A Monster's Perspective

It doesn't take a grand tragedy to drive a person to despair. A tiny trigger is more than enough.

“Ahh.” Ellyse Bertman realized this truth all over again.

In front of her lay several notebooks filled with observations about the crime scene—and the various random thoughts she had scribbled down to free her mind. Traces of her desperate struggle over the past two days to find any kind of answer. At the same time, they were the reason she had to admit defeat.

…Yes. She had to admit it.

So Ellyse closed her eyes. She cursed her own stupidity. Then she slammed her head down on the desk.

BANG!

The desk shuddered from the violent impact. Her forehead throbbed, but the chaos inside her skull hurt far worse.

Now a full month into her rookie inspector days, Ellyse muttered with a completely dazed expression.

“……I have no idea.”

She acknowledged her ignorance. This wasn’t some spot-the-difference puzzle. Everything she had written seemed to be there, yet she couldn’t grasp what that “one big clue” was supposed to be. At this rate, it was painfully obvious she wouldn’t find the answer before she had to return to duty.

‘This might actually be dangerous.’

After staring blankly into space for a moment, Ellyse suddenly shot up from her seat and clapped her hands together. The sharp sound of applause filled the room, and it took several minutes before silence returned. By then, her hands hurt more than her head.

The new inspector glared down at her reddened palms with bloodshot eyes and gritted her teeth.

…No. Quietly accepting defeat was simply not her style.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

“……Huh?”

The bookstore clerk witnessed three mountain peaks rising from the display table. He quickly came to his senses and reached for the barcode scanner—only to freeze again.

BANG! BANG!

Ellyse, having stacked the mountain of books two more times, declared with blazing eyes, “Ring them all up!”

The total came to thirty-six volumes.

“……I am a monster. I want to kill people. There’s a smell. I smashed the wall. I entered the warehouse. Bullets flew at me but it’s fine. I am invincible……”

Ellyse had gained an epiphany.

When trying to find an answer, if your thinking remained trapped in the same rut, the conclusions would always be the same. Whether she methodically followed the investigation manual or freely brainstormed with wild imagination, every idea that came out was completely useless. It was because she was stuck in confirmation bias.

‘I keep thinking about only one thing.’

Therefore, this time she completely changed the direction of her thoughts.

The six bestselling books that criminals inside ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠prison devoured most, according to a survey. Plus thirty more crime-related books that she skimmed through in summary.

Ellyse was able—albeit imperfectly—to set aside her identity as an inspector.

“……I am a monster. A monster. I won’t eat people, but I’ll definitely kill them. I grabbed the head. I crushed it. Same with the guy next to him. But the one far away—I’ll kick him instead. And I’ll leave behind one clear clue. I’ll make sure to leave one, so you’ll have to find it yourself……”

Perhaps even the level at which she thought had changed.

Ellyse was so absorbed in becoming a monster that she didn’t notice the bookstore clerk trying to report her, nor the other customers on the terrace staring at her and whispering among themselves.

“Mom, that lady is weird.”

“She must have studied too much and lost it.”

All side effects of becoming a monster. A truly severe case.

However, there was still a way to cure that condition.

“……I am a monster. A monster that devours people. Monster, monster, I’m not an inspector, I’m a mon—”

“Ellyse? What are you doing over there?”

“……Huh?”

At the sudden friendly voice, the monster-possessed Ellyse Bertman froze on the spot.

…Who just called me?

Her eyeballs rolled first, then her head creaked around belatedly. There, parked along the roadside in front of the café, was a luxury sedan that ordinary citizens would never get to ride. In the back seat, a young lady was waving at her.

It was Ashily Dolores, daughter of the Minister of Finance and her old classmate from the elite academy.

“……What? It was you?”

Ellyse clutched her startled chest. She was the kind of friend who wouldn’t care no matter what embarrassing state she saw you in—a real pain in the neck. In other words, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her best friend. Since they hadn’t seen each other since graduation, there was also a sense of genuine joy. It seemed the feeling was mutual.

Ashily had the car turn around and pulled up to the curb right in front of the café. She stepped out, dressed in a stylish dress and exceptionally high heels that announced her adulthood, clicking elegantly as she approached. Her outfit clung perfectly, showing she had clearly adapted to high society. Yet the face that broke into a bright, silly grin upon seeing her friend was still the same goofy Ashily from Ellyse’s memories rather than some refined noblewoman.

And Ellyse found herself smiling back without realizing it.

“Hey! How have you been?”

Ashily Dolores was about to greet her dear friend with an equally bright smile. But then her eyes landed on the mountain of books on Ellyse’s table and her expression turned dead serious. She had always hated studying with a passion.

“A whole mountain of books… Even after getting a job, you’re still burning with academic fever?”

“Ah, this is, um……”

“……Wait a second. What even are these titles? 77 Ways to Screw Over the Cops? ……The Psychology of Killing People? Boy, Become a Monster?!”

“…….”

“Your tastes have gotten quite vicious, Ellyse.”

Ashily made a face as if she had seen something utterly grotesque. That expression remained even when she looked directly at Ellyse’s face. It was the look one gave a complete lunatic.

“……Ahahaha.”

Ellyse thought to herself that while she had claimed it didn’t matter what state she was caught in, this one definitely required an explanation. A very thorough one. If she messed up, her closest friend might report her to the office, and that would be catastrophic.

‘That absolutely cannot happen.’

It wouldn’t be a suspension—it would be outright dismissal. At the horrifying thought, Ellyse wiped the silly smile from her face and put on a serious expression. She faced her pain-in-the-neck friend—Ashily Dolores—with perfect posture.

“……The reason I was reading these books is—”

The final defense for her survival had begun.

“Are you completely out of your mind?!”

Thankfully, years of friendship proved effective, and her explanation somehow worked. Ellyse felt ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the tension drain away at the thought that she had survived, letting out a helpless laugh. But Ashily Dolores continued to stare at her with an expression that said she still couldn’t understand.

“Seriously, who changes the direction of their thinking by carrying around a bunch of these creepy things?”

“Hey, they’re not creepy—they’re legitimate reference materials—”

“Reference for what? Are you planning to stab someone to death? If you are, at least give me a heads-up first. I’ll report it to the police headquarters and collect the reward.”

“……Please, just spare me that one thing.”

Ashily snorted and leaned back in her chair. After staring at Ellyse with clear displeasure for a while, she suddenly tilted her head.

“Idiot dummy Ellyse.”

Ellyse wondered if it was fair for someone who had always been second-from-bottom in their grade to call the former second-in-class an idiot, but she kept her mouth shut.

“……Yes.”

For now, she simply went along with it.

“Do you have any plans the day after tomorrow?”

“The day after tomorrow?”

“It’s Sunday, but you only have three days of vacation, right? I was wondering if you had to work.”

“Weekends are usually off, so it should be fine?”

“Oh, really? Then you don’t have any other appointments?”

Ashily Dolores’s eyes sparkled for the first time since they had met today.

Ellyse wondered why she was acting like this all of a sudden, but reluctantly nodded. Ashily’s smile deepened.

“You know, Ellyse. In the end, you just want to break away from your usual patterns, right?”

“More precisely, change the direction of my thinking……”

“Whether it’s changing your thinking or just refreshing your mood, isn’t doing something different better than locking yourself in a room?”

“……That is an extremely correct statement.”

“Then here’s an idea.”

Ashily grabbed both hands of the straight-laced friend who never knew how to have fun. Ellyse found her means of resistance captured. Now it was her turn to look at her friend with a displeased expression.

Ashily Dolores, who had always loved partying, beamed and declared, “Ellyse, let’s go to a party.”

It was an invitation back to the ordinary life from the fairy tale she had once abandoned.

It was right before bed, after finishing all company duties for the day. He had been in the study, reviewing his schedule one last time.

Knock, knock.

At the sudden sound, he turned his head. It was an owl tapping on the glass window, asking to be let in. It was the communication creature the demon had gifted him and the same flying beast he had sent back last night.

“……A reply already?”

The lazy bum usually dragged things out for a whole week, so this was unusually fast.

Creak—

When he opened the window, the creature quickly flew inside and dropped the letter it had been carrying in its talons. The moment he took it, he grabbed the bird by the scruff and stuffed it into its cage. It would be troublesome if it flew around the room and broke everything.

He scooped out a bowl of the highest-grade feed for the sulking creature and opened the letter.

The reply was brief, as always. It contained a suggested date for when he should visit. However, the date written was so soon that he wondered if it had really come from the same lazy person.

“This Sunday?!”

Given the current time past midnight, that was tomorrow.

The head of a large corporation naturally had a fully booked schedule regardless of weekends. He narrowed his eyes and recalled the contents of the schedule on his desk.