“We’re not close enough for me to tell you something like that, so I don’t know. However, while you were sleeping, you muttered ‘miss’ several times.”

“Miss?”

If only he had called a name. The word ‘miss’ alone was too vague even without clues.

Askan couldn’t understand why he was so restless about not being able to leave this place.

Was it simply because he wanted to live?

Feeling like he had lost something very important, Askan’s mood was uncomfortable.

Looking at Askan lost in thought, Bill spoke cautiously.
“Still, today you seem to be in the calmest state. You always used to be full of anger, having lost your memory.”

“Is that so…”

Since the reason for his anger didn’t come to mind, it was unknown. Even now, there was a feeling of anger welling up in his chest, but without remembering the reason, he couldn’t express his emotions to a clueless person.

As Askan looked at Bill, expressing curiosity about the sudden thought, he asked, “By the way, why are you using honorifics with me? Am I older than you?”

“Technically, you are one year older, but because you didn’t like the way I spoke last time, you scolded me quite harshly.”

“Ah…”

Honestly, nothing was remembered.

Seeing Askan’s perplexed expression, Bill chuckled.

“It’s okay. I’m used to it now.”

“I don’t remember much, but if I caused trouble, I apologize.”

“No, it’s not like that. I said something unpleasant about you muttering ‘miss’ first. By the way, it’s quite strange to have this kind of conversation with you.”

Although Bill’s eyes sparkled as if finding the situation amusing, Askan felt empty somehow and couldn’t respond.

It felt like he had lost something precious continuously.

Askan adapted to life in the lab.

In fact, life here itself was so simple that there was nothing to adapt to.

Having meals at designated times, sleeping when the lights were turned off.

Days passed with personal freedom deprived, dragged away by sturdy men whenever researchers called for various experiments.

Unable to compare it to the past due to the state of memory loss, the recent experiments felt much more intense than before.

All the children who had stayed in the rooms on both sides of Askan had died.

Not only that, but the lab population seemed to have halved. It was not groundless suspicion since it was calculated based on the amount of food they brought.

Sharp instincts were sending danger signals.

‘Something is strange.’

Since then, Askan began to eavesdrop on what the researchers were saying using his excellent hearing.

“Have you heard the rumors that public sentiment is turning bad lately? There’s no diplomacy happening with other empires at all.”

“I heard too. Because Kalua Empire’s human weapon experiments have become public, the surrounding empires are shunning us.”

“It’s already a harsh Kalua Empire, but with the breakdown of diplomacy, the villages near the border are starving to death due to lack of food.”

“What on earth is going to happen?”

Summing up the content, it seemed that with the Kalua Empire’s human weapon experiments becoming known to the surrounding nations, they were facing difficulties in diplomacy.

Askan, in his state of memory loss, didn’t know, but with the revelation of the fact that the Ragrent Empire had tried to kidnap Tanashia, additional details were exposed to the world.

<Deviation from the original content has occurred.>
In the novel, the Kalua Empire secretly conducted human weapon experiments to the end, but this time, unexpectedly, it became known to the public, causing them to face difficulties.

Due to the many barren lands where it was difficult to harvest crops, the Kalua Empire, with severed diplomatic ties, was experiencing a shortage of food, resulting in many citizens losing their lives.

“Could this mean that the human weapon experiments will be halted at this rate?”

“No way that would happen. We’ve invested so much effort until now.”

“But how long can we endure with severed diplomacy like this?”

Listening to the researchers’ conversation, Askan realized that the human weapon experiments might unexpectedly come to an early end. However, would Askan and the other children be safe if the experiments were stopped?

That was unlikely.

He didn’t know what greater danger might come from the experiments. Just by seeing the decreasing number of children in the lab, it was evident.

‘Are they reducing the number of subjects to minimize food consumption?’

Or…

‘Maybe they’ll eventually kill us all to erase any trace of the human weapon experiments.’

Askan shared the information he had gathered alone with Bill, who shared the same room. It wasn’t because he had special feelings for him; he simply felt camaraderie with the children here and hoped that not a single person would die.

Bill expressed anger with a cold expression.

“I knew it, but to them, we’re nothing more than disposable test subjects. They’re ready to discard us depending on their situation.”