Escape Preparations
"Home~"
"Uwaaah— That was exhausting~"
"...Oh, right, Lumiel. How's school going? Are you settling in okay?"
"If we were in the same class, I'd be right next to you— but they put us in different ones..."
"...No one's bullying you, right? If there is, just tell me. Your big sister will—"
"...Nah, it's fine. There aren't any kids like that, sis."
"...Really? You promise? You trust me, right?"
"...I told you, it's true. You don't have to worry that much."
"...But you said this is your first time going to school, Lumiel."
"Since you're starting in third year, I can't help but worry..."
"...It's okay. I can handle it, sis."
"Well, alright. Still, I'm going to check on your class every day. Just to make sure you're getting along with your friends..."
"...Eek."
Ziiing—
The lab door slid open with the exact same sound as the one in the dorm. Made sense, since it was the same building.
...I glanced around. The same grid-patterned, pristine white walls and ceiling I'd seen countless times in this facility. Various pieces of lab equipment were already prepared. At the center stood a strangely shaped machine. Yellow footprint stickers were stuck to the floor in front of it, looking oddly out of place, as if people were meant to stand there while it operated.
It was clearly a place built for research—specifically, research on children. Most of the test subjects dragged here were younger than me; aside from Berry and myself, who were both sixteen, there weren't many our age.
Ziiing— Thud.
The moment I stepped further inside, the door I'd entered through closed automatically. From the outside, the door had been visible, but from in here it looked just like the dorm walls—seamlessly opening and shutting. Did they really need to make it like that?
While I was curiously looking around the familiar lab I hadn't seen in five years, a gentle voice called out from the right.
"You're here, No. 26. Would you like to have a seat over here?"
I flinched. That voice—unpleasantly familiar—made my body tremble involuntarily. I'd prepared myself for this, but hearing it in person still left a bad taste.
When I turned my head, I saw a desk that looked straight out of a hospital, cluttered with files and three monitors displaying rapidly changing screens. The woman who had been typing until just now lifted her eyes from the monitor and looked at me, gesturing toward the round chair beside her.
She appeared to be in her mid-thirties. If she weren't a researcher experimenting on children to create the Serum, that soft, gentle voice might have seemed genuinely kind.
...I'd seen that face many times before. She was the one who conducted almost all the experiments. Back when I was first kidnapped here five years ago, I'd run into her once a week. The last time I saw her was... when I killed her with my own hands while blowing this place up.
I didn't remember her name. I might have seen information about her in the documents when I destroyed this place, but there was no need to remember the names of people I'd killed, so I'd forgotten it.
Either way, it was better to push aside memories of the past for now. I couldn't do anything here yet. My original goal was to extract whatever information I could from the computers. Since this was the underground lab of the Hero Association's C-Branch, I should be able to find something related to the C-Branch no matter what.
"...It won't take long today. Let's get this over with quickly, okay?"
"...Now, No. 26. Since the injection last week, have you felt any pain or discomfort in your body?"
The researcher twirled a pen between her fingers as she asked in her calm voice.
...If you just listened to her, it really did sound like a healing voice. Why was someone like her doing this kind of work? If she became a counselor instead... No, I should stop with the pointless thoughts.
Anyway, I had no memory of receiving any injections since regressing, so she must have been referring to the drugs administered before my regression. As far as I could recall, I hadn't experienced any physical abnormalities while inside the lab.
"...No, nothing like that."
"...Hmm, I see..."
The researcher frowned slightly and scribbled something on the documents.
"Alright, next question."
The questions continued three or four more times. Meanwhile, I focused on channeling my ability to breach the computer's security. Penetrating a computer with my power required twice the computational load compared to lights or CCTV, which meant it consumed far more mana. Normally, hacking into computers or CCTV wouldn't be a problem, but right now I was wearing the bracelet.
...And the questions were roughly along the lines of whether my mana was flowing better lately, or if I felt more energetic or lighter than usual. In context, it seemed the substance they'd injected me with was a sample of the Serum. One that hadn't succeeded, of course. The Serum's primary function was to enhance abilities, which was why they were experimenting on children with powers.
"...That should be enough. Now, would you stand over there?"
The researcher pointed to the massive machine I'd noticed when I first entered. If I remembered correctly, it was for scanning physical data. Since a child's verbal answers alone couldn't accurately determine their physical condition, this equipment served that purpose.
I placed my feet on the two yellow footprint stickers on the floor. Small machines connected by hoses to the main unit—like drones—began moving around noisily, emitting green light that swept over my body before returning to their original positions and docking.
"...Hmm, nothing unusual..."
"...Huh...?"
After confirming the scan was complete, the researcher shifted her gaze to the monitor to review the data. Her brows furrowed deeper than I'd ever seen before.
"Why has the mana capacity increased this much...? Don't tell me it actually worked—"
"...No, that can't be right. This level of increase doesn't make sense...?"
"...Is it an error...?"
For a brief moment, her expression brightened, but then she frowned again and stared intently at the monitor for a while.
It seemed the mana capacity I'd grown to before regressing had been recorded exactly in the results.
...Ah, this. I'd been so focused on breaching the computer security that—
The researcher erased the examination results she'd been writing on the documents, let out a light sigh, and began walking toward me.
"...Sorry, but I'll have to measure again."
"I'll be using the precision measurement mode, so it'll take about twenty minutes. I'll step out for a bit—can you stand still until then?"
"...Yeah, sure."
...I'd expected a retest since the numbers were abnormal, and I'd been thinking I'd need to tamper with the results when the time came. This was an unexpected bonus. She was leaving the room.
Thud.
The sound of the door closing echoed, leaving only the beeping of the drones as they moved about once more.
Alright, time to take a look around.
"I'm back, No. 25."
"...Ah, you're back? Nothing happened, right?"
I hadn't found as much as I'd hoped. Well, it wasn't nothing, but still.
First, I'd learned more detailed information about the test subjects that had only been briefly noted in the documents in the past, as well as information about the researchers. Just small things I'd been curious about.
The name of the woman who'd just conducted the experiment was Derhi Eichendia... and that the experiments so far hadn't been progressing as smoothly as expected. Also, that they were short on budget... It felt like I'd filled in some necessary knowledge.
Ah, there were two meaningful things, though.
The first was that Berry's ability was even stronger than I'd remembered. It was an ability to manipulate earth and rock—while her mana capacity hadn't grown yet, natural-element abilities like earth manipulation were known to have extremely high baselines and ceilings. Her power was far stronger than her mana reserves would suggest. That was also why S-rank heroes and famous villains all wielded fire, water, wind, or electricity.
...That was one more solid reason to work with Berry. Whether Berry would actually join the plan to bring down the Association was another matter, but I'd think about that later.
The second was that the same experiments were being conducted at other Association branches even at this point in time. I'd already known that most branches were running similar research, but there were a few places progressing faster than C-Branch right now.
Wait, then how had this place been the first to create the Serum in the past?
Anyway, because of that, the option of destroying this place first had practically disappeared. Not that I'd planned to do so anyway. If destroying this place could have delayed the Serum's production even a little, I would have done it—but since it would be almost meaningless now, all I'd accomplish by blowing it up would be getting tracked down as a villain that much sooner.
I needed to stay hidden as long as possible, gather my strength, and only strike when it was truly necessary.
"...Spacing out again?"
"Come sit down. You said you'd do this with me."
Berry's dark eyes were suddenly right in front of me. I must have been standing at the door organizing my thoughts for quite a while. She took my arm and guided me to the center of the room, sitting me down on the floor between the two beds. Then she handed me five cards with peculiar patterns and began laying out a board and arranging her own cards on the floor.
...It had been a long time since I'd done this, too. I think we'd only played together twice before.
"This really is your first time? You're pretty good..."
Before I knew it, the game had progressed quite far, with cards laid out on the board.
"But! Here—650 damage. I win~"
The two-and-a-half-hour-long game ended with Berry placing her final card on the table and ringing the bell that signaled the start of a new turn.
...It had been pretty fun. Even though I lost again, just like always. In the past, I'd been defeated without even getting a chance to breathe, so maybe I could take some comfort in the fact that I'd at least put up a bit of a fight this time.
Wait, did I really need to find comfort in a card game?
"...No. 25."
"Hm?"
Berry, who had been tidying up the cards with a tired but amused look in her eyes, tilted her head at my call.
"...Um, I was going to tell you right away, but you seemed so eager to play this..."
"...Yeah."
She smiled awkwardly, put away the last card, and closed the box lid. I looked her in the eyes and spoke. Technically, it was a lie. Still, I had to make it look sincere to Berry.
"...I found it."
"That vent really does lead to the surface. We can escape straight outside—"
...When she heard those words, Berry's eyes widened and her mouth fell open.
"Whoa... So we can really get out...?"
"That's right."
"...Then... when are we leaving?"
Berry's voice began to tremble slightly. Yeah, of course. From everything we'd talked about so far, it was clear that Berry hadn't been proactive about escaping because she'd been afraid of the risks if they failed.
...Now that she knew the risks had decreased significantly, it was only natural she'd be shaken. Who wouldn't want to get out of here?
"...Well, let's go tomorrow."
Since I'd already accessed the computer once, it was better to leave as soon as possible.
"..Eh?"
Berry looked a little flustered.