Inside the building of the Ruthenia Corporation, two people crossed paths.
The mont I saw them, I felt a strange sense of déjà vu.
Although I probably hadn’t seen them that often, there was an inexplicable familiarity about them.
The silver-haired elf known as Sator greeted the man with a smile, happily saying, “Luke, how could you go completely off the grid? You can’t just be so cold to a friend!”
“I’m really sorry about that. I’ve been super busy lately.”
Although they referred to each other as friends, they didn’t seem that close; while Sator greeted him enthusiastically, the man appeared indifferent.
The man asked Sator, “But Sator, didn’t you hate hanging around crowded places because of your germophobia?”
“That’s true; I’m not a fan. But when sothing piques my interest, a researcher simply has to check it out. The last ti I ca to settle a contract for the reconstruction of the lab, I had a chat with the senior researcher from Ruthenia. They were having trouble creating a prosthetic arm for a pyromancer, so I gave them a hand. As you know, I have lots of interest and knowledge in that area.”
Sator adjusted his glasses with his gloved hand while he spoke.
At first, I thought the white gloves were just a fashion choice, but it turned out they were a sign of his germophobia.
“I gave them so advice, so I need to check if everything is working as it should. They said the result was ready, and here I am, running into a familiar face. What brings you here?”
“The student needing the prosthetic arm is attending the academy, so my brother asked to make sure the surgery goes smoothly.”
“Oh, is that so?”
Upon hearing the man’s response, Sator smiled brightly.
His gaze was fixed on through his glasses.
“Isn’t it curious? An academy student who needs a prosthetic arm just happens to look a lot like soone I know, who also just so happens to be a pyromancer, and that soone is you. Doesn’t that seem a bit too coincidental?”
“……”
The man’s eyes flickered.
After looking at for a while, Sator turned his attention back to the man.
“It seems like you two have a lot to talk about. Could you spare us a mont?”
The man glanced at and slowly nodded.
“……Let’s finish the surgery first, and then we can talk.”
I did my best to ignore their conversation.
It was a topic I didn’t want to involve myself in.
—
To receive the surgery, I changed my clothes and entered the operating room, where Jessie was waiting with the prosthetic arm.
Seeing the prosthetic up close was breathtaking.
Just at first glance, it looked incredibly sophisticated and luxurious.
I had imagined sothing similar to the prosthetic arm of my history teacher, but this seed like it belonged to a whole new dinsion.
I was thinking about the Inspector Gadget’s robotic arm, only to feel like an Iron Man suit had unexpectedly appeared instead.
It wouldn’t be strange to call that an artistic piece in the form of an arm.
Except for the unknown white material intricately crafted in the center of the palm, the entire prosthetic was made of black tal, glowing with a characteristic tallic luster.
As I was srized by its flowing shape under the light, Jessie gave a confident smile and said,
“This is a combat prosthetic, so I prioritized durability and practicality, but I couldn’t ignore its appearance. After all, Miss Scarlet is a girl, right?”
Was this really the priority on durability and practicality?
This was sothing impressive enough to impress even a guy, so as I vigorously nodded my head, Jessie smiled in satisfaction and stepped out of the operating room.
Only the man and I, both dressed in surgical gowns, remained in the room.
Handing a mask similar to an oxygen mask, the man seed to be preparing for anesthesia.
“It’s not a complicated surgery, so by the ti you wake up, it will be over.”
I had never undergone anesthesia for surgery, so I was a bit anxious as I put the mask on. The man smiled gently, perhaps trying to reassure .
“Don’t worry; nobody knows better than how much you hate pain.”
Though he smiled, the man looked a bit sad.
As I was thinking about that familiar face, I inhaled sothing, and my consciousness quickly beca hazy.
The man’s face grew blurry.
[I’m sorry, I’ll make sure you won’t feel pain for long…]
With a sorrowful face, the man said that while attaching my severed left arm.
—
In a slightly dazed state, I attempted to rise.
Unconsciously, I was supporting myself with my left arm.
Realizing that, I slowly looked down at my left arm.
It was now a tal arm.
Even though I couldn’t feel anything, it moved exactly how I wanted it to.
Curious, I wiggled my fingers, and before I knew it, Jessie had co back into the operating room, smiling as she observed.
“Does it feel okay? First, get dressed.”
Once I had changed clothes and stepped out, Jessie was fiddling with sothing on the prosthetic.
With a click, a small gap opened on the back of the prosthetic hand, and Jessie looked at .
“You can insert the piece you showed earlier here.”
Following Jessie’s instructions, I inserted the black piece I had brought with into the opening.
Once I placed the piece in, Jessie readjusted the prosthetic and closed the gap.
“I tightened the screws inside with telekinesis, so it won’t co loose even if it gets hit. According to the design, the prosthetic should be able to emit flas, so let’s test it! Follow .”
I followed Jessie out of the building into a spacious area marked as a “training ground.”
According to her, it used to be a warehouse that her parents remodeled for training sessions.
She ntioned they usually rented it out to other heroes for a fee, but today, they weren’t taking any people, which made feel quite pressured.
Is this how the wealthy live? My hands were shaking.
“By the way, isn’t there a lot of people here?”
Shortly after we entered, the man, Sator, Jessie’s big brother, and a few smaller n and won ca in and stood near the entrance, watching us.
Hearing my question, Jessie chuckled and said, “Hehe, those are my siblings on their day off. They ca to check if what they made works well, but if it makes you uncomfortable, I can tell them to leave?”
“No, that’s alright. That’s fine by .”
Since they were people I should thank, I bowed my head towards them, and they all waved back with smiles.
Having a crowd made feel inexplicably tense.
They all said they needed to observe for any issues, so I rolled up my sleeve, imagining flas igniting in my left arm while I released a burst of fire.
At that mont, the prosthetic began to shine.
Flas flowed from the back of my hand, where I had inserted the piece earlier, all the way up to my shoulder, emitting light.
The most noticeable part was the characters etched in light, making my eyes go wide in surprise.
Soon enough, flas erupted from the shining sections, enveloping the prosthetic, yet before they caught fully, I was undeniably sure the characters glowing on my arm were spelling out “Scarlet.”
How did they do this…
Turning around in shock, I caught Jessie with a sly grin, as if she had just pulled off a surprise.
“Did you see that? Right? In order to allow flas to flow through the whole arm, we needed to carve so grooves. If done well, we thought it could look like letters, so we wracked our brains together and made it happen! It’s a success!”
Overwheld by such an unexpected gift, I stood there in awe, and Jessie shouted at as if I hadn’t even begun to be surprised yet.
“The real cool part is still to co! Stretch out your palm towards the empty space and press that button inside your wrist!”
A button?
Following Jessie’s instruction, I touched the inner side of the prosthetic wrist and found a button that wasn’t obvious at all.
After applying quite a bit of pressure to push it, the flas that had been blazing suddenly whoosh went out.
Wait, the flas are still leaking out, right?
Concentrating, I realized that not only was the fire coming out, but it was also being sucked sowhere.
“Release the button, then press it again to fire!”
Hearing the word “fire,” I recalled what I had requested earlier.
I had definitely asked them to find a way to enable long-range attacks…
Suppressing my excitent, I released the button and then pressed it again.
Instantly, everything before lit up.
Flas erupted vigorously from my palm, scorching the large space ahead of .
In this stunning display, I heard the cheers of those watching from the back.
“We created this instead of a magic cannon. Well? Do you like it?”
Jessie asked that, but even before I could respond, she was already grinning. Instead of answering, I pulled her into a grateful hug.
A quote from a ga my friend loved ca to mind.
“Scarlet Evande has learned to unleash flas!”
Now I finally had a technique to use besides just a fla-throwing car!
—
While watching the flas erupting from the prosthetic, Sator spoke up, “That’s an absorption stone. It’s a magic stone that absorbs flas and can release them in the desired direction. I got it as a fire prevention asure after the research lab burned down, and I sent a few to Ruthenia when I heard about the prosthetic.”
His explanation held, while Luke, Sator’s friend, continued to silently watch him. Sator muttered quietly,
“Don’t worry, it’s not sothing that could harm your precious Number 10. But I never imagined that the most trusted friend would be behind this. I couldn’t have imagined it.”
“… How did you know?”
“It was a pure coincidence. I ran into her once recently, but since she had changed her hair color, I thought it was just a similar person. But then I heard about a unique pyromancer during a conversation with the senior researcher. A girl who emits flas when she’s angry. That’s when I started to put the pieces together. But seeing you here today confird my suspicions.”
Sator looked at Luke, who was asking with trembling eyes, and smiled slightly as he answered.
“But I never thought that her ability would develop in proportion to her anger, not her pain. Thinking back, it was obvious, but I had overlooked it. If I had known, we could have made so much more progress. If I had another chance, I feel like we could succeed. But my family told to abandon the plan. They want to throw it away.”
“… Throw it away?”
I didn’t expect him to be so shaken.
Sator chuckled softly.
“Yeah, it’s really a sha, but after the lab burned down, the order ca down to stop the project and throw away any remaining results.”
With a serious expression, Luke bowed his head.
Sator was a bit taken aback by his reaction’s intensity.
“… Sator, can you delay that a bit?”
“As you know, Number 10 is Astra’s private property. If an order cos from above, I have no choice but to follow.”
“Number 10. No, Scarlet is a person, not property.”
He even gave her a na.
At Luke’s words, Sator adjusted his glasses and his eyes glinted sharply.
“A person? You say that?”
“She completely lost her mories due to the experint. I heard she’s living normally at the academy. Can’t you see that?”
—
Sator looked at Number 10, who was smiling and embracing a female student.
She did appear to be an ordinary person, but to Sator, that simply seed ridiculous.
Pretending to be human didn’t change its essence.
Feeling disgusted, Sator scratched his neck.
Oblivious to his inner feelings, Luke continued fervently.
“Moreover, she saved lives. More than ten thousand lives. Sator, do you rember our original goal when we first made our plans? It was to save people. And she managed to do that. She may save even more in the future. So please, give her a little more ti. Can’t you do that?”
There was once a ti he had said that.
The look on Luke’s face was desperate.
Sator rembered clearly the words he had spoken the day he agreed to stand by him.
So, Sator scratched his neck.
“Please, Sator. This is my last request as a friend.”
Friend, that’s a nice term.
Sator considered him as such, yet Luke betrayed him.
Sator had also deceived him, so friendship was clearly a relationship of continual deception.
Of course, he couldn’t just leave it at being deceived.
So, with a gentle smile, Sator said,
“Since you’re asking so earnestly, I’ll do my best to persuade the family.”
Sator gazed at his friend who had deceived him.
He glared at the vile thing adorned with a ring of red that concealed its true nature.
“As you say, we are indeed friends.”
Astra never forgets a favor or a grudge.
Never.
Sator scratched his neck.
—
The absorption stone Sator had handed to Ruthenia contained one more spell.
A simple, trivial tracking spell.
That early morning, Sator loaded a large trunk into his car and set out.
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