Chapter 89: 88

End of Act II.

PS, Mert is Arti’s homeroom teacher, which you may recall by reading back to the times at the pub before the social exchange.

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―When my consciousness returned to me, I was standing in front of a grave.

Taking a glance around, I realized that I was in a cemetery on the outskirts of Seal. In the immediate neighborhood stood the church where Fina and Hunter had battled previously, and beyond the roof spread a cloudy sky that was threatening to rain at any moment.

Why in the world had I ended up here? I sought to dig up my recollection, only to be confronted with the fact that I had almost no memory of my arrival in Seal. When I thought about it all over again, returning to Seal as a wanted criminal would never have crossed my mind under normal circumstances, but perhaps that was how distraught I had gotten.

“―Are you satisfied?”

A voice approached me from behind.

I turned around and found Mert dressed in mourning attire.

Then I came to the understanding that I had met her on my way to Arti’s house, and that she had brought me here.

“…Ms. Mert, Arti, is she really…”

“She has passed away. Nobody, not even her family members who were present could hear her final words.”

“…”

It was like a gaping hole had been created within me. All sorts of words and emotions were spiraling through my brain, yet they would all ultimately fade away, sinking into the hole that had been developed deep inside of my heart. What was left in my heart in the end was a feeling of a monumental void. And I was profoundly perturbed at myself for being in such a state simply because Arti had perished. When Eto had died, I had been sufficiently agitated, but at that time, the crisis was right under my nose, and a sense of duty that I had to protect Arti, along with the fury that I had to kill Alice, overwhelmed me. However, now that everything was out of my control, no spirit truly welled up from within me.

People have been dying even without me looking at it. That was a matter of course, yet Arti’s death was a stark reminder of this reality, and perhaps it was because so many people had suffered deaths throughout my life that I had forgotten about it.

“…Are you grieving, by any chance? You might as well have been the one to kill Arti.”

I lifted my gaze, and Mert’s eyes locked on mine.

I now grasped the hue of emotion in her eyes—something I had never been able to do before.

That was overpowering indignation.

“Everything has been informed to me. That Eto is the sole child of a wanted fugitive, Arti had sheltered Eto when the fugitive passed away, and you, Kanaki, were formerly Eto’s father’s business partner.”

The details varied in parts, but in general, her interpretation was accurate.

My silence only served as an incentive for Mert to carry on talking.

“I was aware of how close the two of them were, and I knew that Arti, being the kind person that she was, would have allowed Eto to live in her house when she had no one to take care of her. But even that can’t last indefinitely. We all know that there was more than one person involved in the attempt on Ms. Ortesia’s life, and yet only one person was caught. No one would be satisfied, least of all the King, whose daughter was almost assassinated! Had you… Kanaki, who was part of the assassination was apprehended, everyone would have been content and that would have been the end of it! Yet you were never captured! Instead, you showed up at school every day and even put on a smile for Ms. Ortesia, the girl you were supposed to kill! As a result, in place of you not getting arrested and the wanted person who died, Eto was the one who got the white flag! She herself probably had no role in any of this. The Military Police took Eto with them, saying so. She substituted herself for you! And so, Arti, who had resisted in order to free Eto was…”

Her final line was on the verge of screaming.

The entire magnitude of this story was ultimately made clear by Mert’s account. In some way, it was uncovered that Eto was Matthias’ daughter, that even my identity had been disclosed, and that Arti was the one who helped Eto to escape… I was not entirely unprepared to face the situation in which not only my identity but even Eto’s would be divulged, but I thought there was practically no likelihood of it genuinely arising. Perhaps it was this naivete of mine that led to Arti’s death and set the stage for Eto’s imprisonment in the future.

I asked Mert, who collapsed in tears. A person will spontaneously compose themselves after witnessing another person in a more emotional state than themselves. By that time, I had regained my usual composure.

“Who is the person that killed Arti?”

“…What is your intention after knowing that?”

I did not venture to deceive her.

“Ms. Mert, shouldn’t you already have an answer for that?”

“…Elias Li Mondor. The Commander of the Knights of the Kingdom. He was the one who initiated the order for your arrest.”

Commander of the Knights of the Kingdom. That reminded me that he was the guardian of Shizuku and Shiryu, which connected all the pieces. That would account for Shizuku’s behavior.

If a person with as much authority as the Commander of the Knights of the Kingdom can investigate me, it would be unthinkable to conceal the irregularities in my background, but the question remained as to why they began to suspect me in the first place. Now that I reflected on it, Shizuku, for instance, had been behaving strangely from the first time I encountered her. I had never met her before until that day, though―

“―Hey, Kanaki.”

“What is it?” Mert said, keeping her head down. “…Turn yourself in.”

“…I refuse.”

As if lit by the blaze, Mert raised her face.

“You still wish to live after Arti’s sacrifice and even Eto’s!?”

“A living being’s fundamental drive for living is a natural thing. Besides…”

I trailed off at that point. Having been caught off guard by my own sentiments, I found myself more than a little bewildered by the fact that I was even willing to act in this way. Drawing a deep breath, I assessed my emotions and questioned myself once more whether I had the guts to achieve it.

“Besides… what?”

“…Besides, I never stated that I wouldn’t save Eto.”

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Agitation flared up in Mert at those words.

“W-What are you talking about! The only way for Eto to get out of this predicament is for you to surrender yourself and take a bet that Eto will be spared―”

Thereupon, Mert’s shoulders quivered. She had probably caught on to what I was planning to carry out.

“A-Are you insane!? You can’t pull that off! Because the other party―”

“There are many unknowns in this world that can only be found out by giving it a try. In reality, I have murdered 50 people while still in my 20s, despite initially having no faith in my ability to survive this long.”

“…W-What the hell are you…”

You are not human, Mert added.

For some reason, I found this hilarious and chuckled.

“No, no, I used to regard myself that way until recently. Each time someone around me dies, it makes me mad or sad… and I realized a while ago that I actually possess feelings like any other human being. Otherwise, I would never have dreamed up the inefficient idea of revenge until now.”

“…! After all, you are…”

“Yes. And now I have to bid farewell to Ms. Mert.”

“Eh…”

I waved my hand in the air.

Right at that moment, the Serpentine Spear, which had been extended as if crawling on the ground, effortlessly pierced Mert’s chest from behind.

With a dazed expression on her face, Mert’s body went flaccid. I gave my compliment to Felt, who had been behind her from earlier.

“You truly are capable, Ms. Felt. How did you figure out I would be here?”

“…Because I was the first to return to Seal. But are you sure it’s fine to kill her?”

“Yes. In either case, I had already determined that I would kill her since I had been told this story.”

“…Is it true about what you said earlier?”

“Yes, I will do it.”

Not being able to suppress the emotions that were surging up again, a peal of stifled laughter escaped me.

“How strange, isn’t it? I have never been one to take any conspicuous action in the past. I think that Ms. Alice will re-evaluate me if this is the case.”

“…Are you all right?”

In Felt’s words, I could detect her will to gauge my true intention.

So I too, erased my smile and with a bottom chilling tone of voice, uttered, “―I will do it, at any cost. This is the only way I can rescue Eto.”

“…Right.”

No further words were exchanged between Felt and me. So be it. This woman had no right of refusal in the first place. Even if she had interfered, I would have killed her. This incident would have to be even more merciless than before in order to stand a chance of success.

“For the time being, I will leave Seal. Take Ms. Sasha with you and regroup here again before the sun goes down. I will go and fetch Mr. Hansa.”

“You… are really planning to drag us all into this, aren’t you?”

“That’s a given.”

Felt left and I sent Message to them before going to Hansa. It was right on the heels of yesterday, then today that I contacted them, so the other side would probably get fed up, but I had already laid out a subject that would get their attention.

After Message had reached them, I spoke up with a cheerful tone in the voice of a lazy man. With my usual reassuring smile on my lips, my words began to be heard―

“Oh, is that you, Mr. Gato? Thank you for the other day. So, this is out of the blue, but―would you like to engage in a bit of a war?”

(Act II, completed)

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A/N:

The next will be the final act.

I know it has been long enough up to this point, but thank you for your company.

I hope you will also stay with the human being called Kanaki until the end.

T/N:

The translation is done around 75% now. Will soon finish Kingdom of Ortesia storyline.

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