Episode 78
Translator: RaidenTL
Episode 78
How could someone be this reckless? That was the source of her sense of futility. The two of them, perched on a lab desk, stared at each other. Before Elysia could say anything, Evan spoke.
“There was something I wanted to tell you but couldn’t.”
“What is it?”
“I think I found the weapon used in the murder.”
“What?”
As Elysia’s eyes widened and she asked again, the man pulled a paper bag from his satchel with a sheepish look.
“I picked it up at the factory. I’m not certain, but… it seemed to match the size of the wound on the skull, and it had blood on it.”
Elysia snatched the paper bag from his hand and peered inside. When she spotted an ashtray stained with a small amount of blood, she let out a short shriek and threw her arms around him. He hesitated for a moment, seemingly startled, before speaking.
“It might not be much help in figuring out who the killer is, but…”
“Not much help?! With this, we can get a rough idea of whether the killer is a man or a woman, and even their approximate age! Ah, Senior, you’re the best—”
Belatedly realizing she was hugging him tightly, Elysia gasped and pulled back.
Evan looked calmer than she expected. Ah, what a relief… she thought, but just then, she saw that his ears had turned bright red. Ahem. Clearing her throat, Elysia apologized in a voice that was barely a whisper.
“Um, s-sorry about that.”
“It’s fine. I just didn’t realize you’d be this happy.”
Evan was, in fact, quite flustered, and not just because of the sudden hug. He hadn’t expected Elysia to clamp her hands over her mouth in sheer excitement.
She looked as if she’d just received an expensive piece of jewelry or a fine dress as a gift, which surprised even him, who thought he knew her well. So this is what it takes to make her this happy? Bringing her evidence from a murder case?
…Since it wasn’t the kind of thing you could buy with money, he figured it might be a gift that was only possible with genuine sincerity.
“Anyway, thank you. This is a huge help. I’ll just keep this—”
“You’ll keep it?”
“Huh? Aren’t you giving it to me?”
“That’s not it…”
Evan’s brow furrowed in displeasure, his eyes asking, Are you serious?
“You’re going to take that back to the dormitory with you? You’re going to sleep with that thing?”
“Uh, well, where else would I put it…?”
“Isn’t that… a little weird?”
“What’s wrong with it?”
“Aren’t you scared?”
“Why would I be?”
With a completely unfazed expression, Elysia placed the paper bag Evan had given her into her inventory. She fell into deep thought, then muttered to herself.
“Hmm, it shouldn’t take long. I could just analyze the weapon before I—”
“Go home.”
“Hey, why?!”
“Go, now.”
With a surprisingly stern face, Evan led the way, opening the lab door and stepping out. He stood in the hallway, waiting for her to follow. When he saw Elysia’s pitiful expression, which clearly pleaded, Just a little longer…, he sighed.
As the man strode back into the lab, Elysia’s face lit up, but he immediately placed a hand on her back and pushed her out. She stuck out her lip sulkily.
“You’re so mean.”
“You were the one who said overworking lowers efficiency.”
Evan slammed the lab door shut and stood there for a moment, just looking at her. Unaware that his gaze was fixed on her pouting lips, Elysia looked up and met his eyes.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“No reason.”
Unable to say what he was really thinking, he just mumbled something vague and held out his hand to her.
“Let’s go home.”
“Okay, let’s go.”
“Go to sleep the moment you get back. You only got three hours of sleep today.”
“Yeees, yeees.”
Elysia replied, dragging out her words teasingly as she stretched her stiff neck. She was tired, but she planned to examine the evidence a bit more when she got home.
It’ll be fine as long as Evan doesn’t find out. Just as she took a light step forward, a beep sounded and a warning window popped up.
<system> You are in a state of extreme ‘sleep deprivation’. (Reason: Excessive stamina consumption while sleepless)
You will enter a ‘Forced Sleep’ state in 15 seconds.
“…This damn body.”
I thought I’d recovered after that nap in the carriage, but that wasn’t enough? She thought she had been acting within the limits of her fragile body, one that felt like it would break if you so much as poked it. How could it always fall short of her expectations?
She turned pale at the forced sleep notification, something she’d never seen before. What? Forcing me to sleep? Hey, you crazy bastards! I would’ve gone to bed on my own! Her sleep deprivation must have been severe, because her eyes immediately began to feel heavy.
Elysia grabbed the shoulder of Evan, who was looking down at her as if to ask what was wrong, and said with flickering eyes, “I’m counting on you, Senior.”
“What?”
<system> ‘Forced Sleep’ state will now commence.
That was her last memory.
*
As Elysia’s limp body slumped against his shoulder and started to slide down, Evan reflexively caught her and lifted her up.
The body he swept up into his arms was lighter than he’d expected. Adjusting her into a stable position, Evan called her name.
“El?”
“…”
He lowered his head, touching his forehead to hers, and tilted his head. Her temperature was perfectly normal. Her complexion looked healthy, too. Then why? A dreadful thought crossed his mind, and he muttered, “Are you sleeping?”
The soft, rhythmic sound of her breathing was unmistakably the same one he had heard that morning when she was sound asleep. He let out a short, incredulous laugh and muttered to himself in a chiding tone.
“I told you not to overdo it.”
She had only slept for three hours today, and a thirty-minute nap in the carriage couldn’t possibly have erased all her fatigue. He sighed lightly and started walking. At that moment, a shocked voice echoed from down the hall.
“What the—what’s wrong with her?”
Siene Reve, who seemed to be on her way home with a smudge of paint on her sleeve, was staring at them with a startled expression.
It took Evan a moment to recognize who it was. Ah, the student Elysia said she was close with. He’d heard her name often.
He was used to being turned down whenever he asked Elysia to lunch, with her saying, “Oh, I already made plans with Siene.” He’d heard they had gotten much closer after Elysia helped her when she was nearly framed for something.
Completely ignoring Lucian, who was trying to talk to her, Siene rushed over and shook the soundly sleeping Elysia’s shoulder. She shook her so hard that even Evan, who was holding her, swayed.
“Snap out of it. Elysia?”
“She’s asleep.”
“Are you crazy?! Just passing out anywhere.”
Her face flushed with anger, Siene shook Elysia a few more times before whipping her head up to glare at Evan. Even though he’d done nothing wrong, he flinched as if he’d been caught red-handed.
Her eyes, full of suspicion, bore into him as she asked in an accusatory tone, “Why are you taking her?”
“I was going to take her to her room—”
“Are you saying you’re just going to walk into a girl’s room?!”
Startled by Siene’s shriek, Evan flinched. The way she looked at him, as if he were some beast preying on an innocent girl, was a new experience for him. Despite being used to hostility, he was flustered.
Siene let out a scoff and said in an annoyed voice, “I’m coming with you.”
“With me?”
“I can’t carry her, so you can just put her in her room and leave.”
With a prim expression, Siene snapped at the hesitating Evan.
“Well, hurry up!!!”
“Siene, I can help—”
“Two guys are going into a girl’s room? Seriously! Am I the only one with any common sense here? You, go home. Go paint something!”
Siene decisively shut down Lucian’s attempt to join in and gestured with her eyes for Evan to lead the way. It was the first time he’d ever spoken to her, but he could already guess how she and Elysia had become friends. Though they looked nothing alike, there was something about her that was strangely similar to Elysia.
The two walked toward the dormitory in silence.
It was Siene who broke it.
“You like her, don’t you?”
“Cough!”
It was a direct question, as if designed to startle him. Siene shot a pathetic look at Evan, who was choking and coughing, and muttered while fiddling with her hair.
“Hah… I knew it.”
“You don’t like me.”
“Nope. Not really.”
As if he were used to hearing it, Evan asked, “Is it because of the war?”
Siene’s eyes went wide as if to say, What are you talking about? She let out a disbelieving laugh and shook her head.
“No? I don’t care. It doesn’t matter to me whether you caused great harm to Lune or not. My family has always stayed away from those kinds of power struggles.”
“Then why…?”
“Why do you keep stealing my friend?”
“What?”
“The moment her classes are over, she just bolts off to you. It’s so annoying.”
He was speechless, utterly dumbfounded. Wondering if she was joking, he turned to look at her, only to meet her pink eyes, which were glaring as if at something unpleasant. She was being completely serious. He felt wronged.
Stolen? Who’s the one who sticks by her side all day? He was becoming uncharacteristically childish. He barely managed to suppress the urge to voice that petty thought and quickened his pace.
“Why do you like her?”
“I don’t see why I have to explain that to you.”
“Ah, so you admit you like her…”
Muttering to herself, Siene completely ignored his refusal to explain and stared at him, pressing for an answer. Naturally, Evan avoided her gaze.
They had reached the dormitory lobby. Instead of answering, Evan found the key to Elysia’s room that he was holding.
He opened the door to Elysia’s room, laid her on the bed, and was about to naturally remove her shoes when he froze, intimidated by the force of Siene’s fierce glare.
Her eyes seemed to demand, Aren’t you going to answer me? Without realizing it, Evan stammered out a reply.
“Because she’s kind, and just, and she’s so strong it’s admirable… I was drawn to her.”
Evan’s gaze briefly fell on Elysia’s sleeping face. She seemed comfortable nestled in the soft bed, her expression much more relaxed. Just looking at her scattered his thoughts. He found himself blurting out words he hadn’t intended to say.
“She’s a little clumsy when it comes to taking care of herself, so I wanted to be by her side. That’s all.”
Siene whipped her head away, let out an irritated sigh, and stomped her foot.
“I was going to tell you to get lost if you were just messing with her for fun, but you’re making it impossible for me to do that.”
Evan didn’t hear her. His mind was elsewhere. He fidgeted, looking at Elysia’s uncomfortable-looking clothes, and muttered.
“…I should take her shoes off—”
“Ah, I’ll take care of it! Get out now! How can someone with such ulterior motives just come into her room like this? The problem is Elysia herself. I can’t deal with her. She’s so damn careless!”
Siene shot up from where she was sitting on the bed and pushed Evan out of the room. As he stumbled back into the hallway, she shot him a haughty look.
“I saw earlier that her bath was already drawn. Go ask them to send up some people to help her bathe. She’s tall, so we’ll probably need four.”
Without even waiting for a reply, Siene slammed the door shut, leaving the man standing dumbfounded in front of it.