Became a Dragon kidnapped by Humans

“Mr. Hartmann, is there anything making you uncomfortable? If you just let me know, we can head to the prepared room right away…”

“That room may be solitary confinement, but from what I saw briefly, it looked like a hotel room level, didn’t it? I’m fine. Guard, we must follow the rules.”

“Oh, calling me ‘guard,’ huh? Speak freely. Whenever those bastards bother you, just say the word and I’ll show you what a five-minute waiting team is.”

“Take it easy. As far as I know, this is your break time, right…?”

All researchers of FPL Laboratory No. 4, currently a Gamma Rank member, Giselle Hartmann was responding to the guard trying to ingratiate himself with her.

While listening with one ear and letting it out the other, she was thinking of someone else.

Though they had only been together for half a year, thanks to their unconventional actions during that time, his face was vividly etched in her mind.

‘Senior, take a look at IF-017. Since he’s smiling, he must be having a good dream now, right?’

‘Don’t anthropomorphize unknown phenomena. If you keep doing that, someday… you’ll end up like me bleeding.’

‘Hehe, that’s why I stay far away from other unknown phenomena. If I die like that, I won’t be able to visit IF-017 anymore…’

‘You’ve completely lost your mind.’

The person who came to Giselle’s mind…

Was her clumsy junior, who always walked around with a smile that reached his ears.

Only…

‘Junior, I can’t get up because I’m looking at this, so could you pass me the file on the table? Junior, Junior?’

‘Dong… Dororon… Ah! Hot! Yes sir! I was absolutely not sleeping and was listening carefully!’

‘What did I say?’

‘Uh, did you ask me to make coffee…? Or maybe yuzu tea…’

‘Damn fool…’

It wasn’t that she missed him after a few days of not seeing him.

While her dear teammates were all out at the 017-1 annex base, making it hard to see them,

Giselle’s hopes of finally getting a decent assistant after years had been shattered by this junior.

Still, it amused Giselle herself that she even worried about this junior.

‘Currently, the only researcher capable of studying IF-017 is Kan Hana, right? Hopefully, she’s proceeding carefully.’

When dealing with sentient unknown phenomena, the first impression is crucial.

Giselle lamented that she was stuck at Gamma Rank, unable to even touch the situation during such an important moment.

Certainly not…

Could it be that Kan Hana kept messing around until IF-017 couldn’t bear the overwhelming frustration and escaped?

Could something like that be happening right now?

Giselle shook her head.

If that were the case, the alarm would have sounded at least once. Surely it wouldn’t have come to that.

The reason Giselle was recalling her rather pitiful junior was quite simple.

“Wow, I’ve never seen a guard groveling like this before…”

A presence in front of her seemed suspiciously similar to her escaped junior’s doppelgänger.

Though the appearance was different.

Unlike her occasionally violent junior, who sometimes made her question if they were older than her, this individual in front of her looked no older than a middle or high school student.

Then what made them resemble each other?

“Sister researcher, what are you doing? Bored? Let’s play tic-tac-toe?”

Both were equally clueless in assessing situations.

This was G-6022, whose name tag read as such.

“I’m not a researcher. Analyzing biological waves. Busy. Go play somewhere else alone.”

“Come on, which Gamma Rank member does work like this in a holding cell? I heard rumors that you used to be a famous researcher and will soon be reinstated. If that weren’t true, the warden wouldn’t have left me here, would he?”

With her personal research stalled due to the inability to use equipment in the lab,

Giselle was driven nearly mad by this Kan Hana-like individual approaching her.

At least one difference existed:

While her junior brewed drinks exceptionally well, G-6022 offered absolutely no help in the current situation.

Giselle became extremely irritable.

“I said I’m busy, you brat. Aren’t you going to leave?”

“If I feel like a junior to you, that’s a good thing! Hehe, consider it saving a life. Just give me one chance to look at that person’s eyes…”

Even the foolish laugh was identical to her junior’s.

In the end, Giselle decided to report this to the guard and stood up.

Turning halfway, she paused upon noticing something.

“…”

The person referred to as “warden,”

Standing tall at 2 meters, covered in scars, with only one arm, G-6031 glared menacingly.

His bloodthirsty gaze, having dealt with many prisoners, clearly indicated its target when he turned his eyes upon Giselle standing up.

Finally, the young one whispered cautiously.

“My younger brother, who participated in the same operation, was brutally killed without leaving a bone. Yet, I survived and returned, and he’s acting like this. He’s completely insane, isn’t he?”

Though attempting to appear bold, trembling sorrow seeped through his voice.

It was understandable.

As G-6022 spoke, one eye obscured by burn scars, unable to open, and his entire body riddled with injuries, it was clear why.

Giselle responded calmly.

“He’s insane.”

After pausing to choose her words, Giselle eventually turned back emotionlessly and sat down again.

By the time G-6022’s remaining pupil began shaking violently,

A low, indifferent voice rang out.

“Stay here.”

G-6022 beamed with joy.

So much so that he lunged toward Giselle to hug her, only to be stopped mid-motion.

“Wa…! Although my face got squished flat under your palm, it’s still good that I’m alive!”

“What are you saying?”

“Ah, is this some meme from the West? It’s a classic meme from the early 20s that satirizes situations like Gamma Rank…”

G-6022 scratched his head,

Really bored, perhaps? To G-6022, Giselle handed over a document.

“If you’re that bored, sort this Y-axis number four times. It’s repetitive work you can do with your eyes closed, so even someone of Gamma Rank should be able to…”

“I’ll quietly take care of it, ma’am…”

Giselle frowned.

Whether it was her junior or this kid, why did they both react as if documents were some kind of unknown phenomenon every time she asked for help?

“Haa….”

Due to the enforced lights-out schedule, Giselle could only work outside for approximately 12 hours a day.

Decorating the space beside her with the now utterly silent individual,

The sound of writing continued steadily.

Behind these two,

The intense glare of the one-armed man, G-6031, lingered.

—–

Deep into the night, when everyone had finished their arduous tasks and fallen asleep,

Giselle lay awake.

Perhaps it was partly due to being treated specially as a Gamma Rank member and excluded from strenuous work, but the real problem lay elsewhere.

The main cause was having gone to bed six hours earlier than usual.

‘Normally, I’d be close to sleep time just before sunrise, so how is the lights-out time set for exactly midnight…’

Possible calculation since wakefulness equaled working time for Giselle.

Giselle’s dark circles were rapidly fading due to improved quality of life since becoming Gamma Rank.

‘The early morning hours are usually the best for focus. Damn morning people.’

To Giselle, recent late-night hours had become a time to marvel at her junior who usually slept well.

She suspected he might be aiming to become IF-017 when he grew up.

While she tossed and turned for hours on her bed, how could anyone sit upright and fall asleep within three minutes?

Habitually starting to click her tongue, Giselle remembered it was almost everyone’s bedtime and merely smacked her lips instead.

How long had passed?

– Rustle, rustle.

Keeping her eyes closed, Giselle frowned at the sound coming from the neighboring bed.

– Suck. Eep, kweep.

It was definitely bedtime.

Was this sleep talking?

How could such sounds come from someone sleeping?

‘Damn lunatics. Here we go again.’

While staying late in the lab every night at the 017-1 annex base with her colleagues, Giselle hadn’t realized the world was full of all kinds of people.

Giselle pressed her pillow over her head and lay facedown.

“…Ugh, I messed up… Sorry, suck…”

Though undoubtedly not sleep talking, Giselle remembered.

Just moments ago, this was the voice annoyingly whining beside her.

Quietly.

Very quietly, Giselle slowly raised her upper body.

“…”

Giselle’s gaze landed where the one-armed man she saw earlier had been lying.

Though the dimness made it seem plausible,

Giselle’s vision wasn’t obscured by such darkness.

That place,

Was merely arranged with a pillow; no one was lying there.

Giselle slowly turned her head.

Her sight stopped at the bed where the pestering individual had been lying all day.

Seeing the shadow writhing in a form impossible for one person,

Giselle frowned.

‘I was curious what it felt like when my junior didn’t laugh. …I didn’t want to find out this way.’

Since sleep wouldn’t come anyway,

“You bastards, how long do you plan to delay? Rise!”

Giselle’s meaningful gaze lasted until the Gamma Rank members woke up.

“What is it? Did that bitch 6022 kick the bucket?”

“Ah, damn. This month’s special meal is ruined. Check carefully; she might still be alive…”

Giselle remained stern-faced all day.

—–

“… Lastly, including the attempted murder of a Gamma Rank member, I demand disciplinary action against Gamma Rank G-6031 based on these repeated violations and disqualifying factors.”

Swish.

Giselle placed two sheets of paper on the table.

The twin-tailed woman in uniform, her hair dyed bright red, stared at Giselle as if she were insane while reaching for the papers.

“Fucking annoying cunt.”

Identical to G-6031, the one-armed man, except for two differences:

First, instead of the missing arm, an intricate mechanical arm made of unknown metal held the document.

Second, hanging on the chair back was the gray coat issued to Alpha Class personnel.

“So what? What do you want me to do with this? If you’d taken this to the guards, they would’ve drilled a hole in his head in one move. Why come to me? Besides, fucking hell, how did you even get in here after being demoted to Gamma Rank?”

Bang!

After briefly skimming the document, the woman roughly slammed her mechanical arm on the table, crumpling the papers which then hit Giselle and bounced off.

Giselle replied without batting an eyelid.

“Last time, I heard from the IF-684 department staff that anyone at my level satisfies the mobilization conditions for the ‘Siegfried’ unit. Therefore, I judged that G-6031 also qualifies for operations with the ‘Siegfried’ unit. I initially asked the guards, who kindly directed me here.”

Enraged by Giselle’s smooth attitude, the woman,

Alpha Class member and commander of the IF-684 dedicated mobile strike force ‘Siegfried,’ Long Weilan, gritted her teeth.

“Drop the bullshit. You know perfectly well what assigning a Gamma Rank member to my unit implies? That you don’t want to simply kill him easily, so you’re twisting it into making him lizard food?”

Weilan’s eyes flashed.

In response, her mechanical arm delicately reassembled itself while emitting steam.

Giselle shook her head.

“I merely reported a rule-violating individual. Throughout the process, I violated no rules myself.”

“Rules, rules—how convenient. But wasn’t it true that if you were Alpha Class, you could summarily execute an irritating Gamma Rank type without issue according to the rules?”

“I’m aware. Article 8, Section 4.”

Giselle, answering thus, drew a disdainful glance from Long Weilan, who regarded her as a useless smart aleck.

A sigh laced with exasperation followed.

“If only you’d quietly accepted the promotion to Alpha Class back then. Then the headquarters couldn’t have forced you into a lab director position, and you wouldn’t be groveling in front of me now using honorifics after being demoted for stupid reasons.”

“I didn’t want to get deeply involved with headquarters. The demotion was unexpected. And Weilan, trust nothing related to headquarters except the rules.”

“Is that supposed to be an argument…?”

Long Weilan’s expression twisted savagely.

Unlike Giselle, who had withdrawn early from the scene, Weilan, still active in key positions, exuded exceptional vigor.

Yet Giselle didn’t blink an eye.

Tapping her mechanical fingers incessantly, making ting, ting sounds, Long Weilan was clearly irritated.

“Hmph. Well, since our crazy lizard is currently rampaging endlessly due to stress, and we’re short on meat shields, I’ll accept this for now…”

“Thank you.”

At that moment,

– Clang.

“You. You disgusting bitch.”

Long Weilan abruptly rose from her chair and grabbed Giselle by the neck.

The metallic arm capable of crushing a human instantly squeezed Giselle’s throat.

“Are you confident there’s a reason I shouldn’t summarily execute you?”

“Guh…”

Resistance against her was entirely meaningless.

“Since you ran away like that and continue walking around with your neck stiff, the next ‘Siegfried’ deployment target will be you.”

“… I understand. I appreciate your restraint so far.”

As Giselle struggled feebly, Long Weilan sighed deeply and threw her aside.

“Hah, ha…”

Giselle barely caught her breath and saw Weilan turn around 180 degrees in her chair, facing away.

“Get out. Leave my office. Right now.”

“Yes. Thank you for considering my request. Farewell.”

Giselle bowed slightly to her and headed for the door.

Clomp, clomp.

“… There was a lot of talk about G-6022, the one-eyed kid in the document. Could it be…?”

Stopping momentarily,

Giselle, hand on the doorknob, turned to Weilan who was still facing away.

“Are you still comparing them?”

Upon hearing this, a memory surfaced.

A rare scene known to few besides Weilan:

– Senior, I’ve prepared something as an apology…! An incredible six-stage combination Tyranno Robot lunchbox…

– Wow, that’s impressive!

Giselle immediately understood what she meant.

However, even to such a question,

“No. It’s someone else. Comparing them to that person…”

Giselle no longer maintained her serious expression.

“… These individuals are too lacking, even for shoes.”

“Surprising.”

With Weilan’s quiet remark as the final word, Giselle exited the room.

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