"So this is what they mean by black technology, huh?"
Even though she had never seen any of it before, she understood it perfectly, more clearly than anyone else in the world.
More and more knowledge surfaced in her mind. Her lips parted slightly, and then she suddenly jolted and forced out a fake yawn.
She had almost started reciting it aloud.
"I mean, seriously, I'm falling asleep here."
"What can I do about that? How long have I been lying in this thing already? This is all completely ridiculous. If you want to run some kind of experiment, then just get on with it. But instead you've done nothing. You just made me wear these weird goggles and keep watching all kinds of random nonsense. I don't get any of it."
"Still random nonsense? You don't recognize any of it at all?"
"Recognize what? I've never seen any of this before, so why would I recognize it? Why not put on that TV drama everyone in Tokyo's obsessed with lately? At least then I wouldn't be dozing off..."
At that point, Kaname suddenly saw the woman pull out a syringe, and she immediately swallowed hard.
"W-What are you going to do?"
"What am I going to do? Weren't you the one who said I should just get on with the experiment?"
That evil woman doctor walked over, and Kaname panicked and struggled, but her hands and feet were already restrained.
So the needle went right into her body.
Ow. It hurt.
Was this quack even capable of giving a proper injection?
Now then, next came the real performance.
Right. All of Kaname's complaining had been deliberate. She was provoking the woman on purpose.
Because Tessa had already warned her that this would probably happen.
To speed up the verification, the enemy would most likely inject her with something nasty, and that drug contained a kind of truth serum. It could seriously affect a person's mind and might even drive them insane.
Then wasn't she just asking for trouble by going along with this?
She had asked that too.
How could Tessa be so certain she would really be immune?
Kaname had pressed for an answer, and Tessa had rather guiltily admitted that they had already tested her.
Back when Kaname and Tessa were enduring that hellish training together, hadn't he been giving them extra drinks to stay hydrated?
They had secretly put it in those.
Not a full standard dose all at once, of course. They had started with an amount an ordinary person could still tolerate, and in the end confirmed that it had no effect on Kaname at all.
They had also confirmed that her body was in excellent health.
To reassure her further, Tessa had said she had tested herself too.
And, incidentally, the reason Kaname had felt unusually energetic all day, so energetic it was almost unnatural, was because the yogurt Tessa had treated her to that morning had also been mixed with a little Earth Elixir, just to make sure she would be in top condition.
So after hearing all that, Kaname's feelings had become extremely complicated.
Those two had actually been planning for a situation like this in advance and had already been setting things up behind the scenes.
In other words, now it was time for her acting skills.
If she really were a Whispered, then under the effect of that drug she would start muttering formulas and reciting the knowledge surfacing in her mind.
But if she wanted them to conclude she was not a Whispered, then she had to look equally deranged while talking complete nonsense, without touching on any of the knowledge rising in her head.
So she had to act like a lunatic, just not the kind of lunatic who sounded like a mad scientist.
She had to sound like the kind of lunatic who belonged in a psychiatric ward.
After roughly estimating that the drug's effect should be kicking in around now, she began.
"Mommy?..."
"Ehehehe..."
"...I'm gonna transform into... ahahaha..."
"...Kneel before me and call me Your Majesty!!!"
"Hm? Still like this? We went to all this trouble, and she really is just an ordinary person? What the hell is wrong with the intel? Useless trash!"
Ha.
By the time her throat felt dry from talking so much, and she herself felt like she was genuinely about to lose it, the woman finally started believing her.
So now she had to commit even harder.
Her expression had to be more convincing. Her mouth had to twist more, her eyes had to go crooked, even her speech had to sound warped.
Maybe she should even fake wetting herself.
"La la la la la..."
She sang wildly off-key.
Honestly, it sounded so "beautiful" that even Kaname had not realized she possessed such a talent. She almost wanted to cry.
"That's enough!!!"
The woman looked like she was the one about to be driven insane. She opened the cover, tore off the strange goggle-like device, and then—
"Mmph!"
She shoved a strip of cloth into Kaname's mouth.
It was her panties.
That damned woman.
Fine. If she ever got the chance, she was going to stuff panties into that woman's mouth too.
Hm?
Kaname suddenly noticed something again.
That strange feeling from before, like there was some invisible presence moving around in the room.
Now the woman was walking right past that spot, and the unseen thing shifted again.
The movement was slight, but Kaname still caught it.
That was—
Kaname noticed an even subtler detail.
The invisible thing moved into another corner, and there, the air suddenly rippled slightly, like the faint disturbance on the surface of still water. A tiny section of the scene blurred for a moment, then immediately returned to normal.
If someone had not been watching very carefully, they would have assumed it was just an illusion.
So there really was something invisible over there.
What was it?
Then again, was it possible that the drug that woman had injected really had given her hallucinations after all?
Suddenly, a phrase surfaced in her mind.
[Optical camouflage feasibility...]
Optical camouflage?
So there really was someone there, hidden by futuristic stealth technology.
Who?
At once, one person's face appeared in her mind.
After all, he had already pulled out things in midair that clearly did not belong to this era.
So it would not be strange at all if his equipment also had technology like this.
At that moment, Kaname let out a quiet breath of relief.
Just knowing he was here protecting her made her feel unexpectedly reassured.
Suddenly, a scream made Kaname jump.
The woman who had just opened the door and was about to leave collapsed instantly.
What happened?
A small female figure wearing a hat was now standing in the doorway, holding a crackling stun device in her hand.
Because the brim of the hat was pulled low and it was already dark outside, Kaname could not make out her face clearly.
But when the girl raised her head and the light from inside fell across her features, Kaname finally saw who it was.
Rosa.
Even though the upper half of her face was covered by a black eyepatch, Kaname could tell at once that it was her.
And just as Kaname was about to cry out—
Boom!!!
An explosion thundered from outside, startling her again.
At the same time, the area she suspected had been hidden by optical camouflage really did lose its invisibility.
What emerged was a fully silver-armored figure.
He looked like some kind of robot king.
(End of Chapter)
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