Chapter 75

“That’s bad taste.”

“Still better than the others, right?”

Humming a tune, she hung the card key she took from the old researcher around her neck.

With this, maybe I can get into that so-called danger zone?

It might be a bolt from the blue for the old man inside the cabinet, but since I didn’t fold it like the others, it should be fine, right?

“It took longer than expected because there are fewer humans.”

“…That makes sense. Most researchers lost their lives in the last incident.”

“Oh, so you’re saying it’s my fault?”

“Sigh…”

Garnet let out a sigh, seemingly deflated by my words.

Even if she’s a delinquent, she’s still a magical girl, so she probably didn’t want to hear about humans dying and all that.

She quickly shut her mouth when she realized I was steering the conversation that way.

‘This is why I don’t like perceptive magical girls…’

I’d much rather have someone like Peridot, who deludes herself and falls into despair on her own. That’s way more fun.

Garnet is… well, she seems easy to handle but isn’t. Pranks don’t work on her. Boring.

“Alright, shall we see what’s hidden here?”

“…”

“Smile, Garnet. Why so serious?”

There’s nothing more exciting than discovering something new.

Thinking like some mad scientist, I opened the door to the danger zone.

[Welcome, Doctor. Have a great time.]

“…Great time, my foot.”

“Well, it might be a great time for researchers. Not so sure about the others, though.”

The laboratory was pitch dark.

Did they turn off the lights on purpose?

I looked around for a switch to turn on the lights, but no matter how hard I searched, I couldn’t find one.

‘…This feels oddly familiar.’

A sensation I’ve felt many times before.

As I turned my head toward the faint sense of despair, I saw something wrapped in black cloth.

If I’m right, there’s definitely something inside—

“Bingo.”

“…Damn it.”

Unwrapping the black cloth revealed a large test tube.

Inside, of course, was a human child who had recently gone missing.

If something suspicious happens, always check the underground lab first. It’s usually the right call.

“But this doesn’t seem like they’re trying to create magical girls.”

“How would you know?”

“Because I feel despair, not hope. If they were trying to create magical girls, I’d feel that disgusting—sorry, unpleasant hope.”

For something claiming to research magical girls, it was way too wholesome.

I’m all for this kind of research, all for it!

Sorry, Garnet, but the despair of human children is quite delicious.

Maybe it’s because they could potentially become magical girls that it feels even more enticing.

“…Let’s save them first.”

“If you break the test tube, the kids inside might get hurt. It’s better to find a way to take them out safely.”

I subtly grabbed Garnet’s arm as she tried to smash the test tube with her staff.

The one who said not to cause a commotion is now trying to do something so barbaric.

“If they put them in, there must be a way to take them out, right?”

“Do you know how to get them out?”

“Just touch everything. Wait a bit. I’ll figure it out.”

I was confident with handling machines.

A manual would’ve been nice, but sadly, there wasn’t one here… Oh, is this it?

*Beep, whirrrr—*

“…What did you just press?”

“No idea.”

“Don’t press random buttons if you don’t know, idiot!”

“Ouch…”

I groaned as Garnet hit the back of my head with her staff.

Even if it’s infused with hope, isn’t that a bit too much?

Rubbing my sore head, I glared at Garnet, and then the machine connected to the test tube started moving.

“This is…”

“They’re extracting despair.”

The faint despair I felt earlier intensified and began flowing into the machine.

Garnet frowned at the sight.

Of course. For a magical girl, despair is like poison.

‘Still, this feels way too familiar…’

Putting humans in test tubes and extracting their despair.

It’s something Curs would definitely do, but I couldn’t help but think of someone else first.

Because, clearly, this method is—

“Why did the machine suddenly activate?”

“How should I know? Maybe the new director did it.”

“Stop with the new director nonsense. Just call him the director. You’ll get yourself killed.”

I thought there was no one inside, but turns out there were people.

Hiding in the shadows of the machines, I quietly watched the two humans.

Should I listen to their conversation?

“That new director is really weird. Why did he order all the lab lights to be turned off?”

“Still better than the guy who was raising monsters in the lab, tsk.”

“Yeah, I guess. Just looking at their faces makes my knees weak… ugh.”

Listening to their conversation, it seems the culprit here isn’t Curs.

If it were, they wouldn’t be badmouthing someone they thought was Curs.

*Whirrrr…*

“These kids are pitiful. Stuck here, having their despair energy extracted.”

“Still better than being mixed with monsters, right?”

“Don’t even mention it. If they saw that, they’d be bowing to us, saying ‘Thank you~’.”

As the humans pressed various buttons, the machine soon stopped working.

The despair flowing out also diminished, which was quite disappointing.

“Anyway, we’ve done similar things before, and the welfare has actually improved, so I’m satisfied.”

“Praise the new director. Praise the new director.”

With that, the humans disappeared deeper into the lab.

“…So they weren’t researching magical girls? And what’s this about a new director?”

“It seems they’re researching something even worse than magical girls.”

After the humans left, Garnet emerged from the shadows of the machines with a look of disbelief.

It seemed hard for her to grasp that the culprit we thought was Curs might not be Curs after all.

Well, it’s not like there’s anyone else who’d lead such a nasty research project.

At least, not among humans.

“Could it still be Curs? You know, the one with the monster head.”

“Monster head… Hmm, yeah, that’s possible.”

I casually fed the confused magical girl some false information.

It’s not like I’m betraying her or anything.

From the moment we arrived here, the kidnapper was bound to be exposed anyway.

But still, the reason I’m saying this is—well, it’s more fun.

I want to see her shocked face later when she finds out it wasn’t Curs.

Other humans might call it bad taste, but I’m a monster after all.

So, this little prank is no big deal! That kind of vibe.

“But there’s still something fishy…”

“What part?”

“That guy increased welfare? Seriously. How can someone who became a monster suddenly become more decent?”

“…”

Ah, that kind of thing?

Well, it’s true. Someone with that kind of mindset wouldn’t suddenly start caring about employee welfare after becoming a monster.

I reflexively nodded at the reasonable suspicion.

***

“This way, Doctor.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me. You should thank the new director.”

“…The new director?”

Following the researcher, I walked for a while.

I tilted my head at the mention of the “new” director.

If it’s a “new” director, does that mean someone else has taken over as the director?

“Um, how do you get the children used as test subjects?”

“Not sure. The new director arranges that too, but since he says it’s okay to use them, we do.”

“…”

My head was spinning.

If the man who kidnapped Aya is here, then coming back here was a mistake.

Thinking that made me dizzy.

From the new director to the existence that used monsters to kidnap Aya.

It was all a mess of unknown information.

‘Using monsters to kidnap children was his method…’

If the culprit who kidnapped Aya is that man, then we’ve got the wrong address.

But what if this new director used monsters to kidnap Aya, just like that man?

The countless possibilities made my vision blur.

Just as nausea was about to rise up my throat, a thought popped into my head.

“Where are we going now?”

As the scenery grew darker, Lina asked in a trembling voice.

When did we even come to such a place?

My heart was pounding so loud it felt like it was right next to my ear.

“The new director wants to meet you, Doctor.”

The man said.

It seems it’s too late to run now.