Became a Failed Experimental Subject Novel - Chapter 54

A while ago, after scolding a strange woman who seemed to be an S-class Esper, I was alone, lost in a dilemma I couldn’t answer.

What exactly is an Esper?

If they kill some humans but save the majority, are they still Espers?

Starlight doesn’t seem to think so.

To be cold-blooded about it, from an Esper’s perspective, whose job it is to hunt me, her judgment could be considered correct.

But Starlight never does such a thing.

Because she’s an Esper who protects humans, she doesn’t harm humans.

Why did Starlight, who never harms humans, stop me not once but twice from killing a woman who, despite being a psychic, used her ability on ordinary people and even tried to kill them?

She attacks me with her fists at the slightest suspicion, but says the “sparky woman” shouldn’t be killed.

Perhaps it’s because, unlike me, she’s human.

Judging who deserves to be human is my standard; humans have different standards.

An Esper is a psychic who protects humans and kills monsters.

Bad humans are still humans; no matter what wrong they’ve done, humans are protected.

They are punished according to human rules; they are not punished by Espers themselves.

Starlight did what she had to do.

She saves people without distinguishing between those to save and those not to save.

Because that’s what an Esper is.

My situation is different from monsters like me.

“Grrr…”

“H-h-heek… No, no way… Black Cat doesn’t harm people…”

Crunch, crunch, I chewed on a human arm in the darkness, staring silently at the weeping man.

Villains, humans who aren’t human.

No matter how many of them I devour, they just keep appearing from somewhere, so I’ve been dealing with them appropriately whenever I see them.

Today’s villain was a human who tried to kidnap a child who lost her mother in the chaos of an evacuation while I was dealing with a Crushing-class monster.

The villain, who possessed the ability to become invisible, seemed accustomed to such acts, as his movements were familiar.

How much of a child kidnapper should I tear apart?

I’ve torn off an arm, should I tear off a leg too?

No… maybe it’s better to just kill him.

“Black Cat is scary…”

Whoosh, as the killing intent spread, the child who was tightly hugging my front paw emitted a sweet scent of fear.

I calmed my killing intent and used telekinesis to lift the child, placing her on my back.

“Black Cat is tall!”

Despite having been crying just moments ago, she excitedly grabbed my fur.

I, who had been using Medusa’s Evil Eye, an ability that immobilizes whatever it gazes upon, to prevent the villain from escaping, felt the presence of an Esper and gradually lowered my ability.

Across the street light, two Espers dismounted their motorcycles and rushed over.

“Black Cat found. Crushing-class monster, all defeated.”

“And a child… hmm, it seems to be playing with a child, but someone is captured?”

“Wait, this guy’s a villain, isn’t he? I remember seeing him on a wanted poster.”

“Damn it!”

“Subdue him!”

As I released the villain, the two Espers completely subdued him.

The villain, injected with a powerful sedative from a syringe gun pulled from a pocket, fell limply.

“This guy… he’s a child kidnapper.”

“What? This is him? We finally caught the rotten bastard…”

With the villain caught, and intending to hand over the child, I lifted the child with telekinesis, but the child, tightly gripping my fur, simply stood on her head.

“Ahahaha!”

“Woah.”

“Whoa, careful there.”

I signaled for them to come and take her with a growl, and the Espers approached and embraced the child.

Then, my business was done, so I was about to disappear when an Esper suddenly called out to me.

“Hey, hey! That, you gotta do that.”

“Ah…! Thank you, Black Cat. Thanks to you, we saved the child and caught the monster…”

“Idiot, it’s ‘Thank you for catching the monster, you’re cool, you’re cute!'”

What is this? Sudden thanks?

It’s different from their usual hesitant reactions, where they’re grateful but unsure if they should be thanking a monster for help.

At the unfamiliar reaction, I bristled my fur. Then, one of the Espers took out meat from a bag on his back.

“Hurry up and get it out, we have to give it to him before he runs away.”

“Woah-oh?”

What, they’re giving me meat?

Perhaps due to the monster-Esper dynamic, it’s rare for Espers to give me meat.

I paused from leaving and accepted the meat, eating it.

“Woah-oong…!”

Slurp, the tender, melting meat, the chewy texture.

This is… very high-quality beef.

Chomp, chomp, I swallowed all the meat, then licked my chops, savoring the taste.

“Uh… does it want more?”

“Sorry, that’s all we have. This is it for us.”

“Woah-ong.”

I happily sank into the shadows.

Hmm, it was delicious… Such delicious beef, I’m lucky today.

And the next day.

As I lay on the park grass, cleaning out a growing cluster of Lethal-class monsters underground, Espers rushed towards me.

“R-really Black Cat? The alarm didn’t go off?”

“Didn’t it just not go off because he was napping? Where did you put the meat?”

“I didn’t bring it…!”

“Ah, seriously! You said you’d bring it!”

“No, you bring it when there’s a Black Cat alert, how do you carry it around normally, it’s cumbersome?”

“Just give him this for now.”

C-class and D-class Espers held out a sausage to me, who was concentrating on my spatial manipulation ability.

I accepted the sausage dangling in front of my mouth and continued to lie down. Then, the Espers rushed off somewhere.

“Hey, let’s go buy meat at the supermarket quickly. Senior will cover the expenses anyway.”

“Black Cat, wait right here!”

“Hmph…”

I yawned and refocused on the underground, tearing apart the Lethal-class monsters one by one.

Like a giant anthill, the ant monsters, the size of human legs, were slowly dying, trapped by the blocked entrance.

Now, which ability should I use to kill them next? Spatial manipulation with flame, ice, lightning…

Hmm… interesting.

After killing all the ants, a long Death Worm approached, trying to devour the ants’ small cores.

Just in time… it was annoying to collect the cores one by one with spatial manipulation.

While I left it for a moment, people resting in the park approached me.

“See! I told you Black Cat was here.”

“Wow, it really is!”

“Black Cat is sleeping here! He’s napping!”

“Wow! It’s Black Cat!”

“Got anything to eat? I heard if you give him food, he lets you pet him.”

“Be careful, he’ll cut off your wrist if you touch him too much.”

Citizens tried to give me food.

I was hungry after using a lot of ability, so I thought it was good timing and ate whatever they gave me.

“No, I’m already feeding him, please wait your turn.”

“Black Cat’s stomach isn’t a garbage disposal, don’t just give him anything.”

“At least keep the food types consistent!”

At first, everyone gave similar foods or things that tasted good together.

But after a while, as more people gathered, the food started to mix.

“Does a monster care what it eats?”

“Not only does he eat monsters for us, but now he’s even cleaning up our food waste. Black Cat is the best.”

Adults brought lunchboxes and dumped their leftovers into my open mouth.

Hmm… A sweet, sour, spicy, salty, strange taste… I thought this was too much, so I walked up to the guy who had thrown food waste, along with paper foil, into my mouth, and spit the food waste onto his head.

“Aargh! This, this bastard!”

“Kyaaah!”

Thud, I grabbed the guy, who was covered in food waste and punching my nose, with telekinesis, lifted him high, and shook him up and down.

Along with the dirty waste, his toupee, which had covered his bald head, fell off with a plop.

Just then, Espers carrying meat in both hands rushed over.

“Oh, oh? No, you’re not supposed to do that, the meeting said to stop this.”

“What’s Black Cat doing lifting that person? Hey, what did you do to Black Cat?”

“I’ll investigate that person, you just give him food.”

“Hey, hey! No access, no access to Black Cat. Don’t give him food.”

“Huh? What’s that meat? Aren’t you going to give it to him?”

“Ordinary citizens are not allowed to feed Black Cat.”

“No, what kind of rule is that? Is being an Esper everything?”

Amidst the citizens’ complaints, the Espers gave me meat.

Hmm, delicious pork and beef… The cuts weren’t specified, they just threw them haphazardly.

It would be nice if they grilled it, but since it’s not Starlight, that’s difficult.

Espers don’t carry grills around.

“I wanna feed Black Cat too! Black Cat!”

“This is my candy, it’s yummy.”

“No. I said no… Ah!”

“Woah-ong.”

I filled my belly, extended my head, and even received candy from the children as a post-meal dessert.

I thought I was lucky today and left.

And the next day.

After diligently cleaning the underground all night and turning the existentially evolved Death Worm into a corpse, I carried a Disaster-class monster core and settled on the rooftop of an uninhabited building.

As I leisurely chewed the core and yawned on the rooftop, another Esper arrived.

Holding meat in his hand.

“Uh… Black Cat, you’re really amazing… Thank you. For protecting City W.”

“Grrr…”

“Ha, what is this… What kind of compliment is this to a monster… What do you mean, it understands words.”

The man, a wind manipulation psychic, an A-class Esper hovering in the sky, sighed and pressed his forehead as I bared my fangs at him.

“Just eat the meat… I don’t really know why I have to give you meat…”

“Woah-ruru…”

“He really eats it obediently, though. You’re a pretty absurd monster too.”

“Woah-ong, grrr,” I whimpered, a mix of wariness and welcome, and received the meat, perking my ears.

I ate the meat, but… somehow, it feels strange.

Even so, if this keeps happening repeatedly, I know it’s not just luck.

There were Espers who secretly gave me meat besides Starlight before, but never this much.

Is there a trend among Espers to give me meat now?

“Yeah, eat it where it’s clearly visible. I need to film it.”

Film it? Why do they need to film me eating meat?

A sense of unknown discomfort and wariness rose in me, and I sank into the shadows, avoiding the camera.

It’s good for me since I can fill my belly, but it feels odd when everyone suddenly starts giving me meat.

Did they put poison in the meat? It doesn’t taste like poison.

…Strange.

“B-Black Cat!”

And the next day.

Starlight appeared before me as I was devouring Crushing-class monsters.

Meat in her hand… Starlight had been throwing meat at me before.

So it shouldn’t be strange, but why? The scent is different from usual.

The strong sense of anxiety and urgency makes it hard to predict what she’ll do.

Is something happening among the Espers? Why does everyone suddenly seem so weird?

“Let’s talk for a moment…!”

Despite my confusion, I stepped back from Starlight as she approached me.

Starlight had already attacked me twice.

It’s natural for an Esper to hunt a monster, so I don’t complain, but Starlight’s ability is painful.

Not wanting to be attacked again, I eyed Starlight warily and sank into the shadows.

“Ah…!”

After escaping from Starlight, a little later.

As I was playing with small fish, combining various abilities, in an empty clearing by a stream, another Esper appeared.

“Oh? It really is Black Cat. I thought it was just illegal dumping trash hidden in the bushes.”

“See? I told you it looked like Black Cat! Who’d bring such a big piece of illegal dumping trash all the way here to throw away?”

“So, want some meat?”

“Woah-ong?”

The Espers who found me took out sausages and meat from their bags and held them out.

More meat. I was wary for a moment, then confirmed there was nothing wrong with the meat and obediently ate it.

“Wow, this feels really weird. He actually takes it, huh?”

“I’ve actually wanted to give Black Cat meat too.”

“Didn’t your senior’s sister say she was saved thanks to Black Cat?”

“Yeah, thanks, Black Cat. The day finally came to thank you like this…”

“Oh-oh-ong…?”

Thanks…?

An Esper, to a monster?

Why now, when they never did before?

After finishing the sausage and relishing the strange feeling, an Esper carefully stroked my head.

“Ooh, wow, it’s soft.”

“Shall I take a picture?”

“Oh, yeah, take it. I need one for submission anyway.”

The Esper who was stroking me hugged my head and smiled brightly.

As I looked on bewildered, one Esper held up a phone and took a picture.

Picture for submission? What’s that?

These guys, why are they doing this to me?