CH 110

Mr. Hern came to me in a hurry.

“N, no, why was it opened? Lady, don’t touch it—” 

There was a moment of silence in the lab.

Arsene, Leona, and Cain were only looking at each other.

Hern, who noticed the strange atmosphere, said with a despairing face.

“…Could it be that you touched it?”

I nodded slowly.

I couldn’t make excuses because the box was in my hand and the color of the soil had all changed.

“I, I touched it…” 

“Lady, are you okay? N, no, what should I do about this, first from the soil… huh?” 

After taking the box from me, Hern stopped in place holding what looked like a brush made of special hair.

“…What is this?”

“I, I didn’t do that on purpose. Suddenly… my ability.” 

I almost cried.

Tears welled up at the thought of ruining Hern’s precious research sample.

I was just trying to help.

But I didn’t cry, I just looked up at Hern.

Hern came over blankly and tapped his fingers into the soil that had changed color from my touch.

And, 

“….!” 

Surprised, he squeezed the soil with his fingers. The soil crumbled out of Hern’s hands.

“Did you say that the Lady touched it?”

“Yes? Yees.” 

“Did you use your ability?” 

I looked into Hern’s eyes, then nodded my head.

“I didn’t use it… I just suddenly used my superpowers. Like it reacted…” 

“H, how is it?” 

Mr. Hern could not speak for a while whether it was a shock that the color of the soil had changed.

We only looked at each other.

‘Yeah, I should have stopped Leon when she said she was coming here…’

It was clearly our mistake to think that Leona wouldn’t have an accident.

Mr. Hern took the box and examined it carefully. 

“This couldn’t have been open… which means I’m sure it’s locked. Did you force it open?”

“No, I dropped it. I’m sorry.” 

Arsene came out.

“It can’t be opened by dropping it… don’t tell me?” 

He opened his mouth a little and sighed as if he had realized something.

“That’s my fault. I should have put this away too, no, but…”

“That, I’m sorry.”

“No, no, there is nothing to be sorry about. Rather, it is rather a joy. I need to find out more, but first I have to report it to the Lord.” 

Mr. Hern jumped from his seat.

And took us all out of the lab.

In Mr. Hern’s hand, there was a box with an open cover that fell on the floor a little while ago.

***

“Reflect on yourself.”

Kendrick said softly, flipping through his papers.

Across from Kendrick sat Creighton Hezeth, the head of the Hezeth family and Cain’s father.

Me, Arsene, Cain, and Leona looked into each other’s eyes and lifted the signs above our heads.

Glance. 

When I looked at Cain, Cain had an expression that seemed like he was going to die of unfairness.

We stood with signs in our hands.

On the sign I’m holding.

[Don’t stop friends.]

—Was written on it,

Leona’s sign

[Three Accidents a Day]

—Was written on it,

On the signs of Arsene and Cain, respectively

[Similarly, don’t stop friends]

[Just watch my friend’s accident from the side]

It was written on it. It was a handwritten sign for us by Kendrick. 

Mr. Hern immediately informed Kendrick that we had an accident in his lab.

As soon as he heard that we had been in an accident, he called us in and punished us.

‘You don’t listen to me to stay still even if I die.’

But Kendrick, who said so, didn’t seem so angry.

First of all, it was like that when I put this playful sign in his hand.

‘It’s a relief.’

Mr. Hern didn’t tell me why the soil had changed color, but the sample didn’t seem to be damaged much.

It was because Mr. Hern and Kendrick’s faces were straightened. 

We whimpered and listened to the signs.

Leona and I humbly accepted our mistakes and held up our signs.

Cain and Arsene still looked like they were going to die of injustice.

Being punished like this in front of his father, Cain could have been dissatisfied.

“Listen, Cain. It is also your fault for not stopping it.”

“B, but!”

“I never gave you permission to talk back, son.”

As Creighton talked, Cain shut his mouth and looked unhappy. 

Kendrick laughed and said.

“Arsene, you look dissatisfied.”

“I stopped her, but she—” 

Arsene sighed and glared at Leona. Leona also glare

“But it’s you who dropped it? I was just going to watch from the side.”

“If you hadn’t been hanging around, I wouldn’t have dropped it.”

“…Both of you, please be quiet.”

Leona was the first to speak, then Arsene, and Cain was the last to speak in a liberated voice.

I had committed a problem, so I kept my mouth shut and stopped the three children with a glance.

“Stop talking, guys!”

“It seems like you haven’t reflected on yourself yet…” 

Kendrick had a stern look on his face, but there was a smile around his mouth.

We shook our heads quickly, regardless of who came first.

“Did you reflect on yourself?”

“Yes!”

Kendrick said with a smile, as we answered in unison.

“Hold on more. That way you won’t have an accident like that again. You could have been in big trouble.”

“…Big trouble?” 

“Yeah, there are so many dangerous things in the lab.” 

Kendrick seemed unwilling to explain why the soil was dangerous, perhaps because Creighton was in front of him.

Creighton only knew enough that we messed up the research sample in the lab.

“From now on, don’t bother asking to take you to the lab.”

“Yes.” 

I nodded and looked at Arsene and Leona.

The two children nodded.

Cain had nothing to answer. Because he sat on the sofa the whole time and watched everything from the side.

Besides, he never said he wanted to go to the lab. He was taken by Leona as soon as he came. 

So he still looked quite upset.

“What the hell did they mess with?”

Creighton tipped the teacup and spoke to Kendrick.

Kendrick didn’t want to answer, so he skipped over it.

“Sample study. If the kids touch it, it’ll be a big deal. By the way, are you going to take Cain with you today?”

“Well, I want to take him, but he seems to want to stay longer. I would be grateful if you could take care of him.”

Creighton brought up a remark that wasn’t like him today. He was careful to send Cain to Yeckhart, but when he saw him with children his age, he seemed to have changed his mind. 

“The atmosphere of the beastmen society is bad. You know. If they know that Leona and Cain are here.”

“Isn’t it okay if they don’t know? The only people who know that Cain and I came here are the servants of the Hezeth Mansion.” 

Creighton tipped the teacup and assured, “It won’t leak.”

“…Then leave it. Damn, the Yeckhart mansion is becoming a children’s nursery.” 

Having said that, Kendrick didn’t look too bad.

We had to stand with the sign until the two men tipped their teacups and finished their story.

It was only when Creighton stood up to say goodbye that we were allowed to take down the sign.

“Then, please take good care of Cain.”

“Yeah, please go back carefully.” 

Kendrick roughly saw off Creighton. All the servants of Yeckhart Mansion came out to see off Creighton Hezeth, the head of the Snake Clan, on his way home. 

“Cain, listen carefully. My son.”

“…I know.”

Cain grumbled and replied. Creighton Hezeth left the mansion like that. 

I don’t know what he talked about with Kendrick, but he looked quite satisfied. 

“Now go and play, stop making trouble.”

Kendrick said, ruffling Arsene and Cain’s hair.

We nodded quickly, afraid if Kendrick’s mind would change.

Kendrick waved his hand as if to go.

***

Just a while ago.

Someone knocked on the door of Kendrick’s office, who was talking to Creighton Hezeth. 

“Come in.”

As soon as Kendrick finished speaking, the door opened and Hern entered.

There was a lot of noise from the kids who were waiting outside.

He never called Hern, but Kendrick looked puzzled at Hern, who suddenly came.

“What happened?” 

“Yes, I have something to tell you. But I can’t tell you here.”

Kendrick immediately grasped the situation when he saw the box in Hern’s hand.

After asking Creighton for his understanding, he went to the study next to the office with Hern for a while.

Of course, the children were told to stand quietly in the hallway so that they couldn’t follow.

After closing the door to the study, Kendrick, who used his ability to reach the thin film, opened his mouth. 

“Is it a report on research results?”

“No, no…  actually.” 

Hern paused for a long time as if he was in trouble, then hesitantly opened his mouth.

“The soil of the land of Tamar has been purified.”