You're Not an Orphan?! You Tricked Meee!!!
Azazel was famous throughout the Management Bureau as an Epsilon-class anomaly who refused to listen to anyone. In other words, she wasn't particularly dangerous.
She was a problem child in a completely different sense.
“Uncle, are you pulling another all-nighter? You're totally incompetent~!”
“Ugh, how depressing~ You look like you've never even held a girl's hand before.”
The researchers were already drowning in murderous workloads, so her constant antics had them grinding their teeth in frustration.
“Should we just spank her?”
Physical or conceptual restraints didn't work on her, so a good butt-whooping was impossible.
“Then how about leaving her in front of a Delta-class anomaly?”
She'd sense the danger and scamper away immediately. Failure.
On top of that, she caused containment breaches almost every single day. The Management Bureau's headaches were endless.
“I'm booored! Play with me!”
She seemed lonely and kept clinging to everyone around her. That was another problem.
In short, she was Site-277's precious little troublemaker.
She wasn't threatening, she looked adorable, but her behavior was an absolute disaster. A textbook problem child.
And right now, that very Azazel was facing the greatest crisis of her life!
A man who looked at least two meters tall had shoved his terrifyingly gangster-like face right in front of her.
Thud. Thud thud thud.
Right after encountering SIN-998 The Director.
She couldn't use her wall-phasing ability. She was completely trapped in this room with him.
What do I do? What do I do what do I do!!
“Hey, kid.”
“Y-yes! Yesyesyesyes!!”
[Thirty seconds since first contact]
Polite speech she never used suddenly started spilling out.
The Director made his request in a gentle voice.
“Show me that little performance you were doing in the next room. You know, the one about humanity's true terror… the great demon… That one. It was incredibly cute.”
“H-how did you even hear… it?”
“I pressed my ear against the wall and savored every single second.”
“P-police!! I'm calling the police!!!”
“Kiddo. The setting here is that there are no police. No one's coming.”
I-is he lying?
No. This is the Management Bureau. There really aren't any police officers here. What do I do…
“Hic… Huuuuuu…”
[One minute since first contact]
The tears came on their own.
Is he going to eat me? He asked if I liked curry earlier—does that mean he's going to use me as an ingredient!?
“Hey, don't cry. Uncle isn't a bad person.”
“Have you looked in a mirror lately!?”
“I know I look a bit scary. My name is Lee Shin. I'm the director of an orphanage. What's your name?”
“It's… Azazel.”
“Nice to meet you, Azazel.”
The Director reached into his pocket and pulled something out.
Hiccup!
Azazel flinched in terror, but nothing terrible happened.
“Do you like video games…”
“Eh…?”
It was just a gamepad.
***
Aaah! Playing with kids really is the best!
It had been two hours since he'd met the red-haired little one from the next room.
The tiny creature who had been trembling like a frightened baby animal had warmed up to him quite a bit.
“What the heck! Uncle, you suck at using items? You're so bad~ Dummy~”
“Yeah, yeah. I'm a total noob.”
“Ahahaha! You're terrible at games!”
She'd gone back to casual speech. Her tone was a bit like a cheeky little brat who desperately needed a good smack, but she didn't seem like a bad kid at heart.
She probably developed attachment issues because she didn't receive enough parental love.
Aaah! How heartbreaking for a budding young sprout!
As an adult, I will shower her with warm attention so she can grow up big and strong!
'If possible, I'd also like to play a game where you rip demons apart.'
The famous BOOM. A game where the protagonist is a badass who slaughters demons. My brother used to play that thing like a madman.
But it might be too violent for this little Azazel. I'll play it with Seohah later.
That aside, her name is Azazel.
'How is a person's name Azazel! Azazelazel!!!'
If she were the same age as me, I would've hit her with that joke immediately. But since she's a child, I'm biting my tongue and holding back.
“Azazel. It's already nine o'clock. Time for bed.”
“Eh? Uuu—! Are you old and sick so your stamina sucks? Are you a weak old man with low HP!?”
“I'd love to be at full health too. Anyway, you need to speak nicely.”
“But… but I want to play more…”
“There's always tomorrow. You need to go back to your room.”
Azazel, who had been puffing her cheeks on his lap, suddenly brightened up.
“Tomorrow? You'll play with me tomorrow too?”
“Of course. Come whenever you want.”
“Waa—! …I mean, this is just me raising a familiar! Yep yep!”
Another weird setting.
Is this kid an actress or not? Honestly, it doesn't really matter.
My philosophy is to give children infinite love!
“Uncle. I thought you were a scary person, but you're actually pretty nice.”
“Sorry for looking so scary…”
“No no. Don't get all depressed. Anyway, see you tomorrow!”
“Make sure you brush your teeth before bed. And cover yourself properly with the blanket.”
I was about to send Azazel back to the next room when two children who felt like my own suddenly came to mind.
“Next time I'll introduce you to my kids. They're from the orphanage I run.”
“Hmph! So the number of Azazel-nim's familiars is increasing! How old are they?”
“Yul-ha is twelve. A-rin is eight.”
“……Wait. They're just babies. Aren't they way too young?”
??
What is this little brat saying? She looks about ten herself.
Maybe she's actually middle school age but just a late bloomer?
I asked the little one from next door, who was blinking in confusion.
“Azazel. How old are you, exactly?”
“Around two hundred years old?”
“What the… Oh, is that part of the setting?”
“No no. What setting? Move aside, Uncle. I'm going to transform.”
The moment I took a few steps back, Azazel was enveloped in light. What walked out from within it was…
A fully grown adult woman.
“How about now? Do you believe me?”
“That's a total chicken coop.”
I had no idea what kind of ridiculous technique she'd just used.
“Is this your true form?”
“Not exactly. But the child form is cuter, right? It's better for messing with people too.”
“So… you're not actually an orphan?”
“If we're being technical, I am an orphan. I don't have parents.”
I couldn't accept this.
“An adult without parents is just someone whose mom and dad kicked the bucket!! Just like me!!!!”
“Kyaa!? You scared me! Why is your face getting more and more twisted?”
She didn't need love and attention… because she wasn't a child?
And on top of that, she looked older than me?
This…
This is deception!!!!
“Graaaaaaaaah!!!”
Bang!!!
The moment I flexed, my pumped-up muscles tore the prisoner uniform top to shreds.
“You tricked meeeeeeeee!!!!”
“Hiiiiiiiik!!”
It was useless for her to cover her head and tremble.
If you're an adult, act like one and bear the weight of life!
“Assay!! There is no place in my Sunshine Orphanage for a fully grown adult!!”
“Y-you really are a crazy bastard!”
“Azazel.”
I shouted at Azazel, who was glaring at me with teary eyes.
“From now on, your name is Azajjat.”
“W-what the heck is that weird name…”
“Get on the floor. I'm going to punish you for deceiving me.”
There is no mercy for adults.
I'll spank that butt to the beat of a lively rhythm.
Serial Number: SIN-1000
Alias: <Azazel>
Threat Level: Epsilon
Height: 140cm (child form)
Weight: 32kg (child form)
An anomaly that takes the appearance of a young girl around ten years old.
Her actual age is estimated to be approximately 212 years. Origin: [DATA EXPUNGED] region.
She enjoys playing various pranks in her child form and possesses zero combat ability.
Among all anomalies secured by the Management Bureau, she possesses the highest-grade containment nullification ability. Therefore, it is impossible to contain this entity. She appears to remain at the site voluntarily due to her somewhat lonely personality.
She has neither the ability nor the intent to cause fatal harm to humans, but her various pranks have caused significant dissatisfaction among site personnel. Improvement required.
The experiment of having SIN-998 <The Director> meet her was extremely successful.
Upon seeing SIN-1000's adult form, <The Director> became enraged and administered low-intensity corporal punishment to her buttocks.
After crying her eyes out, SIN-1000's cooperativeness increased dramatically. She personally apologized to every site employee.
She is now conceptually bound to <The Director>. She displays behavior of blindly following his orders.
“Haaah.”
Yoo Seohah sipped her coffee in Tatiana's lab. On the screen was recorded footage of Azazel wailing as she received disciplinary spanking.
“Assistant Researcher. You look like you're in a good mood.”
“…Yes. A little. With this, everyone should suffer fewer of her nasty pranks.”
“Strange. SIN-1000 never really pranked me.”
“That's because Azazel is scared of you, Chief.”
“Hmm.”
Tatiana glanced at the surveillance camera in SIN-998's containment room. Azazel was desperately trying to please the sternly seated Lee Shin.
“Azajjat. Water.”
“Y-yes. Director. Here you go.”
“I'm bored, so let's play BOOM. You're playing too.”
“B-but it's already nine! Isn't it Azazel's bedtime?”
“Shut up.”
“Huuueeeeng…”
It was refreshing to see the once-arrogant little mesugaki completely deflated.
“A very successful disciplinary session. I'll report this to the Site Overseer.”
“…Chief. Does that mean SIN-998 will be used to suppress even more dangerous entities from now on?”
Yoo Seohah's voice trembled slightly. She probably had feelings for Lee Shin.
“Don't worry. I'll make sure he isn't assigned to suppress anything too dangerous.”
“Th-thank you!!”
Tatiana gave a faint smile.
'I don't want innocent people dying either.'
She didn't particularly have any feelings for Lee Shin.
…Though his body was pretty nice. He was a year younger than her, but when she looked at him, his face was quite manly and…
“Ahem.”
Tatiana deliberately made a noise to blow away the unnecessary thoughts.
It had been a peaceful end to the day.
At least until the urgent call came from the Department of Religious Theology.
With a click, the radio on Tatiana's belt picked up a signal. It was the dedicated frequency for the Containment Task Force.
“Task Force Captain! Can you hear us? This is the Department of Religious Theology!”
“This is Tatiana. Go ahead.”
“An unidentified group has attacked a blood supply vehicle! We believe it to be a subsidiary organization of the Serpent Cult!”
“…What about the blood stored at the site?”
“It's gone. All of it disappeared. They must have used a spatial singularity to steal it…”
Tatiana's complexion turned slightly pale. Yoo Seohah, who had been listening quietly beside her, asked.
“……So we're out of blood right now?”
“Yes. Give me a moment to think.”
The atmosphere froze like ice.
Tick. Tick.
The timers placed throughout the facility, including the one in Tatiana's lab, continued counting down.
Time until next blood supply
02 HOURS 12 MINUTES 07 SECONDS
[*Containment breach will occur if designated volume is not supplied]
Deep underground at Site-277 was a solitary cell. An entire floor existed solely for the anomaly contained within that cell.
SIN-077 Lael.
A Beta-class anomaly.
If containment failed, it would be a catastrophe capable of flipping an entire nation upside down.