The final image was of the door opening. Cocolia fell to the ground, her consciousness fading, and the last thing she saw was the figure, bathed in light.
[Anchor Replacement Complete—]
After the surrounding scene and the feeling of dizziness disappeared, Cocolia slowly stood up from the ground, a somewhat dark expression in her eyes.
"Bronya..." Cocolia looked at her hand, which hadn't changed back. She silently clenched her fist, not daring to use too much force.
She had witnessed the moment a puppet named "Bronya" transcended from a tool to a "life," watched her begin to truly think, watched her follow her inner guidance for the first time and come here.
The weight of this process was a bit much even for Cocolia. She knew there were countless children like Bronya here, but in all this time, how many "Ural Silver Wolves" had appeared?
Only this one.
Her outstanding talent was not devoured by that exhaustive training method. Instead, it stimulated her potential to the maximum, allowing her to reach such a height.
And gave her the qualification to endure a long period of pain.
Not only Bronya's "masters," but even Cocolia hadn't expected that this Bronya would suddenly have the thought, "I don't want to die."
Was it because... of that encounter with Sin Mal?
Because of that accident, a "master" who would give her food, medicine, and shelter was added to the depths of Bronya's heart, giving her a thought that couldn't be called a fantasy...
It was the [what if] itself.
Nearly nine years of stagnant thought began to operate because of this [what if]. Then came the birth of emotion, which erupted at that moment.
This first ray of emotion filled her empty body, and that body provided her with strength, bringing Bronya before her.
---||---
The world around her stopped changing. Cocolia immediately came back to her senses, preparing for the next simulation.
She looked up. Before her were children collapsed in a cloud of mist. Cocolia kept her body low and, with experienced swiftness, pulled up her clothes to cover her mouth and nose.
A sleeping gas...
Someone had broken into the orphanage. The intruder seemed to be in a hurry, not even having time to clean up the traces they had left behind.
Was this the time Seele was kidnapped?
Cocolia made a judgment. Since she had to play the part of Bronya, she should do what Bronya would do...
Cocolia immediately held her breath, then got up and quickly followed the tracks.
But not long after she set out, Cocolia found that the tracks had disappeared. Only a faint sound from a distance could confirm the other's location.
They've started to clean up their tracks?
Cocolia suddenly understood that if she hesitated even for a moment, she would lose their trail. Left with no choice, she could only follow them cautiously with the quietest movements.
This distance was actually very dangerous. If the other party turned around and she failed to hide well, she would definitely be discovered. And if she delayed for a moment, she would immediately lose them.
And those people all had weapons. A dozen fully armed men. And she was empty-handed, her body still weak from the small amount of drug she had just inhaled.
In this state, it was impossible to confront them head-on. The only chance was probably...
...to capture the leader.
Very difficult... at least for now, Cocolia couldn't think of a single way.
Even the possibility of calling for support was...
Cocolia's heart suddenly trembled. She realized something.
Because of the cleaned-up tracks, she had to give chase. And because of this dangerous distance, she couldn't send out a notification...
Then what about leaving a trail for others to follow?
Cocolia glanced back discreetly. Two people covering their rear were a considerable distance from the main group, creating a false trail leading in another direction.
If she left a trail, they would definitely discover it first...
This was a dead end where she had to act alone... unless she was willing to give up on Seele and pin her hopes of rescue on the fact that these mercenaries with real guns and live ammunition were only interested in kidnapping...
Was that possible? Only a complete and utter fool would believe that "the enemy won't harm the hostage."
From the moment they left her sight, she had to act with the mindset that they had already been killed. That was the proper way of thinking.
With a heavy heart, Cocolia followed the group to the entrance of an extremely hidden base. The people behind her finally left, continuing to create the illusion that they had gone.
And those people entered the base, leaving only two people to stand guard at the entrance.
Now was a chance to turn back... Although it was a long way from the orphanage, if she left now, she could retrace her steps or find people nearby...
Cocolia paused, then couldn't help but clench her fists.
At this time, the orphanage was still located in North Su-Mediterranean... Although there was no war like in Siberia, there wasn't a soul in sight either.
Each settlement was at least dozens of kilometers apart. To find a household in this vast, difficult-to-travel snowscape?
What was the difference between that and trying to accurately poke a specific word on a paper full of words while blindfolded?
Not only were the chances slim, but the word she was looking for might not even be on the paper.
"No, I have to go to the bathroom," one of the two sentries at the gate suddenly shivered and said to the person beside him with a troubled expression.
"Go on, go on!" the other person said with a look of disgust, then took out a small flask and took a big swig.
Only then did Cocolia realize that the flush on that guy's face wasn't from the cold wind, but more likely from drinking.
Drinking... alone...
This was a glaring flaw! A flaw that was extremely attractive to an assassin like Cocolia!
And to Bronya as well.
With all roads blocked, a seemingly viable path suddenly appeared before her. Cocolia, for whom even waiting had become a dead end, knew she had to make a choice now.
She stood up silently, pretending to have walked up from the main road. She then walked to the man at the gate and slowly unbuttoned her greatcoat, revealing the thin clothes inside.
"What the hell, so you're for sale," the man who was drinking said, holding his gun. He relaxed and smiled upon seeing Cocolia's actions, not finding the other's youth strange at all.
Strange? Not when you've seen it enough.