Chapter 60 |
James and I had to listen to what Carol said to us after we returned to the Institution.
We were not reprimanded because we were credited with safely capturing the wolf and delivering it to the Institution, but our trustworthiness was diminished because we ignored Carol's orders.
It becomes difficult if the Institution's opinion is that a chain should be imposed rather than a contract.
I said to Carol, who was looking uncharacteristically serious as I thought about that.
"I'm sorry."
"Urgh."
For no reason, I put my hands behind my back and tapped the ground with my feet.
When Carol saw me not making eye contact, she sighed and spoke.
"I know those kids are precious to you. Still, I hope you can trust our people. There was a way to ensure the safety of the children without using force."
Because I was in such a hurry, I almost killed the wolf without thinking.
Although the monster's power is high, there must have been a way to deal with it without making it visible to people.
But we've erased the memories, so it doesn't matter, right?
"Is it such a big deal for me to reveal my power?"
"Of course, you might think that."
"..."
"Cathedral. They are affiliated with our organization, and they deal with divine powers. With that power, they have been hunting anomalous entities, especially devils. Because they're so extreme, it often causes friction with our organization, whose goal is not the extinction of entities."
Institution and Cathedral. Both pursue good, but the difference seems to be that the Institution has a neutral tendency to the extent of protecting the devil, while the Cathedral has a quite aggressive tendency when it comes to beings related to devils.
"That means... You're saying I can't get help from the Institution if my presence is discovered?"
"No. That's not true, but it will be an inevitable and extreme fight. Since the Cathedral has the upper hand against devils, it would be very detrimental to fight against them. Their power is not something we can just ignore."
"The power of the Cathedral does not surpass that of the Institution, does it?"
Carol snorted at my question.
"Hah. There is no way religious people have more influence than the Institution. They're just convenient for dealing with devils. Even if the number of devils hadn't suddenly increased, they would be completely pushed back."
Carol didn't seem to like the Cathedral.
Not only the Cathedral but also other groups would have been a headache for an organization that pursues neutrality.
But does the research director even have the authority to attack other organizations?
She talks as if she could.
"Can a research director do that?"
"Uh, Well. You know?"
Ah.
"Hmm. So that's why I didn't end up being disciplined."
"What are you talking about?! The price is one small favor. This is not a request from me, but an official request from the Institution, so the content may be different from before. Don't worry. I'm not going to ask you to do any inhumane experiments or kill anyone."
"Okay. I caused you trouble."
POV Switch - Carol
Seeing Alice nodding in approval, I felt my conscience slightly prickling.
It wasn't as if I had sternly warned Alice not to use her powers, and she deserved praise for getting the job done without causing any casualties.
If Alice, who cared for the kids, had heard the phone call with James, it would have been obvious what action she would take in the first place, so it might have been right for me not to contact him at all.
Alice seems completely unaware of that obvious fact.
'You're so naive. I tried to lead to this outcome, but I ended up becoming a very bad person, and I got carried away so easily... But still, it's a little girl, and it's Alice... That's why she's so lovely.'
I could go on and on about all the things that could go wrong, but there would be no time left for the experiment.
It's also unnatural to point out only Alice's mistakes.
That's why I stopped holding Alice accountable.
POV Switch - Alice
"Haa. Shall we stop talking about such things? I am truly thankful that the monster wolf was caught without any casualties. I just said things that you didn't want to hear."
"I'm okay. But what is that monster wolf?""
"Hmm... It's hardly a reward, but I'll tell you. Few beings within the institution have a clear identity, that wolf and D-184-23881 included, but we do know of the incident in which they first appeared."
"What happened?"
"An incident where an entire American city was covered with forests. A huge number of wolves appeared in the forest. At that time, they were weaker than ordinary wolves, but the ones we missed began to exhibit anomalous characteristics, to the point we had to prepare soldiers."
Huh? This is the same story I heard from Maria before.
Didn't she say that it was because of a red devil?
The story is coming out now.
"Thanks to that, we were able to catch the escaped individuals."
"Hmm... So who is the guy who turned the city into a forest?"
"Hehehe... It's."
"It's?"
Why did you stop?
"It's a secret! She's too dangerous, and if you get in trouble because I let you know, I'll be ruined! It's not a joke, it's actually physically life-threatening. Of course, you won't get into an accident if I tell you, but there's always a what if, right?"
"Right. I said something unnecessary. I was just curious."
I can't imagine how dangerous it is if Carol, who always spills secrets, doesn't say anything.
Or maybe she's someone whose anomalous properties activate just by recognizing her?
Nonetheless, I still felt a little disappointed.
I can't help but wonder about the foreshadowing from Ella's time.
Carol saw my thoughts reflected on my face and told me.
"A devil of a tale. It's one of them."
"?"
"A little hint. That's it."
"???"
...
After finishing my talk with Carol, I was playing a game with James.
Really. It's ironic that I'm playing a game within a game.
My favorite type of game are horror games, but I can't play them because I'm afraid I'll fall in love with them again.
I should just enjoy normal online games.
...We're in a game, right?
"James! They are good-attributed monsters! You have to hit them with an evil attribute to get the most damage!"
"There's nothing we can do because we don't have evil-attribute weapons. Why do good attribute monsters attack us anyway? If they are on our side, they shouldn't be monsters in the first place, right?"
"It's all in the creator's mind. In this game, the angels and everything are a spin-off of the game company, which means it's fake. It doesn't need to make sense."
There is no absolute rule about spin-offs. It's just what the company says it is.
In that case, the creator is like a god.
...Not really. Because no one in the production company is omnipotent. In that case, there would be no such thing as God in creative work.
We defeated the angel in the game and picked up the item.
It's not a bad item.
But I can't use it with my job, so I have to sell it.
I was satisfied to see that the game money had increased.
"Did you finish your conversation with Research Center Director Carol?"
"Yes. It seems like they are going to ask for something in return, but what are they asking for?"
"It's probably just a little experiment or a request to catch a failed containment entity."
"Containment failure... How many times did you say it happened?"
Urban Legends.
It is impossible to determine whether it is genuine or not, but there were probably some cases where the Institution's containment failure was the cause.
It's the original version of urban legends. It's interesting.
That was probably the case with Mary, too.
"James. Didn't you say you'd show me the original? Mary's original."
"I did. Do you want to see it? It is in this branch."
"I would like to see it."
...
James received Carol's permission and led me to where the containment object was located.
An administrator there welcomed us.
Unless it was for research purposes, there seemed to be no need for Carol to go out in person.
"Hello. It's been a while since I saw you."
She spoke happily, but I didn't know who she was.
I asked her back with a troubled look on my face.
"Um... I'm sorry, but who are you?"
"Huh? You saved me last time... I guess you don't remember. I’m Emma. My nickname is Em!"
...After listening to her, I felt like it was in my memory.
Was she one of the people I saved when I was insane?
"I think I vaguely remember it. I'm glad you're safe."
When I spoke with a bright smile, Emma overreacted by spreading her arms.
I could see her muscles showing through her clothes, and it seemed like she liked working out.
"Ha. It's so cute! I wish other isolates were like this too!"
"Cute... No, never mind. Anyway, can I take a look?"
"Sure. Because we got permission from Director Carol. P-231 is basically harmless as long as you don't come into contact with them, so there is no need to be very cautious."
Emma took us to a space where they recreated an ordinary street as much as possible.
What's interesting is that public telephones are gathered in one place, like a nest.
A strange creature that was neither a snail nor a caterpillar appeared writhing in one of the receivers, dripping sticky mucus.
"Is that something that lives in phones?"
It might feel a bit unpleasant to put your ear to the receiver.
From now on, I'll have to use monsters to make phone calls.
Let's watch it closely.
Emma said she needed to feed them, so she started a complicated machine. It rings.
A phone signal went to the place where the bugs lived, and the sound of an animal screaming was heard from somewhere.
Probably a chicken.
"A phone parasitic bug that emits a girl's voice and has the ability to move from phone to phone. It gives those who answer the phone pain as if being stabbed with a knife and gnaws at their mind and body. Many of the victims of this entity died, but there were also some who did not. It must have been spread by one of them."
I see. It's awful. Mary is much cuter.
"It's very different from what I know."
I created a mirror and called Mary.
The monster had the form of a girl, but her face was completely different from the Mary I had met.
I can only explain that Mary at that time was not just a monster, but something with the soul of a person.
A monster body and a human soul.
That is probably why purification was possible.
Mary. Are you happy there?
I might be a little jealous, since she ended up with a pretty good ending.
Mary looks at me curiously as I make a bitter expression.
I asked Mary to go back, and she went inside the mirror.
Spider Lady. Pierrot. Ella too. Everyone has found their own end, but what about me?
"..."
"...Did you say it was the power to control monsters? Are there any problems handling them?"
"It is. There is no problem. But I don't know how strong this power is or how terrifying the results can be. I just try it when I think I can do it."
The monsters whisper for me to call them.
After finishing sightseeing with James, I returned to the isolation room and continued my life as before.
As usual, sometimes I join in on Carol's experiments and play a few games when I'm bored.
If it's free, it's free. If it's comfortable, it's comfortable.
It was surprising that James never showed his face during this period.
As Carol said, he was extremely busy.
One day, Carol came to me and told me.
"A-Alice? I have a small request from the organization. Can you please grant it?"
"What? Just in case, I won't kill anyone."
"It's not like that; there was a request for assistance from our agents, and I wanted you to help them. Of course, it doesn't matter if you refuse. Because Alice is the one who decides."
"Even though you say that, it's extremely burdensome to my eyes. Okay, there was nothing else to do."
"Thank you!"
"So, what's going on?"
"...Well. Those annoying guys are causing anomalous terrorism..."
Carol stopped for a moment to keep her explanation brief.
As she kept thinking for a bit longer, I felt bad because I thought Carol was judging my intelligence level too low.
"Bullies holding brushes? Anyway, those guys are annoying and we have to punish them."
What?