HEO 86

“…Fuck. Is it already that time of the month?”

〔My clock is accurate. If you don’t take your medicine, you’ll go into heat. And this place is swarming with muscular male pirates.〕

“Stop! I get it, just shut up.”

Silver cursed and sat up. He rummaged through his belt pouch, pulled out a small glass bottle, and shook it. The pills bumped around inside the bottle. He sighed. To think he had to take this every single week without fail.

Silver took a pill out of the bottle and swallowed it. He put the bottle back in, lay down with his arm as a pillow, and spoke listlessly.

“Starry Eyes. Am I really that thing?”

〔Are you asking again, Ƨᴉɼʌԍʁ? To answer you again, you are likely a mutant.〕

〔I told you that even after reaching puberty, standard physiological indicators, including nocturnal emissions, were almost non-existent. Asexual tendencies during adolescence are a representative characteristic of male mutants.〕

〔You said your father used to lift your blanket every morning and get angry at you, calling you impotent, right? It was an overreaction to your asexual tendencies.〕

It felt like he was just listening to someone else’s story. The situation was so absurd that he was unable to respond. ‘Turns out I’m a male mutant capable of carrying a baby’ this is just too much!

“No matter how much I think about it, that old hag Erem is the leader of a pleasure killer cult. Bingapsu fell right in with that hag and paid her huge sums of money without fail. That bastard didn’t hide the fact that he respected her in front of me. So……”

Silver grabbed at the weeds at the edge of the cliff. Starry Eyes lifted his front legs without hesitation and made an X sign.

〔I didn’t see it with my own eyes, but that basement must be a medical facility. You, who are ignorant of medicine, mistook it for a murderer’s pleasure torture chamber.〕

〔If Erem were a murderer, she would have always kept that basement spotless. Although Stoll has an inadequate judicial system, the story of an ‘orphanage director who enjoys pleasure killing’ would provoke public outrage. If the rumor spread, warriors from surrounding tribes would storm in with axes.〕

〔Rumors that the orphanage doubled as a mutant research lab had been circulating beneath the surface for a long time, and its authority must have been highly recognized. The fact that your father donated large sums without suspicion must be because it was a place that was trustworthy. It was the only hope for curing his son’s disability.〕

〔There must have been a separate reason why he intended to offer the servant to Erem. It seems your father believed the servant was Thunder. Didn’t you say he compared the servant to a hero or Thunder in folklore? Providing a rare mutant specimen would make Erem more enthusiastic about your treatment. Parents of disabled children try to curry favor with doctors.〕

That explanation made Black Weasel look even more pathetic. It would have been better if he had tried to kill Wolf because he believed Wolf had been possessed by an evil spirit.

This is just too despicable, you bastard. Trying to kill someone else’s son in the name of saving your own? How could you just pass away without leaving a single excuse?

Silver stared at the night sky. His memories opened a door.

It was about half a year after Black Weasel had died when Silver visited Director Erem. Silver kicked open the door to the director’s office and barged in without warning. Director Erem, who had been tilting her teacup at her desk, froze, then stared at him.

‘Old hag Erem! You know Black Weasel, right? I’m talking about that hairy bastard who’s been raking in huge sums for you every single time!’

Silver screamed at the top of his lungs. Director Erem put down her teacup with trembling hands.

‘Who is that person? I-I don’t know.’

Silver’s vision went white. You don’t know? Even this crazy old hag answered that she doesn’t know Bingapsu?

‘Are you kidding me?’

His reason vanished. Silver grabbed Director Erem by the collar across the desk. He lifted the old woman up and slammed her onto the floor.

‘Help! That madman is abusing an old woman!’

Director Erem wailed. The nannies hurried over in alarm, but Silver didn’t even blink.

‘You thought I didn’t know anything? You wicked old hag! You must have tortured and killed the orphanage children in the basement too! There must be tons of children’s bones buried in the mountain behind here!’

‘What nonsense! He’s a madman! Save me!’

‘Shut up, you old hag!’

Silver grabbed Director Erem by the hair and headed toward the barn. He roughly shook off the nannies who tried to block his path and clung to his limbs. On the day he had witnessed the coachman moving the sacks of corpses, Silver had gone down to the basement while the man was away. What he had seen then? Dark brown organs preserved in glass tubes. Dried ones, fragmented ones, sewn-up ones. On the wall were several knives, awls, and scissors.

He kicked the iron basement door. Silver shoved Director Erem into the basement.

‘Are you still going to deny it? You murderer!’

‘I… I admit it. I obtained the corpses for research through dishonest means. But everyone does that… It’s not just me…’

Director Erem slumped to the ground and cried. The nannies hurriedly shielded Erem.

‘What are you doing! Stop causing trouble for the Director!’

One nanny stepped forward.

‘You seem to be misunderstanding something. This is a laboratory and operating room. It’s a medical facility!’

‘Do I look blind to you? Those knifes! The organs in the glass jars! The bloodstains!’

Silver pointed his finger at the murder tools hanging on the wall.

‘Now I see, you’re all in cahoots. You old hag and all of you, are you witches who escaped from Atania? Is that old hag your cult leader? Crazy witches who enjoy pleasure killing!’

‘No! We are medical professionals who save lives!’

The nanny raised her voice.

‘The knifes hanging on the wall are anatomical and surgical instruments. The organs in the glass jars are research specimens, and the bloodstains are from surgical and dissection practice. This is a place to repair and research human bodies, not a room for killing and torture! The Director is a recognized medical scholar in Atania!’

Silver paused for a moment. It felt as if his foot had tripped while he was running. Something was wrong.

Did I…get it wrong?

Old Hag Erem is a medical scholar? A doctor?

If what they said is true, there is only one reason for Bingapsu to frequent this place.

Did that bastard have a chronic illness he didn’t even tell me about?

Silver’s whole body grew cold. This was truly something he had never imagined.

Was it some kind of incurable disease? Was he suffering from a disease where no medicine works? Damn it, was he going to die sooner or later even if that servant hadn’t chopped off his head?!

‘That bastard…’

Even to his own ears, his voice sounded hollow.

‘What was wrong? What kind of disease did he get…?’

The surroundings fell silent. The nannies exchanged glances but said nothing. Soon, Director Erem stood up. She smoothed her messy hair with both hands and straightened her back.

The old woman’s eyes scanned Silver. From top to bottom. From bottom to top. It was a gaze as sharp as a knife peeling away skin.

‘The man known as Black Weasel. I mean the one who supposedly donated large sums to me.’

Director Erem’s tone was clear.

‘Is he your father?’

Silver did not answer. Director Erem’s eyes narrowed. Once again, that gaze–like a knife peeling skin–scrutinized Silver’s entire body. Soon after, a smile bloomed on the old doctor’s lips.

‘This place, you see.’

Director Erem looked directly at Silver.

‘This is a place where parents come because of their children’s chronic illnesses.’

Silver became even more confused. What is she talking about?

Director Erem took a step closer.

‘Innate constitution, innate defect, innate disability. They may look fine on the outside, but they are children born with a destiny to eventually shatter into pieces like a cracked jar.’

Silver’s heart pounded, and his whole body grew cold. It was the physical change that occured when a premonition sent a warning signal. He felt he was about to receive a terrifying verdict.

Director Erem approached step by step, then step by step.

‘Parents knock on this door to change their children’s fate. If your father had donated large sums to me…’

The old doctor’s tone was as detached as reading a medical diagnosis.

‘If there is a disease, it is not your father, but you.’

It felt as if poison was spreading through his veins.

If there is a disease, me?

Me?

〔Erem said there wouldn’t be a problem as long as you take your medicine on time.〕

Starry Eyes’ voice pulled Silver out of his reverie. A cold, dim basement, the old doctor’s cold pronouncement, and the smell of blood vanished like smoke.

〔Ƨᴉɼʌԍʁ, you just suffer from a somewhat peculiar disorder. Don’t take it seriously. It has already been over half a year since you turned twenty, but you are exactly the same as before.〕