Chapter 33

〈Special Report〉 The Rando Kingdom successfully completes a simulation…

The revived fear of war, Toramde vs Rando.

News broke that the enemy nation Rando had succeeded in developing a destructive weapon.

But what about Toramde?

14 years ago, the NOK One project, along with Nergal, exploded with the blueprints, naturally halting progress for a long time.

Since then, Toramde had gathered researchers to try to restore the designs for several years, but restoring a destructive weapon was not easy.

However, the latecomer Rando defied everyone’s doubts and succeeded in development.

In short, it was a crisis for Toramde.

* * *

14 years ago.

The girl’s father had been holed up in the lab for three days.

“How terrible.”

Tiago clicked his tongue inwardly. Nergal Galinne was undoubtedly a capable doctor but, conversely, an incompetent father.

“Really, he’s too indifferent to the little miss. Have they even talked since she got here?”

Tiago complained.

“Tiago, focus on your work.”

Rene replied firmly.

But Rene also felt sorry and pitiful for the girl. He had intentionally brought up the topic of Nergal’s daughter, but his reaction was almost nonexistent.

“Well, I think it’s better that the supervisor is indifferent like that.”

“Are you crazy?”

At Rene’s sharp tone, Tiago flailed his hands in the air, startled.

“No, I mean it’s better than the Marquis Orsi. A friend of mine went to meet the Marquis Orsi at his mansion recently, and the eldest son’s body was in a terrible state.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean he interferes with everything his son does. If things don’t go his way, he beats him. Kids these days are really pitiful.”

“Watch your mouth. If someone else hears you, you might get beaten too.”

At the frightening words, Tiago immediately closed his mouth.

They stopped chatting and began to focus on their work again.

“Ahh!”

“What was that?”

After a while, they heard a scream from a researcher inside the lab. It was so loud that even Nergal, who was not easily surprised, flinched.

“What happened?”

Rene and Tiago were the first to enter the room. Inside, a researcher was sniffling, looking down at the floor.

“W-what happened?”

“Ti-Tiago. The-the cat… the cat tore up my research materials!”

The researcher eventually burst into tears. The paper he had spent two months organizing overnight was shredded by the cat.

Tiago and Rene looked at the girl in the distance. In her arms was the culprit of the accident, a black cat named Olive.

“Little miss, I told you this is a place you shouldn’t enter… Huff.”

Rene, who had a cat allergy, hastily covered his nose and mouth.

“It’s all torn. Was it important?”

Tiago asked, looking at the torn paper.

“You know it was! The paper on the last experiment…!”

“Damn it, why did you leave something so important here?”

“I always leave my papers here! The fault lies with the girl who brought the cat here!”

The researcher pointed at the frightened girl. She clutched Olive tightly and moved her lips.

“I-I’m sorry…”

“Is sorry enough? This isn’t a place you can enter at will, little miss! You’ve made my efforts go to waste!”

At the researcher’s voice, the girl stepped back.

“Cough!”

“Rene, are you okay?”

“I’m just… fine.”

The girl noticed Rene coughing due to his cat allergy. Other researchers in the room also looked at her reproachfully. Under those gazes, her face turned pale.

“…Little miss, let’s go out for now. With Olive.”

Tiago held the girl’s shoulders. But her feet wouldn’t move.

“Little miss?”

“I-I remember.”

“What?”

The girl realized her father was among the researchers.

“That-that paper. I saw it before Olive tore it. So I remember it.”

“Are you joking? I vaguely remember the content too!”

“I-I remember everything. Not a single word missing…”

She stammered.

Everyone in the room was speechless. 

What was this young girl saying?

* * *

The researchers’ attention focused on the girl. More precisely, on the hand holding the pen.

“This is really unbelievable, Rene.”

“Shh, be quiet.”

Rene silenced the researcher. The girl, tense under the attention, carefully moved her hand, knowing the fate of the cat depended on it.

She began to write down what she remembered on a blank sheet of paper.

“This is incredible…”

Like a typical research paper, most of it consisted of technical terms and difficult vocabulary. In other words, most of it was words she didn’t know the meaning of.

She wrote about two sentences in crooked handwriting. The researcher’s eyes widened at the identical sentences to his memory. But anyone could memorize two sentences, so they weren’t sure yet.

“Uh…”

After completing about three sentences, she looked up.

“See? You don’t remember anymore, do you?”

The researcher replied as if he knew it. The girl frowned in frustration, and Tiago intervened.

“Hmm? What’s wrong, little miss?”

“I’m not lying. I remember everything.”

“Yeah, I believe you, little miss.”

“Tiago, raising a child like that will only spoil them. You need to educate them properly at times like this.”

The researcher said. Tiago naturally ignored him and held the girl’s shoulders.

“Hey, Tia… Mmm!”

“I told you to be quiet, didn’t I?”

Rene, angry, covered the researcher’s mouth. Only then did the researcher smooth the wrinkles on his forehead.

“Little miss, what do you need?”

“Uh… I’m not good at writing. My hand will hurt if I have to write all that.”

“Hmm.”

“So can I just say it?”

She asked.

“Oh? Th-there’s nothing wrong with that.”

“Then I’ll just say it.”

She put down the pen she was holding. Taking a deep breath, she began to calmly recite the paper she remembered.

The first sentence, the second sentence…

The words coming from her mouth were unfamiliar and awkward, but her pronunciation was accurate. With her clear and youthful voice, she demonstrated her astonishing memory.

“…Is this even possible?”

The researchers listening in a daze were all slack-jawed. There was no need to listen further; she remembered the entire paper.

“Did you steal a look at it?”

“No way, unless it’s magic, that’s impossible.”

“Did she really memorize all that?”

The girl paused, startled by the commotion. They were all looking at her with different eyes than before. Among them were Rene and Tiago, who were close to her, Sien, who was always stern, and Alres, her teacher.

“…”

Her gaze turned to her father at the end. Nergal was also staring at her.

She instinctively sensed something was off. These gazes weren’t hostile or curious. 

Didn’t the researchers look at my father with such eyes? 

Realizing this, her shoulders hunched.

“I-I’m… not…”

“How did you remember all that?”

Rene asked, maintaining eye contact with her.

“Uh… I…”

“Tell me honestly. No one will scold you. I promise.”

“Well, the lab door was slightly open. So Olive saw it and went in.”

She stammered.

“I-I was just going to take Olive out, but Olive climbed onto the desk. I-I was curious about the papers there, so I just flipped through them.”

“And then?”

“O-Olive grabbed the paper from my hand and tore it, and I…”

“Was that all you saw of the paper?”

“I just flipped through it. That’s all.”

The researchers exchanged glances. Memorizing a paper just by flipping through it was almost a superpower.

They were certain.

Nergal’s daughter, the girl, was anything but ordinary.

“Little miss.”

Rene swallowed a cough and comforted her.

“…”

“You did well. Thanks to you, we can rewrite the paper.”

“Yes…”

“For now, this is a dangerous place, so could you go to your room with Olive? Okay?”

Rene glanced at Tiago. Understanding the signal, Tiago reached out to her.

Hesitantly, she took Tiago’s hand. Rene and the other researchers watched her retreating back in silence.