The soft sobbing finally came to an end after a long while.
Aria had cried herself weak and exhausted.
Haruto gently placed her back onto the bed. If only she'd known it would come to this—why even resist in the first place?
Once Aria's sobs subsided and she regained a bit of her strength, Haruto cleared his throat.
"Ahem... Miss Aria, please cooperate with containment. Violent resistance won't lead to a good outcome. The Foundation isn't some authoritarian organization—so long as you cooperate, the containment conditions can be negotiated."
Aria lifted her head, her eyes still shimmering with tears.
Normally, she'd have snapped back at him with a sharp tongue. But now, it was obvious she'd completely yielded.
Her voice was hoarse from crying.
After that, Haruto brought Aria back to the site.
He didn't confiscate her dual guns or blades, but along the way, Aria was unusually well-behaved—showing no signs of rebellion.
Once they arrived at the site, Aria was first taken to a containment chamber.
The room was equipped with a full set of detection instruments.
Dr. Seju stood nearby, looking a little puzzled.
"President, did a fight break out during the containment? Her posture seems a bit… odd."
Haruto gave a sheepish smile.
"Ahaha… yeah, there was a bit of a struggle. It's rare for anomalies to willingly comply."
Dr. Seju nodded in agreement.
Before long, a diagnostic report was produced.
Aria's physical stats were several times higher than that of an average human, and her body also showed signs of slowed aging.
Moreover, when engaging in combat, her physical stats would further spike. Her body also exhibited the potential to trigger certain special abilities. While still hypothetical, it was highly likely that Aria could manifest these abilities—
Including space manipulation, and even time-based effects.
All of these abnormalities stemmed from a crimson, bullet-shaped metallic object embedded within her body.
This metal was closely fused with Aria—
To the point of altering her natural eye and hair color.
In fact, physiologically, Aria's eyes and hair shouldn't have been crimson.
This rare metal was known as Crimsonite.
The metal itself was the anomaly—but its fusion criteria were extremely harsh.
The Foundation extracted 0.1 grams of Crimsonite and tested it on D-Class personnel.
Despite testing over a thousand D-Class individuals, none were able to fuse with the Crimsonite.
Based on compatibility and Aria's case, it was hypothesized that successful fusion required a young girl...
And also... one with a tsundere personality.
Upon reaching this conclusion, Haruto was speechless.
Was this metal some sort of tsundere fanboy?
Haruto couldn't help but think of Eriri.
Maybe a cute girl like Eriri would be highly compatible with Crimsonite.
The Crimsonite bullet, now fused within Aria, was left in place.
Forcibly removing it could cause irreparable harm to her.
Furthermore, Aria was currently the only individual known to have successfully fused with the metal.
For now, fusion testing was suspended.
Research shifted toward artificial synthesis of Crimsonite and developing Aria's capabilities.
At the same time, the Foundation discovered that the alloy known as Mental Barrier Metal had excellent suppressive effects on Crimsonite.
Once all the diagnostics and experiments were complete—
Peace returned to Aria's containment chamber.
By now, Aria had also regained her composure from the earlier emotional breakdown.
However, when Haruto entered the room, Aria instinctively placed her hands behind her back, covering the still-tender spot.
Seeing this, Haruto chuckled softly.
As expected, tsunderes… they really need a good humbling to get grounded.
He sat down across from her and slid two folders in her direction.
Aria eyed him warily for a moment—
But in the end, her curiosity got the better of her. She picked up the documents and started reading.
The moment she opened them, her crimson eyes locked tightly onto the contents.
These were containment records—of a werewolf and a vampire.
Although both were Level-3 dangerous anomalies, sharing containment records with her was harmless.
After quickly finishing the two documents—
Aria looked up at Haruto, her gaze complicated.
The man who had just done that and that to her...
Was, without question, her benefactor.
Both the werewolf and the vampire were extremely adept at blending in with humans—
Hiding out scattered in Europe, they would've been near impossible to apprehend using conventional means.
Actually, forget apprehending—just finding them would be a monumental task.
After all, as long as they avoided the sun or the moon, they were virtually indistinguishable from humans.
Aria's mother had been framed for several crimes.
If the charges weren't overturned in time—
The consequences of her imprisonment were too terrifying for Aria to even imagine. And Aria knew that on her own, catching those two anomalies...
Well, it wasn't impossible per se, but it'd be an uphill battle that would take ages.
Now, however, the Foundation had contained them—
And her mother's name had been cleared.
The entire operation had been carried out by Haruto. To call him her savior would be an understatement.
Once she finished reading, Haruto quietly took the documents back and neatly organized them.
He didn't say much.
Then, he stood and turned to leave.
Aria's crimson eyes trembled as she watched his back—torn with hesitation. Just as Haruto was about to exit the containment room, Aria finally spoke,
"Um Sir… please wait a moment."
Haruto turned back.
Was Aria actually using honorifics? Was the sun rising in the west today?
Still, that alone wasn't enough.
"You've read the anomaly documents you were interested in. Since the clearance level was low, you won't be subjected to memory cleansing. The Crimsonite inside you is stable, so you won't be confined to the containment chamber 24/7."
"There's a Central Life Garden upstairs—it's a great place to unwind. There are even small, harmless animals you can pet."
"As for Crimsonite research, the Foundation will never harm your body. At most, we'll just perform regular checkups, so there's nothing to worry about."
"If anything is missing from your room, just report it. Reasonable requests are usually approved. And if you want, after memory cleansing and signing a confidentiality agreement, you can even leave the Foundation and return to society."
With that, Haruto had dispelled every concern she might have had.
It was thoughtful beyond words.
Aria opened her mouth to speak, but the words caught in her throat.
This kindness from the Foundation only made her feel more guilty. They had clearly helped her so much…
And she, she had even shot at Haruto.
"I… can I join the Foundation?"
She finally asked the question—
Looking at Haruto with eyes full of hope, awaiting a favorable answer.
But Haruto shook his head.
"There are precedents of anomalies joining the Foundation, but I'm afraid you're not suitable—not because of your powers, but because of your personality. You point guns at people at the drop of a hat, shouting about putting holes in them. That's a bit too much, even for our staff."
Aria immediately wanted to defend herself—
But the words got stuck.
Because what he said… was true.
She had no excuse.
Normally, with anyone else, Aria would've thrown out a snarky comeback. But not with Haruto—she couldn't get a word out.
His mildly disappointed and indifferent expression struck her like a knife.
"I… I can change. I'll control my temper. I won't cause trouble for others anymore!"
Aria declared.
Haruto sighed.
"Miss Aria, promises like that don't mean much to the Foundation. They carry no binding force—anyone can go back on their word. And human nature doesn't change so easily."
Aria's face paled.
She knew her own personality well, and that Haruto was right.
But what else could she do?
Just then, Haruto coughed lightly.
"If Miss Aria truly wants to join the Foundation—then start by cooperating here at the site. Use your actions to prove yourself to the others. That's more convincing than any spoken promise."
Upon hearing that, Aria's eyes lit up, and she nodded vigorously.