Chapter 21
Chapter 21
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: Regret
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"...Is this really okay?"
"Yes. I'm fine, so don't worry."
I flashed a bright smile to reassure the teacher.
She really worries too much.
Is it because of that backstory where she lost a colleague and got PTSD?
I could understand why she clung to me so much that it was starting to get annoying, but at the same time, it was a little irritating.
"I'm just a bit shaken up. I'd like to rest for a while."
"Ah, aah! Of course! Still, you should be careful. It seemed like Laira had some accomplices."
"...Accomplices, you say?"
"Yeah. If what you said is true, she should've been dead, but there's no body."
Ah, right.
Come to think of it, she was a spy I created as a precursor to the attack.
I'd completely forgotten.
Maybe I should mention it casually.
"...Übermensch. I think that's what she called herself."
"Superhumans...? Thanks. We'll look into it."
"Sure. Please do."
"Alright. ...Get some good rest."
Creak.
Teacher Claire finished the conversation and left the room.
It had taken a whole hour.
⚙ WRITER-NIM ⚙ [Ugh... She's so naggy...] "Tell me about it. But that's part of her charm. It'd be a shame to erase it, so I just have to put up with it."
Stuff like this annoys us, but when Siu deals with it, it becomes material.
No helping it.
It's better than turning her into some bland plot device in a generic novel.
"Alright, now that the teacher's gone... shall we head back?"
Time to find our hidden animal-eared friend.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Haa, haa..."
"Ah. Found you."
My back feels like it's on fire.
...It hurts, hurts, hurts.
Why do I have to go through this?
I wanted to writhe in pain, but the threads binding me wouldn't snap no matter what.
"Hey, could you look at me for a sec?"
This is so unfair.
All I wanted was to show off my talent.
The organization told me I had talent.
I just wanted to repay them.
I just wanted to be acknowledged...!
Slap.
"?!"
"Ah, there you are. ...Hello?"
A loud noise right in front of me startled me into looking up.
...It's that woman.
The smug, grinning woman who makes my blood boil. Arte Isis.
"Y-You...!"
"Yep, that's me. Arte Isis?"
"Die, die, dieee!"
Rage took over, and I wanted to charge at Arte.
But that was just wishful thinking.
My body couldn't move an inch; it was tightly bound to the tree.
"Because of you, because of you, I failed the organization's orders...!"
"Oh, if it's Übermensch's orders, you carried them out just fine. Good job."
"...What?"
Wait.
...How does this woman know the organization's name?
I never told her.
"What was it again? Something about warning the Academy and letting the world know Übermensch's prestige? Not bad at all."
"H-How do you...?!"
"Hee hee. It's a secret~?"
Chills ran down my spine.
I stopped struggling to lunge at her and could only stare, mesmerized.
She knew everything.
My orders. The organization's goals.
...Probably even my inferiority complex.
All of it.
"Don't worry. I made sure to tell the teacher it was Übermensch's doing. Mission accomplished!"
That's when I realized.
Who I'd messed with.
Why she'd been so relaxed during our spar.
"Huh? Why are you shaking like that?"
Laira suddenly realized.
That every action she'd taken so far had been in the palm of Arte Isis's hand.
Even the sudden power boost after taking the organization's enhancement pill.
Even her plan to carry out orders here.
She knew it all.
There was no other explanation.
"Ha, haha... Kill me."
"Pardon?"
"I've just been dancing in your palm, right? Kill me quick."
"...Hold on a sec."
A moment of silence.
The chirp of crickets, the call of birds.
In the forest filled only with white noise, the absence of human voices made the air turn icy cold.
An inexplicable chill made Laira's new ears twitch.
⚙ WRITER-NIM ⚙ [I wanted to just kill her...] "Geez, I told you. I have my limits on my own."
⚙ WRITER-NIM ⚙ [But, but!] I let out a deep sigh at Writer-nim's stubbornness.
Writer-nim thinks I'm some superhuman or something.
I have limits too.
"I have my limits too. Right now, I can monitor Yoo Siu alone, but I need hands and feet, you know?"
⚙ WRITER-NIM ⚙ [...Hmm.] "Besides, shouldn't extras handle the minor stuff for Writer-nim while I keep watch on Yoo Siu?"
⚙ WRITER-NIM ⚙ [I-Is that so?] "In a case like this, if I'd had a subordinate, I wouldn't have needed to prep for the USB myself. I could've just ordered them to do it."
My body is only one.
Writer-nim mostly watches this world alongside me.
So it's best if I'm near Yoo Siu in most situations.
But without someone to handle the chores instead, I have to move for every little thing.
What if I miss Yoo Siu making a date with a heroine because of that?
I'd have to listen to Writer-nim wailing for hours.
No thanks.
"I've nipped your betrayal worries in the bud too, so please accept it."
I lightly shook the button in my hand.
A red button in a square plastic case.
Anyone could tell what it was.
A detonator.
"With my life as collateral, she'd never think of betraying me, right?"
⚙ WRITER-NIM ⚙ [I-Is that so? ...Fine! Heh, then the USB! Show me the footage quick! I wanna see Yoo Siu-kun's heroics!] "Got it."
Well, it's not actually a real bomb anyway.
Even if she rebels, she won't die. Probably.
The collar around Laira's neck had my thread instead of a bomb.
This detonator lookalike was just a bluff.
If she tries to remove the collar or shows signs of betrayal? ...Slice.
The threads would go wild and shred everything around.
Maybe take off an arm or so?
"...Tch."
Imagining lopping off one of Laira's arms soured my mood.
I don't know why I'm getting so hung up on her. Just kill her and be done.
Of course, I did need a subordinate to act as hands and feet.
But I didn't need to force myself to save someone Writer-nim wanted dead and make her a minion.
Especially not some villain girl who was just a heroine candidate.
...It's not like I can't kill people.
On my first day here, I already killed someone.
An accident from not controlling my power properly.
It happened when some thugs tried to hit on me and I snapped.
Back then, I felt strangely calm even seeing the corpses.
Or maybe it was just a lack of realism.
Writer-nim casually cleaned up the bodies in seconds, making it feel even less real.
⚙ WRITER-NIM ⚙ [...? Reader-nim?] "No, it's nothing. Let's see... Ah, here it is."
Am I feeling guilty for turning an ordinary student into a villain?
Or was it just a whim?
...Who knows. Thinking about it just gives me a headache.
Let's keep it simple.
I spared her because I wanted to. That's all.
"Alright, the footage..."
⚙ WRITER-NIM ⚙ [...Huh?] What?
...Where's the video?
"Wh-Where's the... video?"
I started rummaging through the USB folders one by one.
The video was gone.
N-No way...
"F-Found... it?!"
Ah.
I thought I'd found it.
...There was a video.
Just not the part that vanished due to the blackout setting.
"I-I must've set it up wrong...?"
I should've used a different reason than a blackout.
Since the world record already lists it as a blackout, all the footage I had got treated as unrecorded due to that.
My mistake.
⚙ WRITER-NIM ⚙ [I trusted you...] "Writer-nim, c-calm down..."
⚙ WRITER-NIM ⚙ [I trusted youuuu! Waaah!] This is driving me crazy.
...How do I fix this?
My head started hurting for a completely different reason.
I was starting to regret my actions back then.
I should've recruited a subordinate sooner.