episode_0099

“Stay still. If you don’t want to get hurt.”

“… … .”

​

Cliff, a second-class agent of the Imperial Federation Intelligence Service, cautiously approached the man lying before him.

​

As a Federal Intelligence Service agent, he had undergone rigorous training, so there was no wavering in his gun. Cliff got close enough to kick the pistol the man had been using away, then reached into his bosom and pulled out a pair of handcuffs.

​

The man in the mechanic’s uniform, lying on the ground with a gunshot wound to his leg, offered no resistance as Cliff handcuffed him. Cliff tightened the handcuffs and said,

​

“Oh my…. What unit were you in? Your shooting skills were no ordinary skill.”

“… … .”

“… Tsk.”

​

The man made no reply. His brows occasionally furrowed in pain from the gunshot wound, but his mouth never opened. Cliff clicked his tongue and helped the man up.

​

“Your colleagues have all been subdued, so don’t think about useless things. We don’t want to see blood either.”

​

The man still didn’t answer. Cliff didn’t really expect an answer either, so it seemed more like he was just asking questions.

​

“By the way, why did you do something like this? If you were going to get caught so quickly… .”

​

When I think about it, it’s strange. Despite their excellent marksmanship and skillful improvisation, they didn’t occupy or fortify the main building of the academy, and when they shot at the agents, they avoided the vital points.

​

They were caught too easily to be simply dismissed as terrorists. At Cliff’s question, the man walking around in handcuffs licked his lips.

​

“… Because.”

“Yes?”

“That wasn’t our purpose.”

​

What does this mean?

​

Cliff looked at the man he was supporting. There was no change in expression on his face as he looked back.

​

“We have already achieved our goal, and from that moment on, there is no reason for us to fight.”

“… … .”

“That’s it.”

​

The man fell silent again. Cliff, too, did not ask any more questions about their purpose.

​

As long as the man’s answer was outside the realm of purely personal curiosity, it was no longer Cliff’s business. Cliff continued walking.

​

Just like Cliff, the agents who had brought the captured mechanics came out of the main building one after another. Cliff glanced at the car stopped in front of him as he handed the captured man over to the other agents.

​

‘That person….’

​

A tall man standing in a neat suit, holding an umbrella in his hand.

​

‘The name is… Karmendorff, I think?’

​

Karmendorf, who was standing blankly in front of the vehicle carrying Duke Adelheid and Chief Kerbane, was staring blankly at the roof of the main building as if he was contemplating something. Cliff looked at him with strange eyes.

​

After a while, Karmendorff turned around again and went back to the trunk of his car, where he quickly took something out.

​

He had already taken out two umbrellas, so what else would he take out? Cliff absentmindedly took out a cigarette and looked at Carmendorff.

​

– Thud!

​

The trunk closed with a noise, and what Karmendorf was holding in his raised hands was….

​

“That’s….”

​

A silhouette so clear that it could be recognized from afar. Cliff tilted his head without realizing it when he saw it.

​

It was understandable that he would bring an umbrella. The sky was swaying as if it would rain at any moment. It would probably rain soon. Cliff was also about to bring an umbrella.

​

But, there was another thing he put in his bosom as soon as he took it out of the trunk. That was….

​

“…Why are you carrying a gun?”

​

It was clearly a pistol.

​

Cliff, who was watching Carmendorf walk towards the main building, soon shrugged his shoulders and put a cigarette in his mouth.

​

‘I guess it’s for self-defense.’

​

As long as there are guys out there who commit bombings in the system, it wouldn’t be strange if they carried a pistol or something.

​

Cliff thought so.

​

​

* * * * *

​

​

I thought about it every day.

​

If I hadn’t done that. If I hadn’t made that choice.

​

If I could have saved Helena. If I hadn’t left Helena at the battalion command post. If I had stayed with her and protected her…

​

So, if only I had been a little more useful.

​

As I thought about it over and over again, the puddle of regret dug deeper and made my heart feel cramped. The stinging wounds had not healed, and the blood flowing from them was extremely cold.

​

Being enveloped in that cold air, being covered in that blood… .

​

That’s how I’ve lived. Who can heal my wounds?

​

It was a premise just for me that would provide a fundamental solution to my already ruined life. It was the key that would allow me to finally pursue my own life.

​

I pretend to be the captain of a sinking ship, with all escape hatches under control. I am, so… .

​

– Beep beep—.

​

So, what I want to say is… .

​

“… what the heck.”

​

The tinnitus that had been ringing in my ears stopped, and in my ears, free from distortion, a cruel aria created by reality rang out.

​

The pungent smell of gunpowder. The origin of hot hatred cooling down in the cold raindrops, emitting faint smoke.

​

And the root of the hatred that arose from there… .

​

“… Huh.”

​

Blood was flowing from Caesar’s ear. No, it would be more accurate to say the area where his ear had been attached.

​

There was a hole… no, it was Caesar’s left ear that looked like it had been ripped off and covered in blood. Cold blood was flowing out of it.

​

Not the wounds that occur inside me, but the wounds that are reborn into reality.

​

“Ugh, ugh… !”

​

Cesar was enduring the pain. With one hand holding Laura’s nape and the other holding a pistol, Cesar had no time to leisurely stop the bleeding.

​

I slowly turned my head towards the muzzle of the gun, which was leaking the scent of gunpowder.

​

“… … .”

​

There, a man with eyes as big as lanterns.

​

The man who was Maximilian von Adelheid’s former adjutant and is now more like a secretary, Karmendorff.

​

With a pistol in his hand, of which he had acquired it at some point, he aimed it at Cesar.

​

“… Uh, how.”

​

In an instant, my vision began to spin. I felt my blood rushing to my head.

​

At the same time, a loud voice pierced through the suffocating silence.

​

“Carmendorff—!!”

​

It was Duke Adelheid. He approached with brisk steps, his face flushed red.

​

– Crack!

​

Within seconds, he struck Karmendorff hard in the face with the pistol in his hand.

​

“Now… . What are you doing now!”

“… Your Majesty. The author must be killed immediately. Are you going to listen to such a fool? The young lady is in danger!”

“Can’t you see that gun pointed at Laura’s head? Are you crazy?! What have you done!!”

“I, so… . That is… .”

​

Karmendorff stammered as he spoke. I still felt like I was walking in a dream.

​

“, Your Majesty! Anyway, we must kill the author! Right now… .”

“Put the gun down! Right now!”

​

I looked at Cesar. Cesar, with blood pouring out of his ears, was looking at me with an expression that seemed to be both pain and pleasure. Veins stood out on the nape of his neck and the back of his hands.

​

“Carmendorff! Put your gun down right now and get back in the car!”

“That can’t be… .”

“This is an order! You idiot!!”

​

Duke Adelheid, who was furious, and Carmendorf, who was still looking at Cesar with a blank expression.

​

The pistol in his hand was pointed at the floor, but it looked like he could aim it at Cesar at any time if he raised his arm.

​

And, from that pistol, there was faint smoke. Evidence that seemed to tell me that a bullet had just been fired, clearly appeared before my eyes… .

​

“… Ah.”

​

My vision became blurry. I silently accepted that my instincts were taking control of my body.

​

“… Ah! Stop it!”

“What the hell!”

“Professor! Professor Lucio!”

​

When I came to, I had already grabbed Karmendorff by the collar and pushed him to the rooftop door.

​

So, looking at Carmendorf’s bloodshot lips, moving his tightly clenched fists, and even throwing away the pistol that was aimed at Cesar, like that.

​

“Hey you son of a bitch—!!”

​

I was floundering in an extremely cruel reality.

​

​

* * * * *

​

​

Cesar tilted his head and placed his bleeding ear on her shoulder. Warmth seeped into his shoulder, while a tingling sensation tickled his ear.

​

“Kuh… .”

​

Even so, the gun in Cesar’s hand was aimed at Laura without wavering. That didn’t mean Cesar didn’t feel pain.

​

It hurts. It’s painful. He wasn’t a man without pain, nor was he a lunatic who couldn’t even feel pain.

​

So, it was natural that his ear, which was wounded and bleeding, would hurt.

​

“Professor Antonelli! Seriously… !”

“Professor Lucio!”

​

However, he could only laugh as he watched the comedy unfold before his eyes. The corners of Cesar’s mouth slightly went up.

​

Karmendorff, who was being forcefully pushed against the closed rooftop door and whose face was being beaten mercilessly with a blank expression, and Professor Antonelli, who was beating Karmendorff to pieces. And the people around him who were trying to stop him.

​

“Khuhhh… . Heh heh… .”

​

I couldn’t help but laugh. How could it be this funny?

​

Cesar didn’t know why Karmendorff suddenly shot him. Maybe he had gone mad after seeing Laura being held hostage.

​

“You…. Do you find that funny?”

​

Laura asked Cesar with a trembling voice. Cesar looked down at Laura blankly, then burst into laughter.

​

“Do I think I’m laughing because I’m having fun?”

“Then… .”

“It’s so pitiful that I laugh.”

​

Caesar couldn’t stand the ugliness and misery of his own appearance and that of everyone else here.

​

While the fight between Carmendorff and Professor Antonelli died down, Cesar waited patiently, bleeding. It wasn’t long before Professor Antonelli stopped punching.

​

“… ha.”

​

And then, Cesar wiped the smile from his face. His eyes turned to Carmendorff.

​

The expression on Carmendorff’s face as he looks at Cesar. The emotion in his expression is… .

​

‘Surprising?’

​

Surprise, bewilderment, impatience, etc. The emotions that appeared on Carmendorff’s face were all of that kind. Cesar’s face darkened when he noticed it.

​

If you were nervous about seeing Laura with a gun pointed at her head, of course it would be understandable. Anyone would feel impatient if they saw their master’s daughter kneeling like this.

​

But the problem was that those feelings weren’t directed at Laura. Karmendorff’s eyes were focused solely on Cesar.

​

Finally, Karmendorff, who had barely escaped the clutches of the real Professor Antonelli, looked at Cesar with a bewildered expression and shouted.

​

“You…! How on earth are you still alive!”

​

It was a shout loud enough to make Caesar’s gun wobble slightly.

​

​

​