NOVEL NEXT Chapter 93
“Yup. That’s definitely a dragon’s fang.”
Arima, looking like a clown, opened her mouth. She wore a beaming smile, and the thickly made-up eyelids were quite captivating.
Her female form seemed completely natural. It was clear that she didn’t ask to be turned back into a man because her mind had been feminized as well. Human minds tend to gravitate towards the material; no matter how great a sorcerer one is, they cannot resist the power of the hormones emanating from their body.
“It’s pretty hard to get… I haven’t seen one easily either. Where on earth did you find this?”
“I kidnapped an android made by Company D and dissected it. I could tell at a glance that it wasn’t a machine, but it confirmed my suspicion.”
“─Yongabyeong.”
Arima uttered the unfamiliar name. It didn’t take long for me to realize it meant “Dragon Bone Soldier.” The name was straightforward.
Dragonbone Soldier, huh? Fangs aren’t bones, though. I couldn’t help but laugh at the sheer medieval ignorance embedded in the word.
“In our world, they were soldiers made by dragons using parts of their own bodies. When grouped, they could take down a Swordmaster, making dragon hunting incredibly difficult. They were like escort ships guarding an aircraft carrier. Their firepower individually wasn’t even a fraction of what an aircraft carrier could unleash, but they enabled the carrier to unleash its firepower without a care in the world. Thanks to the existence of the Dragonbone Soldier, dragon hunting had become something that not even major powers could dream of. In the distant past, a few lucky Swordmasters or mages might have managed to hunt dragons by themselves and take their spoils, but ever since the Dragonbone Soldier appeared, it had become impossible to hunt dragons without an army’s aid.”
“If Company D’s androids are Dragonbone Soldiers…”
“That means dragons exist in this world. I don’t know if they’re native species or something like us, an invasive species.”
“They probably aren’t a native species. If they were, there’d be records of them.”
We’re in an era where even creatures that lived millions of years ago are getting their origins and histories uncovered. If transcendent beings like dragons had existed from ancient times, there would surely be records of them.
Moreover, there isn’t magic or Swordmasters like in Arima’s world. Superhumans awakened with superpowers abound, but according to Arima, even those superhumans would find dragons difficult to deal with.
If dragons did exist, this world would be ruled by dragons, not humans. It would be more appropriate to view them as invaders from another world, like us.
“…By the way, Arima. You haven’t been whining to be turned into a man lately.”
“Hmm? Well, I realized that a great sorcerer who can swap between male and female—who can even change genders—is a more mysterious existence, right?”
“Your speech has kind of changed to be more feminine too.”
“Haha! Have I? Eight seems to be quite interested in me, huh?”
“No, it’s not like that.”
To most people, the fact that Arima had been a man wouldn’t be a problem at all. It wasn’t merely a matter of changing appearances through surgery; her entire genetic makeup had actually transformed from male to female. If she wanted, Arima could even bear children.
If she returned to Earth, her appearance and charm would certainly draw a lot of attention. Honestly, if I weren’t such a romantic purist, I might have confessed to her by now.
I never thought my old-fashioned preferences, which earned me the label of a fuddy-duddy even on Earth, would trip me up in another world. Really, I didn’t expect that.
* * *
“…What is this?”
“It’s a baby.”
The day after discovering the identity of Company D’s androids as synthetic beings and that the creator of those synthetic beings might be an existence from another world like me, I went searching for Levitan with sunflower seeds in hand. Hearing that rabbits like sunflower seeds, I confidently approached her with my offering.
However, Levitan glared at me as if she were going to kill me.
“…Sigh—Hey, Eight. Are you just relying on Levitan’s kindness? Next time, if you do this, I’ll snatch it away right there, okay?”
“What do you mean?”
“Curious? Then right here and now…”
I managed to escape from the bulging-eyed Levitan and hid in a corner of the laboratory, locking the door. I tried to ignore the bang bang sounds from outside and turned away.
Now that I had revealed that the androids from the Dragon Corporation were not actually androids, there was only one thing I needed to do. I had to inform the Boss of this information and make it public. To widely announce that the Dragon Corporation had created a meat puppet disguised as a human, rather than a mechanical doll.
If someone were to ask how I found out about this, I would have no answer. My specialties were in science and engineering, not politics or controlling public opinion. My opponent was a vested interest that had dominated a city for a long time.
‘Even if I reveal this, it probably won’t cause a major uproar. They might even shrug and say that it’s relatively cheap or claim it’s a bio-machine created through science rather than a real human, and thus distract people’s attention…’
The madness of humanity is often unpredictable. If one thinks everything will go as planned, they are likely in for a shock. I had always kept this in mind. Even the greatest scientists who left their names in history got caught off guard due to this fact.
Just because I make this revelation doesn’t mean that people will suddenly express collective hatred towards Company D and the Dragon Bone Soldier and push them away. I certainly won’t just be able to fill that void with the Evilus Corporation.
It might actually be the opposite. I could end up being labeled as a mad scientist for revealing how I gathered this information. The irony was that I had secretly kidnapped and dismantled the Dragon Bone Soldier without permission.
‘In times like this, I need to rely on others.’
Luckily, there was a puppet organization I could use when announcing unethical research. A group dedicated to supporting genius scientists, who conveniently polished and packaged the clearly problematic research for public consumption—Scholar.
When I contacted a staff member from Scholar to consult about this matter, they assured me they could resolve it quickly.
Three days later, I received a message that it would be quite difficult to announce this information. It wasn’t because the initial research might seem unethical.
It was because another member of Scholar had raised an issue stating that their research overlapped with mine.
* * *
“─Welcome. Dr. Eight.”
On the day I received the message, I took the vehicle sent by Scholar and headed to their headquarters. No matter how many times I came here, the course was utterly incomprehensible. Upon arriving at the headquarters, I mulled over the message I had just received.
I was being accused of plagiarizing another person’s research.
‘Plagiarism? How rude…’
There was no need to plagiarize the research of people in this world. What I submitted was in such a unique field that plagiarism wouldn’t even come close.
I had kidnapped an android that seemed to be a person and conducted the research straight away. How could anyone accuse me of plagiarism? It would be impossible unless my opponent was an equally bizarre entity committing the same act and coincidentally overlapping in timing.
It was only a few days after the Dragon Bone Soldier had shown up. If they hadn’t received data on this from Company D already, they’d likely still be in the planning phase—how could they have overlapping research?
Had my opponent not been a member of Scholar, I would’ve easily dismissed it. However, since they were a member of Scholar, I couldn’t ignore it. And it wasn’t just any member…
“─Dr. Eight. This way.”
“Is the other party inside?”
“Yes, the First is inside.”
The person I was about to meet was essentially the reason Scholar was formed. Said to be the mother of science in this world, she was the member number one of Scholar.
At this point, she likely wouldn’t try to steal a junior’s research out of greed, so I came here to find out why she would do such a thing.
Upon reaching the meeting room where she was supposedly waiting, I burst through the door. Stepping inside, I paused for a moment as the scent of greenery tickled my nose. Far away, the person sitting in a chair cautiously opened her eyes and lifted her head.
Her green eyes bore into me. Her silky green hair flowed down, adorning her appearance, and her sharp features resembled the very concept of beauty.
“─Are you Dr. Eight?”
“…Who are you?”
“I know you didn’t copy my research. However, it’s quite troublesome for your research to be published. I blocked you by using wrong methods. I truly apologize for that.”
It seemed as if the woman didn’t even hear my words and just launched into the main topic. Staring at her in a daze, she finally seemed to recall my words and cautiously responded.
“You asked who I am.”
A woman who seemed to embody nature showed her long ears and bowed her head.
“I am Scholar member number one. Ausilion.”
An elf was present there.