episode_0032

I have never raised a pet in my life.

This time, I couldn’t raise one because I lived in an orphanage, and in my previous life, it was just too much trouble.

I understand they are cute, but there were too many things to do to take care of the animal than I thought. Feeding, cleaning up after them, grooming their fur, and taking them for a walk every day.

Depending on the animal, there are cases where walks are not necessary, but the rest had to be done by me.

So in my childhood, I used to think how great it would be if animals were incredibly smart and could bathe, eat, and go to the bathroom by themselves.

But then again, if that were the case, there would be no difference from having a child, and if animals were intelligent, there would be no reason for them to live under me in the first place. In the end, I drew that conclusion and neatly folded away my imagination.

“… A talking hamster.”

“No, no.”

But now, in front of me, there is a hamster that can speak and think.

Of course, when I said that, Ji-gu-bba shook his head with a look of disbelief.

“It’s not like that, it’s Chikchikseongin.”

… It’s not necessary to argue about this point, given that the name “Chikchik” was given due to the reason that they cannot understand human speech in the first place.

Even though they are called adults, they don’t seem very human-like.

No, I have at least some common sense.

In the webtoon, the pink hamster was an alien and could talk. It was a race of aliens with outstanding intelligence, capable of creating circuits.

Thinking like this, it makes sense. The reason James could casually hand me a new circuit was because it was a circuit made by James himself.

On the contrary, it seems he was conducting some kind of experiment with me.

“….”

“Can you put me down for now?”

Today, I learned for the first time that James’ true identity is “Chikchikseongin,” but for now, I cautiously placed James on the blanket.

Small animals like hamsters usually have a higher body temperature than humans, and James was the same.

However, whether that was due to pain or whether it was natural, I couldn’t guess.

For now, his body was like a hamster’s.

“… Should I take you to the vet?”

“… Vet.”

“No, because you look like this.”

“Aren’t you being a little too much since earlier?”

If I’m saying something that makes Ji-gu-bba react like this, maybe I’m going too far.

I looked down at James, who was unconscious again.

His fur is entirely black. It’s a design that looks like it could be a mascot for an evil executive. In the webtoon, the real identity of the person-shaped robot was not revealed, but it might have appeared after I left.

The fur was so black and glossy, but that didn’t mean the whole body was black.

Do you know a creature called a panda mouse? James’ fur was a mix of white and black, just like a pet mouse. Especially the white fur around his neck looked like the collar of a dress shirt. He even had on a real tie for some reason.

Other than that, the area around his hands and feet was white.

It definitely gives the impression that a webtoon artist designed it. With big ears and a fluffy tail, it looked like a hamster the size of a fist dressed in a suit.

Honestly, it’s cute.

I’m not sure if “cute” is a discriminating word or not.

I’ve been rough in my words since earlier for a reason.

I wasn’t particularly fond of James.

Sure, my fault was mixed in, but isn’t it natural for a person to be more aware of the disadvantages they’ve received rather than their own faults? Even if I deserved punishment, it was hard to accept that my friend’s future was being used as collateral.

But the problem is, it feels strange that the person who did such a thing appears in this form now.

Certainly, the scale of the punishment would be the same, but for some reason, thinking that this cuteness was the essence made it seem somewhat trivial.

Unless you’re looking at the human-shaped robot in the corner of this house.

“….”

I stood up from my seat while staring at the robot without saying anything.

“Robot, should I clean up?”

“Is your body okay?”

“No, it’s because of me.”

In various ways. Whether it’s about James or the Earth BBA’s room.

The Earth BBA nodded at my words.

Leaving James as he was, the human-shaped robot James was riding was cleared away. With a little use of the power of the circuits, we were able to clear it away quite well.

… Folding the body as much as possible, we put it into a large garbage bag, but if you didn’t look closely at the head, it just looked like a corpse.

Even to anyone, it looked like an unmistakable victim of a bizarre murder case.

The two of us watched that sight without saying a word, then we laid it down on the vinyl in the corner of the room and covered it with a box that the Earth BBA brought in.

Yes, it’s better to have trash in the corner of the house than a corpse.

We decided to minimize the red liquid that kept seeping out of the box.

After properly handling the body(?), we finally laid James, who was placed on an electric mat, began to toss and turn.

“Ugh….”

His appearance was cute, but his voice was not cute at all. Because it was a grown man’s voice.

Objectively, it could be said that it was a voice that could be considered good, like a voice actor’s.

According to Earthlings, the tie around their necks is likely an interpreting device. They say that all chirpers like us, lacking vocal organs like Earthlings, can only produce sounds similar to mice.

The reason why chirpers appear peculiarly animal-like might be to discourage hasty actions, a habit they seem to always carry with them.

The Earthling fan and I quickly approached and peered down at James.

As we gazed intently for a moment, James’s eyes flickered open.

They were round and black, like those of a hamster.

Really incredibly cute.

Like a golden hamster.

“…Where am I?”

Speaking in an attractive but slightly hoarse voice, his lips moved as if syncing, incredibly endearing.

“More importantly, the person next to you—chirp, chirp? Chirp chirp chirp!”

As James was speaking, I grabbed his tie.

As I pulled it taut like a rubber band, when it slightly loosened from his neck, James’s voice changed to a chirping sound.

Wow, it really chirps.

Of course, it felt like a chirp in their language, but it definitely sounded like something people from another planet wouldn’t understand.

As I tugged at the interpreter, James seemed to try to affix it to his neck, and he abruptly stood up from his seat.

Then, flailing his hands, he hopped around on his short legs. Considering his height, he had quite a jumping ability.

“Chirp, chirp—Give it to me! Give it to me! What are you doing right now!? You unruly brat!”

When I let go of the interpreter, James’s voice returned to that of an Earthling.

Seemingly embarrassed by his frantic hopping and yelling, James sat back down after a moment of bewilderment, coughed awkwardly, and cleared his throat.

“I’ll warn you, if you do that again, I’ll—”

I grabbed the talking James with both hands and lifted him “up high.”

James screamed and flailed his legs.

After lifting and lowering him up and down, circling around the Earthling’s room, and then sitting him back down, James roared and panted.

“What are you doing, you rascal! You ungrateful Earthling! Is this how you repay someone who saved your life? Agh!”

After shouting for a while, James took a deep breath, as if gathering strength, and exhaled heavily.

His large ear tips trembled.

Although he seemed to be genuinely angry, his enraged appearance was honestly quite adorable.

And right after feeling that emotion, I also felt a tremendous sense of unease.

“…What are you doing right now?”

Seeming somewhat embarrassed by his recent behavior, James quickly spoke as if nothing had happened.

It seems like James is right, speaking like this. You shouted in a similar way when you were being beaten up by magical girls.

“Are you trying to recognize that?”

“Weren’t there better ways than that?”

Both Jigupa and James said at the same time to my words.

No, it was just an action that I thought might help with my depression even a little bit.

And it actually seems to be helpful. It doesn’t show affection to me like raising a cat or a dog, but it looks cute and can communicate.

A hamster that can communicate, it would have been extremely popular if it had been sold on Earth.

Oh, did they say it’s an alien?

Well, that won’t work then.

“So, what’s going on here?”

I sat down properly and asked with my arms crossed.

The uneasiness hasn’t completely gone away. The depression hasn’t completely disappeared either. But for a very brief moment, I forgot about my worries, and above all, I felt much better than when I was alone.

Jigupa was clearly on my side. If he had any doubts, he would have reported me to the police immediately. I can’t stay in this place forever, but at least I wasn’t being kicked out right away. I’m really grateful for that.

And James.

There was a suspicion as to why James came here.

This circuit that is still running on my wrist. If James made this, there would naturally be a tracking function attached to it, to prevent it from breaking with just force.

The company that came up with a way to detect and track the energy used by magical girls. So it should be possible on this end too. Well, at least it seems like there are precautions in place, considering that the Galactic Federation or the company isn’t aggressively coming after us.

“…It seems like I’ve become informal.”

“Oh.”

I forgot because there was a hamster in front of me.

I couldn’t help but think that it seemed a bit easier to deal with, as it couldn’t offer proper resistance other than wriggling around despite tormenting it.

Moreover, the head of the robot that James was riding was half gone. It was clearly a sign that someone had tried to blow James inside the head.

If his life is threatened to that extent, it must be difficult for James to survive without me.

Then what we need to do is cooperate. And the cooperative partner is naturally an ‘equal’ party.

Yes, I decided to think that way.

It’s not that I don’t want to use honorifics just because the other party is a hamster.

“How can I use honorifics when I have been hurt?”

“….”

James looked at me with narrowed eyes.

It was not at all scary and looked rather contemptuous. The human robot that James was riding had a much more frightening expression.

“Well, forget it.”

James couldn’t help but notice that the situation was not as positive as it seemed, so he decided not to worry about the details.

“You asked me earlier what was going on, so how much do you understand about the situation?”

‘You’ became ‘what’s going on.’

Well, I guess it’s similar in that I’ve lost my words.

“…I know I’m being chased.”

I replied in a melancholic voice.

The circuit in my wrist started spinning rapidly.

Yes, I remember everything. Ha-yoon, who was confronting me from beyond the blurry vision.

Perhaps I’m being treated like a monster. Probably. All the equipment they were using to catch me were the same ones used to catch monsters.

“Probably.”

James answered and raised his hand under his chin, organizing his thoughts for a moment.

Then he sat down on the floor with a thud.

“First of all, I almost got assassinated. At the last moment, I was able to escape with a warp.”

“Warp? You had a personal warp device?”

“It’s very unstable, and it’s disposable. I made it myself. Of course, I had to steal quite a bit of energy for it.”

“You stole from the company?”

“It wasn’t stealing; it was an investment for the future. I used the investment funds from my department.”

No, you said you stole it with your mouth.

But James seemed to continue speaking as if such things didn’t matter at all.

“Anyway, after I wrote it, it completely fell apart, so there’s no need to worry about anyone chasing after me. Originally, it was a device being developed for emergency escape.”

He said that, but I thought James had made it entirely on his own. Still, it didn’t seem strange at all.

“The company was trying to frame you?”

“They carried out a permanent dismissal. They’re probably rolling around in agony with the Galactic Federation right now.”

“…The company and the Galactic Federation?”

“As I mentioned in the hospital, the company gave up on you. Stupidly.”

“…”

“It seems that the Galactic Federation was planning to receive their new recruits and conduct similar research. Regardless of what decision they make, whether it’s a few months or a few years, it doesn’t matter. After just a few months of research, you would have become a person of the Galactic Federation through some method of ’employment.’”

“Me?”

“The Galactic Federation is a ‘national government’ on a pan-galactic scale. It wouldn’t be difficult to imagine what the ‘advanced countries’ of this country are doing behind the scenes.”

So the Galactic Federation also does such things behind the scenes.

They capture me, use me as a research subject, brainwash or manipulate testimony, and then use me continuously.

“…Wait, then what about Ha-yoon?”

“Oh.”

James seemed somewhat interested, but his voice carried a mocking tone to some extent.

“Are you worrying about the magical girl in such a situation?”

“Well, wouldn’t I worry?”

I was more worried right now. I don’t want to die, but I also have a desire not to become a research subject in some laboratory.

I just wanted to live a normal life, no matter how.

But it seems like that opportunity has passed.

“Hayoon is my friend.”

“Instead of worrying about your friend’s life, wouldn’t it be better to worry about your own safety? Are you even on the run?”

The words were sharp on the hamster theme.

Is he still holding a grudge against me for raising him high?

“So, what do you want me to do?”

I sat down, hugging my knees, and glared at the hamster in front of me. As my wrist got closer, the sound of circuits turning grew louder. Seeing it warm up, the power efficiency would be amazing. Well, that’s probably why they couldn’t catch and eat me.

For a moment, I faced off against the magical girls, flipped several police cars before transforming, and ran away after pushing people aside. In the end, I even flew into the sky.

Now.

If only I had exerted my strength from the beginning, I wouldn’t feel so bewildered. Still, I must have controlled it in my own way.

During all those years, I never once revealed that I was an important figure. Now, if I were to say “He’s a formidable villain,” I wouldn’t know what to do.

No, maybe that’s what a writer does. Is leaving a comment saying “I’m disappointed” and then quitting really a behavior worth holding a grudge over?

I don’t know.

Regretting that action would be like regretting coming into this world and regretting becoming friends with Hayoon.

But I couldn’t help but regret.

If I had stayed there, at least I would have lived a normal life.

I think living a long and ordinary life without knowing when I might die is much better than being a key figure who might die someday.

Oh, I shouldn’t have these thoughts. My mind is getting complicated again.

“What should I do?”

“How about revenge?” James said.

I raised my face that had been buried in my arms.

James was looking straight at me.

The word “revenge” didn’t seem empty at all.

“Even though I look like this, I’m a genuine adult from the Chick Chick Star.”

Wait, was that the actual official name?

I can only make that kind of remark, but isn’t it a bit much? It might be better to say I’m an adult from the Hamster Planet.

“And our planet has produced countless outstanding engineers. Despite physical limitations, our planetary engineers are at the core of intergalactic technology.”

I looked at Earth.

The Earth nodded.

“That’s right. With a large population and everyone being smart, there is the ability to sell ships here and there. It seems there are many AS centers, and we are good at fixing things in tight places.”

James continued with a very confident expression in response to Jigubba’s words.

“Yes, that’s right. So, I can fix or reinforce your circuit.”

“…Without materials?”

“I brought an aggregation of advanced technology with me.”

Jigubba and I looked at James’ body lying in the corner… it was eerie, but then again, if it’s a robot, it’s an aggregation of such technology.

“So, you seek revenge. I think it would be satisfying to take revenge on the executives of the company who tried to kill me. And also those who harmed the chairman.”

“…”

I stared at James intently.

“I will give you the ‘gift of a normal life.’ Of course, it’s temporary for now.”

“How?”

“The robot I brought has a ‘face.’”

James said, looking at me.

As if he knew I would definitely accept the proposal.

“And thanks to that, there are enough materials in this room to make a convincing face mask. I can make a sophisticated ‘mask’ that will keep you from being chased for a while. How about it?”

“…”

It was quite an attractive proposal for the moment.

“And finally, I will help you fend off the forces pursuing you. There is no immediate plan, but—”

James shrugged his shoulders.

“After all, you don’t have any other options, do you?”

Certainly, that was the case.

“…”

In the end, I had no choice but to nod.

“Alright. Let’s cooperate for the time being.”

James said with a triumphant expression.

Feeling somewhat annoyed by that, I grabbed James with both hands and rubbed him vigorously.

James made a whirring sound, but I didn’t pay much attention.

… I just decided to restrain myself a little because Jigubba seemed to see me as somewhat risky.