My Measurement: The Villain Desires a Satisfying Payback

I felt Sophie drill a burning hole into the side of my head with her piercing gaze.

"You adore spouting nonsense, huh."

Listening to his constant drivel was getting on my nerves, and I didn't want to spend any more time interacting with this man if I could help it.

"Hmhm. You don't seem to be denying it, Cipher? What about you, miss? Do you feel the same way?"

Directing a look towards Sophie Asanami beside me, he asked. Flustered, she hesitated, but before she could answer his question, I put a stop to it.

"That's enough. Answer me, what happened ten years ago?"

My priority at the moment was to gather information about my escape, during which he was presumably present, being the head of the facility and all. This man should thus be the best source of knowledge about that incident there is.

A moment of silence passed as Marcus Lynton looked at me vacantly, seemingly calculating something within that deranged mind of his. He glanced at Sophie, then back to me.

"...It is not a topic suitable for the current environment. Don't you agree?"

I thought about his reluctance for a second. Clearly, his answer relayed that the matter of my escape was not something to be discussed in public, and he wasn't necessarily wrong about that.

However, I also spotted his intention to lead the conversation in a way that leaves just the two of us to speak. Although he gave himself a Supernatural Ability, it wasn't one I needed to worry about right now since it wasn't particularly dangerous.

In other words, I wouldn't be in danger if we were to speak one-to-one. In fact, he would be the one more at risk.

"No. Tell me here."

No one was going to eavesdrop or listen in on our conversation here, and even if they did, so what? It's not like anyone here would understand what we were talking about, so it doesn't matter if they hear or not.

The Professor frowned lightly.

"I don't think you quite understand, Cipher boy. I am saying this for both of our own good. I cannot go into any further detail unless you are the only one to hear it."

I found his words extremely suspicious, but oddly enough, he wasn't lying.

"You know I am not lying, and you know I do not wish to bring harm upon you. Even if I wanted to, I could not endanger you here, could I?"

His concern was not precisely of people overhearing the contents of our conversation, it seemed, but rather the consequences of doing so.

Knowing he was telling the truth, but not being allowed to know what that truth exactly was.

I asked with no expectations.

Would it really be that dangerous if I am not the only one to hear what he has to say?

「You do not have access to this information」

I couldn't imagine why, and I had even less of a clue what would happen if multiple people heard it, if anything, but it was clear from the response given that the Professor's claims carried some weight to them.

Begrudgingly, I motioned to Sophie.

"...Stand back. Watch, but don't listen."

I had her move quite a distance away and use her Supernatural Ability to cut off all sound around her as the Professor and I walked to a secluded location.

Without saying a word, I waited for him to talk first, but that man just stared at me with the same blank look as before.

Through it, he conveyed boundless emotions of gravitas, concern, and a hint of madness.

"I was not aware that you had forgotten the matter entirely, Cipher. Are you perhaps frustrated?"

He began with a question.

"Stop wasting time."

"Haha," He chuckled, "You want to spend as much time with that girl as you can, right? I understand. Youth is a peculiar thing, after all."

The man whose former job it was to steal the youths of children spoke of it fondly. It was ironic, and frankly, the sight was repulsive and disgusting, but I had no choice but to endure it with patience in order to receive the answers I desired.

He misunderstood my priorities, but knowing that pointless quarrelling would not help to advance the conversation, I ignored him and got right to the point.

"What is it you can't say to others?"

"Hm... It is not that I cannot say it to others, but that saying it to others would result in a negative outcome for everyone involved. Telling one person is fine, but any more than that is absolutely forbidden, and I would recommend you do the same when it comes to this matter."

His explanation was vague, but I understood that his warning was genuine.

If he wanted to, he could have said it, but if it did, something bad would have happened to all of us. The Professor's intent is not inherently malicious, and despite the way he goes about things, he does not wish to cause unnecessary harm.

Of course, if he has to, he will, but that isn't the case here.

"So, what is it?"

What was the incident?

What was the danger of speaking about it?

What was it he cannot, no, should not say?

Professor Marus Lynton knew, and he opened his mouth to tell me.

"First of all, Cipher, let me express my regrets for you not remembering what happened that day. I suppose, however, that it makes sense, considering the circumstances; knowing a troublemaker like you, you wouldn't be playing around like this and pretending to live like an ordinary high school student if you knew the truth."

"What are you getting at?"

"What I'm 'getting at', is this: this is a matter that concerns the safety of the world."

"..."

"Because this is a matter that concerns the safety of the world, I am getting myself involved directly like this."

Hearing his statement, I laughed.

"Hah. Since when did you start caring about the world?"

Although I laughed, my expression was blank.

"I start caring when my interests are threatened, Cipher. Because the safety of the world itself is threatened, my interests are in turn threatened as well."

Marcus Lynton's interests.

"I cannot discover the mysteries of our world and our universe if it is destroyed, now can I?"

Someone who craves knowledge.

Someone who yearns to sate his curiosity; to quench his thirst for unveiling the unknown.

Befitting his title, he was a true researcher, and a Professor through and through.

"You, who would oppose the world if you didn't like the truth of it; that is the kind of pure-hearted troublemaker you are."

This is why the Order wants me.

This is why Marcus Lynton obsesses over me.

As I have mentioned in the past, they want to use me as a fountain of knowledge.

"You possess the most desired tool to uncover such mysteries and to satiate such a lust for knowledge. However, you are also the most dangerous weapon to ruin everything at the slightest mishandling."

He wants to use the Measurement of Truth to fulfil his own desires, and he doesn't want me to prevent that.

"So, I will not tell you the full truth of what you cannot know. I said it was regretful, but in reality, your cluelessness is a blessing, and I am infinitely grateful for it."

Saying that to my face, the corners of his lips arched into a small smile.

I am a danger, he says.

I threaten the safety of the world, he says.

What do you know?

The only reason I'm doing all this is so that I can know the truth.

That is the reality, okay?

Because I hate not being able to know what happened, so I want to know, is that a crime?

Claiming that I'm a concern to the world is absolutely preposterous.

Claiming that I shouldn't be allowed to know because I'm a threat, it's ridiculous.

"I see the disagreement in your eyes. Oh well. Even though you know I am not lying, you will not believe me because you think I am delusional. In some aspects, I suppose that is true. However..."

He looked at me pitifully, as if watching a lone boy sat soaked in the rain.

"...It is sad. That you should not be allowed to know. But it is in the safety of everyone involved, so it cannot be helped. I will tell you what happened that day because I have sympathy for the boy once under my care. But, nothing more than that."

He would tell me what happened.

Even if there was nothing else to be said, my mood lightened up at his words. After all, it wasn't necessary to figure everything out right away.

I can simply discover more next time.

"What happened on the day of your fleeing from the S.C.P., Cipher, is simple; I and the other Professors were... Researching how far your power could go. I'm sure you remember before that, but the Wardens have always been scared of testing particular Measurements. Because everyone who works there is a coward, afraid of the unknown, they avoided toying with your Measurement of Truth."

His words were true.

There were always lengthy discussions and debates on what to do with me. There was always one side that argued my infinite knowledge could be of great help to humanity, but the other side believed that my power was something too dangerous to mess around with.

Forbidden knowledge.

The secrets of life, of creation.

They thought that there were some things humans simply were not supposed to know.

However, that all changed when Marcus Lynton was transferred to my branch. After he became the head of the San Cinelia Playground, he immediately became fascinated with my power and began testing.

It started off with simple things, things to test the water.

Gradually, they ramped up the intensity of the questions.

Asking things like why Measurements exist in the first place, or how they came to be.

Of course, the only answer in relation to that is the same one I mentioned previously―that it's simply how the world works. There was no scientific explanation even after the veil was lifted.

For two years, I was being used in such a manner.

Until that day.

I don't remember what happened that day, but now it was being explained to me.

"Ah, I remember it like it was yesterday... Right after we asked you to answer a certain question, one we had been anticipating since the beginning..."

His face contained an incongruous mixture of light and darkness.

"...Well, it's as simple as that, once the answer was spoken, all of the Professors died except for me."

Shrugging, he put it as simply as he could. Then, he added:

"―It merely turned out that some knowledge really is forbidden after all."