Chapter 11
Chapter 11
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: Visitation
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At first, I was just thrilled that someone from the outside world had come to see me. After the horrific tragedies that had crashed down on me these past few days, it felt like I'd finally grasped a sliver of hope.
But I had to set my emotions aside for now.
I had no idea when I might get out. To escape this place, I needed to dismantle the conspiracy and schemes unfolding out there, proving my innocence.
So I barely managed to suppress my feelings and desperately pondered what to say during the visit.
As quickly as possible,
as definitively as possible,
I had to clean house within the corrupt Hero Association.
"Ten minutes. An alarm will sound when time's up, and the voice connection will cut off. If you don't come out of the visitation room immediately after, there will be penalties."
The time allotted to me was a mere ten minutes.
No more than that was allowed.
It was a very short time, but still enough to lay out my future plans. Or so I believed without a doubt.
"Go in."
Even standing right in front of the visitation room door, a whirlwind of thoughts raced through my mind.
Who could it be, coming to see me?
Not everyone could come.
The conspiracy was still in full swing out there, so they must all be caught up in the chaos and disputes.
So maybe it was her who'd come to meet me.
The epitome of kindness and justice.
The hope of everyone,
and my hope.
The door creaked open,
and through the thick glass, I faced her.
"Justice."
At this moment, no one could make me happier. Overflowing with responsibility and integrity, she was a woman truly worthy of the hero title—the friend I trusted most.
We'd overcome countless hardships together. Of course, we'd fought just as often, and we'd desired each other too.
"I knew you'd come."
I didn't want to say something embarrassing in a dump like this.
But just facing her first in this visitation room was comfort enough for me.
Because we'd been a little more than colleagues, so tender,
it felt like all the humiliations I'd endured washed away in an instant.
But Justice, sitting primly on the metal chair, said nothing for some reason.
Even though she was meeting my eyes,
she wore a strangely unfamiliar expression, her lips sealed tight.
"..."
That's when unease started gnawing at me again. Had our eyes ever exchanged glances like this before?
There had been a time when we'd grown quite distant,
but even then, I'd never seen that look on her face.
No way.
It couldn't be.
I repeated that to myself as I reached for the receiver, but for some reason, it felt impossibly heavy.
Suddenly, fear crept in. Her first words seemed like they would shatter all my expectations and hopes.
Still, the ten minutes kept ticking away,
so I had no choice but to bring the receiver to my ear.
But the first words I heard were...
"...Why did you do it?"
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It's okay.
No need to be disappointed.
In a way, it was inevitable. I was the naive one, assuming you and the others would side with me no matter what.
No matter how close we are, we can't always trust each other blindly. Yeah. Even you don't know everything about me.
"...Hear me out first. I know what you're thinking. But it's all a misunderstanding."
So first, I just need to convey my innocence.
The years we've built together aren't short. If I speak from the heart, I believe she'll feel it.
"What misunderstanding?"
"I didn't kill them."
But Justice just clutched her head and stared at the floor. She was deliberately avoiding my eyes.
"...You didn't kill them?"
"No. So calm down first and hear me out..."
"Does this look like something I can stay calm about? Could you, if you were in my shoes?"
And when our eyes met again,
I understood why she'd been looking down.
Tears welled in her eyes. Her reddening, moistening gaze brimmed with an intensity I'd never seen before.
She took a heavy breath and pulled out stacks of documents and photos from the handbag she'd brought.
There were pictures of me,
of the Director,
and documents on the mass slaughter we were trying to stop,
on the REP—Risk Elimination Project.
I stood from my chair and hurriedly scanned the materials spread out before her. They detailed REP's concrete execution plans and target lists.
"Why did you do it?..."
Even a quick glance made it clear.
Putting the incidents together with this info, the culprit pointed undeniably to one person.
"Why? We all trusted you. How could you..."
The figure at the center of every incident.
Crow.
"...I didn't do it."
"Then what's this?"
Justice slammed the documents down, demanding an answer. Biting her lip, she shed only cold tears of betrayal, as if ready to bolt out the door any second.
I had to keep talking somehow to convince her.
But before her lay neatly organized reports and solid evidence,
while before me was nothing but empty space.
"There are traitors inside the Association. The Director and I were trying to make the organization safe before things escalated further, and in the process..."
"Crow, listen."
My words came out as nothing but empty pleas to faith and sentiment.
"Look here. These REP documents... you're the only one who had them. You knew who the targets were."
"...Only the Director and I knew."
"But the Director's dead. And he was on the target list."
"..."
The situation looked bad. In fact, my name was absent from the target list.
Other heroes' names were there instead, which only fueled suspicions against me more.
I needed to find a way out.
Somehow assert my innocence and ask Justice for help.
But.
"And he died from a shot from the gun you always use. Coincidence too?"
"I didn't shoot."
Words weren't coming easily.
I knew I couldn't miss this chance, but my head and heart, blocked by obstacles, wouldn't move like usual.
Maybe because I'd believed she, of all people, would trust me.
Because the first button had been off from the start,
my head throbbed with pain.
"...How much of it was lies? All of it from the beginning? Even our conversations... all lies?"
"Not lies."
My throat started closing up. Indignation, hurt, anger, and fear lumped together into a knot.
From the face I'd missed most,
hearing the words I least wanted to hear,
I couldn't stick to the original plan.
"But this doesn't make sense. I want to believe you..."
"No."
So,
all I could say was no.
"..."
"No...!"
I knew tears were pooling in my eyes too.
It was driving me insane,
absurd that I was in this situation.
I couldn't hold back the rising bitterness.
"..."
"Please! I didn't do it! Believe me. I... I didn't do anything. Please..."
No matter how hard I thought, I couldn't find proof of my innocence.
The more I spoke, the more suspicious my innocence seemed.
So I tried to rein in my emotions. I needed to think harder, even a little. From the perspective of those trying to eliminate me and the Director, find the flaw in this conspiracy.
"All the evidence and circumstances point to you, and you're saying it's not you?"
"...They're conspiring to bury me. Since the Director and I were purging the organization, they figured killing us both would do it."
"Then how am I supposed to believe you're innocent?"
I knew that was the hard part.
And,
our ten minutes were almost up.
"...Find the real culprit. Among those framing me, someone's fabricating and destroying evidence."
Our meeting ended like this.
The first visit, which had been a thread of hope for me,
but Justice left in anguish, tears in her eyes.
"...Okay. I'll look into it more first."
"..."
No matter how tough,
we'd never shown tears to each other,
yet now she showed me such a pained expression.
The bitter face born of betrayal by the most precious person.
Beep-beep-beep-beep-
The alarm rang.
"Just know this. I want to believe you too..."
Watching you leave,
I set down the receiver.
Truth is,
I half-expected you to come today and say these things.
It's okay. I'll get out soon.
I'm looking for the real culprit.
We're all working together.
Foolish but hopeful words like that.
Words you'd like.
If you'd said that, could I have mustered a bit more strength?
In this endless wait,
could I have smiled, even briefly?