Chapter 246: Chapter 246: My Responsibility

"Be careful. It’s best you don’t move for now—your wound was critical, even for a Hero."

"I am... fine."

Beatrice woke up half an hour ago, from a wound that would’ve definitely killed a non-Hero individual. Of course, it wasn’t just because she was a Hero that she was able to survive. The doctors also did their best, beyond the utmost of their abilities.

And Beatrice, even though groggy, knew she owed these people their lives... and she also knew why they went above and beyond.

The answer was staring at her from their chests, or rather, hanging from their necks. The sigil of the Church of Administrators, but now... replaced by Adam’s silhouette?

"That..." Beatrice almost pointed at the sigil. Fortunately for her, an IV catheter was still attached to the back of her hand. It was then that she also realized how weak she was, her body almost dropping back to the bed.

"You don’t need to push yourself, Ms. Beatrice," the anesthesiologist approached. "It was my mistake for using the wrong dose of sedative. I can never truly know the right amount with Heroes. You... should still be in bed."

"I am fine. Thank you..." Beatrice shook her head, the usually stoic tone of her voice a little fettered as she tried to stand up. Her chest, however, felt like it would burst from the sharp, but numbing pain. She was about to clutch her chest, but the doctor stopped her.

"I wouldn’t do that," he advised. "The bandaging might come loose."

"Hmmn." Beatrice gulped, sighing as she chose to remain on the bed. "Where is... Adam and the others?"

"The messiah—Mr. Adam went back inside the Leak a few hours ago."

"The... Leak is still active?"

"Yes."

"Huh..." Beatrice blinked, and then a pained chuckle escaped her lips. "...Adam really is kind."

"He is, Ms. Beatrice," the doctor agreed without any hesitation.

Beatrice watched as the anesthesiologist gripped and held Adam’s sigil with both hands. It wasn’t only him; the other doctors and nurses on the side of the tent paused and... prayed.

Beatrice didn’t really say anything else after that. She just remained sitting on the bed, putting weight on her feet from time to time to check if she had enough strength to walk without tripping.

And of course, this gave her enough time to contemplate.

She... almost died today, and she didn’t really know what to feel. She’d already resolved herself that she could just die any day of the week as soon as she joined the RLRD—but she expected to die from monsters from the Leak.

And while the creature that almost killed her did come from the Leak... it was a human.

He was a human. She was sure that if their DNA were to be analyzed, their species and the humans would completely match up.

This was what was leaving her confused... but also hopeful. Hopeful for a future where Earth is connected to other worlds.

"Harvey... would really like that," she whispered unknowingly, even letting out a soft chuckle as she imagined Harvey’s bald head excitedly nodding at everything like he knows everything. She pushed her feet off the ground again and this time mustered up enough strength to stand up on her own.

The doctor was about to assist her, but she gestured for him to let her walk by herself. She grabbed the IV stand, almost using it as a crutch as she made her way out of the tent.

"Beatrice?!"

She almost tripped, however, when she and Katherine almost bumped into each other in the entrance. Katherine gently held her under the armpit, making sure not to put any stress on her wound.

"You shouldn’t be standing already!" Katherine was about to glare at the other doctors, but Beatrice quickly patted her on the shoulder.

"I am fine now," she repeated once again. "I will only feel uncomfortable here. But since you are here, does that mean Adam is also back?"

"No." Katherine sighed loudly, gently rolling Beatrice’s arm over her shoulder as she helped her walk out of the medic tent. "You know how he is, always a busybody. He said something about Bala... sabotaging the people? Something like that. But he decided to be left behind to help them deal with him. Harvey’s also inside."

"...I hope he did not react violently."

"He did..." Katherine shrugged. "At first. But he calmed down."

Katherine continued to help Beatrice walk while she updated her on everything that had happened. Beatrice sighed and shook her head every time Harvey’s name was mentioned, even apologizing from time to time for how troublesome he was.

"He... is always like that," Beatrice whispered.

"You two are really close, huh?"

"We are. We have been partners from the start." Beatrice nodded. "We try our best not to exist in each other’s personal lives outside of the RLRD—but really, the RLRD is our life, with how much time we spend in it. And now with Adam, we truly are not—"

"Oh no..."

"Hm?" Beatrice blinked, slightly startled as Katherine suddenly stopped walking, almost causing both of them to trip. She stared at her face at first, but then soon noticed that all the activity around them ceased.

She quickly looked forward, and what she saw was—

"No..."

And just like that, the pain in her chest was gone... replaced by a different one. A heavier one.

"No..." she repeated, her eyes almost refusing to look at the headless body that Adam was holding.

"No!" She pushed away from Katherine. She ran, dragging the IV pole with her before she tripped. Even then, she tried to crawl, the sound of her breath desperate.

Katherine rushed to help her up, but Beatrice just once again pushed her.

"No!" she screamed. "No! This... why...? Why?!"

Bagani, who was holding Harvey’s head, could only apologize profusely. He didn’t know whether to hide Harvey’s head or hide himself. He fell to his knees, shaking his head repeatedly.

And as the chaos and all the noise deafened the air, Adam...

...Adam just quietly looked around.

He glanced back at Beatrice’s wailing shoulders and then walked to a nearby table. The people all rushed to remove the things from the table, carefully helping Adam set the headless body on it.

Adam then returned to Bagani, gently grabbing Harvey’s head from him and also neatly placing it on the table.

President Ronald, who had just finished doing a conference and was coordinating with the IBAA to barricade the gates, rushed to Adam’s side.

"What... happened?" he asked.

"I made a mistake," and Adam didn’t hesitate to answer, his eyes falling back to Beatrice, who was wailing and being restrained by Katherine. Everything... was in chaos—but Adam now seemed... eerily calm.

"It’s my fault," he continued, neatly adjusting Harvey’s arm. "I did this."

"It was—"

"Me." Adam shook his head. "No one else. Me."

President Ronald wanted to say a lot of things, but swallowed most of them down. Even when Adam confronted him about the Hospital back then, the tone of his voice wasn’t this... cold.

Adam then glanced at the congregation of the Church of the Administrators that was still there, and when he saw all of them kneeling and praying... it was the first time he ever truly felt that what they were doing made... sense.

And so, he just let them be and turned his focus back to the portal.

"Are you... planning on going back there?" Ronald asked. "Are you bringing the rest of your team to... close the portal?"

"No. I am never going back inside that Leak."

"Huh...?" Ronald blinked in confusion. "Then what—"

"Are you still wearing your translator? Can you give one to Bagani?" Adam ordered.

"I do... but why?"

"I need you to relay something to him and his people."

"Why not address them yourself? They will listen to you."

"I don’t want them to listen to me," Adam muttered, cracking his knuckles as he glanced at Beatrice again, who was now being helped by Katherine and several other doctors as her wound opened.

"...And what do you want me to tell them?" Ronald gulped.

"Tell them that Earth will be the one handling Bala’s imprisonment, and that we are claiming a part of their land as ours for that very reason. We will put up a wall around the Leak’s area of responsibility. We will keep them safe... from themselves."

"What?"

"Tell them that we would also aid them as much as possible from whatever invasion they’re facing."

"We’re still helping them?! That is not how—"

"But in return..." Adam raised a finger. "...In return for our assistance, they will mine and provide us with as much awa metal as they can."

"What... is that?"

Adam didn’t answer Ronald and instead just turned his focus back to Harvey’s corpse.

"And lastly," Adam placed his hand on Harvey’s chest. "I want Harvey to be buried with all the honors he would receive."

"That—"

"I want all the RLRD members to receive the same treatment when they die." Adam closed his eyes. "Give them all the honors I would get, too. I don’t deserve any of them. And also...

...I don’t think I would need them anytime soon."

Adam sighed, then just casually walked away.

"Where... are you going?" Ronald was about to give chase, but as Adam glanced back and stared at him, the only thing that the president saw was... nothing. There was nothing in his eyes at all.

"My responsibility," Adam whispered. "The world’s a more dangerous place now without Harvey, so...

...I’ll carry his duty from now on, too."