It was a world in which even human lives were treated as resources. Even if a wicked seed that muddied society had been dragged away by something that was neither Monster nor anything else, no one sincerely worried about the missing man.
They were merely curious.
“Do you think he is dead by now?”
“What was the time of disappearance confirmed by the Information Processing Team?”
“At approximately four in the afternoon on the twenty-second.”
“Today is the twenty-fourth. Roughly two days have passed… It may be reasonable to presume him dead.”
“If so, the manner in which it killed him will also be a subject worthy of attention.”
“It might not have killed him at all, but turned him into a toy.”
“It is assessed as possessing considerable intelligence, so that is also possible.”
Since the Association had failed to ascertain Black Cloak’s exact nature, its employees had no choice but to predict and judge its actions by comparing it to a Humanoid Monster.
And when they considered how Humanoid Monsters treated humans who broke their rules, grim conjectures naturally followed.
“If it simply killed him cleanly, I believe we could reconsider the possibility that its actions carry the meaning of ‘punishment.’ Would that not mean it bore no personal animosity?”
“Its intent may have been ‘disposal’ rather than ‘punishment.’ It would be natural to remove a human who broke its rules from its sight, so we cannot say it bore no personal feelings.”
“We need to learn the exact…