Episode 72
Translator: RaidenTL
Episode 72
The next morning, at Minerva.
Having no morning classes, Elysia had woken up late and just arrived at the academy. It was lunchtime, and she could see students pouring out of the building.
Elysia sidestepped the enormous crowd and quickened her pace, eager to escape the sweltering heat that had begun in earnest.
"...What?"
Just then, something caught her eye. An inexplicable sense of foreboding made her reflexively look up. The intense sunlight was pouring down over the bell tower that chimed every hour.
A cold sweat trickled down her back, and her heart clenched. What is this? Why did I suddenly feel the urge to look up at that?
Thump, thump. In time with her heartbeat, sweat drenched her palms. Without realizing it, she started running toward the bell tower.
The area around the tower was crowded with students hurrying to the dining hall. Not even knowing why she was running, Elysia relied solely on instinct to guide her.
Students she pushed past shouted something in annoyance, but their voices sounded hollow, like echoes.
Why am I running? I don't know. I really don't. But this feeling is so ominous, I can't stand still. My head is spinning...
She was now about ten meters from the bell tower. In the blink of an eye, her terribly accurate intuition spoke.
It's already too late.
Something was falling from the sky, under the cruelly hot sun. She watched the scene, unable to even blink.
Thud.
At that sound, the chatter of the crowd near the bell tower was snuffed out in an instant.
Elysia rushed toward the point of impact. A female student, who had the misfortune of being closest to the tower, was just blinking, seemingly unable to process the situation.
Gritting her teeth, Elysia caught the girl as she fainted and then stared at the ground.
Blood, nearly black, and a body that had gone rigid.
"Aaaaaah!!!"
Someone in the massive crowd began to scream, and the area erupted into chaos. Elysia urgently singled out a male student who was looking around, lost.
"You there, the one with the black ponytail."
"M-Me, are you talking to—"
"Take her."
After handing over the unconscious student, Elysia walked forward. It felt ironic that she was walking into the center of a place everyone else was trying to flee.
She lifted the fallen person's arm, trying to listen for a heartbeat. There was only an eerie silence. Elysia slowly took some paint out of her inventory and marked the position where the body had landed.
"Dammit..."
She quietly checked the deceased's face. A forehead with a deep, caved-in wound, as if it had been repeatedly struck, and below that... was a face she knew well.
System: You have failed the case request.
Client: Blair Linton
Request: Track the whereabouts of the missing cousin (Caden Hertz).
Reason for Failure: Death of ‘Caden Hertz’.
She clenched her fists so tightly that her nails dug into her palms. The pain jolted her back to her senses. The spreading blood soaked the knees of her dress as she knelt.
A corpse she had seen thousands of times, blood she had touched tens of thousands of times. It should have been familiar, yet her mind went completely blank, flashing white.
A hollow laugh escaped her.
'You knew it would turn out like this.'
He had been missing for a long time, and she had even found traces of his blood. The blood she analyzed had been saturated with a drug whose identity even she couldn't determine. Deep down, she had known. The chances of survival were slim, and even if he were alive, he wouldn't be able to lead a normal life.
She was furious that what she had expected had come to pass. Maybe she had been hoping for a miracle. This isn't that kind of game, right? Couldn't everything be miraculously resolved?
It was a lazy mindset. She should have moved faster, charged in without a second thought. Because...
Detective's Aptitude (Passive): Crime occurrence rate within a 1km radius increases by 5%.
The skill window displaying her basic skill looked down on her coldly.
Because this was my responsibility. Because all these terrible things happening in a world that should have been peaceful... it's all my fault...
She could feel the sticky blood clinging to her blue skirt. She wanted to struggle. She wanted to tear it away. To escape this system that held her captive, that wouldn't let her go...
"Ha," she let out another dry laugh and muttered, "Right. This is my life."
"El."
Hearing someone call her name, she flinched and turned around.
She wasn't the only one who had pushed against the tide of people fleeing the scene. Evan was there, panting as if he had rushed over after hearing the news. And behind him stood Adrian, frozen stiff.
"M-M-Ma'am!!! Your clothes!!!"
Evan wordlessly helped her to her feet. With a pale face, Elysia leaned against him and shook her head. She had meant to signal that she was fine, but her ghastly complexion did little to reassure them.
"Are you alright?!"
"I'm fine."
Elysia raised a hand to wipe the cold sweat from her forehead, but Evan stopped her. Startled, she looked up at him.
With a stoic expression, he took a handkerchief from his inner jacket pocket and dropped it into her hand.
"Use this."
"Ah..."
She pressed the plain white handkerchief to her forehead and shook her head again.
As if by magic, her mind, which had been sinking into a dark swamp, cleared in an instant. Once she pushed aside the self-blame, the objective facts came into view.
This game had been full of errors from the start. Her very presence was a major error, but the system had been breaking down even before she arrived. She thought to herself, her eyes buried in the handkerchief now warm from her body heat.
It could be my fault, or it could be due to other factors. I can't be sure. I've learned this from solving thousands of cases, haven't I? Nothing is certain until it's over.
There would be time for self-blame after everything was clearly revealed.
"Alright, let's get a grip."
She saw the academy guards rushing over. It seemed the students had reported the incident.
The three of them slowly backed away from the bell tower. Elysia, who had been staring blankly as the body was recovered, asked Adrian.
"Did you see the body?"
"No, I deliberately avoided looking. D-Do I have to?"
"Yeah, good job. Senior."
Should I tell them, or not? Wouldn't it be better to handle this alone, like always? She looked up to read Evan's expression. The man's gaze, fixed silently on her, was always serious.
Elysia recalled his words from the previous night.
"I won't say something as arrogant as 'your business is my business.' Like you said, it's your business. Just as I have my work performing surgery and caring for patients, you have yours. But still, couldn't you give me a chance sometimes?"
He must have meant it. Courage bloomed within her. I need your help right now. Reaching a hand toward him without hesitation, Elysia avoided his eyes and said.
"There's... something I need to ask."
Evan looked at her, slightly surprised. It was obvious this was the first time she had asked for help. He took her hand as if in a handshake and replied.
"Yes. Please, ask me."
*
All classes were canceled. Elysia returned to the dormitory to change her clothes, only to find a neatly dressed, middle-aged man. She eyed him with suspicion.
He looked like someone's servant, but she had never seen him before. The man, who had been looking at her with uncertainty, spoke up.
"Are you Miss Hemming?"
"What is it?"
"I was sent by young master Blair Linton. He requests that you come to the mansion as quickly as possible."
"I was planning on going anyway. Perfect."
Elysia was about to follow him instinctively when Evan and Adrian grabbed her by the arms, their expressions asking if she was crazy. She turned back, puzzled.
"Ma'am, the stuff on your skirt..."
"Ah."
It certainly wasn't an appropriate outfit for visiting someone who had just heard of their beloved cousin's death. She let out a deep sigh and walked past the man.
"Just give me ten minutes to change."
The man watched Elysia's back as she vanished up the stairs without another word, then asked weakly.
"Is she going alone—"
"We're accompanying her."
Evan answered for her, then gestured lightly to Adrian, who was standing beside him, his eyes darting around nervously.
"The three of us."
"Does the young lady agree to this?"
When Evan gave a silent nod, the man, his eyes dark with exhaustion, conceded.
"Very well, I understand."
Noticing Evan's surprise that he didn't even ask for their identities, the man explained.
"He ordered me to bring the young lady without asking any questions and to accommodate any requests she might have... but, to be honest, his mood is changing by the second, so you may be turned away at the door."
"Ah..."
"As you might expect... the young master is in deep shock. He's barely been in his right mind since he received Miss Hemming's letter last night."
"Where is the body?"
The man's brow furrowed, as if asking why he would ask such a thing, or perhaps because he didn't even want to imagine it.
"It's at the mansion."
Evan swallowed the words 'Good to hear.' That wasn't something to say in front of someone connected to the deceased's family. Just as the man opened his mouth to say more, Evan heard a presence from upstairs. He looked up and froze.
"What are you talking about? Let's go."
Elysia was walking down the stairs, dressed in a white blouse and a black skirt with voluminous pleats. She brushed off the black skirt and muttered.
"I don't have any mourning clothes, so this will have to do for now."
After a moment of silence, Adrian exclaimed in disbelief.
"You know how to care about things like that, Ma'am?!"
It was only natural that a terrifying glare was shot back at him, one that said, 'You think I wouldn't know that?' Squeaking, Adrian ducked behind Evan, peeking out to watch Elysia.
As soon as he saw Elysia, the butler hastily led them to a carriage and urged the coachman to hurry.
Elysia leaned her forehead against the carriage window and closed her eyes. She effortlessly recalled the image of Hertz's body from her memory.
She remembered the viscosity of the blood that had pooled on the ground. She remembered the body, stiff and devoid of any sign of life.
Recalling it so clearly, she couldn't help but know.
'This wasn't a suicide.'
That it wasn't a suicide.