“There really isn't a single soul around, huh.”
“There are plenty of monsters, though," said Snow to the cactuar as he scanned the steppes. In the distance could be seen a ridge distinctly not part of the mountain range. It was the shell of a Long Gui.
“It's just the right place for living away from prying eyes, here, isn't it?”
Snap, went the sound of something breaking in half and then everything unexpectedly flipped upside down.
“Woah! What gives!?”
Even if he wanted to grasp what had happened, he couldn't because he was utterly trapped. It looked like he was caught in something like a net or a sack.
He felt like he was surrounded. He heard voices that sounded like, “wait a minute, that's not a monster, it's a person.” Then he deduced that seemed he had been caught in a trap meant for monsters. Judging from the direction the voices were coming from, it would seem he was also hanging upside down.
“Heeey! Hurry up and do something!”
He cried out in spite of himself. Just as when he was ensnared, his mobility came back to him by surprise. Where he felt pain in his left leg, he would find a cactuar attached. It seemed that because it was beside Snow they were caught in the net all jumbled up together.
“You got unlucky too, huh? But, isn't it about time you got off of me. Your needles, they're stabbing me all over.”
Although he had gotten used to that much by now. It was not unusual for there to be things like him to turning over in his sleep and then finding the cactuar under his rear.
“Hey... You keepin' a monster around?”
He was addressed in a distinctly wary voice. He looked around himself again and saw there were a number of men. Judging by the fact they were all armed, they were probably in the midst of hunting monsters.
“This one's my friend. It's not a bad monster. So could you put those dangerous things away? I don't wanna scare it.”
P114-115
The men looked at each other. Having been hunting monsters on a daily basis, it was natural that they thought monsters equated danger. Snow hastily instructed the cactuar.
“Listen to me. These guys aren't our enemies. Don't attack them, okay? Don't get confused and shoot needles at them. They're not our enemies.”
When it met Snow, the cactuar would detect hostility based not only on words, but also expression and atmosphere. It might decide these guys who were cautious of monsters to be enemies based on their presence.
“Well that's a shocker. It really understands what you're saying, huh?”
“Because it's my friend,”
The expression of the man who appeared to be their leader softened and he lowered his gun.
“Sorry about that. We didn't think that anybody would be passing through here so it's covered in monster traps.”
“Same here. I didn't think there would be traps set up here. So i didn't check where I was stepping at all.”
As he said jokingly and stood up, an intense pain shot up through his left leg. Whether he had been stabbed in a bad place or the wound was deeper than he thought, the pain was worse than how much he was bleeding.
“Hey. Are you alright? Can you walk?”
The man held a hand out to Snow who inadvertently dropped down to his knees.
“Naw, it'll get better in a minute. I'm built stronger than the average person”
“I don't think we used anything that would pierce...”
“Oh, it's not because of the trap. They're cactuar needles. They even go right through thick leather, this one's needles,”
“Regardless, you wouldn't have gotten hurt if you didn't get caught in the trap, right? So, sorry.”
The man said apologetically and gave him his shoulder.
“We'll take you to our camp. You should rest.”
“Thanks. Sorry about that.”
He couldn't go any further today on these feet. Since he would likely even have trouble finding a place to sleep for the night, it was a much appreciated offer.
“The name's Ronnie. How about you?”
“It's Snow. I'm from New Bodhum.”
Ronnie's voice became tense again.
“Ahh, when I say Bodhum, I don't mean the one on Cocoon. I mean New Bodhum. It's a newly developed village on Gran Pulse...”
It was when he tried to explain. One of the men yelled in surprise.
“You're Snow Villiers!”
P116-117
“How did you know? Have we met somewhere?”
He saw that there was an air of tension amongst the men. What was happening?
“Drop it, Helman,”
Ronnie snapped at him. The man named Helman took his hand off his gun. He couldn't figure out what was going on, but he knew that for some reason he was about to be shot.
“We never point our guns at people again. We swore that didn't we?”
Ronnie said admonishingly. Never pointing their guns at people again meant that wasn't the case before. Their reaction to a place called Bodhum, and the fact that they knew the name Snow. And above that, what had he been asked of by Rygdea just the other day?
“You guys were PSICOM weren't you?”
All of a sudden, the atmosphere felt as cold as ice. Snow put his hands up in a haste. He had realized why Helman placed his hand on his gun earlier.
“I'm not a l'Cie anymore. Don't start pulling triggers all of a sudden.”
“Look," he rotated his arms for them. There used to be a l'Cie brand there. If they were PSICOM then surely they would have known where fugitive Snow Villiers's brand was.
“I don't have any weapons either. Totally unarmed. See?”
After he took off his coat and turned it inside out for them, Ronnie let out a breath. It wasn't just Ronnie. The expressions of Helman and the others turned to smiles too.
“Just like you're not a l'Cie anymore, we're no longer PSICOM either. I said it, right? We'll never point our guns at another person again. That goes for l'Cie too.”
“But, just now...”
He took a glance at Helman. He scratched his head with a “sorry."
“You've got the wrong idea. I thought you came here for revenge by mistake. I assumed you wanted us to get the hell out of here. I jumped to conclusions.”
He had just been told that PSICOM soldiers escaped to remote areas in fear of retaliation from the residents.
“After all, there are people here who pointed their guns in Palumpolum too. If not, there were guys like me who pointed guns at your friends. Either way, we know we've made enemies of you. Well, had.”
“That's already in the past.”
“Oh. You don't seem like the type to retaliate because you've been messed around with.”
“That's what I told you,” said another man with a smile.
“Just the type of guy to jump out alone and unarmed before a row of guns. A real idiot.”
“Hey hey, isn't idiot a little too...”
“So true,” nodded Ronnie. Snow thought he had to have been affirming his angry outburst of “isn't idiot a little too harsh," but he was wrong.
P118-119
“Idiots are idiots, but you're the honest kind, right? We can see all the way through you if you open your mouth.”
“Oh, that's what you were getting that...”
It made his shoulders drop.
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