episode_0346

Professor Albert adjusted his wire-rimmed glasses and scrutinized the unusual opponent before him. His gaze, through the lenses, was as sharp as a razor.

“I’ll advance the rook to c4. Let’s see if you can block it.”

“Ooh?”

Across the chessboard, a monkey sat in a perfect posture. Cocoa’s brown fur shone like polished copper.

The professor watched its fingers hover delicately over the black knight, like those of a pianist.

Unlike its wild relatives who swung through treetops, Cocoa moved with the calculated precision of a seasoned knight.

“If you move the knight there… hmm, that would be a dangerous move.”

The monkey tilted its head, then moved a new piece. Research papers fluttered like autumn leaves in the fan’s breeze, but neither player noticed.

Their world was condensed into the sixty-four squares before their eyes.

At a critical moment, wavering on a tightrope, Cocoa’s fingers moved the bishop with the smooth confidence of a seasoned cardsharp. Professor Albert’s face twitched once, like a momentary glitch in a video.

“Check with the bishop… I didn’t expect that. I’ve been beaten again this round.”

Cocoa curved its lips in a smirk, as if asking, ‘How about that?’ Albert chuckled wryly and declared,

“Checkmate.”

**

The final exams and all remaining assignments were finished. We began re-preparing for the main operation, and I clicked my tongue watching the monkeys and crows busily tapping on tablets.

They said they were bored, so I told them they could do whatever they wanted, and they had become completely engrossed in a game on my account. It was a medieval fantasy adventure game.

They had already learned how to play and even created sub-accounts, working diligently. In particular, the sight of the crows skillfully tapping on the tablet with small thimbles on their beaks was almost bizarre.

“This way! This way! We need to collect more gold! Just a little more and we can enhance it!”

“That hunting ground is inefficient. Go level up by catching wolves in the Twisted Forest and enhance your skills first.”

Listening to their chatter on the network and looking at the tablet, I couldn’t help but be astonished. When on earth did they raise my character this much?

Its level was beyond imagination, and it was active in areas I had never seen before.

“When did you guys level up my character so much?”

The monkeys answered excitedly.

“There’s a way, we found a bug!”

“If you hit enemies like this… enter a specific command, then move back and forth behind this tree, experience points accumulate automatically!”

Oh, such an ingenious method existed. The V-animals’ intelligence was truly remarkable.

Indeed, such creativity was befitting of creatures that inherited the free-spirited nature of us Violets.

“Just a little more and the boss’s character will be max level! We can challenge the arena soon too!”

“Our animals will sweep the server rankings!”

“You really did well!”

Just as I was wondering how to reward the V-animals’ cleverness, a scream suddenly came from outside.

I turned my head to see, outside the window, mice scattering in all directions.

“Emergency! Emergency!”

“It’s a cat! Quickly, form a defensive line!”

The animals and I rushed out the door without hesitation.

**

On the factory floor, where the sunlight streamed down intensely, a group of mice gathered, squeaking and discussing.

The V-mice chattered about their abilities, putting their heads together to ponder their next moves.

“Squeak! To fail so futilely!”

“Our training was insufficient!”

The mice reconfirmed the bitter reality.

Even with the blessing of intelligence bestowed by the grace of animal democracy, biological limitations were by no means insignificant.

The existence of mice was simply too fragile.

“Let’s use more tools! I heard there are multi-tools!”

“How about increasing the use of bombs?”

The mice put their heads together in thought. They awkwardly tried to implement collective intelligence, imitating their boss’s methods, and even sought advice from other animals smarter than themselves.

“It’s a relief though! My eyes are much better since I came back from dying.”

“That’s right, squeak! Now I can tell the difference between the red of an apple and the yellow of a banana too!”

At Lime’s words, the other mice nodded repeatedly. The biggest weakness of mice was undoubtedly their eyesight.

Severe color blindness and nearsightedness, which prevented them from seeing properly even a short distance away, disappeared with their resurrection.

According to the explanations of the faculty, the boss’s wise teachers, their eyes had developed to a level similar to that of humans.

“Squeak! The crows say that just moving around the enemy is a great help to the boss! No need to feel too burdened. Squeak!”

Encouraged by Lemon, the other mice clenched their front paws like humans, firming their resolve.

Perhaps because they were too engrossed in their discussion, the V-mice belatedly noticed the unintelligent beast descending from the factory wall into the open lot.

“Meow!”

As soon as the cat spotted the mice, it pounced swiftly, as if it had found an exciting toy. The startled mice scattered in all directions instantly.

“D-defensive line! Quickly, form a defensive line!”

Lemon quickly gathered its comrades and hastily formed a line. But the mice’s bodies were trembling unconsciously.

Perhaps it was due to their natural predator being before them; an instinctive fear emanated from their entire bodies.

“W-we can win!”

They shouted it with their mouths, but the mice hesitated. Their reason clearly told them that their numbers were sufficient to defeat the cat, but an instinctive fear held them back, making them falter.

‘We’re just small mice… I just want to run away…’

At that moment, Lemon stepped forward. It had only taken one step, thinking that running away wasn’t right. But in that instant, an unexpected flash struck its small brain.

An inspiration flashed within the tiny creature’s mind.

“Squeak? Lemon? What are you doing?”

Lemon, guided by intuition, stood on its hind legs and extended its front paw towards the cat.

What came to mind was a flash and a roar, and a righteous strike.

“Thunder!”

Imagination became reality.

A small bolt of lightning shot out from the mouse’s front paw.

“Meow!”

Struck by the electric shock, the cat jumped into the air in surprise. Smoke rose from its singed fur. The stray cat leaped up in shock. The mice were just as surprised.

“How did you do that?!”

“I just did what my heart told me to!”

Immediately after, Lime also ran forward, raised its front paw, and imitated the same motion.

Instantly, the most powerful image a mouse could conceive came to mind. It was likely inspired by memories of gunfights and explosions that their owner had shown them.

Thus, the mice, with pure and righteous hearts, cried out as one:

“Lightning!”

“Fire! Squeak!”

As the ether-activated electric shock erupted, the cat screamed and fled.

“Meow!”

Freed from the mice’s attack, the cat ran away without looking back. What the monkeys and Violet, who had rushed out the door with tools, witnessed was the sight of the mice performing miracles.

“We did it! We did it!”

“The V-animals have evolved another step!”

Admiring the unexpected growth of her subordinates, Violet looked around. The monkeys who had rushed to save their comrades were likewise speechless at the astonishing sight. The mice before their eyes had once again surpassed the limits of their species.

It was then that Violet discovered another strange thing.

“Huh…? Monkeys? What’s that?”

“Ooh?”

At first, the monkeys didn’t understand what their owner’s finger, pointing at the tools in their hands, meant.

“Gasp! Surely you too!”

The weapons the monkeys were holding were enveloped in a faint red light.

**

Just as we were contemplating how to defeat the evil foundation, an unexpected variable popped up.

“The animals are using magic!”

The great Violet Animal Special Forces had suddenly acquired the ability to use magic.

I had felt their growth, but I never imagined such a rapid change.

Surprisingly, the Violet researchers’ reaction was calm.

“Alright, Lemon. Shall we try it one more time?”

“Understood! Boss, squeak! Watch… Thunder! Lightning!”

Uncle Yurik rubbed his roughly shaved chin and hummed. That was all.

I showed him the mouse shooting lightning, and his reaction was as if it were the most natural thing.

“Their internal magic levels have been steadily rising, you see. It was expected. Though I didn’t think it would happen this quickly.”

“Huh, so you knew this would happen, Uncle?”

“I couldn’t predict the exact form, but we had a hypothesis that magic discharge might become possible once they reached a certain threshold. I just didn’t expect it to be this fast.”

I see. I was curious about the cause. When they used magic earlier, I felt as if some of my own magic was being drawn out.

Could their network also be connected to my magic? I sat with the animals in the measuring device, and the results were as expected.

“…Yes, it seems so. Looking at the network analysis-magic tracking system, I see a pattern where a certain amount of magic disappears into thin air and then reappears in the animals’ bodies in a somewhat diminished state…? Hmm, the slight decrease in magic is interesting… The mice recently died and were resurrected, weren’t they?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“It seems that during the process of many of them dying and resurrecting simultaneously, their network underwent changes along with physiological alterations. It’s possible that in that process, it expanded further and evolved into a more complex form.”

Seeing Uncle engrossed in his research, I left.

What was certain was that the animals could now wield magic.

Although the overall output was still negligible, this meant we had to completely re-evaluate all our previously planned operations and tactics.

“It’s a good thing in the end, isn’t it! Couldn’t we teach monkeys and crows more advanced magic?”

“Indeed. Professor Albert is already trying it, apparently. The monkey is so smart that its chess skills have improved to the point where the professor sometimes loses.”

Yes, the learning ability of monkeys and crows is truly astonishing.

Although they spend most of their time idling around with computers or comic books, when it comes to learning something, their eyes change entirely.

Moreover, perhaps because explanations can be directly given via the network, they have already perfectly mastered the use of all firearms we possess and quickly learned how to handle explosives.

“Do we really need to teach them magic? Let’s consider other directions. Their computer skills are top-notch, you know.”

“How about leveraging their small size and assigning them infiltration operations?”

By trying various things, a good direction will surely emerge. Our V-animals possessed a special talent. A talent to spread the seeds of violence and liberation.

“Let’s entrust the V-animals’ roles to their autonomy!”

I’ve heard that for a wise leader, it’s important to trust their subordinates and grant them autonomy. I’m sure they’ll do their part.

We had gained reliable revolutionary fighters.