Chapter 47
Another hellish day passed.
In fact, there was no way to know the time for certain, but it felt that way roughly based on perception.
Irene sat holding her breath.
She didn't move from that state.
Even as the cold rising from the floor ate away at her body temperature, even as the thick darkness bloomed mold in her heart.
She just lay sprawled like a doll with its strings cut.
-Uwaaaaaaaah!!!
-Don't, don't...!
-I don't want to die!! I don't want to die, stop!!
-No, no, no, no, don't tear it!!
Perhaps it was because her will had been broken.
The screams ringing from the end of the corridor never stopped even for a moment, and the fox had to listen to them helplessly.
Despair surged.
It was a terrible sentiment.
A space that wore people down.
Even in such a background, what allowed Irene to maintain her sanity was.
The voice calling out through the iron bars.
The girl chirped brightly.
"Fox sister!"
"...Mm."
"We're still alive today too! I was worried what if we were dragged to the laboratory while sleeping."
"You get dragged away even while sleeping...?"
"It happens sometimes. That's why mental preparation is needed every morning. It would be too scary if I opened my eyes and was lying on an experiment table."
"......"
"...Did I say something unnecessary?"
Irene's expression hardened.
Anne fidgeted while watching her reaction.
At the girl's careful attitude, the fox soon relaxed her tension and shook her head.
"It's okay... I was just thinking of something else for a moment."
"That's a relief then."
The girl smiled brightly.
It was a clean smile.
At fifteen, she was at an age preparing for adulthood, but she was still young nonetheless.
The fox chewed over self-mutterings inwardly.
'I wonder if they're doing well...'
She was thinking of her siblings.
The beloved little foxes. They would be happily spending time in the suspicious hideout now.
Irene unknowingly muttered.
'...I wonder if this is what my siblings will be like when they're a bit older.'
Watching Anne, she couldn't help but have such thoughts.
A bitter taste spread in her mouth.
A moment of regret passing by.
Sadness for her siblings fell.
She would probably never meet them again.
Now only a cold ending awaited the fox.
Her chest was dyed with aching.
She had wanted to stay by their side at least until they became adults, but even this was not allowed by fate.
Irene was sunk in thought.
At that time.
"You know, sister."
"......"
"I want to write a book when I get out of here."
"A book? Suddenly...?"
"Yes! A book!"
Anne smiled brightly when their eyes met.
The girl who had been crouching in the corner soon jumped up and answered.
"It's been my dream since I was young."
"You're still young."
"Eih! I'm talking about when I was even younger! And fifteen is an age where you know everything, you know?"
"Is that so...?"
"Of course!"
Anne flapped her arms as if feeling wronged.
It seemed she was trying to refute being called young in her own way, but to Irene's eyes, even that only looked young.
Only children dislike being called young.
"Anyway! I want to write an amazing story."
"What kind of content?"
"I'll put in everything I've experienced so far. Like compiling a diary written day by day!"
"...Isn't that just a diary then?"
"Hey! Is there a law saying diaries can't become books?"
A straightforward answer returning.
The girl spoke of her dream proudly.
Though she must have known it was a wish that couldn't be fulfilled, the light in her eyes didn't go out.
Perhaps it was hope.
"I know too. That it lacks reality to some degree."
"......"
"Maybe I'm hoping for an unreasonable miracle. If the devil outside heard my story, he would laugh at it as a happy delusion."
Yes, it was just a delusion.
It was no different from a girl hanging on a cliff's edge praying for a convenient miracle.
But.
"Still... isn't it okay for such convenient things to happen sometimes?"
The girl smiled brightly.
It was a smile tinged with the characteristic cleanliness of childhood.
"We need to have courage especially in difficult times. The more we worry, the more beautiful life becomes."
She was somewhat surprised.
To be able to still sing of hope despite experiencing all kinds of terrible things as an experimental subject.
To be able to speak of courage, not despair or hatred or resentment or anger.
"Am I thinking too childishly perhaps?"
"...I wonder."
The fox looked at the girl without answering.
Should she say it was admirable?
Or should she say it was pitiful?
Irene couldn't decide on an answer.
She just gently held the hand sticking out between the iron bars.
"Hehehe!"
"What's so good about hands full of calluses."
"Mom said calluses are traces of effort. So sister's hands are pretty hands."
"...Think what you like."
The fox turned her head indifferently.
The warmth kneading her palm.
She tried hard to ignore hope.
Irene simply closed her heavy eyelids.
***
Two more days passed.
It was already the 6th day since the fox had entered the laboratory.
She was starting to get used to it.
The screams heard from the end of the corridor, the smell of blood brushing her nose, even the damp air.
Things that had been disgusting were becoming familiar one by one.
Though that didn't mean the souls dying every day had become natural.
'Now it's two days later... being dragged to the end of that corridor too.'
The one week grace period the devil had given.
Now it was a life with only two days left.
Whether the experiment succeeded or failed... she probably wouldn't be able to remain human anymore.
There was just a difference in method.
The proposition of death was no different.
Irene waited for her execution.
But there was a girl who would stand on the threshold of life one step ahead of the fox.
It was none other than Anne.
-It's your turn next, kid.
-Seems you've been lucky to survive until now... but that ends tomorrow.
-The director himself ordered it.
It was news delivered by a passing guard.
He said there would be an experiment tomorrow so be prepared, and also added mockery saying he would let her meet her mom soon.
A death sentence falling out of nowhere.
Anne just nodded her head.
"I understand."
It was a calm reaction.
She didn't cower, or cry and beg, or faint in place.
She just smiled as usual.
The girl waited until the guards left, then continued the story she had been telling until just before.
As if nothing had happened.
"Where was I... Ah, places I really wanted to visit in my life!"
Anne chattering on.
She had heard news that she would die tomorrow. Perhaps she would become something more terrible than death.
Yet even at such a moment, the girl was carefree.
Irene stared intently at the figure appearing through the iron bars.
"I really wanted to go to the academy! It must be an amazing place, right?"
"Anne."
"Mom said only excellent people go to the academy. When I get out of here, I'll definitely......"
"Aren't you scared of tomorrow?"
"......"
She had asked without thinking.
The noisy girl's mouth closed. It was the first silence that had come.
A blank lingered between the thick iron bars.
For a while, neither could continue speaking.
Neither the fox, nor the girl.
Both were quiet.
It was quite some time later when a voice was heard again.
Anne called out quietly.
"Sister."
"Mm."
"Sister."
"Speak."
"Actually."
The girl crouched down beside the iron bars.
She who had been sinking into thought soon displayed a complex smile on her lips.
She timidly hugged her knees.
"Actually, I'm scared too."
"......"
A plain statement falling.
Though it wasn't a long sentence, there was an immeasurable depth beyond it.
The girl's voice continued calmly.
"I'm scared. I'm sad, anxious, and resentful too."
"......"
"I lie awake at night because I feel like I'll be lying on an operating table when I wake up, and I hold my breath as much as possible when guards pass by. I've never let go of fear for even a moment."
In the end, she was the same as anyone.
Because she wasn't even an adult yet, she was also a young lamb needing someone's protection.
"The reason I smile despite that... is because there's nothing else I can do."
The girl was helpless.
The girl who had faced unreasonable misfortune now could only hold onto hope.
Perhaps it was the sorrow of life.
Moisture gradually settled in her delicate voice.
"Actually, I'm scared."
It was a particularly pitiful plea.
"I miss Mom, Dad, sister... my family so much."
Tears falling drop by drop.
Though she seemed to be trying hard to hold back her crying, sobs she couldn't quite cover leaked out.
The fox listened to it silently.
"If I had known it would be like this, I should have told my family I love them more......"
A common regret.
A common sorrow.
A common wish.
"I don't want to die."
"......"
"I want to live."
"......"
Irene bit her lip tightly.
It was a damn pain.
Her fist clenched involuntarily.
After keeping her place silently for a while, Anne who had calmed down somewhat muttered.
"Sniff, I'm sorry. I'm not usually like this... I just wanted to lean on someone a little, since you're the only person beside me right now."
"It's okay."
"Thank you."
"What have I done?"
"I thought I would die lonely and alone. But thanks to talking with you, I don't think I'll be lonely."
"Don't worry too much. I'll follow soon after."
"...Is that supposed to be comforting?"
"I wonder."
Irene answering indifferently.
The fox held the hand between the bars.
Anne laughed while sobbing.
"Sniff, hehe... Your hand is warm, sister."
"Is that so."
"Yes!"
They sat like that.
With cold iron bars between them, they waited for the tomorrow they wished wouldn't come.
***
A day passed.
Anne had to leave the iron bars as soon as she opened her eyes.
The girl who was moving her steps while caught by guards turned back and smiled brightly.
Leaving a brief word.
"I'll be back."
Of course.
Anne didn't return.
***
Anne's screams that had dyed the corridor last night.
The voice crying out in pain until dawn.
She wanted to cover her ears, but the fox couldn't bring herself to do so.
She wanted to share even a little of her pain.
The terrible screams faded as time passed, and finally disappeared becoming a handful of silence.
That meant only one thing.
Anne had died.
"......"
There was no time to even be sad.
Because it was her turn next. The guards soon walked to the front of Irene's iron bars.
Clank, the door opened with the sound of a key turning.
"The director is waiting."
"Hold her so she can't resist. Transport her carefully as she's precious material."
"You'll die if you move? Don't have any foolish thoughts."
As many as five people clung to her.
They were all high-level black magicians. Though not as much as the devil, they were skilled enough to easily subdue someone like Irene.
Hope was not visible until the end.
The fox simply moved her lifeless steps.
Trudge trudge-.
The footsteps of several people echoed through the chilly air.
As she was thinking of last night still lingering in her ears, she became afraid of the future soon to come.
A hollow laugh flowed across her lips.
"Haha..."
In the end, was she also just one young child?
She wanted to collapse on the floor right away.
She wanted to cry uglily while calling for her master.
No, anyone would do.
She was hoping for someone to take her out of this place.
-You never know! Maybe someone will appear like a prince on a white horse and save us.
She needed those words she had dismissed as delusion then.
If her life really ended like this, there were too many regrets to leave in the world.
A prince on a white horse.
She yearns for a dream she didn't even wish for in childhood, only after death approached right before her.
It was hard to stand due to her churning insides.
"...Save me."
She held a word that wouldn't reach.
They were close to the end of the corridor now.
If they opened the door and went down the stairs like this, she would fall into an irreversible reality.
The fox trembled.
Trudge-.
The long steps stopped.
One of the guards grabbed the doorknob leading to the laboratory.
At that moment of despair.
"That's far enough."
Slash-!
The guards' heads all floated into the air.
Behind the cutting sound ringing belatedly, the cleanly cut necks of the black magicians rolled on the floor.
Crash-!
"...?!"
Irene startled at the sudden scene.
At the moment she was about to lose her balance and fall, someone's arm appearing from behind caught her.
It was a movement gently embracing her body.
"I finally found you."
A familiar voice rang in her ear.
Though the fox thought it couldn't be, she raised her head and looked at the face.
There was deep golden hair there.
White pupils smiled brightly.
"Miss Irene."
"......"
Was she dreaming?
The person she had least believed in appeared in her vision.
"I came to save you."
The boy whispered sweetly.
Irene staring blankly.
At the same time, an inexplicable sense of relief washed over her.
The despair that had dyed the world black until just before disappeared, and a new light embroidered colors.
It was an ecstatic scene.
"You."
Irene, who had been in a daze, soon entrusted her body entirely to the snake.
Her voice wet with moisture.
"...Why did you come so late."
"I'm sorry."
Hot tears fell.
The boy calmly wiped them away. Each time his hand touched, warm body heat dyed the fox's cheeks.
He was infinitely gentle.
"Everything's okay now."
"......"
"You really endured well. I'll take care of the rest."
Darkness falling in the corridor.
Irene tightly embraced the boy's body. As if she wouldn't let go.
She buried her face in his warm embrace.
The snake quietly accepted the fox like that.
"I'm so glad you're safe."
"......"
The two stood like that for a long time.