25. The Truth Serum.

It was supposed to be a perfectly fine meeting between Gloria and Victory.

But Gloria had apparently decided to test the other girl, and picked a fight.

They ended up brawling.

Fortunately, before things could escalate any further, the Security Director stepped in and managed to stop the fight.

"Waaaaaah! Mweeeeeh!!"

Victory, who hadn't done a single thing wrong, was absolutely beside herself with indignation.

Not only was she sobbing her heart out in my arms, but she was also jabbing her finger at Gloria and tattling on everything.

"Th-that one's mean!! Victory didn't do anything!!"

"There, there, Victory…? It's okay now."

"Hweeeeeh!!!"

At least Victory didn't appear to be hurt anywhere. That was a relief.

And Gloria, sitting on the floor, had gone well past any desire to keep fighting — her expression had shifted into one of pure disbelief.

It seemed the situation had barely, just barely, been brought under control.

"Um… Security Director?"

"I'll stay here, so don't worry."

The Security Director seemed to recognize that he'd been a bit heavy-handed, and agreed to remain in the lab with the special agents.

The real problem, as ever, was Gloria.

Fortunately, the moment she caught my eye, she made a dismissive wave with an irritated look on her face.

"…It's noisy. Go already and come back quick."

"Then I'll be back shortly."

With her permission secured, I carried the still-crying Victory back to her cell, soothing her the whole way.

I quietly checked her small hands.

Had the Security Director only transferred the pain to Victory, and nothing else?

Thankfully, there were no wounds on her hands.

I let out a quiet sigh of relief as we arrived at Victory's cell.

She'd calmed down enough by then, and I was just about to set her down —

Squeeze!

"Hm… Victory?"

"Eeek! D-don't go!!"

Victory grabbed onto my collar and refused to let go, as if she had absolutely no intention of being put down.

She clearly hated the idea of me going back to Gloria. That much was obvious.

And because her reasons were so completely understandable, the situation only became more complicated.

I suppose there was no choice but to use the last resort.

I asked Victory if there was something she wanted.

Her ears perked right up.

"Wh… what?"

"You worked really hard today, so if it's something within my power, I'll do it. No questions asked."

I had no idea what difficult things lay ahead.

But I'd gone and used the one thing you're never supposed to use on a child — the wish.

So, future me.

I'm truly sor—

"Th-then… can we sleep together again this time?"

"Hmm?"

Unexpectedly, Victory cashed in her wish on the spot.

And the request was remarkably simple.

Looking at the expression of pure anticipation on her face right now, she clearly meant it with her whole heart.

But looked at another way, it meant she couldn't even think of anything else to ask for.

I smiled, a little sadly, and stroked Victory's hair as her tears finally stopped.

"Victory, I'll try to make sure that someday, you can think of other things to ask for too."

Did my sincerity reach her?

Victory didn't just stop crying — her face broke into a full, radiant smile.

****************

Victory was the last of the children I'd be seeing today anyway.

So tonight, I'd just sleep in her cell like last time.

Now that Victory had calmed down, I quickly made my way back to the meeting room.

On the surface, everything looked perfectly fine. That was a relief.

But inside, the special agents were nowhere to be seen.

Only the Security Director and Gloria remained, sitting there alone.

When I stepped into the lab, the Director greeted me with a pat on the shoulder.

"Quite the ordeal, dealing with jealous children."

"Ha ha ha ha… thank you for your concern."

"I have kids of my own, so I understand, more or less. Especially that little one—"

"Shut up."

The moment the Director started to say something, Gloria rose to her feet and clenched her small fist tight.

The Security Director simply smirked at her show of force, wished me luck, and excused himself, citing other matters on his schedule.

"That big guy… I don't like him."

"Well, in your current state, Gloria, it would be quite difficult to beat him. So that's understandable."

To beat the Security Director without an Ability Seal in place — the way the protagonist eventually could — you'd have to kill him in a single blow.

Fail, and all the pain and injury would transfer right back, ending the fight then and there.

But the Gloria of the future? She'd actually be capable of it.

In any case, I tried to check on Gloria's condition, given how clearly awful her mood was today.

I was particularly trying to see what had happened to her hand.

"Mind your own business."

Gloria hid one of her hands behind her back.

But unlike Victory, there was blood on her clothes.

I'd already found it strange that the Security Director's hand had been perfectly fine.

The pain of being stabbed had been distributed between them both — but it seemed all the actual damage had been transferred entirely to Gloria.

And given how fiercely proud she was…

She didn't want me to see that she was hurt.

But blood was dripping steadily onto the floor. The wound looked fairly deep.

As it happened, I still had the ointment and medicines I'd received back when Liberty had badly scratched me.

I quickly brought Gloria to her cell.

Then I retrieved those medicines from my office.

'Better grab this too, just in case.'

I also took a Rapid Recovery Drug from the supply mounted in the corridor of the restricted zone. Treatment preparations: complete.

When I stepped back into Gloria's cell, however, I was met with a peculiar sight.

"Gloria, what are you doing on the floor?"

"……………"

Unlike before, she wasn't on the bed.

And sure enough — small drops of blood were falling onto the floor.

Had she thought the bedding might get dirty, and chosen to lie on the floor instead?

Shaking my head at her, I walked over to her.

When I held up the medicines I'd brought, she scrunched her face in displeasure.

"I told you not to bother."

"Then you'll have to sleep on the floor for the foreseeable future."

Instead of answering, Gloria turned her head away.

But she couldn't argue with that, and eventually held out her injured hand.

"The wound could be considered deep, or perhaps not. Do you happen to have pain resistance and regeneration as well?"

"Don't know."

The Security Director had stabbed the back of his own hand with a knife, multiple times.

If those wounds had transferred to Gloria in full, her hand should have been shredded — and there should have been far more blood.

Yet then and now, only a few drops were falling.

And the small scratch she'd gotten from Liberty before had healed in no time, leaving not even a scar.

It seemed she did have regeneration after all.

Thinking, as always, that this was just Gloria being Gloria, I began laying out the medicines one by one.

Even with regeneration, there was no telling how long this hand would take to heal on its own.

So I decided to use the Rapid Recovery Drug.

The side effect was a brief period of mental haziness, similar to being given a narcotic painkiller.

But Victory had handled it just fine, so Gloria would certainly be all right.

At the moment I pulled out the syringe, however —

Flinch.

After everything she'd been subjected to, Gloria's body gave an involuntary shudder the instant she saw the needle.

Moments like this reminded me she really was just a child. I moved to reassure her.

"I'm only going to spray this on the wound. Nothing to worry about."

"Why are you suddenly saying that?"

"I was simply talking to myself."

Her pride clearly stung, Gloria made a pouty face.

But I ignored her reaction and sprayed the Rapid Recovery Drug onto her hand.

As the cold liquid seeped into the wound, Gloria flinched again.

'Don't tell me… she doesn't have pain resistance at all, and she's just been enduring it this whole time?'

It was like watching Guan Yu from Romance of the Three Kingdoms, enduring surgery without anesthesia.

In any case, the medicine took effect quickly. Her hand began to heal at a visible pace.

The side effects came along with it — Gloria's eyes went slightly unfocused.

"It would be good to apply ointment and wrap it with a bandage too, but let's change your clothes first."

"Do… whatever… you want…."

Her words were already slurring, her mind drifting.

Still, I managed to guide her over to the device inside the cell.

A capsule-shaped automatic cleaning unit enveloped Gloria, and promptly washed away the blood on her body before changing her into fresh clothes.

'When I eventually live with the children, I'll have to make sure we get one of those.'

Gloria was now clean and fresh.

The blood droplets scattered across the cell floor had all been cleaned up as well.

I applied ointment to her hand, wrapped it in bandages, and laid her down on the bed.

She was always the type who wanted to be alone on days when her pride had taken a hit.

I was about to quickly step out of the cell —

"Sit… deeper."

Gloria suddenly gave a strange command.

I did as she said, shifting from the edge of the bed to sitting further in.

Half-asleep, Gloria slowly wriggled her way toward me —

Thud.

She rested her head on my thigh.

I hadn't expected her to ask for a lap pillow.

But this was Gloria, made just a little more honest by the side effects of the medicine.

******************

Whether it was the drug pulling her under, or simply exhaustion, Gloria fell asleep quickly.

She was still completely unpredictable, as always.

But when she slept like this, she looked like an angel — just like all the children did.

I silently hoped this little angel would please, please behave herself during the three-way meeting, and carefully slipped out of her cell.

Afterward, I thought about what gift to bring Liberty when I saw her next.

And since I'd be spending tonight with Victory, I gathered the bedding from the on-call room in Black Cell.

With today's work more or less wrapped up, I sat down in my office chair to quietly celebrate —

And that was the moment Min Chae-rin came walking toward me from down the hall.

I naturally tried to make my escape immediately.

"Maxwell? Are you busy right now?"

"I was just about to use the restroom."

"……………"

Lying didn't work on a secretary with the ability to perceive the truth.

There was nothing to do but hear her out.

"Director Eileen is looking for you."

"Hmm… she took longer to summon me than I expected."

"She's been very busy."

"But she could have just called. Why did you come in person?"

"Because I was afraid you'd make an excuse and run, exactly like this."

As ever, the Director was nothing if not thorough.