Chapter 40: Awesome Army

“You met Jin?” Amy asked, coming back after finishing her urgent work.

I immediately told her everything that had happened at the park.

“Yes!” I nodded vigorously.

Then, I went into detail about Jin’s misdeeds.

“He stole our sandwiches.”

“This is crazy…” Amy muttered, biting her lip as she listened to me.

She looked at us thoughtfully, then pulled out her cell phone.

I watched her with sparkling eyes.

When Amy took out her phone, almost everything was resolved.

“Was there anything else?”

“What else?”

“I mean, was there anything unusual or strange?”

I thought for a moment, but couldn’t think of anything out of the ordinary.

It had been a usual day, except for Amy’s absence.

“Well, I don’t think so.”

“Shine?”

“Me neither.”

Amy, who had been fiddling with her cell phone, turned to us.

“You didn’t talk to Jin, did you?”

“No.”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, good. Next time you meet him, don’t answer, just run away.”

“Yes.”

Amy smiled slightly and stroked my and Shine’s heads.

Her fingers gently ran through our hair, a pleasant smile forming on her face.

Amy immediately started calling someone.

After a while, the person on the other end picked up.

“It’s me.”

“I told you, don’t approach the kids.”

Amy stood up as she spoke, and as the distance grew, her voice became softer, her words harder to hear.

Since she wasn’t talking close to us, I couldn’t catch the conversation clearly.

“Entry test? Don’t say weird things. How can the kids do that?”

“You even stole their sandwiches?”

“Huh? Sleeping pills in their sandwiches? What kind of nonsense are you talking about?”

“Why are you asking me about your shoes?”

“Huh? Didn’t the kids take them?”

Amy, still talking on the phone from a distance, turned to us.

I waved at her.

An awkward smile appeared on her face.

“Don’t talk nonsense and just do your work. And if you get caught approaching the kids next time, I won’t be on this mission.”

After finishing the call, Amy put her phone in her pocket and approached us.

On the table in front of us was a round donut that Amy had bought.

I gulped and looked at the donut.

The pink chocolate coating made it look really delicious.

Amy brought the donut over on a large plate and handed it to Shine.

“Did you buy it outside?”

“Yeah. I bought it for you guys.”

I bit into the large donut and looked at Amy’s face.

When I returned from my previous trip, her face had looked tired, but now she looked fine.

I looked at Shine’s face as well.

Shine was looking around with the large donut in her hand.

A sweet scent wafted from the chocolate-covered donut.

Shine’s eyes turned to the donut I was holding.

She looked at the part where there were teeth marks, and like me, she opened her mouth wide and took a bite.

Shine’s eyes widened as she chewed her donut.

They began to sparkle and shine, and a small smile appeared on her lips.

“What have you been doing?”

While munching on my donut, I explained in detail everything that had happened while Amy was gone.

I conveniently left out the part about not brushing my teeth before going to bed.

“You brush your teeth every day, right?” Amy’s eyes narrowed as she looked at me.

I turned my head away, avoiding her gaze.

My short legs swayed back and forth nervously.

“What time did you go to bed?”

I couldn’t answer this time either.

While Amy was away, I’d fall asleep every morning after watching the late-night anime special.

If I told the truth, Amy would definitely scold me.

“I… went to bed early.” I looked at Shine with pleading eyes, hoping for her help.

However, she didn’t seem to notice my gaze, as she continued munching on her donut.

“Really? Can I trust you?”

“Yes!” I nodded vigorously.

Amy, still looking at me, smiled mischievously and patted my head.

The large box of donuts was soon emptied.

I, who had been rubbing my swollen belly, fell limply onto the table.

My stomach was so full I couldn’t move.

Shine must have felt the same way, as she leaned her face on the table in the same way.

As I was rubbing my cheek against the cool surface of the table, I suddenly wondered what Amy had been doing.

“Amy?”

“Huh?”

“What were you doing outside?”

“I did many things~” Amy replied with a mischievous smile, as if she had no intention of giving a proper answer.

Her pink hair fluttered before my eyes.

I let out a small sigh, then shifted my gaze to Shine’s face.

She seemed to like the donuts, as she was caressing the empty donut box.

“Are there many people like Shine… like us out there?”

“Like you?”

“People who are experimented on in labs.”

“A lot.”

I mumbled.

The expression “a lot” didn’t quite resonate with me.

“Amy’s job is to save them, right?”

“Yes, to save good kids like Shine and Jeff from bad people.”

“Are they bad people?”

“Bad.” The answer didn’t come from Amy. It came from Shine, who was fiddling with a box of donuts right next to me.

“Bad?”

“Yeah. They hurt me.” Shine’s gaze as she looked at me became hazy, as if recalling the memory of that day.

Her eyes reminded me of when we met in the lab before. When we faced each other through the thick glass wall, she had those eyes.

“So they’re bad people.” I nodded absentmindedly.

“Jeff was sick too?”

“Me…?” I made a subtle expression. I began to recall the memory of that day.

Was I sick? No, should I have been sick? My gaze as I met Shine’s became tangled.

Shine reached out and grabbed my hand. Soft warmth flowed through my hand.

I was lost in thought. The warmth flowing through Shine’s hand reminded me of that day.

The cold floor of the laboratory. I was sitting on it.

Sharp needles. Tasteless liquid. A head-splitting sound. Memories I’ve never experienced before began to pour out.

My body trembled. Startled, I pulled my hand away from Shine.

“Jeff?”

“Ah…” I shook anxiously at Shine’s gaze looking at me.

I could feel the emotions in her eyes. I slowly moved my gaze to look at Amy. She was doing something great.

I nodded absentmindedly.

“That’s right… It hurt.” I spoke, recalling the memories of that day.

The cold floor of the laboratory. Thick glass walls. Cold gazes flying in from all sides. What was I like back then?

The gaze watching the test subjects from beyond the glass walls. The gaze looking at the researchers from within the glass walls.

I was standing there. From within the glass walls, beyond the glass walls.

It felt like my left and right eyes were looking from different directions.

My gaze began to tilt to one side. My left eye, which was looking inside the glass walls, slowly began to close.

Outside the glass walls that had darkened. I was left inside the glass walls.

The little girl, who had collapsed on the cold floor, reached out her hand. But there was no one.

A long time passed without anyone holding her hand.

“Jeff?” I shook my head.

Shine, who had gotten up from her seat, approached me. Her two hands were pressing against my cheeks.

Her gaze was focused on my eyes. I opened my mouth and answered.

“Yeah.”

“They’re really bad people.”

“That’s right. They’re really bad people.”

The image faintly reflected on the glass wall was definitely mine.

My white hair was falling limply. I nodded.

“Amy was doing a good thing.” I muttered absentmindedly.

I shivered as I recalled the horrible memory.

“How is it? Does it look great?” Amy said to me with a grin.

I nodded. Rescuing the people suffering there.

Amy looked cool all over again.

I told Amy with sparkling eyes.

“Isn’t it dangerous?”

“I’m not dangerous.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s really cool, Amy.”

Amy seemed to be shining brightly.

Like the little witch Lucy.

I could see this place with a completely different perspective than before.

My blurry vision felt brighter. I jumped up from the chair and said to Amy.

“I want to be like Amy.”

“Me?”

“Yes!”

Amy smiled awkwardly at my shout. She patted my head and said, “You’re still young, so it’ll be hard.”

“I’m not young!”

“Right, Jeff was an adult, right?”

“Yes!”

“Then can you promise me one thing?”

“Yes!”

“If you grow as tall as me, and if you still don’t change your mind, I’ll let you.”

I looked up at Amy. She was quite tall. No, very tall. I lifted my head with a sad face.

But my height was not enough. I couldn’t even guess how long it would take to grow to be like Amy.

“If I grow like Amy, can I do what she does?”

Shine also seemed interested in what Amy was doing, and opened her mouth.

Shine jumped down from her seat and stood next to me. She and I were the same height.

“If only I could be as tall as you.”

Shine and I exchanged glances. We nodded and ran straight to the refrigerator.

We took out the milk from the refrigerator and immediately started gulping it down.

But we couldn’t drink much. Our stomachs were swollen from the donuts.

The milk inside them made our stomachs churn as if it wouldn’t allow us to move any further.

It felt like we’d vomit out all the donuts we had put in our mouths if we moved even one step.

Shine and I fell to the floor weakly. We were too full to move.

We had one goal: to grow taller!