However, it was impossible to read any emotion just from the profile of his extremely calm face. He simply fluttered his long eyelashes a couple of times gracefully, as if this noisy scene was quite unexpected, and looked back at me with troubled eyes.
“…Here.”
I smiled brightly and grabbed him, as if I had something to see.
“Oh my, it looks like something is going on over there?”
Luke was clicking his tongue, but I ignored him and merged with the throng. Luke didn’t seem to be planning on returning and leaving me behind. I heard his footsteps trailing after me. Upon closer inspection, the scene was appalling. Candles with burned-out candle wax were arranged in a particular pattern, as though a ceremony had been carried out, and innumerable hairs, none of which could be identified, were tangled and tumbling down the riverbank. Adjacent to it was a massive caution posted on the wall.
[We are collapsing in a place where the boundary between reality and unreality is collapsing.
[We are collapsing in a place where the boundary between reality and unreality is collapsing.
Those who wish for death, open your eyes.
Those who try to avoid death, close your eyes.
Death begets death.]
When I came here as a player, I thought it was just a cliche… Looking at this so closely, I had no idea what it meant. Everyone was looking at the incomprehensible words.
‘What’s that all about?’
‘Ugh, I don’t know. It’s so horrible I’m dying.’
‘I don’t know why I’m so confused these days.’
‘Well, I heard it’s related to missing people?’
‘Missing person?’
‘Wow, you don’t even know what’s going on in the world? ‘People are disappearing here and there these days?’
‘I can’t sleep at night just because of a murder case, but there’s also a disappearance case?’
‘So that’s it.’
As I was listening to people’s voices, I heard a low sighing voice nearby.
“Are you going to these places on purpose…?”
Luke came and stood next to me, narrowing his eyes and looking at me.
I said naturally.
“…Oh my, what are you talking about? Look at that rather than that. Those hairs… Could it be from missing people?”
“…I don’t know.”
“You must be going through a lot, Inspector. “Really.”
“If I walked around like this… Even so, Ms. Green is someone who is attracting attention, but here she only attracts more attention. I think it would be best to move somewhere else.”
I didn’t quite understand what Luke said, so I glanced up at him.
‘Attracting? Getting attention? From whom?’
If anyone was looking for attention here, it’s him, not me.
To begin with, he stood a head higher than the others and had an appearance so perfect that, had you not known he was a murderer, you would have assumed he was a halo. In addition, he is a person with equal amounts of authority and money to everyone else.
As was to be expected, the people who had collected in small groups appeared to gradually become aware of Luke’s presence during our conversation.
“…Oh, it’s the Duke.”
“Oh my, today was a great day to be able to see you so close!”
“Duke Luke! Please catch the culprit quickly!”
“Yes, well said! You have protected us at Rearmond Manor for generations. The Duke is the only one who can solve this problem.”
“Did you see it?”
“It was so blinding that I couldn’t see. Haa… How can he be so beautiful?”
Where did the fear in the eyes of many women go? Women with eyes overflowing with admiration and love approached Luke and revealed their selfless feelings with encouragement and greetings. I smiled bitterly as I heard exclamations and sighs of regret coming from all over the place. I understand the feelings of women who do not know the identity of Luke, but I also feel sad. I thought about running away from this date and going to the evidence collection site, but a better option suddenly appeared.
“Hey, isn’t this the Duke? I was going to report it anyway… Would you like to come closer here?”
The appreciative individual who removed his hat and yelled in this direction was none other than the Santa-like Inspector Triver. Because of his close relationship with Luke, Inspector Triver visited Rearmond Manor in person to report on the occurrence.
“I can’t hear if Luke and the inspector are exchanging information without me.” If we discuss it now, it would be ideal.
Without realizing it, I looked back at Luke with a happy smile.
“Oh my, the inspector is calling… Let’s go quickly.”
Luke narrowed his eyes and looked at me as if he were looking into my thoughts, until the corners of my mouth trembled slightly because it was too much to keep the smile on my face.
“…It’s been a long time since I went out together with Miss Green, so we’ll put off talking to the inspector until later.”
What was he talking about so shamelessly? He had nothing to do with me.
“What are you saying? Come on, let’s go quickly. He is waiting like that.”
“…Miss Green, I really don’t know what you’re thinking… Of course. Instead, let’s cut it short and go somewhere else. I have no interest in staying in places with this kind of stench for a long time.”
The only thing that mattered was that he readily accepted my suggestion. I excitedly crossed the short bridge over the Mona River with him and walked down the slope toward the riverbank where the officers were camped. I felt so good about getting information soon that I didn’t even bother to let Luke hold me up by the waist to keep me from slipping on the slope. As Luke and I got to the front of the officers, Inspector Triver started complaining, his face red from the stress he was feeling.
“…phew. Well, I’m going to die without even having a day off because of the sudden incidents that occur one after another.”
“You are going through a lot. What is it today?”
“I can’t pinpoint it yet, but haven’t there been a lot of missing people in the meantime? I think all these hairs belong to those missing people.”
“…They’re from the missing people. Why did you come to that conclusion?”
Wayne Iss, a royal household servant with exceptionally unusual hair color, was one of the lost. There are several hues of hair present here, one of which being a light blue hue that resembles Wayne Iss’ hair.
Oh. This is an incredibly horrible occurrence.
I was listening carefully to the discourse, and I briefly looked at Luke’s face. His expression was solely one of frustration; there was no sign of accomplishment. You either act incredibly well… Alternatively, it’s possible that the serial killing and the disappearance were unrelated, distinct occurrences.
‘…Did they also bring the person they locked in the basement of the house here? Huh?’
Unable to get any information from Luke’s face, I looked away regretfully, and the inspector spoke in a low whisper.
“It appears to be related to serial killings in some way.”
“…Why do you think that?”
“The same characteristics were discovered in areas that had not yet been published in the newspaper.”
“Same characteristic?”
The inspector pointed to the end of the graffiti. There was a pentagram drawn there, about the size of the palm of your hand, which is much smaller than graffiti, and cannot be seen unless you look closely. Although the pentagram looks like a child’s scribble, it is painted in red and there are traces of paint spreading downward, making it quite creepy. Come to think of it, the icon that appeared in every loading scene of this game was a pentagram. Does the pentagram have some special meaning? I was about to approach to get a closer look, but Luke slowly moved in and blocked my path.
“Why are you doing this?”
Luke shook his head slightly and pointed towards the top of the bridge.
“I still don’t know if it’s a good idea to discuss the case with you in such a high-profile setting. Now that we’ve finished talking, let’s move to another location.”
Moving location?
‘With such a great evidence collection site?’
When I came here as a player, there were magnifying glass signs at each point, so I had plenty of time to press them and collect evidence, and there were no distractions like this.
‘Besides, since you enjoy attracting attention wherever you go, since when do you start caring about attention?’
Regardless of how shocked I was, Luke smiled calmly and even shook hands with the inspector.
“Interesting… If you require any additional support, please feel free to contact Rearmond Manor at any time. You must be busy… If there is any way I can help, I will help.”
The inspector’s lips twitched at the promise of full support. If you become a Duke, the amount of support would probably be different. But for me, it was shocking to see him spend so much money to manage his image as a celebrity. In a world like this where money was all you needed, could justice really be realized? Luke said goodbye to the inspector and then looked back at me with eyes full of regret.
“So, are you okay now?”
“…yes?”
“You said you would get motion sickness, didn’t you?”
I was shocked and nodded.
“…Well, I guess that’s okay. Cough.”
But now it seemed like that clumsy acting hadn’t worked. Luke said, ‘Let’s go to the carriage and get some rest.The air is thick here’, he said, leading me. I looked back at the scene of the incident with wistful eyes. Still, if you have collected information about Pentacle Castle, you have obtained the most important information. I walked slowly, looking around the scene to see if I could get any other information. After passing the scene of the disappearance, we took a carriage and headed to a shopping alley where a boutique was located. The shopping alley was still a space with a bright atmosphere that seemed to be somewhat isolated from the strong smell of death and incidents that spread throughout the ‘park.’ I quite liked the noisy atmosphere, so I entered the boutique in a good mood. The boutique I visited with Luke was a place where only expensive items were on display. The carpet at the entrance of the boutique was made of long pink fur that didn’t match the cheap shoes I was wearing at all. As I stepped on it, a soft feeling ran up my feet, as if I was stepping on clouds. To begin with, I wasn’t particularly interested in dresses, gloves, shoes, or fans, but when I saw the dresses hanging in a fancy gold and white boutique, my eyes rolled back a little. Surely, there was such a dream.
The reason why games set in the modern era are so popular is because you can dress your character in gorgeous and beautiful dresses that cannot even be seen in real life. It would be fun if you could try it on yourself. I slowly walked over to the closest ballet-like off-shoulder dress and looked at the price tag.
3200G
Suddenly, the feeling of being like puffed up cotton candy suddenly subsided.
‘…Yeah, no. Let’s go back.’
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Translator Note:
Hello there! This is RJR. I hope you liked it <3
If you like my work please support me with Ko-fi or Patreon. Next post will be released on October, 26.
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