toward nothing.
"Noooo!" The anguished cry tore from her lips.
Her eyes snapped open. She was trembling, lying on Hana's lap, tears streaking down her face. The hallway was empty now—no corrupted souls, only silence.
Esper's voice cracked, broken and disoriented.
"Wh… what… what just happened?"
Hana stood, her scythe dimming as she clenched it firmly. Her face betrayed nothing.
"I'll explain later," she said, her tone controlled yet urgent. "For now—we move. The vessel's soul is weakening. If we delay, it will pass beyond our reach."
She turned toward Room 405. "Come, Esper."