Past Arc 17
"Enjoy your meal."
With Salier's greeting, the children reached for the dishes arranged on the table.
The dining hall resembled a battlefield, given that most of the children were in their growth phase.
Yet each dish was portioned precisely, preventing conflicts over food.
Though the portions often felt insufficient for growing children, taking another child's meal was strictly forbidden.
Even if taken, the food might not be consumable.
The reason being: these children were not ordinary. They carried special circumstances, and their food was rigorously controlled as a result.
This was an orphanage operated by the Salierah Association.
More precisely, an orphanage and hospital combined.
All children here were subjects of Potimas's experiments.
An orphanage established to protect and treat children rescued from Potimas's research facilities across the region.
They were chimeras, created by Potimas.
Beings born from forbidden experiments combining human bases with various animals.
Survivors among a dwindling number.
After police investigation of Potimas's research facilities, it was confirmed that numerous individuals had undergone human experimentation.
Most had died.
Victims of failed experiments, those who survived briefly despite success, and those who died during subsequent trials.
Reports recorded the outcomes with clinical detachment.
Descriptions treated human lives as if they were laboratory animals.
The children protected at the orphanage were those who had miraculously survived among them.
Yet, due to aftereffects from experiments and inherent burdens borne from birth, the children are cared for at an orphanage co-located with a medical facility.
Simultaneously, the orphanage serves to conceal the children from public curiosity.
A small boy with green skin.
A girl with slightly pointed ears.
A girl with scales covering her body.
These children, whose appearances deviate from the norm, required concealment.
Potimas had vanished, placed under a nationwide manhunt.
The nature of his research had also leaked, spreading through rumors among the populace.
Accounts varied—some entirely false, others containing fragments of truth.
Among them, one claim stated Potimas had created monstrous chimeras.
This was true in one sense, false in another.
The truth: chimeras not based on human templates.
Chimeras formed by combining various animals were created under Potimas's direction.
Among them, grotesque and unnatural creatures did exist.
Of these, chimeras incorporating draconic elements—resembling dragons but lacking true form—exhibited high combat efficiency despite significant deficiencies compared to authentic dragons. Incidents occurred where police officers infiltrating the research facility were overwhelmed by such dragon-like constructs.
These events spread as exaggerated rumors.
The problem arose when children were included among these unnatural forms.
The rumors described children transformed into monstrous shapes through experimentation, attacking people.
They were recounted like poorly crafted horror tales.
The people spreading the rumors meant no harm.
They did not believe such children actually existed.
Gossip, trailing after it like a tail, was spoken of only as baseless nonsense.
Yet if actual children, victims of the experiment, existed—and possessed physical anomalies—then mere rumor ceased to be mere rumor.
The outcome was clear: exposure to the public would inevitably lead to harm inflicted upon the children.
Thus, their existence was acknowledged only by those with understanding, and kept secret from general knowledge.
Syrilis took the lead in caring for such children.
With Fodui, the largest investor, having withdrawn, the scale of the Syriela Foundation’s operations visibly contracted.
Yet another factor compelled Syrilis himself to go into hiding.
Hence, he worked here at the orphanage.
The reason Syrilis was forced into concealment: he had rejected MA energy.
Potimas, having vanished, unveiled his MA energy theory.
It produced energy that never depleted, regardless of use, and could be generated with extreme simplicity.
The accompanying human evolution method further astonished the world.
Yet Sariel knew.
The MA energy originated from the star's Life force itself.
Gods were simply entities with high energy reserves.
According to that theory, stars were also a type of god.
Vast energy resided within stars.
Energy beyond physical detection.
It was the star’s Life force. Depletion meant death of the star.
MA energy was this stellar energy. Using it meant shortening the star’s lifespan.
Sariel announced the truth of the MA energy theory immediately after its publication.
It was not accepted.
People were drawn to the convenience of MA energy, but more significantly, Sariel’s claims lacked foundation.
MA energy was a mysterious force. Only Potimas knew its nature. No one else did.
No one knew how the energy originated, or by what principle it emerged.
To claim knowledge of MA energy’s true identity was to make a statement without proof.
Moreover, various researchers had already published competing theories on the nature of MA energy. Sariel’s announcement was treated as just another among them.
Worse still, Sariel was the head of a charitable foundation.
Few people regarded the announcement as credible, given it came from someone with no scholarly standing.
In fact, it was dismissed as the delusion of a madman.
One reason for this reception was that the Dragon Cult had made a similar declaration.
The Dragon Cult, as its name implies, was a group that worshipped dragons.
Yet, across the collective understanding, dragons were universally feared and reviled—especially in light of the tragedy of Tetomia.
Thus, the general populace viewed followers of dragons as a deranged sect.
Sariel’s Foundation was seen with suspicion, as it shared the same claims as that sect.
Even though the claims were true.
Still, Sariel persisted in warning of the dangers of MA energy.
She knew what would happen if it were used.
She had tried every means possible to persuade people, determined that it must be stopped.
Yet, the results did not follow.
Meanwhile, a faction of hardline MA energy proponents began inflicting harm on Sariel, who voiced opposition to MA energy.
A threatening letter delivered to the residence.
Despite Sophia’s continued activities, an assassin was dispatched.
Sariel was not the type to die easily, but after incidents occurred in which unrelated individuals connected to the Sariela Order were attacked by mobs, Sariel was forced to suspend activities.
Sariel chose the safety of those close to her over the fate of the world.
It is not possible to hold them accountable.
And Syrilis, taking advantage of the opportunity to conceal himself, attended to the children.
Even as the sound of approaching doom grew ever nearer, there remained a calm moment.