The video started with a view of the room. I could tell that this video was from Catherine Hunt’s perspective because red hair was swaying to the left and right of my field of vision. She stared blankly at her room for a while, then seemed to have made up her mind and opened the drawer. What came out of the drawer was a letter with the outer envelope already torn. Her trembling hands took the letter out of the envelope. All that was inside the unfolded letter was a black picture of a crow that looked like it had been stamped with a stamp. Catherine Hunt, who saw this, got up from her seat and walked around her room, looking out the window.
[…Probably not? It’s probably not because I saw the masked man…? I can’t do it. I have to go to the Metropolitan Police Department and ask for help.]
Then she bit her nails again and shook her head.
[No, it’s more dangerous if you ask for help. Then it becomes more certain that I witnessed it. Then they will really come to kill me… What do we do?]
The moment she couldn’t bear her nervousness and bit her nails until they bled, her vision became dark, as if the dim lights in her room were all turned off in an instant. The screen itself is turned off.
We were watching the video huddled together on the sofa, not even able to breathe properly, but we were finally able to catch our breath a little, and Latte jumped up from her seat. The object Latte was touching looked like an old projector.
‘There are creatures and swords and guns in <Night of the Murderers>, but there has never been any magic. This technology of the Magic Tower may be closer to brain science.’
“Why is this like this? They said they had saved all the autopsy results. What’s wrong?”
Latte spoke in dissatisfaction and tapped her hand on the projector, and the center of the image instantly became hazy and bright. In the meantime, I saw a black shadow with its back to the window approaching quickly.
[Please save me.]
Another voice began to mix with Catherine’s voice. It was the voice of a man whose age was difficult to determine and whose pitch was unknown.
[Please, please…]
[Didn’t you say you wanted to become rich?]
[Well, when did I say that…]
‘…Is that Luke’s voice? No, if you think that Luke is deliberately removing the features… But I don’t think I can hear it in his voice…’
While I was thinking in a daze, I heard Catherine Hunt’s voice screaming, my vision darkened again, and soon I couldn’t even hear the sound. Although the video did not contain any specific content, it was very difficult to watch the video, which was much more vivid than expected. Even though there was complete silence, we couldn’t say anything for about five minutes and just stared blankly at the wall.
“…I don’t know why the video didn’t come out so well, but maybe it was a good thing. I asked to see you but… This is absolutely not something to watch. I’m sorry, everyone.”
Latte stood leaning against the wall and muttered absently. We shook our heads.
“No. Why is Latte apologizing?”
“That’s right. And there wasn’t much substance to it.”
“…I know.”
Chiik-.
At that time, the video that I thought was completely over became blurry and bright, and I heard someone talking.
[There you are again.]
[…I will definitely kill you this time.]
[You are going to kill me? Hahaha, funny. Very funny. You must have realized it by now. I don’t die. All the offerings here are for me.]
[You have a long tongue.]
Perhaps because Catherine’s consciousness was blurred, all the words were muffled and it was barely possible to understand what was being said. It was completely impossible to pinpoint whose voice it was. I could barely guess that both voices were male. And then her vision blinked twice, accompanied by a dry moan. As she was lying on the floor, she saw something black and shiny on the floor. It looks very solid, the surface is smooth, and it looks somehow elegant…
‘Wow, that!’
I immediately remembered where I had seen something similar and opened the item window. When I looked at the item in the last slot of my inventory, the item’s description window blinked upward.
[Scales: ??]
It was an item whose details could not be viewed.
‘…I thought I picked up a really useless item, but why is it there? Is this conclusive evidence pointing to the culprit?’
While I was lost in thought, Latte, Milorad, and Lemuet were each putting their hands together and praying. I wasn’t familiar with this world or its gods, but I thought I knew the meaning of the prayer for Catherine Hunt’s soul to rest, so I put my hands together and prayed in silence. When the prayer was over, Latte fell into Lemuet’s arms and sighed.
“I mustered up the courage to steal the autopsy video, but it was not rewarding and only creepy.”
“…That’s right.”
Milorad muttered, lost in thought.
“But who was the person you were talking to earlier?”
Lemuet nodded her head.
“Therefore. It seemed like he was familiar with the criminal.”
“You know who the culprit is, and they threaten to kill each other like that, but you don’t tell the police… What is it?”
“Are you an accomplice?”
The three of them tilted their heads and looked at me.
“What do you think Arbice?”
“Huh? Me?”
“Huh.”
I had no idea about being an accomplice or anything. However, my attention was still focused on the item window flashing before my eyes. This was the Magic Tower, and there was no one else who could analyze items better than Latte. So, it was sure to make a huge contribution to catching the criminal.
‘Is it okay if I ask her to identify the scales…? You’re not going to endanger your latte by doing something pointless, right?’
I swallowed hard and summoned a scale from the item window. The hand in my pocket caught a hard, smooth piece of scale the size of half my palm. When I held it out in front of everyone, the three looked at me blankly.
“Isn’t this the one that just appeared in the video?”
“I think that’s probably right. “I picked it up near the police station.”
“You picked it up?”
“Huh. I think it would be helpful if I could find out which animal this belongs to… I had no way of knowing what it was, so I just carried it around.”
Latte, whose shoulders had been slumping ever since watching the video, put his hands forward and his eyes lit up.
“I’ll look into it.”
“Are you okay? I’m worried that it might become dangerous.”
“Hey, what are you talking about? What a great person my grandmother is. No one can touch me.”
“…but.”
“And I’m also quite brilliant enough to be mentioned as a candidate for the next magic tower owner?”
“Phew.”
Lemuet, who had a drooping face, suddenly burst into laughter at Latte’s words. Latte narrowed his eyes and hit Lemuët on the shoulder.
“Why are you laughing!”
“Who exalts themselves so much?”
“I! They say that at the top of your academic career, you are taught not to be ashamed of your capabilities. I guess it’s like that in the surgical ward, isn’t it?”
“Ugh, did you do that? Yes, yes, wow. Our next magic tower lord.”
“Lemuet!”
Watching the two bickering felt better than I expected. It was an interaction that had nothing to do with the game.
‘Also… This isn’t a game. It’s only shown to me in the form of a game, but to them, this is reality.’
I thought the world was becoming more and more confusing and also more and more clear.
“Anyway, just trust me!”
“Then I will ask you to take care of me. You have to be careful.”
“Huh. Thank you for entrusting me with it.”
Taking advantage of the brief silence as Latte took the scale from my hand and examined it with a grin, a rather loud noise from outside her window hit my ear.
Sushhhhhh!
It’s that sound again. It’s like a big monster… Sounds bizarre. Even though the sound was quite loud and scary, Latte, Lemuet, and Milorad glanced toward the window.
‘Is it because I saw Cather Hunt’s video? Like Officer Amanta said, it’s just the sound of the wind blowing in the park… I’m so worried.’
I pressed my nose against the window, gently rubbing my goosebump-covered forearm with my hand. As expected, it was just the sound of the wind, but nothing special caught my eye. Passersby were also walking along the streets without any problem. However, the dark clouds were so dark that it seemed like there was a dark shadow beneath the dark sky. Just as I was about to take my eyes off the window, I noticed a very small shadow quickly passing through the alley in front of the Magic Tower. Golden hair that flutters.
‘…Shine?’
Even though it was from the back, it was impossible to tell that it was Shine. Unlike other commoners, he was neatly dressed, had a sharp gait similar to my uncle, and had rare blonde hair, so he was something that stood out.
‘Where are we going?’
It is quite a distance from Learmond Street to here. I don’t know how or with whom I got out, but if I’m going back to Rearmond Street, I have to take a carriage because it’s quite a distance. But if you see him walking like that, it means he’s moving to a place that wasn’t that far away… He must have come out with a guardian, but I couldn’t leave Shine alone once she saw him wandering around alone. I became impatient, so I pinpointed Shine’s location and hurriedly turned around.
“Latte, Lemuet, and Milorad, thank you for inviting me today.”
“Are you going already?”
“Huh. Some unexpected business came up.”
Milorad nodded his head.
“…okay. Oh my, the atmosphere was so depressing because of that terrible video, wasn’t it? I thought it would be scary, but it was much harder to see than I thought.”
“…therefore.”
I was anxious because the conversation seemed to be going on for a long time, so I ended the conversation in a hurry.
“Next time, I’ll invite you to Rearmond Manor. If the Duke allows it.”
“Really?”
“Really?”
“Of course he will allow it! I heard the Duke is completely in love with you, Albi?”
“That’s right. Don’t worry about the princess, just accept the duke’s feelings.”
“It’s not our business to interfere. Let Arbice do as she pleases.”
I smiled awkwardly and nodded. The three of them kept talking to me but I was worried that Shine might have gone too far, so I looked out the window again. At that time, a black shadow followed closely behind Shine.
—————————————————————
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 January, 9.
Want to read more?
