Misa stood in silence, her eyes fixed on the glass window.
Behind it, rows of young n were strapped to cold, tallic chairs, tubes and wires connecting them to the cruel yet efficient machines that drained their sen. The steady hum of extraction echoed like a nightmare lullaby.
Her chest tightened. If I hadn't acted in ti…
A chill ran through her spine as the thought ford. Ren… my darling boy… could have been in there. Trapped. Milked like an animal.
"Misa?"
She turned her head slightly. One of her colleagues had walked up beside her, her face pale as she looked through the glass.
"It isn't a pleasant sight, is it?" the woman asked quietly.
Misa's gaze lingered on the machines, then shifted to her colleague. In that instant, she recognized it—this woman was a mother. One of the lucky ones. Soone who had given birth to a boy.
"No," Misa said, her voice firm but heavy. "It isn't."
Her colleague gave a sad smile. "I'm glad you rescued your son from this fate. Because…" She lifted her hand and pointed toward one of the machines. "That's my son in there. And I… I couldn't help him."
Misa followed the woman's gesture, and imdiately knew it wasn't a sight she wanted to see. Since most n rarely beca aroused by looking at won, they were often given dicine to force an erection—sothing that had severe effects on their bodies.
The drugs were so potent that they also increased sen production, but of course, this took a heavy toll on the n, sotis even damaging their ntal health.
Misa's breath caught. She looked down, guilt weighing on her. "…Ren is not really my son," she admitted. "I adopted him. That's the only reason I was able to act. If he had been my real son, I don't know… I don't know if I would've had the strength to do it."
Her colleague's eyes softened. "You still care for him as a mother, don't you? That's what matters. If only I had strength to do it."
Misa didn't answer. She only clenched her fists, her heart whispering what her lips could not. She knew that even if she had strength, it would be useless if this boy wasn't like Ren, who at least seed sowhat interested in won.
The woman sighed, her gaze returning to the machines. "The governnt is getting desperate. You've seen the reports, haven't you? Male birthrates keep plumting year after year. At this rate, we won't even maintain a four-to-one ratio. I heard they are going to increase the rate of sen extraction from one month to every two weeks."
"Yes," Misa said quietly.
"They're rushing now," her colleague continued. "We need to develop Project Balance quickly… or else…"
Misa's head snapped toward her, eyes sharp. "Don't speak too loudly about that," she warned.
The woman blinked, then chuckled nervously. "You're right. My mistake." She hesitated before lowering her voice. "Actually, the reason I ca to find you… there's a woman waiting. She's wearing a trench coat, brown hair. From her posture… she looks like a high-ranking officer. She said she wants to et you."
Misa's expression didn't waver, as she knew this woman would co to et her. "I already know who it is."
"Do you want to take a break?" her colleague asked.
"Yes," Misa replied. "Please. Can you cover for until the end?"
"Of course," the woman said with a small smile. "I'll wait here."
Misa placed a hand on her colleague's shoulder, giving a reassuring smile of her own. "Everything will be fine. We're on a mission to make things better—for everyone."
With that, she turned and walked away, leaving the cold hum of the machines behind.
Misa slipped out of the hospital corridor, unbuttoning her white dical coat and folding it neatly over her arm. The faint sll of antiseptic still clung to her clothes, a reminder of the suffocating halls she had just left behind.
The evening air outside was a relief, cool and heavy with the scent of damp stone and blooming flowers from the hospital garden. She stepped onto the balcony, intending to take just a short breath of fresh air before eting the woman who waited for her.
And there she was.
Amanda leaned against the iron railing, her long trench coat fluttering slightly in the breeze. A cigarette hung loosely between her fingers, smoke curling upward and disappearing into the twilight sky.
Misa's brows furrowed imdiately. She marched over, plucked the cigarette straight from Amanda's hand, and crushed it against the edge of the railing with quick, practiced fingers.
"This is a hospital, not a hotel," Misa scolded, her tone sharp. "You shouldn't be smoking here."
Amanda chuckled softly, her lips curling in a half-smile. "You're quick."
"You shouldn't be smoking at all," Misa pressed, brushing the ash from her fingers with irritation. "It's bad for you."
"Bad for , sure," Amanda admitted, pulling out another cigarette and twirling it between her fingers. "But it calms down. And right now, I need calm more than I need clean lungs."
Misa sighed, the tension in her shoulders loosening just a little. "You could find another way to calm down. Tea, ditation, anything but this."
Amanda raised an eyebrow. "Tea doesn't work when you've seen the things I've seen."
That shut Misa up for a mont. She shifted her weight and crossed her arms, her eyes narrowing at the woman before her. "Then why are you here? Did you find sothing?"
Amanda's smirk deepened, though she didn't light the second cigarette. She slipped it back into the pack and tucked it into her coat. "Misa, I'm not the police. I don't run around investigating murders. Mada Gonzalous, those poor girls… none of that is officially my business."
"I know," Misa said softly, staring into Amanda's eyes with conviction. "You're more efficient than the police. That's why you're here. You wouldn't have co to if you didn't find sothing."
Amanda tilted her head, amused by Misa's confidence. "I felt you were the type to always read people correctly and I am right.."
From inside her coat pocket, Amanda pulled out a small envelope. She flicked it lightly, as if teasing, before holding it out. "Here. Take a look."
Misa accepted it cautiously, her fingers brushing the rough paper. She opened the envelope and slid out several glossy photographs.
Her breath caught. The photos showed won—different won in different settings. So were caught mid-conversation with Ren, others simply standing near him, their expressions casual but watchful. Misa flipped through them one by one, her chest tightening as the number grew.
"What is this?" she asked, her voice trembling slightly.
"All the suspicious won who interacted with your son in the past week," Amanda replied calmly, as though it were the simplest thing in the world.
Misa's hands shook as she held the photos. "How did you…? How could you even get these?"
Amanda gave a small laugh. "You're underestimating the power of money. It's not hard. Private investigators are cheap if you know where to find them. They work fast, too. Money talks."
Misa exhaled slowly, lowering the photos to her side. "And what am I supposed to do with these? So of these won… they're not dangerous. There's even Ms. Jenny here. She's a good woman—she helps Ren."
Amanda's expression sharpened at the ntion of Jenny's na. She stepped forward slightly, resting her hands on the railing. "Tell , Misa. What do you really know about Ms. Jenny?"
"Jenny?" Misa blinked, confused. "Not much. She's a good teacher. She even taught Kyouka in the past. I'd say she's probably around the sa age as her. That's all I know."
"That's not much at all," Amanda said with a low hum. "But I know more."
Misa frowned. "What do you an?"
Amanda turned her eyes toward the horizon, her tone casual but her words sharp. "The day Mada Gonzalous was murdered, Ms. Jenny didn't go to her classes. In fact, she missed all of her morning periods until she showed up to et you later."
Misa's heart skipped a beat. "She… missed her classes?"
"Yes." Amanda's lips curled into a thin smile. "And that's strange. Because I've known Jenny for a while—not close, but enough. She's not the type to miss a class. Ever. In all the years I've known her, she's never skipped."
Misa opened her mouth to argue, but the words caught in her throat. She searched Amanda's face, hoping for so hint of exaggeration, but Amanda's eyes were steady, unblinking.
"So…" Misa finally whispered, her voice small, almost uncertain. "What are you saying?"
Amanda turned her full attention back to Misa, her gaze piercing. "I want you to arrange a eting with Ms. Jenny. Not at the school. At her house. And don't tell her I'll be there. I just want to confirm a few things."
Misa's brows knit together. "You… you suspect Jenny? Do you really think she has sothing to do with all of this?"
Amanda didn't hesitate. "I don't suspect." She stepped closer, her voice dropping to a cold certainty. "I'm one hundred percent sure Jenny is involved. At least partly."
The silence between them grew heavy. Misa's fingers tightened around the stack of photographs, the edges biting into her skin.
Her mind rebelled. Jenny, of all people? The warm, helpful teacher who had always looked after Ren with kindness? The woman who had smiled so brightly whenever she visited the hospital?
It didn't fit.
And yet… Amanda's words carried weight. Too much weight to ignore.
Misa swallowed hard, forcing herself to steady her voice. "If I do this… if I bring Jenny to et you… what are you planning to do? And in the first place, why are you interested in this?"
Amanda's eyes softened slightly, though her tone remained firm. "Because my nose can sense it. There's sothing extraordinary about this case. I've always had a feeling when sothing big is about to happen… and I feel it now. I want to find out what it is."
Misa closed her eyes briefly, exhaling a long breath. The evening air felt colder now, the shadows stretching longer across the balcony.
"All right," she whispered. "I'll do it."
Amanda smiled faintly, slipping her hands into her coat pockets. "Good. I knew you'd see it my way."
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