Chapter 109

The cafeteria inside the Celbrox Labs.
Ta-da-da-da!
There was a shadow running across the long table. A quadrupedal beast. No, it only looked like a beast, but biologically, it was as close to human as you could get.
It was a hard truth for Asterike to accept.
“Arya, where are you going other than to eat!”
“Woohoo!”
“Woo-woo, no, Mr. Speak!”
I couldn’t eat it after all the shouting. The way she ran off with the meat in her mouth and didn’t look back. She pressed a hand to her throbbing forehead.
“I can’t believe that’s a person…!
In Asterike’s eyes, Arya was a forbidden cub. She needed to be spoiled regularly to keep her happy. She would glow from time to time, if not daily.
Or sprinting naked down the hall.
Or throwing the plate away in the middle of a meal.
“Oooh” and crying like a wolf at 4am…….
At first, she calmly tiles him, but only once or twice. Asterique had been babysitting for three weeks. Every day, my patience was being tested to the limit.
“If only he would only do that when he’s in his room.
The problem was the same as it is now.
1:30 PM. A little late for lunch, but not out of the ordinary. Naturally, there are several agents in the cafeteria, and they’re all watching Arya’s every move.
Laughter is all around.
“Pooh-pooh. He’s doing it again.”
“Did you not like the rice? I liked it.”
“I guess kids have different tastes these days.”
“I guess so. I’ve been having trouble digesting lately…….”
……I’m kind of blushing.
It was clearly Arya’s fault. Asterique is not to blame. Clearly, Arya is mentally young, and Asterique is in charge of her education, but it’s not an official title.
It’s a wash.
She’s not even an acquaintance’s daughter, let alone a blood relative. There’s nothing that obligates her to take responsibility for Arya’s actions. She only asked him to take care of her in moderation.
“But why am I embarrassed?
Laughing voices, focused eyes, spilled plates and dirty tables from Aria’s run. Everything is on my mind. Normally, I would have finished my meal in silence and left.
There were stares from the side. Asterique turned her head. Her eyes locked with a young agent, and she opened her mouth without realizing it.
“Well, I’m sorry, I interrupted your meal.”
Even as I said it to myself, I thought it was weird. What did I do? Isn’t it better to bring him in now and force him to apologize?
After all of that, I got an unexpected response.
“No, no, no. It’s perfectly fine.”
“…… doesn’t look good.”
Asterike’s eyes dropped to the table. The plate was crooked, if not overturned. Arya must have hit it, because the soup splashed all over it.
The agent looked down, too, and smirked.
“When I get it back, that’s it, what a great job.”
“Don’t you feel bad?”
“I was a little embarrassed, but that’s it, you really don’t have to worry about it.”
It was a genuinely nonchalant attitude. It’s almost fascinating to watch.
“…How did you do that? You got defecated on while standing still.”
Asterike realized that not all of the Lab’s agents were as good as Leila. Turkam, for one. He’d gossiped about her at first, though he’d gotten along better with her now.
Mostly ordinary people.
Something you’d normally be offended by.
And yet, the man in front of me had no complaints, just a friendly smile.
Soon he said.
“That was a girl, surely her name was Arya?”
“Yeah, right.”
“I heard about the situation, and it’s bad, but, um. He’s a bit of a troublemaker, but he’s not one to frown upon seriously, and he doesn’t seem to be naturally mean.”
Asterike glanced again at the reactions around her. It was a matter of preconception, he realized now that he had spoken. The agents’ laughter held no hint of mockery.
Her sensibilities were beyond comprehension.
“Still, an inconvenience is an inconvenience.”
“I’m sure some people are uncomfortable, but they can’t show it to your face.”
“Why?”
“That’s because Mr. Hyun brought me here.”
The tone was that of a no-brainer.
“Oh, my name is Keita, and I was actually helped by Mr. Hyun at Bastitera, and there are a lot of people like me. They were suspicious at first, but now they respect me, and not in a patronizing way, but in a sincere way.”
Kim’s accomplishments have not gone unnoticed in the lab.
It may be a diminished version of the truth, but there’s no denying that he played a big role. There’s even a video of it.
“Chelsea was great… and of course Asterique.”
The last is an empty statement.
Asterike saw right through it. In Bastitera, she had contributed nothing to the operation. She had waited idly for the prefect to arrive, and when he did, she had been neglected.
It was a reputation that Hyun and Chelsea had created.
I suddenly remembered the conversation I’d had with Chelsea. The various rewards Dustbourne received for his work included food and money, as well as the “kindness” of the agents.
The reason Arya is not criticized for his behavior is not because his agents are good. It’s because Hyun is like a guardian. The kindness shown to Hyun is extended to Arya.
Aria hasn’t done anything, but she’s benefiting from Hyun.
And,
“I wonder if it’s the same for me.
Of course, Asterike’s stake wasn’t entirely absent. She played a big role in Operation Ashbelt and the escape from Atlanta.
But even then, I didn’t feel like I was “working.
Simply because the string told him to. No context, no consideration of what would happen if it failed or succeeded. Like a machine, it just did what it was told.
The thought of it made Keita’s favor feel terribly stale.
“Anyway, it really doesn’t matter, so why don’t you get going?”
“Uh, yeah, I’ll come back and clean up the mess later. I’m so sorry.”
“No, you’re having a hard time.”
Asterike scrambled to her feet with her plate. Glancing behind her as she left, Keita was chatting in Moorish with her coworker across from her.
His demeanor doesn’t change, but he remains mild.
Asterike couldn’t help but think.
Arya isn’t the only one who doesn’t fit in with human society.
* * *
“So that’s what happened.”
Leila glanced up when she heard the commotion in the dining hall. Asterique’s expression bothered her. Gone was the swagger of her League days, replaced by a downcast gaze.
‘You’ve got a lot on your mind.
It had been a common sight lately. At Kim’s request, Leila would take time out every few days to check on Arya and Asterique.
Ostensibly, it was a parenting consultation to check on Arya’s education. But in reality, she was also counseling Asterique.
“So what happened to Aria?”
“I scolded him a bit, and he’s behaving now, but what’s the point, he’ll forget tomorrow and go off again.”
“Ahhhh, but we’ve come a long way from where we started.”
“First…….”
Asterique’s face turns grim as she remembers the time.
“That too. It used to take me an hour to wash it.”
“If you teach them one by one, they’ll get the hang of it.”
“Until then, we’ll just have to keep doing this.”
If history is any indication, it’s going to be a lot shorter than normal parenting, but it’s not going to be a one-day affair. It will be a struggle for half a year no matter how badly you do.
“Ugh, jingling.”
Asterique sighed.
“If you’re feeling overwhelmed, do you want me to take over?”
“Leila? Aren’t you busy?”
“When you’re in the lab, you have time, and you can’t be there all the time like Asterique is doing now… you owe it to someone else.”
It was a chance to be freed from Arya’s clutches. Not long ago, I would have jumped at the chance. But for some reason, I couldn’t say yes.
There were a few factors that made me hesitate.
Whether it’s okay to abandon the work Hyun has entrusted to her, and whether it’s okay to trust Leila, even the “other person” she says she trusts. Whether it’s okay to push Arya away like she’s a liability.
Eventually, Asterike shook her head.
“……No, let me try a little more.”
And if she didn’t do this, there wasn’t a single thing she would do. Training is personal, and it doesn’t help the lab unless it’s part of an operation.
‘Chelsea have been looking busy lately.
Apparently, he was teaching marksmanship at the request of some of the agents. He said it was a hassle, but his face was full of life. It seemed to be rewarding in its own way.
The contrast with Chelsea was stark.
Asterike recently had a sobering realization.
Realizes that he’s been relying on Hyun for too much of his life.
“It’s not unlike Arya.
He sighed at his own pathetic state. He glared at Leila, who sent him an amused glance, then shifted his gaze.
This is Leila’s private room.
It’s not very decorated, even though she’s been there for a long time. Kim’s room, with few personal items, is a far cry from Chelsea’s, which is littered with books like “101 Ways to Invest Wisely” and soap opera DVDs.
The bookshelves are lined with journals whose titles make my head hurt. There are also files organized with operational reports. I wouldn’t feel out of place if I said this was the professor’s room, not Leila’s.
Suddenly, my eye was drawn to the top of the drawer.
“What’s that?”
A small picture frame, decorated with old photographs. Pekatum’s eyesight was far superior to that of a normal human, so he had no trouble examining it without getting up close.
The photos showed researchers in white coats. Each had the lab’s symbol on their arm. I recognized two familiar faces amongst the facets I’d never seen before.
Professor and lab director.
The professor’s aura was different than it had been before he lost his memory. He seemed sharper, somehow. He was the head of the lab, but he still seemed blunt.
“I don’t recognize all of them except for two.”
“…… are like family to me.”
Leila’s face was a mixture of warmth and bittersweetness.
Family. It wasn’t a metaphor.
The researchers at the time were her parents and caregivers.
A time when she didn’t realize how unusual her surroundings were. Leila learned about life from her family. She realized the enormous responsibility and mission she had from the moment she was born.
Although the teaching still remains.
Her family did not.
“They’re not here right now.”
“When was this taken?”
“Well, I got it, so I don’t know the details.”
Asterique, staring, shook her head.
“Your face looks almost exactly the same as it does now.”
If all the researchers in the photo had left the lab, it would have been more than a year or two ago. And yet, the professor and lab director look no different than they do today.
As if it was shot yesterday.
Or just the two of you, frozen in time.
“Now that I think about it, I don’t know how old you are.
I don’t remember asking her how old she is. It’s not even a question. We don’t ask about each other’s personal lives in the lab unless they tell us, and we don’t ask about seniority.
It’s just an analogy.
The professor looked to be in his 20s. The lab director looked to be in his late 20s to early 30s at most. Considering his position, he was quite young.
Then Leila spoke in a quiet voice.
“For both of you.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”
Short answers that close off the conversation. It was a clear departure from his usual easygoing demeanor. Not wanting to probe further, Asterique kept her mouth shut.
But the question remains.
“It’s weird here, too.
I knew it from the start.
Labs are full of secrets.
An underground facility built on the territory of a fallen nation; Leila, who is respected by agents and researchers despite looking almost as young as Arya; a professor with amnesia…….
There were only two things that were certain.
That Hyun is genuinely cooperating with the lab.
And that Leila is a good person.
There’s no pretense to Leila’s goodness, and it’s so heartwarming to be around her.
“That’s it.
There are some secrets you can’t tell anyone. Like strings.
After a short silence, Asterike checked her watch. It was now four o’clock. She scratched her head and swung her butt out of her chair.
“Thanks for listening, Leila.”
“I had fun too, should I go now?”
“Yep. It’s time for Arya to learn his letters.”
Leila stifled a chuckle at the mention of learning to read.
“Mr. Hyun has good taste.
Mother or sister.
Either way, it was a happy relationship.