I stand whispering to myself, “Well, she probably won’t die or become a demon.”
This day, I wore a slave’s uniform as I took a leisurely stroll across the island.
The patches of holes on the slave’s clothes were extremely eye catching. Both my hands and feet were bound by thick chains which were paired with a sturdy metal collar hanging by my neck.
Turns out the AI had deemed the chains and collar as a part of the clothing.
As I took my favorite stroll, my chains clinked as they dragged along.
(For some reason beyond my comprehension, the new humans don’t turn into demons after losing their magic organs.
This may have something to do with how their bodies are a natural magic power emitter and so they will have some level of resistance even without the organ.
I would love to look more into this but I’ll need to dissect their bodies if I do.
… Well, it’s not a matter which I’ve really needed to look into, so I’ve left it alone. Additionally, as I expected, that homunculus girl isn’t affected by magic. Since the beginning of the study, I’ve been watching the homunculus, but in the end, she wasn’t able to become a “living creature”.
If I were to describe that girl… I would say that she is ‘a robot made with living parts’.
Although she is astronomically close to a living creature, her existence would still be categorized under ‘items’… That is who that girl is.
Since she is a ‘thing’, she won’t be affected by mana remnants either. Even if she can breathe and her heart can beat, she could technically go on without such movements.
At the moment, while her internal organs accurately mimic that of a human’s, but only just that—they only imitate them, and serve no function.
Her source of energy is magic power.
It would be more obvious if we cut her apart, but inside of her is a high efficiency mana stone. She is running off the magic power inside this mana stone.
Counting the magic power left in the supply facilities, there’s still enough for a few decades so the girl should be able to continue for a while.)
I think to myself as I drag my thick, clinky chains.
(When she wakes up, the world will change.
While she hasn’t completely reached the truth of the mystery of the world, the answer she’s come up with wields enough power to turn the world on its head.
Everything they’ve known will change and this new knowledge will replace the old knowledge as facts. Those in power will lose their authority and the oppressed will rise…)
I stop and take another deep breath.
(Things are about to get interesting.
Their daily lifestyle will disappear and people will have to learn to live with these facts.
I’m sure they will shine even brighter in this ever changing world.
Only when people fall into a challenging situation can they display their strengths.
Sigh, I’m quivering just from the thought of it.
How will the future of those students studying about the Goddess’s religion turn out?
What about the future of the priests who belittle everyone else?
What will the people who have been oppressed by religion so far choose to do?
My heart is thumping.
I’m excited.
Yes!! I can’t!!
I can’t keep it in anymore!!)
And I, in that moment, broke into a dance, jumping around. However, the long, sturdy chains entangled around my feet and I fell on the spot.
I ended up wrangling with the chains around my feet for a while but I emerged as the victor against the broken chains.
The demonified cats ran off somewhere.
The luggage courier was in an excited state, and just like the cats, also ran off.
The homunculus anxiously helped the unbelievably stiff female scholar onto a wheelbarrow and pushed her back home. Once settling the woman onto the bed, the girl then rushes to boil water.
The girl was dedicated.
She removed the scholar’s sweaty clothes, wiped her down dry with a warm towel, and put on new clothes.
It was difficult to feed her.
No matter how much food the girl spooned, the female scholar never opened her mouth.
Therefore, the girl was forced to feed the woman by mouth.
The girl carries the food into her small mouth over and over again, and then pours it into the mouth of a female scholar.
Occasionally, she included water in her mouth and gradually let the female scholar drink it.
Whenever the scholar was in a messy state, the girl would arrange fresh sheets and change her clothes.
When the female scholar’s hand gave a light twitch, the girl would gently hold it with her own hands. When the woman’s face cramped up, the girl would tightly hug her head against her own chest.
This devoted care had continued for a week.
During this time, the woman had a dream.
It was a nightmare.
She was inside an infinitely wide and dark world.
The air was tainted a rusty black and not a single blade of grass could be seen on the barren ground.
In there, her own appearance was also haggard.
Every strand of hair on her body had fallen off, and small spots of green tinted her skin.
Her skin’s texture was rough like sandpaper with ‘purple blood’ sometimes oozing out.
She shouted at the top of her lungs but all that came back were deathly wails from beneath the earth.
At that moment, a mirror rose up from her feet.
And then, she ended up looking into that mirror.
In that, an ugly two-legged demon was standing on its two feet.
Shining eyes, a mouthful of sharp fangs, drooling with disgusting saliva.
The clothes it had put on were stained by purple blood, and a foul stench permeated in the air.
Elongated claws with sharp pointy tips, as though searching for prey.
That was her appearance.
Her proud erect fox ears had become ugly.
Even her fluffy tail which used to be popular among the students, had lost all its hair.
The girl let out a scream and shattered the mirror.
But, the mirror kept appearing in front of her, reflecting her appearance.
The girl kept desperately shattering the mirrors.
However, it was useless.
No matter how times she shattered it, the mirror kept appearing in front of her, reflecting her appearance.
「ヒッ！ ヒッ！ ヒゥゥゥウウウウ！！」
“Ah! EEk! Hyeeeek!!”
Letting out a voice unlike her voice, the girl started running.
The mirror chased after the girl who was in this state.
(I’ll see the mirror if I open my eyes!)
The girl closed her eyes, fell several times, and ran covered in purple-colored blood.
Even as her nails peeled off, her bones broke, and her clothes turned into tattered rags, she kept running.
… And finally became unable to move.
The girl cried, and wept.
But, that voice had already become a monster’s voice…
… At that time, some ‘warm thing’ touched her hand.
That ‘warm thing’ was tightly holding the girl’s hand.
That moment, for some reason, the girl understood.
(This ‘warm thing’ is my ally)
。
She was certain.
In the meantime, the ‘warm thing’ enveloped her entire body.
When it did, the mirror reflecting her image disappeared, and light began to spread out within the world.
Before she could notice, the girl’s appearance had returned to her original appearance.
The long fox ears, the fluffy tail and the beautiful golden hair had restored to their original state.
And the girl’s body was enveloped by the ‘warm thing’.
There was a sense of security similar to that of a foetus in her mother’s womb.
The girl’s body loses its tension, and powerlessly sits down on the spot.
Then, the girl laid down sideways and slowly closed her eyes.
(Something… Warm…, soft and round is hitting my face… Sweet smell…, … I can hear a small heartbeat too…)
When the scholar who regained consciousness opened her eyes, the homunculus’s cute chest was in front of her eyes.
The girl wearing just her usual tattered lab coat, was hugging the scholar’s head with her chest.
Such a girl was sleeping while hugging her.
And when the scholar girl turned her head a bit, the girl cutely opened her eyes and watched her with sleepy eyes.
Gradually, tears accumulate in the girl’s eyes, and large tears start dripping down her cheeks.
“!!!!”
Letting out a sound which can’t be called a voice, the girl hugs the scholar and starts crying.
The two stayed like that for a while.
I stand whispering to myself, “Well, she probably won’t die or become a demon.”
This day, I wore a slave’s uniform as I took a leisurely stroll across the island.
The patches of holes on the slave’s clothes were extremely eye catching. Both my hands and feet were bound by thick chains which were paired with a sturdy metal collar hanging by my neck.
Turns out the AI had deemed the chains and collar as a part of the clothing.
As I took my favorite stroll, my chains clinked as they dragged along.
(For some reason beyond my comprehension, the new humans don’t turn into demons after losing their magic organs.
This may have something to do with how their bodies are a natural magic power emitter and so they will have some level of resistance even without the organ.
I would love to look more into this but I’ll need to dissect their bodies if I do.
… Well, it’s not a matter which I’ve really needed to look into, so I’ve left it alone. Additionally, as I expected, that homunculus girl isn’t affected by magic. Since the beginning of the study, I’ve been watching the homunculus, but in the end, she wasn’t able to become a “living creature”.
If I were to describe that girl… I would say that she is ‘a robot made with living parts’.
Although she is astronomically close to a living creature, her existence would still be categorized under ‘items’… That is who that girl is.
Since she is a ‘thing’, she won’t be affected by mana remnants either. Even if she can breathe and her heart can beat, she could technically go on without such movements.
At the moment, while her internal organs accurately mimic that of a human’s, but only just that—they only imitate them, and serve no function.
Her source of energy is magic power.
It would be more obvious if we cut her apart, but inside of her is a high efficiency mana stone. She is running off the magic power inside this mana stone.
Counting the magic power left in the supply facilities, there’s still enough for a few decades so the girl should be able to continue for a while.)
I think to myself as I drag my thick, clinky chains.
(When she wakes up, the world will change.
While she hasn’t completely reached the truth of the mystery of the world, the answer she’s come up with wields enough power to turn the world on its head.
Everything they’ve known will change and this new knowledge will replace the old knowledge as facts. Those in power will lose their authority and the oppressed will rise…)
I stop and take another deep breath.
(Things are about to get interesting.
Their daily lifestyle will disappear and people will have to learn to live with these facts.
I’m sure they will shine even brighter in this ever changing world.
Only when people fall into a challenging situation can they display their strengths.
Sigh, I’m quivering just from the thought of it.
How will the future of those students studying about the Goddess’s religion turn out?
What about the future of the priests who belittle everyone else?
What will the people who have been oppressed by religion so far choose to do?
My heart is thumping.
I’m excited.
Yes!! I can’t!!
I can’t keep it in anymore!!)
And I, in that moment, broke into a dance, jumping around. However, the long, sturdy chains entangled around my feet and I fell on the spot.
I ended up wrangling with the chains around my feet for a while but I emerged as the victor against the broken chains.
The demonified cats ran off somewhere.
The luggage courier was in an excited state, and just like the cats, also ran off.
The homunculus anxiously helped the unbelievably stiff female scholar onto a wheelbarrow and pushed her back home. Once settling the woman onto the bed, the girl then rushes to boil water.
The girl was dedicated.
She removed the scholar’s sweaty clothes, wiped her down dry with a warm towel, and put on new clothes.
It was difficult to feed her.
No matter how much food the girl spooned, the female scholar never opened her mouth.
Therefore, the girl was forced to feed the woman by mouth.
The girl carries the food into her small mouth over and over again, and then pours it into the mouth of a female scholar.
Occasionally, she included water in her mouth and gradually let the female scholar drink it.
Whenever the scholar was in a messy state, the girl would arrange fresh sheets and change her clothes.
When the female scholar’s hand gave a light twitch, the girl would gently hold it with her own hands. When the woman’s face cramped up, the girl would tightly hug her head against her own chest.
This devoted care had continued for a week.
During this time, the woman had a dream.
It was a nightmare.
She was inside an infinitely wide and dark world.
The air was tainted a rusty black and not a single blade of grass could be seen on the barren ground.
In there, her own appearance was also haggard.
Every strand of hair on her body had fallen off, and small spots of green tinted her skin.
Her skin’s texture was rough like sandpaper with ‘purple blood’ sometimes oozing out.
She shouted at the top of her lungs but all that came back were deathly wails from beneath the earth.
At that moment, a mirror rose up from her feet.
And then, she ended up looking into that mirror.
In that, an ugly two-legged demon was standing on its two feet.
Shining eyes, a mouthful of sharp fangs, drooling with disgusting saliva.
The clothes it had put on were stained by purple blood, and a foul stench permeated in the air.
Elongated claws with sharp pointy tips, as though searching for prey.
That was her appearance.
Her proud erect fox ears had become ugly.
Even her fluffy tail which used to be popular among the students, had lost all its hair.
The girl let out a scream and shattered the mirror.
But, the mirror kept appearing in front of her, reflecting her appearance.
The girl kept desperately shattering the mirrors.
However, it was useless.
No matter how times she shattered it, the mirror kept appearing in front of her, reflecting her appearance.
「ヒッ！ ヒッ！ ヒゥゥゥウウウウ！！」
“Ah! EEk! Hyeeeek!!”
Letting out a voice unlike her voice, the girl started running.
The mirror chased after the girl who was in this state.
(I’ll see the mirror if I open my eyes!)
The girl closed her eyes, fell several times, and ran covered in purple-colored blood.
Even as her nails peeled off, her bones broke, and her clothes turned into tattered rags, she kept running.
… And finally became unable to move.
The girl cried, and wept.
But, that voice had already become a monster’s voice…
… At that time, some ‘warm thing’ touched her hand.
That ‘warm thing’ was tightly holding the girl’s hand.
That moment, for some reason, the girl understood.
(This ‘warm thing’ is my ally)
。
She was certain.
In the meantime, the ‘warm thing’ enveloped her entire body.
When it did, the mirror reflecting her image disappeared, and light began to spread out within the world.
Before she could notice, the girl’s appearance had returned to her original appearance.
The long fox ears, the fluffy tail and the beautiful golden hair had restored to their original state.
And the girl’s body was enveloped by the ‘warm thing’.
There was a sense of security similar to that of a foetus in her mother’s womb.
The girl’s body loses its tension, and powerlessly sits down on the spot.
Then, the girl laid down sideways and slowly closed her eyes.
(Something… Warm…, soft and round is hitting my face… Sweet smell…, … I can hear a small heartbeat too…)
When the scholar who regained consciousness opened her eyes, the homunculus’s cute chest was in front of her eyes.
The girl wearing just her usual tattered lab coat, was hugging the scholar’s head with her chest.
Such a girl was sleeping while hugging her.
And when the scholar girl turned her head a bit, the girl cutely opened her eyes and watched her with sleepy eyes.
Gradually, tears accumulate in the girl’s eyes, and large tears start dripping down her cheeks.
“!!!!”
Letting out a sound which can’t be called a voice, the girl hugs the scholar and starts crying.
The two stayed like that for a while.
