I stood up with my head pounding.
“Where are you going all of a sudden?”
“From the beginning, I came here to look around my room.”
Just as I was leaving the living room, I belatedly remembered that I didn’t know where Arbice Green’s room was.
‘…It would be very awkward if I asked where my room was now, right?’
It was a moment where I stopped awkwardly because I couldn’t go back to the living room.
Bang bang.
A heavy metal sound was heard knocking on the front door handle.
“Who is it?”
As the attendant ran at a hurried pace and pushed open the large door, a police officer was seen greeting us with his hat in his hand. The police officer was a young but sturdy woman.
“Oh my, what are you doing here…?”
“My name is Amanta from the Central Police Agency. Lukes told me to take Advice to the mansion.”
She followed behind and gave me a puzzled look.
“…Are you saying Arviche is such a great person that he bothers the police officer on his way back and forth?”
I smiled awkwardly. It appears that they are serving me, but in reality, they are conducting surveillance. But when I hear him talk about taking me there, I have the impression that my original goal of remaining quiet and not drawing attention has gone unnoticed.
“I understand, right? “I’m causing some trouble.”
Officer Amanta smiled slightly as he responded to my words.
“What are you saying? How much does Luke care about the Metropolitan Police Department? If you are Luke’s lover, it would not be enough for us to carry you on our backs.”
My aunt, Ross Green, looked at me in surprise. I hurriedly held out both hands with my palms visible and waved them. This means that what the officer said is absolutely not true. But Ross Green didn’t seem to be interested in my gestures at all. He blushed, his whole face turned bright red and he glared at me.
“Oh my god. You mean the rumor was true?”
“No, no.”
“…Ha. I thought it was just a rumor… why…”
Inspector Triver, how chatty was he really?
‘It’s so hard to see the true ending of this game because you just chat and don’t do what you’re asked to do!’
“It’s a rumor. There is no relationship whatsoever. I went out to the city together today, but I had to go somewhere else by myself.”
Ross Green didn’t believe me one bit even though I calmly denied it. Instead, she seemed even more surprised by my words.
“A grown man and woman come out to town together on a weekend like this? What on earth are you so sad about, Luke, that you go out with your tutor?”
“…I just came out to buy clothes because I didn’t have any clothes to wear to the imperial banquet. Luke just accompanied me.”
“…Imperial banquet?”
After hearing my excuse, Ross Green grabbed her backside. Then, wondering what was so pitiful, she pounded her chest with her fist and gulped down the not-so-cooled tea in front of her.
“…It’s probably still hot.”
“Where did you learn to act like you know something like that…? You were invited to the imperial banquet. Ha, on top of that, I can’t believe you’re that close to Luke…”
Being invited to the royal banquet seemed to mean a lot more than I expected. When I saw Ross being envious, she couldn’t take it. Ross glanced at the portrait in the living room before turning to face me.
“Mano should have gone there, not you.”
The portrait’s owner appeared to be Ross’s daughter, as she sat calmly in a perfectly dressed outfit like a pretty doll with a bored expression on her face. I was shocked and clicked my tongue.
“Do you regret it now? They said you sent me away just to keep me quiet, regardless of whether I can’t adapt and get kicked out.”
Instead of being embarrassed, Ross Green looked at me shamelessly.
“I sent it because I was worried about you.”
“You must have said that.”
“What kind of person are you with such a twisted personality… Ugh, okay, if you feel better by sarcastici zing me like that, then go ahead and do it.”
“That’s not it…”
“Then? I guess it was a lie that you couldn’t ask Luke for my son’s job. No, Luke, why do you like a skinny kid like that so much… ha.”
‘…No? ‘Are you listening?’
“And a royal banquet. Our family had never even set foot there before it ended up like this… How on earth did you do it?”
“…The princess gave me a favor.”
“…It’s amazing. When you go to the royal banquet, can you take a companion with you? You can go with Mano, right?”
I sighed softly when I saw her eyes filled with jealousy. Then I spoke slowly and calmly so that she could understand.
“Aunt.”
“Huh?”
“Now I will never come back to this house again. I needed something right now, so I came to pick it up. I know you stole the entire inheritance from my parents, but I won’t ask for anything. I just want to end the relationship like that.”
“…what?”
I glanced at her shocked, angry face and turned my body around. For some reason, my heart was pounding like crazy. I’m trying to end my relationship with a girl who has nothing to do with me, but I wonder why she feels so upset and relieved… And her heart was beating fast as if she had solved a long-standing homework problem…
‘This feeling, this body… Is this the feeling that Arbice Green remembers?’
I pressed my hand against my rapidly beating heart and turned my head to the attendant.
“Is my room still the same?”
I didn’t know the location of the room, so I looked around secretly, but fortunately, the servant received my words with a puzzled look on his face.
“Oh my, now that you think about it, you might be surprised by how much luggage there is… I’ll go first and sort things out. Please come slowly.”
“No, what are you doing?”
“Ugh, still.”
As I watched the servant go up to the second floor at a slow pace, I followed him at a leisurely pace. The small room Arviche used was now a storage room. In a room that smelled of stale dust, unused wooden furniture was leaning awkwardly. I squeezed through the furniture and opened a small desk, a very small chest of drawers, and a bookshelf placed inside, one by one. As expected, the furniture on the wall belonged to Arbice. But the items in there were nothing special. At most, there was only a diary, a few books that looked like fairy tales or novels, an album, old clothes, and a few pairs of old shoes. Since there was so little luggage in the Rearmonds’ room, I assumed there would be a lot of luggage left here, but it seemed that the original luggage was very small. Since I couldn’t check everything here, I stuffed everything except my clothes into a bag and went down to the first floor. The officer quickly took the luggage from my hands and carried it away.
“Oh, thank you. I don’t have much stuff, so it’s okay for me to carry it.”
“What do you mean? Luke’s…”
“…Because we are not lovers. Really.”
When I waved my hand with a straight face, the officer winked knowingly.
“I was rude. I’ll just pretend I don’t know.”
‘I guess… I think she believes it completely.’
I laughed bitterly. Even if I got misunderstood, it won’t look good to other men… It’s not like I want to make Luke get along with another woman… Actually, it doesn’t matter. I just didn’t want to be known as the killer’s lover.
“…Please.”
When I answered with a sigh, the police officer quickly took the lead and opened the carriage door. As I was about to get on the carriage, I suddenly looked back. Ross Green, who was biting her nails, was still looking at me with an expression on her face that seemed like she was about to die.
‘…Now that I think about it, it’s really strange that my aunt is like that. After I got knocked out, Luke suddenly started watching me. What was it for? The officer doesn’t know anything.’
Of course, the reason was to protect my personal safety…
‘They’re sure he is really worried that I’ll collapse again, so he is calling the police?’
Even after thinking for a while after the carriage left, I couldn’t find a reason. The place we stopped by immediately after that was a temple. Since the temple was one of the places I visited most during the game, I was able to find my way around very familiarly when I got off the carriage without any guidance. Accessible by regular carriages was to the beginning of the bridge, which was the only way across the river to the temple. I stood at the beginning of the stone bridge that must be crossed to get to the temple and was briefly mesmerized by the unexpected sight. There, people of all ages and genders stood in a very long line all the way to the bridge to enter the temple. I muttered in surprise at a sight I had never seen before in a game.
“…What is this?”
The police officer who came next to me shrugged his shoulders and said.
“There are several murder cases occurring in succession in this small park, and there is even a disappearance case. Moreover, the culprit has not been caught yet… It is natural for citizens to feel anxious.”
‘…I guess all these people came to the temple because they were anxious.’
For some reason, while looking around, I felt that there were few people in the entire city. But I never expected that everyone would be gathered at the temple like this. Nothing could be solved right away by praying, but they gathered like this because we felt like they had to do at least that.
‘Just because people play horror games doesn’t mean they are insensitive to fear or resolute in death.’
When I thought that way, everything felt much heavier. Once again, the eerie fear that I had tried to forget filled my mind.
‘Let’s not think about it.’
It was the moment when my throat became stiff and I squeezed my eyes shut as I overcame my shortness of breath.
Wow!
What seemed like a bizarre scream that could never be made by human vocal cords came from above.
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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 November, 7.
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