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It was rather entertaining seeing him so flustered after his prior show of absolute confidence, but now wasn\'t the time for fun.

The two of us were alone. Regrettably, I didn\'t have the scrap coilgun with me anymore, but it didn\'t matter since I wouldn\'t have been able to use it anyway after the central magnet coil was fried.

Beforehand, I had considered bringing something like a sharpened piece of plastic along with me in case the gun failed, to use as a sort of knife since it was impossible for me to acquire a real one, but I ended up not bothering; the Head Professor, though a little old, was still an adult, whilst I was a child. There was no way I could make it work.

Before long, he opened his mouth.

"Did you plan to postpone the arrival of the transferral unit by killing me?"

"..."

"You know something like that wouldn\'t work, don\'t you, Cipher?"

"...I think it would work, Professor."

Truth even agreed with me, so it had to be true.

"Even if it didn\'t, I only have to get rid of enough Professors until they give up."

"The higher-ups wouldn\'t concede to a child."

"What if it wasn\'t a normal child, but a Concept?"

"..."

My words seemed to have rendered the Head Professor speechless.

"I\'ve done a lot of research, Professor. There are others who defied the Wardens and have gotten away with it. Why can\'t I do the same?"

It was true.

I heard more than just a few stories from Truth about other Concepts―both those alive in the present and those who used to exist, but are now deceased―who were once under regulation by the Wardens, but who resisted and escaped.

It was part of a backup plan I had.

In the event that my plan to prevent Ruti\'s transferral failed, I would move to Plan B.

That is, escaping the Playground together with Ruti.

Of course, escaping would not only mean that we had to find ways to survive in the outside world by ourselves, but also that we had to do so whilst on the run from both the Wardens and the government authorities since they work together; it\'s how they acquire so many \'risky\' kids to begin with, and technically it\'s legal since the parents all sign contracts agreeing to it.

In any case, because of how unnatural it would be for two kids with no family or friends, and no legal identification, to survive in the modern age, not to mention risky, it\'s practically an inevitability that we\'ll get caught.

Especially for a troublesome kid like Ruti―knowing her, she\'d get discovered in a heartbeat.

"...Go to your room and stay there. We\'ll have another talk when things have settled down a bit."

Sighing in exasperation once more and saying so, Head Professor Marcus Lynton exited the office and walked away somewhere.

I was a little exhausted after staying up all night to put together the scrap coilgun, so I thought it might be good to rest until later.

There wasn\'t much I could do until the Wardens had made up their mind to cancel Ruti\'s transferral or not, anyway.

With that faint hope in mind as I walked back to my isolated room, I collapsed into my bed and quickly fell asleep.

I closed my eyes and drifted away with the expectation of waking up to Ruti\'s loud and obnoxious scolding about doing something crazy without her, but for some reason, it wasn\'t a scene that I was particularly opposed to.

However, the reality was different.

Instead of that pushy girl getting all in my face, I opened my eyes to news that took my breath away.

"..."

"What...?"

Ruti had disappeared.

❖─────❖─────❖

Waking up after about 7 hours, it was already evening.

My circadian rhythm would be messed up now, but there was no such thing as day or nighttime in the Playground, anyway, due to a lack of windows.

There were some rooms that simulated the outside world, with things like an imitation sun, sky, moon, clouds, stars, and even a seaside with artificial high and low tides.

Because the Playground was a place meant for kids to live, not a torture ground, there were plenty of such facilities where the residents could experience a miniature version of the outside world, but well, I didn\'t care much for it.

It\'s where the majority of the other kids spent their time, but the only reason I went there these days was because Ruti wanted to.

Speaking of which, I haven\'t seen her today. News spread like an out-of-control wildfire inside the enclosed Playground, especially when something big happened.

Ruti had most likely heard about my killing the Professor, so it was strange that she hadn\'t woken me up to confront me about it.

What was she doing?

「Individual Ruti is currently under the custody of the Wardens\' San Cinelia Playground Head Professor, Marcus Lynton」

"..."

For a moment, it felt like my brain froze.

"What...?"

I couldn\'t comprehend the meaning behind the sentence in front of me―my eyes scanned and rescanned the letters countless times, but no matter how thoroughly I analysed it, it didn\'t make sense.

Ruti?

Under custody?

Because of the Head Professor?

"..."

Reaching under my bed, I retrieved two strips of \'modified\' plastic about 30 centimetres long. Placing one in my waistband, I simply grasped the other in my right hand.

It was the sharpened plastic I contemplated bringing earlier.

Just like my mind, my eyes turned cold―cold like a dead man\'s and even colder than usual―as I glanced at the back of the room―towards the wall that functioned as a one-way window for the Professors to monitor me.

Turning away, I didn\'t plan on wasting any time.

Marcus Lynton.

What was he trying to do?

He must\'ve known I wasn\'t going to let anyone take her away from me, and after the earlier incident, I should\'ve made it even clearer that nothing would stand in my way.

Storming down the hallway, everyone who noticed me swiftly evaded me; with those who saw the expression on my face―or rather, the lack thereof―getting frightened and almost running away entirely.

Anyone who didn\'t move out of the way, I simply raised the plastic in my hand that was more like a dagger or thin shortsword than a knife, and they rapidly changed their attitude.

Like the back of my hand, I knew my way around the Playground better than even the Professors themselves as I had a map telling me exactly where I needed to go and the quickest route to get there.

Moreover, the destination was the Head Professor\'s office, which I had already visited a number of times recently.

It didn\'t take long to arrive, and as soon as I did, it was as if he was waiting for me, as the Head Professor was quick to open his mouth with a sinister grin.

"You\'ve finally arrived."

"..."

Not responding to his words, the first thing I did was scan the room with my eyes upon entering.

Almost immediately, I found her.

Lying unconscious within a barred metal cage, was Ruti, clearly drugged.

I didn\'t have anything to say regarding the Professor\'s underhanded methods of drugging and abducting a girl to use as a hostage against me, because I would have done the same if I could.

Still, I thought it was deserving of mockery.

I never imagined he would do something like this, so I didn\'t think to take measures to prevent it.

Other than Ruti and the Head Professor, and now myself, there were, unsurprisingly, a few other Professors at the edges of the room.

They didn\'t have anything to defend themselves since weapons were strictly prohibited within the Playground, and they were mostly thin and pale men or women.

I identified them as researchers under the direct control of the Head Professor; judging by the hint of greed in their eyes, it was no wonder what led them to be here despite their evident fright at confronting me.

"...Let her go."

Having examined the situation, I issued a terse order, but their intention to defy was clear.

"Do you think you are in a position to give commands, Cipher?

The Head Professor smirked at me and crossed his arms as he sat at his desk. His arrogance was pesky, but it was justified.

Aside from me and Ruti, everyone here was an adult.

Although they wanted to avoid being attacked by my weapon, it wouldn\'t be hard at all for them to overpower me if they came all at once.

Even a single person would probably be able to incapacitate me or at least get the weapon out of my hands, and at that point, I would be useless.

"Now that you are here, you will answer some questions. I have here some of my colleagues who have been burning to ask you something. Won\'t you grace them with your knowledge, Truth?"

"..."

The Head Professor was being gradually corrupted by his thirst for knowledge, and the crazed look in his eyes told the same story.

Although he wasn\'t completely taken over, it was evident in the path he was treading.

Going this far just to receive a couple of answers...

Ordinarily, the situation might\'ve been considered a stalemate at this point since I couldn\'t approach them without risking being overwhelmed, and at the same time, they didn\'t want to approach me for fear of getting slashed.

I could try slowly walking forward and taking the initiative, but if I act too aggressively, it\'ll backfire.

Not only that, but I can only face one person at a time.

By having my back towards the door―a wall―I can easily fend off anyone coming at me from the front, left or right sides. But, if I walk forward, I instantly lose that advantage.

So, instead―

"!!"

"S-stop!"

"What are you doing...?!"

I raised the blade to my own neck, causing the other Professors in the room to freak out.