Chapter 17

“Strange. When I’m with you, I feel calm,”

Kalisten said as he leaned on my shoulder. My body stiffened involuntarily. He stayed there with a blank stare and then slowly fell off me.

“It’s alright. You can lean on me more. You’re having a hard time with the drugs?”

Without even thinking, I blurted out those words. Probably because he was particularly quiet and gave off a meek impression that day. 

After my permission fell, he leaned back on my shoulder. I patted his back.

***

A-888.

Another encounter with Duke Felix Magnolia, who infiltrated this laboratory undercover. Since we’re both grade A it’s inevitable. There’s so much work assigned to us, so if you’re still alive, you’ll run into each other often.

“You owe me.”

“… Yes, thank you.”

When I thanked him politely, he smiled. Imagining his calculating nature behind that disarming smile and the mental image of slaughtering people without hesitation, my stomach grewnumb in terror.

As recalled from the story, he had the ability to control the atmosphere.

He could murder people painfully with sharp winds, or suffocate them to death by sucking out the oxygen.

Kalisten had the opposite ability.

Fire cannot be ignited without air.

But if the two really fought, I still didn’t believe Kalisten would lose. Of course, if he can’t breathe or ignite his fire by removing the air around him, Felix could successfully negate his incursion.

But Kalisten was able to detonate anything in sight, so what would happen if he struck faster?

Today’s task wasn’t washing the beakers today but to pull out all the experimental tools and clean them.

I don’t know why Felix was helping me. He was likewise busy with moving chemicals and labware out of the way.

“That.”

“Um?”

“Be careful with that.”

“….…”

“Y-you should handle that with care. That’s hydrochloric acid.”

“You know what this is?”

“Yes.”

I worked in the laboratory and conducted all kinds of experiments in my previous life.

I could tell what it was on sight. The strange thing is that the packaging, labels and even overall the shape of the containers were similar to what I was used to in my past life. Even the acid was contained in a brown bottle.

“Can you read?”

“Yes.”

I didn’t know how I knew how to read, but I could read although it was obviously not Korean.

“Where were you before you came here?”

‘The person I’m looking for has platinum hair and a face like yours. And they smell as good as you.’

The person he wants to kill.

I don’t know who that person was, but I didn’t want to get involved.

Besides, I don’t know where the first owner of my current body came from. It didn’t appear in the novel “And Everyone Was Silent.”

Giving a rough hint, I figured he’ll understand.

“I do not know.”

“What?”

“I don’t remember. I think I may have been sold here like most.”

“… Really?”

“Yes.”

Most of the subjects who arrived here had been sold to slave traders. 

Occasionally some people came in for the punishment of a huge crime, but those were few and far in between.

“Then, do you want to find your parents?”

“… No, what’s the point?”

There was a grave shift in his expression, so I thoughtlessly added words.

“And if they haven’t come looking for me yet…. Well, I think it’s better not to have empty hopes.”

“… .”

He was still grim.

“B-besides! I also hope that my parents—if they are still alive—won’t attempt doing such dangerous things… .”

“If they really sold you, would you still think so?”

“There must have been a reason.”

“What if the reason is bullshit?”

“Still… It’s enough for me to simply be grateful for letting me be born. I don’t even know who they are, but I don’t want to hate them.”

Actually, I never really thought about it before.

In my previous life, my parents were always apologetic towards me for being poor. I was voracious about learning, but they always supported me and never expressed any vexation or dissatisfaction with my choice to continue my schooling.

I am so thankful for you two.

“Are you crying?”

“Ah— no!”

I had been lost in my thoughts, remembering my parents as I stared at my feet. After blinking, I lifted my head and forced a smile on my face for Felix. His glare seemed sharper and his moody douriness appeared more ominous.

“You’re chained to a place where you’re not even considered human and that’s all you have to say?”

“… Ah… .”

“Here, is a punishment—acriminal sentence for some. But I don’t think that applies to you.”

“W-what do you mean?”

“Pay me no mind.”

He then began to continue his task as if he had nothing more to say to me.

I didn’t want to get in his way as he was busy carrying glass bottles, so I began my task of emptying the containers as quickly as he supplied them.

A dull thump as he placed the glass on the table made me glance at him. He looked more angry than before.

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