The eventful hero-welcoming ceremony came to an end, and the next morning arrived.
I really didn't want to go to work, but I hadn't been able to see Liberty or Victory the day before.
I had told them in advance, but I'd also promised to meet them soon — so I absolutely had to check on both of them this morning.
After feeding the half-asleep Gloria her breakfast, I made my way to the detention cells where the other children were kept.
This time, however, the Director had approved the proposal I'd submitted, so instead of going to Liberty first, I headed to Victory.
But the moment she saw me, rather than lighting up with joy, she burst into tears.
"M-Maxwell… sir… I thought you'd abandoned meee…"
Victory had clearly been told I wouldn't be coming yesterday, and she'd even said she understood.
But right now, she seemed to have no memory of that at all.
Could it be that memory-sharing between her personalities wasn't functioning properly?
For the time being, I did my best to comfort the sniffling Victory.
"I'm truly sorry. A work matter kept me far too long."
"Hic… w-work…?"
The moment she heard what I said, Victory's expression went blank.
"…Is that work more important than me?"
A frigid voice cut through the air, and the room itself seemed to freeze over.
She was almost certainly in one of her more volatile personalities right now — but I'd prepared an answer for exactly this possibility.
"It was related to you, actually. I was told that if I resolved yesterday's matter, they'd lower your restraint level."
"What?! Th-then—?!"
That was, of course, a white lie.
But the moment Victory heard it, she was thrown into complete flustered disarray.
Her face flushed red, and she didn't know what to do with herself.
After that, I stroked her head until she calmed down, then manipulated the controls on the cell's equipment. Victory dropped from midair and landed with a soft thud on the bed.
Her arms and legs were still bound, so she looked rather like a cocoon — but she immediately righted herself, and then—
— *fwip fwip fwip fwip fwip!!!*
*She can move that fast with a bunny hop even with her legs sealed?!*
So Victory could actually use her Acceleration Ability even with her legs restrained.
Either way, she launched herself high toward the ceiling right in front of me.
It was obvious enough what she wanted, so I simply extended my arms and caught her — and Victory ended up cradled in a princess carry.
"Ehehehehe…"
"Victory, are you really that happy?"
Instead of answering, she buried her face in my chest.
Seeing her so overjoyed over something this small — it was genuinely a little heartbreaking.
I sat down on the lone bed sitting empty in the middle of the cell and quietly stroked the head of the girl nestled in my arms.
Eventually, I had to set Victory down before lunch so I could stop by Liberty's cell.
Victory was visibly disappointed, of course — but her anger had fully dissipated, and she seemed quite satisfied to have regained at least some freedom of movement.
I parted from Victory with a smile and headed straight to see Liberty.
Had she memorized the sound of my footsteps?
The moment I opened the cell door, Liberty was already there, wagging her tail like mad.
"Papa!! Papa!!"
"Haha… Liberty, have you been well?"
"Woof!!"
She greeted me with unbridled enthusiasm the moment she saw me, then climbed up my body just like before and buried her face in my neck.
*Simplicity really is the most comfortable thing,* I thought, stepping further inside — and then, the instant the cell door shut behind me, she did something strange.
"Sniff sniff!! Sniff sniff!!!"
"Liberty?"
She scrunched up her face as though she'd caught a foul scent.
A very familiar situation — and my heart sank.
Sure enough, Liberty said it.
"Papa… this smell… who is it?"
Not you too, Liberty!
*******************
There's an order to how I visit the young test subjects.
[ Gloria ] → [ Liberty ] → [ Victory ] → [ Gloria ]
That's usually how it goes — and before seeing Gloria, I change my clothes entirely, so Liberty has never been able to catch Victory's scent.
But today, I'd gone to Victory first.
The black wolf had caught the scent of the white rabbit, and she was clearly displeased.
In any case, the last time I'd handled things carelessly, Gloria and Liberty had ended up fighting.
I'd been planning to gradually introduce them to the idea of Victory — but instead I found myself pinned under an intense, demanding stare that brooked no delay.
In the end, I told Liberty everything.
"That's roughly how things stand."
"Grrrrrr…"
"Um… Liberty?"
She made her displeasure known immediately upon hearing the story, and a surly Liberty proceeded to drench my clothes in slobber.
And now she was only making animal sounds.
So when Liberty gets angry, her intelligence reverts to its baseline state.
Either way, situations like this were going to keep happening — I'd need to put in a request to Black Cell for a larger supply of spare clothes.
I was in the middle of absorbing Liberty's complaints and grievances when my phone suddenly rang.
[ Oh, Maxwell! Are you busy right now? ]
"I'm with Liberty at the moment."
[ Perfect timing, then. After you see Gloria later, could you come by my office? ]
Was there another task she wanted to dump on me?
I felt a sudden, acute wave of exhaustion.
But Liberty, who had been listening to the Director's voice, perked her ears up sharply — and then—
"Woof woof!! Woof woof!!"
[ Ugh?! ]
She let out a bark loud enough to rattle the entire cell and thrashed against my body, causing a full scene.
Fortunately, the Director seemed to immediately grasp the nature of Liberty's complaint.
"Grrrrrr! Woof!!!"
[ Sorry for interrupting your time together!! We'll talk later!! ]
*Click.*
The moment the Director hung up, Liberty finally quieted down — but she turned to stare at me with a face still full of grievance.
By the end of the visit, there were considerably more bite marks on my body than before.
***************
Liberty had quite a bit more to get off her chest than I'd anticipated.
Still, by moving quickly, I managed to arrive just in time for Gloria's lunch.
Gloria took one look at the numerous bite marks covering my body and let out a hollow laugh — then said something entirely unexpected.
"…Is there really a reason you keep going to see that mutt?"
That question had clearly been weighing on her for some time before she finally said it aloud.
If I brushed it off carelessly, I'd pay for it later — so I decided to share part of what I'd been planning.
"It's all for your sake, Gloria."
"What do you mean by that…"
"There's an old saying: a traveler needs a companion on the road, and a person needs warmth to get through life."
In the end, it means no one can make it through this world alone.
I elaborated for Gloria, whose expression had turned puzzled.
"I see Liberty as a companion — someone to walk forward alongside you."
"What? That feral thing?"
"Your reaction is understandable. The first impression wasn't exactly favorable… but you've already gone up against her. I think you know what I mean."
Liberty might not be able to beat Gloria — but she would never simply lose, either.
Victory was much the same, in that regard. Thanks to her Acceleration Ability, she could dodge Gloria's attacks head-on.
My reason for bringing the three of them together was simple.
The Gloria of the future was the type to acknowledge anyone who had earned the right to stand against her.
This selection was made with exactly that disposition in mind.
In any case, Gloria seemed to grasp my intent — her expression immediately shifted into a pout, and she stuck out her lower lip.
She looked like she was about to say something, then hurled a pillow at me instead.
*Fwump.*
"Get out."
"Hahaha… then I'll see you at dinner."
"Don't come then, either."
Apparently quite displeased, Gloria declared she would skip dinner tonight.
*********
I walked out immediately after taking the pillow Gloria threw at me.
But Gloria has the ability to perceive truth — so she'd understood my sincerity, at least to some degree.
Afterward, I went to see the Director as planned.
I'd been half-dreading she'd have another strange task lined up for me — but instead:
"Maxwell, you haven't taken a single day off since you joined, have you?"
"Hmm… that's true, I suppose."
Since I had to be with the children every day, I'd essentially been living the life of a corporate slave.
The Director must have genuinely felt sorry for me, because she made a proposal.
"I'll send you out on a dispatch mission that doubles as a vacation — so go and enjoy yourself."
"Director, how is that a vacation?"
True to form, Black Cell demonstrated a level of terrible-workplace energy that transcended ordinary understanding, and the Director in front of me was a sociopath who simply could not comprehend human feelings.
"Come on~ it really is a vacation! And I think you'll like where you're going."
"Where exactly are we talking?"
"Hero Academy. They're holding their entrance ceremony soon."
Living entirely inside Black Cell, I'd lost track of time.
It was one of the stages for the original protagonist and supporting cast — going there once didn't sound bad at all — but our Director clearly hadn't given up on making me the public face of Black Cell…
Wait. No. Let me think about this differently for a moment.
If I want to survive down the line, I need to maintain close connections with the heroes.
And the Hero Academy is nothing less than the cradle of the righteous side.
In terms of timing and location, it was genuinely ideal for expanding my network.
On top of that — they were rough stones right now, sitting at the bottom of the rankings.
But if I invested in them early, before their potential was realized?
I could aim for the peak of a very rosy future.
Even if I had to carry the shadow of Black Cell on my back for a while, the calculation came out in my favor as a fair exchange.
I steeled myself — then accepted the Director's proposal, making sure to milk every last drop of reluctant magnanimity out of it.
"Great!! I'm so glad you agreed!!"
"Director, aren't you a little too happy about this?"
"It's better than sending some ambiguous types, that's why. There are plenty of other reasons too, of course — but this is also a perfect opportunity for you to learn how to handle the special agents."
"That's true. I don't actually know what level they're operating at."
"Alright then, Maxwell — I'll send the Academy our reply confirming your attendance at the entrance ceremony."
And so it was decided: I would attend the Hero Academy's entrance ceremony — or more precisely, I would be seated among the special guests.
But the Director's reaction today had confirmed something that had been nagging at me.
That sociopath was pushing me forward with a suspiciously aggressive enthusiasm.
If I wasn't careful about how I navigated this, there was a very real chance I'd end up as a high-ranking figure within Black Cell.
*Even when the sky falls, there's always a way out* — I reminded myself of that, and resolved to find a path forward no matter what.