Remember the End. (3)
"Hmm~ hm-hmm~♪"
Passing through the city entrance, the lingering aftertaste of despair drew a little tune from my lips all on its own.
Mmm~ this fresh, verdant scent of despair.
On the surface everything looked fine, but the atmosphere itself was thoroughly unsettled. Considering a monster had invaded the shelter everyone had believed to be absolutely safe and slaughtered the people inside, perhaps that was only natural.
"...You seem to be in a good mood."
"Ah, does it look that way? I think it's just because I've come back without realizing it."
I wasn't really lying. The despair of the humans I felt upon returning to the city truly had made me hum without thinking. I stopped the moment I saw that look that said she didn't like it, though.
"Eh—it's Emerald..."
"Why is a central magical girl all the way out in a border city like this..."
"I-I've never seen a central magical girl before."
But that unsettled atmosphere vanished the instant Emerald showed herself. As expected of a magical girl who went around scattering hope. And since she was fairly well-known even among them, people began spreading hope the moment they laid eyes on her.
Ugh... my stomach's turning...
"...Are you all right?"
"...I don't really like crowded places."
To be precise, places where human hope gathered were truly awful. It felt like burying myself up to the neck inside a garbage bin crawling with maggots. The moment I became aware of it, goosebumps rose and I rubbed my arms.
We've entered the city, so can I slip away soon...
Just as I was trying to sneak off down another path, Emerald's cold gaze shot toward me. I knew it. Even if I were Emerald, I wouldn't simply let someone I suspected of being dangerous go free.
"Follow me."
The place Emerald headed for was none other than a hospital. If you asked why a hospital, it was obviously because of the magical girl who'd been kidnapped.
By the way, no one recognizes her once she de-transforms.
Emerald had released her transformation in a deserted spot before entering the hospital, but honestly, to my eyes it just looked like she'd changed clothes. Did the people of this world come with face blindness as a standard feature? No—more than that. Shouldn't she have de-transformed before entering the city in the first place?
"Go in."
"Me? I don't think there's anything particularly wrong with me."
"Go in anyway. Just in case."
After stuffing the most urgent magical girl into the ER, Emerald started pushing me into the examination room. Nothing hurt, so I didn't want to go in, but the pressure that said she'd kill me if I refused forced me to move my feet.
...I won't end up as a test subject or anything, right?
"Don't be so tense~ We're just going to check whether anything's wrong with your body~"
"Yes."
Once I entered the examination room and sat down, the doctor spoke to me in a leisurely voice—the kind of speech that made the listener feel drowsy. His kind expression and the smile on his lips all announced that the human in front of me was a good person.
"Now, go inside here."
"...In here?"
This was clearly an iron maiden. Claiming it was just a health check was an excuse; he might actually be trying to euthanize me. No, was it even acceptable for something a person climbed into to have that many needles sticking out inside? Anyone could see it was dangerous!
"Ah, I mistook the machine. The body examination machine is this one."
"..."
You can mistake a machine like that? And it looked completely different from the body examination machine, that thing. ...Could I really trust this doctor?
"Come on, lie down comfortably and just hold your breath when I tell you to~"
"Yes—"
"You can hold it now~"
"—Hup?!"
Isn't that too fast?! Being told so suddenly to hold my breath made my breathing tangle for a moment. ...Could I really trust that doctor?
"Stay just like that a little longer~ Just a little~ Just a little~ Okay, done~"
It didn't take as long as I'd expected. As I was slipping my feet into the slippers after coming out of something like an MRI machine, Emerald opened the door and came into the room. How did she know it was over and walk in?
"Doctor, is the examination finished?"
"Yes, it's finished~"
Aren't examination results supposed to be shown to the patient first? I felt a flash of irritation at Emerald acting as if she were my guardian. She was still full of suspicion and wariness, yet she was pretending to care. Ah—or maybe what she was caring about wasn't my health or anything like that?
Of course it isn't.
My guess—no, by now I could half-confirm it—Emerald definitely knew me. More precisely, she knew about Apocalypse. And yet she was treating me this well... Maybe Emerald was actually one of the three great saints of the world or something?
"Guardian, looking at the results is fine, but may I explain them to both of you?"
"Yes, that's fine."
"..."
I should at least know what state my body was in. I was also curious whether there was any real difference from an ordinary human. Emerald, for her part, was frowning hard as if something thoroughly displeased her.
"First of all... this is by no means a normal condition. First, your heart rate is extremely slow. Your body temperature is also lower than ordinary people's."
"Is that so."
"Your stomach has shrunk extremely—really, it makes me wonder how you're even walking around."
"...That bad?"
"That bad."
Emerald still said nothing. The doctor looked serious. Had my body condition been that severe? I clenched and unclenched my hands, looking down for a moment, then raised my head again when I realized this body was essentially the same as a monster's.
By the way, they said it was based on a magical girl, so they made the body structure similar to a human's too.
In the original work, the descriptions of Apocalypse had been literally those of a monster. Not saying a single word, suddenly appearing out of nowhere, not even breathing hard no matter what attack she took. Who on earth would think such a being was similar to an ordinary human?
"Did you undergo human experimentation somewhere? Haha, just kidding of course."
He hit the nail on the head.
"I'd like to recommend hospitalization if possible—how about it?"
"I'll be hospitalized."
I quickly nodded at the doctor who spoke with a kind smile. Being stuck in the hospital seemed better than staying with Emerald. Moreover, the scent of despair wafting from the hospital was also to my liking.
"No."
But as if she knew my thoughts, Emerald cut the doctor's suggestion short like a knife. Interfering at every turn—just like a magical girl.
"The patient's opinion is important, guardian. In fact, I'd like to force hospitalization without asking for opinions, but..."
Then please do that. You can force me to be hospitalized—I give permission! Encouraged by my earnest gaze, strength entered the doctor's voice. Among the doctors I'd seen so far, he might have been the one who most wanted to hospitalize his patient.
"Haa... Well, fine."
"A wise choice. If we research the patient's body, we might take one more step toward the evolution of humanity—"
"What?"
"Ahem, just kidding, kidding!"
The doctor laughed ha-ha and guided us to some room or other. He said it was a special room prepared just for me, but there wouldn't be something like that iron maiden I'd seen earlier in there too, right?
"You."
"Did you call me?"
"...Never mind."
How bland. Looking at Emerald's expression, she seemed to keep worrying about whether hospitalizing me here was the right thing or not. She probably wanted to put me in a straitjacket if she could, for sure.
"If you do anything strange, be prepared."
"If by strange you mean specifically what kind of thing?"
"...Haa."
Gently coaxing patients to extract despair? Stimulating the collapsed magical girl to extract despair? Or if not that, the doctor— Ah, I seemed to be only reaching conclusions in a biased direction.
Grrr—
Can't be helped.
Come to think of it, this body hadn't properly eaten a single meal since it was born. Damn Doctor, how far are you planning to make me like a monster? Not even giving a kid a single meal. Even what I'd eaten was just ordinary human despair that had fallen on the ground, so I couldn't get full even if I wanted to.
I want to drink a magical girl's fresh despair right now...
Whether it was the magical girl named Peridot or the magical girl I'd saved. Having tasted things like that, other despair only felt like junk food I sometimes craved when I was bored—stimulating to the mouth but unable to actually fill the stomach.
"...Would you like to go get a meal?"
"A meal? If you're treating, I'm grateful of course."
She's giving me food? What about a magical girl who gives despair to a monster? ...Isn't this grounds for magical girl disqualification?
Well, as long as it fills my stomach, I don't care what it is.
Originally, the one who feeds you is king and god.
Ahh, Lady Emerald, take me!