Chapter 82: Intermission: Lina and Aya

It felt like a dream.

A dream from long ago.

‘Mom, I want to be a magical girl too!’

Aya. I still remember that time when you said that with a smile.

A magical girl who flies through the sky and spreads hope.

You, smiling as you said that you wanted to be that kind of existence—how scary.

‘…I see.’

‘Wouldn’t it be cool? If I were a magical girl!’

‘…’

There was a reason why I couldn’t answer easily.

Magical girls weren’t such beautiful beings.

Contrary to the world’s perception that they are born from hope, most were born from despair.

Rather than going through such misfortune and becoming a magical girl, it would be better to live an ordinary life.

‘Ah, it hurts… It hurts…!’

‘…’

‘Okay, I was wrong… I’ll become a magical girl… I’ll definitely become one, so please…!’

Aya’s voice changed into the voice of a child who was being experimented on.

The way she screamed at me.

The desperation with which she grabbed the hem of my clothes.

Tears.

Blood.

Pain.

And despair.

‘It’s going smoothly.’

The soft, yet dry voice pierced my heart.

I couldn’t tell what was inside the man.

Still, the only thing I could be sure of was that I absolutely must not go against him.

No matter what happened, I would keep my mouth shut, cover my ears, and close my eyes.

That was what I had to do to survive, to protect Aya.

‘The director has gone missing.’

‘…Ah.’

A sense of relief formed deep inside my heart.

I felt as if all my strength had drained from my body at those words.

It seemed as if my life, which had always been trembling with anxiety, would change from that moment on.

As long as that man was gone.

As long as that man was gone.

‘…Ah. Should we move?’

‘Huh? Suddenly? Of course I’d like it!’

It wasn’t that hard to quit the underground research lab.

Since many researchers had left because of the director’s disappearance, I could just bury them.

I really wanted to go somewhere where no one was and live quietly.

Since both his body and mind were exhausted, all he could think about was leaving for a place where Aya and he could be alone.

‘…Aya, no! Aya!!’

However, it was all a vain hope.

The cries of the monster that had kidnapped Aya as if mocking him were clear.

Using monsters to kidnap children was a method that the man, the director, used.

That meant that the missing director had returned.

‘How, what should I do…’

Not a single person had ever gone against that man and survived.

There was no way to survive a man who could control monsters anywhere in the world.

Even one of the two magical girls in the city was that man’s hunting dog, so asking for help was nearly impossible.

What should I do?

What should I do to save Aya?

What on earth should I do—

‘If it were that person—’

If it were that ‘monster’, then maybe I could save Aya.

He walked absentmindedly at the thought that suddenly came to mind.

The one who caused the director to disappear.

A being whose insides were more inscrutable than the curator, and who seemed more dangerous.

‘Thank you, really, thank you…’

The being accepted the request surprisingly easily.

A monster with a human appearance.

A monster that accompanied the human girl.

And, a monster that protected Aya in the shelter.

‘It’s been a long time, Rina.’

When I met that being again in the underground laboratory, I was honestly taken aback.

Should I call it deja vu?

I felt like I had committed a crime for meeting it at such an unexpected moment.

Maybe that’s why.

Everything I learned after that was completely unexpected.

The fact that the one in charge of the research lab was not the original director, but the newly appointed director.

And the fact that the culprit who kidnapped Aya was not that man.

‘I knew you’d come to save me, Mom.’

After that, I was able to save Aya somehow.

Contrary to my worries, Aya was safe.

Yes, as long as she was safe, that’s fine.

If I just take Aya out like this and move her to a place where she can live quietly—

‘Do you really think so?’

“…Ah.”

Was that a realization? Or was it the last breath of despair?

What I believed to be memories was nothing more than an illusion.

All that remained was the reality that I had failed to save Aya.

“Ah, ahhhhh…”

Despair flowed out of my throat.

What had I been working so hard for?

Why did I continue the experiments even though I saw the children suffer with my own eyes?

I should have stopped when Aya was born.

I should have crawled on the ground, begged desperately, and escaped the underground research lab.

‘Dr. Lina is truly amazing. How could they do such experiments when they have their own children?’

‘Well, they probably don’t see the test subjects as humans. It’s not something great, it’s just natural. That means they’re professionals.’

No.

That’s not it.

It’s not that they don’t see those children as humans.

Me—

‘S-please save me…!

Please save me! Please save me, please!!’

‘What did I do wrong! I, I didn’t do anything wrong!!’

‘Professor… It hurts so, so much…’

Me…

‘Hh…’

As she lifted her heavy eyelids from the nightmare just before, a familiar face appeared in Lina’s sight.

A face she never wanted to see again.

Grumble, groan—

“Gyaaa…”

Even though her entire body screamed as she hit the floor, she had no time to think about such pain.

Death.

What was right before her eyes was literally death.

“Oh, you’re awake.”

“Up, it’s dangerous!”

And then a voice followed.

Lina hurriedly shouted at the small shadow next to the monster.

It’s dangerous here. We have to run away immediately! There’s a monster!

“What do you mean dangerous?”

“The monster—”

“Oh, is that so… Indeed, humans tend to believe only what they see.”

Growling, groaning, groaning—

The child’s voice was calm.

Lina’s eyes widened at the sight of the child petting the monster like a pet.

Oh, so. Just now…

It was an unbelievable sight.

She pulled at her own cheek, thinking it was a dream, but all that remained was a sharp pain.

“Huh, so this weak-looking human was researching magical girls? And under that guy?”

“…Kid, what the—”

“Don’t call me kid! Tsk, that guy or this guy or the ones in that underground lab all have no manners!”

Lina swallowed dryly as the kid clicked his tongue.

I thought he wasn’t an ordinary kid, but I never thought he’d talk about magical girl research.

What on earth is his true identity?

The inhuman appearance of the kid made her head spin.

And then, Lina’s vision caught sight of another kid.

The kid she had been searching for.

“What do you think, Aya? You were the one who said we should take him, weren’t you?”

“…I don’t know, that kind of person.”

The person standing next to the kid was definitely Aya.

Lina jumped at the sight of her daughter, whom she had been searching for so long.

The memory of her trembling at the sight of the monster had long since been erased from her mind.

Right now, all she could see was her daughter.

“Aya!!”

“…”

“Mom, Mom, I’m sorry I’m late…”

The body of the child in her arms was cold.

As if it wasn’t human.

“It’s okay. It’s become even more certain.”

“…Aya?”

“People like you shouldn’t be born anymore.”

She looked like Aya, but she wasn’t Aya.

With Aya’s voice, someone other than Aya was speaking.

However, even after seeing the child like that, Lina couldn’t deny it.

No, she didn’t want to deny it.

Because if she denied it, Aya would really stop being Aya.

“I’m sorry. Mom, I’m really sorry.”

“It’s already too late. And, it would be better for you to apologize to ‘us’, not me. Everyone is really angry at you.”

“…’Us’?”

Aya’s eyes changed from moment to moment as she asked with a dumb expression.

Sadness, hatred, anger, mockery, pain, disgust—

The emotions were too individual and extreme for one person to have.

Lina couldn’t help but realize it when she saw Aya like that.

The child in front of her eyes was Aya, but at the same time, she wasn’t Aya.

“Would you mind if I said the totality of the children you’ve pushed into test tubes so far?”

“…”

“Don’t worry. While I’m the master, no one else will harm you.”

Lina nodded weakly at Aya’s words.

A contradictory human being who cherished her own child while using other children as test subjects.

It was the perfect ending for such a lukewarm, ambiguous human being.