episode_0151

Chapter 6 Episode 7 – Little Ruler

puck-. puck-. puck-.

A boy is squatting on the street and hitting a rock.

Out of curiosity, young Ariel approached the boy and asked:

“Is that fun?”

The boy glanced at Ariel, then struck the stone again without saying a word.

I flinch.

The little cat that was shaking on the boy’s stone soon passed away.

However, the boy got up after hitting him several more times.

“Isn’t this cat the one you used to feed? Why did you kill him?”

“……”

The boy passed by Ariel without any answer. Although she felt bad, Ariel didn’t seem to feel that way at all, and instead smiled as if she was happy.

The boy arrived home.

Inside the house, sounds of something breaking and fighting could still be heard.

The boy sat down in front of the front door.

I didn’t want to go home. If you go in now, all the blame will be on you.

But regardless of the boy’s feelings, the front door opened of its own accord, and a grumpy middle-aged man stuck his head out.

“What are you doing when you don’t come in?”

“……”

The middle-aged man was the boy’s father.

However, the way he looked at the boy was not as a beloved son, but as an annoying troublemaker.

The boy was led into the house by his father.

“You, hand… . Did you do that again?”

The father, who roughly grabbed the boy’s hand, found out what the boy had been doing through the blood, dust, and animal fur.

Tub–.

My father picked up the umbrella left on the porch.

The beatings in the name of discipline began.

“Me! Do that! summer solstice! Don’t tell me! how many times! I told you!”

The boy curled up and covered his head with his arms.

This is because I know that in times like this, it is safer to just respond without making any moves.

“Fuck, you take after Aemi!”

“What! Are you done talking now!? Anyone can see that it’s your fault, but now you’re blaming me!?”

The boy’s mother lost her temper after not even pretending to hear her son being beaten, but hearing him blaming her.

Soon, the couple started fighting again, and the boy, shaking, hid in a corner.

“……”

The boy sat blankly on the riverbank and watched the flowing water.

Fish swimming in the river and birds occasionally flying in to drink water.

Everyone was free to do what they wanted to do.

Fish eat bugs.

A leaky fish.

Cats are birds.

All living creatures killed those weaker than themselves, and no one said anything about it.

But why can’t he kill himself?

The boy couldn’t understand.

“What are you doing?”

A beady voice came from behind the boy.

Ariel spoke to the boy again.

“……”

The boy made no reply this time either.

All I did was pick up a rock and throw it at the fish.

Ariel sat next to the boy.

Then, I watched a rock falling into the river.

I tried throwing for a while, but the fish were quick to avoid the boy’s rock.

Ariel asked.

“Do you want to hit the fish?”

“……”

The boy nodded silently.

“Hehehe. Then I’ll show you something fun.”

Ariel smiled at the thought of finally having a conversation and raised her hand towards the fish.

At this, the fish began to tremble as a group, and when it calmed down, they gathered at the boy’s feet.

“Now you just have to guess. I won’t avoid it.”

The boy threw a rock.

puck-.

A perfect hit on the head of a fish.

As Ariel said, the fish did not avoid the rocks at all.

“……”

The boy looked at Ariel with surprised eyes.

Ariel asked with her signature relaxed smile.

“What is your name?”

The boy hesitated before answering.

“…Gordon.”

From then on, Ariel and Gordon hung out whenever they had time.

Ariel, who had just awakened her gift, was practicing controlling small animals, and Gordon personally killed the animals that Ariel had controlled.

“I think the best rule is to make one accept death. Just like people, animals don’t want to die either. But if you can make them die, wouldn’t that really be the best rule?”

“…I’m not sure.”

Gordan couldn’t understand most of what Ariel said.

All I had to do was interact with the animals Ariel brought and kill them repeatedly.

Because he was a Gordon who was always beaten and denied his existence when he returned home.

The time he spent with Ariel, who accepted him instead of treating him like a monster, was an invaluable time for Gordon.

While we were spending time together, one day.

Ariel said to Gordon.

“Now I’m starting to want to experiment on people too. I’m not sure, but I think it’s possible now.”

“…To a person?”

“Yes. In that sense, isn’t there anyone you want to kill Gordon?”

Ariel asks with a bright expression.

Any normal person would have looked at Ariel and said she was crazy, but Gordon was not normal.

“There is. My mom and dad.”

“Do you want to kill your parents? Hehehe. Something good?”

Ariel knew about Gordon’s family situation. I also knew that if you asked Gordon who he wanted to kill, he would say his parents.

“Then let’s go to your house. It will be really fun.”

Ariel was happy.

Even without using my gift, I was able to control the boy in front of me at will.

Gordon’s father has been drunk since broad daylight.

Ariel placed her hand on his forehead.

A brighter light appeared in her pink eyes, and Ariel, who then withdrew her hand, gave an order.

“Wake up.”

Gordon’s father opened his eyes and stood up as instructed by Ariel.

Ariel smiled.

Gordon also smiled.

“Now, Gordon. Now it’s your turn. Do whatever you want.”

Ariel handed Gordon the kitchen knife she had prepared in advance.

Gordon held a cold kitchen knife in his hand and aimed it at his father.

He soon lost his grip and dropped it to the floor.

“…I wish my dad was dead, but I don’t want to kill him.”

“Why? Are you really still in love?”

“No. I don’t love my mom and dad.”

Gordon said with a grave expression.

“I don’t want to kill you because I don’t love you.”

“Really? that’s interesting. So what about the animals killed so far? Did you love everything?”

“Yes. Everything was cute and lovely. So I wanted to kill him.”

The boy’s answer was far beyond Ariel’s expectations.

“Huhuhuhuhuhu.”

An unexpected answer. That was a very happy miscalculation for Ariel.

“I see.”

Ariel nodded.

He then gave an order to Gordon’s father.

“Then you will have to hang yourself. Go and get two strong ropes.”

“I see. The couple’s relationship was so bad that there was rarely a day when they didn’t fight.”

“Ayu, of course. They were very famous bitches in our village. They fight on a fake day.”

An investigator who came to the village to investigate a strange case in which a couple suddenly committed suicide together.

A crazy child. A marital relationship that is virtually over. Money running out. An old and sick body.

Anyone would have been pessimistic about life and would have concluded that they committed suicide together, but he thought something was strange.

My intuition from my long experience as an investigator was telling me that this case was not a simple suicide, so I couldn’t end the investigation hastily.

“Where is the deceased couple’s son?”

“Let’s see, if it’s Gordon, he’s playing on the riverbank over there. Well, he’s sick in many ways, so please don’t put too much pressure on him.”

“Of course. Because the Empire’s investigators are on the side of the weak.”

The investigator, remembering the criticism that he was always blunt, approached Gordon while practicing his most friendly smile.

“Are you Gordon?”

“……”

The child named Gordon did not respond, and the investigator assumed this was normal.

It must have been too much of a shock for a child to bear, as his parents committed suicide together overnight.

Also, I heard that he is a mentally unstable child, so I need to pay more attention to him.

The investigator tried to call Gordon again with a kind smile, but

“Who are you?”

Ariel, the girl sitting next to him, spoke up.

“The man is an investigator. I’m here to find a very bad person who might be hiding in this town.”

“Hmm. I see.”

The investigator met the young girl’s curious eyes. A look that was somehow familiar. I thought it was similar to the look in his eyes when he met the investigator he admired as a child.

Could it be that this girl also dreams of becoming an investigator? Is that why he looks at himself with such curious eyes?

The investigator, who reflected his childhood self in this cute little girl, decided to solve Ariel’s curiosity with all his heart.

In order to talk to Gordon, I followed the typical investigative methodology of targeting his friend first.

“It seems like the little lady has a lot of questions. This guy will answer, so ask him anything.”

“Really?”

Ariel smiles brightly. With that beautiful smile, the investigator thought that this girl would definitely win over many men when she grew up.

But I had no idea what would come out of that child’s mouth.

“I’ve been meaning to ask this for a while… . Can’t it just end with suicide?”

“Ugh..!”

The investigator covered his head due to a sudden and intense headache.

The smile of the girl who seemed bright just a moment ago had long since disappeared.

“Umm… . It’s not working well.”

“You… . you! What are you doing now… !”

“Everyone, please catch this guy.”

At Ariel’s command, the villagers all rushed towards the investigator.

“Now, wait a minute, what is this..!”

He quickly tried to take the gun out of his pocket, but was immediately captured by the men and restrained.

“I have already dominated my colleagues. I wanted to kill him, but he would be suspicious, so I’ll just send him back.”

“What is this… . What are you?”

“Me? Huhuhu.”

Tuk–.

Ariel’s finger touched the investigator’s forehead.

“I am Ariel, the woman who will become the ruler of the world.”

The investigator closed his eyes as if he was falling into a deep sleep, and soon lost consciousness.

Afterwards, the incident that occurred in this small town was treated as a simple suicide. Additionally, although the investigators in charge of the investigation lost their lives from different causes at different times, no one could have guessed that this series of deaths was caused by a girl in a small town.