Chapter 26
Right at the moment Iri's eyes sparkled sharply, Martin said casually.
"There are a few crazies in the Magic Tower experimenting on how diligently monster hybrids exercise, how they run, stuff like that?"
No. Their experiments were illegal.
Iri quietly listened to Martin.
"We have a rule not to interfere with others' experiments, so I don't know exactly what kind."
"Ah......"
"By the way, so the monster hybrid experiment room was here. No one could navigate the basement before, so nobody even knew this room existed. Now we do."
Looking at the Red Room door somehow felt ominous.
Iri asked a bit impatiently.
"Um, can I go inside that room?"
"Pardon? But it's someone else's experiment room, so entering might be......"
Iri pondered deeply then opened her mouth.
"But, Teachaw Mawtin-nim! I just heard someone gwoning in pain fwom inside that woom-nimida!"
She hadn't actually heard, but they were surely suffering.
"R-really? Someone's hurt?"
Martin was quite individualistic. But he hadn't completely lost his humanity.
Iri firmly seized the opening he showed.
"Seems huwt-nimida! Do you wemembew the 5 Commandments, Teachaw-nim?"
"Ah......?"
"5th Commandment. If a fwiend is sick, save them!"
Even with her sparkling eyes!
And so, they decided to open the Red Room door.
* * *
As Iri expected, Karhen was imprisoned inside the 'Red Room.'
The experiments were paused, but due to side effects from drugs he'd taken?
Stabbing abdominal pain like his belly sliced by a blade hit him.
He curled up clutching his stomach on the floor.
Pain was familiar.
So Karhen quietly curled tighter without even groaning.
If he had a final wish, he wanted to hear happy laughter. Hearing someone carefree laugh might ease the pain a bit.
But right then.
A whistling sound came from outside the red door.
Like wind, or maybe a hallucination.
As Karhen perked his ears, the sound slowly faded.
Karhen carefully opened his eyes.
And finally heard it.
A knock, knock.
"Um, can I come in-nimikka?"
A voice full of inexplicable tenderness, asking whose permission anyway.
"If no one's inside, I'll open the door-nimidaa."
Karhen instinctively realized.
*'That kid's the one. Ortejo's......'*
Karhen stared blankly at the sliver of light peeking into the dim space.
He'd thought this secret room's door would never open.
That no one knew of their existence.
The door guardian golem creaked as it opened the door.
Through the slightly ajar door, a silver-haired little girl rushed in.
"Hewwo! Came to save you!"
In that instant, their eyes met.
*'An angel?'*
If you gathered the world's most lovable things and molded them together, it'd be like this.
The boy Karhen, always abused.
This situation felt strange: the world's brightest smiling child reaching out to him.
So he rose.
As the limping boy appeared, the girl's beaming face crumbled for a moment.
"Eh......?"
Iri blinked.
To Iri, Karhen's first impression was a child in ragged clothes.
His pale body blotchy from constant blood draws.
"......Who are you?"
Seeing his guarded, thorny expression, Iri froze blankly in place.
Iri had thought all along.
To prevent the North's fall, she had to save Karhen.
But now she finally understood.
Why Karhen wanted to destroy the North.
The small child was......
"Why...... did you come?"
His whole body, and even his heart, seemed covered in wounds.
So ravaged and rough, even new skin would struggle to grow, full of scratches.
Iri muttered in a trembling voice.
"I-I, um, came to save...... you......"
The moment she saw Karhen's wounds.
Like her own stomach hurt, or pricked by Hammuni's needle, a corner of her heart stung sharply.
"Does it huwt a wot......?"
"......"
Karhen was seeing someone ask if he was 'hurt' for the first time.
He gazed at Iri with an expression like watching something about to vanish.
Iri cautiously reached out her hand.
"Hey, wanna go with me?"
But he couldn't grasp her hand.
Because he couldn't place his wounded hand on her warm, soft, pure white one.
Seeing him hesitate, Iri gently took his hand.
"Wet's go togethew. I'll save you."
Soft yet firm hand.
Today, Karhen was saved.
* * *
At the same time.
Check on the top floor went 'Kuhuhu!' and whistled.
Having heard the secretary's report, he grinned satisfied.
"Amazing. Never paid attention to the Magic Tower basement, but it's gotten so clean. The 5 Commandments have such power. Or is it Lady Iri and Martin's power?"
"Some are going up and down the Magic Tower stairs claiming they'll exercise. We used to cart out dead bodies every three days, but it's been a week with zero deaths!"
"Remarkable."
He was thinking of rewarding Lady Iri somehow.
Then the door opened.
"How awe you doing-nimikka! Came cuz I have thomething to say-nimida!"
"Hm? Yes?"
Before Check could reply, figures peeked from behind Iri.
They didn't look particularly unusual at first glance.
But looking closer, something was off.
"Wh-who are those behind you?"
"Monster hybwid fwiends-nimida!"
"Ah, bwought them to help with expwiments."
Check looked puzzled.
He'd heard monster hybrids in the basement were doing 'exercise experiments' checking their strength levels.
Reports said they got decent pay, so he'd approved the budget not long ago.
But oddly, their faces were covered in scratches.
No, their bodies too.
No......
Bruises and abrasions everywhere on their bodies.
"Wh-what is this......"
"These fwiends wewe in wots of pain! They wewe abused-nimida!"
"Pardon......?"
"Magic Towew cweaning opened doows, and they wewe thewe-nimida!"
Iri said loudly with sparkling eyes.
"Pwease scold the bad wizards who hit my fwiends!"
At those words, Karhen gazed at Iri's back with trembling eyes.
Asking someone to 'scold' for his sake was a first.
Monster hybrid slaves' daily life was being experimented on, after all.
Only then did Check's gaze reach Karhen behind her.
He tilted his head.
"......Huh? Why so many wounds?"
Then he returned to his desk and rifled through piled documents.
"No, the report clearly said humane experiments?"
The moment his eyes bulged wide.
Iri didn't miss the chance.
The child who summons adults whenever needed!
"A bad guy must've wied!"
At those words, flames sparked in Check's eyes.
