—–
Within an underground laboratory, a small old man with a long white beard and a bald head looked at the floating mass of flesh inside a tube. This tube contained a green and oozy substance that nourished this lump of flesh, which continued to grow bigger with each passing day. Within this flesh, there was a soul, and within this body, there was also a large black jewel as its core.
He looked at the experiment and then continued to walk through his facility, ignoring the several skeletons walking in and out of the whole place while maintaining the things in motion. He looked at the empty room where he once held two of his items.
“Damn it. They escaped and even found someone to help them! But… Even if they escape, they cannot really run away from me… As long as they hold those Magic Crystals, I can always track them down,” He laughed, holding onto a runic tablet, and a magical projection suddenly showed that his targets were closer than he imagined.
“Huh?! They’re in the town now…? Haha! Fools! You brought them closer to me… Hm?”
Suddenly, another magical artifact began to ring; a small eye-shaped item on his pendant.
Ring, ring~
“Ungh… T-The boss…”
He quickly attended the call as the voice of a stoic man spoke.
“Borudro, how are the experiments going? I’ve invested enough time and money in you for you to finally show me some results. And I don’t want to see any more wild and stupid chimeras. I want proper results this time around,”
“A-Ah…! Yes, boss! T-The results are almost readyyy… I-It’s just… T-There was a slight… disturbance,” Said the man.
“What disturbance?! And you’re telling me you finally made them, right? Living beings capable of adapting to the power of the Evil God’s Fragments and utilizing them without being affected negatively? This is what I paid you for, for over 30 years, you know?”
“Yes! T-They’re almost ready! The tests showed great results. They were able to wield the Dark God’s Energy through the implants made from the Dark God’s Fragment! They had been successfully made into Magic Crystals that fuel their bodies with power like a monster’s magic crystal does. And due to their souls being summoned into this world from another, they possess unique talents to boot! They could become excellent soldiers and warriors for the entire organization!” Shouted the man.
“You’re not lying to me, are you?!”
“N-No! I would never…!”
“Then send them to me. I want to see the merchandise myself. And quickly!”
“A-As I said… there are some disturbances with the delivery… If Master could… wait a bit more….”
“Disturbances?! What is it this time?” Asked the man.
“The… subjects had escaped the facility by using abilities I had not expected them to develop so soon… I had sent my dogs chasing them, and they almost caught them, but… Well, someone came. A group of around four and they defeated my dogs incredibly quickly! W-Whoever they are, they will learn to never disturb my work!” Shouted the man.
“Y-You useless piece of trash! I only have so much patience! Catch them quickly! Use anything you have! Money! Power! Anything! I require those two subjects… they’re the key for us Vampires to fulfill our goal!”
“Y-Yes! I will do everything I can to retrieve them!” Said the little man.
“And about those aristocrats… have them give you more resources. They owe me a lot. Use those resources and build strong chimeras. Whoever those that are trying to disturb you are, destroy them!” Shouted the Vampire.
“Yes!”
The call was abruptly cut, as the halfling old man could almost barely keep standing. His boss was very tyrannical and rather temperamental.
He quickly ordered the skeleton to get moving, as all of them possessed the souls of talented alchemists or people that exuded in the area of magical science.
There were also proficient biologists and even crafters, which he had placed into these Undead bodies through contracts, summoning magic, and other dark arts.
He began to quickly fill more tubes with new fleshy beings, which began to grow at an insane speed after the insertion of special toxins and magic.
Each one of them had glowing black crystals within them…
“Now that I know your location, the only thing I need to do is wait until my chimeras are done and then send them chasing you down at night! Perhaps your heroes were strong, but they won’t be able to fight against these improved chimeras!”
—–
Today in the morning, the kids finally woke up feeling better, although they were feeling a bit exhausted and always saying their chest hurt a bit. Emeraldine used her magic to alleviate their pain as we were greeted by an early breakfast brought by the assistant of the Inn once more.
The breakfast wasn’t any different than the dinner from last night, but it included some wild berry jam with bread, a small cup of fresh milk, and a piece of cheese too. It was actually a tiny bit more generous than the dinner, but it had less soup, as it was only now a cup and not a whole plate. Also, the potato was still there, and the coffee too.
The kids had their own while I enjoyed one with Emeraldine as the others didn’t seem to want to eat. Partner had her fill of blood last night so she could go on without any thirst for over a week, I believe. Meanwhile, Lucifer is a zombie and doesn’t particularly feel any hunger.
Well, me neither, but I wanted to try out this cute little breakfast, and to no surprise, it was amazing!
“Anyways, you two, I think it is finally time to open up a bit and tell us… who are you? We don’t even know your names,” I asked the two kids.
“Maria-sama, d-don’t pressure the kids….” Said Emeraldine.
“No, it’s fine….” Muttered the girl as the boy nodded.
“You’re good people… You deserve to know the truth…My name is Laura, while he’s Takeshi…” She said.
“Wait, Takeshi? That’s Japanese, right?” I wondered.
“Huh?!”
The two kids ended up looking at me, surprised.
“Hm? What?”
—–