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Chapter 56: Academy Heroine's Right Diagonal Back Seat

Chapter 56



Last week, there was an enormous horde of beasts at the western border area.


Fortunately, they were stopped in time without significant damage, but the remains of the beasts defeated by the heroes still littered the area near the western border.


Beasts are beings born from magical energy (magi).


No one knew exactly how it was possible, but the bodies of the beasts were composed of magi.


Thus, if left alone, the corpses of the beasts would decay and generate more magi.


If the magi concentration thickened, more beasts might be born in that area, making the disposal of beast corpses crucial.


John, an employee of a company responsible for such disposals, sighed as he stuck the needle of his syringe-like magical device into a beast’s corpse.


“Ugh, I've been doing this for almost a week now, and there are still so many left.”


Once the needle pierced the corpse, the magic accelerated its decay, turning it into magi.


The device, acting like a vacuum cleaner, sucked up the dissipating magi through a hose attached to a container on John's back.


Collecting magi that would otherwise spread was the job of the subcontractor John worked for. The collected magi were then transported to the main company's purification facility.


Since the beast corpses needed to be processed before they completely decayed, John had been working busily for days, muttering complaints.


“I’ve never been this busy doing this job. Why did these damn beasts suddenly appear out of nowhere?”


“At least you’re getting a hefty bonus. Seeing the money in your account can make the exhaustion disappear.”


“If they didn’t pay well, I wouldn’t be doing this. It’s bad enough that dealing with corpses isn’t seen positively.”


John frowned at his colleague’s mention of money.


Even though they were beast corpses, working with dead bodies wasn’t considered a pleasant job by others.


John had hidden his job from his girlfriend for years, only confessing about a month ago.


At the time, she said she could love him no matter what he did, but yesterday, she suddenly suggested that he take a break, saying he seemed to have changed recently.


‘She just doesn’t like my job, that’s all.’


Angry, John had a huge fight with his girlfriend, and the job he once found fulfilling now just felt unpleasant.


Feeling a burst of irritation, John roughly stuck the needle into another beast's corpse.


As the body crumbled and the magi was absorbed into the device, a red light blinked, indicating that the container was full.


“Already full. I’ll go switch it out.”


John queued up at the back of the company vehicle to replace the container.


In the trunk, an employee from the main company sat, collecting the full magi containers from subcontractors like John and replacing them with empty ones.


‘Some people are sitting comfortably while subcontractors like us sweat among corpses...’


Feeling annoyed, John glanced at the main company employee while detaching the full container from his back.


The magi-filled container was pitch black, filled with a toxic energy akin to poison.


It was a hazardous item, sealed tightly to prevent leakage, but John wondered if it would burst if thrown hard enough.


‘Should I just burst it?’


If it did burst, the unprotected main company employee would quickly succumb to magi poisoning.


While imagining this scenario, John heard a voice.


“Hey, are you okay? You don’t look well…”


The main company employee looked at him with concern.


“If you’re not feeling well, make sure to let someone know. The main office has been reminding us to check on everyone’s condition because the schedule has been pretty tough lately.”


“Oh... I’m fine. This is full, so please replace it.”


John snapped out of his thoughts, handing over the container.


‘What the hell was I thinking?’


Lately, he had been having more moments of irrational anger, probably due to the workload.


Maybe seeing so many corpses recently had affected his personality.


The thought of killing someone horrified him.


‘My health does seem off lately... Maybe I should take a break.’


John scratched his red, swollen neck, which had been itchy since he got bitten by a bug a few days ago.


---


After school, I returned home to find my guardian sitting on my bed.


I had gotten used to his unexpected visits, so I wasn’t too startled.


Wondering what brought him here today, I stared blankly at him as he raised his hand in greeting.


“You decided to get a prosthetic arm, right? I need to talk to you about that.”


I was a bit taken aback by his words.


How did he know?


I assumed he must have been contacted as my guardian.


As I pondered this, he chuckled, seemingly reading my thoughts.


“Didn’t I tell you? The principal of the academy you attend is my older brother. He mentioned that the academy would cover the cost of the prosthetic arm. That’s how I found out. The invoice for the custom prosthetic arrived yesterday. By the way, Scarlet, you’re more extravagant than I thought.”


He showed me the invoice on his phone, and I was shocked by the number of zeros.


The fact that my guardian was the principal’s brother was less shocking than the price of the prosthetic arm.


With that money, how many instant noodles could I buy?


“Don't worry about it. What you did definitely warrants such compensation. Plus, my brother has plenty of money, so it’s no big deal.”


Despite his reassurances, I found it hard to stay calm after seeing the exorbitant price.


It was as if Jessie had commissioned an arm that could shoot magical cannons or something.


My guardian must have had the same thought, as he asked, “What kind of prosthetic did you order to get that kind of price? Even for the best, that seems excessive.”


His words made me think of the black fragment I always carried with me.


I remembered him telling me not to show it to anyone.


Even though he was just my guardian and I didn’t know him well, I felt a twinge of guilt for disobeying him.


But I had to explain.


I took out the black fragment from my pocket and ignited it, speaking in a small, defensive voice.


“Um, this is the thing you told me not to show anyone. My ability lets me ignite things, and I found I could light this on fire too. So I thought if I used this, I could have a prosthetic that produces flames. I showed this when I went for my ability measurement for the custom prosthetic...”


“...It ignites even in that state?”


Perhaps it was because I disobeyed his warning, but my guardian’s face hardened as he stared at the burning fragment.


He muttered something to himself before asking me,


“You said the prosthetic was being made by Ruthenia, right? Was there a slightly bald man among the people you showed it to?”


Thinking of a bald man, I immediately pictured Jessie’s older brother. Feeling a bit guilty, I nodded slowly.


My guardian’s expression grew serious as he muttered,


“...It should be okay, but if it’s him... there might be trouble...”


I didn’t understand what he meant, but I felt like I’d done something wrong.


Seeing me look uneasy, my guardian sighed, relaxed his expression, and spoke to me.


“Well, it’s already done, so there’s nothing we can do. Just try to avoid showing that to others. It could cause some serious issues.”


I nodded, not fully understanding, and put the black fragment back into my pocket.


He nodded back and then, seeming ready to leave, stood up and put on his coat.


“By the way, my brother asked me to be in charge of the surgery to attach your prosthetic once it’s done. Believe it or not, I’m quite skilled in the medical field. I came to tell you that. See you next time.”


With that, he waved and headed for the door.


As he was leaving, I felt an urge to stop him, thinking I shouldn’t let him go without asking.


“Um, there’s something I want to ask.”


“Oh? You have a question? Go ahead, ask anything.”


He stopped and turned back to me, his face lighting up.


I asked the question I’d been meaning to for a while.


“That black fragment I showed you earlier... You seem to know something about it. Can you tell me what it is?”


His expression darkened instantly.


Maybe it was a difficult question.


“I’m sorry if it’s too hard to answer. You don’t have to force yourself.”


“...I’m sorry I can’t tell you. Take care until we meet again.”


He left with a troubled look.


In the end, I didn’t gain any new information.


Still, his face reminded me of something.


In my recent dreams, I think I saw someone who looked like him.


Dreams are said to be a reorganization of the subconscious, so it was interesting that my guardian’s face, which I had only seen a few times, appeared in them.


After dinner and a shower, I lay on my bed and browsed news articles on my phone.


Fortunately, there were no major incidents, just stories about minor crimes increasing recently.


Hoping for peaceful days ahead, I fell asleep.


That night, I dreamt again.


A dream where someone was diligently fixing my bloody, dangling left arm.


I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.


Ten times. I’m really sorry.


Through blurry vision, I saw the person fixing my arm.


The man speaking to me looked somewhat like my guardian.




Comments

  1. damn now I get it... if they find out about Scarlet, she will probably be kidnapped back to a new lab. And then she will likely gonna go full wrath mode. Now I want to know what happened to the original Eva

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    Replies
    1. Btw it's strange that she hasn't asked her guardian's name... Couldn't help but notice it, or has he already answered that?

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    2. She asked but he said she didnt need to know

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  2. The other dream seemed like it was a memory from the owner of the body.
    This one, sounds a bit different, unless...
    Maybe it's not the first time that body loses an arm.
    That would explain the man's reaction, at least partially.
    I looks like we're back to dark scenes soon though.
    Between the random worker bitten by a bug and going a bit mad and this, something unsavoury is obviously going to happen.

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  3. thanks for the chapter

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  4. Hmm interesting development

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  5. "Fortunately, there were no major incidents, just stories about minor crimes increasing recently."

    Like snow, rolling down a snowy hill...

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  6. It was started that she was quite immune to healing magic. I'm guessing it's because of all the experiments she's been through.

    ReplyDelete

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