“W-What the hell is this!? Are we supposed to live in such a filthy place!?”
“The house and the road are in tatters! It also stinks!”
“Hey, there are some skinny residents over there! I don’t think they have eaten properly, right?!”
The people who were brought in raised their voices when they saw the state of the residential area.
“Oka~y, everyone, you’re being very noisy~. This place is a suitable living area for useless humans like you guys~. There are spare rooms here and there, so feel free to live wherever you like~”
When the person in rabbit costume announced that in a cheerful voice (which is very inappropriate at the moment), it naturally adds fuel to the new resident’s anger.
“You bastard! I’m going to kill you!”
One of the men that was brought in jumped on the person in rabbit costume. But the next moment, the person in rabbit costume dodged the man’s fist with an agility that was unbelievable for him. Right after dodging, he also smoothly kicked the man in the back.
“~~~~~~Kuu-, Guaaaaah!”
The man rolled on the ground several times and crashed into the outer wall of a shabby house, eventually fainting.
“Oh~, I forgot to mention one thing~. The residents of this residential area don’t have access to proper medical care. So, be careful not to get injured! Now then, does any of you have any questions~?”
Everyone fell completely silent. When the man in rabbit costume saw that there were no questions, he turned around with satisfied look on his face.
“Oh, of course, if you try to escape from this place, you will be severely punished~, so be careful~”
He paused and said such parting words before leaving.
“That one is quite interesting. I thought there was a person inside that rabbit costume, but it is probably empty. It seems to be remotely controlled somewhere. ……I mean, it’s not a costume at all, it’s a stuffed animal.”
“That’s probably right. It doesn’t have that high fighting power, but if the opponent is an average human, that thing should be enough to hold them down.”
And then I realized something.
“……It’s just a little bit, but I think this place is draining the magic from our body.”
“Correct. When you are in this residential area, there’s a constant absorption of magical power from your body, albeit in small amounts.”
In other words, they are forcibly collecting magical power from everyone living in this area.
“They use the magical power they suck up here for a variety of things…… such as researching magic, manufacturing magic tools and growing crops. If you are a healthy person, there is not much trouble, but if you continue to live here for a long time, there is no doubt that your body will change. Above all, it is a harsh environment for children, the elderly, and the sick.”
Is this the real face behind this city?
This is a pretty outrageous thing to do. But it’s amazing that the newspaper reporter who went undercover managed to find out all that.
“……However, this is just the beginning. There’s a place in the back that makes you want to cover your eyes even more.”
With Meltera’s guidance, we went to the innermost part of the residential area.
Even so, it seems that quite a few people live in this place. From what I could see, there were quite a few normal-looking people, which seemed to indicate the lax standards for forcibly taking people here.
And perhaps because their magical powers are constantly being sucked out of them, the people here generally looked listless. There are many people with bad complexions.
Eventually, we arrived at a high-walled restricted area. When we entered inside, we were faced with a tragic and horrible scene.
“Guruaaaaaaaa!! Get me out of heeerrrree!!”
“Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill youuuuuuuu!”
“Ihihihihihihi! Hyahahaha!!”
There were countless cages and humans were trapped inside them. Each making angry and strange noises.
No, they can no longer be called humans. Some have horns on their heads, others have wings on their backs, some have four arms, and some have three eyes, making them physically different from ordinary humans.
“They are probably the ones who tried to escape from here.”
“W-wait a minute. Does that mean they were originally the residents here? Why are they…… why do this?”
As I frowned, Meltera told me a shocking fact.
“It’s the black magic stone. Those present here are forcibly implanted with black magic stone in their bodies and have been transformed into beings that surpass humans.…. in other words, they are creating “monsters”.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.
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