# Chapter 60
I handed the envelope I had placed on the floor to Alice, who had just woken up.
“This is a gift for you.”
“……A gift?”
She tilted her head as if she didn’t understand the word ‘gift.’ Kane must not have taught her this word yet. I thought about the definition of a gift and explained it to Alice as simply as possible.
“Well… you can think of it as something I’m giving to you.”
“Mine……”
After pondering my words for a moment, a smile appeared on her face along with a happy expression. Alice’s delicate hands carefully held the envelope.
“Thank you.”
Seeing her look so pleased just from receiving something, even without knowing what it was, made me smile faintly too.
“Why the sudden gift?”
Zenon asked me as he watched Alice taking the item out of the envelope.
“Just wanted to give it to her.”
I mumbled and deflected, unable to tell the honest reason. The reason was actually because of Ben, but seeing her so happy made me think I’d made a good purchase. As I answered while looking at Alice, Zenon agreed it was a good choice.
“Well, it must be boring here, so it’s not a bad idea.”
“It’s pretty……”
Meanwhile, Alice, who had removed the wrapping, murmured while looking at the snow globe. Her blue eyes sparkled as if filled with genuine emotion. She lightly touched the surface of the snow globe with her index finger. After tapping it a few times, Alice eventually lifted it up with both hands, struggling a bit with its weight.
“Do you like it?”
“Yes.”
She couldn’t take her eyes off the snow globe. Seeing that Alice was clearly delighted with it, I explained its functions to her. As I spoke, I turned on the light, which made her eyes sparkle once more, and when I turned the lever to play music, she opened her mouth slightly in surprise. It was an unconscious reaction.
After explaining all the functions, Alice began to follow along. She turned the light off and on, and rotated the lever on the base.
A subtle excitement appeared on her face. Since Alice rarely showed emotions on her face normally, I could feel how much she was enjoying it.
Even after watching for a long time, she still couldn’t look away, and Zenon softly murmured behind me.
“…I wonder if things would have been different if I had someone like you.”
His clouded, subdued voice contained envy and an impossible wish. It carried a loneliness like a dry wind blowing across a wasteland, and I reflexively turned my head.
Then Zenon’s contorted figure entered my field of vision. Seeing him with a bitter smile, I gently opened my mouth.
“Were you also at this place, Zenon?”
“I was at a similar place.”
“You’re a person with superpowers, right?”
I knew that Zenon was a person with supernatural abilities. But whether he had been a test subject or not was something even I didn’t know. Last time, when Alice mentioned it, she said Ben was the only S-class superhuman among the successful specimens. So the possibility of Zenon being a test subject seemed low, but…
Watching his reaction from the corner of my eye, he continued speaking casually.
“Yes, but I wasn’t a test subject. Rather than that……”
However, his words, which had been flowing smoothly, suddenly broke off at a certain point. Darkness instantly fell over Zenon’s peaceful expression. He hesitated for a long time before finally spitting out a single sentence.
“I was a weapon.”
Though brief, his words were mixed with various emotions. Anger that had lost its way, detachment that suggested he was now accustomed to it, and sadness about his own life. This sentence, filled with all these mixed emotions, circled the air as if it might shatter, then disappeared.
I didn’t know what to say to him. After all, I hadn’t experienced Zenon’s life.
“It wasn’t a good life, I guess.”
So I chose to respond naturally without pretending to understand. Sometimes silence is better than awkward consolation.
“I thought you would be curious.”
Zenon seemed surprised that I didn’t ask anything further. It’s not that I wasn’t curious. If he was a weapon, he probably spent most of his time killing others on command. I wanted to know why he had to become that way, and how he endured such a life.
But if Zenon spoke about it, he would be captive to memories of the past. Rather than putting him through that, it was better to let it go.
“Everyone has parts of themselves they want to keep hidden.”
Even I have things I want to hide. It wouldn’t be any different for him. Zenon made a strange expression for a moment, then showed a defeated smile.
“That’s right. Still, the last five years have been good.”
As he finished speaking, the shadow on Zenon’s face receded, and a faint smile took its place. His golden eyes curved with warmth like a fully bloomed sunflower.
“Almost blindingly so.”
Zenon’s atmosphere had changed incomparably from just moments ago. A gentle ambiance enveloped him, like someone pulled from the shade into the sun. It was how he used to appear at “Alice.” Playful but warm, considerate of me—someone I couldn’t bring myself to hate.
* * *
Fenil began explaining directly instead of giving a plan document as usual. Alex, who had briefly questioned this, couldn’t help but grimace as Fenil continued speaking.
As soon as she finished, he asked. His furrowed brow revealed Alex’s displeasure.
“You call this a plan?”
“Yeah, got a problem with it?”
“Do I look like I don’t?”
The more he thought about it, the more absurd it seemed. This was embarrassing to even call a plan. Alex couldn’t understand why Fenil had devised such a strategy. Despite hearing her explanation, the content was still incomprehensible, and Alex heaved a deep sigh.
While Alex maintained his uncomfortable attitude, Boss, who had been quietly watching, calmly spoke up.
“It was my idea.”
“…Why?”
Alex, who had thought this plan was Fenil’s alone, hurriedly turned his head at Boss’s words.
“They seem to be taking us too lightly lately.”
“Peace does?”
Since Peace set the trap, it must be them. Boss smiled mysteriously in response. It was a beautiful yet eerie smile.
“Yes. After this, they’ll know exactly who they should be careful around when they talk about ‘going easy’ on someone.”
Alex could immediately tell that Boss’s expression, with eyes curved seductively, was not a good sign.
“Is this because they messed with Kay……”
Boss would never devise such a plan for the organization’s sake. The fact that he planned a strategy focused on maximum damage rather than optimal results was purely for retribution.
He had been anxious enough with Kay not waking up, so Peace setting a trap using Kay couldn’t have pleased him. Had Kay woken up, he might have let it go quietly, but the situation had already unfolded. Now Peace just needed to realize what they had done.
“That must be it. Boss is at his wits’ end because of Kay, and having some bug running around on the side must be incredibly annoying.”
Fenil, who referred to Peace as a bug, spoke as if it were obvious. Her words clearly showed how she viewed Peace.
“Well… stepping up now isn’t a bad idea either.”
Alex nodded, accepting her words as natural. Peace wasn’t an easy opponent. But that didn’t mean they were unbeatable either. Peace seemed not to have realized this yet, so they needed to be clearly shown.
Seeing Alex’s now calm demeanor, Boss looked around at all of them and spoke.
“This isn’t for the organization’s benefit. So I won’t force you to participate.”
This was a personal matter, not considering any organization’s public interest. So even if they chose not to participate, he couldn’t force them.
Surprise spread across Alex’s face at Boss’s words, which were different from usual in leaving room for choice.
“You’re giving us a choice, is that it?”
“Yes, I won’t hold you responsible if you opt out of this mission.”
If he wanted to choose, he had to choose now. Alex tapped the table in thought, then looked across at Melia who was sitting on the other side.
“Melia, what are you going to do?”
He was curious about her thoughts since she hadn’t said anything so far. Melia pondered as all attention focused on her. If it wasn’t for the organization’s benefit, there was no need to do it. Yes, her former self would certainly have thought that way.
“…If everyone’s doing it, I will too.”
But that thinking had changed now. What mattered to her wasn’t the organization but these people. So if they wanted to do it, she would gladly participate too.
Hearing Melia speak in a voice filled with firm resolve, Boss added:
“For reference, only myself and all of you will be going out for this mission.”
The fewer the personnel, the higher the intensity of each individual’s workload would inevitably be. However, despite his words, no one expressed opposition. Rather, Alex smiled in relief, as if he had made up his mind.
“Well, for a plan like this, other members would be more of a hindrance. That works out well.”
“You’re in?”
Fenil asked, sounding surprised at Alex naturally expressing his intention to participate. Alex responded as if it were obvious.
“I don’t like Peace either, and it’s not a dangerous plan. You’re definitely in, right?”
“Since it can’t proceed without me, I have to be.”
“Then I’ll assume everyone is participating and proceed with the plan as is.”
As all executives expressed their intention to participate, Boss smiled. In a situation where refusal would have been completely understandable, having everyone on board couldn’t help but make him smile.
“The date?”
“We’re planning for next week. We can’t let them catch on.”
Currently, Peace doesn’t know that Kay is alive. In this situation, dragging things out would only give them reason to be suspicious. So they needed to move up the schedule to appear as urgent as possible.
“Understood.”
Since everyone was well aware of this fact, the schedule was accepted without further discussion.
“Then we’ll see each other on that day.”
Boss delivered his final words to them.
Once the operation was over, Peace would definitely know who they had messed with. His smile deepened into an icy blue hue.
