As she thought about following it, flames began to rise.
[Burn everything.]
Every time the voice sounded, she felt her heart stir.
The flames that started from her body slowly spread.
[I don't like pain. Even though I don't like it, you make me hurt. Didn't you get angry every time? Don't you hate the things that hurt you? Don't you wish those things that hurt you would disappear?]
The emotion that resembled the flames was as red as blood, as if it came from within her body.
The flames were dyed by the color of that stirring emotion.
It felt as if her insides were burning with the boiling emotion.
The flames began to burn hotter than usual, enveloping the small room, but the pain only intensified.
Her fists shattered, her arms were severed, and her body was drenched in blood, but the pain of burning was even worse.
Amidst the writhing pain, she saw someone through the flames.
Uncle.
She stopped her steps, which had been burning everything in sight, at the sight of that familiar face.
Uncle said,
"......You really didn't like the pain, did you?"
She slowly nodded her head at Uncle.
"......Was it because you told me not to resist that I stayed still all this time?"
She nodded her head again.
"......You don't have to anymore. If you don't like something, just say so."
Uncle said that.
So she replied.
[Burn.]
......No.
To the voice that incessantly echoed in her mind, telling her to burn and burn everything, she answered no, it's not okay.
For the first time, she resisted someone's words.
As she desperately tried to suppress the flames coming from her body, they gradually calmed down.
As the flames and the pain subsided, her body felt drained.
As she fell, the image of a red-haired girl was reflected in Uncle's eyes.
*
In the early hours of the morning when everyone was asleep, a car was driving down a quiet street.
Satoru, gripping the steering wheel with his white-gloved hands, confirmed the location indicated by the tracking spell and recalled the conversation he had with his friend yesterday.
It was quite ridiculous how his friend begged for a little more time when he said he would dispose of Number 10 according to the family's order.
He couldn't help but laugh inwardly at the sight.
After all, he never intended to follow the family's orders.
How much time and effort had he poured into his plan?
The elders of the family had long compromised with reality.
Now, he was the only one who truly dreamed of the great Astra of the old days.
Even without the family's support or the proper facilities of the past, he was determined to continue his experiments until the plan was completed.
However, to continue the experiments, he had to retrieve the most important item.
Satoru confirmed that he was almost at his destination, looked out the window, and frowned at the sight of the building.
A dilapidated and old building, its age unknown.
It was surprising that such an old building still existed.
Satoru clicked his tongue and muttered,
"......Really, living in a place as disgusting as yourself."
If he was hiding in such a place to avoid his eyes, it was a brilliant decision.
Just the sight of it made him feel extremely uncomfortable.
But to retrieve the item without resistance, he had to enter the place himself.
An impossible task in his right mind.
With rising irritation, Satoru scratched his neck.
To have to do such an unpleasant thing because of a disgusting and dirty thing.
Satoru's eyes flickered strangely.
It was an unpleasant but necessary task.
He took out a large trunk bag from the back seat, opened it, and pulled the pin of the gas generator inside before throwing it into the hole he had made in the door.
A powerful sleeping gas, also used for anesthesia, would fill the room in just a few minutes.
As he saw the gas seeping through the door crack, Satoru put on a gas mask and inserted his hand into the hole to unlock the door.
A cramped room, like a pigsty, where he didn't want to stay a moment longer.
Inside the room, the creature he and his friend had created lay asleep on the bed, unaware of the world.
For some reason, its hair color had changed, and one of its arms was missing, but that wasn't particularly important.
With a calm face, Satoru opened the trunk bag and was about to put the creature inside when he frowned.
He saw a ring with a red gemstone on the index finger of the creature's curled-up body.
A created being, despite having a human form.
Especially one born from the remnants of the Witch of Anger, pretending to be human and being around Astra was unforgivable to Satoru.
A disgusting thing, it should know its place.
As he forcefully removed the ring, a stream of blood trickled down, likely from the gemstone's decoration.
Fearing that the dirty thing might contaminate him, he quickly closed the bag and left the unpleasant room, taking off his gas mask.
He carelessly threw the ring he had taken out onto the street.
Loading the now heavier trunk bag into the car, Satoru, who had changed his gloves in case they were contaminated, gripped the steering wheel with one hand.
The other hand continuously scratched his neck.
The skin on his neck was peeling off, and the new glove was gradually turning red with blood.
But Satoru didn't notice.
The car left the old building, and the ring that fell on the street, gradually turning red, glowed brightly.
*
The phone rang.
Luke, holding the phone with a number he almost always refused to answer, hesitated for a moment before pressing the call button.
Naturally, the voice he heard yesterday came through.
[It's been a while since we talked, Luke. Have you had lunch?]
"......Not yet."
[You should take care of your meals even if you're busy. By the way, can you come to the address I sent you after lunch? It seems the reconstruction of the lab will take a while, so I've set up a temporary lab and I want to show it to you.]
A message flew in with his words.
Honestly, he didn't want to go, so Luke's face hardened.
Experiments were tedious.
Just hearing the word made him feel guilty and depressed.
But since he had asked for a favor yesterday, he was thinking about it when he heard a shocking statement.
[By the way, it's better not to refuse. Number 10 is with me right now.]
His blood ran cold.
Recalling the word "disposal" from yesterday, Luke asked in a trembling voice,
"......Satoru, what are you planning to do?"
[Ha ha, I'll tell you when you come. Of course, you must come alone. It's not something you'd want others to know. I'll assume you're coming and hang up. Enjoy your lunch.]
Satoru's voice, tinged with laughter, echoed.
Not in the mood for lunch, Luke quickly checked the address that came in the message.
It was a mountain village outside the barrier.
*
Scarlett didn't come to school.
Sylvia looked around the classroom for someone who might know what happened.
'She definitely said she was going with Miss Jesse to get her prosthetic arm fitted yesterday.'
As Sylvia quietly looked at Jesse, Jesse trembled and shouted,
"......She was fine until we parted yesterday! After getting the prosthetic arm, we tested it for a while, and she was perfectly fine. I don't know why she didn't come today!"
She seemed genuinely scared, but she really looked like she didn't know.
According to what Mr. Eve told her, the school hadn't received any contact about Scarlett.
Since the principal was the only one who knew the students' personal information to treat them fairly, there was no way to find out what happened immediately.
Mae, the class president of Class A, who knew her number, tried calling but only got the ringing tone.
She felt a bit jealous that Scarlett knew a number she didn't, but that wasn't important now.
Sylvia was worried about what could have happened, as Scarlett wasn't the type to skip school without reason. She noticed Yun Siwoo, who sat next to her, looking serious.
Though he was a bit uncomfortable, he seemed to know something, so Sylvia asked,
"Do you know anything?"
After a moment of hesitation, Yun Siwoo answered,
"......Scarlett lives alone. I'm worried she might be very sick."
At his words, Sylvia imagined her friend suffering alone and exclaimed,
"That's a big problem! Do you know where she lives?"
"For now...... she lives not far from my house, so I thought I'd stop by on my way back."
Sylvia thought of Yun Siwoo taking care of Scarlett.
A man she liked entering a woman's house, alone?
It didn't feel right to leave it like that. Recalling her schedule for the evening, she made up her mind.
Last time, she couldn't visit the hospital, so this time, she would.
"Then I'll go with you. To visit her."
Author's Note:
Congratulations! Scarlett Evande has been registered in the Pokédex!
On June 2nd, a fan art by EvandePunch was uploaded! Please check it out!