Chapter 12
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: Want to Hear?
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Want to hear it?
Imagine you take your young child to the supermarket.
Suddenly, the kid points at some toy and says, "Buy me this!"
You'd have two choices, right?
Buy it. Or don't.
But what if they throw a tantrum when you say no?
You'd either cave and buy it because you can't handle the fuss, or you'd scold them sharply for acting up.
But what if...
What if that toy they want costs an astronomical amount? Or looks ridiculously dangerous?
Of course, you'd firmly say no way.
"No?"
But here's another condition.
What if the kid demanding it is actually an incredibly dangerous being who might bolt anywhere?
Could you still say no decisively then?
"Why all of a sudden...?"
The answer is obviously 'no.'
Yuna muttered to herself without realizing it.
The isolation room and the outside were perfectly separated, so her voice shouldn't carry through.
"Just! I wanna have tea time!"
But astonishingly, the girl responded as if she'd heard it, completely nonchalant.
Yuna wasn't startled out of her wits by the fact.
Was this the first or second time something like this had happened?
Despite her wealth of field experience earning her the team leader position at such a young age, she often found herself surprised or flustered during conversations with the girl.
But she'd grown plenty accustomed to situations like this one by now.
This wasn't the first time the girl had taken an anomaly out of isolation with her, after all.
Her isolation room already housed at least two anomalies.
That was just what they knew of—there might be more.
That's why the girl's isolation room and the floors above and below it were completely cleared out.
"Hold on, I'll just check. Wait a sec."
So Yuna forced out a response.
She couldn't make this kind of decision on her own anyway.
"Okay!"
Thankfully, the girl permitted it.
Yuna immediately pulled out her communicator and made contact.
The reply came surprisingly fast.
Permission granted.
It meant they could grant the girl's request.
The speed of the response was more meaningful than the approval itself.
It felt like they'd anticipated this exact scenario and even prepared the answer in advance.
'As expected.'
Yuna inwardly thought the whole situation must have some deeper meaning.
The girl was dangerous.
Even if she'd been contained in the 'Chameleon Mannequin' for now, that didn't eliminate the risk.
Yet they were deploying her against an anomaly that didn't look particularly dangerous at first glance?
It was like using a cattle butcher's knife to kill a chicken.
No, not even a cow—it was more like a dinosaur-slaying blade.
Yuna mulled over these thoughts before sighing at how pointless they were.
"They said it's fine. But we'll handle the transport."
"Okay! See you soon!"
The girl said goodbye like that and stepped out.
Only after sending her back to the isolation room did Yuna let out a sigh of relief.
It felt like she'd aged ten years in that time.
'I want to go back.'
She truly missed her old, peaceful life.
The calm, ordinary days of subduing rampaging anomalies and investigating sites of anomalous phenomena...
They said the new friend would be brought to my room following the proper procedures.
They could have brought her right away, but I said I understood.
A friend has to prepare to leave her own room too, right? I'm so considerate.
"She's here?"
And in the meantime, there was something to do.
Not over here, but over there.
The Corporation's investigation team had come looking for me again.
They'd found me in less than three hours, so they must be pretty confident.
"I wonder what they brought?"
I'm looking forward to it.
I blinked with that thought.
"We brought the trade item...!"
Before I knew it, I was standing in front of the investigation team's leader.
The leader gaped in shock at my sudden appearance, mouth flapping.
Then he warily stepped back and said,
"You appear out of nowhere."
"Anything fun?"
"...Here it is."
The leader, still watching me cautiously, slid something forward.
Astonishingly, it was...
An elephant doll.
"A doll?"
"It's not an ordinary doll."
Not ordinary?
But it didn't feel like an anomaly was possessing it or that it had any special power.
At that moment, the leader cautiously pressed the elephant's back.
The elephant doll swung its trunk up and spoke.
"Hi! I'm your cute friend Kiriko! Nice to meet you! What's your name, friend?"
"Elena!"
I ignored the drab-looking team leader's question easily enough, but I couldn't ignore the super-duper cute Kiriko's!
Kiriko perked up at my name and spoke excitedly.
"Nice to meet you, Elena! Want me to tell you a fun story?"
"Yeah! But why talk through a doll instead of coming yourself?"
"Because I'm your cute friend Kiriko! Don't you like cute things too?"
It's a doll.
The doll is just a medium.
But it doesn't feel like an ordinary one.
The owner of that voice, Kiriko, definitely seemed to be on the other side of the door.
And above all, the doll really was super cute.
"Totally!"
"Great! Then here's a fun story! There's a huge monkey king around here! They say he's a total tyrant! He eats everything that walks on two legs! What do you think?"
I smiled.
"Boring."
"Really? How about this? There's a big outpost 3km from here. Humans come and go periodically!"
"That's a bit fun. But if it's that kind of thing, I prefer stories about the Corporation!"
"..."
A brief silence this time.
But the voice came again soon enough.
"Did you know? The Corporation doesn't just trade with humans! Some of their trade partners are even talking squirrels!"
"Hahaha! Really?"
"Yep! Just bring them tasty acorns, and they hand over valuables!"
"That's a fun story!"
The team leader's reactions were quite varied while Kiriko and I chatted.
Of course, he'd think he was keeping a perfect poker face.
But human 'reactions' aren't limited to facial expressions.
Body language. Eye movements. Sweat. Body odor. And so on.
The leader was agitated, scared, and thinking he was overhearing things he shouldn't.
Anyway, Kiriko spoke in her initial bright tone.
"Glad you think so! So, you'll send my friends back now?"
"Yeah. And I've got a fun story for you too."
I told Kiriko, who'd shared fun stories with me,
"The monkey king is greedier than you all think."
"...An intriguing tale! Thanks! Call me anytime you're bored!"
And that ended the conversation.
But the team leader set Kiriko down in front of me and cautiously backed away.
I waved cheerfully at him.
Looks like I'll be chatting a lot with this friend Kiriko from now on.
Meanwhile, my shadow watched them leave.
"Th-the wall disappeared!"
"Phew, we can finally head back."
They looked utterly exhausted.
I hadn't done much to them.
I'd just put up walls around them in case they tried to run instead of leaving.
That was it, yet they'd wasted two hours struggling futilely before heading out.
They even tried breaking through the wall once, so I played a little 'prank' on them.
Only then did they give up on punching through.
"Hee hee."
Thinking up to there, it seemed like they'd never come back, but I didn't think so.
Their driving force was selfishness and greed.
They'd probably come find me on their own before long.
What game should we play next?
I'd have to think about it slowly.
I'm in such a great mood right now.
So great that I'm smiling without even trying.
"Everyone feeling good?"
I asked to share the joy with the others.
The new friend sitting next to me nodded vigorously.
"Y-yeah! Good!"
Yuna across from me nodded hard too.
Yuna's face had been pale ever since entering the room, but I'm a good friend, so I didn't point it out.
"Tea time with the three of us is the best!"
Right now, the three of us—Yuna, the new friend, and I—were having tea time together.
I'd originally planned it just with the new friend.
But Yuna looked so down.
I figured she was sad about not being invited to tea time, so I invited her right away!
Yuna brightened up immediately and accepted.
Snap-.
"Ahh, no! Eat with some manners!"
There was a minor issue where the new friend kept trying to swallow the plate whole with her huge back mouth, but that was fine.
I could teach her manners step by step!
I told Yuna, who seemed uncomfortable with the new friend's rough table manners,
"Sorry! I'll teach this friend properly!"
"O-okay."
Thankfully, Yuna forgave her.
But she still looked uneasy, so it bugged me, and I spoke up again.
"Hmm. Apologizing with words alone feels off!"
"N-no, I'm really fine?"
"No! It bothers me!"
I pondered for a moment. Then a great idea hit me.
"Want me to find your missing little sister?"
Yuna's face stiffened at those words. Then, in a trembling voice, she asked,
"My sister... is missing?"
She must not have known.
"Wh-what do you mean?"
To reassure Yuna, I smiled and asked,
"Want to hear?"