Chapter 262 - The Ark Of Human Experimentation

"He is still around but I do not have his exact location since he became a family man. He does no work except for wooden sculptures. But since you have a small lead with Clement, I suggest going with it first. From what I know, I have no one named 'Clement' in the hit lists."

"Well, we will find out very soon if he would be in there. That settles it, I am still dragging you along. Now, I want to retire for the night," said Mavislin, reverting to her child form.

She then lazily slumped into Bryan's l.a.p once more.

"Oi, you have your own room!" exclaimed Bryan as Mavislin snuggled closer.

"Carry me there then! I'm too tired..." w.h.i.n.ed Mavislin.

"You are such a child."

"I'm older than you by centuries."

The Slayer reluctantly stood up and carried the young Valkyrie to her room. This left Ysabeau and Gab alone, while the bartender slowly washed the area.

"Not going to sleep?" asked Gab, finishing his drink.

"No, I'm still on duty. There's something that I had on my mind but I can't confirm the existence of it," said Ysabeau.

"Well, I'm not going to turn in just yet so might as well spill it out. And besides, why are you on duty anyways? This isn't under the areas that you protect," asked Gab, confused on why Ysabeau was standing guard.

"I'm not fully guarding the place. I'm just on watch duty. Any fights, I just watch. Unless it involves us Mages, I won't be stepping in."

"So what is it that you wanted to ask?"

"About the recent incidents. I am positive that it does not concern the Umbra anymore. Mavislin and I could not find any trace of Corruption around the area either. Unless we can find that the incident does indeed involve the Mages, we might pull out," said Ysabeau, darkly.

"That is quite a problem. Any other shining ways to go about this?"

"There's also one more thing I need to know about. Human experimentation. Has it hit these areas yet?" asked Ysabeau.

"Not that I know of. But I heard of such cruel things before. They would use rats as test subjects but after they found out they were ridden with disease, they switched up their game. To humans. They were taking the weak ones and mentally ill ones," explained Gab, face caked in worry.

"Any idea what was their goal?"

"No clue. None of us has managed to infiltrate any laboratory. Those who came close could only come across an abandoned area. And those who got captured had cut ties with us instantly," replied Gab, standing up.

"It was as if they vanished, just like the girls did," continued Gab.

As he washed his glass, Ysabeau felt uneasy. How could human experimentation be possible? It was so odd to her. Humans seemed to love each other, always so arrogant. Dissecting themselves for no good reason doesn't make sense.

No, humans loved seeing pain. They loved to see their own kind twist and turn in pain. That's why conflict is in the air, that's why countries wage war. Why did they need land? Why can't they just compromise and share the land?

They'd rather splatter the land with pools of their own blood. Claiming victory on top of the mountain of corpses they've made and call themselves leaders. That was sickening to the core, praising yourself for such crimes. It made Ysabeau's stomach turn.

"Don't let it get to you," said Gab, after placing his glass back onto the racks.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Don't let such petty things get to you. The more you dwell on it, the more depressing it becomes. If you ponder on it longer, it would still not make any sense. This is who we truly are. Selfish. Cowardly. Arrogant. That's what makes us human."

"And that's what I hate about working with you lot. I'm only doing this because my Valkyrie pleaded for us to do so. If we don't ponder on their thinking, we won't find the reason why humans think and act this way."

"Sometimes, there is no reason. Not every action humans make must have a reason. And you will have to learn to accept that."

There was a brief pause between the two. Ysabeau had no excuse or come back for the advice Gab had given. He reminded Ysabeau of Minwoo, guess he was trained by that Korean White Rat after all. Ysabeau only had one more question to ask the Baron.

"The girls that were stolen. Do you have any idea about their profiles? Their similarities, features. Were they all the same age? Or hair color?"

"All of them had one common ground. They were all from the Velvet Pearl, but snatched away at the D.e.s.i.r.ed Roses."