"Talent Workshop?"
Roland froze slightly.
"It's the research institution I used to belong to. Its original purpose was to study how geniuses and great figures came into being."
Misaki Shokuhou stuck out her tongue a little playfully.
"But for all that talk of research, it really wasn't anything so impressive. Essentially, they were just using cloning and ability development to work toward mass production-a factory that could create geniuses at the push of a button."
"What a straightforward naming scheme." Roland narrowed his eyes. "But since that was its original purpose, the direction it later shifted toward must have been the reason you told me to turn down the Talent Workshop back then, right?"
"Exactly. Because they discovered my ability."
Misaki Shokuhou spoke softly and slowly, her smile radiant.
"Compared with creating geniuses, with its slow progress and uncertain prospects, wouldn't outright brainwashing be much easier? Whether in terms of efficiency or difficulty, even now, I can't deny that it was a reasonable choice."
Although the girl was doing her utmost to restrain her emotions, her slightly trembling hands and unsettled eyes had already betrayed her true thoughts.
So Roland stroked her head.
"Are you treating me like a little kid?"
Muttering that, Misaki Shokuhou hugged Roland's arm even tighter, her honey-sweet scent continually wafting into his nose.
"But that's all in the past now. Both what happened to Dolly and the Talent Workshop's plan to discard me once I'd served my purpose gave me ample reason to strike first."
Misaki Shokuhou smiled, looking at Roland with soft, tender eyes.
"That place is under my control now. It's fallen into some disrepair from being left unused, but most of its buildings and assets have been preserved intact. What do you think? It fits your requirements quite well, doesn't it?"
"But