# Chapter 16
“My ability……”
Melia’s ability was Trump. This ability allowed her to store people in cards and control them. No one could escape from the card, which was like a perfect prison. That’s why Melia was mainly in charge of disposing of people.
But this time, Fenil had intervened. The Fenil she had known never intervened in meaningless matters. That meant she had a reason to dispose of Hans.
Fenil smiled enigmatically as she understood Melia’s words.
I didn’t think she would notice. Melia was typically indifferent to others. Because of that, even Fenil had let her guard down.
“You don’t have to go that far. There’s a limit to how many you can store, right?”
Fenil pretended to be concerned about Melia to move past the situation. Storing living beings in cards drained one’s stamina. That was true.
But it was at a level Melia could easily handle. Fenil was perfectly aware of this.
Melia noticed Fenil’s attitude telling her not to discuss it further. She was a person with many secrets. Reading Fenil’s thoughts was impossible even for the Boss. Since Melia didn’t sense any danger, she followed Fenil’s words.
After all, Fenil wouldn’t harm the organization. As long as there was no harm to the organization, it wasn’t her place to intervene.
“If Kay is the King… then what is the Boss?”
But there was still something she couldn’t let go of. This was something she absolutely needed an answer to.
From the moment Fenil said Kay was the King, Melia had been trying to understand the meaning of those words. And another question arose.
She had clearly thought the King was the Boss. But the King was Kay. If that was the case, what was the Boss’s position?
If not the King—
“…The Queen.”
The Boss could only be the Queen. Fenil’s words fell at the same time as Melia’s thought.
Though she had expected it, Melia questioned this incomprehensible statement. Seeing Melia’s gaze urging an explanation, Fenil continued.
“The Queen who mistakes herself for the King due to her overwhelming power.”
The Queen is the being with the most powerful strength. But excessive power tends to make one forget their position. Especially if that power is stronger than the King’s.
It was no different for the Boss. When the King dies, the game ends.
But Melia couldn’t find the answer even with Fenil’s continued explanation. She had thought it was the Queen, but why did Fenil think the Queen had strong power?
Melia had thought Fenil was referring to the Trump cards. After all, she had taken the King of Trump from the beginning.
So she hadn’t considered any other path. But now, thinking about Fenil’s words…
At that moment, a realization flashed through her mind. What if what Fenil was pointing to wasn’t the Trump cards?
Melia finally understood Fenil’s intention. A clear path appeared, like misaligned puzzle pieces fitting together.
However, even this newly visible path wasn’t smooth. Rather, it was dark and damp, with nothing but despair at the destination. The King was Kay, and the Queen was the Boss. But the Boss hadn’t yet realized this fact.
“Is ‘Alice’… going to be okay?”
If her thinking was correct, when the King dies, the game ends. If that happens, what collapses is ‘Alice.’ In a situation where those who should protect the King don’t, the outcome could only be obvious.
‘Alice’ would collapse. Completely and miserably beyond recognition.
This conclusion assumes the King dies, but even the possibility amplified Melia’s anxiety.
‘Alice’ must be eternal. No matter who dies, the organization cannot collapse. Her pupils trembled pitifully.
“If Kay realizes something there, it should be fine.”
Although Fenil sensed her anxiety, she couldn’t lie to her. Rather, she needed to tell her more precisely because she was the one who was more devoted to the organization than anyone.
“If not… it will collapse.”
That even the organization would have an end.
Melia tends to rely too much on the organization. It’s not unreasonable since she grew up in the organization, but she needed to know that a world exists outside the cage too.
But it seemed this fact was still difficult for her to accept, as her voice trembled weakly.
“…Does Fenil want ‘Alice’ to collapse?”
Melia couldn’t understand her speaking so calmly. She only spoke incomprehensible words, and she, as an executive of ‘Alice,’ seemed to be observing this matter from a third-person perspective.
“Of course not. I just wish everyone would find their rightful place.”
At these words, Fenil just smiled as she usually did. An empty smile with nothing dwelling in it.
* * *
It happened when I was opening the document envelope. The cutter knife, which had been precariously cutting the envelope, brushed past my hand. When I brought my hand closer due to the stinging pain, blood began to well up between the cut.
“Are you okay?”
Tade saw my finger and approached with alarm. I thought he couldn’t have seen it because of the partition, but when had he seen it?
This hardly counted as an injury. It didn’t even hurt. More importantly, I had to be careful about the finger that was healing.
I can’t control the Regeneration ability. So if someone saw a wound that healed instantly, I would definitely be suspected.
“I’m fine—”
I hid my finger and avoided Tade’s gaze. By now, the wound should have healed. But when I looked at my hand thinking that, it was different from what I expected.
“……”
The wound hadn’t healed. It wasn’t a deep wound. It wasn’t a broken bone, nor was a finger severed. It was just a cut on my hand. Isn’t that a common injury anyone could experience?
Yet it still hadn’t healed. What was happening? I stared blankly at the wound, unable to believe what I was seeing.
“Want a bandaid?”
Thinking I was in pain, Tade offered me a bandage. A long brown bandage was in his hand.
“…Thank you.”
I tried to appear calm as I took the bandage from Tade. Along with complicated feelings, this situation was unfamiliar to me.
I had never received a bandage before. A Regeneration ability user needs neither hospitals, doctors, nor even small medical supplies.
If you endure the pain, your body recovers in an instant. It was clean without even the common scars that others have. That didn’t change even if my body was cut off or shattered.
I was the only one who remembered the pain. Looking at a body with no traces, I recall the memories of that time. Only that fact tells me that I was injured.
For someone like me, a bandage that proves I was injured was an extremely foreign object. I stared at it for a while before peeling off the back.
I carefully wrapped the bandage with its sticky feel around my finger.
It was a little crooked but stuck well. I never thought I would put on something like this.
There had never been a case where a wound didn’t heal until now. It would be fine if it was just today, but what would happen to me if wounds don’t heal from now on?
Despite its light weight, I felt strong pressure on my hand. The unhealed hand brought an uncertain future.
Without Regeneration, I can’t fulfill my usefulness. I’m just a half-body. The worst assumptions invaded my mind.
I tried to push the thoughts away while taking out the remaining documents from the envelope, but they wouldn’t disappear easily.
The wound healed an hour later.
* * *
Ben, who had been on a business trip as a hero, returned. It had been nice and quiet for a while. Tade seemed to feel the same way, clicking his tongue softly. Ben, seemingly tireless, leaned back in the control room chair as soon as he returned.
Droplets of water settled among his navy blue hair, suggesting he had come straight after washing.
“You should dry your hair before coming.”
Tade grumbled, looking at the water on the floor. Knowing Ben was now like a child, he didn’t say anything more. Ben seemed to lack basic common sense, perhaps from being a hero for so long.
It wasn’t unreasonable to feel resigned being with someone like that. I felt the same way. I handed Ben a towel that I had kept in the drawer.
“Dry yourself.”
“I’ll use it well.”
He smiled brightly and shook his hair vigorously. The youngest among those present was Melia. At sixteen, she was young by any measure. However, she was naturally quiet and mature, so she didn’t seem like a child.
So I thought I wouldn’t have to take care of any children. But watching Ben drying his hair energetically, splashing water around, I let out a small sigh. I never expected to babysit someone while infiltrating.
And someone my age at that. It was hard to believe a 23-year-old man could be so ignorant. I wondered how he managed in society. Leaving Ben to dry his hair, Tade left the room saying he would get coffee.
“I’ll wash and return it to you.”
I nodded in agreement as he spoke while tidying his now fluffy hair. Looking at him like this, Ben was just a handsome man. Perhaps due to his navy blue hair and purple eyes, the atmosphere surrounding him was calm.
Because of that, it didn’t match his personality at all. Is this what they mean by perfect if he just doesn’t open his mouth? I finally took my eyes off his hair.
I had definitely become complacent. Or maybe I had been influenced by them. After all, we had spent a lot of time together, even if it was a short period.
In the organization, people usually lived alone. I met with executives often, but had almost no contact with others. I must have let my guard down.
It’s pointless to dwell on things that don’t help. I steeled myself once more to not forget my purpose.
“Is this the only control room?”
I looked at the monitor and asked a question to shake off distracting thoughts.
The control room isn’t just one place. It wasn’t marked on the blueprint, but it must be somewhere. A control room related to the 11th basement floor.
The question was whether Ben would tell me. If he didn’t, I would find out myself.
“There’s one more. On the 10th basement floor.”
