Ch.219014 Investigation Record – Enemy, Slanderer, and Adversary (4)

Though my stomach felt a bit uncomfortable from the pressure, it didn’t feel that bad for having eaten fruit from the tree of life handed over by a lying serpent. After all, this demon had once been human too.

I had finished enough of the interview to write an article. I was able to clearly find out how that demon thought about people, what he thought about the God-President… and what kind of vision he had.

No matter which ideology one follows, the world will never become a utopia. The humanistic demon was elitist, and the God-President who could dream of perfection was bound by his own words.

It was frustrating. It would have been nice if we could choose the right option and everything would be perfect. Unfortunately, there were no right choices in the world, and perfection was always singular.

So I won’t stop people who want to move forward in their own direction. I remember what I said when my head was full of flowerbeds. Didn’t I say I wanted to be people’s eyes?

Unfortunately, the world was a place where hands moved even when eyes were afraid. I used to despair at that fact, but not anymore. I’ve become more stubborn now. Still, I shouldn’t close my eyes.

If I had another drink, I might get drunk, but my throat felt like it was closing up, so I drank water for the next glass. At least the water probably didn’t cost two hundred dollars a bottle.

When did I become so concerned about money? Once… when I met the Cowboy, I didn’t even mind spending three hundred dollars for his funeral.

I spoke to the demon with many infamous titles, who seemed more comfortable now. It’s not right to share your worries with a demon.

“It’s too much to experience at twenty years old. Confronting my father was already a once-in-a-lifetime event, and honestly, just meeting you here is enough excitement for a whole year.”

The demon was treating me more comfortably now. The reason was simple. The image I showed met his standards. Crossing the threshold had somehow become not so difficult.

“It’s the era of young people, isn’t it? After the Great War, everything the old people knew became useless. All the colors in our palette faded instantly, like summer rain pouring down and suddenly turning to autumn. The wind died, and only wishes remained.”

He looked like a young angel full of vitality, but he actually wasn’t. It was something I knew well enough without needing explanation. I sighed once at his words.

“Still, those older people probably didn’t experience these things at twenty. You can’t just dismiss it as times changing, can you?”

He nodded as if asking for understanding. It seemed like he was originally going to say something like that, but he told me something a bit different.

“Then how much better a person will you be when you’re as old as those old people? In the end, they’re just temptations in the wilderness, and Miss Rose, you’re handling the temptations well.”

He didn’t speak as if he had any particular basis or was making some grand prediction. It was closer to a generalized encouragement that someday I would be rewarded for spending such a busy twenties.

Still, he wasn’t saying it expecting anything more. The purpose of living so busily was something I would find myself, and all I wanted was a word or two of encouragement.

It was a nice thing to say, so I accepted it humbly. Showing humility to an arrogant demon was enjoyable in its own way.

“No matter how much better a person I become, I’ll probably make the same mistakes as people from the past. I’d rather focus on my weaknesses than my strengths.”

At my words, he took a sip of his golden liquor as if savoring it and grinned. The expression full of devotion, hatred, affection, and betrayal toward the God-President was now hard to find.

“Miss Rose, you’re like the bullet head. A bullet head cannot fly alone. The gunpowder behind it must burn itself, and it must be attached to the right casing and loaded into the right gun to be fired. Still, when all those efforts come together, it can pierce through most things unless they’re angels. You seem just like that.”

A person who can only accomplish something with the efforts of others. It was different from the impressive person he had been seeing me as until now, but it wasn’t a bad perspective.

It was something I somewhat agreed with. Paulina tried to protect me by taking on problems she couldn’t solve herself. I always needed someone around me. I couldn’t do anything alone.

I always thought that I might have gotten this far simply by having excessive luck that didn’t match my capabilities. A shadow of luck always followed closely behind me.

If Paulina hadn’t figured out the detective and used her wit, I would have died at the Divine State Hotel. If I had arrived fifteen minutes later at the detective’s office, I would have been killed by Giuseppina.

If Willem hadn’t been on that train, I might have been harmed or killed by the Followers of the Forest’s Firstborn. In the end, everything was possible because of everyone’s efforts.

Was it just effort? Leonard… Sarah said it was bad luck, but maybe it was my fault. The betraying officer who interfered with his life was probably trying to catch me.

The more I think about it, the more self-deprecating I become. I can now somewhat empathize with Michael’s feelings, even if just a tiny fragment, about how something doesn’t disappear no matter how hard you try to forget it.

Still, I won’t show it. Even His Majesty the Emperor of San Francisco, who had to endure the pain of losing everyone who believed in him while he lived on with the immortality given by the God-President, never showed it outwardly. Yet he willingly opened up to those who opened their hearts to him. That’s what I should do.

I borrowed the words of many people, and I borrowed the faces of many people. This time, I decided to borrow His Majesty the Emperor’s.

I also recall what was said then. The God-President created sorrow, but people did not drown in it. Today will be the same.

“I sometimes wonder if it was worth it for just one rookie reporter with a head full of flowers… but I’m trying to live a life that makes it worth it. That’s how you repay, isn’t it?”

The demon laughed again. He laughed as if all my words were very amusing. He told me something I already knew.

“It’s not easy to meet someone who knows humility and gratitude. Especially for practical species like us. It’s like this, isn’t it? If you don’t reveal yourself, no one will recognize you, and if you’re blinded by gratitude, you’ll get stabbed in the back in this era. Still, it’s not bad sometimes.”

“That’s enough for me! A person who’s not bad sometimes. The scoop-catching machine of Golden Age Press… It’s nice to be recognized. Ah, shall we get going soon? I think I’ve finished my coverage for today.”

He emptied his glass, and with that, the golden liquor we had ordered came to an end. We had exchanged all the words we wanted to say to each other, including unexpected ones. He took out a business card from his pocket and handed it to me.

So he really does use that name. Below the familiar name, his title really did say “enemy, slanderer, and adversary.” I smiled a little, then discovered a second piece of paper.

Something was hidden beneath the business card. It was a small piece of paper that looked just like an invitation to a bar, except it was golden. On the paper embossed with gold leaf was a drawing of a huge palace.

“This is an invitation to Bar Dis in Hell’s Kitchen. It’s a place our Antipope Party members frequent, so I thought we could chat occasionally. You’ll accept that much goodwill, won’t you?”

Someone wanting to drink with you is one of the pleasant forms of recognition. Since he had heard that I liked being recognized, he gladly gave it to me, so I smiled brightly at him.

“Of course! Ah, haha, though I’m not sure if I can afford the drinks. They’re all so expensive.”

The red dragon caught the tail of my words. His expression was still friendly, but his voice was full of seduction and enticement.

“That’s true. And when you send it to the underground and let thugs manage the alcohol, and entrust distribution to secret bars that require things like this to enter, it becomes as uncontrollable as Sodom and Gomorrah. I’d like you to know that our Antipope Party is also leading the movement to repeal Prohibition.”

He was very skilled at figuring out what I liked and using it to tempt me. If we hadn’t talked for long, I might have been moved once, so I giggled.

“I’ll visit and decide after seeing it. I’ve already been fooled by just listening, haven’t I? By the way, if it’s a bar for demons…”

I had seen a place called Pandemonium before, but it was a brothel. I recalled entering the red-light district for investigation.

As I trailed off while getting up with him, he put his hat back on and sighed. He even let out a small laugh as if in disbelief and said:

“That’s right. Pandemonium would be fitting. But one of our compatriots gave that name to a brothel run by humans and our half-breeds. Taking back the name of a brothel wouldn’t save the demons’ face… We really tried to come up with a new name while pretending not to care.”

So Pandemonium was indeed that Pandemonium. Somehow seeing this human side of him made me keep smiling. I took the Eden elevator down to the ground floor with him.

There had been only one car when I arrived, but when we went outside, two cars were waiting. The tempting serpent raised his hand and snapped his fingers twice, and the door of the car he hadn’t arrived in opened, and a demon got out.

This one was a more ordinary demon. A woman with red skin, wavy black hair, and two long horns protruding from her forehead, dressed in a suit, walked out and opened the door for me.

The deceiver spoke to her in a much more imperious tone than when he spoke to me. Clear hierarchy was a virtue among demons, but not when talking to reporters.

“This is my guest, so escort her properly. Don’t forget to make sure she gets home safely before returning. Understood?”

The woman nodded cleanly. The motion was quite demonic, as if she had sharpened edges and followed a manual on the proper angle for nodding.

“I will do so, Party Leader. Shall we go, Miss Reporter? Just tell me your address, and I’ll take you home.”

Perhaps he only showed me the attitude I liked when talking to me. Or maybe… what I saw was his true self.

After getting into the car, I watched as we quietly headed home. The streets weren’t showing any special light today either. Today is like any other day. The sparkle felt when passing through the theater district made me feel somewhat lonely.

The busier the day, the colder it seemed when I got home. Nothing special happened, but I wondered if I should call someone. Michael probably went to a bar? He was the first person who came to mind.

Somehow I felt sorry toward Paulina, but some things can’t be helped. If Michael didn’t answer the phone, I could talk with Paulina for a long time.

When we arrived in front of the cheap apartment, I tried to open the door and get out, but as soon as the car stopped, the demon got out and opened the door for me. It’s been a while since I received such treatment.

She spoke quite kindly. She was shorter than Paulina but somehow resembled her. Maybe they were similar in that they were both protecting me on orders from someone high up.

“Let’s go in. I’ll watch until you’re inside before leaving. I don’t want to disobey the Party Leader’s words by trying to leave early.”

Even the way she talks is like Paulina. I giggled a little, bowed my head in greeting, and entered the apartment. I headed to my home, my very empty and cold home.

The Followers of the Forest’s Firstborn seemed to have tired as well, as there weren’t many threatening letters in my mailbox. But my family still seemed to want me to return home.

I probably won’t go back to that house. If I changed my last name completely, my family would give up entirely, but I hadn’t thought of a name yet. I had no idea what name would suit me.

I return home. Without even changing my clothes, I threw myself on the sofa and dialed the number of Husband Detective Agency, which I had almost memorized by now. The connection tone rang twice, three times… and the call connected.

The elf’s sensitive hearing picks up the sound. I hear the sound of metal objects being moved aside, and soon the voice I was waiting for came through.

“Husband Detective Agency. Who is this?”

Feeling my ear tips twitch, I spoke. He wasn’t someone who liked phone calls for casual conversation, but today I decided to be a bit shameless.

“You haven’t forgotten my voice, have you?”

He sighed once and answered briefly. His voice had a somewhat different atmosphere. It wasn’t as dry as usual to the point of being muffled. Just, somehow… yes, it was ordinary.

“It’s been a while. Is this the first time we’ve talked since meeting at the hospital?”

I giggled a little. Somehow I felt laughter escaping.

“You’ve been keeping your mouth shut even though I think I know what you did. Ah, Michael, are you interested in politics? I just met with people from the Antipope Party today…”

“It’s just a social gathering where rich demon bastards meet to spout delusional nonsense about overthrowing the God-President. Nothing more, nothing less, so I’m not interested.”

The response was colder than I expected. I thought for a moment that he might get along with them, but he often mocked people who shared his dislikes as much as he mocked the things he disliked.

We continued to chat about various things. It was somewhat strange how flat his voice sounded. I might not be able to recognize him hidden in a crowd anymore. That’s a good thing for him.

If it had been a client’s call, he would have quietly focused on the conversation, but after realizing it was my call, I only heard the sound of him organizing metal parts. Knowing him, he was probably checking his gun.

“It sounds like you’re checking your gun… Um, can I visit sometime? I still carry around that elf pistol you gave me, but I have no idea how to maintain it.”

I casually threw out a comment. I had no particular intention. The only people around me who knew guns well were Willem and him, and he was the one who used the same automatic pistol. That’s all. Probably. Hmm… I decided to believe that.

He answered without any particular intention as well. Or at least he answered as if he had no particular intention. I decided not to determine which it was.

“That detective gentleman is probably closer to being a gun enthusiast than I am… but if you don’t mind. If it’s when I’m not working, I don’t mind.”