Chapitre 27: The Feeling of Futility
"Rem, Rem, Rem actually..."
At this moment, in Roswaal's mansion, Ram clenched her fists as she gazed at the scene in the sky, her body trembling uncontrollably. An eerie strong wind suddenly blew around her, like countless invisible sharp knives piercing through the air.
"It must be the one named Ayanokouji Kiyotaka! It has to be him! I will never let Rem be in danger, I will kill him!"
Ram's eyes sharpened, and her originally gentle and cute face was now filled with murderous intent.
"Calm down, Ram."
And right next to Ram, Roswaal spoke while gently tapping his fingers on the edge of the teacup.
"Sorry, I lost my patience."
Upon hearing Roswaal's voice, Ram immediately bowed and apologized.
"The killer is not Ayanokouji. Didn't you see what happened earlier? Ayanokouji Kiyotaka didn't do anything."
"But he is the most suspicious... So who is the killer?"
Ram's eyes were filled with doubt.
"I don't know, but maybe Ayanokouji can find the answer~"
Roswaal said, slightly raising the corners of his mouth, revealing a meaningful smile.
❰❱SKY SCREEN❰❱
Ayanokouji looked at the angry Ram in front of him, feeling a bit puzzled.
For him, there was no reason for such anger and sadness. No matter how agitated Ram was, it was impossible to bring back the dead.
The entire room was filled with an aura of sadness. Emilia bowed her head, suppressing the sorrow in her heart. Beatrice also stood silently nearby, her eyes fixed on Rem's body.
Even Felt and Rom, who had just arrived at the mansion, felt extremely uncomfortable thinking that the people they had been with day and night for the past few days had fallen into the hands of a killer.
But only Ayanokouji looked at the scene in front of him without any disturbance in his heart.
For him, Rem's death did not impact him at this moment, except for a certain tool that had not yet been used was now broken.
Although he speculated that he might have some ability to be reborn after death, if he used this ability, he might be able to save Rem. But he did not consider whether this ability was reliable or how many times it could be used. Ayanokouji did not know the resurrection period, so he would never regard Return by Death as his way to solve problems.
And for him, Rem currently had no value that needed to be preserved. If she died, she died, which was equivalent to losing a useless tool.
"It's all because of you! It's because of you! Rem is like this!"
Ram turned and roared at Ayanokouji, her eyes filled with anger.
"No, no, we didn't do anything! Some of us were in the mansion all day yesterday! Ram, you can prove it!"
Felt quickly defended herself, her face full of anxiety.
"Sorry, although I know you are heartbroken by your sister's death, your current anger is unreasonable because Rem's death has nothing to do with me."
Facing Ram's anger, Ayanokouji remained very calm.
"No, it's you! Rem went to the village with you yesterday, and then this happened at night!"
Ram roared, her originally cute face distorted by emotion, her eyes fixed on Ayanokouji, trying to catch any emotional turmoil on his face, whether fear or panic. At least she wanted to find some clue on his face.
But his face never showed any expression, and it was impossible to see his inner thoughts.
As if Rem's death meant nothing to him, this feeling made Ram hate him even more.
"No matter how hard you cry, it is meaningless and you can't save Rem." Ayanokouji said lightly.
And judging from Ram's reaction, although she seemed to have some sort of remote surveillance ability, she apparently could not use it all the time. Otherwise, the other party should know that he did nothing, but this also told Ayanokouji that Ram could not always watch him.
"Ayanokouji..."
Emilia beside him tugged at Ayanokouji's sleeve. Although she trusted him a lot, after all, Ayanokouji was now a suspect, and he was at the critical moment of Rem's death. So she wanted him to pay a little attention now and not add fuel to the fire, making the situation chaotic.
But Ayanokouji didn't think so. Although what he did might arouse Ram's anger, the top priority now was to find out the cause of Rem's death to see if it was the work of a murderous organization. Most likely, the other party would still attack again, so it was necessary to identify the killer's identity and methods.
The so-called feelings were useless at this stage, except for getting in the way.
"Lia, Ayanokouji is right." Puck said from the side.
Before Ram could roar, Ayanokouji continued speaking slowly, "With sadness and the ability to point fingers at others without evidence, it is better to investigate the cause of Rem's death now and get information from it."
"Although what he said sounds unpleasant, what Ayanokouji-sama said is not wrong." Roswaal, who had been standing quietly beside him, finally spoke. "Rem has been confirmed dead. The cause of death is due to exhaustion, like falling asleep, and the fire of life extinguishing."
Roswaal's strange accent made him speak as if he was performing an opera.
"It is more like a curse than magic."
As Roswaal spoke, he turned his gaze to Ayanokouji, and his eyes became meaningful. "Ayanokouji-sama, do you know any clues?"
"Sorry, I haven't received enough information yet." Ayanokouji said slowly. "What exactly is a curse?"
"A mage will first place a curse on someone's body, and when the time is up, it will take their life." Beatrice, who rarely spoke proactively, explained. "Ignoring the distance, once the curse is activated, it is unavoidable."
"What is the prerequisite for casting a curse?" Ayanokouji continued to ask.
The ability to trigger and kill was rather strong, which also meant it must have limitations and conditions for use.
"The necessary condition for a curse is that the caster must make physical contact with the target person." Beatrice explained. "Only after contact can the curse be placed on the target."
"Is physical contact necessary?" Ayanokouji slightly squinted his eyes and looked at everyone. All those present should have had contact with Rem yesterday, but they also did not have this ability, or had no reason to do anything. "Does casting a curse require using one's own magic power?"
"Although it is slightly different from magic, casting a curse also requires magic power, but the amount needed is very small."
"Then I can clear that suspicion." Ayanokouji turned to Ram and explained. "Puck can prove that I cannot accurately control magic power, and it is certainly impossible to cast a curse."
"I can prove this!" Puck floated in the air, raising one of his paws.
Ram looked at him. Even after hearing Puck's words, there was not a hint of trust in her eyes when she looked at him.
"No, even if you are not the killer, you must know some clues, you must know!"
Ram's eyes were full of despair, and tears filled with sorrow continued to flow, running down her white cheeks and falling to the ground.
"There is no reason for your suspicion and speculation." Ayanokouji ignored the other's emotions but continued to ask, "Where is Elsa? Is there anything unusual?"
"We checked and found that Elsa did not escape from the basement. She was trapped very tightly. The traps around her were not triggered, which also proves that she did not leave the place." Emilia added.
"That was just external personnel." Ayanokouji nodded.
"Ayanokouji-sama, in any case, Rem is my beloved maid. If you know something, please tell us immediately." Roswaal said, and Emilia also seemed to be pleading for the wisdom and methods Ayanokouji had shown when he was in the royal capital. If it was him, he might be able to find out why Rem was cursed.
"Since Rem was cursed, according to the necessary conditions for the curse, the mage must have made contact with Rem at some point." Ayanokouji turned and looked at Beatrice. "Can you see where that contact was?"
"Before the curse is activated, Betty can see it, but if the curse has already been activated, then Betty can't do anything." Beatrice shook her head.
"Really, that's a shame." Ayanokouji looked at Rem's body and continued to analyze. "Yesterday, Rem's movement route was from the mansion to the village, then back from the village. During the round trip, Rem and I had no contact. If we exclude the people in the mansion, then the only time the mage could act was in the village."
While Ayanokouji was analyzing, he was also thinking about something else. He and Rem went to the village at the same time, but why was Rem attacked while he was unharmed?
And could this mage be a member of the assassination organization? If so, why attack Rem? Shouldn't the organization's target be Emilia?
Ayanokouji reached out and gently rubbed his chin. The first thing to consider now was to find out who Rem's killer was.
"In the village?"
After hearing his words, Ram couldn't help but take a step forward, tears still streaming down her cheeks.
"Our top priority now is to find the killer in the village as soon as possible. However, since the curse has no distance limitation, it means the other party might have already left the village, but we still need to go to the village to gather information about them. This way, we can address any potential future threats." Ayanokouji said slowly.
"Please, help Ram, help Ram find the killer!" Ram grabbed Ayanokouji's sleeve and pleaded in a desperate tone. After hearing his analysis, Ram's suspicion of him lessened, and now she felt that only the person in front of her could help her find Rem's killer, and her attitude was very different.
"Since I am now supporting Emilia, Rem is also on my side. Of course, I will not stand idly by if something happens to her." Ayanokouji said while looking down and seeing Ram's tears continuously falling and wetting his sleeve.
But in reality, this was not his true reason. The only reason he chose to take the initiative was that the other party had obstructed his actions and needed to be eliminated.
He had no desire to avenge Rem. He believed that whatever he did, the dead would not be resurrected.
He chose to help Ram find the killer only because Ayanokouji believed that failing to find and eliminate the enemy would threaten his own safety.
If the other party was indeed an assassination organization, although they targeted Rem this time, they might still target Emilia. For Ayanokouji, both Ram and Rem were replaceable. But Emilia was valuable, and Ayanokouji would not let anyone destroy her easily.
Moreover, this murder incident would impact the unity of Emilia's faction. He could also use this event to unite Roswaal's personnel. If he could find the killer, he could further gain the trust of others in Roswaal's faction.
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