Chapter 55: Unwelcomed Guests (6)

“You asked one, so can I ask one too?”

“As long as it’s not weird, it’s fine.”

Akari answered as if it was okay.

As long as it’s not a weird question…

I don’t know what the standard will be.

Her expression was the same as the last time I saw Akari, but the despair spreading around her was so thick that she couldn’t easily bring herself to speak.

If she were to offend someone, she couldn’t guarantee her life.

“Are you a monster?”

Akari fell silent at the carefully asked question.

She was nervous, thinking that it might be a question she shouldn’t have asked, but Akari tilted her head.

As if asking why she was asking such an obvious question.

“Don’t you think you’re a monster at first glance?”

“No, because you look like a human…”

“Not everyone who looks human is human.”

Akari answered as if she was offended.

As if she didn’t like being treated like a human.

However, since she didn’t attack or anything, it seemed like she wasn’t really concerned.

“Do you eat normal food?”

“.. Didn’t you say you were going to ask one thing?”

“You’re a monster, so you’d probably eat despair, right? Even better if it’s a magical girl’s despair?”

“You.”

A growl came out of Akari’s mouth.

It was almost like a threat.

Even so, there was no change in the despair around me, so I quickly realized that she was just doing it to scare me.

You’re kinder than I thought, Akari…

Not now, but since I’m a magical girl, I might be able to help you.

I started to recall various things in my head.

My separation from my senior, the first time I couldn’t save someone, people getting eaten alive by monsters, and even the doctor.

As I held onto the negative memories, I felt a stabbing sensation near my heart.

If I had hope in my heart, I would have suffered more, but fortunately my heart was completely empty, so it ended there.

“What, are you feeding the street animals?”

“No, it’s not like that. It’s a thank you. Thanks to you, I was able to hit the doctor.”

“If that’s the case.”

Although she spoke bluntly, it seemed like she liked my despair quite a bit.

Looking at it this way, it seemed like I was looking at Peridot when she was eating something delicious.

“Anyway, you should go back now. I want to be alone soon.”

“Are you really okay with being alone?”

“You’re not looking at me as some kind of pet that would die if left alone, are you?”

“Absolutely not.”

If Akari was a pet, then the other monsters would be nothing more than flying insects.

But, how could I put it, Akari could speak, unlike other monsters.

Speaking meant she was a social being, and if she could communicate with humans with that language, she might be able to belong to human society.

No, to be exact, she originally lived among humans, but this time she separated from them.

“So, are you really going?”

“Even if you go?”

The moment she was about to take a step toward Akari, who was talking as if she really didn’t care.

As soon as she tried to get away from Akari, she was startled by the stinging sensation in her body, and she ended up taking a few steps back.

Oh, so…

This, I don’t think I can get through.

The eye of the storm was calm, but the storm outside the eye was a different story.

I swallowed dry saliva as the storm of despair swept over me as if it were going to tear my skin apart.

I felt that if I threw myself into that place in this state, I would never be okay.

“Can’t you really get rid of it?”

“You keep saying the same thing over and over again… If I could get rid of it, I would have done it a long time ago.”

Akari spoke with a deep sigh, and I smiled awkwardly as I watched her.

I had been planning to leave quickly because I thought she really didn’t like me being by her side, but now that it had come to this, I felt like I had to stay by her side.

“You can’t go back because you have no hope?”

“Don’t worry too much. It’s my choice.”

It was my choice to use the greatest hope I had left in my heart.

I used it all up, thinking I would somehow get revenge on the Doctor.

“No, that’s not it—phew, doing this kind of thing doesn’t really suit me.”

“What are you talking about?”

“She’s alive.”

“What?”

I tilted my head at Akari, who was saying something nonsensical.

Alive? Who?

She couldn’t possibly be talking about the Doctor.

I only wanted to hear news of deaths from that side.

“White hair and rainbow-colored eyes…”

However, what came out of Akari’s mouth was on a completely different level from what I had thought.

The only thing I had hoped for.

The hope that my senior might be alive—that’s exactly what Akari was telling me.

“Emerald rescued her from the Doctor’s lab and is staying at her house.”

“Re, really?”

“Do I really need to lie? Of course, I don’t know if the person I know and the person you know are the same person.”

No, there couldn’t be two people with white hair and rainbow eyes.

The person Akari was talking about was definitely my senior.

And that alone was enough to restore hope to my heart.

“Can I go now? It’s disgusting to see you, so please get out of my sight quickly.”

“Thank you, Akari.”

Akari grimaced as if she was disgusted at the renewed hope and waved her hand.

“I’ll go, I’ll go.”

Now that I had hope to overcome that despair, all that was left was to go back.

“But still tenfold, okay?”

“Next time, I’ll come again.”

“Don’t come again.”

I smiled bitterly at Akari’s cold words.

Well, at least I’m not worried because I think I’ll be fine on my own.

With that thought as the last, I threw myself into the storm.

Why on earth can’t I turn off my despair circuit?

I thought of various reasons in my head, but there was no clear answer.

It was definitely on and off until recently…

‘If there was a doctor, I could have asked him.

It was frustrating that the person who threw me into Curse’s lab didn’t even give me a single hair.

Ah, my happy parasitic despair life…!

I worked hard to create an environment where I wouldn’t be noticed by other magical girls by sticking next to Emerald!

No, if you think about it, wasn’t it Curse’s fault for pouring so much despair into the room I was in?

Anyone could see that that was why the despair circuit wouldn’t turn off.

Actually, in the original work, there was never a single mention of Apocalypse turning off the despair circuit…

Maybe it was made so that it wouldn’t turn off from the beginning.

When the despair circuit was on, my strength surged, and when it was off, my strength suddenly drained.

“You were here, Akari?”

“What’s with that tone?”

“Ahem, looking at it this way, I can see that my masterpiece is truly amazing.”

The doctor, who had appeared quietly, began to puff out his chest like a chopping board and shrug his shoulders.

It might seem like a masterpiece to you, but it’s just uncomfortable to me.

This is how my life—no, my plans for becoming a monster student—went wrong.

A parent blocking their child’s future? Is this really okay?

“So, why won’t it turn off?”

“What are you talking about? It’s not supposed to turn off in the first place.”

“It’s been turning off fine until now?”

“It was only because I lacked despair that I was able to stop working.

There is enough despair now, so there is no reason to turn off.”

After that, there was an explanation by Dr. Jong-eon, who holds a doctorate in despair studies.

He said that Apocalypse’s despair circuit is like a nuclear fusion of humans.

It was said that it could only operate for a short time with despair below a certain level.

But when it exceeded the critical point, it was structured to generate despair infinitely without having to inject despair separately.

“It feels like a living despair reactor.”

“How is it? Isn’t it amazing? The creator who created you is such an amazing person!”

“Yes, yes, you’re really amazing.”

In that case, wouldn’t it be much better to just play around and eat with the infinite power of despair for the rest of your life?

Don’t just kill magical girls and stuff, tsk.

“Ah, of course it doesn’t operate infinitely. It would stop if you didn’t inject it with the despair of a magical girl.”

“Does that mean it would stop if you didn’t ingest the despair of a magical girl?”

“Well, in theory, it does. I didn’t know it would actually work either.”

It was my fault for having high expectations.

I thought there would be a way to turn off the despair circuit when the doctor came, but it seems that even the doctor didn’t know for sure.

So I guess I have to live like this for the time being.

I want to see Tamako, Tamako…

Right now, I wasn’t hungry for despair, but I felt like I could eat up as much of Tamako’s despair as I wanted, which had filled my stomach until now.

Oh, but more than that…

Garnet isn’t going to take Tamako with her, is she?

She said she was going to send Garnet away, but there’s no way she’d really take her—

…Why am I so anxious all of a sudden?

Tamako is mine.

Isn’t it theft to take an ownerless magical girl without permission?

It felt like I had told a burglar the password to my safe.

My already bad mood just got worse.