Chapter 10
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: The Mad Dog of Benton
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Ethan lifted his foot and pressed his shoe firmly onto the man's palm.
“Aargh!”
“You’ll be handed over to the Benton police station anyway. If you cooperate now, I can promise you there will be no torture.”
He’d promised no torture, but he hadn’t said anything about violence during the interrogation.
The man groaned in agony, seemingly weighing his options. Ethan calmly waited for the man to speak.
At last, the man spoke.
“I only heard that Cherry Sinclair left for Brunel today. That’s the truth.”
‘She left today? I missed her.’
But it was fine. He would go find her himself.
“Where is Brunel?”
“I-I don’t know. All I know is that it’s a small town with no train station…”
A few more threats and a bit more pain yielded no further information from the man. It seemed he truly knew nothing more.
Ethan had no choice but to hand him over to the police and prepare to leave for Brunel himself.
‘Why would *the* Cherry Sinclair go to a rural town with no train station? It’s so unlike her. This whole thing is suspicious.’
Lately, Ethan’s entire focus had been fixed on ‘the monster of 61 Notium Street,’ ‘the owner of the C.S. brooch,’ ‘the smuggled firearms,’ and ‘Cherry Sinclair.’
Among them, Cherry Sinclair's recent activities were particularly suspicious, capturing his attention all the more.
Until then, Ethan had no idea that all the cases on his mind were intertwined with Cherry Sinclair. He only felt that, regarding this particular case, he wouldn't be satisfied until he confirmed the details with Cherry herself.
If the missing heiress of the Sinclair family had truly ordered a large quantity of firearms, wasn't it natural to be curious about the reason?
Extremely.
* * *
Time remaining until the apocalypse: 19 days.
The only restaurant in the village of Brunel.
Sitting on the terrace, I unfolded yesterday's newspaper, which I'd procured from the next town over. (The people of Brunel, I was told, didn't read newspapers much. I liked that about this place.)
[Exclusive! Heiress Cherry Sinclair Takes Out a 100 Million Gold Loan for an Overseas Venture! What is This Phantom Business…?!]
As expected, my story was plastered all over the front page again. It seemed everyone was dying to know why on earth I'd taken out a massive loan of 100 million gold.
[Exclusive! The Absence of Cherry Sinclair! Where is She Now…? Investigation Underway to Determine if She Has Fled or Gone Missing….]
‘Hmm, it’s less ‘missing’ and more ‘fled.’’
The newspapers must have been bored since I hadn't been attending any parties lately, but that wouldn't be a problem anymore.
Let them chatter all they want! Once the world ends, they won't be able to wag their pens so excitedly anymore.
More than that, my head already ached just thinking about Harrison nagging me once he found out about the loan. I folded the newspaper, sipped my coffee, and looked outside.
I was looking to see when Vanilla would arrive, but my eyes landed first on a man in a police uniform. He was across the street, in front of the Brunel police station.
The man, who had been talking with another, middle-aged officer, suddenly turned around.
The first thing I noticed was his beautiful blond hair, which looked as if it were spun from golden thread.
Next were his eyes, as cold as a winter lake. Below his sharp nose and red lips, the tight collar of his uniform shirt choked his neck.
He was a man who looked sexy in his sharp, navy-blue police uniform.
‘Damn. He’s handsome. Totally my type…’
His face wasn't unfamiliar. It was strange.
Then it hit me—I remembered the police officer I'd seen in front of the mansion at 61 Notium Street.
Aurora's brother, Ethan Duncan Lancaster!
‘What is *he* doing here?!’
I remembered how he kept calling the Sinclair mansion. Could he have finally figured out that Cherry Sinclair was the one who killed the monster that day?
‘No wonder I had a bad feeling all day yesterday!’
Startled, I reflexively ducked my head and frantically tried to figure out why Ethan was here. That's when I saw him walking slowly in my direction.
He came straight into the restaurant and approached me on the terrace.
“Excuse me.”
“Y-Yes?”
I hadn't expected him to speak to me, so I'd responded like an idiot. Ethan looked at my face and let out a small smirk.
“There are no other seats. May I join you?”
Ethan's question snapped me back to reality, and I nodded with a flustered expression.
“What? Ah, yes, yes…”
The place was nearly empty when I came in. When did it get so crowded?
I turned to look, but the inside of the restaurant was just as empty as when I'd first arrived.
‘Shit, what is this? Am I on some hidden camera show? Am I the only one who can't see all these people?’
Having already given him permission to sit, I couldn't take it back now, so I just sighed.
‘Get a grip, Cherry.’
Ethan plopped down in the seat across from me. Then, he crossed his legs at an angle and gave me a slight, ominous smile.
“I've been wanting to meet you for a while. I never expected to find you in a place like this.”
Ethan said, looking at me after ordering an espresso.
“Do you know me?”
“Cherry Sinclair. You're quite famous, aren't you? There's hardly a day your story isn't in the papers.”
The people of Brunel don't read the papers much, so they didn't recognize me. It's not like my picture is in every edition, anyway.
“…I see. I am rather well-known.”
It'll be a huge pain if this guy spreads the word that I'm here.
‘Should I find another town, even now?’
But there wasn't much time left for that.
Ethan, who had been studying my face, suddenly extended his hand and introduced himself.
“My apologies for the late introduction, my lady. I'm Ethan Duncan Lancaster, an investigator with the Benton Police Department.”
Yes, I know him all too well.
He was the type of man who, once he sank his teeth into something, never let go. In Benton, they said no criminal he targeted ever got away unscathed. That's how he earned the nickname 'the Mad Dog of Benton.'
Don't tell me he's turned that persistence on me?
Could he have figured out that I'm the owner of the brooch?
“My, how fascinating. Ethan Duncan Lancaster? You're the one I'm thinking of, right? The one who's always in the papers.”
I tried my best to appear nonchalant as I placed my hand in his. I expected him to kiss the back of it, as was customary for nobles, but instead, Ethan shook it up and down.
I showed a hint of surprise, but Ethan paid it no mind.
Unfortunately for me, he was not a pleasant man. Even in the original novel, he was described as having such a foul temper that he was easily disliked, despite being a survival specialist with high combat skills who saved many lives.
“I'm curious what a famous man like yourself is doing here, Sir Ethan.”
“My fame is nothing compared to yours, Lady Sinclair. What brings *you* to a rural town like this?”
Ethan seamlessly turned the question back to me. I quickly racked my brain.
“I'm looking for a vacation home.”
I replied, having found a suitable excuse.
Ethan's eyebrow twitched. The idea of buying a vacation home in a town with nothing to offer must have sounded absurd. And indeed, he looked at me with a hint of bewilderment.
“Now it's your turn to explain why you're here, Sir Ethan.”
“I was transferred.”
“What? Transferred? To this rural town?”
I was so taken aback that I momentarily lost my composure. It was an even lousier excuse than mine.
“You're a Lancaster, Sir Ethan. You're on the fast track to becoming police commissioner. For what reason would someone like you be transferred to a rural town like this? Have the people at headquarters lost their minds?”
If it was true, this was a huge problem. It meant I might have to stay in this town with him until the apocalypse!
‘This definitely wasn't in the novel!’
Ethan was supposed to stay quietly by Aurora's side in the capital and face the apocalypse there. He needed to be with Aurora, the novel's protagonist, to stay safe and help create the cure.
‘Ah, could this be happening because my actions have deviated from the original story?’
If so, I had a responsibility to send Ethan back to the capital. Or I'd have to protect him myself until the scientist male lead appeared.
‘…No, wait a minute. Are you crazy, Cherry? The latter is definitely not an option. Protecting Ethan Lancaster? How could you even have such a horrifying thought?’
Protecting Ethan until I find Ezra, the scientist male lead? I couldn't take on such a troublesome task. I shouldn't even entertain the thought of protecting Ethan.
I slapped my cheeks hard. Ethan's eyes widened in surprise as he stared at me.
“You seem quite surprised.”
I cleared my throat, embarrassed, and replied.
“Ahem. Anyway, it's strange. You being here.”
“Not as strange as Cherry Sinclair coming to a rural town that isn't even a resort city to buy a vacation home, I'd say.”
He had a point, so I had nothing to say. Still, I feigned an indifferent expression and retorted.
“You still haven't answered my question. Why were you transferred here?”
“To build up my performance record, perhaps?”
“In this small town? It seems unlikely there would be many cases here.”
Is this like the chairman's son who joins the company as a parachute hire, wanting to learn the ropes from the ground up?
“We'll have to wait and see if there are truly no cases. I'm a patient man. I'm good at waiting.”
As he said this, Ethan stared intently at my face.
Damn it. Maybe it was because I had so much to hide, but every word he said felt like it had a hidden barb. It was as if he knew something. I couldn't figure out his intentions at all.
‘…Right, let's not panic. He'll probably go back to the capital before the apocalypse anyway. Aurora is still there, after all.’
Even after reaching that tentative conclusion, I was still looking at him with an uneasy expression when someone approached our table.
“You're the one who bought the mansion on the hill, right?”