Chapter 20

Uh… Should we head to the shelter?

No, since the alarm went off, of course, we should head to the shelter.

Clicking my tongue inwardly, I grabbed the child’s hand.

“Let’s head to the shelter first.”

“Uh, okay…!”

Where is the shelter around here anyway?

Since things have come to this, I decided to go into the shelter and feast on the despair of humans.

To revive my taste buds that have gone weird from eating ice cream.

‘Huh?’

Just as I was about to leave the mart, a strange scene caught my eye.

While everyone visiting the mart was running outside, there were a few people heading inside the building.

Is it because the shelter is far, so they’d rather hide here?

‘There’s no way hiding here would let them escape the monsters.’

Monsters that detect despair wouldn’t fail to find humans just because they held their breath and hid.

Knowing that, people in this world are trained to run to the shelter when the alarm goes off, but they’re heading inside the building instead?

Suspicious of their behavior, I turned my steps away from exiting the mart and started following the people heading inside.

“Uh, older sister… where are you going?”

“I think I’ve found a safer place.”

Looking at the door labeled ‘Emergency Stairs,’ I raised the corner of my mouth.

It doesn’t seem like an exit, and the building doesn’t even have a basement, so why would there be emergency stairs on the first floor?

‘They must have made a shelter exclusively for the higher-ups.’

After all, wealthy people worry much more about their safety.

From the moment the monsters breached the shelters, ordinary shelters could no longer guarantee safety.

It’s much better to head to the shelter the higher-ups use than to take the child to a regular shelter.

Click, click—

“Older sister, the door seems to be locked…”

“Ah… it seems you need to pull, not push.”

Creak— clank—

See, it opened, didn’t it?

The lock was completely busted and dangling, but it opened, so problem solved!

“Older sister, I’m scared…”

“Shh, it’s okay. This is much better than being eaten by a monster.”

The atmosphere of the stairs leading down seemed scary, as the child was trembling.

Hmm, the despair of a child is indeed delicious.

It would be really great if this child became a magical girl and gave me despair.

“Now, I’m here with you, so don’t worry.”

“Uh, okay…”

It was really cute how the child tried to calm down while listening to the monster.

What if I suddenly said, ‘Do I still look like the older sister you knew?’ and bent my neck 90 degrees.

Wouldn’t they faint from shock?

Click— click— click—

‘…The stairs are longer than I thought.’

How safe did they want to be to build a shelter this deep?

Wait, shouldn’t this be considered the standard shelter?

Knock knock—

“Hello~ Is anyone there~”

At the end of the spiral staircase was a small iron door.

The ‘No Entry Except for Authorized Personnel’ sign and the intimidating sticker were a bit puzzling, but since we’d come this far, it was awkward to turn back, so I knocked first.

Open the door, door. If you don’t open it, I’ll force my way in?

“…Older sister, this time it might be ‘pull.'”

“Hmm, this time it seems to be ‘push.'”

Creak…

This door is a bit sturdier.

I gave a small nod of admiration at the door that screamed but didn’t break despite being pushed.

A door this sturdy.

I don’t think the fifth-floor door of the shelter was this sturdy.

Grind— grind— grind—

“Excuse me.”

It’s much better to live together if you want to survive, right?

Curious about the expressions of the humans inside, I quickly entered.

What kind of good shelter is this that only a few humans can enter, really.

“Is there no one here?”

But inside the shelter, there was no trace of humans.

All that was there were incomprehensible machinery and long corridors.

And above all, this feeling.

A strange sensation, familiar yet eerie, was pricking my skin.

“Older sister, this place is weird…”

“Yeah. It doesn’t seem like a shelter…”

For a shelter, there were a lot of miscellaneous items lying around.

Even items covered with large cloths gave off a rather eerie atmosphere.

Was this a place we shouldn’t have entered?

[※Danger※ Do not approach the test tube. The specimen may be stimulated.]

‘…Specimen?’

A large sign in front of a large cloth.

I tilted my head at the meaningful words written on the sign.

This smells like something. A very familiar smell.

Swoosh—

“Uh, older sister…!”

“This is…”

Monster? No, human?

…Monhuman?

Something that seemed like a mix of human and monster was inside a large test tube.

Blub blub—

“Eek, it, it moved…!”

“It didn’t move. And don’t worry, I’m here, right?”

“Uh, okay…”

Calming the child, I took a step closer to the test tube.

This, I feel like I’ve seen it somewhere before, or is it just my imagination?

I’ve seen it so much that I’ve forgotten.

Hmm, as I let out a sigh and took another step closer—

‘Oh, it opened its eyes.’

“…!!!!”

I let out a small gasp at the creature with wide eyes looking at me.

It didn’t seem like a situation for admiration, as it rolled its eyes with a confused expression.

A face that seemed to say it didn’t know why it was trapped here.

Whoosh—

“How did you end up trapped here?”

“…”

I can feel despair. An overwhelming despair.

It’s not comparable to a magical girl’s, but it’s enough to function as a primer for the Despair Circuit.

How would it feel to wake up and find your body merged with a monster’s?

It must be terrifying and horrifying, right?

“Ugh, uwaaah…”

“It’s okay, it’s okay. Shh… I’m here.”

“…!! …! …!!”

Eventually, the child burst into tears at the sight of the horrifying figure, and I picked them up, slowly patting their back.

Ah, really. If you cry like that, I can’t control the corner of my mouth.

As I tried to suppress the corner of my mouth, the creature in the test tube started opening and closing its mouth at me.

‘I don’t know what it’s saying, but it seems really desperate.’

Blub blub—

Its pupils were half-dilated.

It was a reaction similar to a human facing an unidentified monster.

Who are you so scared of, looking like that?

“Do you want to get out of there?”

“…! …!!”

“I can’t hear what you’re saying. Well, just nod if you want to get out. I’ll get you out.”

A look mixed with fear and expectation.

Hope alone would have been truly terrible, but the despair blooming amidst faint hope felt truly beautiful.

It’s a delicacy, a delicacy. Could there be a lot of these underground?

Slurp—

‘Ugh, just imagining it is delicious…’

With a determined look, the creature nodded, and I placed my hand on the test tube.

Why do you want to get out of there?

Because you’re trapped? Or is there something you need to do outside?

‘You’ll definitely be treated as a monster, but is that okay?’

I shouldn’t say this, but even to me, who’s a bit detached from human sensibilities, the creature in front of me looked downright disgusting.

I could imagine myself gagging at the dinner table just from seeing it.

Anything that’s neither this nor that only evokes disgust.

Creak—

“It’s your choice, so you deal with it.”

Crash!!!

The test tube shattered, and the creature inside fell out.

It felt similar to when I took Tamako out of the test tube, but I didn’t feel the same emotion.

Seeing this, it seems appearance is important after all.

Unless the despair is so delicious that you don’t care about appearance, there’s no reason to help any further.

“Gasp, gah… ugh…”

The creature let out painful groans, seemingly having trouble breathing.

Have some despair before it hurts more, despair.

I was curious what a half-human, half-monster creature would eat, but since it’s half monster, it might eat despair.

Of course, to eat despair, it would have to get out first.

‘Surviving and escaping with hope, only to be treated as a monster because of your changed appearance…’

…Just imagining it is a delicacy.

For a moment, I thought about following the creature, but thinking this was just the beginning, I managed to suppress my desire.

There must be even more creatures like that deeper inside.

That’s for sure—

‘—It’s sure to be an unimaginable delicacy.’

So, for now, let’s go deeper inside.

Swallowing the saliva pooling in my mouth, I started moving deeper underground.

This place felt like a banquet hall prepared just for me.