Vol 2 Chapter 1 (1/2)
Adolescent Adam 2: Chapter 1 - Plot of the Elders
A straight corridor continued without end
The floor was covered in shades of red, blue, white, black, yellow, gold, silver, and green so bright they hurt the eyes and the area overhead was too dark to see the ceiling
Countless doors lined the walls on either side Doors with identical dimensions, color, and keyhole shape continued forever without end
A single figure walked down that strange hallway before finally co to a stop
It was Ibekusa Machina
There was no visible difference between the doors and there had been 102 of them as far as she had walked, but she did not hesitate to reach for the knob She chose the correct knob from all of those different doors
She found a blue sky and garden on the other side and a refreshi+ng breeze blew in as soon as she opened the door The scent of fresh grass welcomed her
This ht ahead were a table covered in a pure white tablecloth, a white wooden chair carved with a design, and a s in the chair
The girl wore a red gothic dress with plenty of lace, frills, and ribbons Her hair had curly ends, was tied to either side, and was colored a blonde as dazzling as the sun She did not look even ten years old, but she had a strangely mature calmness to her
A single maid stood behind her
A chess board and a white stuffed rabbit sat on the table There were also two teacups When she noticed Machina, thetea
“Welcome back”
“Welcome back”
“…Thank you”
Machina sat across froirl
“I see you’re as punctual as ever”
While taking a sip froirl pulled out a wooden pocket watch The time was precisely 16:59:57
The stuffed rabbit on the table moved on its own to move one of the chess pieces
It boldly moved a rook forward to break into the opponent’s formation
But aher teacup to move her queen one space forward The rabbit froze in place with its long ears tensed That rabbit had the world’s five best chess programs installed in it, so it knew she would achieve checkmate in seventeen more moves at this rate
Deciding to recalculate everything fro
“…”
“Mh”
Machina reached out and used the previous rook to take the pawn next to it The blonde girl confidently enjoying her tea looked on in shock
At 17:00:47, the beautiful garden was enclosed in darkness
The sky, trees, and scent of fresh grass all vanished, leaving only the table
Also, twelvearound the table
Those rectangular solids had the designs of playing cards A Jack, Queen, or King was drawn on each one and one of four suits was designated in the top left and bottoht corners
“Hi, Miss A how have you been?”
The King of Spades was positioned out front and it swayed like a clohile speaking in a mechanical voice that muddied the voiceprint
The gothic dress girl referred to as Miss A closed her eyes and briefly replied “fine”
“Estee here today”
The an theonce she was done
“Today, ill be discussing FeTUS’s final objective, Ada last appeared I will provide a report on the current situation and FeTUS’s plans for the future As I am sure you know, Adam is currently-…”
“That is not necessary” The Jack of Hearts interrupted as the ain a certain amount of information on our own”
“The Adam scheduled to be born within these hundred years has finally appeared”
“Mutsuki Fujita, the Serpent’s Eye holder , is Adam”
“Currently, he is under the angels’ control and safely retrieving him would be extremely difficult”
“We know all of that”
The Queen of Clubs, King of Diamonds, and Jack of Spades spoke one after another and the others showed no sign of attacking thereement
“My apologies”
Despite their overblown coentle smile did not crumble
“Then Miss A will provide her thoughts on FeTUS’s future plans”
“Yes”
At the irl finally set down her cup of tea
For a brief lance toward Machina across from her Machina remained just as silent and expressionless as at school and that was her response to Miss A
She was letting Miss A say what she would
“Let in with the conclusion”
The girl spoke to the floating monoliths that surrounded her as if to intimidate her
“Fro the status quo will be FeTUS’s top priority Fujita Mutsuki will continue to be observed by Miss E and the others currentlyhim”
“What…!?”
The twelve cards each gave muffled expressions of surprise Despite the lack of expression on the playing cards, the h how shaken they were
“Miss E has already built a favorable relationshi+p with Fujita Mutsuki As such, I believe keeping everything as is would be the safest andour ultimate objective”
Even as the stir vanished fro
The cards replied afterto at least calm their voices
“You ?”
“Precisely”
“I cannot accept that! Fro on him! You know perfectly ill happen if Adarasp To achieve our ultimate objective, we should secure Adam as soon as possible and even restrain him if need be!”
The Jack of Diaer
That led to several other cards joining the arguree
“Miss A, you have been far too passive lately It was almost certain that Mutsuki Fujita was Adaels to snatch hirasp It was also your mistaken decisions that allowed the demons to approach him, wasn’t it?”
“I know you have not forgotten how le infant in the world and monitored the six hundred thousand with a possibility of holding the Serpent’s Eye But of all things, the angels and the demons found him ahead of us…and now I hear all three factions are on equal footing!”
“And then you went on to observe without acting, which is not like you at all What happened to the vigorous Miss A who supported the history of mankind for centuries?”
They all voiced their co
Machina rehout, the hed and frowned
Those beyond the playing cards were investors who had e financial or inforanization led by Miss A
This was a gathering of influential e corporations fro was a global constant And being unable to speak back to one’s sponsors was another such global constant
However, a hierarchy had been established
“Listen”
“Mh…”
The girl’s heavy voice rapidly silenced the sponsors
Showing respect to one’s elders was yet another global constant Even if this group of twelve owned a third of all the world’s legal currency, they could not treat her rudely
Even if all twelve of their large ages were added together, they still could not match hers
“I a we need to actively work to maintain the status quo”
She glanced to the side and theto complain
“First, I will report everything we know about Adam” TheAdahest known implantation rate, but we have learned artificial insemination is impossible”
“The cells closest to God cannot be manipulated with science,” added Miss A
The monoliths’ microphones picked up another stir
Miss A picked up her cup and took a sip of tea before saying more
“Thatso would only sow the seeds of conflict between us and the angels protecting him”
“We do not need to fear the angels The report said our Springloaded fought extreuard”
“Do not forget that Adaels No ht, the results are what els last time”
“Mh…”
“And with a demon on the scene, another loss would destroy the three-way balance and put FeTUS’s very existence in jeopardy We must act with utmost care”
The elder’s composed words mostly silenced the twelve cards
But they still did not accept it There were a few co in over the microphones
“…Sigh”
The girl sighed because persuading the difficult And…
“Now, Miss A How about this?”
One of the few cards that had not taken part in the previous argu of Hearts floated calmly forward
“What you say is correct When ireatest virtue But I a has caused us to lose ground”
“Mh…”
“We are at an i Black Cat act?”
As soon as the nairl showed surprise for the first ti down her teacup, but it clacked quietly against the saucer
She was not the only one Machina had remained as motionless as a doll, but she turned her head to stare at the King of Hearts Finally, the ain
The hter
“Now that would do nicely Black Cat is a member of the FeTUS Witches, so we and Miss A can trust her”
“And she is quite close to Mutsuki Fujita! She would be perfect for dealing with Adam!”
“More importantly, no one is more loyal to our desires than her”
“…Wait Black Cat is… Miss C is too dangerous”
The girl’s previous coroan in her voice, but the twelve cards refused to listen and the King of Hearts continued after finding this weakness in the girl
“Not to worry The modifications y thatreunited from its split between east and west Based on our calculations, she can take on an angel or even a demon”
“Dr Strangelove,” said Miss A “I a victory in a trivial battle”
“If our knowledge proves effective against dee step toward our ultimate objective That see the situation I simply cannot see why you would oppose it It’s almost as if…”
The h the microphone
“Miss A, it’s al situation”
“…”
That finally silenced the girl
Seeing an opportunity, the King of Spades immediately spoke loudly to seize the situation
“Very good Then ill have Black Cat secure Adauard”
“Understood,” replied a new voice in the darkness
Miss A, the maid, and Machina turned toward the voice in surprise
“Ohh, so you’re here, Black Cat Then I assume you knoe wish from you”
A girl stood there Only a straight-backed silhouette was visible in the darkness, but she did nod in agreement with the investors
And she gave a slight snicker
“It is about ti to an end”
They reached that conclusion without waiting for Miss A to say anything more and the
Miss A glared at the King of Hearts which re the clownish and so expression of the illustration
With the ringing of a bell, the feminine silhouette turned its back
Finally, the lights returned and the garden enveloped in peaceful sunlight followed
The blonde girl brushed aside her bangs which were plastered to her forehead with sweat and sank heavily into her chair
“This will probably lead to an all-out conflict with the angels …I just hope the legends of Metatron are greatly exaggerated”
“…”
Silence fell and Machina took a drink of her tea now that it had finally cooled
She took a large gulp without changing her expression It was meant to calm her rattled nerves
Miss A was the opposite, so she set down her cup as if to say she would drink no more
“Be careful, Fujita Mutsuki’s angel bodyguard”
“Cough!”
Ange choked like she was coughing up blood
Then she collapsed to the ground
It was 7 PM In the Jiyuuni house, that was dinner time
The three roo around a s room
Micha and Mutsuki blinked in confusion as pale-faced Ange pushed herself up with her hands and pointed at the small plate she had eaten from
“Mutsuki… What is this?”
“Hm? Today’s dinner”
“What is it?”
“A stuffed bell pepper”
“…”
“With kusaya, sood sale”
“~~”
“Was it not any good?”
“It’s disgusting! Was that choking not enough of a clue!?”
The girl rudely spat out a half-chewed piece of bell pepper and shouted in anger
“That’s odd It’s plenty nutritious, you know?”
Mutsuki tried eating an identical bell pepper sitting on the large plate in the center
He thought it had a unique flavor but not anything worth getting worked up over, but Ange was angry regardless
He loved cooking, but for some reason, his reputation was poor
“What do you think, Micha-san? Is it not any good?”
He turned to his other roommate in search of an ally
“H as I can drink”
The brown beauty had been passed out drunk earlier, but she was already working on another can of beer She grabbed one of the stuffed bell peppers (that had soredients) and easily popped it into her mouth
“Ahhhh~ Now that’s the stuff♪”
“See, Ange Micha says it’s good”
“She’s talking about the beer …But forget it”
The girl gave up and reached her chopsticks toward the salad on another plate It was a preht at the supermarket
“…Ah, I’m out”
After eating the bell pepper, salad, and fries to go with her drink, Micha shook the can and gave a sorrowful look toward the hollow sound co from it
She then gave Mutsuki a begging, upturned look
“No I already told you only two cans a day”
“Ehhh~~~?”
“Don’t give me that”
He ignored her
Her wild brown face was flushed around the eyes frouy to do whatever she said He would have been in trouble if he had not looked away After all, that was her third can she had just finished
However, the young woh to the boy’s weakness
“C’mon, Mutsuki-kuuun”
A coaxing tone filled her voice
“Uuh…”
The angle gave hi look and the bewitching cleavage visible thanks to her risqué outfit He quickly looked away, but…
“C’mon, pleeeease”
“Wah, wah”
She collapsed forward
The tea table was sht in his lap
“C’moooon Muuutsuukuiii-kuuun”
“I-I said no You secretly…well, no, you didn’t even try to hide it Anyway, you drank a bunch during the day, so I can’t let you have anymore-…wah!”
She started rubbing her cheeks against the base of his thighs and she curled up her body to press her breasts against his hip
“Pleeeeeeeeeease~~~~”
“Wait…okay! Okay already!”
When she started shoving her face right into his crotch, he admitted defeat and franticallyto enter a dangerous state at the dinner table
Ever since hewo room
“Get me a pickled plum”
Ange gave him an order of her own
He opened the fridge, grabbed the requested items, returned, and handed them each to the one who had requested them
“Here, Ange …Micha-san, you’re going to make yourself sick eventually”
He made sure to at least warn her
“~~♪ I’ll be fine Angels like us are made from flames unlike you humans made from dirt That means flammable substances like alcohol are nutritious to us”
She refused to listen and started gulping away
“…Really?”
“I wouldn’t know I hate alcohol”
Ange placed the pickled plum on top of her rice
Seeing a red-haired blue-eyed girl eating Hinoave up on Micha and focused on her reaction
“How is it, Ange?”
“What do you mean? All pickled plums are the same…bfwah!”
Seeing a cute girl do a spit take was also surreal
“This isn’t the same at all! What’s with this pickled plum!? It’s sweet! Sweet!”
“Yeah, I pickled it myself In plum honey”
“Hon-… Whoa, it does taste like honey…”
“D-don’t get mad, okay? This is actually a traditional method”
“I don’t care how traditional it is! It doesn’t go with rice! How could you watch !?”
Eating it thinking it would be sour had ae of the sweetness, so she did not even have it in her to yell anymore
“Ugh… My rice is covered in honey…”
“S-sorry”
“And isn’t this honey a little dark?”
“You can tell? The honey I used was actually kind of old, so I added soerms”
“Ahh! Ahhh! Don’t tell ar flavor!”
“But black vinegar honey is a traditional health drink…”
“Shut uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuup!”
Ange was angry and Micha was happy with her beer
These two had been his farown quite used to this scene
Of course, he had not forgotten about his real family
“Ahhh~ I’m so lonely without my Mu-chan~ So lonely, so lonely, so lonely~”
“Don’t cry I ht stop by this Sunday”
Every ht, he would call home to hear his parents and sisters’ voices He had notthe past month They did not knohen the enemy would attack, so he could only see theet by with a phone call
He had one older sister and two younger sisters
He was currently speaking with the older sister (as an adult in college)
“Sob, sob You promise? You’ll really come see me? If I don’t refill my little brother nutrients, I’ll be all empty”
“Yes, yes”
“No saying ‘yes, yes’”
“Sure, sure”
“No saying ‘fine, fine’ either~”
She had the tearful voice of a spoiled child
Lately, even his youngest sister (a kindergartner who had a habit of wetting the bed) had h he did not visit often, so he could only shrug with his cellphone in hand
But with this sister, it was not a real problem
“It’s getting late, so I’ve got to go”
“Okay Good night, Mu-chan♪”
Her tone changed entirely, proving that the tears had been fake She liked causing trouble for her little brother
After hanging up, he shooed away thehie, a house with bad cell reception was very inconvenient
Right inside the entranceas the living room that had the walls to the kitchen and hallway torn down There was a single bedrooe rooe, so there were really only two rooms Mutsuki could use
There was no one in the living room, so he
“~! Shahhh! ~~~!”
In the parking lot of a coe wore only a plain T-shi+rt and spats so as not to restrict her ht than there were mosquitos
The lights floated with irregular moveet
The girl would stop them and cut them doith a sword taller than she was that resehts would burst into particles that would eventually gather with other particles to forirl swept every last one of the attack
Ange had trained like this alether The lights had a terees, so they hurt a lot if they touched you They were known as Helios and she defended against thee that it looked hard to wield She clai was meant to hone her reflexes
“Seh! Dah! Crush!+ Hahhhhh!!”
Any nuirl caled each and every one
It looked like an ultra high-speed dance and it would have been impossible for a normal person
The giant sword’s core rapped in blue flaht At the same time, her sharp movements caused her red hair to flutter sharply like it too was a burning blade
Surrounded by those flaeous and cool
“…”
As her roommate, Mutsuki had seen this a few times already, but it always filled his chest ar this hard for him
“Thanks as always, Ange”
Watching ht interrupt her, so he closed the
She was norirl, but when he saw her like that, he could not find it in hiap made her seem all the cuter
He was thankful she was protecting hi with her
And to do that…
“Heeeey! You there, Mutsuki-kuuuun?”
He heard Micha calling for him It was apparently bath time for her because her voice came from the bath at the end of the hall
He knehat she would hile in the bath, so he grabbed a bottle of
“What is it?”
“I’et me the usual”
This was nor baths, so she often asked for a drink partway through
He already had one, so he entered the changing roolass door to the bath partway open, and held out the chilled bottle
“Water? I want beer”
“Not a chance”
“You’re too strict, papa …Nn, I can’t reach it Bring it to me”
The tub was on the opposite side froh to hand it to her
With no other choice, the delivery boy blushed and stepped inside
The house itself was falling apart, but the easily-dirtied bath had apparently been re it much cleaner than the rest of the house The faucet was split between hot and cold water which felt quite outdated, but the tiling on the floor and walls was brand new
There was not a hint of mustiness, so only the scent of soap and the somewhat sweet aroma of an adult woman welcomed him in
Micha was soaking in a deep, square silver tub
“Phew… This bath is pretty big, but I wish there was roos”
She had been in the bath long enough to be soaked to the core, so the corners of her almond eyes drooped sexily
She was subed up to her shoulders, but the twin fruits covered by a toere floating up on the surface Mutsuki’s eyes naturally focused on their wonderful size and he blushed further His heart pounded as he handed her the bottle
“Thanks♡”
Micha i the water
The boy was tempted to take a peek inside the tub, but since he had completed his task, he obeyed the reasonable side of his mind and started to turn around But…