Reincarnated as the Villain Who Experiments on Orphanage Kids – Why Are the Test Subject Girls Begging Me for "Night Experiments"? - Chapter 11-12

Chapter 11: Escape from the Confinement Room

――How do you escape from a confinement room?

If someone asked me that, the first thing that would pop into my head is calling for help. That’s probably the most classic way.

But if you’re the one actually locked up, you wouldn’t be struggling in the first place if you could just call for help. If there were people around who would rescue you, you wouldn’t be confined to begin with. Honestly, that option’s completely out of the question.

So what do you do?

The answer is simple. You get out using your own power.

“Fioraia, can you grab the ball for me real quick?”

It was evening.
Right when the view outside the window started turning orange, I made a small request.

It was nothing special. Just asking her to take the ball out of the drawer.
Of course, there was no deeper meaning behind it.

“This?”

She pulled a round object out of the drawer.

“Wait, what the heck is this ball? The design’s kinda gross. The top’s red and there’s a circle right in the middle. Is it like a ball inside a ball?”

“That’s just how it’s designed.”

I was the one who made it that way, after all.

“Anyway, can you pass it over here?”

As I said that, I moved my fingers one by one, slowly and smoothly. Like I was gently grabbing something big. Slowly, slowly, smoothly moving my fingers.

“……………………”

But the movement must have creeped her out, because her face twitched a little. Her gaze felt a bit colder than usual.

“…What are you doing?”

“I already told you, it’s just a ball.”

“That’s suspicious. And what are you even gonna do with a ball anyway? It’s not like you can move your arms.”

“My wrists can still move, right? Come on! I’m bored. Just let me play with the ball a little.”

I moved my fingers smoothly again.
Even I had to admit it was pretty impressive finger work. I probably would’ve made a good conductor or something.

But Fioraia frowned hard and crossed both arms over her chest to hide it.
Still, I didn’t stop moving my fingers, and soon…

“……”

Her cheeks gradually turned red.
The tough attitude from earlier was gone. She looked embarrassed and restless, shifting around awkwardly.

“…What are you doing with those fingers!”

“My fingers? You mean this?”

“Stop wiggling them like that!”

“I’m just moving them normally.”

“Haa… fine, I get it already.”

She finally gave in and reluctantly tossed the ball toward me.
I caught it in my bound hands as best I could and let out a tiny sigh of relief in my heart.

――Alright, preparations complete.

※

After living together for five whole years, I knew this well: Fioraia was the type who took a nap in the evening.
Actually, calling it a nap was too mild. It was more like she straight-up passed out.

Every evening she’d suddenly go quiet, and the next thing you knew, she’d be asleep somewhere. She wasn’t picky about the spot either. Outside, halfway up the stairs, leaning against a wall—didn’t matter, she’d just conk out.
And today was no exception.

“…Pancakes are the best…”

When I glanced at the chair beside me, Fioraia was breathing softly in her sleep.
She sat there with her arms still folded, completely out cold. She was even mumbling in her sleep, which was kinda cute.

“Heyy, Fioraia.”

I tried calling out to her just in case.
No reaction.

“Wake up—”

I gave waking her a shot, but like always, she didn’t budge at all. She was in deep sleep as usual.

“Perfect.”

I wasn’t nice enough to let this chance slip by.
Since I’d decided to try escaping, I looked down at the ball in my hand.

“……………………”

This ball was something I made by applying spatial magic. The idea came when I was trying to recreate cup ramen.

I’d tried to bring it back using my memories from my previous life, but it didn’t work out. This ball was a byproduct that came out of the process.

The mechanism was simple. Anything that touched the button in the center got stored away with spatial magic. That’s all it did.

The capacity wasn’t big—about the size of a small bag—but since it only stored inorganic stuff, it worked perfectly with handcuffs.

“Watch this.”

I lightly tapped the ball against the handcuffs.
There was a soft clink.

In the next instant, the center of the ball glowed faintly, and the handcuffs vanished.

“Nice, it worked.”

My right hand was finally free.
I did the same thing to the left handcuff.

“Alright.”

Now I was completely free.

I stood up, then I gently rolled my wrists. After not being able to move them for so long, my joints popped a bit, but there didn’t seem to be any real problem. This should be fine for my part-time job.

“……………………”

Fioraia was still sound asleep in the chair. No sign of waking up.

“Alright then.”

I slipped the ball into my pocket and opened the door.

“Time to head to work.”

The outside air I hadn’t breathed in for several hours felt surprisingly fresh.

I took a deep breath and headed toward the ramen shop where I worked, grinning to myself as I wondered what the staff meal would be today.

“…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………Sai?”

—

Chapter 12: The Mad Scientist Chased All the Way to the Bottom of the Earth

――Three hours later.

“Hey! Your draining speed is too slow! At this rate you’ll never become a proper ramen chef!”

“Yes sir!”

“Speak up!”

“Yes sir!!”

Drain the noodles. Shake the strainer hard and face the noodles one-on-one.

That was my secret side.

During the day I spent time with the orphanage kids as the director, and at night I trained like crazy at the ramen shop.
It was what you’d call a side job.

“Listen up. Even if you don’t line up the noodle strands perfectly, the taste stays the same. But when they’re neat, it looks way better. It makes people hungry just looking at it. That’s already our win. Got it?”

“Yes sir!”

“Speak up!”

“Yes sir!!”

The boss at the ramen shop was scary.
He had the build of a bear, a loud voice, a rough way of talking, and was covered in beard—total wild-man vibe.

But his passion for ramen was the real deal. That’s why I kept training here.
With the dream of opening my own ramen shop someday in my heart.

“Hey, customer’s here. Go take the order.”

“Yes sir!”

I stepped out of the kitchen and headed toward the entrance.

“Welcome!”

There stood a customer wearing a black cloak.
The hood hid their face, but they were short and looked really slender.
Either a kid or someone who had just become an adult.
Still, our shop didn’t turn anyone away. Everyone was welcome anytime.

“Right this way! Take a seat at the counter!”

“……………………”

I called out cheerfully to guide them to a seat, but the person in the hood didn’t move.
Instead they just stood there, fists clenched tight.
What was going on?

While I was wondering, a strangely familiar voice rang out.

“What are you doing in a place like this?”

With that, she quickly pulled off her hood.

“…………Huh?”

What came into my view was a girl with golden hair.

Her glossy hair looked well cared for, shining like pure gold under the shop’s lantern light.
Her sapphire-blue eyes were as clear as jewels, so beautiful they could pull you right in.

Anyone walking down the street would turn around at least once if they saw her.
That’s how stunning she was. She grabbed my hand firmly and looked up at me with those eyes.

“Sai, what exactly are you doing here?”

“It’s my side job.”

“What about the experiments?”

“I’m doing ramen experiments.”

“Please stop joking around!”

Priere’s voice cut through the noisy air like a knife.
She was supposed to be putting the kids to bed right now as the orphanage’s acting director…

Yet here she was at the ramen shop where I worked—even though I had never once told her about this job.

“Why did you come?”

“That’s my line. I had you restrained with handcuffs, didn’t I? How did you slip out so calmly and end up working at a ramen shop?”

“It’s a hobby.”

“That’s not what I’m asking!”

Priere puffed out her cheeks, clearly unhappy.

I gave a wry smile, but she yanked my arm hard and tried to drag me outside by force.

“We’re going home now, okay?”

“At least wait until my shift ends.”

“Experiments are more important than that.”

“Then eat some ramen first! That’s basic manners, right?”

“No thanks. Eating ramen at night will make me gain weight.”

“That’s exactly why it feels so sinful and amazing!”

“What’s going on? Another drunk adventurer customer causing trouble?”

While the two of us were arguing, the boss came over.
He saw Priere pulling my hand and let out an exasperated sigh.

“Oh, just a lovers’ quarrel, huh.”

“It’s not! Boss! A ramen shop doesn’t do romance. It’s ramen only for me.”

“No. Sai is experiments only!”

“Priere, shut up for a second. The boss gets scary when he’s mad.”

I quickly covered her mouth to silence her. For some reason Priere’s cheeks flushed red and she closed her eyes.

Even though she had been yanking my arm so hard earlier, she now pressed both hands to her chest without any resistance at all.
She looked exactly like a maiden waiting for a kiss.

“Hey, what are you—”

“Sai, what the hell are you doing?”

I was about to ask Priere what she was up to when the boss grabbed my shoulder.
When I turned around, he was glaring at me from so close I could feel his spit flying.

“This is a ramen shop. Know the time and place, yeah?”

“Sorry sir!”

“Enough for today. Go home.”

“But…”

“Just go home already! If you keep dawdling the noodles are gonna get soggy!”

“Hii—”

The pressure was so terrifying my heart nearly jumped out of my chest. I grabbed Priere’s hand and practically ran out of the ramen shop.

“I have a shift tomorrow too…”

Just thinking about facing the boss again tomorrow made me depressed, but what felt even worse was how Priere was now holding my hand in a tight lover’s grip.

“The preparations for the experiments are ready, you know?”

I tried to let go and run, but she was gripping me with all her strength, so I couldn’t pull free.

※

【Side: Priere】

How can I get him to do the experiments already!

While I dragged Sai, who had been working at the ramen shop, back toward the orphanage, I kept thinking hard about what to do.

I thought I had restrained him perfectly, but somehow he had slipped out again. It seemed like simple confinement and threats weren’t working very well.

Running the orphanage was honestly really tough, and I couldn’t keep doing it for long. I was already exhausted.

――So how could I draw out the experiments?

That’s when I thought back to what happened five years ago.
Back then Sai really had been planning to do experiments.

He took off my clothes, sat me on the bed, and brought a flask filled with liquid close to me.
That whole sequence must have held the key to getting him into experiment mode.

So I thought about it. And the more I thought, the more it all pointed to one conclusion.

――Sai took off my clothes.

That meant getting naked was essential for the experiments. Yes. That had to be it.
If so, the solution was simple.

If I got naked and appealed to him… he would surely beg to do the experiments. There was no doubt about it.

I would offer my body to spark his desire for experiments.
Once I decided that, there was only one thing left to do: put it into action.

“Sai?”

“Hm?”

I spoke to Sai, who was walking beside me.

“Once we get home, I have something to talk about in the experiment room. I’ll head over after I take a bath, so please wait for me, okay?”

“Talk? You’re not gonna confine me again, right?”

“No, I won’t confine you this time. This is something much more important!”

Even as heat rose from deep inside my body, I smiled sweetly at him.