Memoirs of the Returnee - Chapter 132



Only Krnovel

Returner’s Notepad Episode 132

Lion Cub (1)

A museum where classical music still resonates deeply. The bodies of the two men who tried to resist them are removed, and the rest tremble in fear and hold their breath.

──Stay still. All you have to do is just stay here. That’s your role.

Elise suddenly looked at her wrist. There were small stone fragments like letters in the place where Zion held on.

[I’ll explain later. Stay still.]

After reading it, I wave my wrist and it immediately disperses.

──Useless courage and resistance like just now will only lead to meaningless killings. Well then, rest easy.

The man crazy about classical music has left. A female mask took its place. She is the woman who attacked him. She came up to the magicians tied to her power lines and jabbed them with her chin.

“Get up.”

Other masks forced the magicians, including Elise, to their feet. Some resisted, but it was difficult—! It was suppressed by high-voltage current.

“Take him.”

Elise glared at the woman’s mask. She was practically a threat as well. Recognize her own face.

The mask didn’t budge, and Elise was dragged away.

It was a prison.

There was a prison in this museum. A prison that was actually used in an ancient temple, restored for viewing.

“… … .”

Elise looked at the doors lined up in the long hallway. Each one was a solitary confinement.

For a moment, my heart tightened.

Squeak—

The female mask opened the door with Elise standing in front of the cell.

“Go in.”

Elise instinctively strengthened her feet and resisted.

“… … “Go in.”

The mask pushed hard. Elise shook her head. I forced myself to struggle and hold on.

Mask sighed softly and grabbed the back of her neck.

Pajik-!

There was an electric current, and her body relaxed and she was finally pushed inside.

bang-!

The door was closed.

─The door was closed.

──The door was closed.

Elise looked around inside. It was all dark and tightly closed.

“… … .”

My mouth was dry. Her breath caught in her throat. Breathing did not continue completely.

Pajik-! Pajik-! The pain from the electric wire, which had been bearable, suddenly became hot as if her entire body was being stabbed by a chainsaw.

“ha… … ha… … .”

That time when my mind and body were drying up in an instant.

Slurp-

The sound of something opening.

Next, a little light seeps in.

Elise quickly raised her head.

A small square window on the iron door of a cell. The surveillance window that the guard had opened to monitor the prisoner was opened.

Behind him, a masked man was standing at an angle.

Ssssssseu… … Stone debris flowed from a crack in the window and formed a certain shape.

[Are you okay?]

Elise stared quietly.

[It seems sincere that these guys have no intention of harming the hostages. I will continue to be by your side, so hang in there.]

I slowly came to my senses. I raised my collapsed body.

[Because you saved me before. With this, I am Teacher.]

Thanks to this, my heart calmed down, and I even smiled faintly when I heard the word “sam, teacher.”

Elise moved her body and leaned against the iron door. I quietly sensed him beyond the wall.

“Pooh… … .”

A sigh of relief flowed through the teeth that were wrapped with tape.

“Geomaeo.”

He said a little bit. Shion let out a low laugh.

however.

─C03.

A celebrity has arrived. Elise fell from the iron door with a start.

It was that damn female mask.

The bitch pushed Shion away and looked back and forth between herself and Shion inside the cell.

─Why did you open this window on your own?

─… … .

Shion didn’t answer, and the mask gritted its teeth and asked in an angry voice.

─Who are you?

At that moment, Elise felt a strange stomachache. It felt like her intestines were being torn apart.

─Take off your mask.

bang-! The window was closed.

She was buried in darkness again.

“Ugh!”

I want to cry out that I can’t do it, but my mouth is already covered. No, doing so would actually be promoting him as my ally.

Therefore, there is nothing I can do.

“… … .”

Elise leaned against the iron door.

What will happen to Zion now?

He’s not on their side, so maybe if he gets discovered.

Wouldn’t he be murdered?

… … because of me?

Her lips trembled and her eyes closed. Her dry eyelids were dark and wet.

Suddenly, some illusions spread among them.

Dark red blood. Internal organs hanging on the floor. Torn neck. People who died.

I can’t breathe.

Even though I’m breathing, I can’t rest.

It feels like my lungs have become stiff like fibers and have lost their function.

Elise looked around the space.

All sides were blocked.

Drops of blood bloomed like mold on the tightly closed wall. The mold hatched worms.

Busily. Fluttering. Those terrible things quickly grew in number, fluttering their wings and skin and clinging to themselves… … .

Myong-

“… … ?”

Suddenly, a small voice flows from somewhere.

Elise looked back in surprise.

It’s a cat.

From the corner of the cell, a cat is walking out.

Is it a hallucination?

no.

This is the kid I saw last time.

White and black cats.

The child came up to him and scratched his cheek.

─Cheer up, strength. Cheer up, strength.

Then he spoke in a childlike voice.

It’s not a hallucination, but it’s true.

“… … ha.”

Even if it was just an auditory hallucination, maybe it was thanks to that.

Breathing gradually returns.

The mold, blood, and bugs are all gone.

She saw the cat in her arms. A child who seems to be comforting herself. She fell into a sleep close to exhaustion, looking into her eyes that sparkled like those jewels and worrying about the Shion she had just taken away.

* * *

“C03. “I asked why you opened the window.”

Meanwhile, I am being interrogated by a masked woman.

“you. C03 No.”

C03 is my fake identity. This masked woman standing in front of me is B04.

He is an elite agent of the armed organization called [Yawol], which has taken over the entire museum.

“I won’t say it twice. “Take off that mask.”

He pushed me against the wall and scolded me. The rising air current was brutal. I let out a small sigh.

“Give me 3 seconds.”

Pajik- Pajik-

He was charging electricity in one hand and holding a knife with the other hand.

“3”

When the countdown begins.

“2-”

I immediately took off my mask.

“Are you done?”

“… … .”

B04 looked at me silently. Cracking – crackling – the threatening electric current subtly subsided, and I put the knife back.

“I don’t know why you’re acting so damn all of a sudden.”

As I said that, I looked at the window on the right side.

There, there was a face of someone other than mine. It was the face of ‘C03’ that he had just mentioned.

I glared at B04 again. B04 looked at my eyes, nose, mouth and ears, but it was the same.

“What’s the problem?”

“… … .”

The inside story of this phenomenon and situation is… … .

Let’s rewind to three days ago.

──Three days ago.

I traced my memories of Elise’s kidnapping using “Notepad.” However, the information was limited.

The short story in the news was that Elise Petra was kidnapped in the desert – the armed organization [Night Moon] was responsible – they were hiding in the base camp of the Arahal Desert – that was all.

Therefore, I was busy searching the hiding place, and thanks to Groul’s ley radar, I was able to catch it in time.

It was a natural cave formed underground in the desert.

I approached it stealthily.

There were dozens of members of [Yawol] in the cave. Since they were a burdensome number alone, Groul was dispatched first, and Groul informed them that they had planned to attack a museum called ‘Partium’.

──Two days ago.

Among the members of [Yawol], I searched for someone with the best body type.

You can change your face, but you can’t change your body.

I barely found one.

He’s not very strong, but he’s not too weak either. The guys are roughly the same height and weight.

I aimed for the time when he was on guard in the cave.

─Myaaaong.

The bait was a growl.

‘… … ‘What a cat.’

The guy frowned as he saw the cat meowing at the entrance to the cave.

‘go away.’

He threatened by kicking a rock, but there was a magic stone under Groul’s feet. It was a temptation that no human could resist.

‘… … her. ‘You’re lucky.’

Together, we subdued the guy who approached us with a smile. Groul created a rock barrier to isolate the space, and strangled me.

‘Big, big, big——’

I grabbed the face of the guy who fainted like that. He remembered all of her features, including her skin. Following Akane’s advice, I faithfully recreated the ears with bast cotton and placed them on my face.

Additionally, I took advantage of a fairly new feature in Notepad. Some of the memories were ‘extracted’ from the mind of an unconscious person.

‘C03.’

The code name is C03. He is not rude and does not bend his personality even to his superiors.

After accepting that memory, I continued to pretend to be C03.

Since they didn’t know where or how to kidnap Elise, they saw an opportunity by sticking to the cave.

──A day ago.

[Yawol] finally briefed the operation. They were planning to sell the basement of the Partium Museum. This was because the waves of some ‘ancient relic’ were detected underneath.

The plan was to take the museum visitors hostage, steal the artifacts, and run away.

──6 hours ago.

I found Elysee in a museum in Partium. The guy had already been knocked out by B04, and when he woke up, he seemed to be trying to resist by joining forces with other magicians, but [Yawol] would be too much for Elise to deal with right now.

I approached him before he did something unnecessary or got in trouble for no reason. He took off his mask while holding his wrists tightly.

‘… … ?’

Elise’s expression at that time was quite worth seeing. That stupid face was so funny that I smiled without knowing and put my finger to my mouth.

Shh.

──Currently.

“Why the hell are you doing this all of a sudden?”

I confronted B04. It was an action based on C03’s personality.

“… … I misunderstood. “Write it again.”

B04 shrugged his shoulders. I grumbled and put my mask back on. B04 asked in a somewhat subdued tone.

“Why did you open the surveillance window?”

“It seems like a familiar face, so I only saw it briefly. B04. “Don’t you know who that person is?”

“Shh.”

B04 placed his hand on the mouth of his mask.

“Know. Negotiations are already over.”

“know? “You’re holding on to it even though you know it?”

“… … Petra’s daughter. Once they receive the promised money, they secure it by holding it hostage. After that she will be abandoned in the middle of the desert.”

It was a crazy idea to turn all of Petra into an enemy.

“And then if you die. Are you trying to turn Petra into an enemy?”

“no.”

B04 took a quick look at his surroundings. It appears that this has not yet been disclosed to the lower-level officials.

“It means that if you receive money from them, you will be kidnapped.”

“So what is that… … .”

My mouth stopped for a moment. Her head spun like a top.

Once they receive the promised money, they kidnap him.

Rather than kidnapping and then extorting money, they kidnap once they receive the money.

In return for kidnapping, ‘money is received’.

For some reason, those consecutive words sound… to my ears. … It sounds as if they are ‘performing’ a kidnapping.

Something is strange.

Either these guys have a screw loose, or they said something wrong, or something like that.

Either that or that.

I slowly tilted my head. I looked at B04.

“… … I also received this urgently. If you understand, don’t babble about it. “Our share will fall sufficiently.”

When I heard those words, a person suddenly came to mind.

Elise’s father──Gen Petra.

I know him.

A body like diamond and a face like a lion.

He was already a ‘complete’ human being.

That doesn’t mean it’s all good.

He is a person in whom nothing other than his own beliefs can interfere. He is a person who cannot be painted over in any way.

A person who can never be persuaded.

He is a knight like a furnace who absolutely pursues what he believes to be right and pursues his ambition infinitely.

“ah… … .”

It was somehow strange.

If you think about it, the more you think about it, the more it becomes true.

For a child of a great family, Elise was caught up in many strange incidents.

It has been the target of too many crimes.

Hijacking is a common event, and the plane itself has been hijacked, and there have been five or six assassination attempts, as well as explosions and terrorist attacks.

Elise changed as she experienced countless events.

He became a monster bigger than Gen Petra, and used any means possible to grow his family into giants.

Next to the completed monster was a satisfied father.

To Elise, Gen Petra willingly passed on her entire inheritance.

“Go back. Because leaving it alone meant ‘that side’. “We are thorough in negotiations.”

“… … “I’ll just stay in front of the door, just in case.”

“I allow it.”

B04 stepped away, and I walked down the hallway of the solitary cell.

I stood in front of the place where Elise was trapped.

I looked at the tightly closed iron door.

There’s a Growl in here, so it should be okay. The worst will not happen.

“… … .”

However, I feel a little strange.

Is this pity, pity, or my ‘eureka’ when I fully realize Yael’s intentions?

I leaned my back against the iron door. I looked at the ceiling and muttered quietly.

“you also… … .”

Gen Petra probably contacted Elise as soon as she was caught up in [Yewol].

But instead of saving her, he would have asked for a different ‘situation’.

“It’s going to be hard, man.”

A lion throws its cub off a cliff.

Even if everyone in the world criticizes him for being a fool, at least the lion will think he is right… … .