Chapter 24: Malice (9)

“Ouch?! Akari, you’ve never wrapped a bandage before?!”

Akari’s hands wrapping the bandage were so rough that it was almost too rough.

It was to the point where I thought it would be better if she just wrapped it herself.

“Yes, no? But you’re wrapping it tightly, right?”

“That’s right.”

There’s a limit to shamelessness.

Of course, those kinds of things made the existence of Apocalypse that I had vague, so I didn’t feel bad or anything.

If anything, it would have been better if it had been better—

At that moment, Akari’s expression slightly frowned as if she had seen something unpleasant.

“You’re not doing this on purpose to hurt me, are you?”

“I don’t have a hobby of making people who are already hurt even more hurt, y’know!”

“Ugh…!?”

Anyone could tell that it was intentional.

Akari felt a faint pain as she raised her voice and added strength as if giving a shout.

“So, what happened?”

“Huh?”

“What happened to you to make your expression so bad?”

“…Nothing happened?”

The words started to go around and around.

Akari started interrogating me, asking what had happened, and I ended it by saying that nothing had happened.

However, Akari, who was not convinced by my answer, kept digging, and it became increasingly difficult to control my expression.

What are you doing…

What were you planning on doing if that monster was pretending to be human?

“But—”

“There is no but.

What do you think would happen if you made an exception for monsters?”

Those cold eyes suddenly flashed at me.

A magical girl like me.

Her name was Garnet.

She was one of the two magical girls who protected this city, I think.

Her overall color was similar to Ruby’s, but her atmosphere was much darker and colder.

“Should a being that is half human and half monster be considered a human, or a monster?”

Akari fell silent at the weakly flowing question.

As if she had heard an uncomfortable truth.

“…I’m sorry, Akari.”

“No, well. It makes sense for Midori to think that way.”

“I didn’t say that to Akari!

I just thought, what if there’s someone like that…”

It was something I shouldn’t have said in front of Akari.

What on earth was I saying to someone who had been through something terrible at the doctor’s lab?

I couldn’t bear to look at Akari because of my self-loathing.

“Well… isn’t that what Midori thinks?

If Midori thinks she’s a person, she’s a person, and if she thinks she’s a monster, she’s a monster.”

“…”

Depending on your frame of mind, you see things differently.

I came back half-convinced by the words of the magical girl named Garnet, but what I saw last was closer to a person than a monster.

No, if anyone had seen those eyes, they would have thought she was a person.

“Midori.”

“Huh, huh?”

“What do you see me as? A human? Or a monster?”

Akari tilted her head, and I felt goosebumps for a moment.

A sense of crisis began to ring in my mind, making all my thoughts up until then seem meaningless.

If I answer wrong, it’s over.

Despair, tightly hidden in hope, whispered to me.

‘But… The answer was set.

Since we’d returned to the past, Akari wasn’t Apocalypse.

Akari was just Akari.

“You look human.”

“Is that so?”

Akari giggled at my answer, and she really did look like a girl.

No, she was a girl of that age.

Aha, ahahahahahahahahaha!!!

That, that Emerald sees me as a human?

Really?!

Laughter burst out involuntarily in a situation that wasn’t funny.

“This is really funny, Midori.”

Did something change his mind during this monster subjugation?

The suspicious gaze that hadn’t disappeared even after he opened his heart to me had completely disappeared now.

It was as if a wild beast that was extremely wary of strangers had become a docile lamb.

“What would happen if that trust turned into betrayal…

I didn’t think it would feel good to betray someone who trusted me—honestly, this was just Emerald’s own misunderstanding, right?

If I were human right now, it would be different.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t the human Akari here, but the monster Apocalypse.

‘It feels a little different, but it’s essentially the same.

I thought it might be the difference between Apocalypse who ate too much despair and Apocalypse who barely ate despair.

The original Apocalypse wasn’t on a despair diet like me.

Strictly speaking, it would be more accurate to say that he was despair-preying, despair-obese, or, rather, despair-super-obese.

Obesity is said to be the root of the three major adult diseases, so it’s possible that Apocalypse’s condition became a little shabby due to despair obesity.

Just in case, I’ll just moderate my eating from now on.

If you eat too much at once, you’ll get sick, and if you overeat despair, you could end up like an apocalypse.

I felt that a little when I went exploring the underworld.

I didn’t eat much, but I felt like breaking people’s limbs, yeah.

If I had eaten more despair in that state, I might have caused a big accident.

“Anyway, aren’t I going to be discharged first?”

“Huh?”

“Oh, if that happens, give me the house key.”

“Huh?”

What, is it broken?

Why did I say something different and get the same answer?

I tilted my head at Emerald, who was looking at me with wide eyes.

I don’t know what surprised me so much, but honestly.

“Isn’t Midori feeding you?”

“Oh, no… What, what is that…”

“If you brought it here without permission and fed it, then you should take full responsibility for it.”

Even though he was a thief, he brought a wild monster here and tamed it without permission, so he should have known how much he could do.

Well, if you think about it as picking up a cat, it’s similar.

If the monster is a tiger, then I’m like a stray cat.

“Aren’t you going to take responsibility?”

“Eh, eh?”

“Then I’m twisted?”

Emerald’s expression hardened as she subtly spread despair that was barely noticeable.

Hmm, was I overdoing it?

It was too much fun teasing Emerald, so I’ll stop…

“Take responsibility.”

“Really?”

“Yes, I brought it here without permission, so I’ll take responsibility.”

Ah, lucky.

Does that mean I can live without worrying about despair from now on?

Who knew that boiling a magical girl was this easy?

Even Emerald knew about Apocalypse.

“Then I’ll take good care of you from now on, Emerald.”

I declared while smiling faintly at Emerald, who had a determined expression.

I should stick to her and scrape everything clean off the floor.

“Aya, are you okay? Yeah?”

“Yeah, I’m okay. Mom? Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m okay.”

I thugged my daughter, hiding my trembling hands.

I was getting sick of my superiors constantly calling me, but I thought I should submit my resignation.

“You said you’d let me know in advance when you bring in the monsters…!

Even in the shelter, the monsters had broken through the door on the 5th floor.

Even though I had guaranteed that the monsters would never attack.

If I hadn’t been lucky, I might have lost Aya.

If that had happened, I would have definitely…

“Mom?”

“I’m sorry, Aya. I don’t think I’ve been paying enough attention to you.”

“It’s okay. I know you’re busy, right? I’m an adult now!”

I closed my eyes tightly as my daughter smiled brightly.

It was because I felt like tears would flow out if I kept my eyes open.

Dingdong

“Oh, Mom, I think we have a guest!”

“Wait, Aya.”

The doorbell suddenly rang.

I tried to grab my daughter because of the eeriness mixed with the mechanical sound, but the child avoided my hand and ran straight to the front door.

No.

The moment I was about to run after the child out of anxiety,

“Hello, Aya. You’re cute today too.”

“Hello, doctor!”

“Ugh…!”

Pure malice hidden in kindness.

My body froze for a moment at that dark intention that no one who didn’t know him would ever sense.

Why did that person suddenly come to me?

As if he knew I was going to stop.

“Hello, Lina. Did I come too suddenly?”

“It’s okay.”

“Oh, I think you’re a little nervous because of me.”

The devil wearing the mask of kindness patted Aya’s head as if showing off.

A gesture as if asking if I could see the heads of the four children in my hands right now.

Seeing that sight, even the rebellious spirit that had finally risen up was extinguished.

I can’t escape.

From my sins, absolutely.

The screams of those who were forcibly bonded with monsters by my hands were still unforgettable.

That man must have read my mind and come looking for me.

“How is it, Aya? If it’s uncomfortable, I’ll go back now.”

“It’s okay! The doctor is good!”

“That’s right, Lina.”

In the end, I had no choice but to lower my head at the disgust mixed with the child’s bright laughter.

I can’t escape.

I can never escape from that person’s— that person’s malice.

If you try to escape, you will surely meet a terrible end.

Just like the other test subjects who have died by my hands so far, miserably.