Ch.143143. Aftermath

“Blanc!”

“Yoon Seul-ah!!!”

Ellis and Hyewon rush over in alarm.

They approach me as I’m thrown back.

Looking at the place where that explosion occurred.

“Are you okay, Blanc?”

“Yeah… Yoon Seul-ah, are you alright?”

“I’m fine. What about you two?”

“Don’t worry about us! That boss self-destructed! And you were right in front of it!”

That’s right.

The boss self-destructed.

But then, someone who looked like the doctor… came to retrieve it.

“Ellis. We have a lot to talk about when we get back.”

“…What I’ve told you is all I know. Things like that…”

Right.

Even if I press Ellis further, I probably won’t learn anything more.

“Yeah… haah…”

Feeling slightly dizzy, I stagger a bit.

The two rush toward me with concern.

Especially Ellis.

“Blanc!”

“Haha… that’s right, Ellis…”

“What’s wrong…? Don’t, don’t be like that… okay? You can’t collapse…”

“You, before coming here… you said we’d make a bet.”

“I lost, I lost, okay? Let’s hurry back and rest. Let’s rest…!”

“Haha… sure…”

Ellis hastily supports me.

There’s quite a height difference between us.

The way she tries to support me comfortably is really…

I’m fine though.

Until we came here, she was adamantly insisting she wouldn’t take my side.

That she was eternally Eden’s.

And now this child is acting like this… really…

“Hyewon. What’s the situation outside?”

“Seohyun took care of Vine. We missed two of the remaining henchmen. The rest have been dealt with.”

“…We’ll have to put them all in Marina.”

“As for Vine…”

“…Let’s go for now. No information has leaked outside yet. Neither about Vine’s escape nor about the attack on Ellis and Marina. It hasn’t caught the public eye yet. We can handle it internally. And Ellis.”

“…Yeah.”

“What will you do? Are you going to run away? Or return to the association with Vine?”

“…Give me that collar. It hurts when it’s worn uncomfortably, it chokes.”

I took the sealing device from my pocket and gave it to Ellis.

Ellis skillfully puts on her own sealing device.

The way she struggles to find the right spot is really…

How should I put it? It’s funny to see her putting on her own collar that seals her powers.

So I couldn’t help but laugh, “Pfft.”

“…What?”

“Nothing, just… the situation is so strange.”

“Is it that amusing to see a former villain, now a magical girl’s slave, putting on a sealing device and crawling at a magical girl’s feet?”

As the situation stabilizes a bit, her original personality starts to show.

I’m glad she’s healthy.

“Slave? I never thought of you that way.”

“Don’t force it. I am a slave. You don’t even let me think freely. You rummage through my memories as you please…”

“…That was unavoidable.”

“Hmph.”

Yet she tries not to leave my side.

“J-just so you know… earlier, I was worried because if you died, I would die too since I’m contracted to you…! That’s all it was! Don’t think anything else!”

“So are you still… Ellis of Eden?”

“…I wonder.”

If someone learns that the person they believed in and followed was such a vile person, it would be heartbreakingly painful.

…

Should I say I’m glad she’s returned to the right path, even now?

“What was I… really?”

Or…

Should I comfort Ellis who’s about to fall into gloomy thoughts?

“I… really, sincerely… believed in it. I thought sacrificing the few for the greater cause was natural. If that… if that… was all just to fulfill one person’s greed… No, right? He must have wanted to become a transcendent being to lead all people in the world to salvation. Right? That must be it?”

“No matter how I think about it, that’s…”

“Right. No matter how I think about it, it’s not true. Right? That atmosphere, combining everything. No matter how positively I try to think. It was all for his own greed. He did those things to build a foundation for his own transcendence. To put everyone under him… Ah… He, with his own greed. Treating everyone as just tools…”

“That’s right. He’s someone who even thought of his subordinates as tools. When the time comes to realize his so-called ideals, would he treat everyone as people? Like the magical girl battery plan he mentioned earlier… Wasn’t he planning to set up farms to use them as his power?”

“…I don’t know much about the world after conquest.”

“You haven’t seen it.”

“I just… heard reports that it became an ideal society where people lived happily, voluntarily offering energy periodically.”

“That probably wasn’t the case.”

“He might have really set it up like a farm raising livestock.”

“That’s possible.”

“…And I, not knowing that. Thinking I had saved a world… when moving on to the next world, I was smiling so happily…”

“You didn’t know. That’s why you could do it.”

“…Blanc, he’s devoured dozens of worlds like that. Can we really win? Sincerely, can we win? Can you give me enough certainty to truly make me come over to your side?”

“…I can’t give you certainty.”

“Hey…! If, if you can’t give me certainty… then…”

“But I can say I’ll do my best. I’ll do my best to win. This world… is too precious to hand over to that madman. Don’t you think?”

“…Blanc.”

“So… for now, let’s go back to the association. We have a lot to talk about. And Vine needs to come to her senses. That brainwashing… brainwashing. Yes, we need to undo the brainwashing.”

If someone were to ask, ‘Have you ever undone Eden’s brainwashing?’

I could proudly answer, ‘Yes, I have.’

Magical Girl Plum.

I undid the brainwashing that Yuri unnie was under…

I returned her from a corrupted state to her original state.

Of course, after capturing her…

It hurt my heart to subdue her when she was acting wild, but I was able to quickly return her corrupted form to her original appearance.

Sometimes when I want to tease her, I replay the interrogation video I took then.

And then I get smacked on the back for it.

…Then, for Vine.

Rather than corruption…

Originally, a monster.

I don’t know how they made her lose her memories.

And her combat form…

This is a special case.

We’ll really need a lot of help from Ellis and others.

“…You think I’ll help?”

“You, when it comes to Vine-related matters, you follow even with a magical girl’s collar on, don’t you?”

“…Hey.”

“Let’s go quickly. We’re going to bring Vine back.”

* * *

It’s dark.

So very dark.

I can’t see anything.

But… something is guiding me.

A warm light.

It’s light, but…

A light I can’t see.

But, this is.

This is…

Warm.

I don’t know what it is, but it’s warm.

Why did it become like this…?

…

I think deeply.

Who was I?

Me…

Who am I?

I’ll try to recall who I am through the people around me.

Me, the me I don’t know.

For me to exist, there must be parents who gave birth to me.

Parents.

Warm parents.

I remember.

Some warmth comes to mind.

There’s a slight smell of cigarettes.

Those rough hands, the beard.

My father who used to playfully rub his beard against my arm.

Then my mother who would always come to me and hold me in her warm embrace.

Mother.

But…

I can’t remember their names or faces.

Let’s broaden the scope a bit.

My father must have had a father and mother.

My mother must have had a father and mother.

Then.

Then.

Grandmother…

Yes, grandfather had passed away.

I remember that.

My maternal grandfather died when I was young.

Maternal grandmother.

My maternal grandmother lives in the countryside.

Grandmother was… in the city.

Yes.

I remember.

I remember that part, but why.

I can’t remember their faces.

I can’t remember their names.

Why…

Yes, if blood relations are like this,

What about relationships not tied by blood?

White.

Red.

Yellow.

Pink.

Blue.

White.

Small stature, friend.

My friend.

Who helps me and always tries hard for me.

Someone who cherishes me.

Someone I consider important.

That person.

…Ellis.

But there’s not just one white.

The tall one.

The tall one is… familiar and close in a different way.

I know everything about them, and they know everything about me.

And.

And.

They understand me more than anything else.

They think of me more than anything else.

My understanding one.

My…

My nemesis.

Yes.

Magical Girl, Blanc.

I remember.

Then.

If I continue in that direction.

Baeksu, Yuri.

Crybaby, Hyewon.

Red hair, Seohyun.

And. Arin.

The magical girl without a nickname, but.

But.

I.

The magical girl I cherished.

Then, who am I?

I am a villain.

The antithesis of magical girls.

Vine.

I don’t remember my previous name.

No, I’ve heard it from Blanc, but.

I don’t want to recall that name.

Because I am Vine.

Villain.

Because I am Vine, Eden’s villain.

Yes.

So… what’s happening now?

The last thing I clearly remember is returning to Eden, going back to the laboratory.

After that, my memory isn’t clear.

Entering what looks like Marina island, some kind of capsule.

And then, battle.

I don’t know who, but I eventually defected and cried sadly.

And then.

As I was preparing again.

After that, my memory cuts off.

My consciousness.

Then my consciousness should awaken.

Why, why can’t I open my eyes?

I should open my eyes and quickly do something.

What’s happening?

As I was thinking that.

Among those blurry images, one clear image finally emerges.

I was a tool.

Ellis was a failure.

The words about breeding humans like livestock to use for strengthening his power.

I remember hearing those words.

Mercilessly discarding Ellis, calling her a failure.

Saying he would keep magical girls confined like tentacles or monsters in one place, using them as batteries to drain their magical power.

And… other humans too.

Why would someone.

Why…

Someone who shouldn’t have had such thoughts.

I want to deny it, but.

My memory is.

So clear and vivid.

Shining so disgustingly bright that it plunges me into despair.