Chapter 19 Awakening Moment
"I... don't believe a word you're saying."
After a brief moment of shock, Bai Jingxuan instinctively retorted, "You're enemies, bad people, and liars. My parents are ordinary people; they couldn't possibly have anything to do with you."
Yet, even she didn't realize that although she was verbally contradicting them, the struggle in her efforts had obviously lessened.
"You seem quite bothered by this? Well, if knowing your origins can make you give up your futile resistance, I can afford to waste a little time." Experience exclusive tales on empire
Soldier Bee Seven looked at Bai Jingxuan, his voice calm and quiet, "After all, I don't want to bring a half-dead beast child to see the leader; he would blame me for damaging his important experimental subject."
"Your 'father', a short man slightly overweight with a smoking habit; your 'mother', a woman with a scar on her eyebrow who claimed to be a medical professional."
"They brought you to Fangting City seven years ago, where they settled and never took you away from here. They told you your condition was a congenital disease that the hospital couldn't cure. So, they only took you to the hospital for so-called check-ups once a year, even though they knew it was pointless."
"They gave you your current name, but in reality, neither of your 'parents' are surnamed Bai. They chose 'Bai' because they were assisted in their escape by a force known as 'Claw Mark'. The leader of Claw Mark has 'Bai' as the first character in his code name."
"Your surname was chosen to express gratitude for the help of Claw Mark."
"From the beginning, the so-called 'kinship' in your memories never existed. You were just their insurance policy to avoid fatal pursuit during their escape. Once they fled the organization, they took on the duty to raise you simply to avoid blowing their cover."
Soldier Bee Seven's face was devoid of emotion, "Of course, they didn't know that it was precisely because of this that they would die."
Bai Jingxuan, breathing slightly heavily, widened her eyes, "Was that attack orchestrated by you? Did you kill them?"
"No, even the leader couldn't control a Remnant Beast with such precision from half a state away, especially when at that time we didn't even know your whereabouts in Fangting City."
Soldier Bee Seven shook his head, "Their death has nothing to do with us, it was simply the consequence of their own actions."
"Then who was it? Who was controlling the Remnant Beasts at that time?" Bai Jingxuan muttered.
Soldier Bee Seven looked calmly at Bai Jingxuan.
"It was you." He uttered these two words.
"You're talking nonsense! How could I possibly do such a thing!" Bai Jingxuan suddenly struggled again, glaring at the man before her, "How could I ever do such a thing!"
"You needn't have any will of your own because, to the ordinary Remnant Beasts, a beast child is a superior being, a natural-born king."
Soldier Bee Seven grabbed her hair and, with force, pushed the back of Bai Jingxuan's head against the wall, "I don't know what exactly happened at that time, but the only possibility for a Remnant Beast to infiltrate a room precisely, and even accurately kill the humans around you, is this—"
"—'It wanted to meet you, and after seeing you, it wanted to devour you, to replace you.'
"Unfortunately, your so-called 'parents' were just ordinary researchers; they didn't know of this secret knowledge, thinking that your Magic Power was hidden within you, unseen by outsiders. This sealed their fate."
"As long as they were by your side, encountering a Remnant Beast and dying because of you was just a matter of time."
"Monsters cannot live within society or lead normal lives like ordinary people. From the moment you were chosen as a beast child, accompanying beasts have been the only choice for your life. So stop playing house here like a fool, come with me."
He loosened his grip slightly and threw the girl onto the ground, "This is the last time I'm giving you the chance to choose. Next time, I won't force myself to bring back a complete beast child."
Having said this, he looked down at Bai Jingxuan, who was lying on the ground, and silently waited for her to make her choice.
Bai Jingxuan lay there, motionless for a long time. Just when Soldier Bee Seven was starting to grow impatient, she finally moved a little.
She reached out, propping herself up, and slowly sat up from the ground.
"...I am a Magical Girl."
She said with a somewhat hoarse voice, "A Magical Girl should protect and save everyone. I will fight you and then... kill you."
Her words left Soldier Bee Seven speechless for a long time.
Not because he was shocked by her stubbornness, but because he simply felt pity.
"How pitiful."
After a long moment, he finally spoke again, "I've come to realize, you are nothing, just an empty shell."
"Just like a wild beast cannot understand human behavior but wants to become a human, it clumsily and futilely mimics human actions. You don't know what a normal person is like, so you vainly try to imitate, to emulate what you consider to be a human's appearance."
"You don't know what a Magical Girl is supposed to be like; you are just endlessly mimicking what you think is your 'ideal Magical Girl.' This mimicry doesn't even have a single focus; even these behaviors contradict each other."
"Perhaps from one Magical Girl, you perceived 'rescue and protection'; from another, you saw 'justice and severity.' Just like a wild beast that has no self-awareness or intelligence, you haphazardly piece them together."