HBWnovel Chapter 231: It's Not Over Until It's Over! (6)
Chapter 231: It's Not Over Until It's Over! (6)
The ragged Cinderella was a terrifying scientist. Flash— When the thick syringe needle gleamed in the fluorescent light, Naru trembled.
“...Naru hates needles!”
While Naru loved many things in the world, she hated needles. Because they were sharp and stinging. They said Naru had suffered from a terrible fever while in her mother’s womb. The illness was quickly cured thanks to her family’s efforts, but as a precaution, Naru had to have some blood drawn and sent to the laboratory every year. That was also why Naru disliked science.
“Eek!”
While Naru was trembling at the sight of the terrifying scientist, the ragged scientist Cinderella laughed wickedly and said.
“I’m someone who uncovers all the world’s secrets. Of course I have hints about the ancient Babylonian treasure. But I can’t give them away for free. You must become my assistants.”
The ragged scientist was troubled by many problems. She was looking for assistants to help with scientific research and truth-seeking, and it would be great if these children who happened to visit could help with experiments.
“...Okay!”
Hina answered enthusiastically. Hina thought helping with experiments would be fun. But Naru and Cecily frowned.
“Naru hates science...!”
Naru hated science. Science felt cold and seemed full of stinging needles. Naru hated science because it felt like cold, emotionless scientists with glasses would stare at her lying on an operating table without feeling.
“I’m not interested in science either.”
While Cecily didn’t particularly hate science, she just wasn’t interested in studying. However, Cecily, who had rolled around in mud at age 7, had matured somewhat and felt that studying might not be so bad. After all, knowledge was like a hidden jewel in a safe, even if invisible.
The ragged Cinderella said.
“There are problems written all over this laboratory. If you solve them all, you can get hint fragments. Don’t forget to carefully examine the boxes.”
So the children decided to search for boxes in this 5-story building. There were many boxes in this building. The locks on the boxes had special devices installed that would display strange messages when manipulated.
「Question. What element does the symbol ‘Na’ represent?」
A science question! Naru felt her hair standing on end. But if they didn’t solve this problem, they wouldn’t be able to find dad’s treasure. Then all of Naru and her sisters’ hard work today would be meaningless.
“Ugh...element symbols...Naru remembers learning them...but science is so rigid and difficult...but to face it properly...”
What could Na be?
“Na from Naru? Was Naru actually Na/Ru? Since half of Naru is dad and half is mom...Na must be dad!”
Naru wrote ‘dad’ as the answer. Beep— It was wrong, of course.
“Eek!”
Brigitte, the scientist’s assistant who was watching this process, had many things she wanted to say but stayed quiet. Today was a day for the children to solve problems and overcome challenges with their own strength.
Rustle—
Having lost confidence, Naru crawled under a box to hide. Cecily discovered Naru’s legs sticking out.
“Naru, do you know what 2731 times 271 is?”
“740,101!”
“Today was fun!”
Cecily nodded readily at those words.
“It was quite an adventure. Though it felt a bit easy for me, Cecily who has turned seven...!”
“......”
Instead of sharing her thoughts, Hina looked around. Because she was curious about something.
“...So there’s no ancient kingdom treasure in the end...? The treasure is the memories in our hearts...?”
The adults who awkwardly acted for the children today and the adventure. Those memories were worthy of being called a treasure that would nicely decorate a corner of a frame. Just as they were thinking the treasure map might have been for these memories, Judas said.
“No, treasure means shining gold and jewels. Or things like this.”
Swish— Judas pulled out a key from the air. It was quite a large key, about the size of Naru’s palm.
“This is the 「Shadow Key」. You can insert it anywhere there are shadows and use it like a door. And when you go through that door...”
When Judas inserted the key into a nearby wall, a door appeared in the air. Click— When that door opened, there was a fairly spacious area inside.
“It’s a cabin! It’s huge!”
Naru shouted as she went inside. The strange cabin-like interior had windows, and beautiful stars twinkled beyond those windows. Hina and Cecily also came into the cabin. All the sisters felt somehow nostalgic.
Slide— Hina carefully placed the glass marble she got today on the table. Then she brought a chair and wrote her name on it with the throwing star.
“This is Hina’s spot.”
“Ah! Naru wants to pick a spot too!”
Naru also brought a chair and carved her name in a corner. Cecily silently sat on the sofa placed by the window. They all acted so familiar it didn’t feel like their first time in this house.
“Since you’re all 7 now, I thought you should have your own hideout. Only people with the key can enter here. This dimensional gap is your own space.”
The children weren’t listening to Judas. They were busy unpacking in their spots. The man now slowly turned his gaze to look at the stars shining outside the window. Just as he was thinking that three shooting stars more brilliant than any others were in this cabin, the children said.
“Thank you Dad.” “It’s a wonderful gift.” “...I’ll never forget today.”
Judas was startled by the unexpectedly mature and beautiful voices and turned his head. There were very adult-like women who had somehow grown up, smiling like brilliant stars at Judas.
“What!?”
The highest level of princess power, SSR. No, it seemed to surpass even that brilliance. Could this be the rumored UR grade?
“...What is this!?”
The startled Judas rubbed his eyelids with his fingers. When he opened his eyes again after massaging them for a while, the children had returned to their 7-year-old forms and were walking around inside the cabin. It was quite mysterious.
Footnotes
1. In alphabet here refers to them being writtewn in latin alphabet, compared to well, korean lol. /genesisforsaken