Chapter 106: AMONG US
"So you two aren't lovers…" Ivan asked with exasperation. That amazing entrance and he had come to the wrong conclusion. It was at this point that he thought maybe it'd be a good idea to use restoration magic to go back in time and redo it. He just thought that two hormonal teens sharing a room meant…
"I was just telling her about everything you told me. That and the information I'm not sure she had regarding the disappearance of the princess and Aiko-sensei." Hajime spoke with an equal amount of exasperation, with a dozen minutes of constant explaining he was finally able to convince Ivan that he and Kaori were not a couple.
Though that didn't stop Ivan from looking at the two in doubt. Especially the depressed Kaori who had been in despair since Hajime heavily refuted his claims. "But, Ivan, why the hell did you suddenly reveal yourself to Kaori? I thought you didn't want anyone other than me to know of your true identity."
To that Ivan only ruffled his own hair. That had been the plan since he created the Paracelsus persona. After all, the best way to keep a secret was to tell the least amount of people possible or tell no one if you can. But by limiting it down you could narrow the potential suspect who exposed your secrets, and from there you take care of them, and boom— you're down a traitor who you once believed was an ally.
"Well, I was just trusting in your choice of a lover. I believed that if you trusted her enough to betroth your life to hers then she was trustworthy enough to know of my true identity. If I had known that you two weren't lovers then I might have not gone all-in… Then again, it's your guy's fault for presenting such a perfect opportunity to introduce myself."
It was an explanation that made the two shudder, blushes adorned their faces but to Ivan, this 'rosy' scene just served to annoy him. If there had been enough room to drag Hajime away and ask for an explanation then he would. To sum it up, what's done was done. He just had to add one more person to the list of people who knew his secret/
"Kaori Shirasaki, I'll trust Hajime's decision to share his life with yours. That being said, I do hope you'll keep my secret. If you can do that then I promise you the information of all of Hajime's weak points, likes, and dislikes." The claim made Hajime shudder for another reason, in his mind he thought that Ivan's words just now sounded like he was selling him out to keep his secrets.
"I solemnly swear!" With a serious expression, Kaori held a hand to her heart. The dozens of questions she held were repressed to the back of her mind as she focused on the document that Ivan had promised her.
It was worth noting that such a file of information didn't exist within Ivan's database currently. Though he did gather information of all his classmates long ago and store them for safekeeping, it wouldn't be much of a hassle to print it all and store it in a folder for this yandere to keep. Such a price was nothing if it meant keeping her mouth shut.
"K-Kaori!" Hajime wasn't sure whether to be elated or afraid that the girl he admired wanted to learn about him so much that she'd just completely throw away all curiosity regarding her dead classmate.
"*Cough*, now that that matter has been settled, allow us to move on to the main topic. Your letter made it to my people, I've received it and came to aid you as quickly as I could!" Ivan of course wasn't going to mention the days he and his group slacked off, nor the hours they spent playing around in the city.
"Thank god, I was starting to think that you were blowing it all off. I was expecting you to be here sooner, if I remembered correctly the message should have gotten to you a few days ago if the estimated time for delivery was anything to go by…"
Though Hajime decided to believe him, he wasn't going to not point out the inconsistencies in his plan.
"There were many troubles on our journey here. Like there was this black cat that crossed our path, so we had to go the long way. Or that old lady that needed help crossing the river…" Ivan immediately diverted to the simplest excuses that he could think of.
"Sure…" Hajime went from suspicious, to almost certain that Ivan had been slacking off when responding to his urgent message. Kaori just smiled at the interaction between the two, keeping the remark in her head that she had zero ideas Hajime even had a close friend.
"Anyways, if you'll let me finish my statement. My group and I went through the city and searched for any of these irregularities that you described in your letter. So far we've confirmed a few things regarding the 'depression' the knights have been displaying—" Ivan paused to make sure everyone was caught up, or it was more honest of him to say that he loved these dramatic pauses
"Well? Go on!" Hajime on the other hand was getting anxious. For days he searched for a reason as to why things were getting odd in the kingdom and yet his research yielded no results. Eventually, he just came to the conclusion that everyone affected by the 'devouring' was under some sort of brainwashing likely incited using an artifact.
"We captured one of the affected and researched his condition. Eventually, we came to this conclusion, all of those affected by the ailment are already dead." Ivan finished off his sentence without sending a glance toward Hajime's way.
Shock and horror covered Hajime and Kaori's faces. They leaned on each other just to support themselves from the shock that threatened to take them off their feet. After a few minutes, and laborious breathing, they stood up straight with cold sweat dripping from their chins.
"Their bodies are cold, hearts without pumps. The lifelessness of their eyes is truly because they're lifeless. Each one of them is just a walking corpse guided by magic. The caster must be very skilled to operate numerous corpses to behave somewhat human-like. Some of which are even capable of basic speech. I suspect the caster perfected the magic to the point where they can allow their minions to operate by themselves."
It was one shock after another for the two. They immediately came to the same conclusion that he was insinuating. A caster with enough talent and whose profession was controlling the dead, there could only be one person that fit the criteria.
"Nakamura…" Hajime muttered aloud pensively. This time Ivan looked at him unabashed. He was here to completely diverge the information without restraint. What Hajime chose to do with it afterward didn't matter to him.
"Umu, while there is the possibility it's the work of numerous necromancers, we can't mark her off the list. I can't think of anyone else who could just go around catching knights off guard and killing them without alerting anyone."
"T-That can't be… Eri is such a sweet girl… She'd never harm a fly!" Kaori was the only one who couldn't accept the conclusion of his investigation.
"It's the perfect cover. Who would expect the book-loving meek girl of the class who always stood by her best friend's side would be the culprit in the murder of over a hundred people? Certainly not me, at least not up until I heard all this." Hajime after minutes of thinking it out decided that Ivan's assumption made the most sense compared to his own.
"Mhm, while I'm quite confident in my investigation, the character of which I know Nakamura Eri is quite shallow. My encounters with her number less than five. This is why I'm hoping your insights on her would prove to serve as a conclusion for my findings. But if it's as you say then my certainty that she is the suspect is ninety-nine percent."
In a time like this, Ivan wished he had a cool pipe and investigators cap at hand. It'd truly serve as a great influence on the detective aura he was trying to serve out currently.
"S-So what do we do now…?" Kaori voiced her concern as Hajime turned to look at her. Unlike him, she and Eri were friends. She'd be useful in convincing the class not to trust Eri, as many would hear her out rather than him. Luckily it seemed that she was convinced, that if Hajime was going to believe it then she felt it mandatory that she followed him with her faith. That was the path she decided upon when proclaiming to protect him long ago.
The only problem was where to go from here. They could just rush her and catch her off guard but she was never alone. As she accompanied Kouki at all times, she was likely using him as protection as he would most certainly be the first person to not ask questions and rush to her aid. Even if they somehow managed to catch Kouki alone, he'd never believe that a classmate would betray them and be capable of all that slaughter.
"Just to let you guys know ahead of time, my group and I believe we know where Aiko is located. The mountain looming over the kingdom, the home of the Holy Church, is also known as one of the great labyrinths. Just like Orcus… We will be raiding its peak as that's where we believe her to be held. You said the pope was making excuses for her disappearance, well then let's go to his home and beat the shit out of him till he gives us the truth!"
Ivan's sudden vigor from the calm and collected detective caught the two off guard.
"We'll probably come to help you out after we're done up there but I can't make any promises. Who knows what kind of crazy things they're hiding up there that could cause havoc." Ivan snapped his fingers as the armor that vanished reappeared in a flash.
"H-Huh, you're going already?" Hajime wanted to talk with Ivan a little longer about their findings. And together he hoped to formulate a plan that would aid in taking down both the holy church and Eri with a minimal amount of casualties.
"Of course, the best time to raid a fortress is nightfall~! With that being said, have fun you two! Who knows when will be our last days on this godless earth so why not go all out and release yourselves~!"
With that he vanished from the room, leaving behind two blushing teens who only looked at each other demurely.
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Fitting title huh~! I finished writing super early today! Thank god too, I'm this close to finishing Elden Ring. I wanna finish it real soon so I could dedicate time to researching for the next work I'll be drafting up after. On my twitter I already dropped a few hints so stay tuned I suppose~ Though it may take longer than anticipated as there's a huge sale on some games I'm interested in...
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