Chapter 58

Posted by Kuze, ? Views, Released on January 24, 2025

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I thought my hand was going to get sliced off…

No, if I had messed up, my hand really could have flown off.

I was so shocked that my body froze, unable to react.

“What are you doing?”

I forced my voice to lower as I looked at the girl who suddenly appeared.

“Sorry…hic.”

Then, the girl who had just shattered a gun looked at me with a frightened expression, completely different from her earlier demeanor.

I wondered if I had unintentionally pushed her too hard because of how startled I was.

“…What if you had gotten hurt?”

I almost got hurt…

*Squeak…*

I changed my tone to a gentle one and patted her head.

Then, the girl trembled like a puppy and nuzzled against me.

“Hic…hic…”

“I was just scared. I’m sorry for getting angry.”

I comforted her for a while.

“Sorry…I won’t jump in front of a gun next time…hic…”

“Okay…”

And please don’t tear guns apart with your hands either…

Even though she was crying and snuggling in my arms now, she was essentially a walking weapon.

‘Hmm…’

I’ll have to raise her properly so she doesn’t go off track.

At least, so she doesn’t attack me…

I hugged the girl even tighter.

“…So, why did you jump in?”

“Oh, right…”

After smearing my body with tears and snot for a while, the girl sniffled and looked at me with wide eyes.

“Researcher…you’re a bad person…but to me, you’re a kind person…”

“Betrayer…no, Researcher, were you a nice guy to her?”

“You’re clingy like a train…but compared to other uncles, you’re kinder…”

“Test subject, stop!!”

“Shh.”

Betrayer1 tried to stop the girl.

He seemed anxious, but I stopped him and listened to her more.

“How are you kinder than the other uncles?”

“Umm…you don’t say mean things to me…and you don’t hit me…”

“And?”

“Umm…”

The girl fumbled with her words, lost in thought.

I sat her on my lap and gently stroked her head.

“Ah! The weird things the uncles always do! You help with that too…”

“Test subject! Stop!!”

Betrayer1 was startled by her words and jumped up.

“Weird things?”

“It’s…it’s nothing. So…”

“Other uncles talk…and my head gets all fuzzy…but Researcher makes my head go ‘whoosh!’ and clear again…!!”

“You really!”

The girl stuck her tongue out at me, only her head peeking out from my arms.

…I get the situation now.

“So, you’re the one who broke her hypnosis?”

“N-no! That’s not it!! There’s no benefit for me to break it!! And the test subject broke the hypnosis on her own! If I wanted to break it, I would’ve done it earlier and helped her!”

“You only applied the hypnosis minimally, right? So she could break free and escape anytime she wanted.”

“No, that’s not it!!”

Betrayer1’s eyes shook violently, clearly flustered.

I took a sip of the now cold coffee he had handed me.

“If you wanted to help, why not just break the hypnosis completely? Why leave it ambiguous?”

That’s simple.

“Because, within your limits, you thought that was the best you could do.”

“What?”

“Directly helping would put your current position at risk. But leaving her alone would weigh on your conscience.”

So, you chose this ambiguous kindness.

By weakening the hypnosis, you could avoid responsibility.

You could keep your position while still comforting yourself with a shallow sense of goodwill.

“You’re not a saint.”

Neither you nor I.

If we were saints, we’d be heroes, not villains.

And not just us—most people aren’t saints.

“But that doesn’t mean you’re without a conscience.”

Not being a saint doesn’t automatically make you a villain.

Even villains have consciences.

The result of that is this ambiguous kindness.

“You wanted to avoid situations where you’d be harmed, but your conscience wouldn’t let you ignore it, so you helped in this way. Right?”

“……”

Betrayer1 closed his mouth tightly and looked at the floor.

After a moment, he sighed and slumped back into his chair.

“Ha…you’re right. Ambiguous kindness. Or, in other words, hypocrisy.”

“I think it’s natural.”

You don’t want to suffer losses, but you still want to seem kind.

If that sense is loose, it’s morality. If it’s strict, it’s the law.

Most people live like that.

Unless you’re a nosy hero, everyone lives like that.

“Is there really a problem? We’re villains.”

“…Villains. Yes, that’s right.”

Why should villains care about this?

In fact, it’s more pathetic for villains to act like this.

“…So, what do you plan to do with me?”

“Originally, I planned to kill you…”

I pointed my gun at Betrayer1.

Then.

“D-don’t kill him…!”

The girl grabbed the gun with her claws.

*Click…click…*

“…As you can see, this is the situation.”

Sparks flew from the girl’s claws and the gun.

Honestly, it was a bit scary, but I couldn’t show it…

“What do you want me to do?”

I carefully wiped the tears from the girl’s face.

“If you want me to handle it…”

“N-no!!”

*Crash!!*

“Uncle is bad too! But you shouldn’t kill him!!”

“…Understood.”

Okay. I won’t kill him.

I put down the gun, now just a handle.

“Are you sparing me? Just because of a child’s naive words?”

“I’ve left the decision to her. If she doesn’t want it, I have to respect that choice.”

Thinking back to when she first met Betrayer1, she only got angry with words but never actually attacked him.

Given her strength, if she really hated him, she would’ve attacked. But she didn’t.

It’s clear that she doesn’t truly hate Betrayer1.

“I’ve killed many people. That girl just helped me out of guilt for all the sins I’ve accumulated.”

“What does that matter?”

Again, we’re villains.

Villains are the ones who kill the most people.

“And this is simply greed for talent.”

A young senior researcher at Z Bio.

And someone who’s taken charge of the main project—he’s definitely talented.

Plus, he’s someone who’s taken care of the girl intensively.

He’d know her health and physical condition in detail.

“Work for our organization.”

“Atone by saving as many lives as I’ve taken, is that it?”

“What right do I have to say that?”

No, that’s not it.

Telling someone to atone by saving lives is nonsense.

The people you kill and the people you save are completely different. How does that even count as atonement?

“And again, we’re villains. Caring about that kind of thing is weird in itself.”

I finished the remaining coffee in my hand and set the cup down on the table.

That’s what I wanted to say.

“Work yourself to death.”

At least then, you’ll have some company when you fall into hell.

“Quite the cruel words.”

Betrayer1 chuckled at my words.

He finished the last of his coffee and then shook my hand.

“Fine. I’ll work myself to death in your organization.”

***

*Vroom-vroom!*

“Are you happy?”

“Y-yes…!”

After the conversation with Betrayer1.

Gang Ian walked down the hallway, holding the girl.

*Vroom-vroom-vroom!*

The girl, happy that the researcher wasn’t killed, wagged her tail and perked up her big ears.

“But from now on, don’t grab my gun or jump in front of it. You could get hurt.”

“Okay…sorry…”

*Squeak…*

The girl slumped at Gang Ian’s scolding.

But it wasn’t that she disliked him.

‘Kind person…’

She could feel his genuine concern for her.

‘Different from the other uncles…’

Thanks to the senses she developed from the experiments and the stares she received since infancy, the girl could tell whether someone had ill intentions toward her or not.

When she felt Gang Ian, he was a bit different from the others.

He didn’t mind her ears and tail, which others called hybrids and found creepy.

‘He doesn’t hit me…or make faces at me…’

The girl touched the bandages he had wrapped around her.

It was the first time she had received such active kindness.

Betrayer1 had only helped indirectly and never wrapped bandages like this, so Gang Ian was the only one who showed her proper kindness.

“You.”

“Hmm…?”

The girl drowsily responded to Gang Ian’s call.

Gang Ian gently patted her back.

“This is just curiosity, but why did you ask me to raise you?”

“Raise me…?”