Just before 19th entity entered a certain door.
So, not long after holding Sophia’s hand and leaving the Isolation Room.
Hmm…
19th entity was fiddling with the small device wrapped around its neck as if something was bothering it.
“Is it very uncomfortable?”
Sophia asked 19th entity with a worried tone. The girl had been subtly touching the device, looking incredibly uncomfortable.
“I’m sorry. You have to wear that if you want to go outside, you know.”
But, it couldn’t be helped. Oliver Smith had somehow obtained permission to take 19th entity out of a limited area, but taking an Anomalous Entity out of the Isolation Room could pose a serious threat.
No matter how low the risk level of a given entity, the slightest hint of danger required at least some precautionary measures.
The round device, which looked like a collar around its neck, certainly didn’t appear ordinary. In an emergency, it could destroy vital points and blood vessels, leading to a swift demise—literally, a bomb collar.
That was the “minimum precaution” imposed on 19th entity.
“I’ll take it off when it’s time to return, so can you hold on until then?”
.-nod-nod.-
“Hehe, thank you.”
Still, Sophia wasn’t overly worried. From what she had observed, 19th entity didn’t exhibit a violent personality, nor did it show much in the way of rebellion besides shaking its head in protest.
After all, the goal of the Abnormal Phenomena Management Office was to manage the entities in isolation, not to eliminate them unless absolutely necessary. Attacks or deaths could trigger dreadful Abnormal Phenomena, so even entities researched for long periods were protected unless there was a special reason to harm them.
In fact, it could be said that there was no real chance of the device exploding and causing 19th entity a horrific accident, so Sophia gently patted its head and offered her hand.
Sure, it’s a bit uncomfortable.
19th entity, upon hearing her words, stopped fiddling with the device around its neck. In truth, it hadn’t intended to show discomfort at first. However, actually wearing such a collar brought about feelings of frustration and rejection beyond what it had imagined.
Well, if it’s a tracking collar to prevent losing a child, I guess it can’t be helped.
Confusing the device for a tracking collar, 19th entity decided to put up with the discomfort. It logically reasoned that such a collar would be difficult to remove if strapped to the neck rather than to a wrist or ankle, where it could easily be taken off.
Moreover, it seemed that the collar had a tracking device attached as well. Thinking it better to behave quietly so as not to disrupt today’s outing, 19th entity took Sophia’s extended hand and began to explore the facility.
As they wandered around the facility for a while, what caught 19th entity’s eye the most wasn’t the shape or structure of the facility but rather the sight of people wandering around inside.
…There are a lot of people.
It was a funny situation. After all, 19th entity already knew it didn’t have the peculiar hobby of observing humans.
Its brief desire to step outside was primarily to understand what kind of place this facility was and exactly what they did.
Yet, despite all this, all it saw were people going about their usual business.
It really feels like I’ve returned home…
Somehow, a lump formed in its heart. Even though it had lost its place to return to, drifting through dimensions with no sense of home, it thought it had lost both nostalgia and memories of its hometown.
Yet, simply seeing people move about—the most ordinary of scenes—made it feel as if it had been rewarded for everything it had experienced until now.
With a sense of finally having returned home, feeling a whirlwind of complicated emotions, 19th entity valiantly held back tears that threatened to blur its vision and savored the ordinary landscape spread out around it.
“―――――――――.”
Meanwhile, behind 19th entity, quite a number of people stood frozen, staring at it without realizing it.
“…Who’s that child?”
“I don’t know. But the one next to her looks like Researcher Sophia.”
“Didn’t Researcher Sophia get married?”
“I doubt it. I’ve never heard she has a partner. Besides, if you’re so curious, why don’t you just ask her directly?”
“Uh, how should I, it feels like I can’t just talk to her….”
People who passed by began to murmur in whispers that couldn’t be heard. 19th entity’s appearance was such that it naturally drew everyone’s attention.
Especially, the girl standing next to the typically unfriendly woman, who was highly regarded for her looks and work but generally avoided by others because of her cold demeanor—was radiating an aura, sighing as if she were in a painting.
Thus, attracting everyone’s gaze, but with no one daring to speak out, it exuded a somehow unreachable atmosphere.
As people’s eyes were fixed on 19th entity, diligently exploring the area permitted to it, a voice that Sophia recognized began to come from down the hallway.
“Ah, Sophia!”
As she turned to look in the direction of the voice, a young man was quickly approaching her.
It was her junior, Arthur.
“Oh my, good to see you, Arthur.”
“Really? Where have you been? Didn’t you see the call?”
While Sophia greeted him cheerfully, Arthur began to scold her, somewhat incredulously. Normally, researchers would respond immediately to calls or notifications, but his senior Sophia never reacted right away and as a result, he had to seek her out himself.
Considering how busy he was with his own work, not being angry was quite generous of him.
“Apparently, the Management Office just—”
However, while he was about to press her, he saw the girl next to her and suddenly stopped talking.
No wonder, the girl holding Sophia’s hand possessed stunning beauty that hit like a sledgehammer to the head, delivering an impact that was nothing short of breathtaking.
“…Who is she?”
“Ah, she’s the 19th entity. Now that I think about it, you probably haven’t been given related information yet.”
Wow, the request actually passed? Arthur thought to himself. He had always known Oliver Smith to be quite strict about such things.
Of course, he was right; Oliver was precisely that sort of person. However, the fact remained that the person Arthur knew would never indulge such an absurd request as letting an Anomalous Entity outside.
“Is that so? I didn’t really hear details about her appearance….”
Nevertheless, he couldn’t bring himself to say more. The reason? The moment he laid eyes on that girl, he could hardly avert his gaze from her adorably charming image.
Arthur had been aware of 19th entity’s appearance to some extent. After all, even if Sophia loved cute things, considering her behavior since a few weeks ago, it seemed as if she was enchanted by something.
But no matter what, to be struck dumb like this was…
Something felt odd.
Could it be an attack related to the mind? No matter how much Sophia explained that she had undergone a mental contamination test, afterward she could still have been hit with some other attack.
After all, it was quite a while since he had even thought about wanting to hold someone.
In a sense, maybe it was a new type of mental contamination.
Caught up in those thoughts, Arthur shook his head lightly and closed his eyes, starting to murmur to himself.
