Chapter 48

“Alright, I tied you up as you wished, now what are you going to do?”

“Let me think about it.”

The doctor still seemed to hold hope that I would hand over the magical girl, but I had no intention of doing so.

So, what should I do with this…

It doesn’t make sense to just let her go.

“Does that wound hurt?”

“…”

The sight of a girl bleeding profusely from her neck was bound to evoke pity.

Even with my monstrous emotions, I couldn’t understand the feeling, but the knowledge in my head told me to feel sorry for her.

Alright, let’s do a good deed for once.

“I’ll disinfect it for you. If the wound gets infected, you might die.”

“…What—”

“Here.”

“Ahhhh!!!”

I took the disinfectant from the first aid kit on the table and poured it directly onto the magical girl’s neck.

Ouch, that looks painful. But bear with it. They say youth is painful, right?

Watching the wound bubble and disinfect made me feel good about doing a good deed.

“Now, now, it’ll hurt more if you move. Here, I’ll put a bandage on it.”

“…Ugh.”

I slapped a large bandage big enough to cover her entire neck onto the wound.

Ta-da! Emergency treatment done!

With her messy neck covered, she finally looked somewhat presentable.

“…You’re really vicious. Who do you take after, ugh.”

“Vicious? I even treated your wound. And who else would I take after but you?”

Calling pouring disinfectant on a wound vicious…

Before you criticize me, maybe you should worry about your own behavior, Doctor.

“Tch, just kill me!”

“That’s such a cliché line.”

No one who says that ever dies properly.

And you’re even trembling.

Even though you’re saying you’d rather die, your eyes betray your emotions, making it all meaningless.

“By the way, you’re wearing something nasty.”

“This?”

The doctor clicked his tongue as he looked at the band-like thing wrapped just below her chin.

I thought it was just an accessory, but does it have some other function?

Like a self-destruct device, for example.

“It’s a device that injects despair immediately if you do anything foolish. With this amount, you’d either lose your mind for life or live as a wreck.”

“…”

Is this why you’re looking for the curse?

As I slowly touched the magical girl’s neck, her body started to twitch.

She must be worried the necklace might break.

“If you handle it carelessly and it breaks, it’ll be useless, right?”

“Don’t worry, I won’t break it.”

“It looks like you’re planning to break it!”

Admittedly, I was thinking about how to break it properly.

Why? Because the more you’re told not to do something, the more you want to do it.

‘By the way, you said there’s despair inside, right?’

Just how much despair is in there to turn a magical girl into a wreck?

I stared intently at the string around the magical girl’s neck, but I didn’t feel any despair.

How did the doctor even know there was despair inside?

He’s really capable in these areas.

“Doctor, want to make a bet?”

“What kind of bet?”

“A bet on whether she’ll become a wreck if I break this or not.”

The doctor looked at me like I was crazy.

It was the kind of face that said, “Go ahead and try.”

Ah, this is fun. Giving someone who thinks they can’t lose a taste of defeat.

“Fine. If you lose, come back under my command, Akari.”

“Deal. But if I win?”

“I’ll grant you anything you want!”

“Are you sure about that?”

“Are you sure about yourself?”

Sparks flew between the doctor and me.

Maybe we’re a bit alike in this regard.

But one difference is that I never make bets I can’t win.

“…Hey, what about my opinion?”

“You’re in no position to say anything when you’re captured.”

“…Damn it.”

Seeing her pale face made me laugh.

Even a magical girl must be scared of becoming a wreck, huh?

“Don’t worry, I’ll win the bet.”

“What makes you so confident—”

Snap.

Ignoring the magical girl’s protests, I yanked the string around her neck.

No precautions, no careful handling—just a simple yank.

It didn’t take long for the magical girl’s face to turn pale.

“Y-you, what did you just…!!”

If she weren’t tied up, she might have grabbed me by the collar.

Whoa, calm down.

It’s like watching a cat get a shot.

Sigh, the owner gives a shot for the cat’s own good, and the cat throws a fit… Anyway.

“Calm down, calm down. See? It’s fine now.”

“…Huh?”

“Ta-da~ How’s that? Free, right?”

“…Huh?”

I waved my hand in front of the magical girl, who still couldn’t grasp reality.

Is this what you meant by becoming a wreck?

‘By the way, this despair tastes pretty good.’

It tasted familiar, similar to Tamako’s despair.

If Tamako’s despair was freshly extracted, the despair in the string felt like it had been aged for years.

“What, what are you eating!”

“Did you notice?”

“That’s why you can’t use your powers properly and are flailing around! Spit it out, spit it out!”

“Hey, you’re not my mom… What does it matter if I eat some despair that fell on the ground?”

Realizing I had eaten the despair from the string, the doctor urged me to spit it out.

You throw it away, and then get mad when I pick it up and eat it?

Tsk tsk, I peeled the doctor off my arm.

“It’s already digested. You should’ve raised me in a more comfortable environment.”

“You ran away before I could even feed you!!”

“I ran away because you starved me. That’s just an excuse.”

The doctor now resembled a typical abusive parent.

This is why monsters are no good. No human sensibility, tsk.

“Anyway, I won, right?”

“…Yeah.”

Finally realizing the situation, the doctor’s face turned pale.

What, it’s not like I’m going to eat you. Why the reaction?

I don’t have a habit of eating monsters.

I do eat suicidal hopefuls who come at me, but I never seek them out to eat.

“Alright, what do you want from me? I made a promise, so I’ll keep it!”

“Then, can you make her like Tamako?”

I thought Tamako’s despair was just from the doctor’s horrific human experiments.

But really, can humans only feel despair while sleeping?

The amount of despair she emitted was too consistent for it to be just nightmares.

“Tamako? Who are you talking about?”

“The magical girl in the test tube when you were tormenting me with despair essence.”

“Ah, that test subject… Well, it’s possible. But who’s tormenting whom!”

You are. So, it’s possible, huh.

The magical girl, who had been quietly listening to our conversation, looked completely lost.

Well, of course.

Who would think they’d be turned into a despair pouch?

“Ahem, but there’s one problem.”

“What’s the problem?”

“I’m short on materials for the modification. No equipment either.”

“Useless.”

“Whose fault is that!”

So, it’s not possible right now.

…What a letdown.

“Uh, well…”

The magical girl made a dumbfounded face as I untied her.

By the way, I didn’t even know her name.

It’s a bit of a waste to let her go without knowing the name of the girl who stabbed a hole in my stomach.

“It’s a bit late, but… what’s your name?”

“…Garnet.”

“That’s a nice name.”

Even though I’ve never heard it in the original work.

Anyway, case closed.

I caught the intruder in my hospital room and removed the magical girl’s collar. Happy ending!

“Why are you looking so proud?”

“Being kind feels good, you know? And you won’t repay kindness with cruelty, right?”

“You just asked me to modify her—”

“Hey, of course, I was joking.”

People can joke around sometimes.

By the way, you’re not going to stab me again, are you?

Her silence made me more uneasy.

I just said you wouldn’t repay kindness with cruelty, but if you stab me again, it’ll be hard to hold back.

“…Is this really the end?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

A little while later.

The magical girl—Garnet—spoke in a voice that sounded like she couldn’t understand.

Though I was the one who didn’t understand.

“You suddenly broke into my hospital room, threatened me, and even attacked me. But instead of killing me, you just removed the collar and that’s it?”

“What, were you really planning to repay my kindness?”

“But it doesn’t make sense! How, how can you just do that?!”

Are you the type who can’t live with owing a debt?

…What a troublesome personality.