New Drug Development (3)
A voice spilled from the Holy Relic.
Hello. I'm Nano AI. Around here I'm known as the Baby Constellation. Wait — I'm being called that, yep~
Whoa.
What was this now?
Illys spoke to me.
"Nano AI — the Baby Constellation — answers my questions diligently. So They've been a tremendous help across all kinds of fields."
"Ah. I see."
Fair enough. How much did I even know about cancer, really?
Illys was absorbing knowledge from the AI as well — studying alongside me and doing extra self-study on top of that. I nodded.
I had taught Illys everything I knew about cancer, but even for a genius, how deep could that knowledge run? Even if I poured out every scrap of information I possessed, it wouldn't have been enough to build something like a cancer breeding ground.
But a genius like Illys, paired with an AI?
A prodigy mage and artificial intelligence. I couldn't even begin to imagine the synergy those two would produce.
Illys smiled.
"The Baby Constellation has been so helpful that building the cancer cell dungeons wasn't difficult at all."
The moment she finished, Nano AI chimed in.
Illys is an incredibly talented designer too, yep~
On Earth, AI never put on a cute act like that. Around here, its role seemed a little different.
Illys waved off the praise with a modest shake of her hand.
"I just… decorated things a bit and cleaned them up a little, following what the Constellation taught me."
Looking at the two beings on the screen, I felt a swell of pride. One was a mage — a 6-Circle Archmage, no less, the kind people called a Magic Sovereign. The other was artificial intelligence — Earth's highest-performing AI at that.
Illys went on.
"Constellation, and we're not only raising cancer cells in this cave."
She showed me another chamber.
"This room is for the hunter cells."
"Ohh."
"These are the cells that originally kill cancer cells inside the human body."
Inside the cave's breeding grounds, the hunter cells moved like warriors wreathed in light. A faint glow radiated from the surfaces of their rounded bodies. At the front was a firmer section, almost like a soft shield.
"I've been observing them for several days. The hunters' duties fall into three categories: reconnaissance, surveillance, and elimination."
The hunter cells looked like well-drilled soldiers — solid and dependable. It was hard to believe that with hunters like these, our bodies still so often lost to cancer cells.
"Constellation, and the cave also has the support-force cells you sent us."
"Support-force cells?"
Illys gestured toward the next room. Inside, cells with a completely different atmosphere from the hunters waited.
"Where… ah!"
At first I couldn't make them out, but looking closer, there they were. Translucent bodies. The support-force cells looked like assassins.
Cancer cells, hunter cells, support-force cells.
Cancer cells that sought to divide without limit. Hunter cells that tried to eliminate them. And support-force cells that backed the hunters in that fight.
The support-force cells were ones that doctors had artificially cultivated on the outside. Raising them well was the core of new drug development.
Illys turned to me.
"But their relationships are rather… peculiar."
"Peculiar?"
"Yes. I observed them for about a week. I'll show you outside."
Illys left the cave.
"Hail!"
Soldiers waiting outside snapped into a simultaneous salute. Illys gave a light nod and started toward the cabin.
A small hut sat right in front of the cave. From the outside it looked like an ordinary log house, but the moment the door opened, the atmosphere inside was entirely different. Magic circuits ran along the walls, and several observation crystal orbs floated in the air.
"Lady Illys, greetings."
One mage straightened hastily and bowed. Illys nodded.
"Everyone, continue with your work."
"Yes, my lady."
The mages were observing the cancer cells through the crystal orbs.
"My lord, the division rate in the melanoma chamber has increased."
Another mage quickly added, "My lord, the hunter cells are responding. Win rate looks to be around forty percent."
Another orb thrummed quietly. The mages' eyes turned toward the new observation sphere. On its surface, gastric cancer cells heaved like a great seething pool.
"The stomach cancer ones are bingeing again. As for the hunter cells…"
The mage recording the gastric cancer data spoke apologetically. "The hunter cells were wiped out. We regulated the nutrient levels, and they still over-absorbed."
"It's all right. We need this kind of data."
Illys addressed the mages.
"Everyone, I'm about to show the Constellation a week's worth of records."
"Ah! For the Constellation! Understood!"
At the word Constellation, the mages scrambled to prepare the footage. I watched the whole scene unfold.
Hmm. The moment someone said "Constellation," the mages started hustling like mad. It felt exactly like a regiment commander escorting a division commander through base. Illys was the regiment commander, and I was the division commander.
I spoke to her.
"Illys, so you've filmed the hunter cells fighting the cancer cells?"
Her expression turned ambiguous.
"Ah… rather than fighting, how should I put it. I think it's best if you just watch."
"All right. Hunter cells versus cancer cells. Should be entertaining."
"I'll translate the cells' language."
"You can translate that too?"
"Cancer cells can't speak, but… they 'think' through tremors, vibrations, and activity patterns. And with Translation magic, I can turn every trace of that life into language."
I had no idea how that was possible, but Illys was a 6-Circle Mage. She raised her mana.
"Comprehend the gestures of life."
⟨ Translation ⟩
The crystal orbs lit up in unison, and the recorded footage began to play.
The cancer dungeon.
Inside it was a space where the hunters who fought cancer cells gathered to rest — a hunters' barracks, so to speak. Dozens of hunters filled the room, polishing weapons or chewing on snacks as they lounged.
One hunter spoke up.
"Man, I nearly lost my mind in the melanoma chamber yesterday."
"You went alone?"
"Yeah. Just figured I'd do a light recon, but those bastards must've laid down some delirium field — I almost got lost on the way."
"Watch yourself. Once you get hit by their delirium, you never come back."
"I know. I made it back, didn't I? Oh right — you hear? A new recruit's coming in today."
"A new recruit?"
"Yeah. They're actually bringing in a baby hunter. Total greenhorn."
"So we've got a little errand-runner coming in?"
Then —
Something slammed hard into the barracks door.
BANG!
The door flew wide open. Every hunter in the barracks turned to look.
Someone stood in the doorway — the kind of someone who had just kicked the door open. He strode inside and flung the pack from his shoulder onto a bunk.
Every hunter in the room was seized by the same question. A face none of them had ever seen. Who the hell kicked in the barracks door like that?
As if answering the thought, he bellowed at the top of his lungs.
"Receive the new recruit!"
The senior hunters stared at him with frozen faces. For a moment, every hunter in the barracks wondered if their ears had gone wrong.
A stretch of silence.
Then a senior who had recovered his wits asked, "…What the hell is that?"
"…No, who even enters like that these days?"
"So… that means he really is the new recruit?"
From behind the newcomer, a hunter dropped to his knees howling with laughter.
"Pwahahaha! Damn, new guy, you're amazing! Ugyagyagya!"
It was the barracks' top senior. Only then did the rest of the hunters put the pieces together. The top senior had been messing with the recruit.
One of them turned to the new guy.
"Hey, rookie — you actually do whatever they tell you? That's impressive."
"No, sir."
"What do you mean, no? You kicked the door in and chucked your duffel. Hey, what's your name?"
"Private James!"
"Louder!"
"Sir! Private James, reporting!"
Someone right beside him shouted, "My ears are gonna explode!"
Another hunter said, "We've got a real character on our hands."
Yet another, protein shake in one hand, added, "Still cute, though. A pure, uncut hundred-percent rookie — I like it. Hey, new guy. You know you're gonna have to live with some real nightmare cells from now on, right?"
The recruit answered with a thoroughly frozen expression. "Sir! I'll do my best!"
Then someone entered from behind. The platoon leader.
The top senior saluted. "Loyalty."
"Right. New recruit?"
"Yes, sir. Private James."
"You go on patrol with the top senior toward the gastric cancer sector. Just listen to him and you'll be fine."
The hunters offered their congratulations.
"Yo. First real mission the second you walk in."
"Don't do anything stupid — just listen to your senior and come back. Stay still. Just stay still."
"Understood, sir."
Senior and recruit.
The senior walked along with his hands stuffed in his pockets, shuffling without a care. The recruit trotted after him in a tight little trail.
After a long walk, gastric cancer cells appeared up ahead.
"Senior! Cancer! Cancer cells!"
"Yeah, I've got eyes."
Click.
The recruit flicked off the safety on his weapon, ready to attack at any moment. The senior tilted his head and looked at him.
"Hey. What are you doing?"
"Sir? Preparing to engage…"
"Ease up on that hand. Stay still. Just stay still."
"Sir?"
Clomp. Clomp.
A walk with zero tension. The senior led the recruit right up to the gastric cancer cell.
Writhe. Writhe.
The gastric cancer cell twisted its massive body and looked at the hunter cell.
"You here?"
"Yeah."
"Getting by all right these days?"
"Eh, so-so. This one's the new recruit. Brought him by to introduce him."
"I see. Hunter, sir?"
The rookie hunter stood frozen, unable to make sense of any of this.
"……"
The cancer cell chuckled.
"Looking forward to working with you."
"……"
The senior answered for him. "Well, he is a rookie."
"Heh. Right. A rookie hunter, after all."
The gastric cancer cell handed the senior something — a black case. A square leather bag.
"Well then, good work."
"Take care."
On the way back, the recruit asked about the black case the senior was carrying.
"Senior. What's that?"
"Why?"
"Senior. Wait a second."
A hard, pointed question. The senior shifted his weight onto one leg and looked at him. The recruit stared at the bag.
"Senior. That bag in your hand. What is it?"
"Ah, why?"
An annoyed senior. But the recruit raised his voice.
"I mean what the hell is it?!"
The empty cave rang with the shout.
"Haa… I don't know what's wrong with rookies these days."
The senior raked his hair back.
"Kid. This is money."
"Sir?"
"Money. Cash. Money. The stuff you buy things with — you know money?"
"No, I mean — why are we taking money from cancer? Aren't we hunter cells that kill cancer?"
"Kid."
"Sir."
"What did the platoon leader tell you?"
"……"
The platoon leader had said to just follow the senior and come back.
"What did the other seniors tell you?"
The other seniors had said not to do anything stupid and just listen to his senior and come back.
"You're all… in on it together."
The senior slung an arm around the recruit's shoulders.
"You need to make money, don't you?"
The recruit's pupils trembled.
"I heard you volunteered because your family was struggling to get by. That not true?"
The senior walked on ahead.
"Everyone just goes and comes back like this."
That ought to be enough for him to get it, the senior thought, and kept walking. But the recruit could not accept it. From behind the senior's retreating back, his cry rang out.
"Then why are we even hunters?! If we don't fight cancer, there's no reason for us to exist!"
A voice that made the whole cave thunder. The senior dug a finger in his ear.
"If you don't know anything, keep your mouth shut."
"Senior, this isn't right. I didn't become a hunter for this."
"Come on! We're all just doing this to get by. You the only saint here?"
"Senior, I'll go fight on my own if I have to."
Thud-thud-thud.
The rookie cell spun and sprinted off alone. The senior hunter stared after him in alarm.
"Ah… damn. This one's not normal. I should've known when he actually yelled 'Receive the new recruit.'"
Thud-thud-thud-thud.
The recruit ran. His destination was the cancer cell from moments ago.
How long did he run? The cancer cell appeared before his eyes. Recognizing him, it offered a greeting.
"Oh, you've come bac…?"
Shhk!
The recruit's blade swept through the cancer cell. A wet sound. Roughly half of it was severed by the sword.
"Ah… for heaven's sake… you swung a blade. Haa… it's always the green ones who cause problems. Emergency!"
Writhe. Writhe.
From deeper in the cave, cancer cells heard the alarm and gathered.
"Hey, what's going on? What happened?"
They took in the situation.
"Ah… a rookie."
"You get the unstained ones sometimes."
"Would've been so much nicer if we'd just kept it friendly."
The cancer cells closed in. But the recruit shook off his fear and shouted.
"Come on!"
Shhk!
Shhk!
He swung his sword. And he cut down enemies. Once, twice, three times…
How many times had he swung? Strength left his hands.
Thud.
The recruit's vision went dark.
And then he opened his eyes again.
"Huh?"
When he looked around, he was somewhere he had seen many times before. A familiar ceiling. Familiar furniture. The recruit's childhood home.
Creak.
The door opened, and his old, ailing mother approached. But her face held a touch of guilt.
"James."
"Yes, Mom."
"About that…"
"What is it?"
"I heard you fought the cancer cells?"
"Yes…"
She fidgeted, biting her lip.
"James… I'm sorry, but could you please not fight the cancer cells?"
"What?"
"Sob… I'm so sorry. We have debts."
"What…?"
His mother told James that the household carried a great debt. That they needed money, and that if James did not fight the cancer cells, they could pay it down little by little.
Her persuasion went on and on.
"I'm sorry, James. It's all because of your worthless mother."
Her tearful plea. James answered weakly. When family begged you like that, what else could you do?
"…All right, Mom. I won't fight the cancer cells."