Just as Aleister was debating whether to erase Alice's memories or explain everything to her, Yuui had already brought Alicia into the Magical Scientist's laboratory.
The Magical Scientist, who was brewing tea, watched Yuui walk in without the slightest hesitation—a striking contrast to the timid girl following behind him.
"Truly worthy of being the infamous Albaz. You walk into my laboratory without the slightest reaction. Anyways, you'd better worry about the little girl behind you. Her mental fortitude is nothing like yours."
Hearing this, Yuui glanced at Alicia, who kept looking around nervously at the strange 'experimental subjects' lining the room.
"Yuui-san!" Alicia looked up, confused, when she felt his gaze.
Yuui gently took her hand. "I'm here. And you don't need to worry. This guy won't, and doesn't dare to, harm us."
"Oh? And why would a villain like me be afraid of a villain like you?" the Magical Scientist said with a cold smile.
"Yuui-san isn't a villain!!"
Before Yuui could speak, Alicia stepped forward, gathering all her courage as she shouted, "Those atrocities that destroyed nations were done by the other guy! Those things had nothing to do with Yuui-san! I won't let you slander him!!"
The Magical Scientist fell silent for a moment, then looked at Yuui and chuckled softly. "Heh… you've found yourself a fine contractor. Shame someone this pure is someone this old man will never encounter again in his lifetime."
Yuui looked at Alicia's small back with pride.
"I'm nothing like you. No matter your reasons, you did what you did. As for the crimes pinned on me, they actually have very little to do with who I am."
"Did what I did? Yes, I did. I have nothing to refute! And… I don't regret it either."
Alicia listened to their conversation in utter confusion.
Feeling her doubt, Yuui patted her head, then looked at the Magical Scientist with a mocking smile. "Don't be fooled by what he looks like. He isn't human anymore. He isn't even a Spirit. He's just a puppet."
"A puppet!!?"
Alicia's eyes widened. She looked closely at the Magical Scientist's body—especially his joints, like his neck and elbows—but she couldn't see any ball joints or mechanical parts.
"Hehehe, that's right. I'm nothing more than a puppet now."
As he spoke, the Magical Scientist casually detached his left hand. The wrist joint revealed crystalline flesh and bone, shining like sculpted glass.
He reattached the hand and, in the same mocking tone as before, said to Yuui, "But even if I'm a puppet, you're not much better off.
"Neither human nor ghost. A Spirit, yet mixed with all sorts of strange things in your soul. I'm curious—do you really think you have a chance of resurrecting someday?"
Yuui narrowed his eyes and sneered. "That has nothing to do with you. At least I can resurrect. But you? Unless your soul and magic are strong enough to overcome that puppet body's restraints, you can never revive.
"And with the strength of your soul right now—do you think that's possible?"
The Magical Scientist didn't answer. He simply picked up his teacup and sipped quietly.
Watching him, Yuui couldn't help being curious about the body. A body made of crystal, yet able to move like human flesh—and even drink tea? That was some impressive craftsmanship. Was it made by Great Sage Sandrillon? If she did it, it would at least make sense.
A Great Sage creating a crystal body that mimicked a real human one wasn't impossible.
"Are you two done talking?" Aleister's voice called out. Alicia turned to see him enter with a conflicted-looking Alice.
"Alice!"
Alice lifted her head to look at Alicia, but her eyes were filled with complicated feelings, so she didn't respond.
Aleister paid no mind to the tense atmosphere. He simply walked over to the Magical Scientist, sat down, and poured himself a cup of tea.
Seeing Aleister so relaxed, Yuui raised an eyebrow.
"You're not going to say something?"
"Say what? Didn't you already figure it out?" Aleister replied with his usual gentle smile.
If Yuui had a physical body, the veins on his forehead would've been visible. Regardless, he forced down his irritation and pointed at the Magical Scientist.
"I'm not an omniscient god who knows past and future. How am I supposed to know what happened to him? That's why I'm asking you."
"Oh, you meant that." Aleister set down his cup and laughed. "Just like you said—he's neither human nor Spirit anymore. At most, he's… a wisp of a remnant soul."
"A remnant soul!?" Alicia seized up. This was her first time hearing such a term.
"That's right. A remnant soul—just a small fragment of a person's original soul."
Aleister looked toward the Magical Scientist and continued, "Fifty years ago, Remington Shepherd, who was back then an unknown magician, accidentally came into contact with a meteorite from outer space. That meteorite carried some kind of magic that bewitched him. And so, Remington began crossing humanity's forbidden boundaries, conducting inhumane fusion experiments.
"That first fusion experiment allowed him to create Duel Monster Spirits thought to exist only in ancient times. Delighted and empowered by this discovery, he continued to grow stronger. He began fusing various creatures together, and even fusing creatures with humans—creating countless bizarre monstrosities.
"Most of those monsters died. Despite that, with his exceptional talent, he still managed to create several ancient-era Duel Monster Spirits—and all of them were Fusion Monsters.
"Realizing his gift, his affinity for Fusion, he began even more extreme experiments.
"Later, a certain marquis in the kingdom discovered his abilities and wanted Remington to create legendary Spirits. Even so, Remington refused. So the marquis sent assassins to kill him and steal his experimental subjects.
"However, the marquis gravely underestimated him. Remington easily killed the assassins, then retaliated.
"The marquis grew furious and mobilized soldiers and Spirits to hunt him down. Even then, the marquis underestimated the power of the Magical Scientist, who had already reached the rank of Sage.
"Before his army of experimental beasts, the marquis's troops and Spirits were slaughtered. Their corpses were then used to create new Fusion Monsters.
"Intoxicated by the explosive growth of his power, the Magical Scientist became obsessed with creating Fusion Monsters. He sought to create a Fusion Monster unlike anything that had ever existed—one comparable to the legendary Gods themselves.
"And he planned to use that outer-space meteorite as the core of this unprecedented experiment."
"That said, to conduct that experiment—one that could produce a monster rivaling the Gods—he needed an enormous amount of material. Under the meteorite's influence, he began massacring cities.
"His first target was the city belonging to the marquis who had attacked him.
"It didn't take long for that city to be wiped out. The marquis's body and soul were used to create that 'unprecedented Fusion Monster,' along with every human and Spirit in the city.
"In the end, the new, never-before-seen Fusion Monster was born. And that was when the king informed me of the situation. He wanted me to capture that new Fusion Monster Spirit for the royal family's use.
"My response? I killed that king on the spot and replaced him with a new one. Only then did I go to eliminate both the Magical Scientist and that abominable Fusion Monster Spirit.
"Although the Magical Scientist's body had already been devoured and merged with that monstrous Spirit, he still had a sliver of awareness left. Before destroying that Spirit and Remington's original body, I forcibly extracted a fragment—just one thread—of his original soul.
"Using the guidance of that soul fragment, I destroyed the Fusion Monster completely. Normally, the fragment should have dissipated. However, it would've been a shame to let such talent disappear. So I asked our current Great Sage, Sandrillon, to craft a body for that fragment.
"And perhaps due to the overwhelming infamy of the title 'Magical Scientist,' everyone forgot his original name. Thus, the fact that Remington Shepherd was the Magical Scientist from fifty years ago remained secret.
"And so, that is how our Saint Fusion Academy gained its current cardmaker—Remington Shepherd.
"That's the whole story. Sooo, do you understand now?"
...
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