Fate, get a hold on yourself

Greeds voice woke me up from my reverie just in time for me to hear footsteps. I immediately turned tail and hide. The men who brought the metal box earlier returned.

Apparently, I was dumbstruck longer than I thought I would. The content of the box still burnt in eyes, making me feel sick. How dare them to do such a terrible thing.

The men carried the box that contained such a thing mechanically. What in the world..was actually happening here!

Calm down, your heartbeat is irregular. Thats why I told you not to look

[Sorry. But Im not regretting the fact that I saw it. Now I know for sure that something is really happening.

I dont think youll have the appetite to eat your favorite meat dish for a while now.

[Shut up]

Thats the spirit. Now lets continue

I collected my breathing, then checked where the box was. Apparently those men had carried it away. Now then, should I follow them, or try for another route?

If you notice, its packed in a box probably in preparation to discard it. If you follow those guys, youll only end up seeing something more terrible

[Even more terrible!?]

Oi, stop! Fate!

I ran toward the direction where those men had gone to. When I arrived they were opening the box, and poured the content downward. Then a strange voice could be heard from the bottom of the pit. That couldnt possibly be a sound coming from humanbut here on the kingdom?

While I was observing in fear, the men looked down,

[There, eat a lot]

[Whoa, its still feel terrible no matter how many times Ive seen it.]

[You guys, dont look down there too much! Youll be eaten like food too if you fall]

[I know that already, but really, using those unblessed people for something like this, its still terrible.]

[The salary was okay, youll be fine once you get used to it. Id rather not be those powerless people who were blinded by gold, and ended up becoming food for those things.]

Their conversation was too much for me. I got out of my hiding place, and dashed at one of the men with a great momentum.

[Then lets see you fall down there]

[What, Uaaaaaaaaaa]

Although the four remaining people was surprised by the sudden attack, they immediately took out the baton that was strapped on each of their waist.

[Who are you!? You, do you know what kind of research facility this is?!]

However, I didnt let them do any counterattack. I dropped them down to the pit without letting anyone off.

[I do know what kind of place this is]

Whilst grasping the neck of the one remaining person, I looked at the four who were already down there.

Although its quite a deep pit, they were still alive. Trembling in fear. The reason being the monsters around them. Although theyve eaten bloody meats just now, those four will still be eaten by them regardless.

The four will just be the next course on the menu. Thats why, they desperately asked me for help.

[Weve done bad things! Please push the emergency button!]

[Please! Well be eaten at this rate!]

There was a red button on the wall where they pointed at. It seemed to be used quite often, seeing how the red paint is worn out, and the silver colored metal is slightly sticking out. If its really for emergency, why did they use it this often?

Could it be, that this people fell down there on daily basis? Impossible.

Greed then spoke to me viaMind Reading.

That button is probably linked to the device that look like collar attached on the monsters below. If you push that, the device will activate, and send electric current to help pacify the monsters.

[Then, the reason why its been used that often]

Nearly everyday, they deliberately torture the monsters, to have some fun or something.

[Everything about this place are truly terrible]

I decided to watch without pressing the button. The monsters were approaching the four men with their tongue hung out, as if theyre seeing those guys as main dish.

[Please! Press it immediately!]

[Cant handle this anymore.uaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, stop! Dont get any closer!]

[Dont, please dont!]

The monsters didnt kill the men at once, letting them struggle as their bones got crushed bit by bit. As if to reproduce the torture that those men had inflicted upon the monsters.

These monsters were smarter than they looked.

While the sound of screaming filled the room, I started questioning the remaining one that I havent thrown down.

[What is this place trying to do? Answer me!]

[I cant sayI cant possibly tell you..if I do, I..]

I already knew without him telling. The Burixes wont allow him to live if their secret is exposed.

Even so, Ill make him talk. I cant just let go such a precious source of information, can I?

The Burix family had been keeping monsters inside the kingdom. Even use human to feed it.

For what? Also, what kind of monsters are they, since I cant see it from here?

I let the man hang just above the pit. So if I let him loose, hell only end up falling into the pit, joining his friends who had ended up becoming food.

[..alright. Ill tell you, so please dont drop me down.]

[Then firstly, who ordered such atrocity to be done?]

[Its Rafal Burix-sama. Please, I dont know anything beyond that. My job is only to feed the monsters with the carcasses inside the boxes.]

[Then what kind of monsters lurking down there?]

[I dont really know the detail. But, they arejust goblins at the beginning. However, when they ate human flesh, their appearance changed. About what caused that. I really really have no idea]

I loosened my grip around his neck, which caused him to hurryingly talk some more.

[There is more. Please listen to me! Mimir-sama is one in charge of this place. If you questioned Mimir-sama, youll surely obtain more information.]

[Ha!? Why is it Mimir?]

Mimir is Rafals sister. However, why would he assign her here, to such a creepy facility of all places?

Of course, the man did not know the detail. However, he heard about it before from one of the women who work on this facility.

[Thats hard to believe. Are you trying to fool me! Then where is this Mimir-sama at?]

[North from here. There is a room called accomodation room. Ive never been to that room before, so dont know the detail. Please, believe me!]

[Alright]

I let go of my grip as I say so. The mans face turned pale, he fell down to the pit where the mysterious monsters that were originally goblins awaited him.

[Why! Ive told you everything I know! But..why!]

[Ill go to check what youve said just now. If it turns out to be true, then Ill return here to help you out]

[Thats impossible.there is no time]

[Thatll be up to you. Ive been wondering..if you are really stronger than those people you claimed to be powerless]

I didnt bother to see the man anymore. I quickly headed out this accommodation room he talked about. The only sound I hear from behind me, was the scream of a man and roars of monsters.

What happened here can be said to be a grave violation to human ethics. I knew that Rafal is a horrible person, but to think a human would actually do something like this.

Moreover, he actually confined his sister Mimir here. Rafal that I knew of would at least acted gentle to Mimir.

While I was thinking about what went wrong, Greed spoke throughMind Reading.

Fate, have you noticed? Despite us being noisy like that, nobody actually came

[Yeah, of course I have. When I was interrogating that guy, Ive kept myself alert to the surroundings. There is too little people here. If its true that Mimir is just up ahead, then we may learn the truth behind all this.]

this feeling reminds me of my old days. Be careful

Greed advised me with a rare heavy tone in his voice. I guess I really should hear him out this time.

Its too cold here. I didnt feel any warmth nor any sign of life. All I can hear, was the barks of the monsters who still hadnt felt satisfied with their meal.

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