"Oh. A serial killer capture mission. Considering your smarts, I guess this isn't so bad."
Leila looked at the mission board Mitsuki was holding.
"Let's see what name he has... 'The Index Cutter'? Sounds stupid. Eh? Really, he's notorious? I've never even heard of him."
Souma raised an eyebrow at that.
"Your parents never cautioned you about The Index Cutter? For me, they always used to say: "If you point at someone to laugh at them, The Index Cutter will cut off your fingers!". It was quite scary for little ol' me at the time."
"So he's not only notorious, he's old too..."
Mitsuki nodded.
"Indeed. He was active long ago. He was thought to have left, as no more deaths like that happened for a couple of years... but it looks like he's back."
Leila listened with a serious expression to what Mitsuki was saying.
Meanwhile, Souma looked at me.
"Why did you choose him specifically? Think he's rusty after not killing for several years?"
I chuckled.
"What a morbid joke coming from you."
I shook my head.
"No, that's not the reason I chose him. I chose him because I recognized him."
Souma froze in shock. Mitsuki and Leila ― who were talking with each other ― also froze.
"What's so surprising? There's a portrait of him on the mission board, and being completely hidden in such a small town is pretty hard. It's no wonder I've seen him once or twice in passing, right?"
After recovering, Souma nodded with a wry smile.
"I guess so. It's just that normal people don't remember every passerby, you know?"
"Oh, I don't remember every passerby either. But I do remember someone much more striking."
I smiled.
***
I looked at the portrait in my hands.
A girthy mustache and beard, with a scar across his forehead. Looking beyond, I once again confirmed my suspicions.
'Yeah, this is definitely him.'
"Mind explaining why we are in front of the Healing Shack? Don't tell me... does this person have ties with the Church?"
"Eh, kinda. You'll see what's up."
Leila's fantasies weren't too far from the truth.
I confidently walked into the Healing Shack with the trio behind me.
"Ah, welcome back. What will it be this time?"
The old man greeted me as always.
I pulled out one platinum coin.
"I don't have to say much more, right?"
He nodded calmly and walked out. He was used to me at this point.
"Do you need to heal something? Like, actually?"
I shook my head.
"Nope. I just need to see someone."
I put the platinum coin back and sat down on the bed. The trio sat beside me, barely fitting in.
After some waiting, the old man walked back in with a beautiful woman behind him.
"It's you again Mister Faun. What will it be this time? Does one of your friends need healing?"
The trio couldn't help but be stunned at Luna's sheer brilliance.
The way she moved, the way she talked, all of it was so captivating.
I never allowed myself to be lost in that dazzle.
"It's... something special. Can it be just you, without the elder?"
She looked confused, but did not question it much. The power of money is big.
The old man left without even needing a glance from Luna.
She sat down in the chair.
"Well, what is i―"
I showed her the portrait in my hands.
"This is you, right?"
Her― Nay, his eyes widened, along with the trio. They all looked at me as though I was crazy.
'Luna' kept the smile on his face from crumbling.
"This is... I am not sure what you're getting at, but I most definitely do not know this man."
I continued staring at him. He was getting more uncomfortable by the second.
The trio did not interfere. Despite thinking of me as crazy, they trusted me.
"Well? I did not get an answer to my question. This is you, right?"
"Of course not. I'm not even sure how you even came to that conclusion. We do not look similar at all, that's not even talking about our different genders."
I raised an eyebrow.
"You sure about that? Cause if I were to remove the mustache, the beard and the scar... you two start looking pretty similar."
I narrowed my eyes.
"That's not even talking about the fact that you're hiding you're a man."
We stared at each other in silence.
But unlike Luna, I was in my element.
As such―
"Alright. Yes, it is me. I'm The Index Cutter."
He put his hands up in a surrender.
I smiled.
"Woop. Case closed. Now, let's take him to prison and get the reward."
I stood up and stretched.
But I heard no movement.
I looked back at the trio. They were sitting there, all with doubtful looks on their faces.
"What? Why do you have those faces?"
"This seems a bit too easy, doesn't it?"
I huffed at Mitsuki.
"It was only easy because I knew who it was in the first place. For anyone else, this mission might've taken months."
They didn't seem convinced at all.
'Tch. Seems I have miscalculated Mitsuki's kindness a bit. This is gonna be troublesome. I don't want to waste too much on this...'
Leila looked at Luna.
"You... aren't you going to resist?"
Luna shook his head.
"It seems the time for my atonement has come. The sins I have done so long ago have caught up to me despite my attempts. I can only judge it as fair. Still, I believe Solevitasn will have some mercy on me."
The trio sat there with thinking faces.
I realized: I had messed up.
'Should've just done this on my own...'
I started Thinking. What has been set in motion couldn't be stopped, but maybe I could still get something out of this...
'Fine. A workout, a delay and a morale boost. I'll take that, I guess.'
I made up my mind. Despite this going further than I wanted it to, it was within the margin of error to be acceptable.
I focused on reality once again.
The trio had thoughtful faces, and Luna was still sitting there, patiently.
Suddenly, Mitsuki's eyes widened. She turned to Luna.
"Wait. You just said that you're being punished for things you've done long ago, right?"
"Indeed. Nobody can run away from their past."
"Then―"
Leila's and Souma's eyes also widened.
I sighed internally.
"―the recent attacks are not your doing, are they?"
This time, it was Luna's turn to be surprised.
"There are recent attacks?"
"Yes, someone has been going around, killing in the same way as you, The Index Cutter. They have been trying to push the blame onto you, it seems."
Leila sneered at me.
"Hehe. Looks like you missed an important detail while trying to be as fast as possible. Maybe you should be more like Mitsuki."
I shrugged.
"Hey, you can't blame me. I was given a portrait and told to bring a guy. I did as such. Or was about to, at least."
Mitsuki stood up, resolutely.
"Faun, we have not completed the mission. We need to capture the new killer before we give up... What is your name?"
"My name is Gondol."
"Yes. We need to capture the new killer before we give up Gondol."
I looked at Souma and Gondol.
"Sure... is what I'd like to say, but do you have any idea on how to capture this new serial killer?"
I sat down on the floor to relax as much as possible.
"Isn't that supposed to be your thing? Aren't you supposed to be the smart one?"
Why did Leila always hit the mark like that? ―I couldn't help but ask myself.
I closed my eyes and laid down on the floor.
"I have a limit too. This new killer... is unknown. Considering they are using other killers' notoriety as a shield, we will have a hard time capturing them. We have a severe lack of information for catching someone like that."
I opened one eye.
"Also, why are your guards so lowered against a hardened criminal? Gondol has killed dozens, you know?"
All of them twitched, and Souma went behind Gondol to tie up his hands together.
As he was tying them together, he started talking.
"Hey, Gondol, mind telling how you did your killings? Considering you're accepting your punishment, you will tell us that much, right?"
Just like I thought, Souma was the most useful one here. He was going in the right direction.
Gondol's smile disappeared.
"I... I killed whoever I wanted to. And I wanted to kill those... those who would point at me and make fun of me being so girly."
Souma was surprised.
"Huh. Guess that saying wasn't too far away from the truth..."
After he finished tying up Gondol, he turned to me.
"Got any ideas on what to do with that information?"
I smirked.
"Our situation just became even worse."
It was the truth.
Motivation was important for killers. So if this new killer wanted to copy Gondol properly, they had to copy Gondol's motivation too.
Now that we knew Gondol's motivation was basically 'they looked at me funny', there were zero leads for this new killer.
"I don't see what's so funny about this for you to be smirking."
I pursed my lips.
"I'm just trying to lighten the mood. Besides, what's not funny about not being able to do anything?"
They looked at me with those faces because I was crazy.
I stood up. Perhaps I had shown a bit too much there.
I regained my impassive face.
"Whatever. Do you know what we have to do when we have no leads?"
All of them shook their heads.
"We have to make some."
***
"Ever since young, I looked like a girl and liked girly things. I have always been admonished by other people because of that, and since I lived in an orphanage, I was constantly admonished by all the other children there. When I became a teenager, I got tired of it, and started killing. I always made sure to cut off the index fingers, so that they would never be able to point at me again. I grew a beard and mustache, so that nobody would be able to call me girly anymore. Later on, I realized I had become what others wanted, not who I wanted. I shaved everything, healed my scar, made a new identity and started praying to Solevitasn, hoping my punishment will be lessened when it will come. It seems like my great belief in Solevitasn made me extremely powerful at Miracles, so I quickly rose up in ranks and helped a lot of people. That's the story of my life."
The trio listened intently, committing to memory every single sentence.
"What a shocking life you've had."
Gondol nodded.
"Indeed."
"Eh. The most shocking thing is that you look so young even while being forty years old."
All of them looked at me like I was stupid.
"What? I'm right. He looks like a young woman. Something like that is pretty shocking. Most women don't look that good at that age, let alone men."
Gondol gave a wry smile.
"It might be something in my genes. I myself am not quite sure why I am so young looking."
Souma smiled.
"I can see where Faun is coming from. That said, we should focus more on how to catch this new killer. Can you tell us what you meant by making leads, Faun?"
"It's easy. We just gotta make the new killer act. They are out of our reach, but that doesn't mean we can't control them. If we are to make them feel like they are in a corner, then they will slip up. So we just spread rumors that we are close to figuring out who the killer is, while putting in some broad truths, to make it seem as though all our words are truth. This will make the killer panic and make a mistake, which we will capitalize on."
They mulled over those words.
"Spreading rumors... doesn't sound easy."
"We don't have to spread our rumors that far. The killer knows that adventurers are after them, so they will pay close attention to any rumors that go around the adventurer circle. And the most efficient way to do that is to make Ryuni spread those rumors, as she interacts with so many adventurers every day."
I looked at them.
"The most we have to do is come up with some broad truths. That's it. Something along the lines of... "The killer lives in this area. The killer targets these kinds of people". Broad truths like those will work well enough. It will make most killers feel like they are starved for time, so they will take some drastic measures. That's where we'll make some leads."
All of them were frozen, looking at me.
Souma chuckled.
"No matter how much time I spend with you, I never get used to things like those. Seriously, you are someone I wouldn't want to make an enemy out of."
He patted my shoulder.
I smirked.
"I know."
He wryly smiled upon seeing my reaction.
***
"Is this the best course of action? Will it really work?"
"Probably not is the answer to both of those. But it's the best course of action I can come up with."
"But if this doesn't work, we'll probably lose Trust, won't we? I mean, lying about being close to catching him... that's something the Guild won't like."
To alleviate Leila's worries, I shook my head.
"We won't lose Trust."
They looked at me, confused.
"We have a fail-safe."
I pointed to Gondol. That's right, even if this didn't work, we could always just give up Gondol.
Mitsuki frowned. She clearly didn't like that course of action, but she did not say anything in response.
"Anyway, we're getting off-topic. Considering this map of the killer's activities, where do you think they live?"
"Well, the most obvious answer is where the killings are concentrated... but knowing you, that's the wrong answer, right?"
I nodded at Leila.
"That's right. I think that killer... is on the complete opposite part of the map."
Souma looked at where I was pointing and scratched his neck.
"That feels a bit too obvious. Don't you think the killer is smarter than that?"
"No, I don't. I feel like the killer is just smart enough to do such an obvious thing."
"Why's that?"
I took a deep breath.
"Well, first of all, while using another person's notoriety as a distraction seems like a good idea, it's really not. Not only will more forces be mobilized due to the notoriety, every single citizen will be more on guard, making victims harder to kill. Just another killer doesn't give the same sense of urgency as The Index Cutter coming back. And in exchange for all that, you get some people who are focused on finding a person who looks like the portrait, instead of actually searching for you. Still, just that alone is not enough to justify all the wariness, considering that some people are smart enough to see through the entire plan. In other words, the killer thinks they are smart, while they are really not. I think a person like that would go: "Haha! I'll make them think I'm in this part by concentrating my kills there, but I actually live on the complete opposite side! I'm so smart!" Or that's what I think, at least."
Everyone nodded.
"Yeah, I guess that makes sense."
"I'm not gonna doubt you, I don't have the mental capacity to."
"Your plans work out way better than ours... so yeah, let's go with your plan, or whatever."
I smiled.
The trust I had built up wasn't gone just because of one slip up. The months we've spent together mattered.
'I might be wrong, but that's fine. I'm doing the best I can with the information I have.'
I doubted many could do better than me in this situation.
***
After eating together, all of us went our separate ways, completely alone.
We were setting up a trap.
'The rumors are already going around. The killer must already be paying attention to our movements.'
A serial killer capture mission wasn't a mission done by just one group or person. A plethora of different adventurers can take it on, even while others are on the case. Of course, to make sure everybody doesn't take the mission, there's a penalty of losing Trust if you took the mission but are seen not actually completing it. This way, only people who are actually bent on doing the mission take it.
If the killer is really dangerous, different people might exchange information, but in our case... it was more like a competition of who can get the reward. Despite him having a moniker, The Index Cutter wasn't actually all that powerful after all.
That competition, apart from the straightforward problem, had another. That problem was the killer's attention.
We were setting up a classical trap of 'walking alone', aka being easy targets for the killer to pounce on.
To set up this trap though, the killer's attention had to be on us, instead of being spread out on all our competitors.
The rumors were doing heavy lifting here, both making the killer more nervous and giving them a clear target.
We were also constantly apart from each other, to show the killer that us being alone is nothing new. It was a lie we were subtly feeding into their brain.
'And out of all of us, he will choose to kill me.'
Leila was the obvious choice here, but the killer thinks they are smart, and will no doubt not go for the 'obvious option'. Mitsuki and Souma are both close-range fighters, so that leaves only me as the target.
Now, we just have to wait until the killer attacks...
***
"You having fun?"
"That's quite an interesting thing to say to a prisoner... but I would be lying if I said I'm not. I especially love Ispra, she's such a bundle of joy."
Gondol was 'imprisoned' inside my home, being under constant watch by Kakoheita.
He had written a letter to the Church saying he had some important business to take care of for a couple of days. That letter's the only reason why priests haven't stormed through my front door yet.
"Ispra, huh? Yeah, she is indeed the best."
Ispra was very welcoming to basically everyone, it was almost surprising how affectionate she was. I've never seen a cat act like her. Even the rude girl and the trio were accepted by her. That said, she was less cuddly with Souma than with the girls.
'So far, the only one Ispra hasn't accepted is Kakoheita. Considering Ispra is so accepting of even a murderer like Gondol... yeah, that doesn't paint a good picture for her, heh.'
I haven't been able to pinpoint how Ispra's affection meter works. It's not a simple kindness test, as she loves Souma less than Leila, despite Souma being more kind. It's also not as simple as a test about being good or bad, considering Gondol has killed people before and is thus a bad person.
On that note, Ispra had a lot of mysteries. I have been trying to decode them, but have come up blank even after several months.
She was a monster, but despite searching throughout the entire library, I've never found a monster that mimics a normal cat. Her name is written in english on her collar, signifying her connection to earth, but that doesn't give any answers and only raises more questions. And the most surprising thing is her ability to cast Foundation Magic, because, as far as I know, no creature ever recorded is strong enough to cast Foundation Magic on its own.
Just so many mysteries packed into that tiny cute little ball of fur. To this day, my best guess is that Ispra was sent to me as 'A helper from the Gods'. But even that guess was bad. Yes, it answered all the previously asked questions, but it made new ones with no answers.
'I, Ryuni and Kakoheita (who sleeps on the floor) live in this house. We are one of the weirdest and craziest people in the whole world. And yet, despite that, Ispra remains the weirdest creature in this house.'
To be weirder than me... a feat like that is hard to pull off.
***
Walking in the silent dark alleyways, I was eating a lollipop.
'Hmm... sugar isn't as sparse as I thought it would be, and is consequently not too expensive. I could market lollipops as a snack for everyone, instead of just nobles. It will cost more than popsicles, but it also lasts for longer and is more flavorful, so I think it'll do fine...'
I cracked my neck and started whispering.
"Fuvetwi, Goddess of Wind, you sweep everyone off their feet."
Normally, you do not get Blessings apart from the Earth Blessing, and even that one is seldom used.
It is for the simple reason that Blessings are useless in most situations and cost too much mana.
You don't always have the natural element around you, and since blessings only help you control existing objects, Blessings like the Ice Blessing are something that's hard to find uses for.
Add to that the mana problem. You have to not only give up mana to get the blessing, but also spend mana to control the object. Yes, you spend less mana on control, but you still spend some. That's not even talking about how the Blessing Timer might run out mid-battle, and you might lose control at the most important moment. That's almost certain death. Even if it doesn't end up in instant death, regaining the Blessing costs mana once again.
There's also another problem with Blessings. They don't work with compatibility or talent.
Most mages figure out which element they have the highest compatibility and talent for, and focus on that one specifically, maybe dabbling in a little bit of Wind Magic and Fire Magic on the side at most.
Blessings do not get easier and do not require less mana no matter how much compatibility or talent you have, unlike Spells. Yes, you do get better at Blessings the more you use them, but just focusing on Spells is better. Since there are so many Spells in the world, Spells can practically do everything a Blessing can do, and sometimes even more.
Blessings are just useless for most mages.
I am not most mages.
Since I do not have compatibility, that minus doesn't exist for me. And... I also have some ideas that I cannot do with Spells, but I can definitely do with a Blessing.
'That said, it is really difficult.'
I was trying to control the air like I wanted. I did manage to do what I wanted, but it did not last for long enough.
I had to keep trying until I got the hang of this. It would be one of my greatest tools.
Shuffle
'Oh―'
I turned around.
Emptiness.
"Kh."
I barely held in my laugh.
'This guy... he's so pathetic!'
Did he think eyes were the only things I had? Was the pressure from the rumors making him go insane or something?
'Well, most killers are not sane in the first place.'
That said, even with this guy's intelligence, what he was doing was really dumb.
'But fine, I'll play along.'
"Huh. Guess that was just my imagination."
I cracked my fingers and resumed walking.
Just a breath later, a knife was coming for my neck.
I turned around and saw the guy, but didn't have the time to process his face due to how fast I was.
Then, I went behind him and hit him hard in the back of the head.
He fell on the ground, discombobulated.
Now at normal speed, I started tying him up.
"You messed with the wrong guy."
If he had attacked anyone else, he would've given them some trouble. But me? I was just too fast.
After I finished tying him up, he finally let out a grunt.
I moved the lollipop around inside my mouth.
"Will you keep quiet?"
Still slightly out of it, he looked at me.
I was surprised, he didn't look even slightly angry or afraid.
He nodded.
"Good. Then I'll take you somewhere."
I was almost out of mana from moving that fast back there, but my home wasn't too far away, so I could carry this guy there.
***
We four entered the house simultaneously.
The killer was sitting on a chair, looking outside the window.
"So that's the guy."
"Yep."
"He doesn't look even a bit afraid or remorseful."
"Yep."
"It's strange that he's not resisting."
"Yep."
"Are you just going to answer yep to everything?"
"Nope."
Leila sighed at my antics.
Mitsuki walked to the killer.
She turned the chair so that it would face her, and the killer's attention was drawn away from the window.
She looked him in the eyes, he looked back.
"What's your name?"
"Irtum."
She turned to me. I shrugged.
"Doesn't really matter whether he's lying or not. We don't care if that's not his true name. Just call him Irtum."
She frowned, before regaining her normal face with an understanding look.
She looked back at Irtum.
"Why did you do that?"
"I wanted to."
Irtum started looking around the room, briefly stopping his gaze at every place of interest.
The trio was stunned.
"You... you killed people because you wanted to?"
Irtum did not even look at Mitsuki.
"Yeah."
Her eyes slowly started filling up with rage. She clenched her fists.
"Do you feel not even a bit guilty?"
Irtum looked at the freezer standing close-by.
"I felt guilty for a bit... I think, I'm not sure."
She grabbed his shoulders, winning back his attention.
"What do you mean not sure?!"
"I'm just not sure. This thing you all call guilt... I just don't get it. I do sometimes feel it, I think I do, it feels just like you all describe guilt, but I'm not sure."
I could see Mitsuki's jaw tighten.
I took her hands off Irtum and stood in between the two.
"Don't get so angry Mitsuki. Sometimes, people just can't understand each other. I think he's a psychopath, that's all."
Souma's eyes widened.
"A psychopath?"
I nodded.
"Yeah, this guy is the textbook definition of a psychopath. Brief flashes of empathy, but not much more. Doing things just because he wants to. No clear interests or goals, just living life as he goes. And being curious about what will happen if he does something. Was I accurate?"
Irtum looked at me with surprise and slight happiness.
"Yes... yes you were. I've never had someone who understood me. Are you like me?"
I shook my head.
"Sorry, but no. ...I don't know why I'm apologizing when you won't even care in the first place."
I played with my lollipop before turning to the trio.
"Well, we got both. What say we give them up now?"
Leila and Souma both nodded, but Mitsuki bit her lip in hesitation.
Leila walked up to her.
"What's wrong? If you have anything to say, just say it."
Mitsuki sighed.
"I... I don't want Gondol to die. He's clearly reformed, and death is for the wicked, like that bastard right there. I don't want to send someone like Gondol to their death. Are you all fine... not saying anything about his situation?"
Leila shrugged.
"Sure. I see where you're coming from, so I'm not against it."
Souma wryly smiled.
"Well, now that you say it, it does make it feel like we're bad guys. I'm all for it."
"I'm fine."
If I was forced to do this manhunt, of course I would keep my source of healing in this town. It was just logical.
Mitsuki had a small smile on her face. She looked happy.
"You know, I wasn't asked to be born this way."
The happiness disappeared quick. We four turned to Irtum.
"I did not ask to be so bored all the time, I did not ask to care so little for others' emotions, I did not ask to barely feel anything. Why do I have to be punished so?"
"Because you killed people!"
"That Gondol guy killed people too, and you guys seem fine with letting him go."
My brain quickly started turning. Taking all things into consideration...
'Seriously? Just how bored was this guy?'
I slowly shook my head. Psychopaths were truly psychopaths.
"Of course, he's a good person now. Why wouldn't we let a good person go?"
"Well, I won't kill anymore too, y'know? It's also gotten boring. I'll have to find something else to do again..."
His eyes wandered to the ceiling.
Mitsuki turned to me.
I smiled knowingly.
"If I had to describe psychopathy in one phrase, it would be: the lack of ability to care. You don't care for anyone's emotions, including yours. You don't care for the consequences, don't care for your past or future, don't care for your well being and don't care for anything in between. That doesn't mean they're bad people, just that they have a hard time properly functioning in society. If you were to ask me whether this guy would kill again... I wouldn't be able to answer you. But I can give you a small tip."
"What is it?"
"Psychopaths get bored very easily, and rarely care for the consequences. The rest I'll leave up to your imanagation."
Leila stuck out to my side.
"Did you seriously just pronounce imagination incorrectly?"
"Yes, and on purpose at that. Now close your mouth, Mitsuki is having her ideals put to the test."
Everyone in the room shut up.
'Let's see what decision you'll make...'
Mitsuki was the one with the highest capability to show kindness out of all of us. That's why we are relying on her to be our moral compass right now.
Psychopaths weren't inherently bad, and so Mitsuki was choosing here whether to spare Irtum. This would've been easy, if she hadn't already forgiven Gondol.
If she forgave one, why couldn't she forgive the other? ―That's the kind of question on her mind right now.
She just had to consider which option would bring the most happiness to the world.
The answer was obvious, but actually accepting it...
"No, we'll kill you."
"I see."
Irtum did not fight back or start panicking. He just kept sitting there, with the same bored look on his face.
"Well, I'll be taking him then. You guys can go to your house."
They all nodded and left. I was left alone with Irtum and started carrying him to the guards.
I did not bother looking at his face before speaking.
"Hey, you got caught on purpose, right?"
"Yeah."
He did not even try to deny it.
"Why?"
"Because I wondered how it would feel to be caught."
'I see. So it's as simple as that. Boredom is a very strong emotion, huh?'
While I was processing how psychopaths act and feel for future references, I was questioned back.
"How did you know I got caught on purpose?"
"You're too smart."
Psychopaths have dampened emotions, they could consider things from a purely objective standpoint.
In other words, they could Think just like me.
For someone like that to be making such stupid decisions... obviously they wanted to get caught.
The fact that boredom pushed him so far was truly informative.
'I'm still wondering about something...'
"Hey, why are you not the slightest bit resisting? You know you're gonna die, right? Do you not care for your well being at all?"
"Of course I care. But resisting will only make it worse, right? And if I don't resist, you'll probably let me die less painfully. Why waste the energy on making my last moments worse?"
I considered it and was a bit lost.
'Psychopaths are so weird.'
I've dealt with crazy people, but this was something worse.
They were as logical as they were whimsical, and as thoughtful as careless. I could barely understand them.
'I just hope I won't interact with any more psychopaths.'
They were incredibly hard to predict and understand.
***
"What's up with that frown on your face? Don't tell me you enjoyed Gondol's company that much."
Ryuni shook her head.
"No, it's nothing like that. It's just that... Norna left."
I nodded.
"Mhm... who?"
She looked at me in bafflement.
"You... Are you seriously gonna do this forever?"
"Do what forever?"
She inhaled through her teeth.
"Okay, fine. The rude girl left, that's why I'm downcast."
"Ah, the rude girl. You should've said so from the start."
She was glaring at me, the one who was putting a roof over her head and giving her a job. Obviously I can't remember the name of every friend she has, why was she so mad about this small mistake of mine?
'Whatever, her sadness is more important than her anger.'
I looked her in the eyes.
"What? You sad your toy left?"
She jolted before cringing her face and looking away.
"Toy is a very strong word."
"Is it wrong?"
She took a deep breath.
"..."
"..."
"No. No, it isn't. When you can mold a person however you want to, and when you can play with their feelings however you want to... calling someone like that a toy wouldn't be incorrect terminology."
"Ooh~, would you look at that. You're using some big boy words like terminology. I'm surprised you even know that word."
"I haven't been living under a rock."
She fidgeted with her hair for a bit, before looking me in the eyes.
I smiled.
"Don't even think about it. I'll kill your brother before you can even think about molding me. Just stick to understanding for now."
It was as simple as that. When dealing with a villain-like character, you had to use their weakness, as that is the only way to make them hold back. In Ryuni's case, her weakness was her brother.
I was using her brother as leverage, and we both knew that. She accepted these circumstances for her brother's safety and happiness, in sacrifice of her freedom of activity. It was what she was willing to give up for her brother.
'Sibling love truly is strong between these two.'
"Anyway, now that the rude girl is away, will you continue with the training? Or are you satisfied with your current muscles?"
"I'm fine with my current ones. They are really small, so I don't look weird, but they are still there, so they do help me with carrying the frizer. I think I'll just keep them like this."
Once again, I had a weird feeling in the back of my head. Just when was this going to stop...
'Hopefully this feeling of wrongness is nothing major.'