I Became a Mad Scientist for the Foundation

Episode 237. The King of Merchants (4)

A rare moment of peace.

Today, nothing special happened, so I took the Hero outside. There wasn’t much need to keep the Hero locked up or under surveillance anymore.

“So, Miss Ahn Yuri.”

“Huh?”

She seemed a bit scared.

Lately, she’s been like that often.

Everyone seems to think I’m scary… Even superhumans who can slice tanks with swords are afraid of me. What about ordinary people?

Though there are more things that have become easier than uncomfortable, it’s still a bit sad to think this might continue. At least I’m not famous outside the Foundation.

“How have you been lately? Are you enjoying life?”

“Ah, yes.”

The Hero was wearing casual clothes for the first time in a while. A brown beret, white shirt, light gray cardigan, and a brown skirt. It had a school uniform vibe.

Her hair was tied in a ponytail, and she was wearing glasses, maybe for disguise. The guitar bag next to her probably had a sword inside.

The Hero was smiling slightly.

Her eyes were dark brown, but they might have looked red at a glance. Her face was as white as the shirt she was wearing. It was the kind of face you’d want to pinch for no reason.

Come to think of it, there’s no reason not to.

So, I pinched the Hero’s cheek.

“Ow. Why’d you do that?”

She didn’t react much.

To an outsider, she might have looked like a regular high school or college student. Though she could probably fold a car with her bare hands.

“Do you need anything? Want to go back to school, or need money to live outside? If there’s anything you want, I can support you.”

“Really?”

I nodded. The Hero closed her mouth with a serious expression and thought for a while.

“But.”

“Yes.”

“Even if you told me to return to normal life… I don’t think I could. I’ve spent years as a Hero, and even at the Foundation, I’ve been a Hero, albeit in a slightly different way, right?”

“Fighting monsters is what Heroes do, no big deal.”

“Even if you told me to go back to school now… I don’t know if I could enjoy daily life like others. I don’t think I could return to normal life. Probably not.”

That’s why the Foundation exists.

“Hope is like a drug. If people think they can solve their problems with means outside the natural order, they’ll do anything.”

Even if the problems caused outweigh the ones solved. In reality, humans or groups who discover the existence of magic tend to reach similar conclusions.

“Groups that learn of magic’s existence usually start some form of human sacrifice within a few years. The thought process is similar each time. It doesn’t take long to spiral into extremes.”

It’s hard not to think that way.

Huh? This supernatural phenomenon broke the natural order and solved a problem? What if doing something else yields a different result? Huh?

When that process repeats, eventually, people resort to the most extreme actions to solve the most critical problems.

“Anyway. That got heavy.”

“Yeah.”

The Hero bowed her head for a moment.

“What do you want to do later?”

“A cat cafe.”

“Ah.”

I scratched my head for a moment.

Not because I had any objections to the cat cafe, but because I suddenly wondered what the Cat Administrator’s reaction would be if I took them to a cat cafe.

Would they find it strange? They might be uncomfortable seeing their kind treated that way. Or they might just laugh it off.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. That’s fine, I guess.”

We soon arrived at a nearby cat cafe. It was within walking distance.

“There aren’t many people around here?”

“Ah, that. For security reasons, we’ve rented the whole place. We need to control the situation.”

“Oh. Is it necessary?”

“Today’s security measures are for the civilians. Not specifically for us.”

“I see.”

I picked up a calico cat, and the Hero picked up a white Siamese. My cat didn’t resist, but the Hero’s cat was squirming a lot.

“Did you know there’s a cat among the Administrators? You might not have seen it.”

“Why?”

Good question.

I pondered what Patreus’s true nature was. A cat that gained the ability to speak? Or a person in the form of a cat?

I think I heard an explanation before.

I paused for a moment. A cafe employee brought coffee and cake. Despite being a cat cafe, the employees weren’t cats.

Anyway.

“I don’t know either. Just thought of it when I saw the cat.”

“Ah, cat hair.”

Ahn Yuri frowned and pulled a hair from her mouth. Guess it’s unavoidable in a cat cafe, getting cat hair in your food.

I chuckled.

“I meant to say this earlier… Thank you for everything so far, Dr. Kim.”

“Huh? Why?”

No matter how much I racked my brain, I only remember making the Hero work or giving her a hard time.

I thought I had justifiable reasons… But it was surprising the Hero thought so too. I thought there’d be some lingering resentment. Or at least annoyance.

I looked at the Hero.

“Anyway, that’s how it is. Thank you.”

The outing ended without any special incidents.

Meanwhile, in the Large-Scale Containment Room.

Employees from Pluto Limited Company brought the promised items. Pobia placed a transparent plastic container on the table.

Four jade seals.

The Research Department Head stood nearby, arms crossed, examining the items. Researchers were carefully reviewing the seals inside the transparent container.

“Why four?”

“To help Dr. Kim.”

I scratched my head.

The mages waiting in the containment room, Hasti and Dr. Chae, used Observation Magic on the artifacts. Are these the real artifacts?

“How is it?”

Hasti was the first to look up.

“This one seems real. We’ll have to take it out and use it to be sure.”

“These two are fake. These two are real.”

I looked at Pobia, but Pobia just shrugged, unsure.

“Well, I’m not a mage, so I didn’t know two of them weren’t supernatural. But they’re still quite valuable relics.”

“Let’s try using them.”

Foundation staff removed the non-supernatural jade seals. Hasti, wearing gloves, carefully placed the two jade seals on another cart.

Hasti picked up the artifact first for a simple reason. If the artifact exploded or suddenly sprouted tentacles, Hasti had the highest chance of survival.

Hasti inspected the seal.

“Ah, this is the one. It can summon clay soldiers. Let’s try activating it—”

The Large-Scale Containment Room was currently guarded by armed soldiers and numerous researchers. Everyone’s attention turned that way.

A rainbow-colored mana sparkled at Hasti’s fingertips. Moments later… A clay soldier appeared in front of the seal.

A fully armored clay soldier.

“See? I told you.”

“Yeah. It’s real.”

Hasti waved her hand, and several clay soldiers from the national seal roamed the containment room. I sighed quietly.

“Teacher Hasti. Is that all?”

“That’s all for this one.”

Hasti put down the first seal and picked up the second. The clay soldiers she controlled turned to dust and disappeared.

I’m not sure how useful that is. If you could summon dozens or hundreds of those soldiers, it might be worth the money.

Hasti moved on to the next artifact.

“This one… If used on paper, it might reveal supernatural characteristics.”

“Dr. Chae, what do you think?”

“It seems like a seal that makes paper untearable. Doesn’t seem to do anything else.”

Hasti stamped the seal on paper, but nothing happened. Dr. Chae pondered and then spoke.

“It seems it doesn’t recognize Hasti as the ruler of the central plains. Dr. Kim, you try.”

It was a ridiculous idea, but given the common themes in myths, it wasn’t strange for such a supernatural phenomenon to exist. Like Excalibur in the stone or Thor’s hammer.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I took out a new piece of paper and stamped it, and as Dr. Chae said.

The stamped paper shimmered faintly. Hasti tried to tear it but failed with just her hand strength.

Well, that’s good enough.

“So, these two artifacts don’t seem to have any dangerous elements, right?”

Dr. Chae nodded.

“They seem safe, at this level.”

“Then, let’s move these to the Safe Artifact Management Department for further study. The two non-supernatural ones can be donated to a museum or something.”

The researchers nodded. The four jade seals brought for research were placed in containers for transport. Hasti took off her gloves.

“Let’s go now.”

Meanwhile.

“This is Kunai-1. I’ve never seen something like this… I think we’ll need support.”

[This is Command Center. Engaged in combat, come immediately.]

“This is Kunai-1. What’s going on?”

[This is Command Center. Multiple attackers. All units return to the Command Center defense line immediately.]

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