Memoirs of the Returnee

“Hey. How's work going?”

Bell Moore, who had stopped by my office at the Intelligence Agency, asked as he Looked around and smiled contentedly.

“lts gotten a lot bigger. A lot bigger indeed.”

True to his words, the office had changed.

It was about five times the size of the previous one.

As Bell Moore's stature rose day by day, the administrative team had taken care of the changes.

“Yes. How about your work?”

Bell Moore shrugged his shoulders.

“Sold, sold. But, you're still working on that project, right?”

'That project was probably Theia Esil.

“Yes. Its taking stto prepare meticulously, and it's confidential externally. There's a risk of information Leakage.”

“…”

Bell Moore looked uneasy, typical of someone who shies away from unnecessary conflicts.

“Ah, whatever. Its not my fault if something goes wrong.”

Bell Moore muttered as he sprawled on the sofa.

“Oh right. You said you're not participating in Ortus?”

The Ortus Symposium. Derek's painstakingly crafted endgfor artificial intelligence was nearing.

“Yes. I have a mission.”

It's a self-assigned mission. I need to attend as Killian, so Shion will be staying away for now.

“You should go yourself, Team Leader Bell.”

“… H mm.”

Bell Moore's face scrunched up as if he found the idea distasteful.

It's the peak of summer season, maybe he'd rather be at a club.

“Hey. Shion. Have you heard the rumors about Dr. Killian?”

Bell Moore kept talking, as if he was chatting with college buddies or friends.

He must be really bored these days.

“What rumors are you talking about?”

“They say he blew through 50 million Ren in just three months. Isnrt that crazy?”

Bell Moore laughed heartily.

“Thats almost 500,000 Ren a day, even more extravagant than me~”

I raised an eyebrow.

Such rumors were actually what I hoped for. Appearing indulgent in luxury and pleasure would make his downfall all the more dramatic.

“Well… Team Leader BelL”

I subtly changed the subject.

“Oh, what?”

“Be carefuL”

“…Carefu L?”

“Yes. While I'm away.”

I looked him in the eyes and spoke gravely.

“Di rector Ged Ley might try to kill you.”

“…”

Bell Moore no longer denies such statements. He just listens silently and then sighs.

“I don't understand why that man is so paranoid.”

He only whispers behind the scenes.

“Make sure to keep the hotline on.”

“…I was going to do that anyway, man.”

Bell Moore got up from the sofa. He grabbed the doorknob, seemingly ready to leave.

“…Hey.”

He turned back toand asked.

“Why do you… to me….”

What was it again? Oh, what was it? Bell Moore muttered to himself, seemingly embarrassed, then cleared his throat Loudly.

“Why are you loyal to me?”

Bell Moore seemed genuinely curious. Thanks to me, he had beca team Leader in just two years.

“Team Leader Bell, the only person I am Loyal to is Miss Zia.”

“…NO, I mean, thats just a saying.”

Bell Moore pouted his lips. His rabbit-Like features and the movement of his wrinkles were repulsive.

I held back a curse and smiled slightly.

“You're my commander, aren't you? And you're my mentor, Team Leader BelL”

That was the only reason.

You climb above me, and I use you from below.

Bell Moore must becthe conduit through which all information from the Intelligence Agency is passed to me.

“…Right. Keep up the good work.”

He smiled somewhat plainly. Waving his hand, he left my office.

On the outskirts of Edsilla, in a remote area, there exists a dark cavern. Originally a humble village, it was abandoned following the emergence of monsters and the discovery of a mana stone vein.

This was Derek's first venture. A radical setup committed by him in his vigorous youth.

“This seems to be the place…”

Derek had Learned beforehand that beneath this village lay a vein of mana stones.

However, the villagers refused to sell their Land to him. To them, their homeland was more precious than any mana stone vein.

Not so for Derek.

He hired monsters.

The monsters pretended to be beasts and set fire to this tiny village. Precious homes were destroyed, and many lives were lost.

An ordinary disaster that received no media attention.

Afterward, Derek bought the entire village site for much less than the price he initially offered. He then mined relentlessly for 20 years.

“…lt's desolate now.”

Now that the mana stones have also been depleted, this place, neither a village nor a mine anymore, this void is Theia Esil's hometown.

The reason she cto hate Derek to death.

“ My master and I discovered that bitch Theia here.”

A familiar voice spoke. I turned towards it. In the darkness, the faint glow of a cigarette flared up.

It was Akane.

“Miss Akane. You've cas a fake.”

“…”

Akane suddenly lifted her shirt to Look at her collarbone. There was a mark indicating she was a fake.

She had deliberately left a symbol of being fake.

“Did you suspect me?”

I smiled faintly. Akane frowned.

“You could say all the dolls are real.”

As she approached, I added one more thing.

“ln fact, you are real.”

“…What?”

“The mark of being fake. It might disappear.”

Startled, she rubbed her collarbone with her hand. With a creaking sound, the mark was erased.

“… bizarre.”

Akane muttered as if she couldn't believe it.

“A mark can't distinguish between a fake and the real thing. Other dolls also believe they are real.”

In simple terms, even on the flesh of the real, a mark indicates they are fake.

“…I didn't chere to talk about myself.”

Akane frowned. I nodded calmly.

“Yes, that's right.”

As I Looked around the now-empty cavern that had once been a mine and even earlier a village, I said,

“My argument is this: 'Theia's mentor was killed by Theia, and the current Theia is Vancheon.'”

Thats how I would frit. Along with murder, I would push Theia into prison by portraying her as Vancheon.

Framing evidence is easy. There are already plenty of people in Vancheon collaborating with Libra.

“…”

Akane's silence seemed to indicate agreement.

“May I ask you something?”

However, there was something I was curious about.

“What is it?”

“Why did you collaborate with Libra in the past?”

Akane had cooperated with Libra. She had assisted them to sextent with their human experiments.

She exhaled smoke from her cigarette and shook her head.

“…I didn't cooperate for a specific cause. I did it for myself.”

“For yourself?”

It was a rationale I couldn't understand.

It was the sLogic as theirs.

Old, twisted ghosts killing father-Like figures and creating victims like me, just to avoid death and delay the inevitable, all for themselves.

“Shion Ascal.”

Akane called my name.

“Do you think humans can create dolls that are almost identical to humans, or even indistinguishable?”

A bitter smile appeared on her lips.

“lmpossible.”

She shook her head, a statement from someone who had succeeded in creating nearly identical human dolls.

“…Don't be mistaken. I am…”

Feeling my gaze, Akane raised her hand.

“…not a human, but a monster.”

Her arm was entirely blackened.

If there was the darkest color in the world, it might Look like this. As if isolated from the background, her arm seemed to float alone.

“I was almost devoured by this hand. I delved into Doll Magic to find my identity, 4Akane? A monster can maintain itself when obsessed with something, and for me, my identity was in being a doll. Libra was just part of the process.”

She flashed a brief smile.

“…SO I knew.”

She continued, looking at me.

“What disease you had.”

I did not avert my eyes.

“And what kind of person your father was.”

“…I didn't chere to talk about myself.”

I didn't bother to ask her about my father.

Akane. She had been a great help tobefore my regression.

She always tried to revert to her former self and tried to hold on, but in the end, she beca grotesque creature that had degenerated into a phenomenon.

“What happened here with Ms. Theia?”

“…Well, nothing much. I was the first disciple of my master, and Theia was much younger than me. I found her here, dying.”

Akane recalled the past with a small smile.

“She was crying for help. The kid was cute. So, I saved her, and she turned out to be talented.”

“…”

“The first few years I was with her weren't too bad. But along the way, I turned into a monster.”

I quietly listened to her story.

“Unlike you, she hated monsters terribly. Maybe because she Lost her parents to them. Well, because of her, I had to Leave my master. A rolling stone dislodges a settled one.”

Akane had already lit her third cigarette, a chain smoker burning through one after another.

“But later I found out that the master had died, you know?”

A cynical laugh escaped her.

I asked her back.

“Was it the doing of Theia EsiL?”

“Yeah, thats right.”

Akane muttered, clutching her cigarette tightly.

“The master had turned into a monster too.”

“…Why?”

“He probably didn't want to die. The master was an old man dying. Renowned, Learned, honored, authoritative, but still a sick old man. Perhaps he still had many seas he wanted to sail before he died.”

Akane shrugged her shoulders with a Laugh.

“Anyway, so. Can you really tie it all up with just these things?”

“Yes. I've found the master's daughter.”

At my words, Akane's expression tensed.

“…Really?”

“A testimony from her would be enough for a murder charge.”

Killing a monster is not a crime. Rather, letting a monster Live is a crime.

However, no one knows that Theia's former master was a monster. What no one knows isn't a fact.

Moreover, if I tie Theia up with the fact that she's a stooge for [Vancheon], she will definitely Lose.

She will be imprisoned.

“…That would be interesting.”

Akane muttered, flicking her cigarette ash. Then suddenly, she askedin a deadly serious tone.

“You're sure. She won't die, right?”

Thus, Akane does not want to kill Theia.

Even if she betrayed her own master, she wants 'her' to stay alive.

“Yes.”

I extended my hand to Akane.

“She will definitely not die. Theia EsiI…”

…and the 'human' ego of Akane…

“…WilL definitely remain in this world.”

To the people who helpedin my past Life, fromwho cannot live long, this is the gift I can give.

A wish for their happy ending.

“…You really are a strange one.”

Akane held my hand with a faint smile.

One week before the Ortus Symposium.

I am preparing for a business trip as Dr. Killian.

“Are you all set?”

Riley, who I bumped into in the hallway, asked me. She would be my personal assistant during the symposium. She must have asked Derek directly.

“Yes, I've prepared all the materials.”

I emphasized the word 'materials' heavily.

The materials you need to take with you.

Riley sipped her coffee.

“…1fm a bit nervous. You're announcing Version 2 of the Al at Ortus, right?”

“Yes. WelL”

I forced a sad smile.

“I hope it goes well. Without any strange incidents.”

“Strange incidents… Well, there have been sodd rumors lately.”

Riley cautiously broached the subject.

“They say the Al are overwritten souls.”

“…”

I stiffened my face abruptly, reacting quite sensitively on purpose.

“Who says that?”

“…What?”

Riley feigned ignorance, tilting her head.

“Just… gossip. I don't believe it but… I mean, if it's overwritten souls, maybe that's a good thing?”

“Good?”

“Yes. It means we can recycle useless people.”

“…Well, that might be true. But, Ms. Riley.”

I looked around cautiously and then asked.

“You don't need to monitoranymore, do you?”

“Ah… that's-”

Riley forced a smile.

“…or.”

I glared at Riley, expressing suspicion.

“Perhaps you had another purpose, not just monitoring.”

This provocation should be enough.

Riley, feeling a sense of crisis from my every word, would soon try to eliminate me, and then I would hand over the materials I had prepared as a 'whistleblower'.

“lts just a joke. Haha.”

I laughed and extended my hand to Riley.

“Please take good care ofduring the symposium.”

It might be our last handshake.

“…Yes.”

Until the end, not revealing her intentions, Riley grasped my hand. Her skin felt soft against mine.

I recalled the sintent we both harbored.

The downfall of Derek.

The turbulent succession that would soon cascade like a waterfall.

It was indeed imminent.