The Monster's Room - Chapter 62
Marie made a displeased face as she heard the voice echoing in the air.
<SCP-▉▉▉2 door opening.>
It felt like the words were being transcribed into pictures. The more she concentrated, the more they seemed to make sense, leaving her with an odd feeling. Not wanting to enter J’s room right away, Marie looked around for a sign.
<<℉-Ⅳ九>>
“Oh…”
The previously unrecognizable sign was starting to resemble F-49. Wasn’t it initially marked as <<◆-△▼>> or something? As Marie took a hesitant step back, a tentacle suddenly shot out through the open door and wrapped around her.
“Wha—?”
She was yanked into the dark room, landing in the only lit spot—a marble bathtub.
“J? W-wait, ha—! Stop, haah!”
Sploosh!
What greeted her was an extremely angry J.
* * *
Marie was thoroughly cleaned, like laundry being washed. All the dried se-en on her body, and even the remnants in her rect-m and uter-s, were meticulously washed away. Not a single strand of her hair was left untouched.
Only after completely erasing any trace of others did J finally relax, allowing Marie to rest in the marble bathtub.
“…?”
Marie was still in a daze. This was not what she had expected. Shouldn’t J have forgotten her? What about the nightmare? As confusion swept through her, a voice touched her soul.
– My queen, can you hear me?
Was she hallucinating?
Hearing Spiegel’s voice made Marie angry. No matter how much she missed her monsters, deceiving her like this felt too cruel.
– The others have all fallen to the enemy’s power? I knew it. Only I am truly worthy of my queen. Only I can help my love,
Sploosh!
– Oh, fine. J, I’ll admit you’ve been somewhat helpful. We’re partners after all.
Correction.
The voice in her head was real. Marie knew it because creating such a nasty character even in a dream would be challenging.
“Spiegel? J?”
– Who else would it be?
J, still visibly displeased, rose up like a screen, reflecting Marie’s image and revealing Spiegel’s faint outline.
– Hello, my love.
“…Hick.”
– My love…?
The reason Spiegel appeared blurry wasn’t anything other than the tears filling her eyes. Marie tried to hold back, but eventually, she burst into tears.
The truth was, she was struggling.
Each time the monsters didn’t remember her, it felt like a sting to her heart. Though she pretended to be fine, she was growing tired.
J and Spiegel’s appearance was like a magical moment for her. As tears streamed down her face, J wrapped around her, enveloping her in its cool, soft embrace, allowing her to cry her heart out.
It was okay. J’s comforting touch washed away her fatigue. Once she had cried enough to clear her mind, Marie looked at the two with a freshly cleaned face.
“What happened?”
The enemy’s power was formidable. Even the Iron Horse Knight and the Marionette Troupe Leader were struggling in their nightmares, so how were these two unaffected?
– We escaped.
Spiegel answered her question.
– Our guess was right; as long as we moved beyond the ‘range,’ it wouldn’t affect us.
Though Spiegel’s main body was a shattered mirror, it could transfer its consciousness to any reflective surface. Thanks to this, Spiegel managed to stay awake and approached from the outside.
– And our other guess was correct, too.
After thorough analysis, Marie and Spiegel figured out that the enemy’s power was strongest upon first use but could be avoided if unnoticed afterward.
They realized this from the residual image of a person who entered the base shortly after the enemy’s initial attack and remained unaffected for a while. The person wandered around in confusion, seeing the fallen, and eventually collapsed after some time.
– Sneaking around is my specialty, you know?
Spiegel roamed freely inside the base, observing the enemy. Despite his distaste, he even subtly helped the humans ensure that the arrangements Marie left behind functioned well. But that wasn’t enough.
Spiegel wanted to be with Marie.
– And then I found J.
Finding J awake was a stroke of luck.
“J was awake?”
– Do you know what creature this tentacle monstrosity abhors so much?
“…The Iron Horse Knight?”
– Exactly. Do you know why?
Marie didn’t know the exact reason, but she was aware that J, who could erase almost anything, couldn’t affect the Iron Horse Knight. Spiegel nodded in agreement.
– It’s because it can’t erase things that lack a tangible form. The Iron Horse Knight might look like a mass of iron, but its essence is rooted in death. It’s more of a concept than a physical entity.
“It managed to erase my blood just fine, though?”
– Blood is very much a physical entity, my love.
Unable to erase the Iron Horse Knight, J, surprisingly, seemed to have undergone some sort of training. Remarkably, this training had some effect, allowing it to resist ‘dreams,’ if not ‘death’ itself.
“That’s impressive.”
– What about me?
“Spiegel, you’re impressive too.”
– Hahaha.
