Time has been passing extremely fast since I reincarnated, and I think I'm starting to understand this world.
Not everything, obviously, because there are still shadows everywhere, as if someone had fun drawing the universe with leaking ink. But there are constants. Patterns that repeat.
Fear, for example.
Adults rarely talk about it, but it lingers in the corners of every glance. In the silences between meals. In the gestures my mother thinks are discreet when she locks the door for the third time in a row.
And me? I grow up quietly and learn more and more things via the system and Analysis, even though the system has restrictions on what it can tell me, from what I've understood.
Anyway, I stopped drooling a while ago and I can now use my Analysis skill more easily, which I've managed to level up quite a bit.
Today is a fairly nice day, and for some time now, the kidnappings have started to decrease in intensity. Which is lucky for me, because even though I don't care about other kids being kidnapped, if I were to be taken in my current state, I wouldn't last long. So let's hope my parents handle that.
Lately, I've started to feel something strange when I spend time with my family, and that disturbs me a lot because I'm someone who, in general, doesn't feel much emotion.
Is it the fact of living with a new family that's kind, like in a classic isekai? Maybe, but I don't care about understanding my feelings right now — I'll probably figure it out someday.
My father entered the kitchen and went to my mother before kissing her and turning toward me and my sister.
What's he going to say this time?
"Today, we're going for a walk!"
A walk? With the way things are right now?
And yes, it's surprising, but I finally learned their language. In my previous life, I often visited different countries, and living there for a while regularly can help you learn a language. So it was quite easy, even if this one was more complex. Probably the scenario's fault.
Sure, my parents are former adventurers, but how are they renowned fighters? A well-planned attack and they're dead, and I'll end up as an experiment, transformed by demons...
Anyway, my father didn't care about my opinion and picked me up while my mother took care of my sister.
As we left our miserable home, I looked — as usual — at our simple village, since I rarely went outside. And I again saw how poor the village was, and how small its population.
We ended up heading toward a kind of area often used by families for picnics.
I may have little to no interest in this world, but a big thanks for its food. I don't know why, but I like it, so when they pulled the food out of the basket, I dove on it, to my parents' dismay — who eventually laughed.
Today, time flies by at an insanely fast pace, which disappoints me a little. Because enjoying the sun without having to answer questions from teachers with intelligence levels lower than a country's GDP... the issue was quickly resolved.
It must have been around 5 PM when we ended up standing up. How did I know it was around 5 PM? It's simple: I just look at the sun's position in the sky and its speed, and it's as easy as making a child cry.
"It's getting late! I don't want it to start raining again like usual," my mother said.
It's true that rain is something I hate more than anything — even more than life itself. Anyway, we started heading back.
When we were halfway back, walking through a typical local forest, the rain suddenly began to fall — a real downpour, like a world-ending flood.
"Damn it, it had to fall on us!" my father growled.
At that moment, they started running extremely fast, and I suppose they used their skills to move at that speed. Interesting — I'd like to have them.
A few meters from the village, we started hearing screams and people crying, while fires rose into the sky.
Damn it, what's happening, and what's going on in the village?
My father placed me in my mother's arms before running toward the village.
"Stay with the kids — I'll go check it out!"
And for some unknown reason, she ignored him and followed him from a distance. Damn it, you idiot! He told you to stay and protect us — don't go help strangers!
At the top of a small hill, I ended up witnessing a scene of horror. In front of me, there were hooded figures attacking the villagers, kidnapping children, and killing men and women indiscriminately, in a bloodbath.
I ended up closing my eyes.
It disgusted me deeply, but having already killed in my world, it didn't matter much to me…
Because I remembered my brother's eyes when I stabbed him for abusing my sister. He was extremely shocked and cried with all his being, begging me to spare him and even offering to share our sister.
"Little brother… help me…"
I remember his last words before he ended up dying in front of me. I had done it to protect my sister, but I had killed my own brother…
When I opened my eyes again, I saw my father fighting the invaders fiercely, without managing to defeat or even wound them.
I felt my mother's arms tighten and saw a smile on her face.
Wait, a smile? I looked more closely, but saw a sad face… Had I dreamed it, or had she really smiled upon seeing her husband and her village suffer?
I heard screams and saw my father running toward us to escape the enemies, calling for my mother's help. She ended up setting us down on the ground, drew her sword from its sheath, and jumped at the attackers.
Wait… You're leaving us here alone?! Are you insane, you crazy bitch?!
And of course, what had to happen happened: I felt unknown hands grab me, and a hooded man captured me, while my sister began to cry.
Her screams alerted our parents who, in the middle of fighting, turned their heads toward us, shouting that they were going to come save us.
But they were already caught up in a difficult fight, and the man who had grabbed us ended up knocking us out without ceremony.
---
I woke up in an unknown place, overwhelmed by a vile stench that climbed straight into my nostrils.
Damn it… where am I?
To that question, the answers came through the screams. Dozens of them. Turning my head, I saw babies crying, some covered in dried blood on their tiny clothes, hardened like cracked leather.
Were these the kidnapped babies from the village? The dried blood indicated that some time had passed… Several hours? Several days? No… maybe not that long.
Then the door opened, creaking on its hinges, and a hooded man entered the cell where we had been crammed.
"Hello, my little ones…"
He was smiling. He wore a lab coat — or at least, it looked very much like one for someone from a supposedly medieval world. It looked out of place. What was the point of such an outfit here?
He approached, chose several children who were screaming with all their strength, and carried them out of the cage.
I had been lucky… At least, for now.
I then started scanning the area, looking for my sister. But no — in my cell, there were only boys. By observing the other cages, I eventually understood: they had sorted us by sex.
But there was a strange cell. A single one, almost empty, to my right. Just one silhouette, hidden under a filthy blanket. And that person… wasn't a baby. They looked like an adult.
Our eyes met. My heart leapt in my chest.
What just happened? That person widened their eyes… then gave me a weird smile.
But I didn't have time to get lost in speculation. Another man, also wearing a lab coat, entered the cell and picked up several children — including me… and, further away, my sister.
As he carried us, I looked around without really paying attention to my situation. Anyway, with my current abilities and baby body, there's absolutely nothing I can do except observe.
We are in some kind of immense laboratory… well, I suppose, because from what I can see, there are plenty of tanks and… wait, what? It looks like technology from my time? Wasn't I supposed to be reincarnated into a medieval isekai?
I don't understand anything anymore. How can there be such a technological gap between two places in the same world?
I notice several basins filled with babies, while people in lab coats observe their reactions to some kind of experiments. And I end up realizing that these people are actually… elves?
What do you mean, elves? I look in the direction of the one carrying me, and I see a pointed ear under his hood. Have they all been elves from the beginning?
Damn it. Evil elves? That's really original… usually, in novels, they're always the good guys.
And without understanding what's happening, he throws me into a basin filled with a strange liquid, then sticks a syringe into my body. As I struggle to stay conscious, I see other babies, including my sister, being thrown into other basins. Then I pass out.
When I open my eyes again, I'm in a cell, alone, in an oppressive silence. I turn my head, and everything around me seems… smaller. What's happening? I look at my hands…
Wait… how is this possible? My body has grown?
"Oh, it's you…"
I turn my head. It's the same covered-up person from earlier.
"What's going on? How did I end up with an adult form?"
She looks surprised and stares at me for a moment.
"You can talk even though you were still a baby? That's really strange. Their experiments are getting more and more screwed up…"
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"I don't know. Their experiments keep failing one after another. Don't ask me the purpose — I don't know it. But as you can see, you had a side effect… your body evolved. Like those around you."
Those around me?
I turn around. All the cells that used to hold babies are now filled with… adult bodies. Or rather, babies in adult-sized bodies. I don't even see my sister among them.
"Damn it… where is she?"
"Are you looking for someone? If you can't find her… she's probably dead."
…Dead?
Why does the idea of her being dead disturb me so much? I don't usually feel anything. And besides, we've known each other for such a short time…
Without realizing it, a tear falls from my right eye. I let it slide down, just to really register it. To check if this is all real.
"Oh, was she someone important to you?"
"No. She was my twin sister, so… not really important."
She smiles. Clearly, she caught the little lie hidden in my sentence. Then, without warning, she removes the hood of her outfit.
And then, I see a woman of unmatched beauty, even by the standards of my old world. A strange aura emanates from her. Enchanting.
"So? How do I look to you?"
"I… uh… you're stunning, ma'am."
"Oh, call me Sika. I haven't spoken to anyone in a very long time. By the way… could you help me?"
I think. I don't know her. And clearly, she seems strange. But do I really have a choice? I have no allies, no plan, no power. So I try to stand up. My body feels strange, sure, but it's not worse than all the other weirdness in this world. And after all… I'm still human, right? Like before.
I approach her cell.
"Here, they don't lock the doors of the experiment cells, because they still treat you like simple babies. Even with an adult body. Only mine is locked."
Oh really? What kind of deus ex machina is that? Well, whatever. If she's telling the truth, I might really be able to find a way out of here without raising suspicion. Let's try.
I head toward my cell door. It opens without difficulty.
"Perfect. If you can unlock mine, then I'll be able to help you escape."
I don't really have a choice. I have no skills, no weapon, no information about the place.
I look around and spot, near a window, a kind of object I couldn't describe. I grab it and start hitting the cell lock. Several blows. Until it finally gives way.
CLANG.
"Thank you, little one."
The door creaks a bit as it opens, and I grit my teeth because I felt pain in my arms from opening it.
The first step is complete.
Sika steps out as well, smooth, silent, almost feline. You'd think it's not the first time she's been locked up.
"We'll go through the surveillance posts, they're often empty. Everyone's always over at the experimentation sector," she whispers softly.
How does she know that? Whatever, I don't really have a choice anymore, so I shut up my mental big mouth. Because her movements are precise. She knows what she's doing.
We walk down the hallway in silence, the lights are dim — probably night, or else an artificial light cycle to mess with our biorhythms.
"There." Sika points to a grate high up, barely visible between two pipes.
She grabs me by the waist, lifts me like a sack of rice as I enter the dusty, hot space. The metal vibrates under my weight, but not too much. Not enough to alert anyone. Sika follows me without a sound, and we crawl forward like two rats in a steel maze.
"Over there, we're getting close to the storage area. There's a service exit."
She whispers behind me, like a shadow.
We finally emerge into a small empty room. Crates, tools, an old crystal lamp crackling, and I hear voices.
"Damn, thank goodness my husband's too stupid to figure out the scheme!"
That voice… Wait, that's my mother?
I peek through the door and see my mother talking with several elves, unharmed and in a good mood. What the hell is going on?
"Our deal is sealed, so now head to the next destination without bothering us," replied an elf.
"But I haven't found his body, how am I supposed to have fun?"
She looked like a lunatic and smiled like a maniac.
"Your only job is to go into villages, have children with multiple men, and give us the kids for our experiments, that's all."
"Maybe, but I had taken an interest in the last husband."
Wait, what? My mother… She'd have children with multiple men to sell them to the elves? But I saw her fighting the elves! That was a trick?!
She left the room skipping like a child.
But I kept moving forward, because Sika didn't want to wait and didn't seem shocked by what we'd just seen. I ended up reaching another room where, this time, I found... my father!?
He was surrounded by several women, but these women looked a lot like the village children, and he was naked…
Among the girls on the floor, I found my sister. MY SISTER?! Wait, is that why I couldn't find her? Don't tell me…
"Hello, little ones. Let's have some fun."
He was smiling. Why were both my parents in league with the elves? And did they know the other was working for them!?
I think my heart just stopped. Not because I'm surprised — no, that part's over. But because hatred just swallowed everything whole. I feel hatred, and that really disturbs me.
He's there, with mere babies in adult form.
And among them… her. My sister.
I feel my nails digging into my own flesh.
I can't hear Sika anymore. I can't hear anything. I only see that silhouette — that monster who is my father.
And I jump. My body flies through the air, driven by a single idea: kill.
He turns around. Too late.
I've already grabbed the handle of the sword on his back — a decorative sword he always wears to look cool, to look like a warrior.
I pull it out as a metallic sound rings out, followed by a strangled cry.
He understands.
His eyes widen. He wants to say something, maybe my name — but I don't give him the time. I flip the sword. And I stab it in.
To the hilt, right below the collarbone, straight through the heart.
He trembles, and his hands try to grab me, to push me away.
"Son..? Help me…"
And as he says that, I see through his eyes the face of my brother when he had abused my sister… In my previous world, I couldn't protect her. But in this one — I did.