“Is everyone here?”
“Yes…”
“Perhaps.”
A dimly lit room with only a single flickering candle.
Though they had been assigned a building, they had received nothing to support their living, and thus, they gathered under the light of the candle, chewing their lips anxiously.
Of course, they hadn’t expected to be welcomed with open arms.
But still, wasn’t it a bit much? At the very least, shouldn’t they have been provided with food or immediate necessities? It was only reasonable.
The man looked around the room by the light of the candle.
There was no furniture to speak of in the dark interior.
Well, with no electricity supplied, it was probably too much to expect such things.
At this point, they should probably be grateful even for the candlelight.
“Anyway, how did it go with trying to contact each other?”
“If we don’t want to get into trouble, they told us to leave.”
“I got hit with salt.”
“Haa, it’s really excessive, isn’t it?”
They sighed deeply, seemingly disappointed by their treatment from their former colleagues.
“To forget about past incidents and rejoin the Foundation… it’s laughable that they let them back in.”
“Maybe they have something to feel guilty about?”
“Given that they’re housed outside rather than at the actual laboratory, it doesn’t seem like the Foundation fully trusts them either.”
“Same position as us, yet they won’t even help out…”
After scolding their former colleagues for a while, they finally brought up the main topic.
“In any case, since those traitors are out there too, it seems we can’t go inside easily, right?”
“That seems to be the case. They said they wouldn’t touch the inside, but it would be foolish to believe them.”
“So, we tried our best for a peaceful resolution, didn’t we?”
“Oh yes, we’ve done our duty.”
They laughed slyly, without an ounce of guilt on their faces.
The candlelight casting the light upward made them appear sinister and as if they were plotting something terrible.
Indeed, their faces, while laughing, betrayed no remorse or hesitation.
Rather, they looked forward to what was about to happen.
As if they hadn’t even considered anything else from the beginning.
Suddenly!
They all simultaneously felt a creepy sensation run down their spines. Consumed by an inexplicable foreboding, they glanced at each other’s faces and began looking around.
Since the only thing available to cut through the darkness was the candlelight, they lit another candle they had been saving.
Eventually, the area where they were talking became somewhat brighter, but there was nothing unusual to be seen.
Again, all they could perceive was the bleak interior and the noise from beyond the windows.
As the grumbling noises from earlier turned into laughter, shadows fell over the faces of those looking around with the candlelight.
“It’s all we can do.”
“Yes.”
“When that noise dies down, we’ll start. They wouldn’t expect us to do anything today.”
“That’s why they’re chatting so carelessly.”
“Anyway, they’re destined to cause us harm, so we’ll strike first.”
They turned off the candles and waited in the dark as time passed.
Though they couldn’t identify the chill they’d felt earlier, they figured it might just have been the darkness playing tricks on them.
Finally, the commotion around them quieted, and the brightly lit streetlights began to go out one by one.
“It seems like the time is right.”
At that, those who had been waiting in the darkness for this moment started to open their eyes one by one.
They exuded a readiness to cause trouble at any moment but stopped when they spotted figures outside their window.
Apparently, those who were making noise didn’t trust them either, and it seemed like they were patrolling around the building they were staying in.
Almost like blatantly showing off their presence as a warning not to cause trouble.
And it was irritating to no end, even more so when they saw the faces illuminated by the moonlight.
Arrogant bastards.
These are the very people who wouldn’t say a word when they were on their side but now act all high and mighty.
Do they think they’re so great now?
Still, the arrogance of those watching them from afar turned out to be helpful. Thanks to their obvious presence, they were able to devise ways to slip out unnoticed.
This insult would be settled once they start their operation.
Avoiding the eyes of those on watch, they slipped out of the building and disappeared into the shadows.
They almost ran into village patrols, but it seemed meaningless since they’d already been outside for a while unnoticed.
Since they possessed tool-type Singularities, it wasn’t an issue.
Even Lime, with their helmet on, went undetected.
Whether this would turn into a misfortune or a stroke of luck for them, they managed to make it to the outskirts of the village and let out a sigh of relief.
“Should be safe this far out.”
“Let’s begin.”
Drenched in sweat, they all revealed themselves and…
…pulled out shovels.
Under the moonlight, the sight of both men and women alike, wielding shovels in unison, looked like a group of thieves going to till someone’s fields.
Perhaps what they intended to do wasn’t too different from that, rendering any distinction unnecessary.
With the shovels held high, they all plopped down and began jabbing at the ground with the shovels.
However, contrary to the energetic start, the soil was harder than expected, and they sweated hard, searching for softer ground.
They eventually realized why proper shovels exist, but it was impossible to go back into the village now and get one.
“…Why am I in this predicament?”
Only when the smell of sugar became apparent did they feel they had dug a satisfactory hole. They collapsed on the ground, barely catching their breaths to consider the next plan.
“Digging is… unexpectedly… hard.”
“It’s because these are seedling shovels. If we’d had real shovels… no, even a combat shovel would have been better… who the hell prepared this stuff?”
“Uhhh… Isn’t it more important that we did it without them? Besides, we don’t want to be overheard.”
“Hmph.”
“Ahem.”
Through the darkness came a sigh from an unidentified source. The heated atmosphere cooled instantly due to the sigh.
It was fortunate for them, but they also realized something else.
“Because of this, we’re banished.”
“Totally incompetent…”
“Both of you are annoying.”
“…Something feels off…”
After catching their breaths for a moment, they stood up again and looked around.
There were no townsfolk pursuing them in sight, making the success of their plan seem imminent, but for some reason, a persistent sense of unease lingered.
What’s more infuriating was that they couldn’t figure out why they felt this unease.
A sticky breeze blew past, covering their bodies in clamminess.
Under the faint moonlight, the dark shadows of buildings surrounded them, and the dense bushes that had been left for landscaping loomed nearby.
Though the atmosphere seemed to portend the arrival of something, no sound of animals could be heard.
Only silence. Utter silence reigned.
However…
They couldn’t shake the feeling that they were being watched.
It was as though their sixth sense, the one people often talk about, had been activated.
One of them, feeling troubled, spoke with a trembling voice.
“D-doesn’t anyone feel… something unusual?”
“What’s with that all of a sudden?”
“No, no… I-I have this feeling… like someone’s watching us.”
“Huh…?”
The murmuring voice caused beads of sweat to fall from those listening, prompting them to look around again.
The shadows of the buildings looming over them and the walls that cast them were clean.
Even the ground they had been digging fervently a moment ago showed no strange signs.
Except the absence of insects was… overly sanitary.
“H-huh?”
No insects?
In such a heavily wooded area?
The small seed of doubt grew into a strong sense of dissonance.
Insects belong in such an environment, and if none were present at all, it was safe to assume something was out of the ordinary.
But what it was, they couldn’t tell.
Thus, a vague sense of uneasiness enveloped them.
This unease spread, causing agitation to ripple through their group.
“Whatever it is, let’s hurry with the plan.”
“Right, let’s not dwell on the trivial. We just need to plant the prepared Singularity.”
“Sounds good… yeah.”
The group that had moments ago been criticizing each other became as one, spraying themselves with the prepared aerosol.
The oddly fresh scent of the aerosol filled the air, and as they rummaged through their pockets, they cautiously pulled out a packet of seeds.
With faces resembling reverence, they placed the seeds into the dug holes and covered them with the shovels, muttering to themselves.
“By the way, this… do we need water?”
“Did anyone prepare it?”
“I thought someone else might have…”
“Seriously, no one?”
“I-I’ll look for some…”
“Damn seed…”
While lamenting and sprinkling dirt with his shovel, the man felt an uncomfortable tightness and glanced toward the dense undergrowth.
Shiver.
“Huh?”
He suddenly noticed something odd moving within the bushes.
“Over there, look, over there!”
“What are you talking abou─”
“H-huh?”
The entire group turned to look in the same direction in response to the man’s voice and all of their faces became the same.
A confused and disoriented expression, as if their lips were trying to form a smile.
In their eyes,
Jellies began emerging from the bushes, squirming out one by one under the moonlight, resembling forest fairies.
Are these the Jellies we’ve heard about? But they feel… different somehow.
Perhaps a different species? Are they trying to make contact with us? Incredible!
While seeing these Jellies made them dream of a rosy future,
The approaching Jellies’ expressions were cold.
Though they didn’t know it, but as they idly stood there,
They had inadvertently surrounded themselves with Jellies.
The Jellies that emerged from the bushes and surrounded them paused to consider.
How were they supposed to handle this?
Dinner?
No, they don’t taste good anymore.
Pudding is better than humans.
What should we do then?
The Jellies tilted their heads as they contemplated how to “dispose” of them.
