Chapter 56
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: New Life (2)
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Edshila Police Station bus stop. I sat on the bench, waiting for the bus.
"Ugh, that was delicious."
My stomach was already stuffed full.
The police station cafeteria? Great value for money. I'd scarfed down what felt like six or seven servings of pork cutlet, spicy noodles, and hamburger steak, but it only cost me 20 ren.
"Ah, so full."
This week's Swordsmanship Studies elective was an afternoon class, so I had plenty of time.
I poked at my bloated belly while waiting for the bus when suddenly, at the far end of the bench.
I mean, the farthest edge from me on this long bench.
Someone quietly approached and sat down.
A floral fragrance wafted gently through the air.
"...What the hell are you doing."
It was Elise.
She stared straight ahead and said,
"You. Do you know who Bellen Dex is?"
Straight to the point, no bullshit. Had she eaten something bad?
Anyway, Bellen Dex was the guy from Recordak who'd sunk his teeth into my side.
"Yeah. I know him."
"You do?"
Elise squinted one eye and shot back.
"The murderer who died yesterday. Bellen Dex."
"No. That's... well, technically true."
Elise stopped talking and shook her head slowly.
"Forget it. My mistake for asking you."
With that, she stood up right away.
Was there something she wanted to say but held back? Or did she come all this way just to say nothing?
As she turned to leave almost immediately after arriving, I casually added,
"He's the real culprit."
Elise's small back stiffened abruptly. She only turned her face sideways as she asked again.
"...What?"
"The real culprit. Of the Noah Lusille case."
In other words, the owner of the crime that Noah Lusille had been framed for. The infamous 'Demon of Mirinae'.
That psychopathic piece of trash who'd slaughtered 77 people in the city of Mirinae was already locked up in prison.
Over ten years ago, for a similar but different murder charge.
"..."
Elise blanked out for a moment before shaking her head sharply.
"Are you an idiot? Bellen Dex was Noah Lusille's copycat killer. That's why Noah Lusille killed him himself."
Hmm. Looked like she'd picked up some half-baked info somewhere.
I countered,
"So?"
"So ask your brain about it. You're wrong that Noah Lusille was framed. If he really was innocent from the start, why would he kill the real culprit? He'd want to keep him alive to clear his name—"
"He has no intention of clearing it."
"What...?"
Elise's words caught in her throat right then. I shrugged and continued.
"It can't be cleared. Nineteen years is too long for that."
His time wouldn't come back.
The 19 years that had already slipped away, the life that was gone, the stolen future—they wouldn't return, no matter what.
Unless he regressed like me.
"You wouldn't get it. You haven't even lived 19 full years yet."
"...Shut up."
Elise muttered something pretty cute. She glared at me with furrowed brows and crossed her arms.
I said to her,
"By the way, who the hell was that isolated sector prisoner? The prosecutor kept asking about it."
Her body jolted on the bench for a second, but she quickly put on a somewhat haughty expression.
"...No one. Don't overthink it."
Then she narrowed her eyes sharply and snapped,
"Petra is far more ruthless than you imagine. Forget about it."
Practically a threat.
"...Ah, sure. Got it."
I nodded like the good little yes-man. Elise quietly brushed her hair back with a smooth motion.
"Now then, disappear."
She told me to disappear, but stood up first herself.
Had she really eaten something bad?
Anyway, Elise clicked away somewhere on her heels. A luxury sedan waited at her destination.
"What a spiteful 19-year-old."
To reiterate, I don't like Elise. Petra's the same.
They're directly or indirectly tied to my mother's death—why would I?
That's why Yael's dying wish and request—'Bring down Petra, but protect Elise'—is so hard for me to fulfill. I still don't even fully grasp what it means.
But what can I do?
I'm the type who tries to keep promises. Especially ones with my lifesaver.
That's why I actually worked under Elise Petra once, and learned about her PTSD from that experience.
Even if I hated it, I put in the effort.
You can't just do what you want in life all the time.
Vroooom—!
Gazing at Elise's departing sedan, I muttered softly.
"You... need to be more careful from now on."
As Elise said, Petra was utterly ruthless. Which meant they had tons of enemies.
With elections coming up, Elise would get dragged into all sorts of incidents—kidnappings, assassination attempts, you name it.
The Elise of the future who survived all that turned into a monster even worse than her father, mother, or the family elders. But Yael wouldn't want that...
"Ah, here it comes."
The bus I'd been waiting for appeared in the distance. I stood from the bench and stretched my arms wide.
In the sedan heading back to the mansion, Elise stared out the window, lost in thought.
She had personally reviewed the footage of Lena Holder investigating Sion Askal, thanks to Inspector Lenzet's secretive and enthusiastic cooperation.
But during the interrogation, Sion hadn't said a word to the prosecutor. He'd stonewalled her completely, even under persuasion.
Strange.
His words from last night in Recordak still echoed in her ears.
—I hate you. You, your damn family, all of it. More than you think.
He was the first to express such direct hostility toward her. The first time she'd faced pure, unfiltered malice head-on.
That's why it puzzled her.
He could've caused a huge uproar just by telling Lena, 'I saw the person in that photo—'. Even without knowing who Yael was, he could've put her in a tough spot.
Why the hell didn't that monkey do it...?
"Is something wrong, miss?"
Her bodyguard in the driver's seat asked just then.
Berte Condolph. A third-rank elite knight and her father's retainer.
"...No."
Elise brushed it off vaguely.
She was Petra's sole direct bloodline, the heir who would inherit everything one day, but her parents' retainers still made her uneasy.
"Understood."
The bodyguard focused on driving and continued.
"We've transferred A to the psychiatric ward, miss."
A meant Yael. The family retainers—her father's closest aides—called Yael 'A'.
They wouldn't even utter his name.
"So? He'll be back in prison soon anyway."
"Yes, that's true."
Red light.
As the car paused, the bodyguard reached his arm back and offered her something.
"Miss."
Elise flinched upon seeing it. It was the rabbit doll 'Cookie'.
"Found in the isolation sector."
"...That was close."
"No issue. Dolls are approved for removal, so they assumed it was a guard's or prisoner's item."
Elise took the rabbit.
Cookie, back in her hands.
It felt oddly wondrous and apologetic.
She'd put real effort into making it, but used it only as a tool for PTSD therapy.
She kept losing it so carelessly, yet it always found its way back.
...I won't lose you again.
As she promised herself that, a thought struck her like a jolt of electricity.
Cookie had a 48-hour auto-recording function.
The moment she got home, Elise disassembled Cookie.
After all, Cookie's true body wasn't the doll clothes or stuffing—it was the mana incantation and mana core. As long as those weren't damaged, it didn't matter what it looked like... anyway.
Elise infused mana into Cookie's mana core. The recording segment of the connected mana incantation glowed blue.
—No issue. Dolls are approved for removal, so they assumed it was a guard's item.
Berte's voice played back. About 15 minutes ago.
Elise rewound it.
Ssshh— the mana core and incantation flickered blue again, then click.
She released the mana when she figured it was about right.
—Yael.
That moment's voice was her own, calling Yael. What hilarious timing.
Elise replayed it with a smug shrug at herself.
—Oh. You came. You really came, little sister.
Her mood soured again.
The word 'little sister' always gave her chills, no matter when she heard it.
If a man grinning grotesquely amid a dismembered corpse and spilling guts called you 'little sister', anyone would come to hate the term itself.
—...I told you not to call me that.
Static crackled a bit, but Cookie had recorded clearly.
—Oops. Is it wrong to call my little sister 'little sister'...?
The conversation itself held nothing special, even on replay.
Still, Elise logged it on her laptop.
—Grahhh!
—You little shit!
The moment Yael startled her during the mana storm.
A thud suggested that's when Cookie had been dropped.
—Eeeeek!
"...Delete."
Face flushing, Elise skipped this part in the log.
Anyway, that's when she left the isolation sector.
From here on, it was just Sion Askal and Yael.
—Must be disappointing, huh?
Yael said. He'd talked to Sion Askal as she'd feared.
What useless crap did he spout?
—What is?
The recording's Sion Askal replied. Elise tensed up. She gripped her smartphone just in case.
Depending on things, she might need to report to her father. Might need to 'clean up' Sion Askal.
Yael's crimes went beyond mere murder. If he'd spilled that 'secret' to Sion...
—Seemed like Elise came for you, but you're probably not it.
—What the hell is that supposed to mean?
—What do you think.
But the flow felt off.
—Her type's tall guys. You're probably not it.
"What the...?"
Elise furrowed her brow. She didn't even have a type to begin with. That wasn't the issue.
But then.
Sion Askal's response was weird.
—Heard that part and it's a tragedy.
"...Tragedy?"
—Ha! Honest guy.
"Honest?"
After that, wind and storm noises drowned it out.
"...Ugh."
Elise shuddered involuntarily. Chills crept up for some reason. Her throat felt eerie and horrific...
She rewound silently.
—What do you think. Her type's tall guys.
—Heard that part and it's a tragedy.
—Ha! Honest guy.
Heard that part and it's a tragedy.
Thinking about it, Sion Askal's build wasn't just 'tall'—it was imposing.
So, 'tragedy' meant...
Goosebumps erupted all over. Deep from her dantian surged concentrated disgust, contempt, and hatred.
No, it couldn't be.
No way.
He hated her. He'd said it himself.
But.
If, even by one in a million chance, it was that bullshit like 'I like you so much it turned to hate', then Sion Askal had to die. Had to be killed.
Of course, this kind of situation was familiar enough.
Elise Petra's beauty was flawless even by her own standards, earning envy and jealousy from her own sex, love and admiration from the opposite— the so-called 'idol's life'.
Naturally, there were plenty of stalkers and obsessives fixated on her.
But this time, the target was different.
If that monkey bastard dared harbor even a sliver of filthy desire toward her...
Her lips ground together involuntarily.
Wasn't the one he admired that pitiful, poor Soliet?
Or was he some lunatic who fell for anyone beautiful, regardless of age or gender?
Elise pondered quietly, then stood. She suppressed her rage and killing intent.
Instead, she grabbed one of the stuffed dolls on her bed and gutted it, stuffing Cookie's mana core and incantation inside.
A rabbit again.
A slightly whiter rabbit.
Elise nodded impassively and murmured,
"Cookie, resurrected."