## Chapter 191 – Crumbs (9)
“I want to talk quietly with you, but… it’s too noisy around here.”
“….Uh…”
Before I could even reply, Teresa instantly reached out and placed her hand on my forehead.
Even as she got this close and touched me, my danger sense didn’t go off.
The suddenness of it all made a hoarse sound leak from my mouth instead of words,
“Chanu Oppa…!”
“It’ll only take a moment, let’s talk, just the two of us?”
The moment Nabi and Yuri, having regained their senses, rushed toward Teresa, a loud boom echoed around us.
A barrier made of steel, enveloped in a mysterious yellow power, shot up from beneath the ground,
And Nabi, who had lunged forward first, crashed into the barrier and collapsed onto the floor.
“You think you can do as you please?”
Yuri, taking Nabi’s place, used her telekinesis to crush the barrier surrounding us.
Her telekinesis was definitely strong enough to easily crush a person’s body. But…
“…Hmm, I don’t know how a mere human body can possess power stronger than a Fiadels…
But first, I’ll have a good talk with your precious person, and then I’ll look into it. Hehe….”
“…Ugh…!”
Even with Yuri’s strong power, she couldn’t crush the steel dome,
She could only slow down the completion of the dome’s form.
The metallic scraping sound, like something out of a movie, as the steel barrier was being created.
It wasn’t just a barrier surrounding us, but a steel wall erected like a solid fortress.
Knocking Nabi away like that, and creating a barrier that withstood Yuri’s telekinesis,
Just what is this woman’s power? Does she really not intend to fight me?
No, I can’t be sure. Yuri didn’t show any hostility toward me when we first met either.
I don’t know what Teresa wants from me, but if things get twisted, I might end up fighting her. If that’s the case…
“Lee Yuri! And Nabi! Minjung Noona knows the way, so you guys go on ahead.”
“Got it! Administrator-nim!”
When I shouted toward the gap Yuri had created with her telekinesis, Yuri, having quickly assessed the situation, replied.
Releasing her telekinetic hold on the barrier, she took Nabi and Minjung and disappeared from my sight.
Just as the shadows of the three of them vanished completely, the barrier completely sealed me in.
A cozy and dark space, just enough for two people to face each other and talk.
Turning my head toward the direction where Teresa’s soft laughter echoed from beyond the darkness,
Teresa appeared, holding two chairs and a softly glowing lamp, seemingly out of nowhere.
“…My companions went in first, aren’t you going to stop them?”
“Hmm? Oh, you mean those three? It’s fine if they go in. The defenses are well-prepared.”
Teresa sat down in a haughty pose, as if leaning back on a chair made of steel.
She gestured toward the chair placed opposite her, as if telling me to sit too.
“Your goal is to meet that man inside, right? The original owner of this body thought so too.”
“…The original owner of this body?”
“Yeah, don’t you know? Our bodies disappeared a long time ago.
So, in order to move and speak in this era, we inevitably need human bodies.
It’s a bit annoying to use a human woman’s body like this, but I have to put up with it.”
Judging by her words, it seems Teresa hasn’t had this woman’s body for very long either.
Teresa easily let slip the information that ‘the original owner of this body also came to meet Jung Ah-un.’
That means she came from somewhere other than Seoul or Busan, from the Research Society…
“…Hehe, that’s right. I know more about this organization than that unpleasant man.
How these humans found out about the identity of the petals, and how they ended up creating such an organization,
I can explain anything you want to know. If you grant my request, that is.”
I quietly glared at her. Is she seeing through everything I’m thinking?
Just like Iria Noona said, she’s an incredibly troublesome woman. Her intuition is disgustingly sharp.
…In any case, she’s vaguely sensed my purpose and is making me a sweet offer.
A chance to obtain all the information about the Research Society without having to go to Jung Ah-un.
But there’s one thing that’s bothering me. Her words about granting her request.
Just what are they thinking, what is their purpose, why did they imprison Iria?
They’re hiding so much, and I don’t have much information about them.
“……”
“I see you’re not taking the bait right away. A cautious and suspicious type, I like that.”
“You talk too much. What do you want to say?”
“Good, I don’t like talking for too long either, so I’ll get straight to the point.
You don’t seem to have chosen a flower as your partner yet, how about choosing me as your partner and becoming ‘King’?”
Teresa, getting up from her chair, slowly approached me and stroked my cheek.
“…Partner, you say? What does that mean?”
“Oh my, you don’t know about the ‘Flower Ritual’ yet? The hidden nature of the petals.
In the first place, it was us, the ‘Creators,’ who needed the prosperity of the species.
So, we decided to utilize the petals, which have an exceptionally high reproductive rate.”
“Partner, are you talking about… marriage or something?”
“That’s right. The chosen ones of the Creator prepare to create a world for the Creator.
In order to spread loyalty and love for the Creator to ordinary humans, they create something called ‘Pollen,’
And eventually, when everything in the world becomes obedient to the Creator, they offer the flowers grown in the pollen to the ‘King.’
And the Creator who receives that flower becomes the King of that era, and the petal lives as their partner for life.”
…Pollen? The role of pollen was to brainwash ordinary humans?
In that instant, past events flashed through my mind. Jiyu brainwashing women with strange pollen.
And Chae-yun, who created it in the first place. And Na-eun Noona, who became pollen.
Was Chae-yun’s condition usually a little different because I became a Creator…?
“But women like me or Laphus can’t plant seeds in the petals.
We weren’t even given the chance to become King. Isn’t that unfair?
But I finally have a chance. Humans have forgotten the identity of the petals,
And that meddling Hir has died. And unlike stiff and uncool guys like Kin or Fiadels,
A new Creator who’s exactly my type has appeared before my eyes… Hmm…♡”
Teresa, closing the already short distance, completely clung to me.
Her face flushed, she breathed a sensuous breath into my ear.
“…So, you’re saying your goal is world domination or something. How childish.”
“No? I don’t need anything that grand. I just want to go back to the old days.
Looking down on beings inferior to me and showing mercy to those who need me…
I just want to go back to my ordinary life.”
A calm voice. This woman’s goal really isn’t world domination or anything like that.
The past when they were worshiped like gods. She wants to turn the present back to that past.
Because back then, it was natural for them, with their mysterious powers, to be revered by humans.
“I understand how you feel, but you thought I’d agree to that?”
“Why? It wouldn’t be a bad story for you either. All humans will obey you.
Your friends, your family, all the humans who ignored you, you’ll become a god to them.”
It’s definitely a thought I had once when I was young. What if I became the god of this world?
I’m the type who had such delusions when I was going through puberty, so something doesn’t feel right.
What happens after I become a god? Does something good happen? Can I eat lots of delicious things?
I’m satisfied with my current life. God? King? Such grand and childish-sounding names don’t feel real.
“Sorry, but no thanks. I’m an outsider, so I’m not good at standing in front of people.
And I don’t want to marry a woman with a black heart.”
“….Oh my, then I won’t be able to tell you what I know either.”
My head throbbed with a tingling sensation. A stinging feeling directed at me.
“Then what… I’ll have to find out by force.”
“Hehe♡ You really are a great match for me, I was planning to take you by force anyway.”
Teresa smiled at me, and the power I was secretly gathering in my hand.
The tension filled the enclosed space around us. But this time, it really doesn’t feel like I’ll lose.
——————————–
“…I wonder if Sunbae-nim is okay…”
“He’ll be fine. Anyway, we’d only be a hindrance if we were there.”
Following the unnie named Minjung, who was leading the way down the wide corridor.
Following the guidance of the unnie who knew the structure of this place well, we entered deep into the research lab.
The deeper we went, the brighter the lights and the luxurious white interior caught our eyes,
But the atmosphere was chillingly eerie. Not a single person was to be seen.
“Ah, it’s dangerous.”
A robot raised a gun toward Minjung Unnie, who was running at the corner of the intersection.
Swinging her hair, she cut the robot’s body and the gun it was holding at once.
“Thank you, Nabi-ssi.”
“No, don’t mention it…”
We don’t sense any human presence, but these robots have been attacking us since earlier.
Yuri Unnie and I are protecting Minjung Unnie, who is guiding the way, but
We’re constantly being held back by the increasing number of these robots.
“…Here it is! There’s a secret elevator to the basement…!”
While Yuri Unnie was blocking the attacks of the robots chasing after us, Minjung Unnie swiped a card across the white wall.
In that instant, a shining crack appeared on the wall that had only been white, and the door opened with a soft mechanical sound.
And from inside, two women wearing suits made of machines appeared.
“Unnie…! Danger…!”
“Don’t interfere.”
Reaching out her hair to save Minjung Unnie, Yuri Unnie snatched the two of them faster than me.
One of the two, who had been struggling in the air, landed on the floor with a smooth, snake-like movement
And lunged at Yuri Unnie, but Unnie easily deflected the attack.
“…You…”
“Yuri Unnie?! Hurry up and come here!”
Yuri Unnie, who had been carefully watching the woman who had been knocked back into the wall by her telekinesis.
She was blank for a moment, then turned to us and shouted.
“I’ll take care of these two. You two go inside as Administrator-nim said.”
