Chapter 31

Meanwhile, Red was outside.

While quickly finishing up a job and heading back, the device she had given to Nina activated, and a text message came through on Red’s phone.

It was a substantial amount of data.

Red stopped her car, and as she slowly read through the sent materials, her expression stiffened.

It was the information Nina had uncovered at the abandoned orphanage.

Her worst fears had become reality.

Though she had hoped otherwise deep down, the truth was cruel.

Isaac had taken advantage of the children from the orphanage he had once run, committing unforgivable acts.

While she had suspected something was amiss, learning the full extent of her former associate’s corruption was shocking.

Red closed her eyes.

Her face darkened.

What weighed heavier on her heart, however, wasn’t just the ugly truth but the implications of the device she had given activating.

‘What a fool… Why did you have to go on your own…’

Red didn’t consider herself particularly close to Nina, nor were they especially bad acquaintances.

They had met through a connection when Isaac’s relationship was still good, and after they parted ways, they hardly crossed paths anymore.

One might say they were on amicable terms.

Still, the death of an acquaintance troubled her.

For a Solver, death and their work were inseparable.

Especially in this world, death was commonplace, something one grew accustomed to.

It would have been easier if she could accept it like others, but even at the highest rank, maintaining composure in the face of someone’s death was difficult.

The corner of Red’s eyes twitched faintly.

She silently prayed for Nina’s peace.

‘Isaac…!’

With the intention to see it through, Red turned her car toward the abandoned orphanage.

On the way there, she received word that there had been trouble at the orphanage.

Rene took care of everything minor, so the fact that she had contacted her meant serious trouble had arisen.

Red didn’t deliberate long.

She turned her car and hurriedly headed back to the orphanage, accelerating hard.

When Red arrived, the sight made her frown deepen.

There were clear traces of a fierce battle across the entire yard.

What concerned her more were the shards scattered everywhere, along with piles of ice and remnants of a familiar magic power.

Red immediately knew who had come.

“Miss Red…”

Rene, who had been waiting in the yard, brightened up upon seeing Red, only for her expression to darken again.

Rene explained everything that had happened to Red.

The attack from the Grim Reaper Cultists, Isaac’s raid, and Lily’s decision to follow them in order to protect everyone.

After finishing her explanation, Rene ground her teeth in frustration, her clenched fists trembling.

“…I’m sorry. Even though I was here… Even though I was here… I couldn’t protect them. I should have done better… I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

Rene bowed her head deeply.

Red placed her hand on Rene’s head and stroked it forcefully.

Rene let out a small sound of pain and managed to stop Red’s hand.

Red withdrew her hand from Rene’s head.

Rene raised her head.

Her azure hair was now wildly disheveled, and seeing it Red couldn’t help but crack a faint smile.

“That’s enough. You did well. It was almost impossible for you to stop Isaac alone, especially here.”

Her tone was not accusatory.

Red didn’t consider this Rene’s fault. The environment and circumstances were simply unfavorable.

Red knew both Rene and Isaac’s abilities well.

If it had been Isaac against her main form and not here, but somewhere else, she was confident that she would win in a hundred battles if fought.

“It’s alright. We’ve lost nothing. What was taken can be reclaimed.”

Not a single life had been lost, and that was enough.

The broken could be repaired, and the messy could be organized.

Once she retrieved Lily from Isaac, everything would return to normal.

“But why did he take Lily? Besides the reason about saving the world, did he mention anything else?”

Rene shook her head.

“The only thing clear is that Isaac seemed to know something about Lily.”

“This nonsense about her being someone who shouldn’t exist in the world… It’s ridiculous.”

“Not sure what it means, but Isaac seemed unusually interested in Lily.”

“His constant focus on her made me think there had to be a reason, but I never imagined he’d resort to this.”

“Why would he have done this?”

“We’ll know the full details from his own mouth.”

This incident happened suddenly. Such an action would inevitably lead to consequences.

It’s not something the cautious Isaac would usually do.

So it’s evident that this was a spontaneous event.

Red suspected Isaac’s sudden move was due to the leaking of his dark secrets.

After organizing her thoughts, Red slowly began to move her legs to depart.

“I’ll be back.”

“I want to come too. Let me come with you.”

“No. I’ll go alone. You stay here and clean up the yard. The kids would be frightened if they saw all this chaos. Besides, time’s almost up.”

“Alright, but please leave the cleaning to me.”

As Red was about to leave,

“Uh, Miss Red…”

“Hmm?”

“That child took off her mask and showed me her face.”

Red’s eyes widened.

Even one as reluctant to remove their mask showing it willingly was quite surprising.

However, it wasn’t mere boasting. Red understood the sadness in Rene’s expression.

“Though she didn’t cry, her face was filled with a deep sorrow.”

Rene remembered the incident as vividly as if it had occurred just now.

The moment Lily had taken off her mask, Rene was deeply startled.

She doubted whether what she was seeing was real.

A person with such an appearance existed in the world? Even though she’s an infant, she was unnervingly beautiful to the point of sending shivers down Rene’s spine.

Her blue eyes that steadily met Rene’s gaze made her feel somewhat inferior.

Too plain and ordinary to match such beauty, Rene felt a pang of inadequacy.

It also made her heart ache deeply.

The sorrow-filled blue eyes brimmed with determination.

A determination not to be saved.

And with a slight bow of her head as if to express gratitude for everything until now,

She put her mask back on.

“Had Lily not gone along, the damages would have been much worse. In fact, we were practically saved thanks to Lily’s help. So…”

While Rene felt pity for Lily as a poor child, she couldn’t completely shake off her suspicions.

The past was shrouded in mystery.

She faintly sensed great power in Lily’s small frame.

As someone responsible for the welfare of the children in the orphanage, Rene couldn’t overlook even the smallest hint of danger.

Thus, although she treated Lily like a child, she didn’t let her guard down.

However, over time, Rene’s vigilance naturally lessened.

She began to sense that Lily also cherished the orphans.

After witnessing her putting her body on the line to protect Rena, Rene became convinced.

Lily wasn’t a dangerous girl.

She was absolutely not the “child who should not exist in this world” as Isaac called her.

“Please bring her back.”

“I will.”

In response to Rene’s earnest plea, Red replied without hesitation.

Red set out swiftly to punish the villain, retrieve Lily, and return to a normal tomorrow.

*

Hmm.

A place that evokes unpleasant memories.

Following Isaac led to some abandoned building, then through a basement tunnel, and soon I arrived at a suspicious location.

There were strange devices, machines, and plenty of suspicious items.

This is a lab.

Whatever kind of lab it may be, it’s certainly not normal.

‘The smell of blood lingers heavily here. A lot of people must’ve died here.’

A nauseating feeling enveloped my body.

A Solver, a person like Isaac, has truly committed atrocious deeds.

Has his professional ethics gone down the drain?

I’m tightly bound with the chains of light, unable to move.

Of course, I could easily break free, but for now, I’ll observe the situation.

After scanning my surroundings with my eyes, I turned my gaze towards Isaac.

Isaac was busily operating a machine.

A bit later, Isaac approached me.

“Since we have time, let’s have a little chat, kid. Before that, it’s extremely rude of you to wear a mask while conversing with others, isn’t it?”

Isaac placed his hand on my face and forcibly removed my mask.

Upon seeing my bare face, Isaac’s expression changed drastically.

He dropped the mask, his mouth half-open, and stared at me blankly.

Greed and desire filled his previously indifferent eyes.

And then he wore a lewd smile.

“Haha, what a surprise. I thought you had an ugly face under the mask, but who would’ve thought you had such a beautiful face underneath. Now I’m kind of regretting using you for the experiment.”

Isaac reached out and gently stroked my smooth cheek.

The touch sent shivers down my spine and made my stomach turn.

Urgh. I feel like throwing up.

What kind of build does he find appealing? What a corrupt human being.

“Why aren’t you talking? There’s so much I’m curious about. Oh, right, you can’t speak, correct? Try moving your lips.”

I shuddered to prevent more touching, pushed his hand away, glared at him, and moved my lips.

[Are you alright?]

Isaac’s eyes were filled with regret.

He was still stroking my cheek as if savoring the sensation, his expression tightening.

Urgh.

Whether he understood or not, Isaac didn’t say anything.

Silence stretched on.

I had moved my lips clearly enough for him to easily read them.

Fortunately, not failing to understand my lip movements, Isaac eventually spoke up.

“To be honest, my original plan was ruined because of you. I intended to just take you, but your resistance broke your mask, and in the end, Rene ended up seeing your face.”

Isaac sighed deeply and continued.

“Still, it doesn’t matter. Though it’s troublesome, there is a way.”

Isaac tapped his forehead with his finger.

“I can erase her memory. There are places that offer that kind of procedure for a price. Though fiddling with the brain is a bit uneasy, we’ll manage somehow. That’s why, if only you had followed me obediently from the start, it would’ve been simpler.”

So here we are again with reversed accusations.

While feeling irritated at his tone of blaming me, I asked my next question.

[Do you know who I am?]

Yes. That’s what I wanted to know.

Isaac seemed to know something about me,

but my hopes were dashed by his response.

“That’s a question you’d want to ask.”

Isaac propped up my chin with his finger and raised it.

He stared at my face intently, almost as if trying to confirm something.

“I’ve never seen a face like this before. If someone has such a face, you’d think they’d appear somewhere, yet you haven’t. Did I somehow forget creating you?”

As he scrutinized me, so did I scrutinize him.

He didn’t look like he was lying.

It seemed he truly didn’t know anything about me.

Then why did he mention such a thing to Rene?

Was it just bluffing to unsettle Rene?

“Who are you, really?”

Since I don’t know either, I stayed silent and moved my lips again.

[Then, why me?]

It appeared Isaac had been targeting me from the start.

All of his previous attentions towards me made sense.

But what was the reason?

It didn’t seem like he targeted me because he knew I am the Reaper.

Nor did it seem like he knew much about me either.

There was no clear reason for targeting me.

Fortunately, Isaac’s lips were rather loose.

He explained rather kindly, as if a teacher responding to a good question.

“Have you ever heard the saying: one muddy loach can dirty the entire pond? Simply put, your existence is like a glitch to me. If a glitch is left untreated, of course, things won’t run smoothly, right? Initially, I planned to investigate you gradually but, unfortunately, I don’t have time now. So, I figured if I’m going to get rid of you anyway, I might as well use you for experiments. You could, after all, be the final ingredient for my masterpiece.”

Masterpiece?

I looked beyond Isaac towards the large glass tube, which had been catching my attention due to the strong energy it emitted.

Was it your pet?

And a masterpiece? Hmm, I now have a rough idea of what kind of place this is and what kind of experiments were conducted here.

For my final and biggest curiosity, I asked:

[What is your purpose?]

Ever since arriving, I’ve been curious.

Why was he wasting his time conducting horrifying experiments here?

A Solver like Isaac doesn’t seem to lack money or reputation.

In other words, there was no visible reason for him to get his hands dirty.

What was he trying to gain?

Isaac’s mouth widened.

It seemed like he finally received a proper question, his eyes sparkling.

As if recounting an incredible tale, he excitedly explained.

“To save the world.”

What?

“You look confused. I mean, it’s hard to believe someone preparing such a lab and conducting dangerous experiments could be trying to save the world, right? But the world doesn’t always bend to my will, and I don’t really want to do such things. Still, in order to protect the forest, we sometimes have to cut down one tree, right? Bold decisions must be made.”

Isaac’s smile twisted into something crueler.

As he softly stroked my cheek again, he said,

“So stop feeling so wronged. After all, you’ll be contributing to the greater good. You should feel quite honored.”