Became a Human Rights Advocate

56 – Episode 11. Midterm.

From noble mtl dot com

＜11＞

There are air-raid shelters all over the basement of Academy Island and Academia.

The facility was built assuming the worst case scenario where the island is attacked by the Irregulars. Fortunately, however, such a situation did not actually happen, so it is a place that is not used at all except for evacuation drills twice a year.

As such, these shelters are the best place to hide from prying eyes for a while.

The Zetas family was well aware of that fact.

“… What are you doing?”

Paulo asked Ast, who was squatting on the asphalt floor. Paulo, who was scolded by the boss after Ast’s escape last time, had to faithfully fulfill the role of a nanny unsuitably.

“I am making it!”

“…What?”

“Dolls.”

A doll.

It’s a taste that fits AST’s age group.

From the outside, she only looks like an ordinary kid.

‘Except for the horns growing from their heads, and they grow ridiculously fast.’

It is said that the Astran kid was taken out by the boss from a laboratory somewhere. What the hell kind of experiment did he end up with such bizarre traits?

Well, it’s not a matter of digging deep.

There are not one or two people in this academia with such circumstances.

“A doll?”

“Yes!”

Ast grabbed the object she was working hard on with both hands and proudly stretched it out towards Paulo.

The object, made of rubbish rolling across the floor, appears to have nothing in common with the doll, except that it has arms, legs, and a face attached to its torso.

“Oh, well done.”

“Isn’t it? There is nothing in this world that this body cannot do!”

“Yes, yes. Rather, the banana milk you asked me to buy the other day. I put it in the fridge over there, so eat it yourself.”

“… What kind of change of heart was there? How could you be so kind?”

Ast narrowed her eyes and glared at her Paulo.

This is not because of a change of heart, but because of the recent restart of booster distribution.

Until now, Paulo had been stealing Ast’s snack money, but he didn’t have to do that until now when he could afford it.

“Do you want to eat?”

“No!”

“Don’t eat too much, just two a day.”

“… Shouldn’t it be three?”

“I’ll ask the boss.”

At Paulo’s answer, Ast smiled brightly and nodded her head.

Then, he starts to devote himself to making the self-proclaimed ‘doll’ again.

‘… What kind of facility was he in to become such an anchored child?’

Paulo thought so and left Ast’s room. He didn’t forget to put the lock on so he couldn’t escape.

“Are you finally done playing around?”

“What is nonsense? This is definitely what the boss ordered, Yan.”

“It’s okay, come quickly and help me out.”

When Paulo replied with a sad face, Yan, a short-cut Asian woman, shrugged her shoulders.

Jan’s back is exposed in her sleeveless tee, and three black snake tattoos are entwined on her shoulder.

“If you look like a goofball, do you play the role of a babysitter?”

“Kuhah. It’s too much for me. Even if it’s Leah, I don’t know.”

“… She left it to Leah in the first place, and then she became stained with that strange fashion and even her way of speaking.”

“I don’t think so. Ah really. If it’s not for the boss’s request, I want to beat that kid until his face turns blue. At that time, just like now, he-he-he-he-should I say this sh*t?”

Yan giggled and spat out bloody words, then lowered his head again and focused on his work.

The job is to dilute the raw material made by grinding Ast’s horns to an appropriate concentration to make a patch that can be attached to the body, in other words, a booster.

When the factory was functioning, it was their job to take turns guarding raw materials and sending them downstairs.

However, now that the factory was completely reduced to ashes by the Special Division, they, as executives, had to take care of the work that the idiots were doing.

“We should have brought a few people back then so we won’t be doing this troublesome thing. Right, Paulo?”

“It’s the boss’ decision. Since the tail was caught, I decided to cut it off.”

“Yeah, they said they were kids. Oh, that’s too bad. If I had been there, I wouldn’t have robbed the factory.”

Yan looked at Paulo with a grin, but he calmly sat down next to Yan and started making a booster together.

“So, where did Leah go?”

“You must be stalking something shady today too.”

“… Isn’t that really nonsense?”

Paulo put on a puzzled look.

“Lea is fine. It’s because I’m doing something useful rather than taking care of a kid.”

“… Stalking?”

“The boss told me to keep quiet, but I and Leah can’t stand it. Because of those kids, I was locked up in this musty, poorly ventilated basement for a month.”

As soon as Yan frowns and expresses his anger, the fluorescent lights hanging from the ceiling begin to flicker.

“Hey, calm down-.”

Frightly enough for Paulo to make a noise, one of the fluorescent lights shattered with a squeak.

At that sound, Yan gasped and came to his senses.

“… Aren’t you tired of eating crackers every day? It’s always me who buys and replaces them.”

“Why are you doing this to me! As long as you bought the right sturdy fluorescent lights, there is no problem.”

A few tendons sprout from Paulo’s head at Yan’s angry attitude.

“That’s what you’re talking about, right?”

“Good! You always talk back to the youngest subject!”

They got up from their seats and shouted. Yan hit the stomach of the giant Paulo with the top of his head.

An air-raid shelter on the verge of a fight.

But just before the two collided, the sound of high heels rang in the air-raid shelter.

Not long after, the owner of the sound of high heels appears in front of them.

“… Fight again?”

The name of the pale-skinned woman in a dress full of frills and ribbons is Leah.

Like Paulo and Jan, she was one of the executives of the Zetas Family.

“It’s not a fight, it’s education for the youngest.”

“It’s not a fight, it’s a ranking order.”

“What a pity, mortals.”

Muttering that, Leia passed between the two of them and sat down.

As if Leia’s pulse was cut off by her appearance, Yan and Paulo looked at each other with embarrassed faces and then put their buttocks back on the chair.

Paulo asked Leia as he spread the booster material on the patch.

“So, who did you stalk again today?”

“This is not stalking. Divine righteousness of darkness for bloody revenge-“

“Anyway. So who.”

“…… Chae Hee-rin.”

At Leah’s words, Yan flashed her eyes.

“I finally found it. Isn’t that the year that burned down the whole factory?”

“… Huh. That’s right.”

“How do you plan on grinding, Leah?”

Paulo frowned at Yan’s words and interrupted.

“Did you not hear the boss order? I told you to wait while making boosters.”

“I told you to take it easy. Isn’t it just a matter of taking it easy in your free time? Right, Leah?”

“Yes. If I go alone, I won’t be caught by the boss.”

Paulo let out a deep sigh between the two excitedly making plans.

Here, she is not the only one who will listen to the story even if she says it herself.

“I don’t know. If you get caught by the boss, you two will take care of it.”

“Ah, if that happens, I don’t know? Got it, Leah?”

“… There’s no way to get caught. That’s right, it’s only dealing with humans. Whooping… Whoop whoop.”

Paul, who looked at Leia with a strange expression on her face, who gave off a dark laugh, quietly rose from her seat.

“Where are you going? Are you kidding again?”

“So I’m not kidding.”

“… You’re going to meet my family. If so, I’ll be with you too.”

“You can’t, Leah. It’s a boss order.”

Leah puffed out her cheeks at Paulo, who was clearly asserting.

“What’s wrong with meeting my family?”

“That strange way of speaking is right. It’s bad for your child’s education.”

“… Joy.”

Leah didn’t bother Paulo anymore, as if she had her own self-awareness.

She replaces her black frilly gloves on her hands with her white work gloves instead, and starts building her booster with Jan.

Paulo moved slowly and began unlocking the room Ast was in.

But as soon as the door opened with a squeaking sound, Ast jumped out through the gap in an instant.

“Hey man! Ast!”

“It only takes a moment!”

Ast ran quickly to avoid Paulo’s hand, and headed towards the table where Yan and Leah were sitting.

“Lea!”

Standing in front of Leah, Ast smiled and held out her self-proclaimed doll that she had in her arms.

“I made it!”

“… Whooping… You must have made it while imagining in your head the target to curse properly, right?”

“Yes!”

“Excellent. He is also my family member.”

Taking off her gloves, which were soaked in booster ingredients, Leia stroked Ast’s head with her pale hand.

While Ast was distracted by that touch, Yan’s hand got stuck between the two and took the doll away shyly.

“What is this?”

“… It’s a doll A vengeance doll to curse mortals!”

“Is this garbage?”

“… To.”

Ast’s body froze at Yan’s calm words. Seeing this, Leah straightened up and shouted at Yan.

“Sister!”

“Okay. Okay. This ignorant older sister will just keep her mouth shut.”

Jan gave the doll back to Ast with a chuckle, then got up and went over to Paulo.

“Do you have any cigarettes?”

“Yes.”

“Give me one.”

“… Buy some and spread them.”

Paulo babbles, but pulls out two cigarettes and hands one to Jan.

The two of them exhaled cigarette smoke toward the fan and silently watched Ast and Leah play.

“Lea, is this how you do it?”

From noble mtl dot com

“Whoops… okay. With a heart of vengeance for sure, I hit the hammer while spitting out curse words.”

Following Leah’s instructions, Ast aimed her nail at her doll, then swung her right hand holding her hammer.

“You liar! Serve the promised ice cream!”

Nails are driven into the doll’s body made of aluminum cans one by one with a clatter.

‘… It reminds me of the past.’

Paulo lowered his head slightly and looked at Jan. Perhaps Yan has a similar sentiment as himself, and his face shows quite complex emotions.

‘… But I think I saw that doll somewhere.’

Feeling a strange sense of déjà vu, Paulo stepped on the cigarette butt with his foot.

And meanwhile, Lee Si-hyeok’s dormitory on the ground.

“Hmm?”

Sihyuk Lee, who was lying on the bed, frowned.

I think I just felt a strange pain in my chest.

“… Is it because of my mood?”

Lee Si-hyeok muttered that and closed his eyes. And he soon fell asleep snoring his nose.

Ast’s sincere curse ended just like that.