Ch.6363. Let’s Go, To That Place.

“No, hah… You do sleep at least 6 hours, right?”

“Hmm, sometimes I do, but usually I’m asleep for about 4 hours. Since I’m mostly active at night, my body seems to have adapted to it.”

“That can’t be right.”

“Well, this is my first time having a monster’s body too. I don’t really know what’s what.”

“I see… So, you want to take Hyewon with you?”

“Yes, it seems too harsh to wake her up when she should be sleeping soundly.”

“Alright. Then when?”

“The sooner the better. Didn’t you just say we could go today?”

“Did I…? Still, you need to be somewhat rested to go.”

“I’m seriously fresh as a daisy. I could tutor Arin for 24 hours straight and still be mentally sound.”

“Well, if you say so. Then I’ll ask the Association President to make us a permit.”

“Oh, we need a permit? In that case, tomorrow would be fine too.”

“No, if you said we need to go quickly, there must be a reason.”

“I didn’t really have a reason, hmm…”

“Why, Ellis seemed eager to go too. I just texted the Association President to issue a permit, so hurry and get ready. Let’s stop by the Association first.”

“Yaaawn… Phew… Alright. Let’s see how this goes.”

And so, an unplanned outing to a new destination was about to begin.

* * *

About a week before Vinegar asked Blanc to go to Eden’s headquarters together.

Deep in the mountains where not even the moon had risen, only starlight served as illumination, and city lights were barely visible in the distance.

In such a remote clearing in the mountains, there was a place under extremely strict surveillance.

Not too long ago, it was where one person’s ambition—no, greed—had almost engulfed the entire world before failing. Now it was under the management of the Association and the government.

Unlike the impression of an old cabin, beneath it lay a vast space.

A space that couldn’t possibly have been built in such a short time with current human technology, yet because of its significance, no one without authorization could enter for any purpose.

Yes, at Eden’s former headquarters, there was an uninvited guest.

This skilled individual, who had penetrated the strict security forces and infiltrated the headquarters, simply opened the door slowly, as if it were their own residence, and entered a massive room.

Inside was a large round table and a single chair—no, a throne that seemed designed to flaunt that only the organization’s leader could sit there.

The person installed a device on the projector mounted above it, then moved to another room to complete their task.

Some time passed.

The deep darkness of dawn gradually gave way to the approaching sun announcing its arrival with the first light.

Just before the sun fully rose, the mysterious intruder finished their work and leisurely left the headquarters.

Leaving behind a profound smile.

* * *

“Why are there so many annoying procedures just to visit a headquarters? Blanc, you made it sound like the Association President could whip up a permit in no time.”

In response to my complaint, Blanc just gave a meaningless laugh before answering.

“Haha… I didn’t know it would be this complicated either. I thought it would be easily resolved with the Association President’s help.”

“At this rate, we might not be able to go even next week, let alone today.”

“Come on, surely it won’t come to that?”

Ellis, sitting beside me, seemed somewhat dissatisfied too, but she was more preoccupied with planning what to do once we got to Eden.

Even now, far from eavesdropping on our conversation, she was happily listing things she wanted to bring.

Ah, her happiness was evident from how she sat deeply in the Association President’s sofa, swinging her legs that didn’t quite reach the floor.

Listening to what Ellis was saying…

“Hehe… I’ll bring my computer and back up all those photos and videos I couldn’t save last time, make double and triple backups… take out that hidden thing… hehe… where should I put it at home…”

Most of it was quiet muttering, incomprehensible unless you focused intently, but there were some key words I couldn’t help but catch.

Photos and videos.

Surely… yes, probably things I’d be better off not knowing about.

Ellis’s happiness was something I should either condemn after learning the contents or just bury in my mind.

Well, after passing time with pointless conversation and feeling a bit better after eating the candy the Association President had prepared, I just waited quietly.

Of course, I wasn’t just waiting idly.

I asked Blanc for videos of the magical girls from the dormitory—their combat and training footage—saying it would be a waste to just wait around, and I was watching those.

I received them saying I would analyze them… but I didn’t really feel like analyzing anything.

Initially, I tried to analyze Arin’s training and combat videos, but it was extremely tedious.

Thinking about who made me such a useless person, I could only conclude it was Blanc…

So I decided to just do something useless too.

Among the video materials I received were recordings of fights against me.

I asked if they were giving me such old footage, and they just gave me access to the Association cloud where I could view all combat and training videos.

So I looked through them… of course I was curious.

The angles would be different from videos I had taken myself.

I wanted to see those videos that might be stored somewhere now, but couldn’t.

It’s absolutely not because I’m getting nostalgic about going to Eden’s headquarters, thinking “Ah, this is how it was back then~”

It’s not like that. Absolutely not.

Who says I’m like some old man reminiscing about his youth?

Well, I mean…

Ah, well…

It might be quite a lot if I count from when I was a man, but since I was reborn as a monster.

It’s not like I’m some old man, okay?

Anyway, the scenes filmed from the magical girls’ perspective were often dynamically edited for TV broadcasts or internet release.

While the camera angles for serious analysis followed me or the monsters with incredible persistence.

The ones meant for broadcasting or public release were really… they could be considered full-fledged movie productions.

Because of such camerawork, techniques that weren’t actually that powerful in my memory appeared exaggerated.

No, in my memory, an explosion that destroyed one building looked like it could collapse a dozen nearby buildings, so it’s definitely… different.

Time passed quickly as I found myself engrossed in watching.

While I was focused on the videos, the Association President came and hung a new badge around my neck, different from the Association entry card, saying everything was ready.

It really seems like a hassle to go through all this, but…

Considering the groups targeting Eden’s technology, it makes sense. Yes.

Our technology isn’t just slightly superior.

“Is it really all done? You didn’t miss anything? That complicated process—the explanation alone was enough to give me a headache—couldn’t have been completed so quickly.”

I clearly asked Blanc, but the Association President answered instead.

Coming behind the sofa where we were sitting, he patted both my and Ellis’s heads while speaking.

“Why, I’m the Association President, aren’t I? If I didn’t have this much power, we couldn’t call it the Magical Girl Association. Do you know how hard I worked to give the Association this kind of authority…”

Suddenly being patted by the Association President, Ellis angrily swatted his hand away and threw a tantrum.

It’s understandable. An unfamiliar man was casually patting her head.

Especially for a child who already disliked people.

“Well, if you say so. I understand. Blanc? Shall we go?”

“Yes, Association President. Could you also provide a car?”

“Really, taking advantage of every little thing…”

“That’s not taking advantage—it’s barely asking for a strand of wool from a sheep, don’t you know?”

Despite complaining, he said he’d already arranged it downstairs and told us to get the keys from the desk, so he must have anticipated this.

After saying goodbye to the Association President, we got into Blanc’s car and headed for Eden’s headquarters.

The road was familiar to us, but since we hadn’t been there for a while, it felt like returning to a hometown.

Well, I remained quiet, but Ellis couldn’t keep still and kept looking out the window…

“Wow… this place has changed so much? They paved the road? In such a short time? Redevelopment? New city? In this rural area…?”

“Ellis, sit down. What are you doing without a seatbelt in the car?”

“Isn’t it amazing? Even in this rural place… not even Seoul. It’s such a shame! Why wasn’t any of this here when we were around?”

“Ellis. Shush.”

We’re not on a vacation.

What is she so excited about…