ALL NOVEL chapter 94
Chapter 94
It had truly been a long time since I had dreamt of anything at all.
A rare, peaceful slumber.
When he opened his eyes, the first thing that met his gaze was the stark white ceiling of the infirmary, accompanied by a heaviness in one arm.
“…….”
Lowering his gaze, he caught sight of a golden crown of hair.
With a puzzled expression, he could not help but soon realize the identity of the girl beside him.
‘Nectar?’
His mind, marred by pain, was nonetheless undeniably awake due to the pentacle.
It was not strange for her to be there.
Neither was it unusual for them to have shared many conversations.
Yet the question remained…
‘Why is she resting her head on my arm?’
Whether the bed was wide or Nectar’s frame was small, the sight of her delicately using his arm as a pillow was astonishing.
However, before he could resolve such questions, the door swung open, and the military doctor entered, noticing him awake and approaching.
“Oh, you’re awake, Instructor.”
The short-haired doctor approached him with eyes brimming with kindness, changing the IV drip with practiced ease.
Then, glancing at the chart, she softly spoke while checking off notes with a pen.
“Fortunately, your recovery is going well. However, it would be best to refrain from taking combat stimulants for a while. I understand the necessity, a hundred times over, but at this rate, even a superhuman might find it difficult to manage daily life.”
In truth, that was all she could say.
The health status of the Central Special Operations Academy instructor was classified information in itself.
Meanwhile, Jin Crow had no excuses to offer against her warning, merely nodding in acknowledgment.
What could he do when the doctor said so?
He had intended to exercise restraint as much as possible.
Though his life was on the line, the amount of stimulants he had injected into his body during this mission would have killed an ordinary person long ago from acute poisoning.
“You could be discharged right away, but as a doctor, I would recommend resting for a few more days. And, um…”
The military doctor tucked the chart under her arm, a cryptic smile gracing her lips as she leaned in slightly, winking one eye.
“The cadets, they were quite adorable, you know.”
“……Huh?”
“Then rest. It’s nice and lively here.”
She murmured words that the newly awakened Jin Crow could not comprehend, before leaving the hospital room.
But soon, he instinctively furrowed his brow at the sound of footsteps outside the door, and as a raucous group of cadets burst in, his unease solidified into reality.
“…Hah.”
“Instructor!”
“You’re awake.”
“Is that thing alive?”
Miel Anber rushed in, tears glistening at the corners of her eyes.
Hino Kanae and Famiyu Dimezeal entered cheerfully, each dragging a drip stand.
Beatus, with his shoulder and collarbone in casts.
And Dokoran, with a drink adorned with an apple design in one hand and a half-cast on the other, exclaiming pure admiration.
“…Dokoran, that’s five points off.”
“W-why?”
“If it were me, I would’ve given you that, Ran.”
“Y-yes, I made a mistake! Right? Instructor!”
Ignoring Dokoran’s frantic plea with a shared sentiment, Jin Crow turned his gaze to Miel, who had brought in a fruit basket from who knows where, and soon locked eyes with the last to enter, Baek Hui-young.
“…It’s a nuisance. Just close the door.”
Through the window, the streets of the Free Planet Alliance were visible, bustling with recovery efforts; it was likely a hospital temporarily requisitioned by the Synthesized Nation.
That meant, making such a ruckus was a disturbance to the other patients.
“Yes, Instructor.”
Baek Hui-young nodded at his words and closed the hospital room door, while Jin Crow, trying to appear as natural as possible, pushed aside the head of Nectar, who had been sleeping on his arm, and leaned back against the wall.
Naturally, the gazes of the cadets watching the scene were filled with curiosity and intrigue, akin to observing monkeys in a zoo, which only made the back of his head throb more.
But perhaps it was because of their upbringing.
Miel Anber, undistracted by anything else, peeled an apple with a tear-streaked face and said, “I’m sorry, sniff. You must be hungry. Please eat this.”
Then Famiyu, still attached to her IV, chimed in.
“I won’t let Ran lead us into trouble again, Instructor. I’m sorry.”
“Huh?”
“Well, it’s not entirely Ran’s fault, but we were a bit careless, Instructor.”
Following suit, Beatus bowed his head, and Hino Kanae nodded in agreement.
Of course, the expression on Dokoran’s face was one of disbelief, as if to say, “These little b*stards?” Yet, it was clear that he was the one who had pushed for this journey with fervor, so all he could do was gaze back with a look steeped in betrayal.
“All the same. They’re the kind of brats who’d sprout thorns in their mouths if they didn’t cause trouble.”
Jin Crow muttered gruffly, absentmindedly popping a slice of apple that Miel had peeled into his mouth.
Crunch-.
The instigator was surely Ran.
But it was they who had followed along.
As if they were the heralds of the stars, their scale of mischief was something else entirely.
And then it happened.
“Umm-.”
The whimper of a young girl brushed against everyone’s ears, and naturally, the atmosphere in the hospital room shifted in an instant.
Jin Crow instinctively sensed the “misunderstanding” they were harboring and rummaged through his pockets for a cigarette, but wearing a patient’s gown, there was no way he could find one.
And at that moment, Dokoran, who had been slightly downcast, suddenly brightened, raising her arm in a half-cast and exclaimed.
“Instructor! I have a question… Ugh!”
“Please, Ran.”
Immediately, Hino Kanae clamped her hand over her mouth, but if that could stop Dokoran, she wouldn’t be Dokoran.
“Ugh.”
Pamiyu had already given up, and Beatus, diagnosed with absolute stability, could do nothing but offer an awkward smile.
Seizing the moment, Dokoran finally shook off Hino Kanae’s hand, her characteristic crimson eyes gleaming as she shouted.
“What’s your daughter’s name?”
A momentary silence swept through the room.
Dokoran’s voice was so loud it echoed not just within the hospital room but also in the nearby corridor, and Jin Crow, after all, found a cigarette in the folds of his coat draped over a chair.
“Cadet Baek Hui-young.”
“Yes, Instructor.”
“Take her out immediately.”
“Why, why her!”
Dokoran, finding something amusing, was dragged away by the back of her head by Baek Hui-young, while Jin Crow, about to light his cigarette, clicked his tongue at the girl’s nectar-like appearance and snapped the cigarette in half.
Then, with an apple to quell his hunger, he addressed the remaining cadets.
“Get lost.”
His words were slightly muffled by the apple, but the meaning was clear enough.
And unlike Dokoran, Hino Kanae, Pamiyu, Miel, and Beatus were well-behaved cadets who listened to the instructor relatively well.
“Your daughter is lovely.”
“…I agree.”
Of course, the words of Miel and Hino Kanae, added as they left, were somewhat bothersome.
Left alone once more in the hospital room, he gazed down at the sleeping Nectar, soon narrowing his brow at a peculiar sensation that washed over him.
‘A person?’
It was not an android.
For it lacked their distinctive seams and features.
He hesitated for a moment, then reached out to gently pinch Nectar’s cheek.
The silicone skin, so reminiscent of humanity, surely could not be mistaken by a superhuman.
“Ugh…”
It yielded well.
And it didn’t feel particularly alien.
It was then, as he pondered the hypothesis that Nectar was indeed a human girl, that a sound echoed.
Whooo—.
The door to the hospital room swung open, and in stepped a woman with white hair, impeccably dressed in a black military uniform.
“Instructor Jin Crow, I heard you’ve awakened…”
Her voice, usually so rigid, softened slightly as she regarded him, but soon she froze, and Jin Crow realized he had been stretching Nectar’s cheek.
Swiftly.
He withdrew his hand and swallowed the apple he had been chewing.
Then, with a serious expression, he spoke to Ideale, who was awkwardly averting her gaze as if she had seen something bizarre at the entrance.
“…It’s a misunderstanding.”
Ideale quietly closed the door, removed her military cap, and hung it on a coat rack, then let out a soft chuckle.
“Even the great Jin Crow has paternal instincts? This is a new twist.”
“…Damn it.”
It seemed it would take quite some time to shake off this damned rumor.
*
In the end, Ideale was well aware that the girl was certainly not Jin Crow’s daughter.
“And that’s something, aside from a few busybodies, most are aware of. It’s more realistic to think of her as an orphan you’ve taken in.”
“Thank goodness.”
After all, there was no way every soldier who witnessed her calling Jin Crow ‘Daddy’ would simply nod in agreement as if under some spell, thinking, ‘Ah, so she is Instructor Jin Crow’s daughter.’
Rather, there were not a few who thought it was connected to the queen he had killed, and unable to separate from Jin Crow, they had no choice but to transport her together for examination.
The fortunate aspect was that, aside from her obsession with Jin Crow, there was no aggression to speak of.
“They say she is human. However, there is something unclear.”
The girl was not an android.
Yet, she was not 100% human either.
“Biologically, all structures match over 90% with humans. However, there are certain discrepancies. As a result, they concluded she is closer to an artificially cultivated human.”
“Is that so.”
It was a result he had somewhat anticipated.
He did not know the detailed circumstances, but combining it with the characteristics of the world he knew, he could formulate a plausible hypothesis.
‘The identity of Nectar is at least a strong artificial intelligence. Or perhaps a Mother AI. The reason Stero Mer is called immortal is due to the use of artificially cultivated bodies, and the basement of the headquarters must have been both the laboratory and the hideout for Nectar.’
It was a deduction nearly touching the truth.
However, as Jin Crow looked down at Nectar, who showed no signs of awakening, he soon raised his head to question her.
“What about ownership?”
“……Ownership. Such a cruel word.”
Ideale offered a bitter smile.
Was the name “Human Synthesis Nation” given without reason?
Their nation clung to the purity of humanity.
In fact, there are records of countless persecutions against superhumans who used psionic energy throughout history.
Of course, now they are busy venerating them as witnesses to human evolution, but that is merely a consensus born of necessity.
In such a synthesis nation, ‘artificially cultivated humans’ are a sin.
The process is different from that of test-tube babies.
That is merely a process of fertilization, where the embryo is created in a test tube and then reinserted into the womb, so-called assisted fertilization, while artificially cultivated humans are, quite literally, created entirely within a laboratory.
Androids are somewhat acceptable.
At this point, androids have all integrated into society as ‘sentient beings’ with a single intelligence, but artificially cultivated humans evoke a different level of physiological disgust.
‘Humans created without a soul.’
What nonsense that is, but logically speaking, there are countless flaws in that grotesque aversion, and yet, there are certainly not few who ride on it.
Even among the vested interests.
As a result, within the laws of the synthesis nation, the girl presumed to be Nectar is not considered ‘human.’
In other words, the term ownership could not help but arise.
Ideale gazed at the girl with pity before softly speaking.
“The documents are already prepared. The question is whether you will accept them. …Well, seeing how fond you are, I suppose I needn’t worry.”
“Once again, that was merely part of the verification process.”
“Wouldn’t you know it.”
Perhaps it was rare to think she had caught a weakness in Jin Crow.
She chuckled softly, while Jin Crow narrowed his brow in displeasure before rising from his seat.
Then, standing before a freshly issued uniform that seemed to have been tailored to perfection against one wall, he addressed Ideale.
“Will you be staying?”
“No, I have mountains of work to do.”
With that, Ideale adjusted her cap and stepped outside.
In truth, given the catastrophic events unfolding in a foreign capital, her workload was indeed overwhelming.
Though she had rushed over upon hearing that Jin Crow had awakened, it didn’t mean she could afford to spend much time with him.
“I’ve assigned the military police for your protection, so try not to cause any more trouble.”
As she added this, she glanced back at the sleeping blonde girl in the bed where Jin Crow had just risen, murmuring absentmindedly.
“…Does she resemble him?”
Suddenly, she recalled the tidbit Giannatio had shared about the academy’s blind situation, and a soft laugh escaped her lips.
‘It’s not good for discipline to become too lax, but I can’t control the various rumors spreading among the cadets.’
Well, what could be done if they found out later?
At most, they’d smoke and drink.
“Hmm.”
The feeling that washed over her, reminiscent of having drunk some soda, was likely no coincidence, mingling with her smile.