Chapter 32
Chapter 32
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: For an Ordinary Tomorrow
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Meanwhile, Red was out.
On her way back after quickly finishing a job, the device she had given Nina activated, sending a text message to her phone.
It was a large file.
She pulled the car over and began to read through the data. With every passing moment, her expression hardened.
It was the data Nina had found at the abandoned orphanage.
Her fears had become reality.
A part of her had hoped she was wrong, but the truth was cruel.
Isaac had used the children from the orphanage he ran to commit his misdeeds. It was an absolutely unforgivable act.
She had suspected as much, but seeing the true face of a former colleague was still a shock.
Red closed her eyes.
Her face was grim.
Something worse than the ugly truth weighed heavily on her mind.
She knew exactly what it meant for the device she had given Nina to have been activated.
*'You fool… Why did you have to go on your own…'*
She didn't consider herself close to Nina. But they weren't on bad terms, either.
They had met back when she was on good terms with Isaac. After their falling out, she and Nina had barely seen each other.
Theirs was an unremarkable relationship.
Even so, the death of an acquaintance pained her.
Fixers and death were inextricably linked.
In this world, death was an all-too-familiar, commonplace event.
She wished she could accept it as easily as others, but even after reaching the highest rank, she still found it difficult to remain composed in the face of someone's death.
The corner of Red's eye twitched faintly.
In her heart, Red prayed for Nina's soul to find peace.
*'Isaac…!'*
Determined to see this through to the end, Red turned the car around and headed for the abandoned orphanage.
On the way, she received a sudden call that there was trouble at the orphanage.
Rene handled most things on her own.
For her to call meant something truly urgent had happened.
Red's hesitation was brief.
She turned the car around again, slammed on the accelerator, and sped toward the orphanage.
The sight that greeted her upon arrival made her frown.
The entire yard bore the vivid scars of a fierce battle.
What was more concerning were the scattered relics, chunks of ice, and the remnants of a familiar magic.
Red knew at once who had been here.
"Red…"
Rene, who had been waiting in the yard, brightened at the sight of Red, but her expression quickly fell.
Rene told Red everything that had happened.
The attack by the Cult of the Grim Reaper and Isaac, and how Lily had gone with them willingly to protect everyone else.
After finishing her explanation, Rene gritted her teeth in frustration. Her clenched fists trembled.
"…I'm sorry. I was here… I was right here, and I couldn't protect them. I should have done better… I'm so sorry."
Rene hung her head low.
Red placed a hand on Rene's head and ruffled her hair forcefully.
Rene let out a small groan at the rough gesture and managed to grab Red's hand to stop her.
Red took her hand off Rene's head.
Rene looked up.
Her blue hair was a complete mess. Seeing this, a faint smile touched Red's lips.
"It's fine. You did well enough. It would have been difficult to stop Isaac with just a clone, especially in a place like this."
Her voice held no blame.
Red didn't think it was Rene's fault. The environment and circumstances had simply been against her.
Red knew the skill levels of both Rene and Isaac.
If it had been the real Rene fighting Isaac, and if it had been anywhere else, Red was certain she would have won a hundred times out of a hundred.
"It's alright. Nothing was lost. We just have to get back what was taken."
No one had lost their life.
That was enough.
What was broken could be fixed, and what was messy could be cleaned.
Once she went to Isaac and brought Lily back, everything would return to normal.
"But why did he take Lily? Did he give any other reason besides 'to save the world'?"
Rene shook her head.
"What's certain is that Isaac seemed to know something about Lily."
"A child who shouldn't exist in this world… What a ridiculous thing to say."
"I don't know what he meant. But thinking back, Isaac did seem very interested in Lily."
"He was always watching her, so I thought there must be a reason. I never imagined he'd do something like this."
"Why on earth would he do this?"
"We'll hear the details from his own mouth."
This incident had happened suddenly. Causing such a commotion was bound to have repercussions.
It wasn't something the cautious Isaac would do.
This meant the incident had to have been impromptu.
Red figured he must have made a sudden move because his vile deeds had been exposed.
After organizing her thoughts, Red began to move.
It was time to go.
"I'll be back."
"Me too…! I'll go with you."
"No. I'm going alone. You stay here and clean up the yard. Imagine how scared the kids would be if they saw this mess. Besides, it's almost time."
"But… alright. Leave the cleaning to me."
Just as Red was about to leave.
"Um, Red…"
"Yes?"
"That child… she took off her mask and showed me her face."
Red's eyes widened.
The news that the child who had been so adamant about not removing her mask had done so willingly was quite a surprise.
But seeing Rene's sad expression, Red knew she wasn't just boasting.
"She wasn't crying, but her face was filled with a terrible sadness."
Rene remembered it vividly, as if it had just happened.
The moment Lily took off her mask, Rene was stunned.
She found herself doubting if what she was seeing was real.
To think someone with such looks existed in the world. She was still a child, yet she was so beautiful it was almost chilling.
As those blue eyes gazed at her, Rene felt a slight sense of shame.
She felt too plain to be the one taking in that face.
At the same time, her heart ached terribly.
It was a pain far greater than the wounds Isaac had inflicted.
Those melancholy blue eyes were filled with sorrow.
Her intention was clear.
A will that pleaded for them not to come and save her.
And then, as if to say thank you for everything, she gave a slight bow.
Then she put the mask back on.
"If Lily hadn't gone with them, the damage would have been much worse. In a way, she was the one who helped us. So…"
While Rene pitied Lily, a part of her heart still held onto suspicion.
Her past was shrouded in mystery.
She could faintly sense the immense magic contained within that small body.
As a guardian of the orphanage's children, Rene couldn't afford to overlook even the slightest risk.
That was why she treated Lily like a child but never let her guard down.
However, over time, Rene's wariness had begun to fade.
She could sense that Lily, too, cherished the children of the orphanage.
And seeing Lily throw herself in front of Lena to protect her had solidified her conviction.
Lily was not a dangerous girl.
She was definitely not the child who, as Isaac claimed, shouldn't exist in this world.
"You have to bring her back."
"I will."
Red answered Rene's earnest plea without hesitation.
Red hurried off to punish the wicked, retrieve Lily, and reclaim an ordinary tomorrow.
***
Hmph.
This place brings back some unpleasant memories.
Following Isaac led me to some abandoned building. We went through a basement passage and soon arrived at a suspicious-looking place.
It was filled with strange devices, machines, and other odd objects.
This is a laboratory.
I don't know what it's for, but it's definitely not a normal place.
*'The stench of blood is thick in the air. A lot of people must have died here.'*
A foul energy wrapped around my body.
To think a Fixer committed such a horrible act.
Did he throw his professional ethics in the trash?
I'm tightly bound by a lasso of light, unable to move. I could easily break free, but for now, I'll just observe.
I glanced around before my eyes settled on Isaac.
He was busy operating some machinery.
A moment later, Isaac approached me.
"How about we have a nice little chat until it's time, little one? But first, it's quite rude to wear a mask when you're talking to someone, don't you think?"
Isaac reached out and forcibly removed my mask.
Isaac's expression changed dramatically when he saw my bare face.
He dropped the mask he was holding and stared at me blankly, his mouth half-open.
His once-empty eyes now shimmered with thick greed and desire.
He gave me a sinister smile.
"Hahaha, what's this? I thought you were wearing a mask because you had a hideous face. I never imagined you'd have such a beautiful one. Suddenly, it feels like a waste to use you in my experiment."
Isaac reached out and gently caressed my smooth cheek.
His touch sent shivers down my spine, and my stomach churned.
Ugh. I think I'm going to be sick.
What's so great about this body type? This guy is truly rotten.
"Why aren't you saying anything? You must have a lot of questions. Oh, right. I heard you can't speak. Just try moving your mouth."
I squirmed to shake off his hand, as if to tell him not to touch me anymore, and glared at him as I mouthed my words.
[Are you sure about this?]
Isaac's eyes were full of regret. He clenched the hand that had touched my cheek, as if savoring the memory of its texture. His action made me scowl.
Ugh.
Isaac didn't say anything, perhaps because he didn't understand.
The silence stretched on.
I had moved my lips simply so he could easily read them.
Fortunately, it wasn't that he couldn't understand. Isaac finally spoke.
"Honestly, you've messed up my original plan. I was only going to take you, but because you resisted, your mask broke, and Rene ended up seeing your face."
Isaac let out a long sigh and continued.
"But it doesn't matter. It's a hassle, but it's not like there's no solution."
Isaac tapped his forehead with his finger.
"I can just erase her memory. There are plenty of places that will perform that kind of procedure if you pay enough. Rummaging through someone's brain is a bit unsettling, but it'll work out somehow. It would have been so much better if you had just come along quietly from the start."
How dare he turn this around on me.
Annoyed by his tone, which shifted the blame to me, I asked my next question.
[Do you know who I am?]
Yes. This was what I wanted to know.
Isaac seemed to know something about me.
I asked in hopes of getting some useful information, but his response was disappointing.
"That's what I'd like to ask you."
Isaac took my chin between his fingers and lifted it.
He stared intently at my face.
Scrutinizing it, as if trying to confirm something.
"I've never seen a face like this before. With a face like this, it wouldn't be strange for you to have appeared at least once, so why haven't you? Did they create you and then forget?"
As he studied me, I studied him in return.
He didn't seem to be lying.
He truly seemed to know nothing about me.
Then why did he say those things to Rene?
Was it just a bluff to rattle her?
"Who in the world are you?"
I didn't know either, so I remained silent.
Then I moved my lips again.
[Then, why me?]
It seemed Isaac had approached me from the beginning with the intention of targeting me.
All his previous interest in me now made sense.
So what was the reason?
It didn't seem like he was targeting me because he knew I was the Grim Reaper. And he didn't seem to know much about me, either.
There was no particular reason to target me.
Fortunately, Isaac was quite loose-lipped.
Like a teacher who had just been asked a good question, he kindly explained.
"Have you ever heard the saying? One rotten apple spoils the barrel. To put it simply, your existence is a bug to me. If you leave a bug unattended, things won't run normally, right? I was originally planning to learn about you step by step, but unfortunately, I don't have time for that now. So, since I have to get rid of you anyway, I figured I'd use you in my experiment. Who knows, you might just be the final ingredient for my masterpiece."
Masterpiece?
I looked past Isaac toward a giant glass tube.
I'd been bothered by the energy I sensed from it, an energy that surpassed Isaac's.
Was that your pet?
And a masterpiece? Hmm, I have a pretty good idea of what this place is and what kind of experiments were conducted here.
I asked my final, most pressing question.
[What is your purpose?]
I'd been wondering ever since I arrived.
What could he possibly want that would drive him to conduct such horrible experiments here?
A Fixer like Isaac didn't seem to be lacking in money or reputation.
In other words, there seemed to be no reason for him to get his hands dirty.
What was he trying to achieve?
The corners of Isaac's mouth stretched wide.
His eyes sparkled as if he'd finally been asked a proper question.
He spoke in an excited tone, like a child telling an amazing story.
"To save the world."
What?
"You look like you don't understand. I suppose it's hard to believe that someone who wants to save the world would prepare a laboratory like this and conduct dangerous experiments. But the world doesn't work the way I want it to. I don't want to do this either, but what can I do? To protect the entire forest, you sometimes have to make the bold decision to cut down a single tree."
Isaac's smile grew even more cruel.
He gently caressed my cheek again and said.
"So don't feel too wronged. It's all for the good of the world. You should feel honored, really."