Chapter 149: The Saved Life
Following its footsteps, they arrived at the second floor.
The second-floor corridor was lined with many small rooms, looking just like a student dormitory. The room in the southeast corner was Frey's.
He pushed open the door.
There were cracks in the walls and floor. Besides a bed and a worn-out table, there was no other furniture.
Although it was simple, it felt warm. Because on the wall by the bed, there were photos plastered all over.
In the photos were a lively boy and a smiling girl, as well as a young couple with gentle smiles.
The smiling girl was Frey.
But the current Frey had no smile on her face, only timidity and fear, completely unlike the person in the photo. The brother and sister in the photo were very young. This must have been from before they came to this orphanage.
"Frey's parents were a pair of excellent puppeteers... or so I've heard. It seems they performed machinart puppet shows in a theater troupe. But during a performance, the automaton they were controlling suddenly lost control. I heard that blood was even splashed on the surrounding audience," Yomi's voice was tinged with sadness.
"Did you hear this from Frey?" Kobayashi asked in a low voice.
"That's right."
Yomi nodded in affirmation.
Raishin clenched his fists. Komurasaki covered her mouth, tears in her eyes.
Yomi continued, "I didn't know Frey would try to assassinate you for my sake, but please believe me, she is a kind girl."
"I know."
"I don't know if it's fortunate or unfortunate, but she is very gentle to us. Every day, she spends her precious rest time to brush our fur, and even lets us, who can only eat solid feed every day, eat meat."
"I know."
"Everyone likes her and is close to her."
"I know. It is precisely because I know that I am here."
He bent down and stroked Yomi's fluffy, messy, and lusterless fur. With Frey gone and him imprisoned, he had become like this.
Yomi did not resist the stroking and sighed. "But, it is precisely because of this that she was chosen."
"...To become Rabi's master?"
"That's right."
Yomi nodded. "After spending nearly five thousand hours a year studying and training, she was sent to the academy."
"Five thousand a year..."
It was a number so large it was astonishing.
"I don't know if it's fortunate or unfortunate," he said, imprinting the image of the smiling little girl in the photo in his mind. "But I don't think it's bad. After all, she has a family member like you who cares about her."
"..."
Yomi's eyes widened, and then he let out a light laugh.
The group moved forward, holding their breath, down a corridor where men in white coats were walking around.
"...That being said, why can you hide your figure, Kobayashi? Even I can't detect you."
"Don't mind it. It's just a simple little magic trick ([Stealth])."
"No, no, no, how can I not mind?"
If the situation weren't so dire, he really wanted to ask for the reason. As expected, he was still very mysterious.
Then, under Yomi's lead, they came to the first floor of another building, near the windows that were also barred with iron.
The layout of the rooms was very similar to the academy's. Some of the rooms had blackboards on the walls and desks below, and some were like gymnasiums.
When they arrived at a room that looked like a cafeteria, the group saw an unbelievable scene.
Raishin stammered in a low murmur, "To say this is an orphanage... it doesn't seem to be fake, but... what in the world... is this?!"
Komurasaki also couldn't help but cover her mouth. The scene in the room was so bizarre that cold sweat dripped down his back.
It wasn't a bloody scene, but a group of children sitting neatly at the dining tables, eating their lunch in an orderly fashion.
Bread, soup, salad, and a slice of meat. All the children's lunches were the same. At the same time, their eating movements were also unexpectedly uniform, whether it was the number of chews or the frequency of raising their spoons. There was no conversation between them; they just ate silently, like machines.
And they all had the same characteristics: pearl-colored hair and red eyes, exactly the same as Frey and Loki!
"Siblings?... No, they're not."
In fact, the only things that were the same were their hair and eye color. Their facial features and body types were all different. They did not resemble that brother and sister pair.
Since they were not siblings, then they were not relatives either. But the same hair and eye color...
"They are the Promised Children."
As if answering his question, Kobayashi murmured softly, but even Raishin could feel the suppressed anger in his voice.
He considered himself a sunny young man. So he wouldn't go out of his way to punish ordinary bad guys. After all, he wasn't part of some XXX alliance that protected world peace. But there was one thing he absolutely could not tolerate.
—RT Experiments!
[Promised Children]
This refers to individuals among humans who have an exceptionally high affinity for magic. It is said that only one appears in a million people.
But it was impossible for a child who appears once in a million to just happen to become an orphan, especially in such large numbers.
Furthermore, with such similar hair and eye color, the truth was already self-evident.
"Wait, don't tell me this isn't an orphanage?"
"Does an orphanage need to be guarded by so many armed guards?"
His rhetorical question made Raishin fall completely silent. He had felt something was wrong since he arrived. Whether it was the oppressive atmosphere or the silent orphanage, no matter how he thought about it, it was that... that thing he absolutely did not want to think about.
Yomi, as if to deliberately deal a blow to him, said, "Come on. I'll show you something even more terrifying."
They went down the stairs. The damp air chilled their lungs, and the inexplicable smell of blood made their chests feel uneasy.
Komurasaki, who was following behind, gradually slowed down. Her legs were trembling with fear, and she didn't dare to go on. Although she had entered her stable period (adulthood), her child-like mentality had not yet changed in time. It seemed she still needed to experience more.
Halfway down the stairs, they saw a ferocious-looking Doberman sitting in front of them. However, this dog, like Rabi, did not have Yomi's excellent perception, so they easily bypassed it and arrived at the lowest level.
Yomi turned to them and said, "What's ahead is the most important area of the facility. Even among the staff here, only a small number of people can enter."
At the end of the stairs, there was an iron door. A bone-chilling wind continuously blew from behind it.
Raishin asked in a low voice, "Where is this?"
"The meat storage."
Yomi's voice drifted over from the front with the cold wind, carrying a strange chill.
Standing behind, Raishin couldn't see its expression, but Kobayashi, who was beside it, couldn't help but marvel at how wicked its sense of humor was.
But he liked it.
The cold wind blowing from inside stung his nose. The room was so cold it made one shiver. Unable to turn on the lights, they had to let their eyes adjust to the darkness.
A faint light, coming from an unknown source, illuminated something in front of them.
————!!!
Raishin almost cried out. Komurasaki, at the side, was so scared she fell backwards. And Kobayashi's eyes gradually turned to ice, just like this extremely cold ice storage.
In this large ice storage, glass containers were densely and neatly arranged.
And floating in the containers filled with antifreeze were—
—hands, feet, and heads.
They were small in shape, slender and immature.
They were the remains of children!
"What in the world... is this?"
He couldn't accept it.
At this moment, a piercing bell suddenly rang, and a commotion began on the other side of the door.
Komurasaki said urgently in a low voice, "Raishin! There are a lot of footsteps approaching!"
They must have triggered some kind of alarm. The piercing bell continued to echo.
"Raishin, wh-what do we do..."
Komurasaki hugged his arm and paced back and forth.
"Don't panic," he comforted her, then asked Yomi, "How many other guys are there who can detect us like you can?"
"As long as there is a puppeteer controlling them, all of the dog-type automatons can do it."
Yomi gave a rather grim answer.
In other words, there was a risk of being caught at any time?
Raishin then asked Komurasaki, "Can you activate what you called 'active perception' just now?"
"I can, but it's very difficult. With the current you, Raishin, it's impossible," her words were very hurtful.
But he was not discouraged. Instead, he looked at the other man and said, "You can do it, right, Kobayashi? With your ridiculous amount of mana, you should be able to satisfy her, right?"
"...The way you say that, it feels a little strange." The corner of his mouth twitched.
That feeling was as if a husband couldn't satisfy his wife and could only ask another man for help... wasn't that a common hentai plot?
"Is it really okay for me to do it?"
"Do we have any other choice right now?"
"We don't."
He also knew that this was not the time to refuse, but he still asked her, "Is it okay? For me to do it?"
"It's okay. If it's you, big brother, I can do it."
Mmm, a standard hentai answer.
He also got a little excited. He reached out towards her back, and water-blue mana instantly surged into her small body.
"Ngh... big brother, you're amazing."
"Thank you for the compliment."
While the two were saying things that could easily be misunderstood, Raishin interjected, "Are you done yet? They're about to come down!"
"Hehehe, don't be angry, Raishin. I wasn't taken away from you."
"What nonsense are you talking about? Are you Yaya?"
While the two were clowning around, she unhurriedly used her magic circuit.
Being filled for the first time, the power she displayed was also top-tier. The gun-wielding enemies had already reached the lowest level of the room, but they passed by them as if they were blind.
"Come on! They're ahead!"
"They're over there!"
"After them! Don't let them get away!"
The people in the front called out to the people behind them, chasing after the non-existent enemy. Seeing this, Raishin let out a deep breath and relaxed.
Then, the group walked out.
"By the way, why did Frey have to assassinate him? Couldn't she just have rescued Yomi alone?" Raishin asked.
"You still don't get it?"
For the first time, he found him to be so stupid. He sighed. "Because Frey can't lose. You should know, right? The real purpose of this workshop participating in the Night Party is for testing, to both experiment with operations and to obtain data. If Rabi is defeated, what will happen?"
"Yomi and the others will be disposed of, and other models will be proposed as a solution? For example... Gabriel." Raishin immediately thought of the angel-type automaton that Loki possessed.
"Bingo! You got it right!"
He clapped his hands, extremely gratified that his brain had finally started working.
Yomi also added, "The Angel series is an automaton prototyped by another research institute. Its individual combat power is far higher than a wolf-dog's. Because it's made of purely inorganic materials, it's also very convenient in terms of maintenance. But not only is its cost high, but it's also very difficult to control. If it's not a very skilled puppeteer, they probably can't use it flexibly."
"And in contrast," he said, his smile growing darker, "the main body is a wolf-dog, just with a little mecha-style added on, a Bandoll. Although its maintenance is not ideal, its cost is low. It's the type that can be disposed of after use."
Raishin clenched his fists and asked in a low voice a question that even an idiot would know the answer to—
"And if the plan fails?"
"All of them will be disposed of."
This answer connected all the dots.
If Frey could not prove her practicality in the Night Party, then all those dogs would be disposed of. And this was the inside story of why, even though Frey knew she couldn't do it, she had to win, even at the cost of assassinating (seducing) him.
The brilliant setting sun shone on the streets of Liverpool, and the heavy academy gates were also dyed a shade of orange.
And at the bottom of the main gate, a girl with pearl-colored hair stood there, looking out expectantly.
It was Frey.
And Rabi, sitting obediently at her feet.
Although the guards were holding guns and were clearly aiming at them, the person and the dog paid them no mind, but just kept looking out at the street, as if waiting for someone.
"—What are you doing here?"
"Eek!"
She was startled by the sudden voice.
She turned her head tremblingly and saw Loki standing behind her, his hostile gaze frightening.
She couldn't help but turn her head away.
He frowned slightly and scolded, "Go back to the dormitory. Don't cause trouble for the guards. What are you trying to do?"
"Ngh... I'm waiting for... Kobayashi."
"That guy isn't coming back."
She looked up in surprise, and even forgot her fear, turning her gaze to him.
"What did you... do to him? What... happened?"
The timid older sister questioned her firm younger brother for the first time.
Loki said plainly with an expressionless face, "I just received a message from 'Father,' saying that a dirty rat had secretly snuck into our home to try and probe for secrets, so he was eliminated..."
"Hey, hey, hey, don't just declare people dead so casually."
Suddenly, a voice cut in from the side.
And the brother and sister both turned their heads at the same time.
At the main gate was a... no, a strange group of two men, two women, and a dog.
Seeing them, he couldn't help but widen his eyes and mutter, "Impossible. But... but father sent a message..."
"Ah... that was actually a lie."
It had to be said, Komurasaki's magic of deceiving the vision was very useful at times. They had successfully deceived the enemy's eyes and escaped.
"And, another dog also came along."
Yomi rushed out from behind and ran to Frey. Kobayashi deliberately said, "Are you surprised? Are you shocked? Are you happy?"
"...Tsk."
Loki's eyes widened, and then he clicked his tongue with resentment, forcefully turning around to leave.
"Wait."
Kobayashi suddenly called out to him. He said to his back, "Although I am both humble and tolerant, there are still three types of people I cannot forgive: those who order me around, those who defy me, and... tsundere, twisted-to-the-extreme guys who don't express their true feelings."
Hearing this, he turned around.
From his angry eyes, he could see what he wanted to express.
—That's my line!
"Let's have a good, deep exchange in the Night Party tonight, Loki~"
"Hmph."
(End of Chapter)