At the bus stop of the Edsilla Police Station, I'm sitting on a bench waiting for the bus.
"Ah, that was delicious."
My stomach is already full.
The cafeteria in the police station, cost-effective. I think I ate about 6-7 servings of pork cutlet, wheat noodles, and hamburger steak, but it only cost me 20 Ren.
"Ah, I'm full."
The swordsmanship class this week is in the afternoon, so I have plenty of time.
As I'm waiting for the bus, rubbing my bloated stomach, someone quietly comes and sits at the very end of the bench.
That is, at the farthest edge of this long bench from me.
A floral scent wafted over.
"…What are you doing here?"
It was Elise.
She spoke while keeping her gaze fixed straight ahead.
"Do you know who Belendex is?"
She's talking nonsense. Did she eat something wrong somewhere?
Anyway, Belendex is the guy who bit me in the side in Recordark.
"Yeah, I know."
"You know?"
Elise squinted one eye and asked again.
"He's the murderer who died yesterday, Belendex."
"No, that's… correct, but…"
Elise, who had stopped speaking, shook her head back and forth.
"Forget it. It's my fault for asking you."
With that, she immediately stood up from her seat.
Whether she has something to say but doesn't want to, or whether she came even though she has nothing to say.
To her, who came and is about to leave again, I calmly added.
"He's the real culprit."
Elise's small back stiffened. She turned her face to the side and asked again.
"…What?"
"He's the real culprit. The real culprit of the Noah Lucille case."
In other words, the owner of the crime that Noah Lucille was framed for. The so-called 'Demon of Mirina'.
The human garbage psychopath who killed 77 people in the city of Mirinae was already in prison.
Already 10 years ago, for a different murder.
"...."
Elise seemed to be stunned for a moment, then quickly shook her head.
"Are you an idiot? Belendex is Noah Lucille's copycat. He's a copycat, so Noah Lucille is the one who actually killed him."
Hmm. It seems like she picked up nonsense somewhere, or rather, heard nonsense somewhere.
I asked.
"So?"
"So, ask your brain. Your claim that Noah Lucille was framed is wrong. If Noah Lucille was really framed in the first place, why would he kill the real culprit? Rather, he should keep him alive to correct-"
"He has no intention of correcting it."
"What...."
At that moment, Elise's words were cut off. I shrugged my shoulders and continued my words.
"Because it won't be corrected. Because 19 years have passed."
His time won't come back.
The 19 years that have already passed, the life that has disappeared, and the stolen future will never come back.
Unless you regress like me.
"You don't know. You haven't even lived 19 years properly yet."
"…I lost."
Elise spat out a pretty cute word. She glared at me with a furrowed brow and crossed her arms.
I said to her.
"But who was that prisoner in the isolation zone at that time? The Inspector kept asking."
For a moment, her body flinched on the bench, but she soon wore a somewhat high-handed expression.
"…He's a non-existent person. You should not think any further."
Then she shot me a sharp look.
"Petra is much more ruthless than you imagine. It means you should forget."
It's almost a threat.
"…Ah, yes. Of course."
I nodded obediently. Elise quietly flicked her hair.
"Now, disappear."
She told me to disappear, but she was the one who got up first.
Did she really eat something wrong?
Anyway, Elise walked somewhere. There was a luxury sedan at her destination.
"What a hateful 19-year-old."
Again, I hate Elise. The same goes for Petra.
They are related to my mother's death, directly and indirectly, so there's no reason to like them.
Therefore, Yael's last will and request, 'Destroy Petra but protect Elise,' is hard for me to fulfill, and I still find it difficult to understand what it means.
But it can't be helped.
I'm a person who tries to keep promises. Especially a promise with a benefactor of life.
So I actually worked under Elise Petra, and I learned about Elise's PTSD because of that experience.
Even if it's something I don't want to do, I tried my best.
Because you can't live life doing only what you want.
Vroom—!
As I watched Elise's departing sedan, I muttered quietly.
"You… need to be careful from now on."
As Elise said, Petra is very ruthless. Therefore, she has many enemies.
Therefore, with the election approaching, Elise will also be involved in various incidents, including kidnapping, attempted assassination, and more.
The future Elise, who has experienced all these incidents, grows into a monster even more than her parents and the elders of the family, but Yael wouldn't want that to happen…
"Ah, it's coming now."
The bus I was waiting for appeared in the distance. I got up from the bench and stretched out my arm.
______________________________________________________________________
Inside the sedan returning to the mansion, Elise was lost in thought, looking out the car window.
She had personally viewed the video of Rena Heller investigating Shion Ascal. It was thanks to the secretive and proactive cooperation of Superintendent Renzet.
However, during that interrogation process, Shion didn't say a word to the Inspector. He was consistently silent, even against the Inspector's persuasion.
It's a strange thing.
The words he said in Recordark last night still echo in my ears.
—I hate you. You, your fucking family, much more than you all think."
He was the first person to show such direct hostility towards her. It was also the first time she had faced such pure and clear malice with her own eyes.
That's why it's strange.
With just one word to Rena, 'I saw the person in that photo-', he could have caused quite a stir. Even if he didn't know who Yael was, he could have put her in a difficult situation.
Why on earth did that monkey-like guy…
"Is something wrong?"
Just then, the driver in the front seat asked.
Berthe Condolf. He is the third-ranked elite Knight. He's also her father's valet.
"…No."
Elise casually brushed off the question.
Of course, she is the only direct descendant of Petra, and in the future, she will inherit everything, but her parents' valets are still burdensome to her.
"I see."
The escort knight focused on driving and continued.
"Mr. A has been transferred to the psychiatric ward, Miss."
Mr. A is Yael. The family's valets, that is, my father's closest aides, call Yael 'A'.
It means they don't even utter his name.
"So what? He's going back to prison soon anyway."
"Yes. That's true."
Red light.
As the car came to a temporary halt, the escort knight stretched his arm to the backseat and handed her something.
"Miss."
Seeing it, Elise was taken aback. It was the rabbit doll 'Cookie'.
"It was found inside the isolation zone."
"…That was a close call."
"It's okay. The doll is an approved item for removal, so they thought it was a guard or prisoner's possession."
Elise accepted the rabbit.
Cookie, back in her hands again.
It's strange and she feel sorry.
She put a lot of effort into making it, but was it because she only used it as a means to treat PTSD?
She kept losing it carelessly, and even though she lost it, it finds its way back to her.
…I won't lose you anymore.
A thought brushed past Elise's mind like an electric current.
This Cookie has an automatic recording feature that works once every 48 hours.
______________________________________________________________________
As soon as Elise returned home, she disassembled Cookie.
After all, the main body of Cookie is not the doll's clothes or cotton, but the Magic Spell and mana core. As long as they are not damaged, no matter what the appearance, Cookie is still Cookie… Anyway, that's it.
Elise breathed magic into Cookie's mana core. The part of the Magic Spell connected to the mana core responsible for recording glowed blue.
─It's okay. The doll is an approved item for removal, so they thought it was a guard's possession.
The voice of the escort knight, Berthe, was played. It was about 15 minutes ago.
Elise rewound the time.
Swoosh—— The mana core and Magic Spell flickered blue again, and thump-.
When she thought it was about time, she released the magic.
─Yael.
The voice at that moment was Elise herself, calling Yael. What a remarkable timing.
Elise played the recording, feeling smug about herself.
─Oh. You came. You came. My little sister.
Her mood soured again.
The word 'little sister' always gives her chills.
If a man who gruesomely dismembered people and laughed disgustingly amidst the carnage called her 'little sister', anyone would come to hate the word itself.
─…I told you not to call me that.
There was a bit of static noise, but Cookie recorded it clearly.
─Oh, so it's a crime to call a sister a sister….
There was nothing special about the conversation itself upon hearing it again.
Despite that, Elise recorded those conversations on her laptop.
——Kraaaaaa!
─You little shit!
It was the moment when Yael took advantage of the magic storm to startle her.
Judging by the thump- and the shaking sound, Cookie must have been dropped at this time.
─Eeeek!
"...Delete."
With her face turning red, Elise removed this part from the record.
Anyway, at this point, Elise left the isolation zone.
So from now on, it's just Shion Ascal and Yael.
─You, must be disappointed?
Yael said. As he feared, he started a conversation with Shion Ascal.
What kind of useless talk could it be?
─What about?
Shion Ascal in the recording responded. Elise was on high alert. She clutched her smartphone just in case.
Depending on the situation, she might have to report to her father. She might have to clean up after Shion Ascal.
Yael's crime is not just murder, so if he revealed that 'secret' to Shion…
─You seem to have followed Elise, but it probably won't work out for you.
─What the hell are you talking about all of a sudden?
─What am I talking about.
But, the flow of the conversation is a bit strange.
─Her ideal type is a tall man. You won't make the cut.
"What is he saying...."
Elise frowned. She didn't have an ideal type in the first place. But that's not the problem.
However, what came next.
Shion Ascal's response was a bit strange.
─That's unfortunate to hear.
"...Unfortunate?"
─Ha! You're honest.
"Honest?"
After this, the conversation is hard to hear due to the wind and storm sounds.
"...Uh."
Elise unknowingly shivered. She didn't know why, but she felt a chill. Something about her throat felt eerie and dreadful…
She silently rewound the recording.
─What am I talking about. Her ideal type is a tall man.
─That's unfortunate to hear.
─Ha! You're honest.
That's unfortunate to hear.
Thinking about it, Shion Ascal's physique is not just 'tall'.
Then, the meaning of 'unfortunate' is...
Chills ran down her spine. Concentrated hatred, contempt, and loathing surged from deep within her chest.
No, it can't be.
There's no way.
He hates her. He said so himself.
However.
If by any chance, no, if by one in a hundred thousand chance, it's some bullshit like 'I started to hate you because I liked you too much', then Shion Ascal is a man who must die. A man who must be killed.
Of course, she's familiar with this kind of situation.
Elise Petra's beauty is so flawless that even she acknowledges it, and because she has lived the so-called 'life of an idol', receiving envy and jealousy from the same sex, and love and admiration from the opposite sex.
Naturally, she had many stalkers, and many people obsessed with her.
But this time, the target is different.
If that monkey-like bastard dares to harbor even a tiny bit of vile intentions towards her…
Her lips instinctively gnawed.
Wasn't the person he admired, that pitiful and pathetic person, Soliette?
Could he be a lunatic who likes anyone beautiful, regardless of their age or gender?
Elise silently thought and got up. She forcibly suppressed her anger and murderous intent.
Instead, she picked up one of the stuffed animals that filled her bed and dissected it. She stuffed Cookie's mana core and Magic Spell into its body.
It was a rabbit again.
A slightly whiter rabbit.
Elise nodded indifferently and muttered.
"Cookie, resurrect."