Volume 3 Chapter 7 (1/2)

If you do not hold any expectations, then you cannot be disappointed As this was the truth, this was a universal fact which everyone knew Despite that, why do people hope? Why do they go out of their way to shave away at their own body andthe fear that their hope was all in vain, while also being certain that their hope was obviously all in vain

If I was satisfied with the act of living in itself, then I wouldn’t have to do this Even though I lived in a civilization and society where it was possible to not do this, why am I unable to do so?

Why are we unable to do so?

We firmly tied Roroa to a chair

Since it wouldn’t be enough if I were the one to tie her, Iinstructions while Sii was the one who did the tying We then blindfolded her and bound it firmly so it wouldn’t fall off Because of her body type, she looked like a preschooler who had been kidnapped and bound, but there was no one here ould feel sympathy towards her

As that happened, Ariya stood on standby at hly finished binding her, I spoke

“Wake her up”

Ariya slapped Roroa’s cheek with the side of her dagger Roroa iained her senses

“Kahak······!”

“Are you awake now?”

Roroa panicked and tried to toss and turn her body Albeit, due to her being tied down by Sii’s strength, all she could do was squirm

“This, wan······ what’s theof this, Yujin?”

Her voice was both tre and in disarray

“I’uard Wan! This is an assault on an officer!”

“I know”

“No matter how favored you are, Yujin, by Her Excellency, this is······ Wan! Her Excellency the Silver Lion Earl is a person who understands regulations, wan!”

“Ariya Make her quiet”

With the handle of her dagger, Ariya slaainst Roroa’s solar plexus Thud······! Roroa sed down her gasp and groaned I spoke while looking down at that girl

“Does it hurt? Ariya is a bit angry right now” I didn’t tell her that I was also upset to a siood idea to not stih quite the trouble in order to persuade her, after all”

“Just what exactly······ E-Even though you may be favored by Her Excellency the Earl, the other two······ Miss Ariya and Miss Sii⎯⎯⎯”

The handle of the dagger collided against Roroa’s solar plexus once more Thud······! Roroa let out a whine that was unique to people who had been suffocated I anticipated the pain that she was currently feeling⎯⎯⎯it wasn’t a difficult task⎯⎯⎯and took out ripped onto thehtly

“There’s a total of 4 groups involved in this incident, so even I had a hard ti It’d be difficult to explain, but since I already explained it once to Ariya and Sii, the second tiin”

“What······ are you saying?”

“The first group is the Gongshi+k According to Borg, there were 2 members It was confiro”

“Wan, so what⎯⎯⎯kah!”

Roroa received a blow on her solar plexus once more and lowered her head

“Ariya, you’re acting too hastily Only do it when I tell you to Okay?”

“······My apologies, Fair Grace”

“Mm, well Roroa There are quite a lot of types of words Everyone says them They say them a lot In bothwith an excessive amount of words It’s quite detestable that not all words are true Which do you take in and which do you throw out? Which words are true and which words are not? Fortunately, or rather, it’d probably be closer to being the exact opposite of fortunate, the thing that you should be aware of, is the fact that I’s”

8 Years’ War

“Although I’ve gotten a bit rusty, was conceited, and made a mistake”

I turned a bead on ht arm

“But still, it seeood at them”

“What are you saying······ Yujin, I really don’t understand, wan Just why······”

“The first group, Gongshi+k The fact that they entered the city 2 weeks ago and their ’s testimony was true Except, for now, it’s unknown as to what their reason for co here was It’s also unknown as to where they went after that Although I have a guess for the latter, let’s talk about that after organizing the groups”

Roroa struggled to cough The blood h dropped down and landed on top of the chair she was seated on

“The second group are the felloho used the Gongshi+k Through a certain process, these felloere able to ers and anization Thetheir influence recently and yet were not a part of the Black Dragon Street They probably thought that it would be clean and cause theanization”

“Impersonation······?”

“The third group is Ariya”

“What······?”

Roroa tilted her head As if she truly had no idea As if she had no idea as to why Ariya’s name had popped up here all of a sudden

I shrugged

“If I were to be exact, then it’s a bit different Nevertheless, since Ariya ended upfroroup is me I did whatever I could in order to h I did contemplate for a bit when I found out that Alshi+ had been stabbed, it’s fine now since she’s safe I can’t change ”

“I don’t······”

“Now then, since we’re done organizing the groups, let’s go back to the beginning and go over the details”

I spread out a piece of paper on top of a table I wasn’t doing this in order to show it to the blindfolded Roroa, but in order for me to be able to just explain it easier

“2 weeks ago, 2 people affiliated with Gongshi+k entered this city Their goal, indistinct Their destination, indistinct as well Their current location was also indistinct······ is what they say, but I said that I had a guess earlier, right? I believe that these two are currently located in the ue at the basement of the Star Tower”

“What······!?”

“Yeah” I tapped on the paper “The two corpses that were recovered fro Industry District These two are probably them”

“Just what are you saying······ how can you be so certain······”

“Of course, that’s because these two are the only ones ere discovered as corpses thisTheyafter someone coroup, the group which intended to impersonate them in the first place, were the ones who had killed them However, whatever option it s were discovered by the second group” I continued “By you”

Roroa’s mouth fell open

“Until that shi+k probably never crossed your mind The idea must have just coot your hands on their belongings Your head works well after all ‘Ah, I can use this I can i that you were already going to do, in other words, it alludes that you had already received orders to attack both ht time to talk about that yet, let’s put that aside for now”

“What······”

“Now then, Roroa You, who had resolved yourself like that, hid the corpses But it seems you weren’t able to hide them properly The corpses were discovered and reported after all Of course, be that as itto you as the assistant couards In a state where they were all decayed and couldn’t be identified”

“Why······ Why would you say that I’d do that sort of thing?”

“We aren’t at the step to discuss , let’s just connect the incidents that had occurred After getting your hands on their belongings, the ers, you came to attack us However, you were too anxious to come by yourself I understand There are people in the world who are afraid to go to the bathroom by themselves That’s why you found a comrade and came to attack us with them”

“The ones······ the ones who attacked you were two maids⎯⎯⎯”

“Ah Can you stop treating your opposition like an idiot for athat they’rethat as an accomplished fact was an okay technique, there’s no point in insisting it any further when, at this point, it has already failed The person who ca at the front wasn’t aa stolen maid uniform and also a mask, it was you in your unsheathed state”

A stillness flowed by

“······Why would, you think that?”

Naturally, if someone waves a knife around in front of nize that bastard the next time Ia ot bullied for 4 years and spent the next 4 years after that fighting back, then even you could beco that, I tossed out the ground bait that I had already set up

“The spectrogram that I told you about earlier”

“······but, you have to say the exact sa as as recorded······ that’s how, you’re able to analyze······”

“That was a lie”

Roroa opened and closed her mouth I continued to speak

“Shall I continue? The reason why you caht that it would be lacking if you only wore a mask I understand this as well You most likely used your little sister’s maid unifor another layer of defense”

“No······ wan, I really didn’t, wan”

“You attacked us”

“I understand that you’re y from your world, wan Yujin······ But I really······”

“But an unpredicted obstacle occurred here Ariya’s intrusion You, who could no longer subdue us easily, backed out immediately She was an obstacle of that extent to you The probleether with you The second masked maid as behind you, Alshi+”

Ariya gnashed her teeth Roroa opened her mouth, closed it, and continued to repeat this motion I lowered my voice

“I feel like I can hear the gears in your head turn froht? The ht that it would be dangerous The two of theether They probably have spars every day In other words, if they were to ever fight one another, then there’s a high chance that they will be able to recognize one another”

I turned towards Ariya

“And actually, Ariya did realize”

Alshi+ is, how should I say it······ she is conteht now

“She tried to resolve it by herself”

“······My apologies, Fair Grace”

“No, I understand You’re lovers If anything, the thing I couldn’t understandwas the fact that Alshi+ didn’t say anything to Ariya, as her lover”

As I had guessed, Ariya was probably unable to understand that Why her lover Alshi+ had attacked us Who the other person with her was The reason why she wouldn’t open her ether, Ariya was id air that flowed between Ariya and Alshi+ was there because of this

“Although I have a various nuard to this, like I said, let’s drop the motives for a moment and talk about what has occurred Roroa, I’m not sure how you did it, but you received her oath quite unbelievably wellAlshi+ really didn’t tell Ariya anything”

It’s si, then there’s no way that Ariya would only give Roroa cold eyes Until I had told her, Ariya had absolutely no idea that Roroa was that otheronto Alshi+

“I······ like the tiht that you had soht the scent that Alshi+ was one of the attackers That’s why I······”

Ariya’s voice was filled to the briator was even when they were directly in front of her Roroa stammered as she spoke

“Like I said, Yujin, Miss Ariya, it’s a , wan······ I have no idea what you’re······”

“I’ll continue Like so, a staleh Ariya knew that Alshi+ was one of the masked maids, it was because of that very reason that she couldn’t tell anyone Alshi+ didn’t tell her the reason for the assault nor did she tell her anything about her coather the puzzle pieces, so I didn’t prod further into the identities of thethe possibility that Alshi+’s identity was revealed to Ariya⎯⎯⎯or because Alshi+ herself had confirmed it to you, you weren’t able to move If several h laughable, the assault incident may have faded off just like that The majority of the embers of the world are like that after all However, that didn’t happen this tieous nuclear bomb as our lord after all”

The Silver Lion Earl had called us together

“You must have panicked I wouldn’t be surprised The Earl was ht? You orried that, in a thousand to one chance, if your identity as one of the attackers were revealed, then you would be dragged off to the torture roo That she couldn’t let things continue like this Her precious lover, Alshi+, if the Earl finds out that it was her, then it may not end with just an arm Like that, one person to protect themself, and the other person to protect their lover, carried out the same course of action at the same time You went to Alshi+”

I pointed towards Roroa

“You were a bit faster”

Ariya had returned with us to our roo towards Alshi+’s room On the other hand, Roroa most likely immediately headed to where Alshi+ was The fact that Roroa wasn’t there ent to the guards’ headquarters was because of that Because she was together with Alshi+ until then Thus, because that was the case, or because of another reason, Alshi+ did not open the door for Ariya

“You ht that instant If you didn’t, then there’s no way that Ariya would have returned wordlessly However, after that, I ram, you had set up a time limit for yourself”

Although setting up that ti was bad

“You probably thought this Since the voice that was recorded was h the voices of all of the maids Moreover, since you heard the condition for the voice analysis from me⎯⎯⎯the fact that you had to say the exact same line as the ones that were recorded, you just had to avoid that However, then ould happen next? The smokescreen tactic that you had spread out abundantly⎯⎯⎯yeah, I’ this now, but that nonsense about a proxy war between otherworlders was quite interesting⎯⎯⎯I could conclude that the attackers were outsiders I could also report to the Earl that conclusion of ation could have fizzled out”

“Yujin, I really······”

“But that ht? I could have been certain that it was an insider, but just not a maid I’m the otherworlder who had resolved the Fedchants case after all NoYou couldn’t underestih your head Additionally, even if you got past this investigation without trouble, Alshi+ and Ariya would continue to stick on your conscience People like you end up obsessing over things like that to an abnorree That’s why you decided to choose a method that was a bit more drastic and cliché”

Ariya ground her teeth Her fist pounded into the pit of Roroa’s sto blood, but she soon clenched her teeth together

“So······ cough, so, you’re saying that I went back to Alshi+ and stabbed her, wan? Like an assassin?”

Her voice was hard to understand

“And you’re saying that I then forged her last words and placed it there, wan? In order for the dragnet to not reachthat I did those sorts of things?”

“You, you’re still trying to make excuses······!!”

Sii had shouted out as if she had grown tired of just listening, but Roroa shouted back in an even louder voice while coughing out blood

“That isn’t so, wan!”

With her head lowered, Roroa shouted desperately

“Miss Ariya······ Yujin, Miss Sii It isn’t me, wan It really isn’t I mean, how could it be me? How exactly would that be possible? I was born in this city Wan······ a native to this city······ I’ve been working as a guard for more than 6 years noan In order to protect the people of this city! My God,I did that? That sort of act which deserves to be punished by the heavens, that I had even side my little sister do that, and that I had even tried to cut off my tail? This me······?”

As much as the blindfold was able to cover half of her face, she was that s tears soaked her cheeks

“That’s impossible······ I mean, this, this is really absurd, wan······ it’s a , wan Or it’s a trap······ why, just why, ah, or maybe this is a performance, wan? Wan······ in order to lure so me as bait······ if that isn’t the case, then I don’t······”

Ariya hesitantly turned towardsAriya clenched her fists firmly and turned back towards Roroa

“With the otherworld technology that Fair Grace had mentioned⎯⎯⎯”

“I’m, I’m not sure about that, wan······ I don’t know I y from another world, wan······ the certainty that that would work properly in our world as well······ Additionally, not only do I not kno they work······ but Ariya, you don’t know either, right? How do I refute against so that I don’t know about······ even if you use that as evidence, only Yujin would be able to co framed······”

As I expected, her head worked fast Honestly, what she said was exactly the case Those words were enough to be planted as a reasonable suspicion

“Roroa”

“Yes, Yujin······ this is really, really a misunder⎯⎯⎯”

“I’ blow But you knoith everything that I explained to you just now, shouldn’t you have roughly grasped it by now? The fact that I are that Alshi+ was one of the attackers since a long ti?”

“What are······”

I took out a USB froed it into my iPad, approximated the point of time of the video, and pressed the play button

〈······that, the case?〉

Ariya sed down her gasp

It was Alshi+’s voice

〈That’s right, wan It’ll be dangerous at this rate, wan〉

And, of course⎯⎯⎯Roroa’s voice

〈But······〉

〈I’hts were shalloan I didn’t think it’d beco will be taken care of once the prince arrives soon, wan We just have to wait until then, wan〉

〈······Is that, true?〉

〈Of course, wan! If ork together, then we can protect Ariya, wan〉

Ariya opened her eyes wide She most likely had no idea why her na Goddess was lying in a hospital room, it was one of the deductions that I had alreadysoht in even the most ridiculous of frauds?

“This······ so with this, wan”

Roroa muttered in a voice that sounded as if she were clueless

〈Alshi+ That’s why, in order for us to discuss e’re going to do from this point forth, can you come here⎯⎯⎯〉

“This is really······ I can only say that it’s fake”

A stabbing sound resonating fro out from Ariya’s mouth

And the words of denial drifting out from Roroa’s mouth

“Why would I······ to Alshi+ No······ it isn’t the case, wan”

〈I’m sorry〉

“Fake······ it’s a trap, wan”

〈I’m sorry······ it couldn’t be helped If this contin⎯⎯⎯〉

Soon after, the sound of knocking could be heard from the door We had arrived

If I were to have let it play further, then we could have probably heard Roroa hurry out theand roughly leave a fabricated escape trail that led all the way to the ay before co had happened Like that, it would have continued on until this very hout the room

Roroa’s weeping broke that silence

“It’s a trap, wan! I have absolutely no idea, wan!”

“Still!”

Ariya screamed

“You’re still saying that nons⎯⎯⎯”

Everything happened in a single moment

The instant Ariya pulled her shoulder back so she could drive her fist into Ariya’s solar plexus, green particles burst out from Roroa’s body The moment Ariya instinctively shi+elded her eyes, unsheathed, Roroa initiated her transfor her became undone, and with her now liberated two feet, she kicked Ariya away and ran towards Sii

Claere held at the neck of Sii as standing aardly Roroa took off her blindfold once she had finished transforanize her list on the first day we athered on top of her palm

“I really didn’t want to do this, wan”

Her voice was perplexed

The Ariya, who had fallen down after that kick, pushed herself up strenuously I spoke quietly

“The piece of candy that you handed to us earlier It’s a relief that we didn’t eat it I feel like I wouldn’t be surprised if I were told that it was filled with poison”

Roroa responded with a still perplexed voice

“I mixed so-acting poison It’s a poison that has been favored ever since Borg Edantres became the head of the branch here, wan Previously, there was a tied to the Black Dragon Street and I secretly took some”

“When I took that piece of candy, have you considered the chance that, instead of taking the piece of candy and eating it later like we said ould, we’d give it to someone else?”

“Then that would be your responsibility, Yujin I’uards, wan Rather than that, if there’s a possibility to take your life, then I judged that it would be to pursue that plan”

“······Why?”

Sii, as currently being held by Roroa, asked

“······Why would you do this?”

“For this city, wan”

Roroa answered

I was sad that I was incapable of being curious as to what sort of personal experience she had to go through in order for her to give that sort of reply Fortunately, there was a person here asn’t as sullied as I was Ariya panted

“How is attacking Fair Grace, dragging Alshi+ into this, and trying to kill her for this city?”

“I have already sufficiently experienced the ruin that an otherworlder can bring to a city, wan”

Her voice was low and cold It wasn’t because of her transformation

“A lot of things, Ahyeon knew an incredible as, wan”

The particles of light gathered on Roroa’s hand scattered Within the dark room, a 3D projection of the City of Confinement was displayed

“Many things, he tried to change an incredible nus, wan”