Chapter 142. Where I Belong (2)
The dark room held only a massive monitor.
A moment later, the screen lit up.
A blonde, blue-eyed girl appeared on it.
She greeted Yukgap warmly.
[Have you been well?]
Yukgap carefully placed the coffin containing Victoria in front of her.
Then he immediately bowed his head and pleaded.
“Alpha, I have a request.”
His body was trembling.
Desperation filled his voice.
That was how badly he needed this.
“If you grant my request, I swear I’ll never desert again.”
“I’ll serve Abraxas for the rest of my life.”
“No... you can tear me apart and use me as an experimental subject if you want.”
[Hmm?]
The girl called Alpha looked intrigued by his behavior.
Yukgap begged her.
“Please bring Victoria back.”
“Bring back the woman who helped me.”
“If it’s you, I’m sure there’s a way.”
He knew how shameless it was to ask for something after deserting on his own.
But right now, Alpha was the only person Yukgap could rely on.
[Hahahaha! Why would I punish you?]
[You’re a good boy who completed my errand.]
Yukgap froze at the unexpected words.
“Errand?”
Alpha stretched out a hand from inside the monitor and urged him.
[You brought the shining red stone, didn’t you?]
[Come on. Show me.]
“How do you know about that?”
Yukgap was immediately confused.
He had not told her anything about the Philosopher’s Stone yet.
So why was Alpha speaking about it as though it were obvious?
[Of course I know.]
Alpha spoke as though she had known everything from the very beginning.
[I sent you out in the first place so you would bring it back to me.]
“What... does that mean?”
Yukgap could barely form the words.
She sent me out to retrieve the Philosopher’s Stone?
He had tasted kimchi and deserted of his own accord.
Then he had met Victoria.
At least, that was what he believed.
He could not understand what Alpha was implying.
“No. 6, allow me to explain from here.”
As though reading his confusion, No. 11 came limping out from the distance.
The instant Yukgap saw him, he instinctively growled.
“No. 11!”
“Are you planning to take revenge on Victoria?”
“Of course not.”
“She is an honored guest.”
No. 11 smiled lightly.
“But please refrain from causing trouble.”
With that, he casually swung his cane.
An instant later, pain tore through Yukgap’s body as though his lungs were being shredded from within.
“Ghk!”
Yukgap coughed up blood and collapsed.
No. 11 sneered down at him.
“You didn’t realize, did you?”
“I released lethal bacteria the moment you entered this place.”
“If you struggle too much, they’ll spread even faster.”
“You bastard...!”
Yukgap staggered while glaring at No. 11.
But the bacteria were already consuming his body at incredible speed.
Eventually, he could no longer endure it and fell to the floor.
Alpha watched him and gave an order.
[Bring me the shining red stone.]
“With pleasure.”
No. 11 approached the fallen Yukgap.
He searched through his clothes and carefully took out the Philosopher’s Stone.
It glowed with a vivid red light, almost as though it were burning.
“N-No...”
“Victoria...”
Yukgap stared at the stone and struggled to breathe.
Alpha spoke to him gently.
[Don’t worry.]
[Our guest will wake up.]
[I promise.]
“Ugh...”
Completely overwhelmed by the bacteria, Yukgap could no longer speak.
His head dropped to the floor as he lost consciousness.
Alpha hummed happily as she watched him.
[He was a good boy and completed my errand.]
[I should grant him at least one little request.]
No. 11 held out the Philosopher’s Stone and cautiously asked,
“Alpha, may I ask you something?”
[What is it?]
A large mechanical arm emerged beside the monitor.
No. 11 handed the stone to it.
“You are capable of creating a Philosopher’s Stone yourself, are you not?”
“Then why go through all this trouble?”
[Of course I can make a Philosopher’s Stone.]
[But I can’t create the ‘wish’ that has to be placed inside it.]
Wooooom.
The mechanical arm moved, carrying the Philosopher’s Stone closer to Alpha’s monitor.
Alpha gazed at it with an almost ecstatic expression.
[A Philosopher’s Stone can contain a single wish.]
[Mary Frankenstein wanted to bring her daughter back to life.]
[That is why her Philosopher’s Stone carries the power of resurrection and regeneration.]
To bring back her dead daughter.
A wish born from maternal love, so powerful that ordinary words could not fully describe it.
That obsession had become one of the central forces that completed the miraculous substance known as the Philosopher’s Stone.
[Even I can’t manufacture that kind of wish.]
[The obsession a mother has for her daughter is something even I cannot imitate.]
Alpha knew that limitation very well.
Only then did No. 11 understand her intention.
“So that is why you chose to retrieve one that had already been completed?”
[Exactly.]
[A Philosopher’s Stone filled with an obsession for a daughter, something even I cannot reproduce.]
[It is one of the largest pieces of our plan.]
The mechanical arm carried the Philosopher’s Stone deep into the darkness.
