My Measurement: The Villain Desires a Satisfying Payback

Chapter 88: 84: Winter Festival (3)

I felt Sophie drill a burning hole into the side of my head with her piercing gaze.

"You adore spouting nonsense, huh."

Listening to his constant drivel was getting on my nerves, and I didn't want to spend any more time interacting with this man if I could help it.

"Hmhm. You don't seem to be denying it, Cipher? What about you, miss? Do you feel the same way?"

Directing a look towards Sophie Asanami beside me, he asked. Flustered, she hesitated, but before she could answer his question, I put a stop to it.

"That's enough. Answer me, what happened ten years ago?"

My priority at the moment was to gather information about my escape, during which he was presumably present, being the head of the facility and all. This man should thus be the best source of knowledge about that incident there is.

A moment of silence passed as Marcus Lynton looked at me vacantly, seemingly calculating something within that deranged mind of his. He glanced at Sophie, then back to me.

"...It is not a topic suitable for the current environment. Don't you agree?"

I thought about his reluctance for a second. Clearly, his answer relayed that the matter of my escape was not something to be discussed in public, and he wasn't necessarily wrong about that.

However, I also spotted his intention to lead the conversation in a way that leaves just the two of us to speak. Although he gave himself a Supernatural Ability, it wasn't one I needed to worry about right now since it wasn't particularly dangerous.

In other words, I wouldn't be in danger if we were to speak one-to-one. In fact, he would be the one more at risk.

"No. Tell me here."

No one was going to eavesdrop or listen in on our conversation here, and even if they did, so what? It's not like anyone here would understand what we were talking about, so it doesn't matter if they hear or not.

The Professor frowned lightly.

"I don't think you quite understand, Cipher boy. I am saying this for both of our own good. I cannot go into any further detail unless you are the only one to hear it."

I found his words extremely suspicious, but oddly enough, he wasn't lying.

"You know I am not lying, and you know I do not wish to bring harm upon you. Even if I wanted to, I could not endanger you here, could I?"

His concern was not precisely of people overhearing the contents of our conversation, it seemed, but rather the consequences of doing so.

Knowing he was telling the truth, but not being allowed to know what that truth exactly was.

I asked with no expectations.

Would it really be that dangerous if I am not the only one to hear what he has to say?

「You do not have access to this information」

I couldn't imagine why, and I had even less of a clue what would happen if multiple people heard it, if anything, but it was clear from the response given that the Professor's claims carried some weight to them.

Begrudgingly, I motioned to Sophie.

"...Stand back. Watch, but don't listen."

I had her move quite a distance away and use her Supernatural Ability to cut off all sound around her as the Professor and I walked to a secluded location.

Without saying a word, I waited for him to talk first, but that man just stared at me with the same blank look as before.

Through it, he conveyed boundless emotions of gravitas, concern, and a hint of madness.

"I was not aware that you had forgotten the matter entirely, Cipher. Are you perhaps frustrated?"

He began with a question.

"Stop wasting time."

"Haha," He chuckled, "You want to spend as much time with that girl as you can, right? I understand. Youth is a peculiar thing, after all."

The man whose former job it was to steal the youths of children spoke of it fondly. It was ironic, and frankly, the sight was repulsive and disgusting, but I had no choice but to endure it with patience in order to receive the answers I desired.

He misunderstood my priorities, but knowing that pointless quarrelling would not help to advance the conversation, I ignored him and got right to the point.

"What is it you can't say to others?"

"Hm... It is not that I cannot say it to others, but that saying it to others would result in a negative outcome for everyone involved. Telling one person is fine, but any more than that is absolutely forbidden, and I would recommend you do the same when it comes to this matter."

His explanation was vague, but I understood that his warning was genuine.

If he wanted to, he could have said it, but if it did, something bad would have happened to all of us. The Professor's intent is not inherently malicious, and despite the way he goes about things, he does not wish to cause unnecessary harm.

Of course, if he has to, he will, but that isn't the case here.

"So, what is it?"

What was the incident?

What was the danger of speaking about it?

What was it he cannot, no, should not say?

Professor Marus Lynton knew, and he opened his mouth to tell me.

"First of all, Cipher, let me express my regrets for you not remembering what happened that day. I suppose, however, that it makes sense, considering the circumstances; knowing a troublemaker like you, you wouldn't be playing around like this and pretending to live like an ordinary high school student if you knew the truth."

"What are you getting at?"

"What I'm 'getting at', is this: this is a matter that concerns the safety of the world."

"..."

"Because this is a matter that concerns the safety of the world, I am getting myself involved directly like this."

Hearing his statement, I laughed.

"Hah. Since when did you start caring about the world?"

Although I laughed, my expression was blank.

"I start caring when my interests are threatened, Cipher. Because the safety of the world itself is threatened, my interests are in turn threatened as well."

Marcus Lynton's interests.

"I cannot discover the mysteries of our world and our universe if it is destroyed, now can I?"

Someone who craves knowledge.

Someone who yearns to sate his curiosity; to quench his thirst for unveiling the unknown.

Befitting his title, he was a true re

However, that all changed when Marcus Lynton was transferred to my branch. After he became the head of the San Cinelia Playground, he immediately became fascinated with my power and began testing.

It started off with simple things, things to test the water.

Gradually, they ramped up the intensity of the questions.

Asking things like why Measurements exist in the first place, or how they came to be.

Of course, the only answer in relation to that is the same one I mentioned previously―that it's simply how the world works. There was no scientific explanation even after the veil was lifted.

For two years, I was being used in such a manner.

Until that day.

I don't remember what happened that day, but now it was being explained to me.

"Ah, I remember it like it was yesterday... Right after we asked you to answer a certain question, one we had been anticipating since the beginning..."

His face contained an incongruous mixture of light and darkness.

"...Well, it's as simple as that, once the answer was spoken, all of the Professors died except for me."

Shrugging, he put it as simply as he could. Then, he added:

"―It merely turned out that some knowledge really is forbidden after all."