Chapter 77: Sin and Curse. (2)

The inside of the lab was dark without a single light.

If I wasn’t a monster, I wouldn’t have been able to see the scenery inside at all.

I sighed involuntarily at the sight of someone floating.

I wondered where and what they were doing, and here they were doing this?

“…Akari.”

“I know.”

Garnet spoke, looking at the shadow standing in the darkness.

There it is. That despair that filled this room.

It wasn’t the kind of despair that a normal human, or even a magical girl, would exude. It was the kind of despair that a monster—or, to be precise, me—would exude.

“I found it.”

“Finding what?”

“The child I was looking for. It seems like the guardian found her before I did.”

He clicked his tongue as he looked at Lina, who was lying on the floor.

Why did you step in and cause trouble yourself?

She didn’t look dead, but she didn’t look okay either.

Well, considering her own daughter ended up like that, it would have been understandable for her to lose consciousness, even if it wasn’t despair.

“…Is that a human?”

“To be exact, it would be more accurate to say that she was once human.”

Aya’s eyes were glowing red.

Not human eyes, but monster eyes.

It was a gaze similar to mine, as I activated my despair circuit.

The only difference was that there was no halo above her head.

“It’s been a while, Aya.”

“…”

“I thought you’d at least give me an answer… Well, okay.”

In that sense, go away, Garnetmon!

As I took a step back, Garnet let out a deep sigh and stepped forward.

Monsters are best dealt with by magical girls, right?

He seemed to have a little motivation only then, as he was patted on the back and cheered on.

[Magical Girl Garnet.]

“…Who are you?”

[If you came to find the children, I can only tell you that you’re late.]

Just before the battle began, a voice came through the speaker.

The voice was distorted and messy due to the mechanical sound.

The being on the other side of the speaker was clearly mocking Garnet.

As if it was already too late.

How could it be? It seemed like he wasn’t hiding his hatred for magical girls at all.

[I don’t know who you were expecting to see, but I’m not that guy. Why, are you disappointed?]

“Ha, what’s the disappointment?”

At the voice’s provocation, Garnet began to emit even more hopeful energy.

Man, getting excited easily isn’t a good habit.

More than anything, I wish you knew that I’m right here with you.

Look, the hopeful energy that was randomly emitted is poking my arm.

“I’ll be waiting, I’ll be there to see you soon.”

[If possible.]

If the difference in strength wasn’t so great, it would’ve been a pretty cool scene.

The current difference in strength between Garnet and Aya was much wider than the difference in strength between Garnet and Curse in the past.

Garnet herself must’ve felt that way, but she might’ve thought it was worth a try because I was blocking the despair directed at her.

[Go, monster girl. Get rid of the magical girl in front of you! Ahahahahahahaha!!!!]

Woohooooong –

‘The lines are pretty familiar.’

I’m sure I heard something like that when I first opened my eyes.

It was as if she had no intention of hiding her identity.

Or was it? Like, the belief that I wouldn’t tell her who I am?

If you have that kind of belief, I’d like to tell you that you’d better get rid of it.

“Fighting without running away even when you think you can’t win. That’s what a magical girl is, right, Garnet?”

“…Of course.”

“Okay. It’s fun to see a magical girl desperately struggling to win.”

Garnet lifted the corners of her mouth slightly, swallowing the despair that was trying to erode her hope circuit.

Now that it’s come to this, let’s see how far it will go.

The fake Apocalypse made in my stead—no, the Apocalypse Mk.2—what kind of performance is it?

Kwaang—!!!!

“You’ve already lost a life.”

“Tch, your speed is ridiculous, right?!”

“You can be faster too. It’s because you lack hope.”

Garnet was unable to react to the magic bullet formed by the gathering despair.

If she had been hit by that, she would have definitely turned into a delicious magical girl donut.

“But…”

“Oh my, were you paying attention to me? I don’t care, so do whatever you want, whatever you want.”

“…Alright.”

It seemed that she was controlling her strength to some extent because I was next to her—more precisely, controlling her hope.

There,

What if a magical girl is fighting a monster and the monster watching from the side is paying attention?

As I clicked my tongue and rebuked her, Garnet began to feel hopeful.

Oh, looking at it this way, it seems much better than before.

“Hope threshold.”

“Oooh…”

The red aura began to burst out like some kind of battle race. The hope that made my skin tingle made me exclaim in admiration.

I don’t know what kind of existence Tamako is to Garnet, but it didn’t seem like a simple magical girl senior and junior relationship.

If you were to ask what kind of relationship they had—yes, they’re like family.

The hope that Garnet was radiating right now was the kind of hope that only a human with a dead family member who had come back to life would feel.

“Cheer up, Garnet.”

I want you to make a big hole in that salty Apocalypse’s stomach.

I’ll cheer you on with all my might, okay?

Well, if that didn’t work out, I wouldn’t mind doing it myself, but.

***

‘No, it hurts… Stop, it hurts?!!?!?!’

‘Okay, I was wrong… Stop now… Heh…’

‘I, I don’t want to be a magical girl… Heh, stop…’

A voice echoed.

The voices of the children who suffered in this research institute.

In order to artificially create magical girls, they tortured children mentally and even made them susceptible to the despair of monsters.

Even if it was for the sake of the people, it was an act that could never be forgiven.

Children are the future of humanity.

How can conducting such experiments on the future of humanity be considered good for the people?

‘Your mother was one of them.’

‘Your mother tormented us.’

‘We said it hurt, but she just told us to bear with it for a little longer.’

‘We hurt so much, so why are you the only one happy?’

‘That doctor’s daughter.’

‘You tormented other children so much, but you think your own child is precious?’

A voice was heard.

The resentment of the girls staying in the lab—no, the entire lab—was slowly starting to tighten around their throats.

Why you. Why you. Why you.

The jealousy of the children who wanted to be loved.

And the legitimate demands for what they deserved.

‘You take responsibility for it.’

‘Responsibility for the adults who made us like this.’

‘We’re going to kill all the bad adults in here.’

‘Let’s make them suffer as much as we suffered! No, let’s make them suffer even more!’

‘Let’s stick tubes into every orifice in their bodies, stab them here and there with needles, and pour out all the despair we felt!!’

The girl’s body was no longer hers.

To be exact, it would be more accurate to say that it was no longer just hers.

“Get up, monster girl. We’re going to take revenge on the humans who tried to use you!”

“…”

“…Huh? Could it be that guy—”

“Yes, Doctor.”

“Whew…”

Even in her mind, which was a jumble of thoughts mixed together, she was able to clearly recall one thing.

Infinite loyalty to the one who gave us a chance.

“Why are you doing that? Just staring at me.”

“…You’re so small.”

“How… cheeky! Aren’t you about the same size as me in the first place!”

The monster girl furtively turned her gaze to the doctor, who was stamping his feet in frustration.

Maybe it was because the minds of young children were gathered together, but it was so hard to suppress my impulses.

Was it hard to endure if I didn’t say out loud the thoughts that came to my mind?

I searched for the most mature voice among the voices inside me, but they were all about the same age.

‘What if the doctor is disappointed in us?’

‘Quickly apologize!’

‘Say I’m sorry!’

“I, uh… Doctor…”

The monster girl opened her mouth hesitantly at the urgent cries of the other voices.

What should I say?

Wasn’t that your true intention? No, but that was your true intention.

There were so many thoughts in my head that I couldn’t organize my words properly.

“What?”

“I’m sorry…”

“…Hmm.”

“So, please don’t hate me…”

Even though they had become monsters, they were still essentially a collection of children.

Since the doctor had not erased their personalities in order to induce hatred toward humans, this reaction was somewhat natural.

Even the somewhat mature personalities had only lived for about ten years at most.

“There’s no way I could hate you. Now, don’t cry.”

“…Yes.”

The doctor reached out and wiped the monster girl’s tears.

I’ve never felt such gentleness.

Monsters were despair, and despair had always only brought pain and fear to them.

However, the doctor’s despair was gentle.

A warm and gentle despair different from other despairs.

“If it’s over, get ready. The magical girl will be here soon.”

“Yes, Doctor.”

“The magical girl created by those who tormented you, I’ll prove it by killing it.”

The humans were wrong.

And, you were right.