Ch.133133. Cocked Pistol

Quite some time had passed since the operation was decided.

During that time, we recruited more people for Eden and organized internally.

Externally, to receive more energy, we left monsters in random locations, pretending they were wild beasts.

We secretly operated energy collectors to gather negative energy.

Additionally, we installed energy collectors at various power plants to draw in as much energy as possible.

It’s not noticeable enough to matter, converting wasted heat energy into energy we can use.

Who would complain about using wasted energy for our ideals?

The miniaturized equipment isn’t noticeable and even has some explosive capability.

Besides this, we planned various preparations for infiltrating Marina.

From monster procurement to personnel training.

And ultimately…

“Vine…”

“Oh, Ellie.”

“Take a break while you work.”

“…No. I’m fine. Water… thanks.”

“If you keep going like that… it might actually hurt you in the real mission.”

“Hmm…? What do you mean…?”

“Lately… aren’t you training like crazy…? It hasn’t been long since your seal was removed. Isn’t the training amount too much…?”

“…I can endure this much for Eden.”

“For Eden’s sake, shouldn’t you be taking better care of your body? If you keep damaging your body with training…”

“Ellie. We can’t be lazy with training. We need to put in maximum effort, become as familiar as possible, and achieve maximum efficiency and performance. Isn’t that obvious if we want to rescue Eden’s boss?”

“…Vine. Why are you suddenly like this…?”

“Like what…? I’ve always been this way.”

“No… it’s too, too… strange…”

“Strange how…?”

“…Something feels off, you don’t feel like the Vine I know… You seem mechanical… like a doll…”

“Hmm…? But I’m still me…?”

“…I’ll come back later.”

Ellie left those words and departed from the training ground.

What’s strange about it?

I don’t see anything strange.

I continued with the remaining training.

Rapid mobilization and destruction.

Rescue, then return.

Safety, successful return.

Survival, elimination.

Eliminate anything that interferes with rescuing the boss.

Blanc will be somewhat annoying, but.

Without me around, she probably hasn’t achieved much growth.

If I don’t face her, if I don’t stimulate her growth.

She’ll just be a stupid magical girl trapped in past glory.

So, the doctor’s opinion is that I should quietly build strength from behind to make her more dull-witted.

While other Eden members are making all-out efforts to save the boss, I can’t just sit around doing nothing.

The most important thing in this world is… the boss, after all.

* * *

“Doctor!!”

“Ah. Elise.”

“You, what did you do to Vine!”

“Why are you saying such things to me? Even in your eyes, Vine has always been loyal to Eden.”

“If you think I wouldn’t notice something so alien, you’ve seriously misjudged me, Doctor.”

“…For a failure, you’re quite clever.”

“What?”

“So, what can you do about it? I’ve manipulated Vine’s memories slightly and forcibly guided her thought processes. And with one command from me, Vine could destroy this entire place and kill herself. Yes, I can make her turn that thorn on you.”

“…You’re insane.”

“There’s nothing you can do. If you dare to do anything strange to my precious test subject, I’ll overload the chip in her head and turn her into a biological unit with only her core intact.”

“…Fuck.”

“You know you have the same thing in your head, right? Since your brain works quite well, I won’t touch it. But… the moment you interfere with my plans, both you and Vine will become biological cores serving Eden.”

“Such pathetic threats…!”

“Does it seem like a threat? No, I’m just informing you. All you can do is be loyal! Until we rescue that young man and I get another chance to obtain more test subjects, the vast experimental group called humanity!”

“…Crazy.”

“Crazy? Haa. That young man and I are allies with common ground. If I follow his ideals, the world I desire will naturally come… So I have no choice but to do my best to rescue him…! Therefore, Vine’s ‘readjustment’ was inevitable. I didn’t touch her relationship with you at all. Now go back and manage Vine. As her lieutenant, you should quietly watch and help from the side. Isn’t she beautiful in her complete loyalty to Eden!”

“…Vine is overworking herself.”

“That body won’t break down from just that.”

“She’s eating away at her own mind!”

“At least that’s a necessary process. If she sacrifices her small mind to rescue the boss, isn’t that a good deal for her too?”

“Ugh…”

“If you’re so worried, instead of standing here like this, shouldn’t you go help her?”

“…Disgusting bastard.”

“Get out.”

* * *

“Argh!!!!”

“Vine!”

I failed.

I overexerted again.

I need to control my magic power more carefully.

I need to concentrate.

“Vine! Are you okay? Stop now…!”

“Ellie… I can’t stop… Water… thanks.”

“Hmm…? Let’s rest…?”

“No. Phew… Haah… Back to random terrain. Infiltrating. Enemy strength each at Blanc’s level.”

“Vine!!”

“Ellie. What. We’re in the middle of training.”

“I can’t watch this anymore. Stop now!”

What…?

Stop…?

When we’re trying to save the boss…?

Why are you telling me to stop, Ellie…?

“What are you saying…?”

“Your body is getting damaged! Your mind! It’s plummeting in real-time!”

“…I’m completely fine. Is that all you have to say? Are you interrupting my training?”

“…Vine.”

“If you’re here to interfere, I’d appreciate it if you’d step aside. I think I need to focus on training right now.”

“…Vine.”

“Then I’ll really start re-entry this time.”

“Vine!!!”

“What!”

“Do you know… how many hours you’ve been doing this?”

“…I don’t care about that.”

“Do you know how little sleep you’re getting!”

“…One hour of sleep per day is enough. Because I’m a monster.”

“You know you’re not eating either?”

“I periodically go to the doctor for direct nutrient injections.”

“You’re strange. Do you know…?”

“Strange? What do you mean?”

“You weren’t like this originally… Come back to your original self…!”

“My original self…? What are you talking about? I’ve been like this from the beginning. Didn’t you know I could easily sacrifice my life for Eden?”

“…Right now, you’re just mechanically, like a doll, mindlessly repeating training…!”

“Is that… wrong…? To try to restore Eden, rescue the boss, and return to our original state…?”

“That’s not what I’m saying is wrong! What you’re doing now… how is it any different from just destroying your body…?”

“It’s completely different. I’m not mindlessly destroying my body, but through training, I’m reducing the gap between sensation, body, and mind, becoming more accustomed to movement…”

“Vine… please…”

“…Ellie. I don’t understand what you’re saying. In my opinion, you’re the one who needs to take a break. Hela?”

“…What.”

“Take her back to her room.”

“…Alright.”

“Rest, and come back when you feel better.”

* * *

“Yes. I understand. Yes…”

“Sis…”

“…It’s intelligence. Analyzing villain activities and monster patterns… a new villain group has appeared.”

“…Could it be…?”

“…Probably right.”

New Eden.

Hyewon asks me.

“Have you secured their base location?”

“…We’re trying to find it via satellite.”

“What about Marina’s security?”

“We need to strengthen it. They’ll definitely attack Marina.”

“…If Eden’s boss goes over to their side.”

“…The current stability might become meaningless to the point of paralysis. Individual villains might run wild taking advantage of the distraction with Eden, and with reduced personnel, the inevitable chaos during that time…”

“I get it, Yoonseul… you need to calm down.”

“…Yeah.”

“So, if we just properly guard Marina, it’ll be fine?”

“…That’s right.”

“But coincidentally, the monster activity cycle is getting shorter. Really by chance.”

“Yeah…”

“Marina is the only opportunity to stop Vine.”

“…I guess so?”

“They’ll also come at full force to rescue their boss.”

“Not just you, but all five here, and the twenty from back then. Everyone.”

“…At Marina.”

“How does it look? Seems possible?”

“…”

This would be when Vine hasn’t fully recovered her body yet.

If she hasn’t committed any evil acts during this time, she certainly wouldn’t have recovered her magic power.

Vine’s magic traces weren’t felt at any monster appearance sites.

Vine hasn’t committed evil acts yet.

That means she probably hasn’t recovered properly.

Two collars on the desk catch my eye.

Two ownerless items sitting there.

“…Vine.”

“Have you decided? How are you feeling? Is your mind clearer?”

“Who am I? I’m the magical girl of salvation. Blanc.”

“…I can’t believe you’d say that yourself. Did hanging out with Vine change you like that?”

“Shut up.”

“Alright… let’s bring back both our youngest siblings. And while we’re at it, beat up those bastards who led them down the wrong path.”

“…I need to research how to destroy cores. Don’t stop me. Gabriel! Are you there?”

A voice calls from far away.

“Why are you calling me…”

“Would there be books in that world analyzing monster cores and monster-human cores in detail?”

“Why…? Breaking a core carries such great risks…”

“Gabriel. So do they exist?”

“…They’re not non-existent. But I don’t recommend it. At least not on this planet. The size of the core you’re thinking of varies greatly depending on how powerful the monster-human is.”

“Anyway, they exist, right?”

“…I really don’t recommend destroying the boss’s core. Not unless you want to create a tsunami that would sweep across continents from the Pacific.”

“If they exist, tell me. Now.”

I need to know at least that much to feel a bit better when I think about those bastards who took Vine.