Because the Dead-End Butcher interfered, Nekomata ultimately failed to drive the train away. But that same unstable rampage also forced Farview Industries to delay the demolition yet again.
One delay after another inevitably dented Farview's business credibility. At the very least, in the short term, they wouldn't be able to carry on with the demolition plan at all.
After everyone exited the Hollow, Corin tried to keep following Chiya, only to be summoned back by a call from Lycaon. She left with constant, reluctant glances over her shoulder—until she finally bumped into an innocent passerby, panicked, bowed to apologize, then fled at top speed.
Meanwhile, back inside Random Play, the newly-retreated Nekomata was pressed down into a chair.
"H-hey! What are you doing, meow?!"
"Nekomata. You're hiding something from us, aren't you?"
"Uh… um… shouldn't we be worrying about Nicole and the others first?"
"I get that you're anxious," Wise said, arms crossed, "but before we figure out how to rescue anyone, we need to talk."
"W-what is this tone all of a sudden? My ear fur's about to stand on end…"
Wise watched as Nekomata trembled for a split second, then narrowed her eyes and tried to pretend she'd accepted her fate. Beside them, Belle was busy rummaging through Chiya's waist pouch like she owned it.
"Mm. One of those 'Super Ultra' Ether-Corrosion-Zeroing meds—gimme."
"Anesthetic—gimme…"
"Lure agent—gimme. Electronic corrosion agent—gimme!"
Fairy couldn't help speaking up. "Master, I sincerely hope you will seal that particular vial away. It is giving me a very real sensation of accelerated heartbeat."
Belle waved a hand. "No need. I've got a plan. Chiya—are you staying?"
"No," Chiya said. "Back in the Dead-End Hollow, there was a formula that got catalyzed to the point it was basically finished. Unfortunately, it seems to attract Ethereals."
"…Yeah. That just dragged up some very unpleasant memories."
Belle had taken plenty of his stock, but Chiya didn't care about the loss. The only thing he truly cared about was the one unfinished vial.
Because the final catalytic step for that vial had come from Grace.
Back then, inside a Hollow, Grace used Ether stimulation to successfully grant her "child" true intelligence—true life. Even now, Chiya still believed her name deserved to be etched into history, at least leaving a mark in New Eridu… if nowhere else, then in the world of civil engineering.
And Chiya knew what he was working on—what he was developing—was something capable of overturning New Eridu's entire order.
A drug that had consumed absurd amounts of resources, time, and effort.
A drug that, in his vision, could completely erase Ether corruption from people who hadn't yet fully become Ethereals—and return them to normal.
Everyone knew this much: the line between genius and madman is thin.
And what decides which side you fall on is what you choose to treat as precious.
Those scientists who looked insane at first glance—at their core—were simply people who treated ideals and science as life itself. Some went even further, convincing themselves they carried humanity's future on their backs. And so, to achieve their ideals, they dressed slaughter of the innocent in the language of "noble sacrifice," and demoted suffering people into "offerings" laid at a god's feet.
Chiya would never walk that road.
Because after the teacher who adopted him gave him the name Chiya, he swore he would never experiment on the innocent.
And yet—
This world isn't fair. That's exactly why we need to take certain necessary measures.
That voice rose uninvited in his mind.
Chiya… you and I are the same at our core. We both want to wipe the ugliness from this world.
The only difference is our paths. Different roads—same destination, isn't it?
I till the darkness. You serve the light. And between us runs a single, exquisite shade of gray.
But Chiya… practicing medicine won't save New Eridu. So often, only blood and force can teach the wicked to pull back their fangs, to rein in their shadows, to understand the true value of justice.
You rejected me this time, but it doesn't matter. The Mockingbird's door will always be open to you.
And I, Hugo Villard, will still help you—blocking the prying eyes.
Whether it's the blades of the vile… or—hehe—some cute, clumsy young lady whose heat runs too bright for her to even notice…
"Chiya! Chiya? Honestly—why do you keep spacing out?!"
His drifting thoughts snapped back from that old dusk—back from the second-floor balcony of a café in Lumina Square.
Chiya looked at Belle's puffed cheeks, smiled, rose onto his toes, and reached out to ruffle her head—
Only for her to smack his hand away.
"Hmph. Chiya—only I get to pet you. You're not allowed to pet me. Got it?"
"That's not fair. Belle, you're completely unreasonable—seriously, you never watch your limits—"
"L-LI—MITS?!!"
Belle's voice hit a pitch that could shatter worlds.
Chiya and Nekomata instinctively clapped hands to their ears and started to complain—
But Wise abruptly dropped to his knees on the floor.
"Limits… right… right… Chiya… you really do need to watch your limits…"
"Huh?" Chiya blinked. "Wise, why do I need to watch my limits?"
"A-ah, nothing," Wise said quickly. "Hey—are you still wearing those pants I gave you last time?"
"Yeah. They're a bit tight, but if I squeeze a little, they still fit—Wise?"
Squeeze… a little…?
Wise looked like he was about to stand back up, and then instantly collapsed again, palms on the floor, kneeling like a man who'd just had his soul ripped out.
Chiya was genuinely lost.
Was "limits" some kind of forbidden word now? It wasn't like Wise and Belle used to react like this.
But even if he was confused, right now he only wanted to go home and keep refining his drug.
So after saying goodbye to Wise, Belle, and Nekomata, Chiya hummed a little tune as he left the video store, heading to 141 Convenience Store to restock on energy bars.
"Hmm… watermelon flavor this time? Or cactus? Or fuel—ugh, fuel-drink flavor is a no. I'll take a little of everything else."
But when he arrived, Change informed him—
"Mm-neh-da, mm-neh-da. (Doctor Chiya, someone already bought out every energy bar in the store.)"
"What?! Sold out?!"
"Damn… should I go check Lumina Square right now…?"
"Oh, no need to worry, Doctor Chiya."
"…I told you," Chiya said, voice turning flat, "I don't want to see you again."
A presence like a venomous snake coiled around him.
Cold, familiar hands—like vines wrapping an oak—slid around his neck.
Chiya's tone dropped into ice.
Up until now, no one had ever made him speak with such coldness—such outright disgust.
The hostility in his voice was strong enough that anyone close to him—whether from Victoria Housekeeping, Baiqi Heavy Industries, or even the Cunning Hares—would have gone into fighting stance on instinct.
But the woman only smiled, as if she couldn't feel that disgust at all.
Instead, her fingers traced downward from his throat, trying to turn the touch into something more intimate—like a gentle ewe calling her lamb.
And she whispered into his ear in a tone so close it was practically dangerous:
"Why are you resisting me so much? Why won't you call me by my name—sweetly?"
"You know… I can be considered your teacher too."
"Chiya—or rather, why can't you let go of that teacher who abandoned you?"
"You and I both know… that obsession is a kind of illness."
"My teacher didn't abandon me!"
Chiya already understood how poisonous this woman was, but he still couldn't stand the way she tore open his wound with a teasing smile—then pretended to pity him as she tried to stain him with it.
Every time she appeared, she used those rotten words—rank as gutter sludge—to jab at his pain, treating his suffering like a joke, smearing the people he cherished with malicious conjecture.
And yet he still had to hold his nose and endure.
Because in a certain sense… she truly was his teacher.
And out of respect for the teacher who had adopted him, Chiya found that no matter how much he loathed her, whenever she suddenly softened—whenever she looked at him with those watery eyes like a young, helpless puppy—
He would curse himself… and still, somehow, let her in.
Just like now.
"Put the energy bars down," he said. "Say what you came to say. Then leave. I still need to find some air freshener."
"Waaah~ Chiya-chan, you think my words stink? You're really going to pull out air freshener on me?"
"If I'm not mistaken, the bottle you just dusted off and sprayed… it's expired, isn't it?"
"…None of your business," Chiya muttered.
Inside Heal, Chiya guiltily tossed the air freshener into the trash.
Seeing his embarrassment, the woman laughed so hard she clutched her stomach. Her glasses slipped down the bridge of her nose as she smiled—an expression that looked like mockery… and somehow like nostalgia.
"Ah… yes. It really is only here, with you."
"There are things… only you can give me, Chiya."
"Whether it was the younger you—more naive, more pure…"
"Or the current you—so 'affectionate' without even realizing it, giving everything to those you cherish without asking for anything in return…"
"I like you. All of you."
"I still remember how lost you looked when you learned I'd been struck from the military."
"You were like Little Red Riding Hood who'd finally lit a match in a blizzard—felt warmth for one brief moment—then had every remaining match ripped away by the wind."
"You asked everyone you knew, again and again… hoping for a different answer."
And in the end, you left without saying a word.
"Oh—and that Bangboo was there too."
Her gaze slid to Xugeya, who was glaring at her, and she continued in that casually cruel tone:
"I remember, back then this little Bangboo was all black. You said that was my favorite color."
"And now it's white… white enough to be blinding."
"You really want to cut ties with me that badly?"
"Enough," Chiya said, voice tight. "Get out. Now."
"That's it? You're kicking me out already?"
She gave a soft, breathy laugh.
"Hehe… I know. You've made money in New Eridu. Your business is thriving. Your life is good."
"You have protection, black and white alike."
"You don't need me anymore, Teacher that I am…"
"Waaah… you won't even call me—"
Chiya's jaw clenched.
"…Teacher."
He exhaled—like a man cutting off a limb.
"Teacher… please leave. Okay?"
His fists, clenched white-knuckled, slowly loosened.
He lowered his head.
The word he'd just said felt like ripping a swallowed red-hot branding iron back up through his gut—each syllable like a scalpel carving his heart open.
But he knew this much:
This woman—this "teacher" who had once given him so much warmth, who had taught him everything without holding back—this disgraced black doctor cast out by the military…
Still had one small corner of warmth left in her heart.
And if he didn't press that corner, he was certain she'd cling to him like a smear of tar that never came off.
So when she slowly sat up from the sofa and went quiet, Chiya understood:
He'd succeeded.
She picked up the glasses she'd dropped onto the couch, as if to put them back on—then paused.
She set them down instead.
Then she stood, pulled Chiya into her arms, and held him close.
She didn't want to look at him through lenses anymore.
The moment her hands reached out, Chiya's body trembled.
Old memories and the contradictory present overlapped, blurring his mind—slowing his resistance just enough.
The next thing he knew, he was sitting on the woman's cold legs.
And he heard her speak in a dreamy, sleepwalking voice:
"Chiya… why are you still struggling?"
"You should know how much evil hides beneath New Eridu's prosperity."
"The farther the light reaches, the deeper the shadow becomes."
"So why do you insist on clinging to the ideals your 'criminal' teacher forced on you?"
"Chiya… medicine can't save New Eridu."
"But force is different."
"If you have power… then you can do anything you want…"
"What are you saying?" Chiya's voice went tight.
His heart felt like it was being squeezed by a scorching iron hand.
The woman leaned in. His nose caught a scent he knew far too well—back then, she'd always carried the fragrance of flowers as she encouraged him, held him, sheltered him.
And then he heard why she had come.
"Chiya…"
"Have you heard the story of the Silver Army?"
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 80)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 80)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 74)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter20)
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