Chapter 70
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 70
Chapter Title: Handshake
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It was 1 a.m., right after the script reading and my shift at the meat restaurant.
The moment I stepped out of the small theater, I hailed a taxi.
"Drop me off here."
I had the driver stop in front of some back alley in Gelldio, on the outskirts of the Edrilla capital, bracing myself for the nighttime surcharge.
This was the place where the Nightmare had first appeared... and killed.
The victim was a fourth-year Knight Faculty student at Edrilla Mana University. A promising knight with a guaranteed spot in the Council Knight Order, and heir to the prestigious Tan family: Verio Tan.
Case name: The First Nightmare.
"You're here."
Someone was already waiting inside the alley.
A hooded figure—Soliet.
"I've read the file on this first incident more times than I can count."
She glanced around as she spoke.
"But it's been over a year. There's no evidence left. You really think you can reconstruct what happened here?"
"No evidence?"
I shook my head.
"It's everywhere."
"What bullshit is that?"
"Here. And there."
I pointed at the alley pavement. Soliet muttered in confusion.
"...Sword marks?"
"Yeah."
The asphalt still bore deep scars from two years ago.
Traces of the man desperately fighting for his life... and the Nightmare tearing him apart like a toy.
I crouched down and touched them.
"What are you doing?"
"...Just wait."
I'd always wondered.
Could the Notebook only recall my own memories?
That wasn't entirely true. The Notebook we knew had plenty of other functions beyond save and load.
Like downloading and opening files I hadn't written myself.
That's what I was trying now.
Cracks etched into the asphalt.
Downloading the memories held in these traces with the Notebook... replaying that day's events...
Tszzzzt—!
Suddenly, sword ki clashed like lightning.
Verio Tan's resisting blade scraped the asphalt repeatedly, slicing off a bit of the Nightmare's shoe in one strike. The scene flashed through my mind like a bullet.
The cost: nearly 30% of my mana.
"What the hell?"
Soliet's face had puffed up like a blowfish. She seemed extra sensitive at the crime scene.
"The evidence list mentioned a shoe fragment, right?"
"Yes. Remains of an ordinary shoe."
"See? ...Ughhh—"
I nearly collapsed from acute anemia trying to stand. Soliet smirked—not quite a smile.
"Ahem. Verio Tan sliced off part of the Nightmare's shoe at the scene. Quite a chunk, too."
If it had been a perfect fit, his big toe would've been lopped off at least.
"But the Nightmare didn't bleed a drop. Not even dead skin."
When the shoe was cut, there was no blood from the Nightmare. If it was due to Mana Body, the skin would've blocked the shoe from being severed too.
"So you're saying it wore oversized shoes on purpose?"
"Yeah."
"That's common. Easiest way to hide yourself."
"Still weird, right? The framed suspect later had the exact same shoe size."
The Nightmare deliberately faked footprints at 310mm, and the 'fake' who got framed had 310mm feet too.
"...Yes. True."
"And another thing."
I pointed at the alley wall. Verio Tan died impaled on his own sword, but the Nightmare left its weapon behind on purpose.
"It left the sword at the scene."
"You mean the left-handedness?"
"Yeah."
"Left-handed confirmed. All the victims' wounds, including Verio Tan's, were mostly from left-handed swings."
The position, rotation, and scars differ clearly between right- and left-handed sword swings.
Soliet and the investigators would've caught that much, of course. But the Nightmare unusually flaunted being left-handed.
"The framed guy was left-handed too."
"Yes."
"Isn't that suspicious? It was like it decided from the first murder who to frame."
A male swordsman with 310mm feet and left-handed.
Not super rare, but add 'someone skilled enough to toy with and kill Verio Tan, a near-lock for the Council Knight Order,' and the suspects narrow fast.
The actual framed guy was a desert-born master, after all.
"More importantly, do you know why Verio Tan was in this alley?"
"Yes. On patrol."
"This dump?"
"He didn't have to, but volunteered."
"Nah. He came to score drugs."
I stated it flatly. Soliet flinched and shook her head.
"No. Verio Tan had a great reputation. They said he was a model human—"
"Believing rumors like that makes you an idiot... or just naive. Nobles circle-jerking each other? Not the first time. Here."
I tossed Soliet the [Verio Tan Background File]. She caught it reflexively.
"Know thy enemy to know the victim."
"..."
She read in silence.
Text exchanges with someone, SNS DMs laced with drug slang, call logs, unexplained cash use.
The dark web's full of experts, especially cyber scavengers. This came from them.
"This back alley was a drug deal spot."
"...What?"
Soliet's face hardened. I shrugged and peered down the alley.
"The Nightmare knew already. About Verio Tan the knight. His dirty secrets. What he'd do here."
The stench of rotting fish hung heavy, cigarette butts scattered like grass. At the end of that darkness floated a pure white full moon.
"Knew already..."
Soliet let the case file droop in her hand. Her sharp eyes scanned the sword marks.
"An acquaintance... But the later victims have no connections. One was a 60-year-old knight."
The Nightmare case's official name: Indiscriminate Knight Murders.
Victims' only link was 'knight.' The Nightmare seemed to kill random knights with no pattern.
"Not acquaintance. Another possibility."
"What—"
"Contract killing."
"!"
Soliet's eyes widened, her face round as the moon.
To her, I laid out everything I'd pieced together.
"Verio Tan was the Tan family's junkie heir. Now his sister Bella Tan's taken over."
The truth future Soliet had chased.
"Framing puppet ready from the first kill. Intentional design from the start."
The answer she'd staked her soul on.
"The Nightmare we know... might've been a contract hit from beginning to end."
Possibly vaster and tighter than anyone imagined.
"Just a theory for now. But if true, high nobles we don't know are involved. Plenty of them."
A black curtain too heavy to bear might lurk.
"..."
Soliet fell silent. So did I.
Whiiiish... Night wind blew. Streetlights flickered faintly, about to die.
The crime scene was deathly still.
"...Logical deduction."
Soliet finally spoke. I glanced down sideways. Her face held conviction.
"Logical..."
Looking at this Soliet, I thought of the future one.
The most precarious bloom at the cliff's edge. The most imperfect completion.
"Digging into this puts us in danger too?"
What path had that Soliet walked?
What did she want? What truth did she reach?
What had she seen to make her end herself?
I never knew until I died.
So now, I'd find out.
"Scared?"
The truth only you knew.
The darkness you never told me.
I'll uncover it with you. Won't let you walk alone.
Won't let you die.
"No. Hardly."
So, from now on.
"Curious, actually."
"Then... let's go together."
Soliet looked at me. Her eyes shone like stars under the hood.
"...Logical."
I offered my hand. She hesitated, then gripped it with relieved ease, like it was the obvious choice.
Like a knight grasping her sword.
"Yes. Logical."
Thirty minutes later.
A 24-hour diner in the town near Gelldio.
After parting with Soliet, I sat by the window, devouring a late dinner.
French fries, cola, five burgers, a whole chicken, nuggets—inhaling it all.
Then, writing appeared on the shared notepad: [Enjoying it? You look like you are.]
I glanced outside and startled. Hooded Soliet stared right at me from in front.
Thought she'd gone home.
I wrote back: [Yeah. Why.]
She gulped, then entered. At the counter:
"Just a plate of ham and burger."
"Set menu?"
"Set?"
"Yes."
"Whatever."
"Coming right up~"
She sat with her burger set. Chewed a few times, face odd, then wrote: [Not very good.]
I chuckled quietly.
The Soliet I knew wasn't a foodie. Hated eating anything, but ironically scarfed it all. Bug or burger, no difference.
She force-fed herself the burger, face like torture.
[Next Sunday.]
Three minutes later, she bolted outside.
I resumed eating, no big deal.
"Huh? What?"
Suddenly the staff approached.
"Um, customer? Didn't see the person sitting here?"
"...Just left."
I pointed outside.
"Argh, seriously! Dine and dash!"
The staff dashed out. Unlucky for Soliet—she hadn't gone far and got caught quick.
—Hey! Gonna pay or what? I'm calling the cops!
—Huh? Oh right.
—Looks fine but acts like this!
—...Ahem.
She rummaged in her pockets. Empty, apparently. Then she stared at me inside intently. Like a dog begging help.
No intention of that.
"Gotta learn the hard way."
Probably just not used to cash. Soliet was the pampered flower of Arkne, an ancient great house rivaling Libra in rank.
I stood up.
—No money? It's 10 ren!
—I...
Her eyes stayed fixed here, but I played dumb.
—Ugh, driving me nuts! No money, then do dishes!
The staff dragged her to the kitchen. She stared at me the whole way.
Crash!
"Nooo! Break that and what?!"
With the sound of shattering dishware, I left the diner.