"I had always respected them before, but this time I got anxious too, because at a time like this, that woman was still talking about such trivial things. I didn't care in the least whether that child lived or died. Deep down, I even wished he would just die like that. That monster's blood ran through his body—if he really made it out alive, who knew what kind of disaster he might cause? So I never slowed down, as if I hadn't heard a word they said."
"After the couple called out to me twice and saw that I wasn't responding, they stopped calling. We kept running forward with our heads down. After a while, I found it strange, because from what I knew of that couple, they were both people with strong opinions. Once they made a decision, they acted on it and were rarely swayed by anyone else.
"So I turned around and saw something that shocked me. Somehow, the woman had grabbed that umbilical cord and inserted its pointed end into her own arm. I was so frightened I nearly collapsed to the ground. I asked her, 'Are you insane? Why would you do something like that? Throw that damned thing away!'
"But she merely shrugged at me and said Mr. Taim's name. I knew she was threatening me, because the baby was something Mr. Taim wanted. So I shouted back at her, 'Mr. Taim never said it had to be alive! We just need to bring the baby up to him. Don't make unnecessary trouble!'
"'Do you want to take a gamble?' she asked, blinking at me. I admit that at the last moment, I lost my nerve. I remembered how Mr. Taim had split apart the monster that attacked us with a scythe. Besides, I