Episode 81
Translator: RaidenTL
Episode 81
Back in her room, Elysia kicked the door shut irritably and flopped onto the bed. It’s all for nothing. So pointless. She had been so close, but now she had to give up. She was right there…
“This is so frustrating.”
Elysia muttered, pressing her hands firmly against her eyes. Unable to contain her anger, she kicked wildly at the air until a knock at the door made her shout.
“Who is it!!!”
“It’s me.”
Recognizing the familiar voice, Elysia shot up from the bed, ran to the door, and threw it open. Evan looked at her, still wearing his coat, with an inscrutable expression before smiling gently and leaning down.
“You don’t look too happy.”
“…It happens sometimes, I guess.”
Though she tried to sound nonchalant, her face was a clear picture of suppressed anger. He noticed her slightly pouting lips and had to hold back a laugh, even as he felt sorry for her.
He knew he shouldn’t be amused when someone was upset, but Elysia’s expressions were so varied and entertaining. He held out his hand and asked in a light voice.
“Want to go out?”
“Go out?”
“I have to go out to buy some medicinal herbs anyway. We can get some fresh air at the same time, hmm?”
Elysia stared at his outstretched hand, then placed her own on top of it before falling into thought with a sullen expression. Evan naturally clasped her hand and gave it a little shake, coaxing her.
“I’ll buy you something delicious.”
“Hah… It’s not like I’m a child. You think you can tempt me with food—”
“Should I buy you some meat?”
“Yes.”
So I am a child… Having accepted his offer without a second thought, Elysia fiddled with her hair, a look of ‘Huh?’ on her face. Evan finally burst out laughing, closing the door as he spoke.
“Alright, get ready and come out.”
Left alone in the room, Elysia leaned on the table, lost in thought. Right, it feels unsettling, but forgetting about it is the only answer. She was technically a third party in this matter. The client, who was also the man’s relative, had asked her to stop, so it was right to back down. But still…
What on earth is going on?
It was definitely a murder. But Hertz wrote the suicide note himself. Was he threatened into writing it? That was a possibility, but she had a strange gut feeling that wasn’t it.
She couldn’t stop thinking as she took clothes from the wardrobe and put them on.
Dressed in a dark purple casual dress, Elysia looked in the mirror and quickly tidied her hair. After smoothing down the strands sticking out in every direction, she closed her eyes, trying to force her thoughts away from Hertz’s death.
Just bury it. Forget it… She muttered as if hypnotizing herself. When she opened her eyes and looked in the mirror again, she saw not a disheveled detective chasing a case, but a remarkably elegant young lady.
She let out a sigh.
“Right, I’ll just forget it.”
But can I really do that?
A faint doubt lingered, but she tried her best to erase it.
*
Evan truly knew the city inside and out. Every shortcut he took was a bullseye, allowing them to arrive at the restaurant much earlier than expected.
Elysia, who was resting her arms on the table and fiddling with her fingers, asked with a look of wonder.
“Did you, like, set aside a day to memorize the map?”
Evan’s eyes widened as if to ask what on earth she was talking about, then he burst out laughing in bewilderment.
“Who would do something so crazy…?”
“Uh, I did?”
Unless she memorized the entire map of <Panic in the City>, it was easy to lose the culprit, so she had a history of setting aside a full day to cram it all into her head.
Seeing Elysia’s baffled expression, which seemed to ask, ‘What’s wrong with that?’, Evan quickly backtracked.
“…Right, I suppose one could do that.”
“You just called it crazy. I heard you.”
“It must have been a slip of the tongue.”
“It sounded pretty sincere to me.”
“It absolutely wasn’t.”
“Alright, I’ll pretend to believe you.”
After teasing him with a chuckle, Elysia rested her chin on her hand and stared at him expectantly. It was a clear signal for him to answer her question. Returning to the topic, he shook his head.
“I’ve never memorized a map. Besides, the alleys we came through aren’t even on any map.”
“…That’s even more impressive than memorizing a map. How do you know paths that aren’t even marked?”
It wasn’t just that he knew the way well; it was astonishing that he had a complete grasp of even the narrow, dark back alleys that were too insignificant to be recorded. He paused for a moment in thought before answering with a faint smile.
“It’s become a habit to grasp the geographical features of any new place I visit.”
“Why?”
“In war, information is more important than force. ‘Always start by analyzing the environment’… that was my family’s doctrine. I heard it my whole life, so it’s no wonder it became a habit.”
“Senior…”
Elysia’s eyes wavered as she bit her lip, stopping herself from saying more. Seeing her conflict, Evan waited silently. She took a sip of water before asking.
“Don’t you want to go back?”
“I don’t want to go back to the battlefield.”
Elysia’s eyes widened at his quicker-than-expected reply. He smiled, his eyes curving, and continued.
“My older brother often said that. That it wasn’t the right place for me, and that he’d let me leave whenever I wanted… It ended up that way in the end. Though what he had in mind was probably an honorable discharge with some plausible excuse…”
Elysia detected a hint of fondness in Evan’s eyes as he spoke of his brother and asked cautiously.
“What’s your brother’s name?”
“Ian.”
“Ian Sylvester.”
“…Yeah.”
She fell silent for a moment, her gaze fixed on the wood grain of the table. He says he doesn’t want to go back to the battlefield, but he does want to go back to his family.
She slowly raised her gaze to meet his, which was distant as if picturing something far away. This man has endured it all alone, unable to share his circumstances, his thoughts, his memories, even with his own flesh and blood.
Noticing Elysia’s darkened expression, Evan gave a small smile and gently tapped her hand on the table.
“Besides, the place I want to be is by your side, and the battlefield isn’t that.”
His hand, warm, brushed lightly over her fingernails before pulling away. Elysia snatched his retreating hand and stared into his eyes. Without realizing it, her true feelings, which even she hadn’t known, slipped out.
“You have to stay by my side. Of course.”
Evan’s expression crumbled in surprise. Elysia, who had spoken the words, froze as well. The tension that had been buried between them suddenly tightened.
Elysia’s lips, which had parted to say more, closed again. It wasn’t for a childish reason like embarrassment or a flushed face. Nor was it shock at her own true feelings, which she hadn’t even realized, tumbling out.
It was worry.
Plunging into danger was her destiny. All sorts of filth gathering around her was also fate.
She didn’t even have time to feel wronged by it; she was too busy cleaning up the messes she caused. She lifted her head and looked at the man sitting across from her.
If something happens to you because of me, what will I do?
Elysia flinched, releasing the hand she had unconsciously tightened her grip on. She avoided his gaze, looking down. She could feel his eyes on her, as light as sunshine, but she pretended not to notice.
The food they ordered arrived at the perfect moment, and Elysia chewed and swallowed without once lifting her head.
Elysia, who had been ignoring Evan’s gaze under the pretext of cutting her meat, suddenly looked up at his reply to what she had said much earlier.
“Yes, of course I’ll stay by your side.”
As if he had been waiting for this moment, the man’s eyes crinkled into a smile the instant they met hers. He added.
“You’re finally looking at me.”
What if something terrible happens because you chose to stay by my side? I can’t go back to where I came from, but you have a place you want to return to.
She swallowed the words she was about to ask. His eyes were already saying it for him. ‘It doesn’t matter.’
Senior will be fine. He’s that kind of person. He didn’t regret it. He’s the type of person who wouldn’t resent me even if he lost an arm because of me.
I’d be the one who couldn’t bear that situation.
Elysia stood up abruptly and pointed toward the door.
“We’re done eating, let’s go.”
Evan followed her up without a word. The moment they stepped through the door, accompanied by the jingle of a bell, he gently grabbed both her wrists and turned her around. The two faced each other before the cheerful sound of the bell.
“If you ask me to stay by your side, I will.”
“I know.”
“If you ask me to disappear, I’ll disappear then, too.”
“…I know that, too.”
Hearing Elysia’s consistent “I know” replies, he felt a little disappointed. She knows me so well, yet she’s subtly trying to create distance. He felt the need to make things clear.
“But if you lie when you don’t mean it, I’ll do the exact opposite of what you say.”
Seeing her silver-gray eyes waver in confusion, he grinned and declared.
“I’d forgotten until I met you, but I can be quite persistent.”
He took the hand of Elysia, who could only stare up at him with wide eyes, unable to reply, and immediately returned to his usual demeanor.
“There’s something I need to buy. Let’s just get that and head back.”
As if nothing had happened, the two of them, having regained their usual ease, started walking.