Jamin's eyes widened with disbelief as his superior officer was reduced to bloody splatter and viscera. A deathly chill cooled his heated emotions, causing him to shiver…
Vere's eyes seemed to shine like stars as he directed his gaze to the wimpy Suspect. Jamin struggled, his tremendous fear the driving force behind his hands slapping into the sides of his head!
It was a shame that he didn't actually have to physically hear an accurate Detail mixed with a level 3 Case Understanding. Actions had consequences—a common saying that some scoffed at.
But this saying was true, especially for Suspects. They were invisibly linked with the factors inspiring, driving, or caused by their actions. A connection shook the [Pressed] Detail escaping from Vere's lips, the Evidence he retrieved and held in his hand and Jamin's shivering body.
>Detail Used: (Killed by blunt force trauma after resisting a group attack) Lv 2. Check!
"You were the guy who restrained that Wolf Shack fella. A kid like you…hell, you're like ten years younger than me…." Vere crept forward on the prowl. His shadow gradually eclipsed the younger man with every step, and a sarcastic smile unfolded from his composed lips.
"You know, I get the feeling that when I was your age, I was man enough to kill people on my own. Instead of shivering and pissing my pants when someone did the same to me…but you're young. Maybe you can be redeemed…."
Jamin looked upwards, seeing that Vere (theatrically) turned around. [Bluff] eagerly consumed Conspiracy thought power as it fully mobilized, shifting Vere's eager demeanor to a friendly, inviting countenance.
Vere shook his head, a hand upraised in an expression of helplessness.
"If I could…I'd forgive you. But alas! What a shame…sigh." Othello stifled a tear to herself as he spoke. It was clearly not true—a stark contrast to his displayed nature both presently and in the past—but he really sounded choked up about it. Like it was tearing him apart inside…the fact that he had to kill someone who had a bond with his past.
Vere looked at Jamin, his eyes hazy and murky. In the Suspect's eyes, he seemed to be projecting his image onto himself…Vere's face visibly softened as if caught up in the bygone years of his past.
"But you don't have to kill me. Look, I'm sorry about trying to kill you…." Jamin stirred his cognitive ability with a hand behind his back, his face forming a guilty smile. It wasn't a complete lie. He did indeed feel guilty. Maybe he wouldn't be in this mess if he didn't let his superiors convince him to aid in their act.
He wouldn't have gotten possessed by his Id that ran amok—fueled by grief, guilt, and repressed rage.
He found salvation in the foggy eyes of Vere. Those hazy eyes were…wait, what the fuck?!
He might've not been completely lying, but Vere was. With a yellow-red flicker, he snickered cruelly, repeatedly driving down the wooden blade flat end into the Suspect's unaware frame.
That red sword was no longer a sword. It had achieved enlightenment in this very moment…! Tadah…! It was now a mallet. Spiritually.
[Press!]
A couple breaths of constant mallet smashing prompted the SAD to end this cruel misery.
>The last Suspect has been neutralized.
Gained Details: (Killed by blunt force trauma after resisting a group attack), and…(These guys are dipshits).
Gained Evidence: The Brick (Murder Weapon), Crimson Coward's Straws (Accomplice Weapon), Bastard Stick Greatsword (Accomplice Weapon), Lousy Corrupt Police Cap, Useless Badge (x3)
Plus, your Ego Rami seems to absorb the lessons gleaned from this case. It has reached Tier II, unlocking [Magpie].
>Feel free to use the Details and Evidence at your discretion. The bodies are being absorbed into Insight for your Rami. If you want, even the Details and Evidence can be fed to your Rami, but they can be used in plenty of other ways.
'Wow, SADsy. That's a pretty long prompt. Thanks for the info, partner.' Vere tilted an imaginary hat. It was a cowboy cap—because he finds cowboys to be one big joke.
>…
Silence greeted him, but he was unperturbed. It seemed the machine was slightly aware of how he treated it, seeing as it even took the Detail name he offered before it could generate one. Funny.
But now Vere had a bunch of objects to deal with. As the mangled bodies dissipated into transparent particles that his Ego wisp greedily absorbed, Othello crept up to him with a pleading look.
"Hey, can I have permission? I just want to eat their Remnants; it'll only take away a teeny tiny bit of Insight. So, you won't forget a thing, don't worry, but I'm starving…so please…."
Vere nodded and spread his palm. A pearlescent light shimmered as miniature versions of Manter, Logan, and Jamin appeared in his palm. The demoness squealed in anticipation and gulped them all down, scooping them from Vere's hand as if it was a dinner plate.
Her image was superimposed with a rude customer who had an insulting demeanor. Vere tutted to himself.
Othello couldn't help but grin in pure delight, the happiness from her reflected by Vere's veritable stone-walled emotions. But he couldn't—or didn't—resist the joyful demoness as she hugged against his arm and nuzzled around his shoulder.
"Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" She said, unable to stop herself from basking in the comfort of his arm and a slightly satiated stomach.
"…I'm glad you seem livelier. Can you make me more bullets for my revolver if you have enough energy?" Vere looked down, his fixed expression softening as the infectious smile finally coerced him into forming one as well.
"Kk, I'll put in an IOU! I still have to digest these Remnants…I'm still pretty weak. And hungry. But at least I won't die in 400 years!"
"So demons can die from starvation?" Vere inquired, and Othello bobbed her head up and down like a chipmunk as she squeezed his arm.
"Yeahhhh, it's unfortunate, but what can you do? Thankfully, the more powerful you are, the more you can resist that starvation. The average demon wimps out at 200 years, barely twice the max lifespan of your average joe. Non-mortals my ass…." She cussed her face split between self-mockery and repressed distaste.
"I mean, you can live without a time limit if you fill your stomachs. Hell, you can even pig out without dying completely. That's the opposite of your average "mortal," as you put it." Vere joked; it just felt right to do.
Othello looked up and enjoyed the features of his face.
"Nah," she said. "Demons can gain weight and get fat too. We can just somewhat control it…I used to pig out because I wanted big breasts. It worked!"
"…It worked?"
"Yeah, I used to be flatter than a board. But these babies won't grow anymore…sigh." And with that note, Vere shook her off before she could press her body against his arm again.
That was enough distraction for now.
He felt for his Ego wisp, the quality of it upping a notch as his Insight grew. Yet, as he gazed into it, it gazed back into him, reminding him of the cognitive ability he had gained.
[Magpie] activated as he extended his thought power. A pearlescent bird materialized, its miniature size flying in circles around Vere as it awaited his command.
It furtively looked over at all the Evidence before Vere, wanting to take it. Of course, that's precisely what Vere wanted anyways, so he let it do as it desired as he sent affirmation through his thought power.
A squawk only he could hear resounded as the clear magpie only he could see absorbed the Evidence. It then flew back to him as feathers fell off from its bodice, reabsorbed into his cognitive nexus along with the same Evidence.
The bird cocked its head and seemed to want to build a nest there. Then, roosting and hopping about with avian thoughts, it dispersed along with its disappearing clear yet pearlescent feathers before it could find a way to make the Evidence into a nest.