Chapter 10 : Trying to Change the Genre of This Novel

Fujimoto Eiji, son of Chairman Fujimoto, valued blood and name as all heads of the Fujimoto family had done.

Blood means family, name means honor.

As the eldest son of the Fujimoto family, a long-standing noble family and the de facto ruling class of Japan, he had been taught and practiced that these two things could not be compromised under any circumstances.

Money? Money will come in as much as needed as long as the Fujimoto name is maintained.

Even if they were wealthy enough to buy all the land in the Japanese archipelago, once they enter Japanese soil, they bow their heads under the Fujimoto name.

Laws created over hundreds of years.

Loyal subjects willingly throwing themselves into fire pits.

A culture that cannot imagine a different ruler.

Because in front of these, money is ultimately just numbers.

Power.

Power is not something that can be bought with a few pennies.

It is created by those belonging to the name ruling for generations. Therefore, that power must be inherited only by those with Fujimoto blood and name.

Because Japan’s power was completed in the name of Fujimoto. That’s why Fujimoto Eiji cherished his family.

Rather than a father looking after his family, it was more like preciously polishing parts of a huge machine.

Fujimoto Eiji expressed love in the language he knew.

That language was survival of the fittest.

This principle didn’t change even when Fujimoto Eiji’s daughter, Fujimoto Sumire, became a magical girl.

When he learned that his daughter was a magical girl, he conceived facilities to capture and experiment on magical girls to serve as lab rats instead of his precious daughter.

When he learned that magical girls use supernatural abilities, he calculated what needed to be extracted from the lab rats.

When he learned that the fruit was more valuable than expected, he ordered his subordinates to bring in more lab rats.

There was no hesitation because everything would be used under the name of his daughter and Fujimoto.

* * *

“Test subject number 2, 42 instances of supernatural ability manifestation, ending the 4th test.”

“…”

“…It’s increased almost fourfold. And for five of them at that.”

Until just three days ago, all test subjects except number 11 couldn’t exceed 10 instances, so they were considering administering stimulants.

This result could be considered somewhat encouraging because they had received complaints from the Planning Director of the Fujimoto Group’s Strategic Planning Team that there were too few research performance samples.

‘The subjects who used to pant after experiments now don’t even sweat.’

As a research staff member, he thought it was an unusually rapid change for the result of conducting experiments on only 11 test subjects for a week, but he just mechanically repeated the experiments, adding his personal opinion that no prejudice was necessary in the uncharted field of supernatural abilities.

‘If supernatural abilities are the kind of power that increases with just such repetitive training, I might need to reconsider the request for additional test subject samples for drug experiments.’

Glance

The research staff member looked at the list of 389 potential samples on his PC.

He had requested a generous number because he anticipated experiments with high consumption of test subjects, as there was nothing to refer to from any existing human experiment cases regarding supernatural abilities.

‘At the current rate of progress, rapid changes are detected with simple repetitive training alone. Hold off on drugs for now.’

Thud

Putting down the research record on the table, the research staff member threw a single bread to the test subject girl as always.

“Not bad. Go back and call number 3.”

“…”

The test subject girl carefully held the bread packet and turned to walk into the only corridor leading back to the quarters.

‘She always took it away hastily, drooling like a beast, has she despaired of the situation?’

Because these were supernatural ability users showing bizarrely superior physical abilities compared to ordinary people, it was clear that the cost of resources used in research would increase if they refused to cooperate with experiments.

So as soon as they started full-scale experiments, they implemented restricted feeding to subdue their spirit.

‘They’ve completely changed into machines in just 3 days.’

Thinking that even just a few days of restricted feeding worked very well on teenage girls with weak mental resistance, the research staff member prepared for the next experiment.

* * *

The quarters smelled musty because they had crammed in girls who couldn’t wash well.

The noise from the logistics warehouse right above was heard 24 hours a day, and it was a space that was hard to call comfortable even as a white lie. But in the cold silence that enveloped the place where whispers could always be heard due to the bond formed among the girls over the past week.

“…”

“…”

“…”

Even the girls who usually led the atmosphere, including Ichika, kept their usually chattering mouths firmly shut and watched their surroundings.

A girl with orange-dyed hair finally opened her mouth with difficulty.

“Boss. It’s a-awkward.”

“Be quiet, Kyoko.”

Excluding one girl who had gone out for experiments on rotation, there were a total of 10 people in the quarters, divided exactly 5:5, sitting facing each other at both ends of the room.

Finally, as if she couldn’t bear it anymore, Kyoko stood up abruptly, pointing at the girls on the opposite side.

“Who on earth are you! Shouldn’t you at least tell us that much!”

“Kyoko! Sit down! They’re watching!”

“Eek?!”

Ichika hurriedly checked all the CCTVs installed in all four corners of the room. Her ponytail swayed like a dog’s tail as she kept anxiously looking at the places where cameras were attached.

“If they’re quiet even when we secretly eat, isn’t it okay?”

“…”

“…I’m sorry.”

In fact, there had been no reaction even though they had hastily eaten convenience store lunch boxes brought from outside until yesterday. It was unlike those guys who were solidifying the method of controlling the girls’ behavior through food as if it were standard practice.

“Are you sure Neo, Yumi, Tomoko, Momoe, and Yuzuki are doing well?”

“Haah. How many times are you going to ask?”

The ‘one’ with Neo’s face finally answered.

“We’ve eaten together for several meals, isn’t it time to trust us by now?”

“You didn’t even touch the food.”

“I can eat ‘outside’ so it doesn’t matter.”

“…”

“Do you know how much I’ve spent buying your lunch boxes every time?”

“It’s because we’ve been through a lot.”

Ichika had honestly almost resolved her doubts about the other party. But thinking of the true form of the fox-eyed woman using strange abilities and the other 10 girls who followed her calling her boss, she maintained her suspicion out of a sense of responsibility.

“It’s good to have a sense of responsibility.”

“Don’t change the subject.”

“I haven’t changed it, so stop being prickly.”

“…”

“There are too many guards around the facility, so I’m looking around with another clone to see how we should do this.”

Ichika spoke a thought that suddenly occurred to her.

“Is it difficult to get us out that way too?”

“You don’t think getting one person out and all of us rushing out are the same, do you?”

“I thought you could do it.”

“The maximum I can switch out this way is 5 people. The rest need to be used for other things.”

“I see.”

Ichika closed her eyes again, leaning back against the wall.

“If… if we all get out safely. I’ll never forget this favor.”

“I’ll remember that promise.”

“…”

Kyoko quietly sat down, feeling like something had been concluded without her knowing.

The second-in-command of the test subject magical girls had her own sense of awareness.

* * *

Having heard that the conversation inside the quarters had concluded for now, I focused my consciousness outside again.

Although I had practiced repeatedly through training to observe through clones while detached from the real world.

It was still difficult to execute multiple tasks precisely at once.

It felt like watching 6 stock charts in real-time while having a game open on the remaining monitor.

The 6 clones that weren’t the main ones I was controlling dealt with things autonomously to some extent, but in extreme situations, I had to concentrate my consciousness to control them.

‘It seems I’m just not used to this ability. Why did I become able to use illusion magic?’

I had hidden the girls I had secretly taken out through substitution in my apartment room and told them not to come out. Just in case, I asked Haruko to keep watch, so I could be at ease about that for now.

‘There were fewer test subjects than I thought.’

Whether it hadn’t expanded to full-scale experiments yet, the total number of test subject girls was 11.

They were all children whose supernatural abilities were discovered in real-time because they lived in orphanages or facilities without personal space. If they had guardians, they wouldn’t have been kidnapped like this even if they were seen using basic magic.

From the point they realized there were limitations to the scale of experiments with just these girls, they must have been planning to gradually increase the number of test subjects.

In fact, among the reports I secretly checked, there was mention of expanding the pool of test subject candidates.

‘Haruko’s name was also included in the expanded list of sample candidates.’

Because research results were poor with just repetitive training experiments, they forcibly induce an awakened state using drugs or accelerate metabolism to the brink of death to draw out unconscious manifestation.

Looking at the research plan that clearly aims to increase victims in earnest made my teeth chatter.

‘So that’s why hundreds died and Ichika went crazy.’

In my previous life, it was described in just a few lines of background explanation, but actually facing the test subject girls made me feel devastated.

Whoosh

I stood on top of an 81-meter-high container crane overlooking the Fujimoto Heavy Industries logistics warehouse and suddenly turned my head to the sea breeze.

A strong, humid wind hit my face. The horizon where the sunset was beginning and fragments of light scattered reflected on the water were visible.

Light.

Reflection.

“Oh.”

A flashy illusion with a concept that’s hard to guess the ability.

If I show an illusion using fireworks, it might work.

I suddenly remembered that there were fireworks among the items I had gathered in preparation for the apocalypse.

It’s a bit difficult to go from Tokyo Port to Shibuya and back, but I have no choice.